Aberration or the future?

L

logen

Well-known member
2023 $upporter
Obviously it is a we shall see kind of thing but to me today was the best we have played in the Lavin era, discounting his first year. I have ben negative big time because I expected the team to make a quantum leap this year and did not see a concerted effort. Hopefully we build on today and with a week of practice before Fordham I hope Lavin uses the time to move Jordan up and give him the ball. The added advantage is you are starting to see glimpses of just how good an on ball defender he is. Defense becomes contagious from the point guard back. For those still wondering, Hooper is not a liability on defense, in fact, the two times he went down on the floor for the ball might have been firsts for this team this season. Harrison did an excellent job of faking off the three pointers and driving rather than just firing and that had a great deal to do with changing the game. However, the biggest change to me was this was the first time I saw a committment to defensive rotations. Several times GT moved the ball with 4-5 passes after seemingly breaking down the D and we rotated properly with a purpose and covered all openings. If this team plays D, the offense will take care of itself. Finally, Lavin finally stayed with the press and eventually it took its toll and sped the game up and it was all over. We finally dictated tempo and that is what is going to win for us.
 
good points. I've watched Hooper closely on defense just like you and agree. I saw him miss one assignment in this game. However Obekpa has hit the floor a number of times - another kid getting undeserved flack for being one dimensional. Another area of improvement is FT shooting. I harped on this all last season and am happy to see that the improvement has made an impact and someone got the message that FTs win games cumulatively. Another less tangible improvement that won't be directly recognizable in the stats is that Obekpa has become a much smarter shot blocker. A large percentage of his blocks last year went out of bounds or were retained by the opponent. This year a large percentage of them are both staying inbounds and we are taking possession often it is him taking possession.
 
I disagree and think Hooper is a defensive liability.
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He clearly has a role on this team. He has to be used in the right situations. He is not as bad a defender or basketball player as many are making him out to be and he shot 7-12 from 3 in the tournament.
 
We can be a very tough team to watch in lieu of the talent we possess. Hoping yesterday's second half is a glimpse into a brighter future. If we can defend and shoot the 3 better, press at the right times and figure out our best rotation the future will be much brighter.
 
Obviously it is a we shall see kind of thing but to me today was the best we have played in the Lavin era, discounting his first year. I have ben negative big time because I expected the team to make a quantum leap this year and did not see a concerted effort. Hopefully we build on today and with a week of practice before Fordham I hope Lavin uses the time to move Jordan up and give him the ball. The added advantage is you are starting to see glimpses of just how good an on ball defender he is. Defense becomes contagious from the point guard back. For those still wondering, Hooper is not a liability on defense, in fact, the two times he went down on the floor for the ball might have been firsts for this team this season. Harrison did an excellent job of faking off the three pointers and driving rather than just firing and that had a great deal to do with changing the game. However, the biggest change to me was this was the first time I saw a committment to defensive rotations. Several times GT moved the ball with 4-5 passes after seemingly breaking down the D and we rotated properly with a purpose and covered all openings. If this team plays D, the offense will take care of itself. Finally, Lavin finally stayed with the press and eventually it took its toll and sped the game up and it was all over. We finally dictated tempo and that is what is going to win for us.
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Good points and agree that Jordan is committed to defense and needs to be handed the keys. As for Hooper, while he may not be the most athletic defender, he is committed to it when he is in game.
 
Obviously it is a we shall see kind of thing but to me today was the best we have played in the Lavin era, discounting his first year. I have ben negative big time because I expected the team to make a quantum leap this year and did not see a concerted effort. Hopefully we build on today and with a week of practice before Fordham I hope Lavin uses the time to move Jordan up and give him the ball. The added advantage is you are starting to see glimpses of just how good an on ball defender he is. Defense becomes contagious from the point guard back. For those still wondering, Hooper is not a liability on defense, in fact, the two times he went down on the floor for the ball might have been firsts for this team this season. Harrison did an excellent job of faking off the three pointers and driving rather than just firing and that had a great deal to do with changing the game. However, the biggest change to me was this was the first time I saw a committment to defensive rotations. Several times GT moved the ball with 4-5 passes after seemingly breaking down the D and we rotated properly with a purpose and covered all openings. If this team plays D, the offense will take care of itself. Finally, Lavin finally stayed with the press and eventually it took its toll and sped the game up and it was all over. We finally dictated tempo and that is what is going to win for us.
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Good points and agree that Jordan is committed to defense and needs to be handed the keys. As for Hooper, while he may not be the most athletic defender, he is committed to it when he is in game.
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Be interesting to see if he stays with hooper in the starting lineup.
 
We need to run Fordham out of the Garden. We need a good win to get ready for Cuse
 
Obviously it is a we shall see kind of thing but to me today was the best we have played in the Lavin era, discounting his first year. I have ben negative big time because I expected the team to make a quantum leap this year and did not see a concerted effort. Hopefully we build on today and with a week of practice before Fordham I hope Lavin uses the time to move Jordan up and give him the ball. The added advantage is you are starting to see glimpses of just how good an on ball defender he is. Defense becomes contagious from the point guard back. For those still wondering, Hooper is not a liability on defense, in fact, the two times he went down on the floor for the ball might have been firsts for this team this season. Harrison did an excellent job of faking off the three pointers and driving rather than just firing and that had a great deal to do with changing the game. However, the biggest change to me was this was the first time I saw a committment to defensive rotations. Several times GT moved the ball with 4-5 passes after seemingly breaking down the D and we rotated properly with a purpose and covered all openings. If this team plays D, the offense will take care of itself. Finally, Lavin finally stayed with the press and eventually it took its toll and sped the game up and it was all over. We finally dictated tempo and that is what is going to win for us.
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Good points and agree that Jordan is committed to defense and needs to be handed the keys. As for Hooper, while he may not be the most athletic defender, he is committed to it when he is in game.
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Be interesting to see if he stays with hooper in the starting lineup.
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Fordham plays a quick 3 guard offense so look for Lavin to counter.
 
I disagree and think Hooper is a defensive liability.
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difficult to say as we only play zone when he's in.
however, he can't be worse than greene or branch.
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Don't agree at all; we have definetly played man with Hooper in.
 
good points. I've watched Hooper closely on defense just like you and agree. I saw him miss one assignment in this game. However Obekpa has hit the floor a number of times - another kid getting undeserved flack for being one dimensional. Another area of improvement is FT shooting. I harped on this all last season and am happy to see that the improvement has made an impact and someone got the message that FTs win games cumulatively. Another less tangible improvement that won't be directly recognizable in the stats is that Obekpa has become a much smarter shot blocker. A large percentage of his blocks last year went out of bounds or were retained by the opponent. This year a large percentage of them are both staying inbounds and we are taking possession often it is him taking possession.
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Point well taken about Obekpa and the floor....
 
Maybe this is turning into a 2011 type of season all over again. That year we lost our opener to St. Mary's, struggled to beat Ball St & Wagner, lost to Fordham and St. Bonaventure, and lost 5 of 6 Big East games after winning the opener against PC. Yes I know that was a completely different team dominated by seniors, but did anyone here think we were going to beat Duke, UConn, Villanova, Marquette, get nationally ranked, win 20 games, and go dancing after being 2-5 in conference play, with some of the losses we had? I'm guessing very few did. This has been a very frustrating start to the season but there is plenty of basketball to be played. Lets hope what we saw in the 2nd half of the GT was the future, b/c if it was, things will get interesting very soon.
 
Maybe this is turning into a 2011 type of season all over again. That year we lost our opener to St. Mary's, struggled to beat Ball St & Wagner, lost to Fordham and St. Bonaventure, and lost 5 of 6 Big East games after winning the opener against PC. Yes I know that was a completely different team dominated by seniors, but did anyone here think we were going to beat Duke, UConn, Villanova, Marquette, get nationally ranked, win 20 games, and go dancing after being 2-5 in conference play, with some of the losses we had? I'm guessing very few did. This has been a very frustrating start to the season but there is plenty of basketball to be played. Lets hope what we saw in the 2nd half of the GT was the future, b/c if it was, things will get interesting very soon.
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The first Big East game that year was on the road against West Virginia I believe. We smoked them.
 
Maybe this is turning into a 2011 type of season all over again. That year we lost our opener to St. Mary's, struggled to beat Ball St & Wagner, lost to Fordham and St. Bonaventure, and lost 5 of 6 Big East games after winning the opener against PC. Yes I know that was a completely different team dominated by seniors, but did anyone here think we were going to beat Duke, UConn, Villanova, Marquette, get nationally ranked, win 20 games, and go dancing after being 2-5 in conference play, with some of the losses we had? I'm guessing very few did. This has been a very frustrating start to the season but there is plenty of basketball to be played. Lets hope what we saw in the 2nd half of the GT was the future, b/c if it was, things will get interesting very soon.
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The first Big East game that year was on the road against West Virginia I believe. We smoked them.
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You are correct, I forgot about the WVU game, so we actually started 2-0 in conference play that year
 
I disagree and think Hooper is a defensive liability.
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difficult to say as we only play zone when he's in.
however, he can't be worse than greene or branch.
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Really??????????? :eek:hmy:
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Some people have issues with Phil. I don't get it, but it is what it is.
Branch is a mixed bag on D. He uses his size and strength well, but sometimes he gets beat by speed.
 
Maybe this is turning into a 2011 type of season all over again. That year we lost our opener to St. Mary's, struggled to beat Ball St & Wagner, lost to Fordham and St. Bonaventure, and lost 5 of 6 Big East games after winning the opener against PC. Yes I know that was a completely different team dominated by seniors, but did anyone here think we were going to beat Duke, UConn, Villanova, Marquette, get nationally ranked, win 20 games, and go dancing after being 2-5 in conference play, with some of the losses we had? I'm guessing very few did. This has been a very frustrating start to the season but there is plenty of basketball to be played. Lets hope what we saw in the 2nd half of the GT was the future, b/c if it was, things will get interesting very soon.
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The first Big East game that year was on the road against West Virginia I believe. We smoked them.
Click to expand...

You are correct, I forgot about the WVU game, so we actually started 2-0 in conference play that year
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we started 3-0 actually. Brownlee followed hardys miss with a few seconds left against gtown at the garden. Lavin jumped 5 feet in the air.
 
Maybe this is turning into a 2011 type of season all over again. That year we lost our opener to St. Mary's, struggled to beat Ball St & Wagner, lost to Fordham and St. Bonaventure, and lost 5 of 6 Big East games after winning the opener against PC. Yes I know that was a completely different team dominated by seniors, but did anyone here think we were going to beat Duke, UConn, Villanova, Marquette, get nationally ranked, win 20 games, and go dancing after being 2-5 in conference play, with some of the losses we had? I'm guessing very few did. This has been a very frustrating start to the season but there is plenty of basketball to be played. Lets hope what we saw in the 2nd half of the GT was the future, b/c if it was, things will get interesting very soon.
Click to expand...



The first Big East game that year was on the road against West Virginia I believe. We smoked them.
Click to expand...

You are correct, I forgot about the WVU game, so we actually started 2-0 in conference play that year
Click to expand...

we started 3-0 actually. Brownlee followed hardys miss with a few seconds left against gtown at the garden. Lavin jumped 5 feet in the air.
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Yes, that was Bill Rafterty's famous "lingerie" call on the Hardy cross over. We then followed that 3-0 start with losing 5 of 6 but still rebounded to have a 21 win season. Of course given that 2 of our first 3 conference games this year are on the road, no one will complain if we duplicate a 3--0 start lol.
 
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