2022-2023 Season; Hopes, Dreams, Wishes, Analysis & Predictions

[mkaufman1]

You just described every athlete that's ever participated in competitive sports...

You aren’t wrong. Sorta proves this conversation is going to be a never ending loop.

 

[Patriotsince81]

 

[tblack33]

If you want to double-down on misquoting me and completely missing the point, twice, feel free. I have no intention of arguing w/someone being intentionally obtuse.

Happy Halloween.

Your words, not mine. Point out the misquote?

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Well, Oduro repeatedly took his man off the dribble at the top of the key if they were guarding him tight. I’m not worried about him making that play against most of the bigs in the A10. The question will be if they play off him and dare him to shoot from outside will he be able to consistently hit that shot (the answer last season was no). Extending his range and his perimeter defense are precisely what he’s been working on all off-season so we will see.

And yes, none of Cooper, Ticket, Schwartz, Polite, or XJ could consistently finish plays like the one you just described. It was a big hole last season.

Polite could get to the rim but couldn’t finish, Cooper could beat his man but wasn’t explosive enough to finish drives and almost always had to pass it back out. Cooper worked on fitness to get quicker; I’m sure Polite has been working on finishing through contact, but who knows how that will go.

Ticket “could” beat his man (and he certainly can shoot over just about anyone) but he needs to be much more assertive with the ball.

I'd trust Oduro to beat most bigs off the dribble, as well as to hit a high percentage of threes where he can set his feet and get a good look at the basket. But he's not the guy I ideally want taking a 19-20 foot fall-away jump shot while being face-guarded at the buzzer. Or trying to drive through traffic to lay the ball in under similar circumstances.

Like you said above, it was a big hole last season. I hope VBJ can be that guy.

 

[gmubrian]

I hope that we are improved enough this year that we don't have so many games coming down to a single possession...

 

[Quentin Daniels]

I hope so too, but doesn't have to be the last possession for a game-winner either. There's plenty of possessions over a season where the defense has really clamped down and somebody has to jack up a tough shot as the clock expires. Sometimes it's just not getting a good look, sometimes it's the ball being knocked out of bounds late into the timeclock, and sometimes it's a tie game or down 1-3 points.

Either way, we weren't very good at that situation last year and didn't have that one go-to guard to create his own shot and knock it down. A Cam Long, Tony Skinn, or Folarin Campbell.

 

[GMUgemini]

I’m more concerned about and want to see better individual and team defense. This is the list of games I think we lost last season due to poor team defense rather than any kind of inefficient offense:

@JMU
Washington
SD State
@GW
SLU
vcu
@La Salle
UMass

That’s a lot of one to two possession games that could have been wins due to poor defense (especially in late game situations).

 

[sleeperpick]

I’m more concerned about and want to see better individual and team defense. This is the list of games I think we lost last season due to poor team defense rather than any kind of inefficient offense:

@JMU
Washington
SD State
@GW
SLU
vcu
@La Salle
UMass

That’s a lot of one to two possession games that could have been wins due to poor defense (especially in late game situations).

Lol couple blow outs and @gw without Oduro where our team looked like they had no idea what they were doing on offense. We gotta do a zoom reviewing an away game this year because I need to see what you actually watch during games.

Our individual defense wasn’t great and we don’t have a true rim protector (Oduro got better at it but also fouled roughly 99% of the time) but we also had a pg that consistently turned the ball over off his own foot in one possession games and blaming that on defense is weird

Also had our only good players run into the ground and Ticket can guard 4 positions which is pretty unusual

 

[GMUgemini]

Lol couple blow outs and @gw without Oduro where our team looked like they had no idea what they were doing on offense. We gotta do a zoom reviewing an away game this year because I need to see what you actually watch during games.

Our individual defense wasn’t great and we don’t have a true rim protector (Oduro got better at it but also fouled roughly 99% of the time) but we also had a pg that consistently turned the ball over off his own foot in one possession games and blaming that on defense is weird

Also had our only good players run into the ground and Ticket can guard 4 positions which is pretty unusual

Other than vcu none of the other games were blowouts and it was a blowout not because we couldn’t score, but because we couldn’t guard (Nunn looked like he was running drills against cones).

And come on: GW? You think vcu, SLU, Dayton, Bona, or Davidson guards that final play the way we did? Absolutely boneheaded.

Giving up 92 to SLU, 80+ to UMass and La Salle. Just bad defense.

 

[gmujim92]

Other than vcu none of the other games were blowouts and it was a blowout not because we couldn’t score, but because we couldn’t guard (Nunn looked like he was running drills against cones).

And come on: GW? You think vcu, SLU, Dayton, Bona, or Davidson guards that final play the way we did? Absolutely boneheaded.

Giving up 92 to SLU, 80+ to UMass and La Salle. Just bad defense.

Lack of depth certainly contributed to the lousy defense. The core 4 played way too many minutes to be effective on that end and there was nobody coming off the bench capable of guarding his own shadow.

Assuming Kim has 9 guys he trusts to put into games this season, the offensive execution and defensive intensity should improve dramatically because he won’t have to run anyone into the ground.

 

[GMUgemini]

Lack of depth certainly contributed to the lousy defense. The core 4 played way too many minutes to be effective on that end and there was nobody coming off the bench capable of guarding his own shadow.

Assuming Kim has 9 guys he trusts to put into games this season, the offensive execution and defensive intensity should improve dramatically because he won’t have to run anyone into the ground.

I’m hoping both are true and the depth is real.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Lack of depth certainly contributed to the lousy defense. The core 4 played way too many minutes to be effective on that end and there was nobody coming off the bench capable of guarding his own shadow.

Assuming Kim has 9 guys he trusts to put into games this season, the offensive execution and defensive intensity should improve dramatically because he won’t have to run anyone into the ground.

I'll add the Head Coach's learning curve to that too. When you bring in a guy barely out of his 20's to run your program, I have to think you're hiring on potential and not necessarily a finished product. I would suspect that with a full season under his belt, CKE has now knows a lot more about what he didn't know and can work accordingly to make those adjustments.

It's evident in his interviews though why he's such an effective recruiter and kids want to play for him. He comes across as energetic, confident with a bit of swagger, knowledgeable, and very likeable. I suspect all recruits want to win and be developed, but also want to enjoy the experience and relationships. Sometimes the journey is even more important than the destination.

 

[gmujim92]

I'll add the Head Coach's learning curve to that too. When you bring in a guy barely out of his 20's to run your program, I have to think you're hiring on potential and not necessarily a finished product. I would suspect that with a full season under his belt, CKE has now knows a lot more about what he didn't know and can work accordingly to make those adjustments.

It's evident in his interviews though why he's such an effective recruiter and kids want to play for him. He comes across as energetic, confident with a bit of swagger, knowledgeable, and very likeable. I suspect all recruits want to win and be developed, but also want to enjoy the experience and relationships. Sometimes the journey is even more important than the destination.

Definitely agree, he’s acknowledged in multiple interviews that there was a lot he learned last season just through trial and error. Would expect him to be much better in-game Year 2 than he was last season.

Ultimately those bench guys have to give us something though. No matter how good the coach, it can’t be a good feeling during a long season when you look down at 8 guys sitting there and don’t really want to put any of them in the game.

 

[sleeperpick]

Definitely agree, he’s acknowledged in multiple interviews that there was a lot he learned last season just through trial and error. Would expect him to be much better in-game Year 2 than he was last season.

Ultimately those bench guys have to give us something though. No matter how good the coach, it can’t be a good feeling during a long season when you look down at 8 guys sitting there and don’t really want to put any of them in the game.

one of those 8 he didn't want to play is now our starting PG it seems LOL

 

[gmubrian]

one of those 8 he didn't want to play is now our starting PG it seems LOL

While that is funny at face value, wasn't Polite still recovering from an injury last season?

 

[gmujim92]

one of those 8 he didn't want to play is now our starting PG it seems LOL

Hopefully with the benefit of his first fully healthy offseason Polite will start playing more like the guy who made the All-Met first team as a HS senior … if he does this team can be dangerous.

 

[sleeperpick]

While that is funny at face value, wasn't Polite still recovering from an injury last season?

Fully healthy until they say he’s not after a couple really bad games the last two years so idk at this point. He had hip surgery at one point. Year 3 is hopefully the year

 

[Junkees9]

This is the guy we all want to see this year:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/allmetsports/oxon-hill/ronald-polite/

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Fully healthy until they say he’s not after a couple really bad games the last two years so idk at this point. He had hip surgery at one point. Year 3 is hopefully the year

Some kids just develop slower & have lower ceilings, but can still be solid contributors. Isaiah Tate did very little his first two seasons and never did become someone who’d fill up the basket, but as a Jr. & Sr. I thought he was a great contributor who could be slotted in 3-4 positions on the court in a pinch.

We don’t need Polite to be Steve Nash to be successful. Just hold down the position until Dunkin’s can develop by making the open passes, not dribbling into bad positions and turning it over, and make your free throws & open shots when they’re gifted.

 

[Five Two]

https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3440755/its-time-ranking-all-363-division-i-basketball-teams-for-the-2022-23-season

100. George Mason

Kim English won people over early in the season last year but replacing D'Shawn Schwartz will be a lot. Victor Bailey transfers in from Tennessee and should be familiar with English.