Georgetown - Lehigh 11/6/24 Discussion

[jwp91]

Nov 7, 2024 11:15:57 GMT -5 wolveribe said:

I was surprised by the lack of time from Mulready (did make defensive impact in limited action) and McKenna

I think Mulready is coming off an injury and not fully back. I would expect him to see a higher % of minutes in the future.

[EtomicB]

Nov 7, 2024 11:15:57 GMT -5 wolveribe said:

I made some notes last night and then checked some analytical sites this morning just to make sure Im not completely off base on what I saw.  

First a couple really good things: 

Epps/Mack/Peavy/Burks/Sorber- Only 10 minutes played together but had a +59.1ratings....107.5- offense, 48.4 on defense. 

Same lineup with Fielder in for Burks had 8 minutes and 7.6 rating. Other lineups were 5 minutes or less together.  

I like that the shots were spread out.  Sorber, Mack, Epps, and Peay all over 10 shots a piece.

The additions of Curtis Williams and Burks adds a lot to the defense. I know the starters may have some trouble defending but we at least have a couple options (along with Peavy for defense). I've always read Curtis can shoot, more on that.

Way more athleticism this year

I don't think our 3 point shooting is going to be a major problem, TBH. It probably isn't great but other than Epps, they can all make them at least at close to an average mark. One game doesn't change that. 

I was surprised by the lack of time from Mulready (did make defensive impact in limited action) and McKenna

Peavy was great in the first half, then Epps picked up the slack, Mack turned it on late.  Sorber was more of a consistent threat throughout.  

I don't get the criticism of Sorber....I didn't expect 20 point double double in game 1. He had a couple blocks, really strong rebounds, and showed some good feet and ability to use both hands. I think he missed 1 shot at the rim where he was not fouled. His misses were mid range and 3 point shots. 

In the first half we took a couple bad 3 point attempts. Those I dont like but I'm not gonna get mad at anyone taking an open catch and shoot 3. 

I thought the defense was below par but not horrendous. I think they had a tendency to overhelp last night and got out of position. We would help when the defender did not need the help. Having said that, Burks and Sorber will be much tougher to score on in the paint than what we had last year. Lehigh hit a few off the dribble step back threes with defenders in their face. I cant hate on the defense for that...thats why I say below par and not horrendous.

There was a stretch in the 2nd half where the refs were trash. Right around the time Mack got a touch foul and Cooley said "thats 4 pushoffs"

I noted that Epps took a bad shot (very few last year) and Fielder let him know about it bc he had a smaller player on him. Epps took the criticism well. 

Fielder was pretty much just there but not concerned, its just 1 game. 

Saw some good things from Julius, he's gonna help us this year. 

Peavy was the best player on the court besides maybe Sorber. I was shocked at how advanced his offensive game was.  

This isn't accurate, Peavy has never shown to be a shooter from deep neither has Burks or Williams(his rep came from one aau weekend). Mack shot 34% overall last season but only 25% in conference games(I get he had mono).

Three point shooting is an issue for Gtown.

[thedragon]

Nov 7, 2024 9:09:23 GMT -5 suicideslushpuppie said:

Hate to say it but based on that performance I think it's going to be another long season, finishing near the bottom of the conference with single-digit wins again.

This is the epitome of why a lot of Gtown bball fans have fled from Hoyatalk (beyond how abysmal weve been). One game. That we won. And proclamations of a single digit win season. 🤢

[smokeyjack]

I def think 3-point shooting will be an issue all season. Outside of Epps, only Mack looks like a might be a reasonably efficient option from deep. And both of those guys are small. I def think it’s going to be a prob.

[trotters10]

Nov 7, 2024 11:48:35 GMT -5 smokeyjack said:

I def think 3-point shooting will be an issue all season. Outside of Epps, only Mack looks like a might be a reasonably efficient option from deep. And both of those guys are small. I def think it’s going to be a prob.

Likely true, but you're discounting the fact that we have 3 capable bigs who can shoot the 3, and I'd argue one of our bigs (Fielder) is the best 3-point shooter on the team. Julius looked really comfortable on his 3-pointer (on the first 3 point shot of his college career I might add). 

I don't think our 3 point shooting will be great, but you can't just fail to mention 3 players that can also shoot threes. 

[prhoya]

Nov 7, 2024 7:57:01 GMT -5 jackofjoy said:

Post game presser

Great press conference with good questions and better answers! These players love their coach. I liked Peavy’s honesty when he said it was nerves. Loved Cooley’s reaction to playing at McD!!!

Any questions on which LeHigh players are targets for next year? 🤣

Overall, a W is a good game (an opposite to moral victories). The defense went from poor to improved. Cooley showed zone, which I think will be needed to get Fielder to the perimeter on offense. Good rebounding! Epps played in control.

[rhw485]

I think there were enough positives to be excited about and enough things that look to be legit concerns that you can focus on whichever you want.  Will admit i missed the first 10 game minutes (at which point we had given up 25 so on pace for 100).  But caught the rest and had some thoughts:

• My pre-season comments in the other thread about Epps might have been misinterpreted to imply I didnt think he was capable of showing more restraint.  I didn't have a strong view either way just that I thought it would be critical to the teams success on offense.  Consider game 1 a huge success in that regard.  I thought he did a great job of picking his spots, not forcing too many shots, and taking over for a small stretch midway through 2nd half when we needed him.  Overall a great performance
• Mack, if anything, was a little more like Epps last year in terms of forcing some unnecessary shots.  I thought he showed some good vision but forced a little bit.  Down the stretch he looked to get more comfortable.  I think we'll see some improvement over the next couple of games as he gets more acclimated
• I actually see both sides of the pro/con Sorber stuff.  At a high level, I think the sky is the limit considering he's just a freshman.  He's really gone through a body transformation since the day he committed to Gtown and was more explosive than I expected.  I'm not worried about some of the bunny misses, I liked that he had some bully ball post moves, and I LOVED his free throw form.  On the flip side, I'm not sure he's a practical rim protector at 6'9 without elite hops.  He had some nice blocks last night but we still let Lehigh shoot 61% at the rim.  So I get why Cooley was trying lineups with two of Sorber, Julius, Fielder, but those also looked a little clunky.  And while Burks looked awesome on defense, I didn't see anything on offense that makes me think he's a real BE offensive threat.  So it feels like one of those things that's going to be a delicate balance of playing Burks to try and help cover defensively but combined w Peavy not being a real 3 point threat is your spacing toast.  Will be monitoring this closely
• I dont love picking on freshman in their first game, but Caleb Williams got a little bit of a defensive baptism in his 2nd half run.  When it looked like Gtown might pull away early in 2nd half on back of two Sorber low post buckets, the lead is 8 and Peavy goes to the bench for Caleb.  I had the next 7 points Lehigh scored as plays where Caleb was primary defender that got beat (one was a straight dusting to the hoop for a layup, the next one he allowed deep drive for a dump off, and then as a result he was way off a 3 point shooter to avoid getting beat).  And suddenly its back to a tied game.  And that's generally ok, I have no issues in Game 1 seeing what works and what doesnt.  And the team hunkered down and made sure it wasn't a huge sweat.  But also a scenario where if the rotation is tighter we probably could've blown that wide open.
• I missed the beginning so I didnt see Fielders early run.  But in the 2nd half his activity on the offensive glass was huge.  His 3 point shot rimmed out.  I'm still looking for a "leap" but I definitely missed the part of the game that caused some concern from others.

Onto the next one.  Hoya Saxa

[wolveribe]

Nov 7, 2024 11:41:10 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

Nov 7, 2024 11:15:57 GMT -5 wolveribe said:

I made some notes last night and then checked some analytical sites this morning just to make sure Im not completely off base on what I saw.  

First a couple really good things: 

Epps/Mack/Peavy/Burks/Sorber- Only 10 minutes played together but had a +59.1ratings....107.5- offense, 48.4 on defense. 

Same lineup with Fielder in for Burks had 8 minutes and 7.6 rating. Other lineups were 5 minutes or less together.  

I like that the shots were spread out.  Sorber, Mack, Epps, and Peay all over 10 shots a piece.

The additions of Curtis Williams and Burks adds a lot to the defense. I know the starters may have some trouble defending but we at least have a couple options (along with Peavy for defense). I've always read Curtis can shoot, more on that.

Way more athleticism this year

I don't think our 3 point shooting is going to be a major problem, TBH. It probably isn't great but other than Epps, they can all make them at least at close to an average mark. One game doesn't change that. 

I was surprised by the lack of time from Mulready (did make defensive impact in limited action) and McKenna

Peavy was great in the first half, then Epps picked up the slack, Mack turned it on late.  Sorber was more of a consistent threat throughout.  

I don't get the criticism of Sorber....I didn't expect 20 point double double in game 1. He had a couple blocks, really strong rebounds, and showed some good feet and ability to use both hands. I think he missed 1 shot at the rim where he was not fouled. His misses were mid range and 3 point shots. 

In the first half we took a couple bad 3 point attempts. Those I dont like but I'm not gonna get mad at anyone taking an open catch and shoot 3. 

I thought the defense was below par but not horrendous. I think they had a tendency to overhelp last night and got out of position. We would help when the defender did not need the help. Having said that, Burks and Sorber will be much tougher to score on in the paint than what we had last year. Lehigh hit a few off the dribble step back threes with defenders in their face. I cant hate on the defense for that...thats why I say below par and not horrendous.

There was a stretch in the 2nd half where the refs were trash. Right around the time Mack got a touch foul and Cooley said "thats 4 pushoffs"

I noted that Epps took a bad shot (very few last year) and Fielder let him know about it bc he had a smaller player on him. Epps took the criticism well. 

Fielder was pretty much just there but not concerned, its just 1 game. 

Saw some good things from Julius, he's gonna help us this year. 

Peavy was the best player on the court besides maybe Sorber. I was shocked at how advanced his offensive game was.  

This isn't accurate, Peavy has never shown to be a shooter from deep neither has Burks or Williams(his rep came from one aau weekend). Mack shot 34% overall last season but only 25% in conference games(I get he had mono).

Three point shooting is an issue for Gtown.

Mack at 34% as a freshman is impressive.  Peavy is 31% last year, I get that.  Burks- I dont expect to shoot. Curtis Williams was known as a shooter and not just "1 AAU weekend"  Fielder can shoot  

[EtomicB]

Nov 7, 2024 12:01:29 GMT -5 trotters10 said:

Nov 7, 2024 11:48:35 GMT -5 smokeyjack said:

I def think 3-point shooting will be an issue all season. Outside of Epps, only Mack looks like a might be a reasonably efficient option from deep. And both of those guys are small. I def think it’s going to be a prob.

Likely true, but you're discounting the fact that we have 3 capable bigs who can shoot the 3, and I'd argue one of our bigs (Fielder) is the best 3-point shooter on the team. Julius looked really comfortable on his 3-pointer (on the first 3 point shot of his college career I might add). 

I don't think our 3 point shooting will be great, but you can't just fail to mention 3 players that can also shoot threes. 

If the offense runs in the way it did last night there will be limited chances for the players you view as capable shooters.

[bigskyhoya]

I don't think it is meaningful to project how a team with virtually an entirely new roster will perform this year based on only one game. What is clear is that we have substantially upgraded our talent level, while some of our rivals are downgraded.

[jackofjoy]

Nov 7, 2024 12:09:21 GMT -5 rhw485 said:

I think there were enough positives to be excited about and enough things that look to be legit concerns that you can focus on whichever you want.  Will admit i missed the first 10 game minutes (at which point we had given up 25 so on pace for 100).  But caught the rest and had some thoughts:

• My pre-season comments in the other thread about Epps might have been misinterpreted to imply I didnt think he was capable of showing more restraint.  I didn't have a strong view either way just that I thought it would be critical to the teams success on offense.  Consider game 1 a huge success in that regard.  I thought he did a great job of picking his spots, not forcing too many shots, and taking over for a small stretch midway through 2nd half when we needed him.  Overall a great performance
• Mack, if anything, was a little more like Epps last year in terms of forcing some unnecessary shots.  I thought he showed some good vision but forced a little bit.  Down the stretch he looked to get more comfortable.  I think we'll see some improvement over the next couple of games as he gets more acclimated
• I actually see both sides of the pro/con Sorber stuff.  At a high level, I think the sky is the limit considering he's just a freshman.  He's really gone through a body transformation since the day he committed to Gtown and was more explosive than I expected.  I'm not worried about some of the bunny misses, I liked that he had some bully ball post moves, and I LOVED his free throw form.  On the flip side, I'm not sure he's a practical rim protector at 6'9 without elite hops.  He had some nice blocks last night but we still let Lehigh shoot 61% at the rim.  So I get why Cooley was trying lineups with two of Sorber, Julius, Fielder, but those also looked a little clunky.  And while Burks looked awesome on defense, I didn't see anything on offense that makes me think he's a real BE offensive threat.  So it feels like one of those things that's going to be a delicate balance of playing Burks to try and help cover defensively but combined w Peavy not being a real 3 point threat is your spacing toast.  Will be monitoring this closely
• I dont love picking on freshman in their first game, but Caleb Williams got a little bit of a defensive baptism in his 2nd half run.  When it looked like Gtown might pull away early in 2nd half on back of two Sorber low post buckets, the lead is 8 and Peavy goes to the bench for Caleb.  I had the next 7 points Lehigh scored as plays where Caleb was primary defender that got beat (one was a straight dusting to the hoop for a layup, the next one he allowed deep drive for a dump off, and then as a result he was way off a 3 point shooter to avoid getting beat).  And suddenly its back to a tied game.  And that's generally ok, I have no issues in Game 1 seeing what works and what doesnt.  And the team hunkered down and made sure it wasn't a huge sweat.  But also a scenario where if the rotation is tighter we probably could've blown that wide open.
• I missed the beginning so I didnt see Fielders early run.  But in the 2nd half his activity on the offensive glass was huge.  His 3 point shot rimmed out.  I'm still looking for a "leap" but I definitely missed the part of the game that caused some concern from others.

Onto the next one.  Hoya Saxa

He just didn't seem super active, and/or they weren't looking for him.  If I'm Cooley, I find a way to get him a couple pick and pops or drag outs to a corner three in the first 5 minutes of the game to get him involved.

[SDHoya]

Peavy looks like he can be the go-to guy on both ends of the floor--at least as good as advertised. Obviously, competition wasn't great, but good signs.

Sorber and Julius (IN THEIR FIRST COLLEGIATE GAMES!!!) looked more than comfortable on the floor. I assume Julius' minutes were limited due to conditioning issues, but we'll see much more of him as the season progresses. There will be plenty of growing pains, but the upgrade there is already immense, including on defense.

Fielder is an incomplete--wasn't really a game for him, but he did okay in his minutes.

Epps as an instant offense guy is nice to see. Don't need to lean on him as much, less forcing it, more efficiency. And now a greater opportunity to pull him for defensive replacements when the situation calls for it.

Mack was the biggest concern for me. Albeit I did not watch the second half as closely, but felt he forced it a bit too much and shot did not look great. Still helpful having him out there to take ball handling away from Epps. Not overly concerned yet, let's see how he does in next few games.

Curtis, Burks, Mulready--elite athleticism and potential for excellent man-on-man defense. Even if they don't score much, they give us something we sorely lacked last season.

Caleb--honestly didn't really notice him out there, but see he logged 7 minutes.

McKenna--any idea why he didn't play? Was he in uniform?

Offense--overall improved and diversified. Three point shooting the obvious concern.

Defense--not there yet, but showing signs. Increased athleticism helped, now need to be consistent.

[EtomicB]

Nov 7, 2024 12:19:53 GMT -5 wolveribe said:

Nov 7, 2024 11:41:10 GMT -5 EtomicB said:

This isn't accurate, Peavy has never shown to be a shooter from deep neither has Burks or Williams(his rep came from one aau weekend). Mack shot 34% overall last season but only 25% in conference games(I get he had mono).

Three point shooting is an issue for Gtown.

Mack at 34% as a freshman is impressive.  Peavy is 31% last year, I get that.  Burks- I dont expect to shoot. Curtis Williams was known as a shooter and not just "1 AAU weekend"  Fielder can shoot  

34% isn't impressive even for a frosh it's solid for sure but they're Jahvon Blair numbers throughout his career.

I hope you're right about Cu. Williams but his 35 of 122 last season doesn't give me any reason to think he's a solid shooter.

As I stated in the previous post, we'll have to see if the offense flows in a way that allows the bigs to get 3pt chances.

[jwp91]

McKenna is looking like the 11th guy on the roster right now. I don't think he is injured.

[harlemhoya]

Please don’t compare Sorber to Govan. This kid has a chance to be a real player. Having a legit post presence gives us a real chance to win a lot of basketball games. I’m legit excited to watch Hoyas play basketball this year. Sorber has a chance to be a special big. Othella not dunking the basketball with two hands on the side pick and roll between him and Epps.

[HometownHoya]

Coach had it right, B- on offense and D on defense. Lots of room for growth but lots of time for it!

[smokeyjack]

Nov 7, 2024 13:19:09 GMT -5 harlemhoya said:

Please don’t compare Sorber to Govan. This kid has a chance to be a real player. Having a legit post presence gives us a real chance to win a lot of basketball games. I’m legit excited to watch Hoyas play basketball this year. Sorber has a chance to be a special big. Othella not dunking the basketball with two hands on the side pick and roll between him and Epps.

Absolutely 💯
Sorber is about 10x more athletic and gifted than Govan. Jess was fine, even good at times. But nobody ever confused him with an NBA-level athlete. He was a stiff with some nice skills.
Sorber demonstrated more athleticism in his first college game - particularly with his catch radius and movement than JG did in his entire career. His ceiling is exponentially higher.

[daveg023]

Nov 7, 2024 11:48:35 GMT -5 smokeyjack said:

I def think 3-point shooting will be an issue all season. Outside of Epps, only Mack looks like a might be a reasonably efficient option from deep. And both of those guys are small. I def think it’s going to be a prob.

That was my biggest takeaway / concern from last night.   I think the D can get cleaned up, and Mack will settle in (like he did in the second half).   But not sure where the shooting is going to come from, in a game that is rapidly become more dependent on who makes more 3's on a given night.

The only person I think has the chance to help fill this void is Curtis Williams, but he may turn out to be a streaky shooter at best.  Given Burks' shortcomings on that side of the ball, teams are going to be able to pack in the middle and make it tougher on Sorber to get the same looks at the rim he did last night.  Plus guys can sag off on most pick and roll action until Mack and Epps prove it with a few makes early.

As others have mentioned, perhaps Fielder and Julius can help spacing by pulling their men out, as they have the potential to knock down perimeter shots.  

[bostonfan]

Nov 7, 2024 13:31:55 GMT -5 daveg023 said:

Nov 7, 2024 11:48:35 GMT -5 smokeyjack said:

I def think 3-point shooting will be an issue all season. Outside of Epps, only Mack looks like a might be a reasonably efficient option from deep. And both of those guys are small. I def think it’s going to be a prob.

That was my biggest takeaway / concern from last night.   I think the D can get cleaned up, and Mack will settle in (like he did in the second half).   But not sure where the shooting is going to come from, in a game that is rapidly become more dependent on who makes more 3's on a given night.

The only person I think has the chance to help fill this void is Curtis Williams, but he may turn out to be a streaky shooter at best.  Given Burks' shortcomings on that side of the ball, teams are going to be able to pack in the middle and make it tougher on Sorber to get the same looks at the rim he did last night.  Plus guys can sag off on most pick and roll action until Mack and Epps prove it with a few makes early.

As others have mentioned, perhaps Fielder and Julius can help spacing by pulling their men out, as they have the potential to knock down perimeter shots.  

I think that both Caleb Williams and McKenna are supposed to be pretty good shooters. I guess the question for those guys is, does the rest of their game come along to the point where they earn more playing time.

[DanMcQ]

Seeing what befell Villanova in their first game, I am not all that surprised that the rotation was limited last night. I think Coach Ed realizes that not only player/team growth are important in the preseason but wins while doing so is at least as important. I expect it to expand as the preseason moves along.