I'm feeling good about this team, but I just don't know. The Radford loss was brutal, but we've played pretty well since then. So how’s it going to end? Pardon the long post, but here's my take.
Strengths:
1. Surprisingly, the offense as a whole. I thought the shorter shot clock and losing seniors would lead to a lot of shot clock violations and bad shots. But it's been the opposite. The ball is moving pretty well, mostly because of the shooters we have. Almost everybody can shoot which is pretty much the opposite of recent Hoyas teams. We look the best against the zone I've seen under JT3. And nobody is afraid to take a shot. The emergence of Reggie and Hayes has been key. Still, we have some weak spots in that Peak can't shoot well from outside and DSR has been inconsistent.
2. Big man offense. Wow. Hayes’ hook is a huge weapon. We’ve been missing an automatic scorer down low since Monroe. Josh was close, but he was off the floor too much. Henry was more of a shooter. On this team, Govan shows promise. And Derrickson is a huge asset with his ability to score down low and from the outside.
3. Talent and depth. So many options. So much talent. Deepest team under 3 and it’s not close IMO. If one person has an off night or foul trouble, somebody else can pick up the slack. That’s huge.
4. Rising up to the occasion. They’ve come out strong in big games which bodes well for the tourney.
5. Freshmen. Govan hasn’t been as ready for primetime as expected, but some of that is Hayes emerging. Derrickson looks very good and will be underrated due to the nature of his game. Kaleb has been the biggest surprise. I love, love, love his game. Great on D, and his ability to drive could be big for us.
Weaknesses: Enough to worry me.
1. Interior D is pretty terrible but not sure how much of an issue that is with little size throughout the country. And we did hold up well against MD's trio of bigs. Still, we are pretty soft there.
2. What worries me more is our perimeter D. Quick and crafty guards can definitely get on a roll and chew us up. It's been better lately and zone will certainly help but I'm very curious to see how we do against the likes of Kris Dunn, Josh Hart, etc. this year.
3. DSR. Overall, of course, he’s not. But I do think he’s a rhythm shooter and our reduced reliance on his scoring has caused him some troubles. He is missing wide open shots. Not sure how to fix that because I don’t necessarily want him shooting more. I do think he needs to drive more.
4. Handling the press. We’ve been lucky not to face teams that press much. When teams have, they’ve worked us. Gotta improve a lot on that front.
5. Consistency! I know we get up for the big games, but we do not consistently get up for the others. The next 5 games especially will be interesting to watch this.
Unknowns:
1. Paul White. What’s his role on this team once he’s back in shape? Best-case scenario, he re-captures his defensive prowess and helps shore up holes on our interior and wing D and gives us another option on O. Worst case, he struggles to find a place in the rotation with Copeland and Reggie doing well.
2. Hayes and Cameron. Will they keep this up in Big East play? Henry sort of cooled down halfway through his senior year. But it does seem unlikely with Hayes unless that hook shot starts falling short as the season wears on him. I’m feeling like Cameron has turned the corner but don’t know.
3. Tre Campbell. Which Tre do we see the most? The one that drives, penetrates and hits big shots and stays on his man or the one that drifts on offense and loses his man on D? We need his energy.
4. Peak. He’s been in foul trouble a lot recently. We need him on the floor as much as possible. I really like his development in bringing up the ball. I want him to have the ball late in the game because he will attack. He's got to develop his free throw shot though. And he has to stop doing some pretty dumb things on defense which gets him in foul trouble. But we need his fearlessness and aggressiveness.
Now, for the rest of the season. I know it sounds crazy, but we really should win the next 10 games including Marquette and Villanova at home. This team is better than everybody they face the next 10. I do worry about UNC-Wilmington and Monmouth especially, and every Big East game is tough, but I’m saying 10-0. Let’s see. The back end of our Big East schedule is much harder IMO. As for the tourney (assuming we’re in it), I don’t know. Gotta see how the season unfolds. I will be extremely disappointed if we do not reach the Sweet 16 though.
Strengths:
1. Surprisingly, the offense as a whole. I thought the shorter shot clock and losing seniors would lead to a lot of shot clock violations and bad shots. But it's been the opposite. The ball is moving pretty well, mostly because of the shooters we have. Almost everybody can shoot which is pretty much the opposite of recent Hoyas teams. We look the best against the zone I've seen under JT3. And nobody is afraid to take a shot. The emergence of Reggie and Hayes has been key. Still, we have some weak spots in that Peak can't shoot well from outside and DSR has been inconsistent.
2. Big man offense. Wow. Hayes’ hook is a huge weapon. We’ve been missing an automatic scorer down low since Monroe. Josh was close, but he was off the floor too much. Henry was more of a shooter. On this team, Govan shows promise. And Derrickson is a huge asset with his ability to score down low and from the outside.
3. Talent and depth. So many options. So much talent. Deepest team under 3 and it’s not close IMO. If one person has an off night or foul trouble, somebody else can pick up the slack. That’s huge.
4. Rising up to the occasion. They’ve come out strong in big games which bodes well for the tourney.
5. Freshmen. Govan hasn’t been as ready for primetime as expected, but some of that is Hayes emerging. Derrickson looks very good and will be underrated due to the nature of his game. Kaleb has been the biggest surprise. I love, love, love his game. Great on D, and his ability to drive could be big for us.
Weaknesses: Enough to worry me.
1. Interior D is pretty terrible but not sure how much of an issue that is with little size throughout the country. And we did hold up well against MD's trio of bigs. Still, we are pretty soft there.
2. What worries me more is our perimeter D. Quick and crafty guards can definitely get on a roll and chew us up. It's been better lately and zone will certainly help but I'm very curious to see how we do against the likes of Kris Dunn, Josh Hart, etc. this year.
3. DSR. Overall, of course, he’s not. But I do think he’s a rhythm shooter and our reduced reliance on his scoring has caused him some troubles. He is missing wide open shots. Not sure how to fix that because I don’t necessarily want him shooting more. I do think he needs to drive more.
4. Handling the press. We’ve been lucky not to face teams that press much. When teams have, they’ve worked us. Gotta improve a lot on that front.
5. Consistency! I know we get up for the big games, but we do not consistently get up for the others. The next 5 games especially will be interesting to watch this.
Unknowns:
1. Paul White. What’s his role on this team once he’s back in shape? Best-case scenario, he re-captures his defensive prowess and helps shore up holes on our interior and wing D and gives us another option on O. Worst case, he struggles to find a place in the rotation with Copeland and Reggie doing well.
2. Hayes and Cameron. Will they keep this up in Big East play? Henry sort of cooled down halfway through his senior year. But it does seem unlikely with Hayes unless that hook shot starts falling short as the season wears on him. I’m feeling like Cameron has turned the corner but don’t know.
3. Tre Campbell. Which Tre do we see the most? The one that drives, penetrates and hits big shots and stays on his man or the one that drifts on offense and loses his man on D? We need his energy.
4. Peak. He’s been in foul trouble a lot recently. We need him on the floor as much as possible. I really like his development in bringing up the ball. I want him to have the ball late in the game because he will attack. He's got to develop his free throw shot though. And he has to stop doing some pretty dumb things on defense which gets him in foul trouble. But we need his fearlessness and aggressiveness.
Now, for the rest of the season. I know it sounds crazy, but we really should win the next 10 games including Marquette and Villanova at home. This team is better than everybody they face the next 10. I do worry about UNC-Wilmington and Monmouth especially, and every Big East game is tough, but I’m saying 10-0. Let’s see. The back end of our Big East schedule is much harder IMO. As for the tourney (assuming we’re in it), I don’t know. Gotta see how the season unfolds. I will be extremely disappointed if we do not reach the Sweet 16 though.
