JT III's minute distribution and player rotations are the biggest reasons for less offense. The Hoyas are very talented, but certain lineups are virtually ineffective on offense. The point was made that it does not matter which player starts based on the amount of minutes played by certain players. The reason that argument does not fly is because increased minutes for some players mean less minutes for others, and the more effective players should be playing increased minutes; while the less talented players should have a decrease in minutes. Why play upperclassman so many minutes when offensive production is so limited? The defense and experience of the upperclassman dose not overcompensate for all of their mistakes. If the experience and defense of the upperclassman was so good would this discussion be necessary?

Moreover, playing Paul White consistently 30-minutes per game, and Ike Copeland 20-minutes would significantly increase offensive production. It would also help to consistently see Tre Campbell in the second half of games, because he increases tempo and helps to spread the floor. The Hoyas are on the cusp of NIT status unless JT III makes a few adjustments to minute distribution and player rotations.

BJ

twenty or so bucks gets you a good seat.

in chitown...you should go!

ticket watch at depaul

as expressed on this board previously:

"To be honest my familairty probably begins and ends with my dad and probably otto porter. im not that big of a college basketball fanatic for them, because I haven't seen them play as much. but i do know that Coach Thompson is a great coach, and I know my Dad's old coach is a great coach.

"So I'm happy they are recruiting me and looking for me, especially becasue they are my Dad's old team".


on ribbing his dad about height - he's taller than his 6'4" father: "I definitely let him know, all the time. Whenever he comes back from coaching i let him know".


hardy was the coach watching him play vs central in indy

This post was edited on 1/12 9:03 PM by ron19

jaren jackson getting looks

Sampson signed

My buddy from Cal was pretty confident they had a real shot with this kid

Your guys can't play man to man so why do you continue to run them out there like they can guard their man.

Do you all think he can round himself into much better shape by mid to late February? As expected Josh gets winded after a few minutes which causes him to foul and make poor decisions due to fatigue. If he were more in shape, JT3 wouldn't have to sit him as often and Hopkins minutes would be lessened. I just don't know if players can make in-season improvements to their conditioning.

I can not speak about him in depth because I don't know what the circumstances of his situation are. I am willing to speculate that nutrition is his biggest culprit. If he could lose about 20 lbs he would add so much to this team. Am I asking too much? He is starting to frustrate me as much as Hopkins.

This post was edited on 1/10 10:52 PM by bsure

hahahha

that's dramatic and misleading...but he does talk about his utilization, including with/out josh, shooting, etc.

hops[/URL]



hops speaks to some of you guys.

Memphis Grizzlies

People love to pile on Hopkins and say we should play White and Copeland more, but let's really look at what they bring. Hop has the best deficiency rating on the team at 94. White and Copeland come in at 99.2 and 104.8 respectively. Hop's total rebounding percentage is 15, while White and Copeland come in at 8.8 and 7.3 (BTW, Hop's O rebounding percentage is at 12.2 while White's is at 1.7). Hop's block percentage is a stellar 10.1 while White and Copeland are 3.5 and 3.2.

Look, there's no doubt that White and Copeland are better options on offense, but it's easy to say their offense makes up for what you lose defensively without actually looking at defensive production. There is a huge difference between Hop's production on defense AND rebounding than theirs. So it comes down to what you value. Gtown always has favored defense and rightfully so. But it makes more sense this year when you have scorers like DSR and Josh to put the defensive guy in more.

I understand people want to see them play more but they are already playing plenty (especially White) and do you really want to lose games along the way just for growth especially when the margin between tourney and not is so thin? Yes, White and Copeland will both be better than Hop SOME DAY. But we are talking about who is more useful for the team right now.

hops

on provy: "looking at the team, they've had some big wins against top teams in the country They're returning players...they've got the leading scorer in the BIG EAST. A good point guard that's running the team well, dishing out a lot of assists and also getting a lot of steals on the defensive end. So they've got a pretty solid team this year".

on henton: "he's the type of forward that crashes the boards but also knocks down a lot of outside shots. good team this year. With their size he actually gets to play the three position, so he gets to go against a lot of smaller defenders so he' s pretty good.
size A lot of big guys. Kind of like us with our length and size".

on cooley: "He's a real energetic coach. He's always up yelling, talking to the team. I think he does a good job getting his guys to play hard".

how do you play vs size? "just play hard, play your game. A couple more pump fakes against shot blockers, get your defender in the air. Like I said we have size ourselves - Josh may not be seven foot, but his width makes up for it".

on flex offense? "I think it's a little big different. More curls (this season). They've got guys who can finish around the basket like Harris and Henton. so those guys curl in side, get little floaters in the lane".

when defending flex: "you have to be able to help your teammate but also not lose track of your guy, because that allows them to get slips and stuff like that".

on Dunkin Center: It's different. It's kind of a Garden feel because it's so dark in there.

on Kris Dunn: "He's coming out here showing the world he can play He's a good guard, but once again we have good guards, guys that can score the ball, guys that can defend. So I think we'll be able to match up good against him.

when the strong hc BE advantage? "It's just the big east...the main focus is to get one's at home".

tray

on henton: "with his size he can stretch out the defense because he can hit a three point shot. He can score down low as well. So he's just a player that can do a lot of different things for providence, which is why he's playing so well. He's playing well this year."

compare his motor to yours? (hesitation) "I mean, I wouldn't really compare anybody's motor to mine (lauhgter) . He's a good player though, he plays hard. I always try and play hard with anybody I play against".

jt3

on henton/dunn combo those two pose huge challenges...they both are playing at such a high level right now..and dunn in leading the conference, and i don't know where he is nationally, but he's getting everyone easy shots. and henton is on a tear right now, he's scoring in every way possible, at a high clip, at an efficient clip. and so those two are a handful

Not just those 2: "and then they have other, very good pieces; they have shooters, they have size, they have guys who can score inside. YOu truly can't just hone in on those two. Those two are playing at an elite level, but everyone else on their team is doing their job".

with josh win produced "i hope so...down 13-2 (last year) and it snowballed from there. Even without Josh we're a much different team this year. Clearly with him we're different. Unlike Xavier's size and girth, they still have size"

flex offense: "they've run that, not that i've seen every team in the country, but as well as any team I've seen so far. And they have different wrinkles off of it. It's unique - as much as flex isn't unique, because from my kids, from pee wee ball on up people are running flex - it's unique in how they run it, the options they have...and how efficient they are with it. They pose a lot of problems, to tell you the truth".

hops defending henton? "Whoever's on him...much like Doug (McDermott), we have to give him different looks because he's such a good offensive player that if he falls into a rhythm of 'I have a bigger guy on me, I have smaller guy, I have a quicker guy on me', he knows how to counter that...Helping his important. Then helping the helper is important. And that last thing we need to continue to get better at".

on henton's development: "Yeah, I just think it speaks to his work ethic..His game grew from freshman to sophomore year, from sophomore to junior year, now junior to senior year. And so in this era of won and done, two and dones, those people aren't appreciated it. He just keeps getting better and better, and every year he adds something.

"his confidence is high right now, he's carrying them. And so, big picture that's a good story. I don't want to hear the story right now (laughter)".

on their frosh: "It's really given them depth. I think they go two deep at every position".

on cooley coming for the workout facility dedication: "Ask my dad that question".

This post was edited on 1/9 10:44 AM by ron19

rafus:

"Georgetown is a good school, not too far from where i live. That's always good".


he is starting to look at schools, but not focusing in on them. he's only a sophomore.

was told he liked gtown, so we will see.

the hoyas have not offered, despite media indications elsewhere. trust.

gtown is looking at him, and feels that he CAN become a helluva player.

i like the kid personally, funny dude. good kid too.

This post was edited on 1/7 9:51 PM by ron19

article

hoyas. agau will be a hoya!

more later.

Agau is coming to the hilltop and will be elgible after first semester next season.

a

talk about zone offense, press offense, visitors

dsr shouldered the blame for the press offense. which he should have.

zone offense, jt3 said it was bogged down. dsr talked about hard to find spots and need to feed big man.

jt3 also cited misses when getting inside of it.

Anybody gonna be at the game?

is here.

will be at game.

if you want tweet me @hoyanation

ill TRY and get back. hahah

This post was edited on 1/6 10:27 AM by ron19

article is up front


he's the same weight, but is stronger, leaner. "being at lville, body fat is a big thing.
coaches too (kenny johnson lost over 100 pounds, i've seeen it personally) it's really big there".

impact: "me, pretty muhc staying at 230 was a big thing for me i'm more explosive, in better shape, able to do certain things I wasn't able to do before"

where do you see yourself in gtown offense: "where they have josh, just being in that high post area. I mean I've always in high school been a decent passer, and then can make plays from there. I think I could shoot the ball around that area too; have options for me to score but then open things up for my teammates"

who was his tour guy/sponsor on hilltop: "tyler".

(heard he does a good job also)

he hung out "with them (the guys) to get a feel for some of them I don't know".

Day day bracey... Andre Rafus... Aka Adams... More coming

daquan day day bracey.....andre rafus.

former offered, latter not...yet.

hey I'm not at practice every day but I've watched every game (often twice)

that opening 2nd half lineup from JTIII makes me think the light went on for him regarding this team

obviously Hopkins was in b/c of Joshua's 3 fouls but the other 4 (Campbell, DSR, White, Peak) -- I loved it. The offense always looks better with White at the high post. It looked even better today with Campbell running the one.

we'll go through some growing pains but is it clear to everyone else that the other than Joshua and DSR, the 4 freshman are the most talented players on this team?

Hey, I appreciate the improvement from Bowen and the all out hustle from Trawick (misguided as it is sometimes), but I'd rather throw my lot in with the puppies in anticipation of the post season.

And someone mentioned in the gameday thread about Copeland's minutes and I'm 100% in agreement. Let Copeland (and Campbell for that matter) improve with game minutes.

Tell me I'm just that fan that always loves the second string QB. Tell me I'm too glass half full on the freshmen after this one game. I know Ron is always more guarded than most of us and was especially so with Campbell.

I just really hope JTIII continues going outside of his box like he did with his rotation today.

Thoughts?

Jt3

on losing man weakside: "off the ball you cant get caught staring, watching the game
they force you to do that (anticipate), just becasue they have multiple guys that can score".

Marquette has "Guys that can get to the rim, that can make shots and post presence, the big kid's back. So we have to dot our I's and cross our T's across the board".

on getting back on defense, MU's defense, rebounding: "that's something, their transition offense, is very, very good. and their Offensive rebounding, is very, very good. And they do a good job of mixing up their defenses you know; they've shown man, against Providence they showed mostly 2-3 and 1-3-1. They'll mix up and try and keep you off balance.

"But getting back and trying to make them work for their baskets, is essential".

on playing had: "they have good players, they play very very hard...We have to be prepared for an array of defenses. So just matching, not matching exceeding their intensity level is important.

will hoyas punish mu when golden eagles go small with wilson, wilson and carlino, as they did vs. provy? "I don't think we're going to over think that process. especially because they end of playing alot of zone when they go to that.

on mu zone: "their zone is very, very good. Some 2-3's...are just stagnant. Their's isn't".

rivals member site.

will be on their radio show postgame. will supply info for it.

transcript:

The opponent right now is so far down the list of Creighton problems. I have a couple of questions- most about JTIII

1-Hopkins and Trawick can at times look athletically intimidating. Does their inconsistent play keep Georgetown from being an elite team (or thinking back to last year a good team)

I think Hopkins' up and down performance is more hindering than Trawick's.

Jabril is a rough and tumble slasher who is an okay shooter, not a good one, a guy that's going to compete and help drive the team, give it some ethos. Everybody knows it. Anecdote: Xavier's coach told his team the other day Trawick was not going to shoot, he was going to drive, with his right.

Hopkins on the other hand is the team's best perimeter defender and interior defender. But his cheap and sometimes inexplicable fouls dent the senior's impact. Also, Mikael misses by the far the most shots in the paint on G'Town, shooting around 38%, not good for a guy who ONLY really shoots in the paint, and came to the program a fairly accomplished mid-range guy. Nevertheless if Hopkins plays well, the Hoyas are at another level. He's this year's enigma.

2-how Josh Smith performed to expectations and how us his stamina?

Smith has both met expectations - large ones given his size, athletic ability given good feet, hands and intelligence - and not done son - for the most part, Josh's work on the boards has been inadequate (6.3 rpg, which to be fair is on the uptick.

Defensively he's become better in on-ball situations, which Creighton will challenge him with. He's not Pat Ewing in that regard, but has improved, a point JTIII has recognized.

In terms of stamina, Smith returned from summer break in better condition. While home in Seattle, he not only sold women's shoes at Nordstrom (a true and funny story), but worked out and ran ball with college and pro guys from that area. He can still get slap happy and foul prone when fatigued, and has averaged only 22.2 pg with a season high of 31. But Smith's conditioning has improved this season.

3-because of JTIII lack of post season success is the fan base getting impatient? Could your AD ever make a move with the imposing presence of Senior always there?

Hard hitting question (lol). There are parts of the fan base that are somewhat impatient, but that's a distinct minority. The Hoya Nation is happy with a top 25 caliber program that wins the right way and graduates its players, whether John Thompson, Jr. is there or not. JTIII has amply delivered that. G'Town has also tasted Big Dance success, though there have certainly been some tourney flameouts.

4-how does the fan base view JTIII's in game coaching skills?

Like any group of fans, the complaints rise when the team loses, and the applause increases with wins. From doing this for around a decade, personally I've learned like anything, sometimes people know what they are talking about, sometimes they don't. I think the fact coaches respect his in-game strategy and approach speak to his ability to coach.

5- how shocking was the margin of defeat to X and do you see the teams confidence hurt, with that and the loss to Butler in the non con

I thought giving up a 17 point defeat to X, during Christmas break mind you was a bad loss, but the final number was a bit misleading, as foul shots padded it. The fact they came out flat and were outplayed basically throughout, gave up some threes on kick/skip and didn't execute on both sides of the ball was more shocking.

Will the loss hurt confidence? I don't think so, at least after today's pre-game presser that wasn't evident. This team does seem to be resilient emotionally.

abound.

tickets marquette here

is here.