First, the obvious. It was a great game. I was almost sick to my stomach by the end of it. The entire second half my heart was just racing and my legs were tired from all of the pacing that I did. I'm glad that Jen had a baby shower that day, because I think I would have scared the crap out of her with all of my screaming and cheering.
Now, the good about the game. While I haven't seen as many JT3-era games as Diamond or IPB, this was definitely the first game that I saw where the Princeton-style offense looked good--and I mean real good. Now, the question is: are we just getting better at running it, or was Duke that bad at defending it. It seriously looked like they weren't even expecting the back-door cuts...even after the 20th time we did it. I think that one falls on Coach K.
Also, Green and Wallace looked awesome. I know that Bowman scored 23, and had the most rebounds and the most blocks, but the former two were the stars of the game. Bowman was just doing a bit of what he was supposed to do (and, FYI, it was only a 180, nopt a 360 Diamond). But more often the not his scores came off of good feeds from some one else.
Wallace may not have scored alot, but he looked like the perfect point guard. He handled the ball well, especically against the Duke full-court press. He managed the tempo of the game beautifully. And I personally think that his wrap-around, acrobatic, reverse layup was the play of the game. Whenever the team needed a presence on the court to settle them down, I felt like he provided it.
And Jeff Green finally looked like the player we saw last year. He did it all. Great passing. Shooting from the outside. Shutting Williams down inside. He just looked great. It was funny how the anouncers on CBS just fell in love with him. It was obvious that they thought he was the team's star. They just kept on saying how it was obvious why he was co-Big East Rookie of the Year last year; that he looked bigger than his listed 6-9; that he looked dangerous from anywhere on the court; and, when things looked shaky down the stretch, that "the Hoyas will be in good shape as long as they get the ball into Green's hands." It was wonderful to see the big fella' back.
All that aside, there were a few things that concerned me about the game. First, it is now obvious to me that Roy is not ready for the big time. In fact, he may never be. I know that he's worked hard in the off season, and that he looked pretty good in the easy games in the pre-Big East season, but I just don't think he has that killer instinct. With Green playing as well as he was, and with Williams in foul trouble relatively early, Roy should have been in a position to make some noise...there wasn't a lot of pressure on him. But whenever he game into the game he just looked flat and sluggish. I'm just not sure that he has the stuff to cut it against the bruising big men in the Big East. I know that all of those who post on the HoyaTalk boards are enamoured with him...but I'm not.
I'm also a little concerned with our ability to finish. Another minute in that game and we probably would not have won (heck, we might not have won if Paulus had just got the ball to Redick down the stretch). We played a near perfect game and still had some problems. It'll be interesting to see what happens (especially on the road) against some of the good teams in our own conference.
All that aside, it was a great game, and it kills me that I couldn't be there to enjoy it with the rest of you. Just a few weeks to early.
While I'm not convinced that we'll match that play in our games against Pitt, WVa, Nova, Syracuse, or even Marquette (who I, personally, think is better than an overrated 'Cuse), I can't wait to see us try. The key is going to be intensity. It's easy to get up for the #1 team in the country in a nationally televised game before a packed house...what happens when those things aren't present? That's especially going to be the case for the away games at Nova and Marquette, which I think will be huge for our post-season fate.
It's going to be an exciting February. Go Hoyas! And Diamond/IPB...save me some tickets for those later games...I'll be in DC by the 12th!
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3 comments:
Jester - I agree with most of that.
I think JTIII totally outcoached Coach K, which doesn't happen too often. Yes, our players executed well, but really this came down to Duke not knowing how to stop us offensively. Hint: stay in zone and hope we don't hit our threes. We have gotten better at running the Princetown but really Duke made it easy for us by playing tight man-to-man, even out on the perimitter. JTIII also anticipated the Duke press unbelievably well -- leading to a bunch of points down the stretch.
I think Green looked like his old self and JWal, well, he's no walk-on. His growth this year has been tremendous. I think by this time next year we'll be looking at a guard who can take us deep into the tourney. He's never made mistakes, but now his quickness has improved, he's added a shortrange jumper, and can take it to the hole. Wow.
Bowman played well, but really just used his athleticism to take advantage of some nice passes. He did have some good drivers where he drew contact, too.
As for Roy, the IPB is going to smack you down for dissing him. I think Roy is great when we are using the zone or attacking the zone. We just can't have him out on the perimitter. Because Coach K kept playing man-to-man and we had to play man-to-man to guard Reddick, I think Roy necessarily wasn't going to play much. Still he is a great weapon to have and his development has been impressive.
I was impressed with our effort down the stretch. We held on as Duke made a furious charge. Yes, we missed two free throws and Ashanti had a bone-headed turnover, but we sustained a withering attack for 5 or 6 minutes. If the game had gone on much longer we probably would have lost, but if those were the rules we'd probably have wins over West Virginia and Vandy. I don't think we faltered -- Duke is a phenomenal team with one of the best, if not the best, college players I've ever seen in person.
Other reflections:
Princeton alums on the board claimed it takes 1.5-2 years to implement the offense. Could be that we are right on schedule.
St.John's win at the garden suddenly looks impressive that they took down Louisville and Pitt.
Next two games are huge. Both are very winnable; can't have a let down.
How great is Pat Ewing Jr. He is the #1 cheerleader on the team; after the first half he was screaming at them, "NO LETDOWN!!!" Can't wait for him to suit up.
Hands down greatest performance by the student body since Iverson era. It was reported that the student attendance at the SFU was the largest in something like 5 years. For Duke it was the largest I've ever seen. Hoya Blue and Basketball Operations have done a great job. We had a real homecourt advantage in spite of the 30-35% of the crowd who was rooting for Duke.
The stories about the campus after the game made me wish I were back in Henle 8. Huge parties, tombs overflow and not a dops officer in sight. Great night to be a Hoya.
Let's be honest here, no DOPS in site b/c they were probably out partying it up with the team.
Diamond - I agree on it being the best performance since Iverson. I was at a late season GU / BC game at USAir in '95 and the decibel meter was at / near 100 all game. I really wish there was one at MCI. That sucker would have been maxed out all game (except for when the dance team made an appearance.)
The team & GU student body did an amazing job of shutting up the Dukies in my section. (Had we not won the game, I would have gotten major abuse from sections 424, 425, and 426 for the taunting I threw at them.)
Also, the only thing missing from the game were big foam fingers from Jeff & Jester
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