the sky is not falling

[Z]

worst case scenario, jeff and roy both go. does anyone doubt our ability to run a small, quick lineup out there (vern at 5, summers at 4, freeman at 3) a la 2005 nova? where are the dominant BE centers to fear? oh wait, they don't exist.

[lichoya68]

agree totally would love at eleast roy a big guy adn hopefully jeff back and then possibly undefeated season and national champs but no slouch even if both go 2008 wil be great go hoyas ;D

[HealyHoya]

Couple things: first, no one doubts our ability to run a small lineup, what we see is a less effective lineup with the absence of Jeff and Roy; two, I would suggest that Ewing starts at the 4, Summers at the 3, Wallace/Sapp at 1/2 or 2/1 -- whatever.

[GIGAFAN99]

We desperately need size if Roy goes. Keyboard freaked out there. Weird.

But yeah I mean we can talk about how we'll be quick and all but we'd pretty much need at least one 6'10 pickup from juco or HS no matter what happens.

[PopeJohn2]

correct, sky is not falling. its already crashed and shattered into a gazillion pieces.

[chep3]

We'll still be a good team without them. Look at the jump players have made in their soph years under JT3. Roy and Jessie are most clear. I think Vernon and Dajuan are both going to make big jumps as well, which for the latter is going to make him a really strong player. We are going to be thin up front, but that's really only going to hurt us against Louisville. The BE is not going to be that big of a league, especially if Thabeet goes pro as well. Preseason commentators think we're going to be solid as well. Lunardi has us in his top 16 and Luke Winn had us just outside the top 10, both of them assuming that we would be losing both.

[PopeJohn2]

what people seem to be missing is that we only have 3 guys. thats it. what do you do when someone gets tired, in foul trouble, or worse??? you cant play with just 3 guys on your team 6'8" or over. WE NEED SEAD BACK!!!

[vamosalaplaya]

From GU Hoyas: Player Bio: Octavius Spann

Averaged 26.7 points, 12.3 rebounds and four blocks during his senior year in high school ... also competed in the high jump with the track and field team.

Llst in all the hoopla over the Final Four was the game in Atlanta was a homecoming for Octavius.

[PopeJohn2]

if your post is saying that spann is an unheralded star in the making, i suggest you watch the end of the pitt game. hes got a lot of work to do which is why i think he hasnt seen much playing time his first few years despite what seems like a great attitude.

[sweetness]

You can't judge someone from their performance in garbage time -- those moments have very little to do with real basketball. You could put a starter out there in those situations and they may look bad because it is so ragged.

Having said that, based on his limited playing time, Spann obviously needs to show JTIII more (in practice, etc) to earn minutes -- though in his defense, the rotation has been crowded.

[ExcitableBoy]

popejohn2 said:

correct, sky is not falling. its already crashed and shattered into a gazillion pieces.

You've gotta be kidding me.

We have three McD AAs, our best 3pt shooter in team history, and JTIII (and even worst case scenario we only lose two players from a very legit final four team).

There is no possible way the Hoyas' sky fell under those conditions. If that's all it take to make the sky fall, it fell a LOONNGG time ago and we've been sky-less for quite some time now.

[SFHoya99]

popejohn2 said:

you cant play with just 3 guys on your team 6'8" or over.

We pretty much did that last year. AKD would play a minute or two in games where people had foul trouble. And that was with Roy, who rarely played a lot of minutes.

[PopeJohn2]

lets just clarify my position:
1. we will be competitive next year given the talent we will have
2. if jeff and roy stay, we will be contenders for the ncaa championship
3. if jeff and roy leave, we will be contenders for a sweet 16 appearance
4. in my book, going from championship contenders ----> sweet 16 contenders would be a real real real real real bummer
5. you may not feel the same and think im being negative, but that is how disappointed i would be and hence the sky shattering...

[PopeJohn2]

sfhoya99 said:

popejohn2 said:

you cant play with just 3 guys on your team 6'8" or over.

We pretty much did that last year. AKD would play a minute or two in games where people had foul trouble. And that was with Roy, who rarely played a lot of minutes.

i guess im viewing everything from the lens of potential ncaa champs. yes you can play with only 3 6'8" guys. you can play even a 5 guard line up. but if you want to contend for a national championship you need a good front and back court. the frontcourt of macklin, summers and ewing doesnt seem to me that we can go awfully deep in the ncaas.

yes we can be competitive, but the team would not obviously be a championship team. at the very least we need roy to come back.

[chep3]

It's a bummer, but "the sky is falling" usually connotes a complete disaster as opposed to dropping from a championship contender to a very good team. We might take a step back next year, but nowadays, it has become unreasonable to expect that you bring everyone back. Florida could be saying the same thing. I feel like we should just judge the year and our expectations for it once we find out who is coming back and who's not. Playing the "what if they stayed" game will make you expect something that wasn't really possible. If they decide on going that is.

[HoyaSinceBirth]

Who are the dominant big men left in the league who Summers, eweing, and macklin can't play against?

[chep3]

The team we'll have the biggest problem with is Louisville. They'll have Padgett, Caracter, Earl Clark, and Palacios all 6-8 or bigger.

[Cambridge]

chep3 said:

The team we'll have the biggest problem with is Louisville. They'll have Padgett, Caracter, Earl Clark, and Palacios all 6-8 or bigger.

Vegas just shifted their line, it's basically a lock that we're about to be treated to "Padgett is softer than my abs" rant from SFHoya.

[SFHoya99]

cambridgehoya said:

chep3 said:

The team we'll have the biggest problem with is Louisville. They'll have Padgett, Caracter, Earl Clark, and Palacios all 6-8 or bigger.

Vegas just shifted their line, it's basically a lock that we're about to be treated to "Padgett is softer than my abs" rant from SFHoya.

Well, that's a better line than I could've come up with. But he is soft.