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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 15, 2023 15:00:56 GMT -5
Cooley said he’s open to answering questions. Someone should ask him about his scheduling philosophy in good times and in bad. Those five years are pretty bad. Good point. I think if a journalist asked who, or an alumnus at an open practice or event Cooley would actually give a substantive answer. I would be curious to see what he says. For this year, this doesn't bother me that much for the reasons others have stated (mostly that it probably won't matter), but I want to see it get better in future years. We will see what happens. As I said, Cooley's scheduling Notre Dame and potentially scheduling Maryland going forward are very good signs. Cooley is clearly not completely trying to avoid OOC competition (like, for example, Esherick did a few seasons), so we will see where things land.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 14, 2023 11:38:33 GMT -5
There's a lot of moving parts in scheduling, not the least of which is the paucity of dates offered by Monumental Sports. 12 noon Saturday basketball games during college football season aren't in demand by networks, and mid-November schedules are in conflict with many pre-season MTE's. That said, it's a step up from the scattershot approach of the Ewing years, which lacked any direction in developing home and home series of interest (SMU, South Carolina) and settled instead on guarantee payouts to the likes of Siena, Dartmouth, Green Bay, etc. Outside of tournaments and the Big 10/Big 12 series, the list of opponents signed by Georgetown from 2017-23 was neither impressive nor memorable: Alabama A&M American Central Arkansas Coppin St. Dartmouth Georgia St. Green Bay Howard Jacksonville Longwood Maine MD-Eastern Shore Mount St. Mary's North Carolina A&T North Texas Navy NC-Greensboro Richmond (away) Samford Siena SMU (home/away) South Carolina (home/away) Syracuse (home/away) UMBC The good news is that Cooley gets it-- the bottom of Division I doesn't sell tickets. But with the expiration of the Big 10 and Big 12 series over the next two years, he's got to find some NET-quality opponents and that's more than just ND and Maryland. More home and away series is a start--the scheduling of JT III from 2006-10 was much stronger. Fewer dead-weight games in November before 3,500 people is another step forward, wins notwithstanding. (If someone can tell me, now 38 years later, why GU cannot play George Mason downtown or at Fairfax, that remains a head-scratcher.) Finally, and this is only a request, can we get exhibition games back at McDonough? An on-campus turnout for the likes of Catholic or UDC is preferable to some sort of "secret scrimmage" which in hindsight did nothing for the recent teams. You make valid points, but I would not use Ewing's scheduling as any sort of barometer for anything. My biggest thing is that people often treat scheduling as binary--you either have to have a beast of a schedule or cupcakes. And, it doesn't have to be that way. - Scheduling the 300+ level teams is really not helpful in any way. While Ewing's teams struggled to beat them (Coppin State, OT), any normal competent coach (and Cooley is certainly competent) is going to easily get our squad to crush these teams. It's boring, and I think it's hard to keep players (and fans) engaged. Granted, Cooley is a much better motivator than Ewing, so I expect effort against these 300-level opponents to be stronger. - Beating 300-level opponents is literally meaningless, aside from adding to the W column. I know some people get all into this, and think being .500 on the season is meaningful, even if you're beating up on horrible teams. I don't agree. - Playing these teams offers little upside. If you lose (like we almost did to Coppin State last year), it's a horrendous loss. If you win, nobody cares because you should win. - Now, the easy competition might allow Cooley to experiment and feel out the roster. I get it. But there are a lot of teams out there that are really bad, should be easy wins, but that do not destroy the strength of schedule. How about loading up on teams in the 225-275 range instead of 300-350? Again, Ewing's teams struggled with the 200s, but JT3 really never did with a few exceptions. - All this said, there are signs that Cooley gets it. The Notre Dame home-and-home is a really good start. Tentative discussions with Maryland about starting a series is also great. And while I go back and forth on Syracuse, I think keeping them on the schedule is good too, as it was a historical rivalry (albeit with much luster lost given we aren't in the same conference anymore). - Also, Cooley does not have a consistent history of awful OOCs, though he also doesn't have a history of super strong ones. Starting with last year, these were Providence's OOC strength of schedule ranks under Cooley: 352, 152, 103, 217, 237, 287, 259, 93, 139, 306, 342 So, at Providence, Cooley started with a really bad OOC (342) with a new team, and then began scheduling tougher ones. Really the only awful ones at Providence were his first two years, last year, and then the 259/287. On average I'd like us to be average-ish next year (150-200ish), and then make it tougher if we get better. But, there is really very little reason to ever have one of the worst 10 OOCs.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 14, 2023 8:56:00 GMT -5
I understand the justification for the schedule that (a) we aren’t going to be good anyway so (b) it doesn’t matter and allows us to get some wins under our belt. The thing is, I’m not willing to concede yet that we won’t be a bubble team. Is it likely? Absolutely not. But stranger things have happened and we don’t want to place ourselves in a position where we are better than expected and don’t make it because of scheduling.
This is something that has to get better next year, especially with the upgrade of talent the 2024 class will hopefully bring. Cooley has never scheduled super tough schedules but there’s a big difference between this and mediocre ones. This is really my only concern about Cooley at the moment, but I think it’ll get better and there are some good signs (like the Notre Dame home and home and signs we will eventually play Maryland).
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 11, 2023 11:44:56 GMT -5
I hope you are all correct! My observation was that Bristol seemed to struggle when offenses and defenses got more complex (of course any scheme is more complex than Kenner). Maybe it has all clicked this year. Correction: his coach struggled with simple and complex offenses and defenses. Let’s not blame the player for his coach’s incompetence. For this reason, I think there is a strong possibility that Akok, Bristol, Heath, and Mutombo all come back and are much improved from last year.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 9, 2023 21:55:26 GMT -5
A question for those who know more about AAU. Since Peach Jam is a Nike tournament, does that mean that players committed to Adidas or Under Armor Schools don't attend? Or does it not matter at this stage? Will Sorber, Williams, and Mulready play in the AAU tournaments run by the other sneaker companies?
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 7, 2023 9:57:53 GMT -5
That's the same move Ewing did with Nickelberry once he bagged a bunch of recruits, allows the Associate Head Coach to get paid more. This is interesting, Battle has been an Associate HC since his days @ Wake Forest… So are both Battle and Thomas Associate Head Coach in title?
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 7, 2023 9:52:46 GMT -5
On the reclassification, I don't expect it to happen, but let's wait and see what happens. If he did decide to reclassify, I welcome him with open arms. If not, I welcome him with open arms next year, and hope he has a great final year of high school. I really don't know enough about him to comment on what's best for him personally, so I leave that to him and his family.
Either way, it's great he's had a good Peach Jam so far. I am looking forward to him being a Hoya.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jul 7, 2023 9:45:34 GMT -5
I don't love the Merrimack scheduling, but a post-Thanksgiving easier game isn't the end of the world. If Jackson State and Merrimack are the only two 300-levels we get, I am fine with that, but I really don't want more.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 30, 2023 16:00:44 GMT -5
I'm gonna hold off on the "great" designation. ND is a down program right now, I would be quite surprised if they are able to make a huge improvement in 2 seasons; let's see if we continue the series after that. Same with Syracuse, a down program in transition. Would love to see continued improvements in our scheduling, let's see how we schedule OOC a couple of years from now. That's actually why I think it's a great bit of scheduling. Part of the art to scheduling out of conference teams is to get teams that are going to have a pretty good strength of schedule overall. Being in the ACC, Notre Dame will likely have a fairly good schedule (though the ACC has been weak of late). On top of that, Notre Dame had a very down year last year, but unlike Georgetown, they were only horrible 1 year. So, the odds that Shrewsbury will get them back in a better place is high (even if they aren't that good overall). The real key to the OCC is getting teams in that top 100-ish range. You don't need to schedule 5 games in the top 25, but you also cannot scheudle 5 games sub-300, which basically makes it impossible to make the NCAA tournament without being exceptional in-conference. I also like that we are getting Notre Dame away this year, because they'll be vulnerable, we can win, and a win away OOC is always looked on well should we be better than expected and contend for anything. I do want to see Cooley eventually get us back into some of the good November tournaments like Maui once he feels like we are NCAA competitive. Those tournaments provide good opportunities for the team to notch good wins, and also to get experience. This year wasn't the year (and too late since the fields are often set well in advance), but we might be ready in 2024-2025. Those tournaments are fun and good proving grounds. But overall, home and home series with high major conference teams are almost always good for the schedule.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 30, 2023 15:54:23 GMT -5
Great to see Cooley open up the program. It's much overdue.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 29, 2023 8:33:19 GMT -5
It appears Donovan Grant did not actually play any games last year. Was he a walk on at Oregon State, too? If yes, the walk-on status makes sense.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 29, 2023 8:28:22 GMT -5
Williams and the 2024 class are really exciting. From what I see, it wouldn't shock me to see Sorber rise even more, assuming ESPN does further updates.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 29, 2023 8:25:24 GMT -5
We all know the "there is no way he deserved freshman of the year over Alex Karaban" quote is a joke from a UCONN account, right? Most coaches, Cooley included, know how to play the game. Calipari probably the best at it. What athletes has Cooley "played the game" for successfully? Please list all the high NBA draft picks and great NBA players produced by Ed Cooley during his 17 years as a Division I head coach. I think he just means that there is no way that Cooley would do anything like this to a player; nor would most coaches worth their salt. What Neptune is being accused of doing is so bone-headed it's hard to believe. I am *sure* that there are players that coaches talk up even though sometimes the coaches do not like the players. Worst case, you say nothing at all. But, to affirmatively bad mouth your own guy is just really stupid. Like I said, this is so hugely stupid it makes it hard to believe. I haven't been hugely impressed by Neptune so far, but they did end the year better last year and have a nice roster coming in. If Neptune begins winning, nobody will care about it. If he struggles, then they will.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 29, 2023 7:30:15 GMT -5
The Notre Dame series is an absolutely great bit of scheduling. Cooley hasn't always scheduled the best schedules, so it's a good sign.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 27, 2023 14:01:00 GMT -5
The talent on last year's team was not 220 KP talent which is my point. It was Top 100 talent with the worst coach in college basketball history. Cooley gets a lot of credit for taking transfers to a new level. Hopkins was a 5 star on a loaded team. Cooley just provided him with playing time. No matter where Hopkins went last year he was going to be a stud as most 5 stars that stick around are. Nothing in his advanced numbers stood out as a complete transformation except FT % Locke and Moore were the same as always and Carter was in line with a Freshman to Sophomore jump for a Top 100 player that had a solid Freshman year. The team was carried by their great frontcourt and rebounding. Croswell was a beast and didn't get nearly enough credit. I don't see a Hopkins / Croswell combo that can carry this team to the bubble like Providence last year. I wasn't a Bynum fan but he was still a 5th year PG. I have no doubt Cooley can get the Hoyas to the tournament in a few years. This is all fair. Perhaps nothing was a "complete transformation," but between his freshman and sophomore years, Hopkins' defensive rebounding got substantially better, his assist rate went way up, his turnover rate went down a good bit, and as you note, his FT% went up a lot. Even shooting threes he went from 31.2% (though a really small sample size so not that telling) to 36.4%. As for Carter, unlike Hopkins, he did play a lot as a freshman. Under Cooley, his turnover rate went down a ton, he got more blocks and steals, and shooting improved (though not substantially). You're also right that Croswell was a big deal, though I would not that also happened after development under Cooley. To be clear, I am NOT saying that will happen again this year. And I agree we do not seem to have transfers that will be as impactful as Hopkins was last year. I am just saying IF it happens, we could be better than expected. I just think we are so accustomed to several years where players really didn't improve, that it's easy to discount the odds of that happening. But no, sitting here today, I do not think Georgetown 2023-2024 will be as good as Providence 2022-2023. That said, I think we are positioned extremely well for a 2024-2025 jump in quality.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 26, 2023 10:17:24 GMT -5
"Last year’s transfer class was better than this years." You can say last year's class was ranked higher but why not wait until after this season to conclude it was better. There were solid indications before last season that several of those recruits were me-first players with gaudy stats that would not contribute to wins, and that proved to be true. Frankly, this year's class has very small shoes to fill given last year's dumpster fire. What if last year’s transfers go somewhere else and do well? Akok and Brandon are more talented than anyone that is coming in this year. It would take a serious outperformance of my expected record this year for me to change my mind about the classes. I’m talking 9 or 10 conference wins. Winning 6 games this year won’t do anything but confirm that Patrick Ewing was the worst college basketball coach ever. Cooley would’ve won plenty with last year’s team. We already know Cooley is an infinitely better coach than Ewing. We all know that Cooley is a substantially better college coach than Ewing. But, I would just exercise caution with using exact numbers of wins and losses as the barometer. Case in point, virtually every advanced metrics website said our team was worse last year, than the year before, even though we got 2 Big East wins this past year, and 0 the year before. Part of the issue is that the last two years under Ewing were so bad, that wins/losses essentially became meaningless. After all, you cannot get fewer than 0 Big East wins. It's easy to see a scenario where Cooley and the roster coming in are massively improved, go from the 220 range on KenPom to the lower top 100 (let's say 85), and win let's say 7 Big East games. On paper, going from 2 to 7 games in that scenario might not look great, but it would actually show a massive improvement. To me, I want to see a team in the low top 100s or better, as I think that is very doable. Cooley has us very well positioned for 2024-2025, so this really is a bridge year where you want to set the table, get some of our younger guys experience, and put the pieces in place for a big jump in 2024-2025. As for 2023-2024, by default we will be better than last year, I think. Cooley is a much better coach, and I think our team will finally play like a team with some defense. That alone will make us a lot better and give us a few more wins. Beyond that, I think it really depends on the newer guys and transfers Cooley brought in, and the jumps/improvement he can get from the previous group, namely Akok, Heath, Mutombo, and Bristol. For example, Hopkins wasn't very good until he played for Cooley. And I remain super high on Akok as a fantastic player who didn't play to his potential under Ewing. And if a transfer like Styles has a big jump like Hopkins did last year under Cooley, we could be a lot better than everyone thinks we will be. One of the great things about college basketball is there's almsot always hope and the chance you can be a lot better than projected. I am super excited for this season, and I haven't felt this way in years. And my appreciation of Cooley as our head coach has only grown since his hiring.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 26, 2023 10:09:15 GMT -5
This is good news right? If he went to Nova this would be a 10 page thread of folks whining. Don't get this board... Great news. I think if this happened in March or if it happened in October, there would be a lot more buzz. It's just summer and people are on vacation, checked out, etc. I expect board activity will pick up susbtantially once we start playing and people start paying attention to Cooley. And if we are better than expected, it'll be even greater. Cooley has truly done an outstanding job on the Class of 2024 so far.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 25, 2023 11:16:23 GMT -5
This is a really great get. The class of 2024 is shaping up really nicely with Williams, Sorber, and Mulready. Cooley and his staff are really doing great — it’s exciting to see.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 23, 2023 16:49:26 GMT -5
We are still in the nascent Cooley stages, but the guy can talk and inspire. Whenever people see him speak/interact with him, the reaction is always positive. Of course, this is very new for Georgetown. From what I can gather, after his initial hiring Patrick Ewing had virtually no fan interaction at all, and JT3 wasn't exactly a man of the people either. It's nice to have a coach who is out and about and ingratiating himself to the community that he knows he needs to win over.
Ultimately, talk and charisma don't get you anywhere without winning, but I do think a high likeability factor gives you a little more leeway to get to winning even if some stumbles arise.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Jun 23, 2023 16:46:31 GMT -5
This is like the ultimate Friday tease. Come to HoyaTalk to see any news. See a "new" name (or more accurately, I am exhausted and so forgot that he was the Kuwaiti walk on) and thought we got a new commit. I truly know nothing about Asad, so I'll wait to judge, but generally walk ons and "starter" don't go together. But you occasionally find people like Jon Wallace who start out as walk ons and surprise.
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