hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on May 29, 2019 22:31:51 GMT -5
Been a long lowly journey the last 4 years with you all but peep #22. The boys are back.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on May 7, 2019 15:38:27 GMT -5
I know we give McClung credit, but I still feel like he gets overlooked by the fanbase. There aren't a lot of freshman who looked as impressive as Mac did in games last year. If he ever turns into a 40% 3 pt shooter then he's a surefire pro. The kid has everything inside the paint, pull-up, step-back, floater, can finish with either hand at/around the rim. Literally, the only thing holding him back from being an elite guard at the college level is defense and shot selection. I think he's an All BE performer this year and could push 1st team his junior year.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on May 7, 2019 15:35:15 GMT -5
As has been discussed ad nauseum, the recruiting rankings are often wrong, but on average, the higher a player is ranked the more likely it is they'll turn out positive. But it's very inexact. Is there a possibility somebody outside the top 100 will be a really good player for us? Certainly. McClung is probably the best candidate for that, maybe Wahab next in line. All that being said, you don't put together a marquee team finding diamonds in the rough. I think it needs to be a balanced approach. More success on the court this coming season would make the ability to get the 4 star/top 100 types a lot easier. 2003, I'd agree to an extent and obviously your statement would tend to be true if we went back and looked at the final four teams over the last decade, but Texas Tech and Auburn specialized in finding diamonds in the rough and were arguably the two best teams in the country last year (yeah yeah I know UVA won, but they had God on their side). There are many ways to skin a cat in college ball because the skill level isn't as refined as the professional game. We do need to start nabbing kids in that 40-100 range consistently if our fan base expects us to trot out a top 25 team year after year.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Apr 15, 2019 21:01:49 GMT -5
Agreed^. I think 7-1 against those 4 is probably what KenPom would predict. The other 5 teams are a different story. All 5 should be somewhere on the spectrum from very good to average.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Mar 20, 2019 7:17:06 GMT -5
Would love to keep the last scholly on hold until we see things shake out with decommits and transfers. We are an extremely attractive team to join.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Mar 20, 2019 7:12:43 GMT -5
LJ with a little more size maybe. He's definitely a force going to the basket and looks to have a tight handle. Man, what a pickup he could go if he vibes with the team.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Mar 20, 2019 7:10:23 GMT -5
I think the thing people are overlooking with someone like NC St is that they beat 4(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) teams with a winning record all year. That is a heinous statistic and shows that NC St is not a good basketball team regardless of certain metrics. If you can explain that away then maybe I'll listen but their resume sucked when you pulled back the curtain and actually took a look at it.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Mar 13, 2019 13:09:29 GMT -5
I think we like that NCSU comeback. Clemson had a better resume and should be out now. Assuming a blowout win for UVA tomorrow then I still think NCSU is out unless the tourney committee gives great weighting to NET. NC State has 4 victories TOTAL on the year now over teams with winning records. No way in hell should they be even close to the bubble. We should root for a blowout and I think the bubble just gained back the St. Mary's ticket that was punched yesterday.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Feb 1, 2019 13:55:39 GMT -5
Going 4-2 in the next 6 give us a chanc at the dance. Beating Nova would do wonders to our tournament resume.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Feb 1, 2019 11:45:25 GMT -5
McClung and Akinjo have a chance to be as good as that Wright and Freeman backcourt.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Feb 1, 2019 11:41:38 GMT -5
Yeah, we don't matchup particularly well on defense. Govan can't handle Paschal and I don't think Leblanc is strong enough to keep him from posting up. I could see Mourning being employed to provide some muscle against him. Booth is a tricky matchup for either of our starting guards. I would consider giving Pickett a look, but feel like Mac will start out on him. This game might require a healthy dose of Jagan
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 28, 2019 16:20:05 GMT -5
Next year, we'll have at a minimum 5 guys on the team that will be 1,000 point scorers in their careers with Pickett, Mac, Josh, James, and Y7. That's a lot of offensive talent on one team. Glad to see Govan is continuing his ascension up a lot of our all-time stats lists.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 27, 2019 20:11:03 GMT -5
His first step is so explosive that I think it's tough for any guy to stop Mac's dribble penetration. As his handle becomes tighter he'll have the confidence to keep his head up and execute to the best potential option more often than not. Right now there are times he doesn't survey the floor until he's airborne, and I think that's what gets him into problems. But other than that, the kid is playing incredibly well for a freshman. We've got a bone fide backcourt of freshman studs. Him and James will be a deadly combination sooner rather than later.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 3, 2019 13:42:18 GMT -5
I understand the fan base's hesitancy to have any sort of optimistic feelings about the program after the last 3 years, but this team has more than enough talent to be an NCAA tourney team. I've watched a lot of college basketball so far this season and the one thing I've taken away is how much parity exists. Not a whole lot of teams that are above average on both sides of the ball. We start 4 top 100 guys and an underrated McClung plus some top 150 players to round out the bench. Our defense has been pretty toothless all year and that's the one major concern moving forward. If we can tighten up that end of the floor and hover around the top 75 or 50 in team defense then this team will be in a position to win a lot of BE games. Not many teams have as much offensive talent as us. Freshman will only get better as their decision making should improve. Very excited about the rest of the season and absolutely salivating at the thought of next year's team. Not out of the question that we could comfortably be a top 10-15 squad.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 3, 2019 13:34:38 GMT -5
James is a very good onball defender. Has proper footwork, gets low, uses his lower body to push back. He kept Baldwin out of the lane on a number of occasions. Off the ball he needs a little work, but he'll be a monster on the defensive end very soon. I'm willing to throw this out here. If he stays all 4 years then he'll be the best guard we've had since Iverson. An effortless 20 and 6 kind of guy as an upperclassman. What a coup by Ewing to reel him in.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 3, 2019 0:29:45 GMT -5
Rewatched. I must say, I think the play of the game comes at 9:54 when we are up 57-53 and Butler with the ball. Having just gotten 2 missed FTs by Leblanc and a nice little 4-0 spurt to energize the crowd, Baldwin drives hard left and Mosely beats him to the spot to draw a charge. Following possession, Malinowski 3. Then another deep 2 on the next possession. Lead never got that close again. Think he cost us the Cuse game, but I'd give him a half point here in the win column because he started that sequence. Nice to see that for the kid as he plays a very important (and underappreciated) role on this team.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 2, 2019 23:32:42 GMT -5
Yeah. Stud performance by him. Cool, calm, collected. I haven't felt this comfortable about a point guard since Markel graduated. Nice feeling to have again.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 2, 2019 23:21:28 GMT -5
Can't imagine selling the system that Ewing has installed is difficult while out recruiting. This team plays as uptempo as any and players get all kinds of freedom to operate within different sets. Entertaining basketball to watch in my opinion. I think we just need to win again and generate a little excitement for the team. If we do that then I think we'll get an elite talent to commit. Staff needs to keep grinding away.
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 2, 2019 12:53:27 GMT -5
I think a key to the game here is utilizing our size advantage. Throw Pickett, Johnson, and Malinowski on Baldwin at times to affect his shot with their length. I think if we shoot well we win (double digit 3s).
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hoyalaw33
Century (over 100 posts)
Posts: 134
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Post by hoyalaw33 on Jan 2, 2019 12:50:50 GMT -5
1 of Baugh, Gardner, or Shannon would be a pleasant development. Then look at decommits, transfers or grad transfers to round out the class.
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