calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 18, 2023 12:50:26 GMT -5
It’s a 12 point lead and yet the horrible TOs make this feel like a game the Hoyas could lose. In fairness to Epps on a couple of his TOs his teammates give him no help and just stop moving. This team has to keep moving on offense and when they stop and start watching the PG it is never good. Agree that Fielder just seems lost out there and Cook offers little on offense so far.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 18, 2023 12:44:41 GMT -5
I don’t think there is a ball handler on this team that you can trust right now.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 18, 2023 12:01:01 GMT -5
Any one find this game on the Fox App? Cannot find anything.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 16, 2023 8:13:16 GMT -5
The stench from last night's game has still not worn off. I think that what is most depressing is the realization that some things cannot be fixed this year. Cook will likely remain a non-factor on offense, except for the occasional put back, Fielder is going to take considerable time and a major confidence boost to show a glimpse in the games what coaches are seeing in practice, my turn basketball is not going away unless and until the guards stop playing hero ball and have some options other than dribbling down the clock, and there is no obvious ball handler on the team. Who will be the leader for this team on the court? Massoud? Is there any other candidate?
What can be fixed are the careless, mindless TOs that have now become a hallmark of this program over the past several seasons, the ability to break a press defense with passing instead of requiring a guard to try and dribble through traps, the ball movement in the front court to find an open man and hopefully better shooting. Cannot win a game with the 3 guards going 4/12 (Epps), 3/13 (Rowa)n and 3/11 (Heath), particularly when most of those shots seemed forced and not in the flow of the offense.
Positives to me are the play of Styles in the first half and his drives to the basket. His 3 pt shots were nice but doubt he is going to continue to hit them at that pace and will regress to the mean. Ryan getting minutes is good to provide a little rest for the starters and while everyone can and will criticize his slow foot speed and poor mobility, was he really much worse than Cook? Cooley is engaged during game action and in the huddle--actually coaching the kids. I think we will see some improvement over the course of the season though nowhere near as much as I had hoped, barring some major change from the return of Massoud and the growth of the younger players.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 15, 2023 22:41:00 GMT -5
You cannot run an offense at this level if 2 of the 5 on the floor are not involved or contributing. Guards drive but without purpose.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 15, 2023 22:31:28 GMT -5
20 TOs mostly due to poor ball handling and lazy play. Seems like we’ve seen this a lot in recent years. Was worried about Cook and Fielder before and now I would say that it is much more than a worry. These guys have no role in the offense. We will live and die with our perimeter shooting.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 15, 2023 22:18:42 GMT -5
Has Fielder taken a shot? How is this kid not involved in the offense? Not certain if the posts are supposed to be in the offense.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 15, 2023 22:00:34 GMT -5
Game has really degenerated into an ugly mess. Hoyas have completely lost their composure. Clearly missing leadership on the floor. Have to say that at this point neither Fielder nor Cook are contributing anything on offense.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 15, 2023 21:51:07 GMT -5
Team is reverting to stagnant offense with one guy dribbling and every one watching. Defense has fallen apart.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 15, 2023 21:32:56 GMT -5
Epps is playing selfishly and killing this team with careless TOs and forced shots. Reminds a little of last year. Hopefully Rowan can stay on the floor in the 2nd half and handle the ball. Though they have had some defensive lapses in the zone it has allowed Ryan to play and provide a little more rebounding. Still waiting for Fielder to show some offense to offset his defensive deficiencies.
Styles playing smart and within himself. Heath looks a little out of shape still. Really like a coach who is coaching in the huddle and making adjustments on the floor. Now he needs to get his star guard under control and the Hoyas can stay in this game.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 13, 2023 17:48:33 GMT -5
I understand your point but think it is not entirely fair. Fans are disappointed and should be. Not an excuse for personal attacks on players or coaches but I have not seen those yet. Even given all the points you make concerning the new players, it is not unrealistic to think that based upon talent alone, they should be capable by this point to beat a team of Holy Cross' caliber. This team may not be the most talented squad out there, but as the coach acknowledged post-game, a lot of what happened in the final moments of the game had little to do with talent and more to do with composure and effort. What I saw was a team that looked a little panicked and was out-hustled by a less talented squad, particularly in terms of rebounding.
I actually gained even more respect for Cooley because of his post-game comments in which he did not attempt to absolve himself, his staff or his players. I expect this team to improve. I am concerned about the interior game, but expect that the coaches can adapt a system that fits the skill set of the current players, including Ryan.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 13, 2023 13:56:36 GMT -5
Very sad news. Rest in Peace Ed.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 12, 2023 8:31:38 GMT -5
Biggest disappointments for last night was watching the team be outhustled for rebounds and the inability to make FTs down the stretch. Cook missed some shots from close in but so too did other players. Cook and Fielder are going to be overmatched against most BE front courts.
Never will understand driving to the basket in a crowded lane and then trying an underhanded scoop shot for a layup (Heath) which is easily blocked. Did not expect a great season but had hoped that these types of losses were a thing of the past. Clearly Cooley has his work cut out for him.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 12, 2023 0:21:52 GMT -5
Hey Ewing is gone and this is not his team. Not sure why Ewing’s name is even mentioned in this thread.
Cooley has a real challenge here in trying to mold this group into something cohesive and capable. Right now it’s clear that the combo of Cook and Fielder is going to be an issue all year. Particularly disappointed in the rebounding, lack of box outs and horrible FT shooting. Massoud cannot get back too soon.
No one should give up yet but this is likely going to be another challenging season. Hopefully they continue to work on ball movement and finding the open man. Hopefully the glimpse of my turn basketball tonight was just an aberration. Hopefully Cooley will get them to practice FT shooting and find a way to get more offense from his front line. Defense was embarrassing tonight particularly in and around the lane.
It’s going to be a tough year but still expecting February to look a lot better than tonight.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 8, 2023 10:02:49 GMT -5
Great to see improved passing and defensive effort. It was night and day. There are going to be a lot of minutes for young guys that will set us up well for next year and years following. Everyone except health and massoud should be back next year. We have a strong recruiting class coming in. We have a few extra slots that we can aim high for transfers. I think Epps and Rowan will be a very good duo for years to come. Very exciting game and it was nice not to be heated all game against an inferior opponent. I believe that Cook is also a senior who will not be back next year.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 8, 2023 8:23:19 GMT -5
To me the clear highlight of the game was the 9,000+ fans who chose to come see the Hoyas play a Division 1 newbie on a Tuesday night. That has not happened in a hell of a long time. Cooley engaged with the crowd is another highlight.
Still hoping to see more time for Ryan as this front-court cannot sustain any type of foul trouble. Heath will be a star this year and Bristol is going to be an energizer off the bench.
Most impressive player of the game last night would be hard to pick but I was pleasantly surprised with Styles and very happy with what I saw from Rowan.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 7, 2023 17:21:32 GMT -5
OOC: 10-1 BE: 8-12 BET: 2-1 NIT: 2-1 Overall: 22-15 KenPom: 82 Who is this and what have you done with hoyaboya? I'll take this prediction any day.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Nov 6, 2023 11:02:15 GMT -5
Because we are playing LeMoyne, I think the results and final score have limited value but nonetheless I am looking for these things: 1. I want to stomp LeMoyne. I realize it's our first game, Cooley's first game, there will likely be a lot of nerves. But, when Georgetown has been good (such as most of the JT3 years before the end), we routinely stomped teams like LeMoyne. I want the result (a win) to be clear from the first five minutes. 2. I want to see our guys play defense and defend the three well. Cooley's teams have often been excellent at defending the three and never bad at it, so I expect this. One of the ways we improve a lot on Ewing's performance is to defend. 3. I want to see what we have on our roster. Are we a short roster? Yes. Are we a pretty inexperienced roster with Massoud out? Yes. But do we have some talent? Absolutely. I'm most interested in seeing what we can get from Epps, Styles, Mutombo, and Fielder. While any regular reader here knows I hate playing the 300+ teams like LeMoyne, I haven't been more excited for a matchup like this in years. There's finally optimism on the Hilltop for basketball, and it feels good. I share your sentiments. However, the PTSD from the past several years will assure that I am a nervous wreck about looking bad in these pre-conference games that should be comfortable wins. In addition to your list of who you are interested in watching, I would add Rowan and Cook. Think we know what we have in Bristol and Heath
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Oct 28, 2023 6:49:43 GMT -5
I truly hope that very soon we can move off the "Cooley narrative" and just focus on the kids that have committed to the program this year. Cooley was not my choice and neither was Pitino. I have nothing invested in either one, but acknowledge that both have a proven record of coaching success--something we have not seen on the Hilltop in years. We have an undermanned squad made up of kids who have something to prove. These kids chose to come to a program that has been completely dismantled through ineptitude and apathy. Three chose to stay despite the embarrassment of the past two years.All had options to leave or go elsewhere.
I know from my own children what the demands are on college athletes. It's easy for those of us in our recliners to sit back and complain about what this team isn't. These kids did not go 2-38 in conference the past two years. They deserve some support until they show they don't. There will be plenty of time for them to be criticized for any failures on the court, but for now it should be alright to celebrate their willingness to try and bring back this program to respectability, hope for the best and stop focusing on how far the climb back will be. Enjoy the moment with college basketball about to start. We can all begin to complain soon enough as this road will certainly have bumps.
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calhoya
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Post by calhoya on Oct 25, 2023 7:03:39 GMT -5
I am not sure why this is an issue at all. Of course the Providence fans will hate on Cooley for a very long time and as they do it will always be a media topic. I think that what he did was a good career move for him but a major slap in the face of the program that helped him achieve success and earn that big contract. Imagine if after all his success with the Hoyas , Big John had decided to return to Providence where he played ball. I don't think that the Hoya fans or the media would give him a pass for years. The haters would be all over him. You must not take part of social media. Congrats on that. If you were on social media you would know Friar fans go way beyond the limit with their rhetoric and unfounded accusations. They downright show contempt for a man whose apparent immoral behavior they were totally fine with UNTIL he left for Georgetown. One would think they would have been happy to rid themselves of an awful coach who is apparently an even more awful person but he lives rent free in their heads anyway. Its amazing. They also have harassed Hoya fans non-stop by trying to insinuate themselves in conversations that have nothing to do with them in order to spread their narcissistic bitterness and venom. Remind me what Georgetown students, alumni and fans actually did to the Friars again. I highly doubt Georgetown folks would have done anything near this to John Thompson in the scenario you proposed ( if social media existed at the time), largely because they don't come from a position of such a blatant collective inferiority complex. Understand your point and yes I try to ignore social media as much as possible. It is to me often a useless form of self-promotion and one that emboldens cowards to hide behind a handle while making comments that they would never say in person. That said in the context of a world dominated by social media I am still not shocked that Providence fans would spew the venom they have when feeling betrayed. As for Hoya fans and their reactions if an iconic figure like Big John had abandoned the Hoya program in the late 1980s or early 1990's to return to Providence where he played, I suspect you are giving us/them too much credit in considering the fan reaction.
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