Next Season

[sleepy]

In light of the fact Jeffs gone, I have a question. Do you think that we lost more this year losing just jeff. Or last year losing Brandon, Cook, and Owens.

[HoyaOnBothSides]

Well, though Brandon, Cook and Owers were great, we did reach the final four the season following their departure...tough to judge a "loss" in that context..

[aggypryd]

We lost our Go-To Guy. It will be hard to replace his decision making ability. We have athletes to take his spot, but Jeff made a lot of smart plays.

We lose 10 games...make it to the Sweet 16...

[prhoya]

Is it confrimed?

[sleepy]

yes but you have to remember, Jeff wasnt really our "go to guy" two years ago. We assumed he'd fill that role this year, but he hadn't proven to be one. And you also have to remeber that Jeff did have flaws, thatalmost cost us a lot games. For instance Vanderbilt, yes a realize he made the game winning shot, but he wouldn't have had to, if he didnt commit two back to back fouls that put them at the foul line, with under thirty left.

[RDF]

I'll answer it in a simple way, we lost Owens, Cook, and Bowman, and the next year we see the Hoyas win the Big East, win the BET, and go to the Final Four.

I'd say losing Green is more of a blow then losing those 3 players. It's not to say I think that this upcoming year's team will be bad--just looking at the production without those 3 and to surpass what Jeff Green and Hoyas did this past season, next year's team will have to duplicate every achievement and win the National Championship--not an easy task.

[daytonahoya31]

aggry,

No way we lose 10 games with the team we have coming back.

[sleepy]

You can't say that losing them is better than losing Jeff, because of what we accomplished because you don't know what we will accomplish next year. Going into next season i think we are looking better than we did going into last season.

[hoyastrong]

sleepy said:

You can't say that losing them is better than losing Jeff, because of what we accomplished because you don't know what we will accomplish next year. Going into next season i think we are looking better than we did going into last season.

Valid point, I hope you're right

[daytonahoya31]

I think if you can take a positive, it's the fact that Roy is definitively the man on this team. I the past, there have been times where Roy has deferred to Jeff, but that time has passed.

Plus, with the depth that we'll have and the shooting we can surround Roy with, I'm really excited about the prospects of our team next season.

My only question: Do we start Austin and bring Pat off the bench, or do we start Pat and bring Austin off the bench???

[sleepy]

Or maybe we start macklin and bring the both off the bench? You never know how kids come along in the offseason.

[hoyastrong]

daytonahoya31 said:

Plus, with the depth that we'll have and the shooting we can surround Roy with, I'm really excited about the prospects of our team next season.

I agree. teams are going to have to either clog the middle and we can pick them apart from outside, or if they spread it out we just bang it to Roy all day. VERY EXCITE! I LIKE!

[JohnJacquesLayup]

sleepy said:

You can't say that losing them is better than losing Jeff, because of what we accomplished because you don't know what we will accomplish next year. Going into next season i think we are looking better than we did going into last season.

I agree, we look better going into next season than this past season. We also have our key roles filled by guys with more experience, and have probably just as many impact freshman joining a more experienced team.

If we aren't just as successful next season, we will certainly not start out so roughly.

[RDF]

sleepy said:

You can't say that losing them is better than losing Jeff, because of what we accomplished because you don't know what we will accomplish next year. Going into next season i think we are looking better than we did going into last season.

Well--the team would have to lose less games overall, repeat winning the BE, BET, and going to Final Four, and then surpass it by winning it all to make his loss less important.

The team achieved more with loss of the 3.

It's a question--not if we like someone more the others, just what do we think and it's quite obvious that replacing Jeff is going to be a bit harder then replacing the 3 SR's prior to this past season.

I'll add this to the discussion--the guy who will be asked to play a lot in "Jeff's spot" hasn't been playing much--Dajuan has been banged up and we've not heard a word on his progress. He's the key figure here--he and Patrick will be solid--but Dajuan has a chance to be a star player--and we need that to be sometime this season. I'm a bit concerned about his injury/offseason development being slowed by it. Hopefully it's much ado about nothing.

I love Roy-but it's easier to contain big men then versatile forwards. Roy's going to be reliant on the other players to step up and while Hoyas have the talent, they have to prove it. Macklin, Summers, PE JR, and Freeman will be needed.

Things I like about next year already:

1. Playing time will be available when you take Jeff's 35 minutes and spread them out among the roster

2. The team knew Jeff was gone--did not seem like anyone who spoke of a player or heard from players/close to team that they expected him back. Easier to move on when you aren't expecting something.

3. Talent--this team is far more talented then when III arrived, they have proven they can win--and they are adding some firepower to the roster. It's not like we'll see them go back to late Pops/Esherick days. They will be among teams in mix--just a matter of how guys step into new roles and contribute. But it's easier to do that with talent then trying to find players.

[daytonahoya31]

I know Dajuan's a key player, but with the amount of talent that's on this team, he doesn't have to be as much of a contstant.

When Sweets was here, if he din't get 25 and 10, we lost. It was that simple. Now, we have much more depth on the roster and no fewer than four players (Roy, Dajuan, Chris and Austin), who have the ability to become go-to players.

That bodes well for us. And it doesn't bode well for our opponents because they'll never know where the production is going to come on a given night.

I think we'll be very dangerous next season, and a legit national title contender.

[Filo]

This is going to sound a bit odd, but I think it is a net positive for the program over the next few years that Jeff is leaving early. Next year, it is obviously a loss -- although the team will be very good, I am not sure that the team will be able to duplicate this past season's success.

However, I was worried a bit about how all of the talent was going to share playing time. Now, with Jeff gone, younger guys are going to be asked to step up. Although not filling Jeff's role, per se, I see Austin and Vernon as direct beneficiaries of Jeff's decision in terms of gaining PT and valuable experience. This will definitely help the program out aster next year, when Big Roy will no longer be around.

How's that for a positive spin

[MCIGuy]

sleepy said:

You can't say that losing them is better than losing Jeff, because of what we accomplished because you don't know what we will accomplish next year. Going into next season i think we are looking better than we did going into last season.

Thank you. Next season's team should be better.

Now if Jeff had come back it would have been as talented as any Hoya team ever IMO, but next season's squad isn't too shabby anyway.

[hoyastrong]

these point are quite true. how many sports teams have we seen in the past step up and go all the way after losing their best player? everyone will take it upon themselves to pick up the slack and we will take it to the alamo in 2008

[MCIGuy]

rdf said:

sleepy said:

I love Roy-but it's easier to contain big men then versatile forwards. Roy's going to be reliant on the other players to step up and while Hoyas have the talent, they have to prove it. Macklin, Summers, PE JR, and Freeman will be needed.

Well, as versatile as Jeff is his one major weakness was that he was not a true threat to create off the dribble once the defense clamped down. He was reliant on getting his points in those scenarios through the offensive scheme. In other words he could not break a defense down by penetrating and going all the way to the basket or passing to an open teammae once the defense collapsed on him during a drive.

Therefore Hibbert is a much more dangerous and efficient player when it comes to scoring because regardless of the offense he can post up and score over anyone. If teams play zone and concentrate on Hibbert that leaves players open. The same can not be said when Jeff is on the perimter being guarded by one single defender.

[chep3]

The other silver lining is that we further dispel the myth that playing in a princeton-esque offense will hurt your stock. Future recruits are going to see a guy come out of this system as a top 10 pick, and be a guy who's ready to play in the league, not ready to sit on a bench for three years. Hope Greg Monroe is watching next week.