Georgetown - Lehigh 11/6/24 Discussion

[jackofjoy]

Nov 6, 2024 22:08:01 GMT -5 thedragon said:

Seemingly no post game presser available. Typical.

lol. We’re so jaded as a fan base

[professorhoya]

Nov 6, 2024 22:32:28 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

Thoughts on the game:

• While this game was closer than we like, I do think that we played it looser, from a coaching standpoint, than we will in the BE. Epps played a secondary role most of the game and the reality is that the two big lineup isn't going to work -- we will see a lot more Burks and Curtis Williams as the season goes on. And that lineup can defend.
• The defense was promising, but not good. There were a lot of bad possessions, but when we locked down, we were good. Again, Burks + Curtis and this team is much better defensively than last year. too many freshmen or two bigs and we're going to struggle.
• This should put to rest a lot of the Epps conversation. Yes, he's always going to be a bit of a heat check guy, a bit of a gunner, but he clearly waited this game and asserted himself when we needed it. Expect a lot more Epps in BE play than here -- he was holding back but won't when we need it. Also, that's not a bad thing no matter what most people will say.
• Sorber had big numbers but I was a bit disappointed. There's little in terms of low post moves and he's is not shockingly, freshman soft. I think he's got fantastic potential and is a great recruit, but the biggest negative takeaway is probably that in the BE, I do not think he's a plus rim protector or post scorer. That was too much to ask, but there it is.
• How much of this game was first game jitters from Mack and how much is this Malik Mack is the big question. Because he was not as much of a distributor as he needs to be, and he was not a good decision maker. He's advertised as better, and we need him to lean more pass than today, and to not gun so much. Everything people say about Epps was true about Mack today ...
• My #1 question for Cooley is ... we ran maybe 4 pnrs? And they all ended in easy buckets. Why aren't we running this more. Epps ran it incredibly well; Mack seemed to avoid it. All three bigs are good pnr guys -- can we stop trying to drive without a screen/pick?
• The officiating was trash. So many bad calls. If you fell down, regardless of contact, you got a call. I've forgotten how bad college refs are, but these dudes seemed like they weren't watching a good 50% of the time. They'd also let a ton of contact go and then call something ticky tack. High school level reffing.
• As a Warriors fan, I'm familiar with the idea that you shoot 3s when open, no matter what. But this team needs to stop settling because aside from Epps, they aren't good shooters. The margins are very small -- we just really can't afford lazy shots.
• We didn't roll them, and so I think I've lost some optimism. BUT, I do think Epps steps up, Mack plays better and we shorten the rotation come BE play. I know people wanted one of the centers to play PF -- I think Burks is going to be the guy. A big-Epps-Peavy-Burks-Williams team will be really reliant on Epps on offense, but it can defend.

I thought Sorber and Mack did great.

Fielder is the bigger issue and concern IMO.

[trotters10]

Good lord, tough crowd in here.

Interesting takeaway to be disappointed with Sorber (in any way). That was an incredible game by him. The little misses he did have around the hoop? Well, he got fouled on almost all those misses and went to the line and made a high percentage of free throws, which was impressive for a big in his first collegiate game. Also, concerns about rim protection from him? He had 2 blocks, and went straight up at least 2 or 3 times and forced the guys to miss layups, and didn't foul because he went straight up. I thought he was really impressive defensively as well. Again, especially for a guy in his first college game. Honestly, if Sorber doesn't play as well as he did, we might not have won. Lehigh (who is not a good team), actually played pretty well and shot the lights out in the first half (some was bad defense, some were well contested shots).

Other thoughts...

Thought Mack had a really good second half. The most important thing I saw from Mack was that he clearly has a quick first step, and that should do wonders in breaking down defenses as we go forward. Also was quick, but in control in that second half. I liked the pull up little floaters in the lane, as opposed to wildly attacking a big while being out of control.

I would like to see Julius and Drew (Fielder) take more shots from the outside going forward. I probably expected more from Drew, but it's one game, and he did have key moments in that second half where he was battling hard on the boards, tipping balls and getting us extra possessions. I would just like to see him taking a few more threes and being the kickout option.

Overall, very happy with the game. I expected us to beat them by more, but Lehigh was game tonight and made a lot of shots, so happy to get the win and very happy with our execution down the stretch. We pulled away when crunch time hit.

[DanMcQ]

[SSHoya]

Non-game observations:

Two seats for Amb. David (F "75)and Gretchen Welch next to TV broadcast table but I couldn't see whether they attended. They donated $4 million to basketball program and the practice court in the TAC is named for them. Amb Welch post-government career was at Bechtel. The 1984 NCAA Men's Basketball Dinner will be held in the practice court. I anticipate they will attend. Joe Lonardo will MC the dinner as he has done in many of the HHC Basketball Banquets in the past.

The play-by-play announcer was Dan Kolko and some may be unaware that he is a substitute PBP guy for the Nats. He started off as sideline reporter and still does that at many Nats games.

Women's Cross Country Team Big East Champs nicely feted at halftime.

Atmosphere inside McDonough was great. Students had a fun time. Many of the season tix holders from Section 101 in attendance.

Exiting the parking garage a bit of a PITA!😀

[suicideslushpuppie]

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.

[FrazierFanatic]

Regarding Sober - he is a kid, who like most tall high school players does not have to develop sophisticated mm oves to score. He has had less than 2 months to work with. college level coaches to develop those moves - while working on learning offensive and defensive systems, high level fundamentals, meshing with brand new teammates, etc. He is agile and athletic (they don't always go hand in hand) and will develop his offensive game - just like Jesse Govan did, a good comparison.Really excited by what I saw last night.

[bearsandbulls]

Nov 7, 2024 8:43:41 GMT -5 SSHoya said:

Non-game observations:

Two seats for Amb. David (F "75)and Gretchen Welch next to TV broadcast table but I couldn't see whether they attended. They donated $4 million to basketball program and the practice court in the TAC is named for them. Amb Welch post-government career was at Bechtel. The 1984 NCAA Men's Basketball Dinner will be held in the practice court. I anticipate they will attend. Joe Lonardo will MC the dinner as he has done in many of the HHC Basketball Banquets in the past.

The play-by-play announcer was Dan Kolko and some may be unaware that he is a substitute PBP guy for the Nats. He started off as sideline reporter and still does that at many Nats games.

Women's Cross Country Team Big East Champs nicely feted at halftime.

Atmosphere inside McDonough was great. Students had a fun time. Many of the season tix holders from Section 101 in attendance.

Exiting the parking garage a bit of a PITA!😀

SS, Having this game at McDonough obviously helps for overhead purposes (Lehigh in Capitol???), but the big thing is getting the students to engage with the BB program early and then going to Capitol as the season progresses. I would love to see as many games as practical in the pre season (certainly not 'cuse, etc.) at McDonough more for the latter reason and benefit from the former. Link the students to the team early and give reason to go to Capitol as the BE season evolves.

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

I don't understand the Fielder concern. The guy did non-stat sheet things throughout the night. I think I recall one kick out he got a shot on. He isn't going to dribble into a shot but as a pick & pop guy he is solid. I think all three of our bigs can be solid. Someone also mentioned we didn't really do a lot of pick & roll. Thus, a shooter like Fielder won't get opportunities in this setting. I think overall it was an OK night. The D potential is there. The O potential is there. When Lehigh was scorching in the first half we didn't panic. Guys will gel and the ceiling is considerably higher. I think the one thing I don't see evolving is wing shooting. Our bigs & small can shoot, but the 2's and 3's guys not so much.

[DanMcQ]

[smokeyjack]

Nov 7, 2024 9:10:37 GMT -5 FrazierFanatic said:

Regarding Sober - he is a kid, who like most tall high school players does not have to develop sophisticated mm oves to score. He has had less than 2 months to work with. college level coaches to develop those moves - while working on learning offensive and defensive systems, high level fundamentals, meshing with brand new teammates, etc. He is agile and athletic (they don't always go hand in hand) and will develop his offensive game - just like Jesse Govan did, a good comparison.Really excited by what I saw last night.

I actually think Govan is a dreadful comparison, because Sorber showed me more athleticism in one game that JG ever did. That save along the baseline where the shot clock expired is def the most athletic move I've seen from a GU pivot since Ewing showed up. Sorber has, in my opinion, the highest ceiling of any GU big in decades. Take a guy like Greg Monroe as a counterpoint; similar size, much more polish, VASTLY less athletic. TS does things athletically that are just different for a guy his size. He has loads of work to do to reach his potential, but he is crazy exciting.

Relative to the team as a whole, they are def better and there are a ton of interesting parts. But the D is still very dicey. Mack is a minus defender for sure, Peavy was disappointing defensively and Burks and Fielder REALLY struggled on both ends. I know why Cooley was trumpeting transition, because this team looks like it might struggle as much as last season's to generate ball-movement halfcourt offense. Not sure I can remember a single dime from our guards, but I certainly remember many desperate 3s and brutal 2s (Peavy ain't making those against BE defenders). On the positive side, between Peavy, Mack and Epps, we do have guys who can get to the rim. But we still DESPERATELY need a true facilitator. Mack isn't that guy. 

Overall, saw lots of good things, way more than bad. I don't think GU will be an embarrassment this season, but they're not ready to threaten the top half of the league yet either.  

[bills]

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.

My take on last night’s game is one word, defense.  In stretches, like the first five minutes of each half, it was missing in action.  In other stretches like the last five minutes of each half, it was totally suffocating.  Lehigh was not missing decent shots, they were scrambling to get any shot off.  I am the optimist that believes that those very effective stretches of defensive intensity are what we are capable of and the identity that the coaching staff is trying to build.  We will go as far as our defense takes us.  If we are trading baskets with the other team we will lose those games, especially in conference.  If we can learn from last night,and some more OOC games, how to play effective, intense team defense, we will significantly reduce the freshman mistakes, poor communication, and not being familiar with each other.

This team has a much higher ceiling than any teams we have had for long time.  But they have a lot of work to do to reach that ceiling.  If they can play 40 minutes of defense like they did to close out this game, very few teams will look forward to playing us.  If we can play that strong defense, we should be middle of the pack in the BE and have a shot at a .500 record there.  I am not going to talk about our record if we play defense like we did to start this game.

Lehigh is a better team than they showed against Northwestern.  As we painfully know, when open shots just don’t drop it can suck the whole life out of a team.  And when the basket seems as bid as a hula hoop, opposing teams can play well above their talent level.  We saw Lehigh do both and when they just could not get any decent looks, they crashed.  We let them look better than they are several times and we totally shut them down several times.  We will go as far as our defense takes us.

[jwp91]

That was Sorber's first game in college, and he did phenomenally well. No, he is not a finished product. Of course, he has areas in which he can improve. He is so far beyond what we have had in recent memory....

He will be fun to watch.

[professorhoya]

Nov 7, 2024 8:43:41 GMT -5 SSHoya said:

Non-game observations:

Two seats for Amb. David (F "75)and Gretchen Welch next to TV broadcast table but I couldn't see whether they attended. They donated $4 million to basketball program and the practice court in the TAC is named for them. Amb Welch post-government career was at Bechtel. The 1984 NCAA Men's Basketball Dinner will be held in the practice court. I anticipate they will attend. Joe Lonardo will MC the dinner as he has done in many of the HHC Basketball Banquets in the past.

The play-by-play announcer was Dan Kolko and some may be unaware that he is a substitute PBP guy for the Nats. He started off as sideline reporter and still does that at many Nats games.

Women's Cross Country Team Big East Champs nicely feted at halftime.

Atmosphere inside McDonough was great. Students had a fun time. Many of the season tix holders from Section 101 in attendance.

Exiting the parking garage a bit of a PITA!😀

It seemed like most students stayed the whole game instead of grabbing the t shirt and food and leaving. That was really good to see.

[jwp91]

Too early statistical check-in... It will be interesting to see which of these early observations turn out to be true.

Offensive Efficiency - 112.1 #52

Defensive Efficiency - 104.0 #160

Average Possession Length - 14.9 #41

Offensive Rebound % - 48.7 #7

Block % - 2.4 - #22

KenPom is projecting a record of 16-15 overall with a conference record of 7-13.

[SSHoya]

Nov 7, 2024 9:24:54 GMT -5 bearsandbulls said:

Nov 7, 2024 8:43:41 GMT -5 SSHoya said:

Non-game observations:

Two seats for Amb. David (F "75)and Gretchen Welch next to TV broadcast table but I couldn't see whether they attended. They donated $4 million to basketball program and the practice court in the TAC is named for them. Amb Welch post-government career was at Bechtel. The 1984 NCAA Men's Basketball Dinner will be held in the practice court. I anticipate they will attend. Joe Lonardo will MC the dinner as he has done in many of the HHC Basketball Banquets in the past.

The play-by-play announcer was Dan Kolko and some may be unaware that he is a substitute PBP guy for the Nats. He started off as sideline reporter and still does that at many Nats games.

Women's Cross Country Team Big East Champs nicely feted at halftime.

Atmosphere inside McDonough was great. Students had a fun time. Many of the season tix holders from Section 101 in attendance.

Exiting the parking garage a bit of a PITA!😀

SS, Having this game at McDonough obviously helps for overhead purposes (Lehigh in Capitol???), but the big thing is getting the students to engage with the BB program early and then going to Capitol as the season progresses. I would love to see as many games as practical in the pre season (certainly not 'cuse, etc.) at McDonough more for the latter reason and benefit from the former. Link the students to the team early and give reason to go to Capitol as the BE season evolves.

Agreed. I may be wrong but I think someone who knows more about our deal with Cap One said that Georgetown is contractually obligated to have a certain number of games there thus limiting the use of McDonough. The only other OOC game at McDonough is the Wagner game before Thanksgiving.

[professorhoya]

Is McKenna injured? Why didn’t he play a lot.

[wolveribe]

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.  

[dariantownesvanzandt]

Nov 7, 2024 11:14:48 GMT -5 professorhoya said:

Is McKenna injured? Why didn’t he play a lot.

He's probably the 11th man right now. That's the way it's been trending from practice reports, and didn't seem to be any different last night. He's the only scholarship guy who didn't see the floor.

I know people were expecting more, but he's out of the rotation at the moment.

[thedragon]

Nov 7, 2024 7:58:06 GMT -5 jackofjoy said:

Nov 6, 2024 22:08:01 GMT -5 thedragon said:

Seemingly no post game presser available. Typical.

lol. We’re so jaded as a fan base

Glad they posted it after the fact but usually for home games it's live. It was not last night.