TC
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Post by TC on Feb 17, 2024 10:37:07 GMT -5
I think we should give Cooley a chance. If anyone can rebuild this program, he can. My bigger fear is I am starting to wonder if anyone can rebuild this program. Are things too far gone and college athletics too different for Georgetown to be relevant? Come on. We have the best recruiting class in the Big East coming in, which doesn't even account for the previously-Top 100 2024 player that we have redshirting. We supposedly have a stockpile of NIL that's among the top of the Big East - we have no visibility into being able to confirm that, but there's enough people saying it that I believe it. We have a proven coach who has turned around two programs from absolute garbage into teams consistently at the top of their league. The record sucks but the future isn't going to.
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Elvado
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Post by Elvado on Feb 17, 2024 10:53:21 GMT -5
At 3-50 over our last 53 and losers of 11 in a row, I will remain skeptical.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Feb 17, 2024 11:13:03 GMT -5
… Teams have figured out how to steer the ball away from Epps so he can’t hurt them…. …. Took some of the words right out of my mouth. This is the reason for the backslide — on both ends of the court: other teams/coaches have adjusted to our weaknesses and strengths and make us pay. The lay-up line and open threes on the other end result from probing for the weakness/rapid ball movement and the extra pass until someone in blue and gray (or last night, white) loses their man and then too late “help” creates the opening. Saw way too much of that last several years and it is (to borrow a phrase) “deja vu all over again.” I’m one of those that thinks there is hope down the road, but still… Totally agree. So much of this comes down to execution. The guys show every game that they can actually do it, but somehow they cannot sustain it. I thought Brumbaugh, aside from some purely executed drop and entry passes, ran an offense better than I’ve seen in a while from this team. You’re absolutely right about having the wrong guy open for corner 3s on many occasions.
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TC
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Post by TC on Feb 17, 2024 11:16:27 GMT -5
At 3-50 over our last 53 and losers of 11 in a row, I will remain skeptical. You can be skeptical but questioning whether anyone can turn this around is basically "we've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas". We haven't even gotten to the point where we're trying the plan, which is rebuild from 2024. Things are going to be fine.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Feb 17, 2024 11:34:22 GMT -5
This is on target. You could see Ed talking to whomever blew an assignment multiple times last night.
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kettlehill
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Post by kettlehill on Feb 17, 2024 11:42:29 GMT -5
This is getting really tough to take. We all had an upbeat attitude about this season, yea a few doubts about roster construction, depth and the unknown quality of incoming players, but change is invigorating.Until it isn't. Interesting that amidst this Ewing like abyss, a real bright spot was one of our main concerns: Cook was going to get eaten alive by the big boys of the BE. Now, several games too late in my book, Cooley finally plays a PG alongside a shooting guard. It is clear that RB and Epps need to create some chemistry...and maybe we would be there if EC had played the rookie earlier ( even RB's detractors have to admit that those corner passes that he flings are damn impressive ). It's way past time for Ed Cooley to stop striving for some sort of BE respectability: this season is shot, play the kids. Another thought: if Epp's offensive decline continues, maybe he is gone....and maybe we don't want that Apologies for the rambling...
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hoyaboya
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Post by hoyaboya on Feb 17, 2024 11:49:58 GMT -5
This is on target. You could see Ed talking to whomever blew an assignment multiple times last night. Shades of Ewing throwing his players under the bus.
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DanMcQ
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Post by DanMcQ on Feb 17, 2024 12:00:06 GMT -5
Perhaps so, but this guy can actually coach and it’s not like he didn’t tell them directly during the game.
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kghoya
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Post by kghoya on Feb 17, 2024 12:16:28 GMT -5
- Our defense in the first half was one of our better halves, giving up about 0.903 points per possession. But it was much worse in the second half (1.31 points per possession). For the first 15 minutes in the first half, we had a Big East quality defense. As sad as it is, that's a big improvement on that end. I thought Nova just settled and missed a lot of 3s in the first half
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Feb 17, 2024 12:17:49 GMT -5
For all his failings this season, Cooley has actually been pretty good about NOT throwing his players under the bus. But sometimes, especially when they have failed to listen over and over again, it's time. He didn't name any names. But they know who they are. And maybe, just maybe, this gets them to listen.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 17, 2024 14:28:15 GMT -5
Just shocking how far the program has fallen in 3 years. I have faith in Cooley but this off-season is critically important for our rebuild. We need to execute at an A/A+ level. I blame Akinjo. That team was going somewhere until he triggered the dominos that led us to where we are today.
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Omega
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Post by Omega on Feb 17, 2024 14:34:00 GMT -5
This is getting really tough to take. We all had an upbeat attitude about this season, yea a few doubts about roster construction, depth and the unknown quality of incoming players, but change is invigorating.Until it isn't. Interesting that amidst this Ewing like abyss, a real bright spot was one of our main concerns: Cook was going to get eaten alive by the big boys of the BE. Now, several games too late in my book, Cooley finally plays a PG alongside a shooting guard. It is clear that RB and Epps need to create some chemistry...and maybe we would be there if EC had played the rookie earlier ( even RB's detractors have to admit that those corner passes that he flings are damn impressive ). It's way past time for Ed Cooley to stop striving for some sort of BE respectability: this season is shot, play the kids. Another thought: if Epp's offensive decline continues, maybe he is gone....and maybe we don't want that Apologies for the rambling... Um, what, wait. RB played and he played a lot early in the season... The kid was a total disaster. He played well against Nova because they don't pressure the ball. To Cooleys credit, RB is not buried on the bench. In order to build the kids confidence, coach has to pick and choose when to play him...
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 17, 2024 14:36:57 GMT -5
I do want to point out a positive adjustment last night.
When Villanova tried to isolate and back down our players, we doubled and had a decent rotation. We have been roasted by that offense for years, and it was relatively ineffective last night.
They did find Haussen on the rotation once and made us pay, but we took away that part of their offense.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 17, 2024 14:40:47 GMT -5
This is on target. You could see Ed talking to whomever blew an assignment multiple times last night. Shades of Ewing throwing his players under the bus. Yes, and no. This is really why it's impossible for a coach like Cooley to please everybody. People want to ask "questions," and want "honest" assesments. Then Cooley goes out there and makes a comment NOT directed at any specific player, and simply says the team didn't do a good enough job, and people say he's throwing kids under the bus? I don't think this is at all like Ewing, actually. Cooley has taken responsibility for the failures multiple times, which is something Ewing never did. And he never singles out people on our roster (like Pitino did with Soriano). The fact is that the players aren't doing what they are supposed to be doing. It's obvious from Cooley's comments and body language. Is Cooley at fault for not getting them to follow guidance? Of course, and you can blame him all you want for that. But, at the same time, I think if people want an "honest" assessment of the situation, it's unfair to simultaneously cast shade at a coach who is honest--and in a way that really isn't throwing kids under a bus. Based on watching all of our games, and most of Cooley's post-game press conferences, I am beginning to think we just don't have a smart team. No, we are not the most talented. But there are several head scratching moments in every game, and you KNOW the coaching staff isn't instructing them to make the boneheaded errors they still make. Again, if this was a coach like Ewing or an up-and-comer I might think that it's only the coaching. But, Cooley has proven this isn't the case over several years. Why is this year different? I think it's a combination of a lack of talent, really bad ball IQ, and perhaps Cooley not being fully comfortable in his first season in a new place. As an aside, this is the bigger context/follow up to the comment referenced above:
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Omega
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Post by Omega on Feb 17, 2024 14:50:44 GMT -5
The problem is there is no point guard on this team. RB, with confidence, ran an efficient offense, the guys missed a lot of open, I mean wide open shots.
If RB continues to run the team like he did, they will pick up 1 or 2 more wins...
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Feb 17, 2024 14:52:49 GMT -5
The problem is there is no point guard on this team. RB, with confidence, ran an efficient offense, the guys missed a lot of open, I mean wide open shots. If RB continues to run the team like he did, they will pick up 1 or 2 more wins... The offense clearly ran better with Brumbaugh at point than Epps. I think that was clear. I think it's also clear that Brumbaugh has matured and improved from the beginning of the year and mid-season when he was very shaky.
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TC
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Post by TC on Feb 17, 2024 14:57:12 GMT -5
Our only high major win was with Brumbaugh running the show and Epps sitting.
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Post by reformation on Feb 17, 2024 16:28:06 GMT -5
Look, the team is nowhere near talented enough to be competitive consistently vs good teams--no sense obsessing about it. Brumbaugh's play yesterday was encouraging Hopefully he can continue to develop. Still not sure if he can start on a high-level team, but Cooley should use him as the point rest of way and see what he can do.
Agree with others that the off season is critical as is the integration of the incoming freshman.
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Feb 17, 2024 17:15:17 GMT -5
The problem is there is no point guard on this team. RB, with confidence, ran an efficient offense, the guys missed a lot of open, I mean wide open shots. If RB continues to run the team like he did, they will pick up 1 or 2 more wins... The offense clearly ran better with Brumbaugh at point than Epps. I think that was clear. I think it's also clear that Brumbaugh has matured and improved from the beginning of the year and mid-season when he was very shaky. Everyone thinks progress in linear. It is not. Players have good games, and poor games, games where they appear to be making progress and and games when they seem to be regressing, games against teams that are a great match-up personally and games that aren’t. Rowan was ill shortly after the beginning of the season. His form dramatically decreased when he returned. Then , he seemed to lose confidence for a while. I like Rowan’s game. I think he is a big part of a long-term solution at PG. I think Rowan played well vs. Nova and is making progress. I also think Nova is probably a pretty good match-up for him. Let’s see a repeat performance against high-pressure St. John’s
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Post by practice on Feb 18, 2024 9:15:16 GMT -5
There's no reason not to start Brumbaugh and Epps in the back court -- when the alternatives have been either Massoud for shooting or Bristol for defense as the 5th starter. RB looks like the lightbulb has gone off and the intimidation factor has gone down. Right now he appears to the best PG on paper going into next season. Also, Epps looks either fatigued from playing point or injured. He's also his worst as a pass first player. He should be playing off the ball looking for step in 3s or creating his own shot situations. One thing about Braumbaugh is he is almost too unselfish .. he should drive to the basket and shoot ... rather than try to hit an unreliable 3 pt shooter like Bristol or drop the ball off to Cook whose hands were a little unreliable on Friday.
Another thing -- if Massoud is going to play, they need to create 3 point shots for him immediately. He's a disaster on defense and despite some early season promise, should not drive with the ball. Just fire up 3s ... if he's hot, use him ... if not let Fielder eat up minutes from Massoud, Bristol (that seemingly reliable 3 pt shot is gone!) and maybe Heath. Heath is maddening ... at his best, he's a threat to shoot but he appears to move effortlessly -- in this case WITHOUT EFFORT -- at all times. He can sometimes guard a guy one-on-one but whenever he needs to switch or play team defense he's the worst. There's plenty of blame to go around, but it feels like 100% of the time an opposing player is wide open for a 3 that Epps and Massoud are involved.
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