Hoya News

You may not have caught this video on the Hoya board as it was buried in an old thread. Dashonte Riley is one of the top center prospects in the class of 2009. He goes to Detroit Country Day, same school that Chris Webber went to. With Hollis Thompson signed, the one area we will lack depth after this year will be at center. While we do have Sims coming in, he's light for a Big East five. As is Macklin, who will be a senior when the high school class of 2009 matriculates.

We have a really solid shot at Riley who seems to have considerable skills and mobility. The highlight for me was the turnaround 15 footer at the elbow, but his shotblocking would make an immediate impact in the Big East. He could be part of a dynasty at Georgetown with Monroe, Freeman, Thompson and Wright. Video below.

I think this article in the Ann Arbor News went by without anyone's notice, but I thought it was worth a mention here. The Michigan players apparently attributed our crowd noise for getting them out of their game:

"There was just a lot of miscommunication, whether it was man or zone,'' sophomore DeShawn Sims said. "We've just got to do a better job. ... Coach prepared us and told us the stuff we were going to run. We just got rattled and confused out there by the crowd.''

It should be noted that Sims was the Big Ten player of the week and was limited to one point on Thursday. There was also this gem from the article:

For one moment, Georgetown's student section chanted: "Where's your men's team?''

Clearly this level of enthusiasm and student attendance is remarkable for a November game. I don't remember having ever seen Hoya students so loud this early. For too long, our home court advantage has been neutral at best. With the lower bowl sold out and the student sections filled, it looks like this is finally changing.

I've tried this and it is a one-time deal. You get to watch it once and that's it. Probably once per computer. I watched it once with Firefox and then again with Internet Explorer on the same computer. That's all you're probably going to get. Monroe looks fantastic. He could clearly step right into a starting role and put up big numbers. He is as nimble a 6-10 forward I have ever seen.

http://decenturl.com/rivalshoops.rivals/greg-monroe-video

Also should mention a new interview video with Roy Hibbert.

http://decenturl.com/cn8/hibbert-interview

In a dominating performance, the starters played sparingly giving the freshmen and the bench players lots of PT. As far as the starters go, there were some pretty solid performances save for Roy who missed a few easy shots. This wasn't really a game to measure the first team, however, as the early lead gave our bench considerable floor time.

Offensively, Freeman played well and under control, taking open outside shots and a couple times going to the rim. Wright was not nearly as patient, constantly turning down open jumpers to drive into multiple coverage. While fearless, the freshman point guard spent quite a bit more time missing difficult layups or runners when he could have been setting up teammates or taking high percentage shots. A lot of positives may result from his extended playing time, though, as he will likely get the chance to watch film with the coaching staff and learn how to find easier scoring opportunities.

Also positive were backdoor cuts from the freshmen showing that they are picking up some of the Princeton principles. Macklin had a good bounce-pass feed to a backdoor cutting Wright in the first half.

Macklin ran the floor well and, while not a go-to option offensively, did well with put-backs and feeds from driving guards. He showed some serious hops on a dunk set up by a Chris Wright drive. He also had a garbage time set where he dribbled in from half court, once between his legs, and threw up a hook shot layup. Clearly, it was not a serious effort from Vernon, but you get the feeling watching him that he would thrive in the open court. As awkward as Roy is running the floor, Macklin glides, covering lots of ground quickly. Developing a jump shot or post moves will get him much more playing time, but if we start running the break Macklin will be a big asset.

Rivers took the point in a three guard offense when JWall and Sapp were on the bench. Playing with Wright and Freeman, he managed the offense and sank a baseline three pointer in the first half. After a while he seemed to defer to the freshman, giving Wright the ball to bring up court and start the offense. Showing team first leadership, he recognized the need to get early exposure for the young guards instead of trying to pile up points for himself.

Tyler got quite a bit of playing time, but didn't show much on the offensive end.

Probably the performance that was most striking, however, was the Hoya defense. The team played with an intensity uncommon in past November performances. I can't remember having seen another team throw up so many airballs. The Hoyas played tight man D and rotated well up top when playing zone. Michigan's Grady hit shots consistently in transition, but after a while we started trapping him in the half court and forced the ball out of his hands.

Some highlights if you weren't able to catch the game:

WRC pre-game with interviews of JT3 and Roy.



ESPN Game Highlights



ESPN Top Play Number 6:

Here's the game program for Michigan tonight.

And here's ESPN's All Access piece covering of the Hoyas.



Check back here for highlights after the game.

For those who weren't able to catch the game, and given that there was no televised coverage, here are a few highlights from the game aired on local news.

This is the NBC affiliate


And this is the Fox affiliate