Shotclock Violations

[PushyGuyFanClub]

Comments from Chris Mooney (Princeton grad and new coach at US Air Force Academy).

"If teams are still surprised we're going to take 35 seconds to shoot, there's something wrong," Mooney said of his team. We'll do the same things as always. It's not a set system of plays as much as a way of playing."
sports.espn.go.com/ncb/columns/story?columnist=graney_ed&id=1929832

Eerie how much this sounds like JTIII.

The shot clock close calls and violations that we've been having in the past two games will become more frequent as we get into the Big East schedule. On purpose. That's now our style, and we need to keep scoring low to be competitive. What JTIII needs to teach the kids (and what I'm sure he's doing) is to stay calm and take a good shot when there are only 5 or so seconds left.

In other words, WE'VE GOT TO KEEP OUR COMPOSURE!

[SaxaCD]

The system is all about taking the good, open shot. If it presents itself early, fine, but if not, patience, patience, patience, because the longer you make the defense play, the more opportunities you'll get for better shots. I agree that the violations will almost definitely increase in Big East play, but then I think they will decrease again as guys get more comfortable in the offense and recognize opportunities better, and as the ball movement and decision making get crisper.

It really should be an interesting thing to watch. Just wish I could watch it instead of listening on radio all the time!

[3GenerationHoya]

From what I saw in the Temple game, our main problem was not making the defense work hard during our offensive possessions. Once again, this could be attributed to the type of defense we were up against, but i felt we still could have moved the ball better.
It's one thing to let Wallace hold the ball for 10 seconds at a time to use up the shot clock, and another to actually break down a defense with dribble penetration, crisp passing, and cutting to the basket while still using up the entire 35 seconds. I'm sure we'll see more of the latter as the season progresses, and our shot selection should get better as a result. We are watching a work in progress.

[CAHoya07]

PushyGuyFanClub said:

In other words, WE'VE GOT TO KEEP OUR COMPOSURE!

Yeah, we can't be freaking out out there!

But anyways, I for one was disappointed the way our offense looked against Temple. I expected to see a lot more motion and cutting, but it looked eerily similar to last year: pass it around and huck it up with 3 seconds left on the shot clock.

Hopefully this will improve, and I think it will over time. In the meantime, we'll have to endure some stinkers. I'll be patient, but I hope to see a better offensive effort in future games.

[MCIGuy]

PushyGuyFanClub said:

The shot clock close calls and violations that we've been having in the past two games will become more frequent as we get into the Big East schedule. On purpose. That's now our style, and we need to keep scoring low to be competitive.

No. That's not it. JT3 went over in detail the problems the team had at times in getting off a shot before the clock expired. Unfortunately since the Post and Times don't dedicate too much space to Gtown in its pages you wouldn't be aware of his comments. But there are other sources (web sites) that allowed you to read extended pieces of Thompson's interview (transcript) after the game. I can't go over it here because that would not be fair to the others who pay for that information at this particular website. So instead let me just relay that if the Hoyas can get a good look with 30 seconds left on the shotclock its safe to say they are supposed to take the shot, not hold on to the ball and milk time.


And for those who were complaining about lack of movememt and cuts realize that the first two teams have played zone defense in every possession against GU. The Hoyas have not see any man-to-man defense that allows the backcuts and screening. The offense hasn't been perfect yet and there are things they could do to counter the zone that they haven't done. JT3 has admitted to do that and had an interesting quote about fixing it. But give them time.

[SaxaCD]

The best Princeton teams could get 5 or 6 backdoors per game because there were so many dangerous shooters around the perimeter (with even the center being a good shooter), you couldn't just pack in a zone. Once the defense came out to play the shooters, the cutting and flashing caused easy layups. Last year Princeton had a pretty solid team, but poor shooting for stretches did them in against both Texas and earlier in the season, Rutgers (two games I saw). If the defense is giving open looks from 3, that's what the guys are supposed to take -- I just don't think we have enough reliable marksmen yet (which is why the guys are taking so much shooting practice). It will be interesting to see how Big East defenses react if GU starts to really click from the outside, but I think that will take some better shooting depth to be a real big factor, unfortunately.

[MCIGuy]

SaxaCD85 said:

The best Princeton teams could get 5 or 6 backdoors per game because there were so many dangerous shooters around the perimeter (with even the center being a good shooter), you couldn't just pack in a zone. Once the defense came out to play the shooters, the cutting and flashing caused easy layups. Last year Princeton had a pretty solid team, but poor shooting for stretches did them in against both Texas and earlier in the season, Rutgers (two games I saw). If the defense is giving open looks from 3, that's what the guys are supposed to take -- I just don't think we have enough reliable marksmen yet (which is why the guys are taking so much shooting practice). It will be interesting to see how Big East defenses react if GU starts to really click from the outside, but I think that will take some better shooting depth to be a real big factor, unfortunately.

The Citadel coach was quoted saying that he looked at the Temple game and decided to play zone all the way. That game and Gtown's poor reputation over the years for shooting the ball led him to a strategy in which he would not allow the Hoyas big men to beat his team (they were immediately doubled whenever they touched the ball). If the Hoyas were to beat the Citadel they would have to knock down outside jumpshots because Citadel was never coming out of its zone. To the Citadel's coach surprise the Hoyas made their jumpshots. He mentioned that the same open looks they missed against Temple they made against his team. Eventually he switched the type of zone defenses they were playing in order to slow the game down. That and some tweaking JT3 was working on along with the Hoyas' relative inexperience in the Princeton offense brought the Hoyas' O to a standstill for extended minutes.

[bmartin]

JTIII's Princeton team was 17-0 last season when scoring at least 60 points. The defense, rebounding, and ability to set the tempo were good enough to keep them in almost every game and win when they made some shots. They were especially good at keeping three point shooters from killing them. The few teams that hit threes against them got open looks by taking threes in transition.

This Georgetown team will be on and off offensively, but hitting the sixties should be a reasonable expectation for them. The big key will be tough enough defense and rebounding to make that stand up.
The Temple game showed that someone will have to emerge as the shut-down defender on outside shooters. I know it was the Citadel, but it seemed (on radio) that the defensive intensity was much better in the 2nd game. Even after opening the big lead, the Hoyas were pressuring the ball, contesting every shot, and going for steals. Citadel made just 3 fg in the 1st half. That is good even against a very bad team.

[YB]

If teams give us the open shot, even from 3, we should take it.

We should also, for change-up, work on inside-out 3s. Throwing it in to Green or Hibbert so they can throw it back out.

A little cutting and driving wouldn't hurt either, even if people are playing zone against us.

If they are doing this against us all year, we better be good at slicing and dicing it.

[tboy]

we need a penetrating guard aka jessie sapp!