Hoyas vs. Vandy Regional Semis Pre-Game Discussion

[AvantGuardHoya]

highsmith said:

I agree that Summers recovered very nicely in the BET after a few off games late in the season--I really think Dudley got into his head in this game and it threw off his game. Good move by JTIII to sense that and stick with Ewing in the second half. DaJuan will be back and I would bet the "Assassin" will be coming with him.

I'm with you and id. As I mentioned elsewhere, Summers is still a freshman. They are known for their inconsistent play. Okay, he hasn't done much the last game or two, but he went for 18 points in 31 minutes vs. ND in the BET semifinal classic -- 6 for 10 from the field; 2 of 5 from beyond the arc; 4 for 4 from the line. I think we'd take those numbers from anybody on the team. If he can bounce bank and give us 12-15 points against Vandy, I like our chances. We know he's got in in him. Let's go, DaJuan!

[hoyas86]

When we played Vandy on 11.15, it was their first game of the season and Foster only had 2 points. He had 20 yesterday. I don't think that you can draw any real conclusions from a team's first game particularly one played so long ago.

[SirSaxa]

bostonhoya05 said:

The ultimate "don't look ahead" moment. There will be sexy teams in the top of the bracket and the media is all going to have us all but in that Regional Final. Today was a good wake-up call.

Anyone think Jeff Green is due?

I look at that a bit differently.
JEff -- as much as anyone -- won the game.
The monster rebound and dunk and two 3 points plays in the last 2 minutes.
A ton of boards.
It may not have been his "best" game, but when crunch time came, Jeff came alive.

and Roy -- 15 pts and 11 boards.... in the second half!

WOW!

[Oh My!]

Anyone downplaying the individual performances from yesterday cannot be considered a true fan. Yesterday's TEAM WIN was nicely done, especially when trailing for quite a long period of time. We have several Big-Time players who play well when we need them to, & I see the Vandy game no differently. We will play well as a team.........

In order to win the game, it comes down to 2 facets I mentioned at the beginning of the season:

--3-point Defense

--Free Throw Shooting (ALWAYS essential in post-season)

VU has noone who can hang with any of our post players, so smart, aggressive play at both ends of the floor should lead to big games for Jeff, Roy, Pat, and Vernon.

[OldHoyafan]

Foster had only 2 points the first meeting mostly because of the defense of Egerson. Egerson had to go around a lot of screens set to get Foster free for an open look. Although Summers has improved his D a lot from the begining of the year, I don't think he is as quick as Egerson was to run around the screens and be there in Foster's face. He can even it up by posting their small forward. But I would rather Foster not get started at all. I like Crawford on him for long stretches of the game.

[Oh My!]

Don't be surprised to see Patrick get a lot of DaJuan's minutes because of D needed on Shan. Like yesterday's 2nd half, Pat helps our team when he is on the floor for extended minutes (I know we all know that).

Also, if we need a shorter team, don't be surprised to see Jessie on Foster. While I am not sure how this would work out, we have seen Jessie play well against taller opposition this year.

[TBird41]

vegasrain said:

Don't be surprised to see Patrick get a lot of DaJuan's minutes because of D needed on Shan. Like yesterday's 2nd half, Pat helps our team when he is on the floor for extended minutes (I know we all know that).

Also, if we need a shorter team, don't be surprised to see Jessie on Foster.

I bet Baby Doc will get a shot to shut down Foster. He's our best defensive guard and only gives up 2 inches to him.

[hoyaLS05]

Does this mean Jeff on Byers? He's 6-foot-7 I believe, pretty quick, good shooter. Their second tallest starter though, so I guess that means it's Jeff's assignment, no?

He had a reasonable game against us last time (14 pts), but I have no recollection of who guarded him.

[CO_Hoya]

I expect that JTIII will play his "switch everything" man-to-man defense, so it wouldn't be too critical who initially has whom. I think that is his preferred defense against 3-pt shooting teams (at the cost of defensive rebounding).

I don't believe the team had mastered (or even play much of) that particular D for the first Vandy game - I think JT Jr. made a comment after the first NDU game when G'town first used it successfully.

[1984alloveragain]

I taped the game vs. Vandy ----- gonna watch that at least ONCE during this week. HIGHLIGHT of the game: Ewing's game clinching bucket and the foul on a sweet pass, where he YELLED: "AND ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNEEE". We want to see a LOT of that Friday night Fellas.

[StoneColdHoya]

danmcq said:

9:40 PM game Friday.

Check the link again. It says that the game's actually at 7:27 PM...

[DanMcQ]

stonecoldhoya said:

danmcq said:

9:40 PM game Friday.

Check the link again. It says that the game's actually at 7:27 PM...

CBS changed the times Sunday night after Texas lost. I changed the threads as soon as I found out. Hope that was quick enough for you.

[PopeJohn2]

so should we be flattered or insulted by the time change?

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

popejohn2 said:

so should we be flattered or insulted by the time change?

The time change has more to do with CBS wanting to capture more viewers of the USC game on the West Coast than it does with respect or disrespect to us.

[zxhoya]

Should be an interesting game compared to the first one. They are obviously a perimeter team that the Hoyas shut down the first time, but they are much improved, so are we. I see us doing well against them because of our height and defensive tenacity. Hopefully it will be a repeat of the first game. I'll be watching nervously as usual. Go Hoyas!

[essex]

I'm probably the least sophisticated guy on this board...but want to spark and start a tip-'o-the-Hoya hat to Parick Ewing, Jr as the best sixth man in the college game.

Plus, a fine young man.

Pat, Sr....you're a lucky guy!!!

Essex

[ColumbiaHeightsHoya]

Dajuan will need to get it going in this game. This could be a case of the long college season catching up with him or it could just be his first time on the big stage but I see a good performance by him & Jeff as our first round wasn't exactly stellar and we still got through.

[casualhoya]

I was at the game against ND in the BET and nearly had a heart attack.

The key to this Vandy game is establishing our inside presence early and often, not waiting for the 2nd half like it seems we have a tendency to do of late. Washington St. was manhandling Vandy in the paint, but once Vandy started hitting everything from 3, they abandoned it and played right into Vandy's strength.

Defend the 3, dictate the tempo, run the offense.

Casually.

[lichoya68]

ok we are 7.5 favorites dont believe it no eggie our outside shooting is down and vandy will be MUCH BETTER need to defend the three defend the three and hit some threes i think we need 75 or more to beat thise high scoring three offense. adn did i see that vandy is the only sweet sixteen team left NOT IN THE AP TOP TWENTY FIVE thatgood but could be bad go hoays beat vandy COME OUT AND HIT A COUPLE DAJUAN ITS MONEY TIME NEED YOU BABY NEED YOU. GO HOYAS BEAT VANDY AND BE THE JERSEY BOYS AND MAKE IT OH WHAT A NITE IN JERSEY GOHOYAS ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[bupride]

vegasrain said:

VU has noone who can hang with any of our post players, so smart, aggressive play at both ends of the floor should lead to big games for Jeff, Roy, Pat, and Vernon.

that's the same thing florida said with noah and horford. and alabama said with davidson and hendrix. and lsu said with big baby and kentucky with randolph morris.

i'm not saying your bigs aren't incredible, they definately are, i'm just saying it's not going to be as easy as you may thing form to dominate offensively. in fact, vu has been pretty succesful at shutting down some great big men offensively this year, it's the offensive rebounds that have killed us. i'm afraid hibberts and green may combing for 15 offensive boards, if that happens we are toast.

by the way "all we have to do is shut down the three point line" is the mantra we've heard before every one of our 22 wins. surprisingly, we are a good 3 point shooting team, but a great one. percentage wise, we can't hold a candle to nd, but we can move the ball very well (15 assists on 15 baskets in the first half against gw) and are more athletic than we are given credit for. it should be an incredble game to watch and i'm sure both coaches are going to have there teams very well prepared.