LaSalle/Virginia Tech Scrimmages

[SFHoya99]

I believe I saw a III quote saying one of the reasons he went with the scrimmages was because he has so much teaching to do early. This will help prepare the team better because:

1) You can stop a scrimmage, set up situations, etc.
2) It's a D-I opponent.

I think another factor he alluded to, is that he wanted the players to get more into the system before being subjected to public scrutiny.

All of which seems like a solid plan.

However, the school probably gave up $20-$30k in revenue at McDonough if they had charged $5 per person for the games. That's not peanuts.

Ongoing, do you think we will continue to do closed-door scrimmages? Has III alluded to any long-term setup? Just curious, as I think the scrimmage is probably vastly more useful but we are a cash-strapped program.

[Bahstin]

I thought there was a rule change that said you cannot scrimmage another D-I program and have a public audience. Perhaps someone else can confirm.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

I'm pretty sure that's correct. I think what SF was referring to was doing another Marymount-type exhibition, but I believe that, especially with the tests coming up in Nov-Dec on this year's schedule, every opportunity to practice against D-1 competition before taking on Illinois, Temple, etc. will be helpful, and will be more likely to translate into wins (and improved attendance and revenue figures) in the Big East season.

[DanMcQ]

Bahstin said:

I thought there was a rule change that said you cannot scrimmage another D-I program and have a public audience. Perhaps someone else can confirm.

You are correct. Such scrimmages must be conducted in private (see the LaSalle thread below).

[SFHoya99]

You basically have a choice:

1) Schedule a DI school and receive no revenue.
2) Schedule a below DI school and receive revenue.

We've made choice #2, and I was wondering what people thought of that.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

I say go with choice #1. I'd say part of the decline of the Hoyas over the last several years has been to pick choice 2 (otherwise known as the MEAC pre-conference schedule) over choice 1 (tougher teams that may require a home-and-home, but would better prepare the team for the conference season), way too often.

[HoyaLawya]

Most of the reason there are more D-1 to D-1 scrimmages this year is the fact that traveling all-star teams (e.g., EASports All-Stars) made up of former college stars who didn't quite make it onto NBA rosters are now off-limits for early action.

Which leaves D-1 programs picking exhibition game opponents from NAIA etc. schools. Probably less of a test. (Don't forget UCLA lost to an EA Sports squad not so very long ago.)

The NAIA lesser competitors selections can even backfire ...... viz., last night tiny little NAIA Carroll College out of Helena, MT just knocked off D-1 ISU.

But more normally, the NAIA squads aren't going to be much of a test and are -- for a lot of schools anyway -- extremely low-turnout audiences.

I think JT III made a wise decision to go the scrimmage route.

[DFW HOYA]

Here's where I would have liked to see one scrimmage and one exhibition.

Scrimmages are good for teaching but they tend to be fairly controlled and the feel of the game is not there. When the team walks out on the floor against Temple, they'll face a team that has already had a home game with Auburn the Friday before, so they'll be ready.

With so many newcomers, getting at least some competitive action in front of a crowd and under game conditions would have been a plus, if for no other reason than it would bring some needed attention to the team from students and local fans. Has there been a quieter period over the last three months in recent GU basketball history?

[SFHoya99]

III has hinted at it in interviews, but I think he knows that the team has a lot of struggles in learning the Princeton. He's made public comments that the practices have been kind of rough.

This, of course, is entirely to be expected. But I think some of the scrimmage v exhibition is that he wants to wait until as late as possible to subject this team to public scrutiny.

They have a lot to learn. I think we will beat Temple, but it might look pretty bad at times. Maybe it is a good thing no one will see it.

[chinatownfanclub]

Although I agree that the scrimmages are likely more beneficial, I think the team would def benefit as was mentioned before by suiting up and being involved in a "real game." Does anybody know if the scrimmages include real officials? I think the young guys will need to get used to how the game is going to be called especially since we are so inexperienced in the frontcourt