calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 24, 2020 12:57:50 GMT -5
Why the need to take shots at a kid whose play has improved, even if it is not meeting our expectations. Streak shooter for certain, but leading the team in rebounding and improved defense. Loyal kid, who may yet come out of his slump.
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by calhoya on Dec 24, 2020 8:47:34 GMT -5
The problem with a wait until next year mindset is that there are too many factors that can occur to derail those expectations. Last season was supposed to be "next year." and how'd that work out. One stupid incident, a couple of clashing egos, adverse publicity, a mass exodus and a late departure from a key player who supposedly was uncomfortable with his fit and development on the team and suddenly we are playing for "next year" again.
This team is not without talent--it may not be the high end talent that gets national attention coming in, but I see no one who has been on the floor who cannot contribute at this level. The talent just needs to develop and that includes seniors and not just the freshmen. The biggest challenge for coaches is to adapt to the talent they have on hand. The question is whether this team is running an offense and defense that fits the talent it has or whether we are trying to force fit our players into a system they cannot run. The other problem is whether the coaches are demanding enough discipline from the kids on the floor. When players start getting selfish or hunting shots, making lazy TOs or not playing defense, sit them and make them watch. Ewing has always seemed to have a much longer leash than his mentor ever did. It's not about punishing kids, but rather about getting them out for a minute and settling them down.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 24, 2020 7:56:26 GMT -5
Wahab was behind Yurt7 last year and COVID-19 hit, no Kenner and late start. Q does need to kick the ball out when triple teamed though. Would help him and the shooters. Needs to develop court awareness. Right now it’s just tunnel vision at the hoop. Everyone knows he’s going to shoot it, so they are forcing him a little further out. On top of that, he loves to dribble and shoot the fadeaway. At this point Wahab is more about potential than efficiency. I can see the reason people look at him and have high expectations for the future. Yet, I expected more development than I have seen. Watch his stroke at the FT line. The kid should be able to move away from the basket and pose a threat on offense. Have yet to see that occur once, though I did see it at the end of last year. What happened? Is it the offense we aer running? Look, no one is writing him off, but at this point it's not difficult for opposing teams to scheme for him--one offensive move, shooting around 50% from very close in and never looking to pass out to the open man. I know that Pickett has had two horrible shooting games, that Blair has disappeared from the flow of the offense, until garbage time when he starts jacking it up, and this team often struggles to find Carey, but I would still be willing to take my chances with those three and Berger (if he can get off the bench) getting and taking open looks, rather than watch Wahab and Tim struggle to hit half their baby hook shots in the paint. We are just making it too easy for opponents to guard this team. Coach has to make adjustments.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 21:26:08 GMT -5
It’s easy to blame the players, but the continuous breakdowns—now occurring on offense and defense are not just the players’ fault. Lots of player turnover for 4 years but the product on the floor has become unbearable to watch as the same deficiencies show up. Why force plays in to the posts, who still are very limited in their development. Why not force Wahab to kick out the ball when doubled? Why can’t we guard against perimeter shooters who are almost always wide open. Why can’t plays be developed and run for Blair and Pickett and Carey to get the open shot? Why can’t this team inbound the ball in the front court? Why is Harris—either one—allowed to implode for several minutes before being pulled and settled down? If J Harris stays away, start giving Berger, Carey and Blair more time at PG and let D Harris watch and learn. What has happened to Blair, whose play has gone from invisible to indefensible? Is he frustrated? Why do we end a game like this with two unused timeouts? Come on coach, you have shown you can work under duress last year, these are your players and it is on you to right this ship. No one is playing well.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 21:12:07 GMT -5
Just don’t see the major step forward that was hoped for. One move and often short on the shot. No court awareness-when the ball comes in the offense stops and he never looks to kick out. Frustrating because the kick out is critical to ball movement and what little upside this offense has to work with.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 18:11:57 GMT -5
Good luck Hoyas. Cannot watch this any longer as the offense is bad and the defense worse. Coach has to figure this out.
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 18:08:03 GMT -5
Blair exposed repeatedly on defense.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 17:51:44 GMT -5
Sit Harris and play Berger. Harris is out of control and not showing any smarts with the ball. He will learn but allowing him to continuously implode is neither helpful nor fair to the other players. Can Ewing figure out how to get shots for Blair and Carey? Carey Blair Berger Picket and whichever post can learn to kick out. This team is not this bad—-I hope.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 17:40:27 GMT -5
No words can describe how bad this team is playing. D Harris out of control, cannot inbound a pass against pressure and taking poor shots. Pickett off Blair and Carey not involved in the offense. Too much dribbling and too little ball movement. Still trying to see the great improvement others see with our posts. With minutes to go in the 1st half exactly one time has a pass in to a post resulted in a kick out. Wahab has yet to scor and only hit the rim once.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 23, 2020 7:36:50 GMT -5
In the most recent game when after Ighoefe made his first basket he came down on the other end of the court in which he had to eventually rotate over to guard an opposing player who was about six feet from him on the baseline but well within the three-point line. Ighoefe's rotating over him was half-hearted because he didn't have his hands up and that opposing player made a jumpshot. Ewing immediately replaced him with Wilson. Ighoefe was only in the game for about a minute and was yanked despite having just successfully scored because he didn't go at it hard enough during the following instance on defense. And my immediate feeling on that was DO THAT TO EVERYONE FAR MORE OFTEN. It may be the one way to get his players to compete on the defensive side of the ball. And there is no better time to start implementing this standard requirement than this upcoming game today against Seton Hall. Agree completely. Big John was notorious for pulling players who were not making the effort or melting down. He was also known for sitting them briefly and then putting them back in. For the most part it worked. Seems that this is something that could benefit kids like J Harris and Bile--not as a punishment but rather to give them immediate feedback and settle them down. As for today's game if Pickett is really hobbled, it's truly not worth the risk. He cannot match up strength wise with Mamu on two good ankles.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 22, 2020 9:07:55 GMT -5
Have seen every team other than Depaul and it looks like a down year for the BE. No one seems overwhelming. Could see very competitive games and lots of upheaval from week-to week. If the coaches can find a way to get the Hoyas to move the damn ball quickly on offense and play anything resembling passable defense against perimeter players there is no reason this team cannot compete. A strong incoming recruiting class has to see evidence that the needle is pointing up and one sure sign of that is for Ewing to put together a team that can compete within the conference on a weekly basis.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 21, 2020 19:18:43 GMT -5
Congratulations to Coach Ewing on a major recruiting win. We now have 3/5ths of the 2024 Nigerian Olympic team.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 21, 2020 9:21:36 GMT -5
If you’re the opposing coach just: 1) Double Wahab every time he gets it. He will not pass it. 2) Don’t let Carey, Blair or Pickett shoot set threes. Let Blair shoot floaters and Pickett turnaround jump shots and live with it. 3) Full court pressure on our primary ball handler. Agree with one addition.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 21, 2020 7:41:13 GMT -5
Having Blair bring it up against pressure was a killer. He didn't lose it but it took him a while to get into the front court and then he had his back to the hoop trying to run PNR instead of moving it. StJ's ball pressure really disrupted us. Couldn't even get solid ball screens. It left us too often in a forced one on one situation with the shot clock winding down. Not a good place to be when we don't really have any players that can consistently best a good defender. We did have Berger open a few times, but we certainly didn't run anything for him. The D is bad. I think it's more individual D right now than schematic. Aside from Dante, no one can keep a player in front of them. Rotations look so much worse when, well, you always have to rotate. We can block shots but they lead to offensive boards. Spot on re: Blair bringing the ball up. Dante had a rough game, but he's the guy who should be bringing the ball up and getting us into the offense. Blair & Carey are the two guys who can consistently score from range if given clean looks -- our offense should be biased towards getting those guys clean looks. Hoping we can throw Berger on this list soon enough. Frustrating to not put Pickett on that list -- but unless he's completely set/squared/balanced, he's just not reliable. I feel like this team will go as Q goes. He has potential, and if he improves, we have a chance to steal a few BE games. He has made a difference protecting the rim, but needs to add power to his offensive game, and be able to pass out when it's not there. At this point, when he catches, he's taking the baby hook, period. He's not passing out, he's not going up strong. That's not gonna get it done against good competition. We'll be out-talented for the remainder of our games. I'm just looking for improvement & eventually, cohesiveness. Unfortunately, didn't see much today. But I'll keep tuning in. Unfortunately Blair has never been a consistent shooter from range though he can score. He is shooting worse than Pickett from 3 while launching 25 more 3's than his senior counterpart. I do not think that this team's problems are perimeter shooting, particularly with the emergence of Carey. We need to run an offense with plenty of ball movement to get to the open perimeter shooter. I'll take my chances with some combination of Pickett, Blair, Carey, Berger and perhaps D. Harris if they are getting open shots. Every team has inconsistencies from deep--watched Creighton continuously launch away and miss. Recall the last St. Johns game and Nova's first half against the Hoyas. It's just that the Hoyas seem incapable of maintaining ball movement for any length of time before we devolve into iso matchups. I know Ewing is in love with feeding the ball down low to Wahab or Tim, but these guys are doubled up often and shooting 58% and 50% from in close. The ball stops--no kick out to open shooters. It's one single power move usually well guarded by the opposition. It's happening enough that you begin to wonder if it is by design. If so, why? The major problem with this team is that in his 4th year of coaching (or 19th counting assistant coaching) and with his 4th set of players, Ewing has yet to figure out how to implement an effective defense against ball movement and perimeter oriented offenses. It has not happened and there is nothing to suggest so far that it will happen. Very discouraging that a team has to shoot well every night just to be in the game. There has to be cause for hope that this can improve.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 20, 2020 21:29:22 GMT -5
Tonight was awful. Our three-point defense was nonexistent, our press was water and our offense got really lazy after the first like ten minutes. The Bile-Tim lineup completely changed this game. They went on their run with those guys in and the game was sealed. Everyone but Carey was bad. Dante looked like a freshman and tried to do too much tonight, Blair was awesome in garbage time where he probably put up 17 points, Wahab having four rebounds in this game is inexcusable. This game makes it clear that Bile and Tim being talked up was just coach speak. Tim made his hooks today but defensively was terrible. Our defense was about as good as if we threw out practice cones. I mean a St. John's team that cant shoot was open from deep every time they wanted. And we had no answer for Posh driving the lane. The defense is still just awful. Just one of those games you have to forget about as soon as possible. Carey was our offense. Dante needs to be more aggressive but also needs to play within the offense. Pickett needs to drive the lane. Wahab needs to pass out of a double team, not get blown by so easily, and crash the glass. Though he was blocking shots, he was also in no man's land so much defensively these last two games. Bile needs to stop forcing everything as if he's at Northwestern State. He's way too wild and was by far the worst player on the floor tonight. We had a week off and came out just awful. St John's wanted it more. They got every 50/50 ball and got in the lane and played smart. Terrible performance. A week for that is just bad. Onto the next one. Can’t disagree with any of this. Really not certain that this coaching staff will ever figure out how to improve the perimeter defense. Although players have changed the results have not. St. Johns is better than last year but nowhere near the offensive juggernaut we made them appear tonight. Really sad to say I switched away from the game several times figuring there was never a chance to come back, particularly with Blair and Pickett’s offense completely missing for the second straight game. Seton Hall will be even uglier I am afraid..
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by calhoya on Dec 19, 2020 8:16:50 GMT -5
Not certain what has happened with this program. While never a powerhouse in the BE, the collapse of this program has been dramatic and shocking for those of us who follow the women's team from the outside. More so than the men's program, which at least has had some moments of hope even in the chaos of last year. Time for the Administration to decide if it wants to field a competitive women's team and address whatever factors have caused this program to fall so far so fast.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 18, 2020 8:05:23 GMT -5
Well there is nothing normal about this past year--mass transfers, late transfer of McClung, no summer ball, 9 new players, late start to practice, hardly any OOC games to prep team, empty arenas and the lowest level of expectation for the team in my memory. While I have doubts about many aspects of this program, I don't see how you can draw any final conclusions after 6 games about any players yet (other than the continued inability of team to play defense).
Bile needs to adapt to the team scheme and use his athleticism to provide needed rebounding. No forced shots or iso ball--this team has been there and done that for the last couple of years, J Harris needs to calm down, stop waving his arms after mistakes and use his speed and ballhandling ability to provide penetration. No team is worried about Harris sitting out there on the perimeter. Harris will have to share the point with D. Harris. Bile may have to give up some time to Clarke. Both Bile and Harris need to be much more focused on defense--something that would immediately benefit this team more than any points they score. Each of these kids is trying hard to make an impact and Ewing needs to get through to them as to how they can best do that while fitting within the team approach. He also needs to place them on the court in situations where there are other players who compensate for their shortcomings--no Bile and Tim I, no Harris without Blair and Carey. If nothing improves in the next few games then you sit them.
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calhoya
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by calhoya on Dec 17, 2020 8:12:06 GMT -5
Not ready to worry about next year but with or without Carey the team will be very young and limited experience. Other than Wahab and Tim, whose still very much a project, everyone else (not counting Carey) will be a freshman or sophomore.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 15, 2020 8:05:48 GMT -5
I really am looking forward to this game as a means of measuring Ewing's development as a coach and the players' development as a unit. Sunday revealed a lot about this team's potential which hopefully leads to further adjustments. How will D. Harris and Carey react to the increased attention they will surely get now that they were so pivotal in the first game. How will Ewing get Pickett and Blair back into the flow of the offense against the St. John's defense which focused on both. What will be done to limit the offensive rebounds for St. Johns? Will Berger and Sibley be part of the regular rotation now? What role for J Harris and Clark, assuming they are healthy? What role for Tim I or do the Hoyas go small without Wahab? Recall that a different set of officials could easily have called more fouls on Wahab and that would have changed the flow of the game completely. How do we get Bile to harness his athleticism and play within the offense and defense (assuming there really is a defense)? How will the Hoyas guards handle the pressure defense of St. Johns which caused numerous careless TOs. With a longer bench/rotation, what combinations will Ewing have on the floor? Suddenly having both Pickett and Blair out of the game for short times does not seem quite the death blow for the offense as it did 4 days ago. Finally, will the Hoyas start to show any signs of being able to play competent defense against a very athletic, but poor shooting team?
I really do not expect much change from St. Johns as their style of play is what it is. However, there is opportunity here for the Hoyas to show that their upside this year is much higher than many thought, particularly if D. Harris, Carey and Berger continue to shoot well.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Dec 14, 2020 15:27:32 GMT -5
I have seen where some people have said St John's is a bad team this year. I am not sure I agree with that. They do turn the ball over and can be undisciplined sometimes, but they play very hard and have some interesting athletes who are going to do well in the system they run. It doesn't appear they will do well in games when they need to run a lot of half court sets, but the way they play I am not sure how often they will end up in those games. They could use some more size to help on the boards also, but seem to overcome that with guys going aggressively to the glass for rebounding opportunities. The freshman point guard is a good player who is only going to get better as the year goes on. I am not sure what their record wile at the end of this year but they are going to give alton of teams trouble that are not comfortable playing at a fast pace. I would not be surprised at all to see them end up near .500 in the conference. I think that St. Johns is going to be a decent team this year but like the Hoyas they are still missing some pieces. They have lots of athletes but not a lot of shooters. I think that their coach hurts his team with his undying commitment to the frenzy approach. It works well for much of the game but if you are up 7-9 points late in the game you might consider taking more time off the clock when you have the ball. It's been a problem for them a few times this year. They gave the Hoyas chances to keep coming back in the second half--and this time the Hoyas did.
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