drquigley
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by drquigley on Nov 21, 2024 10:52:09 GMT -5
We need to thank the MSM coach for deciding to press us in the second half. Led to some easy buckets and clearly sped up the game to our benefit. Also covered up our major weakness, i.e. inability to shoot 3's. Folks, Pitino figured this out 40 years ago right after the 3 point shot was instituted. You gotta have at least 2 decent 3 point shooters on the floor at all times. The old way of feeding the paint doesn't work anymore (except against inferior, smaller teams like we saw last night). I'm enjoying the blowouts against the cupcakes but we are in for a rude awakening when we start BE play or face legit D1 teams like ND, WVU or Syracuse.
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Nov 21, 2024 10:55:58 GMT -5
On the plus side I was able to start a cheer all on my own and it could heard throughout the arena. Great game! Loved getting an easy win which hasn't happened much the last five years. Williams is an intangibles guy for sure. Still need a lot more from Mack. He needs to figure out how to distribute and his shot he leans back way too much and doesn't go up straight. You are fighting gravity that way.
Julius doesn't move his feet that well yet. He definitely doesn't move outside of his area. If he can add that, watch out.
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bigskyhoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by bigskyhoya on Nov 21, 2024 11:23:03 GMT -5
We definitely have some talent on this team but they also work hard. We fight for every loose ball and when we commit a silly turnover, which is still too frequent, we often steal it back. The weak link so far in my opinion is Mack. On offense, he doesn't seem strong enough to consistently finish at the rim and his shooting has also been suspect. On defense, I haven't seen much to commend. And this is against much weaker competition than we will face in league play. Curious if Coach has a Plan B.
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 21, 2024 12:05:31 GMT -5
Fielder, one of our best shooters, has only 4 3pt FGAs, all misses. Cooley needs to incorporate Fielder more into the offensive scheme to make him shoot and get him going offensively. His skill is too valuable, esp. in a roster like ours. The next four games present the perfect opportunity. I think his 3pt shooting is only effective against as a stretch 5 against slower centers. As a stretch 4 he can’t seem to get open because defensive 4s can close out too quickly on him. This is why I don’t think he can really play in tandem with either Sorber or Halafoluni. |
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thedragon
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Post by thedragon on Nov 21, 2024 12:20:45 GMT -5
We won by 30 last night in maybe our most complete game of the year and there is almost exclusive negativity from the same tired posters. Welcome to HT.
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by SFHoya99 on Nov 21, 2024 12:41:49 GMT -5
A win that I think was generally moving us in the right direction. Will be tough to believe it until we do it against a high major but you saw small steps of progress, which is all you can ask for against that opponent: - Lets just start off by acknowledging it's not easy to blow teams out by 30. You can scoff at it all you want, but bad teams struggle to do it and good teams get it done yet. We're clearly not a good team but for a night we took care of business
- There were two rotation shifts that I think are relevant. First, Fielder starting over Burks and playing his most minutes of the season. 13 minutes the first two games he played, 22 tonight. I think that speaks to Cooley realizing he needs to find some way to get his shooting on the floor. It hasn't worked yet but he's more of a threat than Burks. And it really goes back to the question I posed before the season started, can Fielder or Sorber survive defensively at the 4? This isn't the opponent to challenge it but if they can be on the court together it helps immensely
- Second, Curtis Williams dropped from the rotation. We all saw how disastrous his stint was against ND. Mulready seems well ahead of him in the pecking order. I get why Cooley wanted to see if there was shooting juice from Williams but Mulready's defense is too impactful to keep off the court
- Non Mack/Epps 3 point shooters: 2-8, both from Peavy. We simply have to find it somewhere. Mulready and Williams attempts didnt look like they ever had a chance.
- I thought the defense looked better, but you can just see the difference in how some guys can fight over screens vs. others. Epps and Mack struggle to do it and then watch Peavy, Mulready and even Caleb Williams just make it more difficult for the ball handler. I'm also a little worried about our defensive rebounding, right now we let opponents grab 30% of their misses which is 190th in country. When our forced turnover rate comes down against better competition, that wont be sustainable
Hoya Saxa
I think the Fielder question is still very much up in the air, but I don't think this game was all that encouraging. He really didn't look all that great against a weak opponent. He's still missing rotations, still slow on defense and was not especially effective offensively. On the other hand, I'm there with you on Mulready. I love Williams' length, but Mulready is already a good defender and while his offense is basically within two feet of the basket at best, he at least doesn't shoot as much as Williams, I guess? I think there can be a lot more upside there. But it's one more guy that can't shoot. If we could keep 30% opponent offensive rebounding percent, that would be okay. Honestly, that's about two rebounds per a really good defensive rebounding team; it's not that bad. But the problem is that we've played three cupcakes, so I don't know that we can keep 30%. |
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SFHoya99
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
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Post by SFHoya99 on Nov 21, 2024 12:42:41 GMT -5
I really enjoyed the way Caleb Williams played in this one. He got a few defensive rebounds out of his area, flying in and assertively attacking the ball. He was very active and effective defensively. Offensively - he was always moving, never let the ball stick in his hands, made one or two nice passes/cuts, etc. He brings a lot of energy, and seems to have a pretty good feel for the game for a freshman. i'm looking forward to seeing how he develops. I think both he and Mulready staked a claim. If we're not going to have shooters, we can at least have guys who do everything else. |
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 21, 2024 12:56:47 GMT -5
A win that I think was generally moving us in the right direction. Will be tough to believe it until we do it against a high major but you saw small steps of progress, which is all you can ask for against that opponent: - Lets just start off by acknowledging it's not easy to blow teams out by 30. You can scoff at it all you want, but bad teams struggle to do it and good teams get it done yet. We're clearly not a good team but for a night we took care of business
- There were two rotation shifts that I think are relevant. First, Fielder starting over Burks and playing his most minutes of the season. 13 minutes the first two games he played, 22 tonight. I think that speaks to Cooley realizing he needs to find some way to get his shooting on the floor. It hasn't worked yet but he's more of a threat than Burks. And it really goes back to the question I posed before the season started, can Fielder or Sorber survive defensively at the 4? This isn't the opponent to challenge it but if they can be on the court together it helps immensely
- Second, Curtis Williams dropped from the rotation. We all saw how disastrous his stint was against ND. Mulready seems well ahead of him in the pecking order. I get why Cooley wanted to see if there was shooting juice from Williams but Mulready's defense is too impactful to keep off the court
- Non Mack/Epps 3 point shooters: 2-8, both from Peavy. We simply have to find it somewhere. Mulready and Williams attempts didnt look like they ever had a chance.
- I thought the defense looked better, but you can just see the difference in how some guys can fight over screens vs. others. Epps and Mack struggle to do it and then watch Peavy, Mulready and even Caleb Williams just make it more difficult for the ball handler. I'm also a little worried about our defensive rebounding, right now we let opponents grab 30% of their misses which is 190th in country. When our forced turnover rate comes down against better competition, that wont be sustainable
Hoya Saxa
I think the Fielder question is still very much up in the air, but I don't think this game was all that encouraging. He really didn't look all that great against a weak opponent. He's still missing rotations, still slow on defense and was not especially effective offensively. %. Some of it’s mental. Fielder tries to close out on 3 pt shooters then changed his mind and tried to get back inside to cover the big and ends up covering neither in no man’s land. He would do this later year then did it again against Notre Dame and was immediately yanked. He’s overthinking things. |
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kettlehill
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Posts: 1,194
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Post by kettlehill on Nov 21, 2024 12:58:11 GMT -5
There has been a lot of questioning of Cooley's use of front line players right to the end. This started with the scrimmages- I think it was the Virginia box score showing 4-5 players with 30+. I know that it is dangerous- re injury risk, but it does have a benefit- aside from the score. In one of his pressers Cooley- when talking about Sorber- said in effect- that the elite athletes were the best conditioned athletes. Let's hope we don't lose a key player late in a cupcake win...because this is going to pay off down the road.
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bostonfan
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by bostonfan on Nov 21, 2024 13:09:33 GMT -5
There has been a lot of questioning of Cooley's use of front line players right to the end. This started with the scrimmages- I think it was the Virginia box score showing 4-5 players with 30+. I know that it is dangerous- re injury risk, but it does have a benefit- aside from the score. In one of his pressers Cooley- when talking about Sorber- said in effect- that the elite athletes were the best conditioned athletes. Let's hope we don't lose a key player late in a cupcake win...because this is going to pay off down the road. I would have liked to see Cooley empty the bench with 3-4 minutes left last night and get everyone some run, but he does keep going back to comments about trying to find the best/right rotation so the guys get used to playing together. The only way the new guys get used to playing together, is by actually playing together in games. I understand the down side of this with someone possibly getting hurt in garbage time, or alienating some of the guys who are not getting any run, but I guess it is a balancing act on a team with so many new players. |
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 21, 2024 13:12:57 GMT -5
There has been a lot of questioning of Cooley's use of front line players right to the end. This started with the scrimmages- I think it was the Virginia box score showing 4-5 players with 30+. I know that it is dangerous- re injury risk, but it does have a benefit- aside from the score. In one of his pressers Cooley- when talking about Sorber- said in effect- that the elite athletes were the best conditioned athletes. Let's hope we don't lose a key player late in a cupcake win...because this is going to pay off down the road. I would have liked to see Cooley empty the bench with 3-4 minutes left last night and get everyone some run, but he does keep going back to comments about trying to find the best/right rotation so the guys get used to playing together. The only way the new guys get used to playing together, is by actually playing together in games. I understand the down side of this with someone possibly getting hurt in garbage time, or alienating some of the guys who are not getting any run, but I guess it is a balancing act on a team with so many new players. Pitino does this though. Tries to figure out lineup and rotations early in the season risking some early loses but it keeps an upward trajectory throughout the season instead of peaking too early at the beginning of the seasons |
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Nov 21, 2024 14:05:28 GMT -5
More McKenna for me. That is the only one I've seen something from who doesn't seem to be part of the rotation. I think he should be.
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Post by hoyasaxaphone on Nov 21, 2024 14:09:07 GMT -5
Don't get not giving McKenna some minutes. You invest a redshirt year on the guy and he looks like he has the ability to help on outside shooting....yet he sits. If he sits NOW, he will never see the court. And then he will be gone at the end of the year. Just don't get it.
While a long shot, why not give Austin Montgomery a little run. He made threes last year with a small sample size. Maybe there is nothing there....and Cooley can see that in practice.
Cooley can find his rotation in 36 minutes and give four during blowouts to other players.
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bills
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by bills on Nov 21, 2024 14:35:19 GMT -5
There has been a lot of questioning of Cooley's use of front line players right to the end. This started with the scrimmages- I think it was the Virginia box score showing 4-5 players with 30+. I know that it is dangerous- re injury risk, but it does have a benefit- aside from the score. In one of his pressers Cooley- when talking about Sorber- said in effect- that the elite athletes were the best conditioned athletes. Let's hope we don't lose a key player late in a cupcake win...because this is going to pay off down the road. I would have liked to see Cooley empty the bench with 3-4 minutes left last night and get everyone some run, but he does keep going back to comments about trying to find the best/right rotation so the guys get used to playing together. The only way the new guys get used to playing together, is by actually playing together in games. I understand the down side of this with someone possibly getting hurt in garbage time, or alienating some of the guys who are not getting any run, but I guess it is a balancing act on a team with so many new players. For a significant portion of the closing minutes Cooley cleared his bench and had only one starter on the floor - Fielder. He had very little floor time in the first three games and needed some tome to work on his game. He still only played about 23 minutes total. The other four players were another Sophomore Burks and Freshmen Julius, Caleb and Mulready. Those four are are primary subs and playing together as a unit is very good for them. Cooley is working to bring a very young group of players together as a team. If Curtis and McKenna want floor time they need to earn it at practice sessions. I think giving our 4 top subs significant playing time when we got a big lead makes MUCH more sense than finding a couple of minutes for the 10th and 11th player on the bench. There will be end of the bench players every year and this year our top subs are very young and need floor time. The end of the bench players may choose leave at the end of the year to get more playing time else where. I hope not, but our priority needs to be on building the strongest 9 man rotation we can from the roster we have. Playing time is earned at practice. It is a lot more important for us to keep the eight of out top nine who have eligibility remaining because they saw their skills improved with coaching and playing time, and they see the team getting stronger and better able to compete. Cooley made the right decision here. |
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Post by ColumbiaHeightsHoya on Nov 21, 2024 14:50:37 GMT -5
Don't get not giving McKenna some minutes. You invest a redshirt year on the guy and he looks like he has the ability to help on outside shooting....yet he sits. If he sits NOW, he will never see the court. And then he will be gone at the end of the year. Just don't get it. While a long shot, why not give Austin Montgomery a little run. He made threes last year with a small sample size. Maybe there is nothing there....and Cooley can see that in practice. Cooley can find his rotation in 36 minutes and give four during blowouts to other players. I don't agree on the walk on approach. I also don't agree that he will be gone if his minutes are limited. Cooley seems to be creating a competitive culture. Hopefully kids buy in and that competition lifts all boats. McKenna competing against a Peavy in practice is significant and last time I checked, there is going to be a big hole in the roster next year that McKenna is a prime candidate to fill. I just would like to see a bit more of him but I could see this being week to week and game to game based on what guys do in practice and there is nothing wrong with that. |
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jackofjoy
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
Posts: 310
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Post by jackofjoy on Nov 21, 2024 15:14:10 GMT -5
Happy for a Hoya Win, but this game should have been played on campus Again - they have a contract with Capital One Arena regarding the number of games there every season. I "liked" this twice because there's no "dislike" button |
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jackofjoy
Bulldog (over 250 posts)
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Post by jackofjoy on Nov 21, 2024 15:16:48 GMT -5
Again - they have a contract with Capital One Arena regarding the number of games there every season. Have we even tried to renegotiate the contractual requirement? You would think an alumni like Leonsis wouldn’t want his alma mater to be embarrassed on national TV over and over again. It’s like he donates $ to the university and we launder it back to him in the form of rent we wouldn’t agree to pay anyone else. Guys like Theodore don't get to $3B by doing favors that don't pay off ... what was the Wall Street line ... "you want a friend, get a dog" |
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lda05816
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
Posts: 607
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Post by lda05816 on Nov 21, 2024 15:26:00 GMT -5
I just did a very quick KenPom search (so it's possible I missed a game) and last night was the best defensive performance by points per possession since 12/8/2020. Obviously MSM isn't good but even by the eye test they looked much more competent last night. Mulready and Caleb both looked good on that end for FR. A long way to go to get the defense to the level it needs to be for this team to be competitive in conference, but last night was a step in the right direction.
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SDHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
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Post by SDHoya on Nov 21, 2024 15:49:13 GMT -5
I just did a very quick KenPom search (so it's possible I missed a game) and last night was the best defensive performance by points per possession since 12/8/2020. Obviously MSM isn't good but even by the eye test they looked much more competent last night. Mulready and Caleb both looked good on that end for FR. A long way to go to get the defense to the level it needs to be for this team to be competitive in conference, but last night was a step in the right direction. This. Two of the last three Hoyas games have been the best defensive performances statistically in the last 5 years. That they were both against iffy opponents, and the game in the middle was a breakdown against a better team, is certainly relevant. But the signs of something coherent are there. We can complain all we want about the offense stagnating at times and three point shooting being abysmal--but after the past few years, I'll certainly trade the Massouds and Rices of the world for the Peavys and Mulreadys. |
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conshyhoya
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Post by conshyhoya on Nov 21, 2024 19:03:03 GMT -5
I just did a very quick KenPom search (so it's possible I missed a game) and last night was the best defensive performance by points per possession since 12/8/2020. Obviously MSM isn't good but even by the eye test they looked much more competent last night. Mulready and Caleb both looked good on that end for FR. A long way to go to get the defense to the level it needs to be for this team to be competitive in conference, but last night was a step in the right direction. This. Two of the last three Hoyas games have been the best defensive performances statistically in the last 5 years. That they were both against iffy opponents, and the game in the middle was a breakdown against a better team, is certainly relevant. But the signs of something coherent are there. We can complain all we want about the offense stagnating at times and three point shooting being abysmal--but after the past few years, I'll certainly trade the Massouds and Rices of the world for the Peavys and Mulreadys. Not like we have had killer schedules the last 5 years so it is good to see we can play better defense even if it is against easier teams. Still have a long way to good but at least it is moving in the right direction. |
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