guru
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Post by guru on Mar 3, 2024 15:25:18 GMT -5
Have to question the defensive scheme being played Cooley’s defensive plan was another one of his comedy routines.
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drquigley
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Post by drquigley on Mar 3, 2024 17:32:47 GMT -5
You've now moved the goal posts or in reality, changed the entire premise of the initial Q. I actually think there's a much better argument against the staff for their usage of Epps - it was clear since Day 1 that they gave Epps the longest leash, the keys to the bus, and the weight of being the best player. Now I tend to believe that they're an experienced staff and that their evaluation was likely correct - but considering the results both of team record and Epps poor shooting/shot selection/pick 6 turnovers on many nights, it was a failure any way you cut it. I'd argue it was out of necessity - and just the best bad option. But again, to me that's a much more defensible criticism then Rowans handling. If you’re initial comment was into my post earlier in this thread about mishandling of Rowan and Epps he absolutely did. One resulted in the other. At the time Rowan was sat he should’ve been getting the Epps treatment and vice versa. It’s clear what Epps is and it’s not a winning player. He can have spurts and he can take advantage of weaker players. He just doesn’t get what he should be to be a winning player and with the leash he was given why should he. The 1st half last night was good Epps minus some really bad turnovers. He probably didn’t see it that way which is why he came out and had a half like has killed us many times this year. Rowan on the other hand has shown potential and winning tendencies. His handle is the main thing holding him back. Instead of letting him grow at a point when the season was over he got a drastically lowered role for Epps and Heath. Cooley put together a bad roster but he compounded his mistake with his game management over and over. I don’t think thats any secret. Last night may have been his worst job yet. This team was going nowhere this year but if Cooley was an up and coming mid major coach we would be calling for his head the way this season has played out. This is really my point. Rowan is a freshman. Unless you have superior talent at his position you let him play and grow. We clearly don't and we're seeing now from Rowan what we might have seen a month or more ago. He's just the kind of smart gutsy pg that we need and I believe that a year from now he will clearly be the team leader. Again, if this were a tournament caliber team then sure you bring him along slowly. But I think Cooley, while trying to get the benefit of "building from scratch" really wanted a few more wins this year and he thought that Epps and Heath would get them for him. Giving Rowan and Fielder more pt might have cost him an OOC win and maybe even a DePaul loss but it would have given both guys a chance to mature and improve.
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Post by hsaxon on Mar 3, 2024 22:19:27 GMT -5
It will get better. Doesn’t erase Ed being a top 75 coach making top 10 money because DeGioia destroyed the program. Hey, at least DePaul doesn’t invest much in their program. Wish we had that excuse. Re DeGioia, sadly, Patrick was complicit. He could have resigned after a few seasons and certainly after season #5. Patrick said publicly that he did "not need the money."
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Post by hsaxon on Mar 3, 2024 22:23:12 GMT -5
Armchair observations from someone with very little appreciation for xs and os: Ryan - seems like a nice kid but his HS ranking was probably inflated but if he went somewhere else the dozens of people on the Board would have exploded. Rowan - I agree he knows how to be a true PG. He is very savvy and his stroke from 3 is better than I expected but he is a half a step slow on D. Re Ryan, I agree with you - he is simply not good enough and not strong or tough enough and he does not seem to have enough moxie to "mix it up." Sad but true.
He needed to spend the summer of 2022 (and 2023) in the weight room.
This summer, Ryan and Fielder need to spend it in the weight room.
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rhw485
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Post by rhw485 on Mar 4, 2024 9:44:48 GMT -5
I'm late here but I'm also a glutton for punishment. I went back through the play by play because my working theory was we blew a 10 point lead without making the other team hit a jumpshot outside the paint. We were up 10 at the 8 min mark. And away we go: - 8:15. Nzeh with made layup off offensive rebound (2 pts) 75-67
- 7:48. Nemeisksa made layup. I think this was Ish blown coverage (2 pts) 77-69
- 7:06: Styles fouls Nemeiksa on rebound while in bonus (good call imo). Makes both FT (2 pts) 77-71
- 6:48 Cook fouls Claude on rebound while in bonus (tough call, Cook does leap over him and lot of contact. Thought they would just award X the ball). Makes both FTs (2 pts) 77-73
- 6:24. Heath fouls Olivari after Epps turnover. Makes both Fts (2 pts) 77-75
- 6:03. Epps fouls Olivari. I think this was on perimeter and Epps hit him in face. Misses both but Rowan misses FT box out. Claude fouled by Styles (HATED this call, awful). Makes both (2pts) 79-77
- 5:05: Claude layup (2 pts) 79-79
- 4:24: Health steals from Nzeh. A STOP!!
- 4:12: Claude layup (2 pts) 81-81
- 3:30: Claude layup (2 pts) 83-31
For those counting at home: - 10 possessions - 18 points - 1.8 PPP
And that is how you blow a lead. Down the stretch Claude did hit a jumper and then McKnight hit the dagger 3 with 1:23 left. But by then you had already blown the game.
How much of this is on Cooley? I dont know. Multiple dumb fouls (a few questionable calls), turnover leading to foul etc. Xavier basically decided they weren't taking a jumper and we couldn't stop them. It was a simple down screen to get Claude curling at the FT line and in the middle of the court so doubling was difficult. Same play over and over. Should we have gone zone? I dont know. The one time we overhelped on the play was when Mcknight hit the dagger 3. We simply lacked a defender who could fight through screen and body him up. And our big men get sealed on drives and it's uncontested layups.
I dont think Cooley forgot how to coach defense, but for me it's focusing on bringing in size / athletes who can protect rim better. I think McKenna is going to be a factor right away as a properly sized 4. Fielder at least tries to block shots (got a good one in first half) but he cant stay on court without fouling. There's just a lot of work to be done, I think its multiple frontcourt guys in the portal.
And the bottom line is: 3 seasons, 1 non-DePaul big east win. I really thought Cooley would bring a baseline level of competence in season 1. Now is hoping for 5 BE wins and getting 2 the end of the world? Not really. Will it impact the rebuild? The top 10 class is locked in, we're all just waiting to see if the sales pitch works in the portal. Hoya Saxa
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Post by RockawayHoya on Mar 4, 2024 11:26:17 GMT -5
Wasn't going to let this impact the rest of my weekend, but circling back to this game with a couple brief comments:
Thought it was interesting to hear Fanta talk about how Cooley specifically mentioned pre-game that the game was an opportunity to show what they've learned from the first X game that should've been a win. Outside of making some shots that they should make with more regularity but usually don't, I didn't get the impression we learned anything.
The lone bright spot over the last 5-6 games continues to be Rowan. I don't think he will ever evolve into a true difference maker, but I believe he does have the ceiling to become one of the key support guys that you can use to build around a bonafide go-to guy. Plus size gives him a chance to really excel at the 1, and his decision making and shooting continue to improve as the game is hopefully slowing down for him. Will be an important summer for him.
I forget which of the numerous Claude layups down the stretch it was, but there was a X possession late where Heath, as the primary defender, was literally retreating away from a driving Claude as he went in for the layup. Maybe one of the most puzzling and disappointing individual defensive efforts I've ever seen. The opposite of taking on a challenge head-on.
Agree that there was some questionable officiating, but honestly felt it was more missed calls that should've resulted in FTs for us vs. questionable fouls on some of our guys. Both teams were hacking the crap out of each other because they both couldn't defend worth a damn, but to have ~20 FT less attempts... didn't think that should have been the case.
Just please mercifully get to the end on March 13th so we can figure out how to clean up this mess.
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HoyaFanNY
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Post by HoyaFanNY on Mar 4, 2024 14:53:46 GMT -5
Epps does nothing but dominate the ball. Sorry, but Epps does a ton more than just "dominate the ball". IMO he dominates the ball a considerable amount of the time and not in a good way. he doesn't distribute enough he's a TO machine he doesn't defend he doesn't have good shot selection
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Post by bornhoya on Mar 4, 2024 18:08:37 GMT -5
Sorry, but Epps does a ton more than just "dominate the ball". IMO he dominates the ball a considerable amount of the time and not in a good way. he doesn't distribute enough he's a TO machine he doesn't defend he doesn't have good shot selection Kid has had over 5 assist his last couple of games and what scorer doesn’t take a couple of bad shots and Defense nobody on this team plays anything the resembles little league rec defense so how you gonna get mad at Epps for his
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jwp91
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Post by jwp91 on Mar 4, 2024 21:51:06 GMT -5
Epps is pretty far down my list of problems.
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