Davidson Game Recap & Observations

[NChoya]

As one of the privileged 1800 people, including about a dozen G’town fans, to have seen this game, I would say this: Don’t be fooled by the box score. I confess to have not seen Davidson play before tonight, but I cannot fathom how they managed to run with any team, let alone a good team. The score says G’town blew Davidson out; the reality is that Davidson missed a lot of open 3s, especially in the first half. Our defense was not causing them to miss shots; they were just missing them. But, a 25-point win is a 25-point win, and I’m glad to take it. The game ball goes to Jonathan Wallace, who displayed by far the most hustle and hunger to achieve out of the bunch.

On to observations. Coach Thompson was very impressive on the sideline. He had amazing control over his bench, he had great energy, he was completely into a game in a way that I haven’t seen in many years from a G’town coach, and he was coaching throughout the game. He looked hungry for success, which is key for motivating the players. The future is bright with him, but, after watching this game, it’s very clear to me that it will take time—perhaps more than people imagine.

Davidson played a zone most of the night, switching between a 2-3 and a 1-3-1, which seemed to utterly confuse us. (I can’t wait to play Syracuse.) As y’all no doubt can see from the box score, we attacked this zone by shooting 3s all night. Surprisingly, to me at least, we made a lot of the open 3s they gave us. Kudos to the team. While most high school teams could accomplish this feat, G’town has been unable to for several years, so it was nice to see us make open shots (I’m serious). But, when you’re playing against 5 slow white guys who can’t react very fast, you’re going to get some open shots. Is that going to happen in the Big East? No. Why didn’t we attack it? Who knows We seemed content with running 25 seconds off the shot clock by standing around, then making a couple of half-hearted cuts, and shooting a 3. I am not confident that this will work against a quality team, or even against Va Tech. I don’t understand why Hibbert was so eager to kick the ball out when he did get it a couple of times in scoring position, since he was 6 inches taller than the guy guarding him. And I certainly didn’t understand why Bowman insisted on taking every shot off-balance whether he was guarded or not.

Our defense was decent, though it was hard to tell since the refs were calling every touch a foul. I was disappointed that we left our feet so often against players who were clearly inferior athletically. I didn’t understand why we didn’t press at all—not that Davidson’s ball handlers were bad, but just to see how we would do with it. We played a very down-tempo game on both sides of the ball, which is a fine strategy, I guess, but it makes the game fairly dull. I go to Wake Forest now for grad school and work for their athletic department, so I’ve become used to a “run ‘n gun” style and may be making an unfair comparison.

I’m not sure that either Bowman or Cook has bought into Coach Thompson’s system yet, but the freshmen, especially Green, hold plenty of promise. I really liked Wallace’s hustle. Our intensity on defense picked up markedly in the second half, which was great to see, even though you might not see it in the score, but we created a lot of turnovers. After watching this team tonight, it’s clear that Coach Thompson needs this next month to prepare these guys for Big East play. Best of luck to him—it’s a daunting task.

[DanMcQ]

excellent recap - thanks from one of those who hasn't seen the team play yet this year.

...quality win, but there is a lot of work to be done...

[GUHoya07]

The offense wont be uptempo and run n' gun until Coach gets his big time talent on the floor. For now we have to keep things slow and play the way that will get us wins. Once JT III is able to get his top 25 players out there Im sure we'll see more uptempo, run n' gun exciting ball.

[Nevada Hoya]

Thanks for the report. I guess it brings us back to our senses, as many of us were ready to beat Duke after this. But as others have said, this will be a learning and rebuilding year, so we have to take the enjoyment where we can find it. Don't expect too much, but savor the moment.

[SaxaCD]

I think it will take a good while before we can beat really top teams with our offense, because it's going to take a lot of time to "get down", but shooting 3's over a zone is what a team like Princeton would do to a team like UCLA or Georgetown, whenever it presented itself. Despite the work that still needs to be done, the fact that the coach has impressed upon the team how much good shooting from the arc means against a zone (and most importantly, drilling them so they feel confident in making a decent number of them) is a very big accomplishment at this point. I also like the fact that I heard a few "passes to so-and-so for an easy layup". Nice job, III and team!

[GUHoya07]

One more thing, you make many good points about this Davidson team not being nearly as talented as Big East teams and that we have a lot of work to do. However, regardless of how unathletic they are and so on they still beat Mizzou at Mizzou and were within 4 points of Duke with 5:39 to play. We need to keep building on this and getting better, but this was a big game.

[FLHoya]

Thank you for the recap NC, glad you got to make the game tonight. It's always important to get some honest perspective from those who were there. The offense, defense, everything is going to be a work in progress as the season moves along. What's cramping us all on the board right now is that we've played three games against three teams with different talent levels and gotten three different types of result...and barely anyone on this board has seen more than 1 of the games in person.

I'm curious about your observations on Jeff Green tonight. Listening to the radio feed, it seemed a good deal of Jeff's assists came on give-and-go type plays. What kind of stuff did you see us running off of his passing, and do you think that's a sign of the offense coming along?

[MCIGuy]

NCHoya, I find it interesting that you were one who was very pesimistic about the Hoyas' chances before the game. After they blew out Davidson now you want to suggest it wasn't all that impressive? Hey, whatever. Either Davidson wasn't as good as you thought they were or the Hoyas are better than you initially gave them credit for being.

[NChoya]

FLHoya said:

Thank you for the recap NC, glad you got to make the game tonight. It's always important to get some honest perspective from those who were there. The offense, defense, everything is going to be a work in progress as the season moves along. What's cramping us all on the board right now is that we've played three games against three teams with different talent levels and gotten three different types of result...and barely anyone on this board has seen more than 1 of the games in person.

I'm curious about your observations on Jeff Green tonight. Listening to the radio feed, it seemed a good deal of Jeff's assists came on give-and-go type plays. What kind of stuff did you see us running off of his passing, and do you think that's a sign of the offense coming along?

I liked Green's attitude more than anything. He and Wallace are on the same page as Coach Thompson. If the rest of the team played with that kind of hunger and enthusiasm, I'd have more confidence in our W-L record at the end of this season.

As for his actual play, since Davidson was playing a zone defense, there really weren't any true give-and-gos. He was able to hit a back-cutter a couple of times. Like all big men, he was a little unsure of himself out on the perimeter, but he canned a few nice shots in the second half after calming down a bit. His rebounding in the second half was particularly impressive--and that's going to be an important area for this team. Rebounding wins close games, and Jeff will help us there with his size and effort. Someone needs to feed Roy so that he gains some more confidence in his abilities. That duo would be unstoppable in the paint if they mature.

[NChoya]

MCIGuy said:

NCHoya, I find it interesting that you were one who was very pesimistic about the Hoyas' chances before the game. After they blew out Davidson now you want to suggest it wasn't all that impressive? Hey, whatever. Either Davidson wasn't as good as you thought they were or the Hoyas are better than you initially gave them credit for being.

Fair enough, though I would say I was realistic, not pessimistic, about our chances. Davidson did not shoot the ball well. They missed a lot of open 3s. Uncharacteristically, we did shoot the 3-ball well. I hope that continues, because we'll win a lot of ball games shooting 52% from behind the arc. But no one can realistically expect that, especially against a team that has better athletes to play defense.

Put it this way, 10 minutes into the game, the score was 12-11 and it was another G'town game. But, we took a timeout and came out and started to attack the basket, and we started to score. Good coaching, well done. Then, we fell into the same sort of lackluster offense, standing around and whatnot, but started making the 3s as the shot clock ran out. Fine, we made them in this game. In Big East play, I feel a lot better about attacking the basket, drawing fouls, playing aggressive offense, etc., than sitting back and launching 3s. Shooting 3s should be an option in your offense, not the last and only resort when lazy cuts across the lane mean that no one gets open inside the arc. I hope we keep making them, but as shots within the offense rather than desperation shots.

These are preseason games for us. I'm glad we won, but the score hardly matters for this team. We played well in the second half, esp on defense and rebounding. We still lacked intensity on the offensive side of the ball, and that will have to improve for us to be competitive in the Big East.

[NChoya]

GUHoya2007 said:

One more thing, you make many good points about this Davidson team not being nearly as talented as Big East teams and that we have a lot of work to do. However, regardless of how unathletic they are and so on they still beat Mizzou at Mizzou and were within 4 points of Duke with 5:39 to play. We need to keep building on this and getting better, but this was a big game.

I'd seen and said the same thing about Davidson, and then I saw them walk onto the floor. After seeing them, I would've been Editeded had we lost. Mizzou is usually good, so I thought the same thing. But, they're 3-3, losing to both Davidson and Creighton at home and Houston on the road. Their most recent win was by 4 points over mighty Murray State. Mizzou is apparently very down this year after all their scandals. Duke just didn't shoot the ball nearly as well as they normally do--they shot just 28% from the 3-point line in that game. That'll never happen again this year. So, Davidson was overrated. I'm glad we were better than them, and I hope that Wallace gets some confidence from his performance and that translates across the team.

[HOYAPLAYA]

NChoya said:

Fair enough, though I would say I was realistic, not pessimistic, about our chances. Davidson did not shoot the ball well. They missed a lot of open 3s. Uncharacteristically, we did shoot the 3-ball well. I hope that continues, because we'll win a lot of ball games shooting 52% from behind the arc. But no one can realistically expect that, especially against a team that has better athletes to play defense.

My only problem with your recap is that you act like Davidson didn't shoot well from 3-pt range. Hell, they hit on 41% of their 3's and as long as there are a lot of 3's taken, there are going to be some missed open opportunities. That's part of the game. There is nothing deceptive about a 25 point victory margin when you win the first half by 11 and lead most of the second half by 18-24 points. This Davidson team is favored to win their conference, had a 15-game home winning streak, beat Mizzou and played St. Joes and Duke tough. I'm not saying that we are going to the tourney by any stretch of the imagination, but this was a good win. Your comments about the offense lead me to believe that you have seen much of the Princeton type offense in the game of college basketball. I went to Brown University and watched Princeton beat my alma mater 3 of the 4 years that I was there. There are a lot of cuts and the ball stays either on the perimeter or at the top of the free throw line for most of the game. Occassionally, they would penetrate from the corner or top of the game and dish, but that wasn't the norm. It was frustrating to watch Princeton sit there for the full 35 seconds and then hit a last second 3 that we would always tend to call lucky. The problem was that they did it to consistently for it not to be part of the game plan. What was so frustrating is that it seemed that all five players on the court could hit the 3 at any time for Princeton. Right now, that's the situation that we have with our starting 5.

I think III is looking to add some shooters and ballhandlers to the current roster (look at next years recruits). As we add these shooters and develop a couple of players in the post, I think this team will have a chance over the next few years to compete with the big boys. I guess what I'm saying at the end of this post is the offense that you see now is going to be very similar to the offense that you will see in the future. The players will just learn to recognize the guys who are open on the cuts a little more consistently.

[ahoya3]

An excellent objective analysis. The important thing is to look at the number of assists/baskets-a dramatic improvement over the last 6-7 years. Whe is the last time a GU big man got 7 assists in a game!! I think we have to be patient this year and take the wins and losses as they come because there will be plenty of the latter until the talent improves. The big plus so far is the team work and enthusiasm shown by the coaches and players. Let's hope that Brandon has indeed "bought" into the system.

[the_way]

I like to hear NChoya's observation about Green and Wallace's hunger and enthusiasm. Thats good to hear, because that is what G'town has lacked during Esh's and JT's final years: guys who have the eye of the tiger, or fire in their bellys. A lot of players from years past have been docile and lethargic on the court. No pep in the step. Hopefully Green and Wallace's hustle and bustle will influence other teammates as well. This team still has a long way to go. One thing I did notice, is that JTIII played only 7 guys last night. Very interesting. Is the cupboard that bare? Wallace and Guibunda rarely get playing time? Are they ready for DI b-ball? Seems like Green will make a major contribution this year, and Hibbert will be a work in progress. I wish JTIII the best this year, because he is going to need it. Long live the hoyas!

[MCIGuy]

ahoya3 said:

An excellent objective analysis. The important thing is to look at the number of assists/baskets-a dramatic improvement over the last 6-7 years. Whe is the last time a GU big man got 7 assists in a game!!

Sweetney against Syracuse in his final season.

But I understand and concur with your point. 27 field goals and 21 assists is simply amazing. Lets understand that the Hoyas could only get 20 assists during preseason blowouts in which they put up around 114 points. To have 21 assists when you score under 80 points is shocking.

[SFHoya99]

Wow, I never realized winning by 25 could suck so bad.

I apprecaite your candor, but what high school teams shoot 50% from 3? Lots of teams and people miss about half their open threes or more. Davidson shot okay -- it's not great we left them open, but it isn't like teams ever shoot 100% on open shots.

I am level headed about this win because it was driven by great shooting. but we won by 25.

We could've missed EIGHT of those threes and won.

I'm sure there is a lot to impove upon, but I'd hate for a player to read this board after a win like this and suddenly see it discounted so badly.

[1803]

Making open threes is what separates the good teams from the also rans. If you get an open three you have to take it. Watch Duke and the other big boys, when they get an open look they take it, and make it. That opens everything else up. I am not saying that we should settle, but an open three from the wing is a good shot, and hopefully it is one we are going to make a lot this season.

[HOYAPLAYA]

Even if you hit half of your open 3's, then you've got one hell of a shooting team. Open 3's lead to scrambling defenses and a higher percentage of offensive rebounds. Missing half of them can be offset by getting the board and getting another chance. Duke misses some opent 3's but they hustle and usually come away with some rebounds that the normal team doesn't get. If another open 3 presents itself on that possession, they typically don't miss the second time around.

[SirSaxa]

NChoya said:

I didn’t understand why we didn’t press at all—not that Davidson’s ball handlers were bad, but just to see how we would do with it. We played a very down-tempo game on both sides of the ball, which is a fine strategy, I guess, but it makes the game fairly dull.

Alll the starters got more than 32 minutes each, and there were only two subs. A team can't press and run without a bench. It appears that JT3 has determined who his best players are and is going to keep the rotation limited, at least for now.

Considering the "talent" on this roster, that seems like a good way to go.

[Deleted]

I don't think we'll ever do a lot of pressing and running under JTIII. I'm perfectly content with a 7-man rotation if the results show up like they did last night....