Merry Christmas from your friends at Casual Hoya.

And during this Holiday Season, let's remember those in our community who are less fortunate (and somewhat tone deaf).

 

Can't say I am shocked that as soon as Greivis Vasquez got his hands on it he takes a shot.  And it looks like that turtle is the only recruit Gary Williams can hold onto.

I got a stern warning from the blogging gods last time I re-wrote a Kelly song.  They told me that they would excuse my lapse in judgment just this one time, and should it happen again, the punishment would be severe and eternal.  Well in the words of Pedro Cerano, "F--- You, Jobu.  I do it myself."  Presented for you auditory pleasure: Go Pro Now by Kelly Clarkson.

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There are five things I was told that I would have to abide by in order to enter the blog world:
(1) You cannot plagiarize,
(2) You cannot do anything but play Dungeons & Dragons on Friday nights,
(3) You cannot deny that you wear sweatpants all the time,
(4) You cannot deny that you live in your grandmother's basement,
And most importantly,
(5) You cannot mess with Kelly songs.

Well I had enough of this season so I am going to tempt fate and take off my sweatpants and move out. And I am also going to re-write a Kelly song. Presented for your auditory pleasure: My March Is Free Because of You by my future wife.

Guess this means it's over,
Our tourney hopes are naught.
Guess this means N-I-T,
Cause you miss foul shots.
Never had a leader,
No one would step up.
Cause you couldn't box out,
I'm left to cry and pout.

Lost to St. John's and Seton Hall, yeah.
I can't believe this huge downfall, yeah.
I put my faith in you,
And it fell through.
My March is free because of you.

Maybe I was naive,
For believin' we were fine.
Maybe I was dumb for,
Trustin' such young guys.
I know we had some bright spots,
But we had some bad ones too.
Now my heart is broken,
I'm empty thanks to you.

Lost to St. John's and Seton Hall, yeah.
I can't believe this huge downfall, yeah.
I put my faith in you,
And it fell through.
My March is free because of you.

Watching you play,
Takes years off my life.
Have to hope that next year,
Will rid me of this strife.
Oh yeah.

Lost to St. John's and Seton Hall, yeah.
I can't believe this huge downfall, yeah.
I put my faith in you,
And it fell through.
My March is free because of you.

Good talk.

I am hurting. And when I hurt, I turn to literature. And when I turn to literature, I reach for an Archie Comic. And when Archie's wild and crazy antics are not enough to cure an aching heart, I seek guidance from Big Bad Billy Shakespeare. And he spoke to me. He said:

When griping grief the heart doth wound,
and doleful dumps the mind oppresses,
then music, with her silver sound,
with speedy help doth lend redress.

So I took his advice. And I now present to you: Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton.

Wasn't expecting too much
Knew that we were very young
But then the upset at UConn
Brought back faith and changed my views
I need to know, which team are you?
Stop messing with my mind
I was so happy til Duke then you hurt me

Un-break my heart
Say you'll win a big game
Don't turn the ball over
Stop missing the big shots
And important free throws
Play some defense
We shouldn't be so bad
Un-break my heart
My heart

Last shot against the Bearcats
The usual late game collapse
Both bring back my greatest fear
Keep the Esherick years away
Out of eight games, we've lost seven
This year is such a bust
Now we need an upset to make the tourney

Un-break my heart
Say you'll win a big game
Don't turn the ball over
Stop missing the big shots
And important free throws
Play some defense
We shouldn't be so bad
Un-break my heart

Wasn't expecting too much
Knew that we were very young
I was so happy til Duke then you hurt me

Un-break my heart
Say you'll win a big game
Don't turn the ball over
Stop missing the big shots
And important free throws
Play some defense
We shouldn't be so very bad
Un-break my

Un-break my heart, Oh Hoyas
Come back and win a big game
Un-break my heart, Damn Hoyas
Don't go back to the Esherick years
Esherick years....

Good talk.

Joe Schmo's reaction in the first 43 seconds of the below video probably describes the current feeling of every Hoya fan across the whole entire world ( I know follower Ronald Ramon Says "74-65" is probably tickled pink by the inclusion of his favorite reality TV moment).


Well, I will tell you what is going on, by song. Thus I present to you "Holding Out for a Hero" by Bonnie Tyler.

Where are all the great leaders
The real men, not the boys
Where's the legend Jeffrey Green
Jon Wallace and Big Roy
Isn't there a Hoya who wants a tourney seed
After games I cry and I blog and I long
for what I need

Chorus:
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero to win us big games
He's gotta be calm
And he's gotta have guts
And he's gotta not care about fame
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero with ice in his veins
He's gotta be tough
And he's gotta think quick
And he's gotta play through any pain

Do you all remember
Jon's shot against UNC
At West Virginia, Ewing's block
vs. UConn, Hibbert hit that three
And against Vandy, Jeff hit the winning shot
Now that they've all graduated, who will take their spot?

Chorus

Three All-Americans, a Jordan All-Star
Add Jesse, there's our starting team
A squad with so much talent, losing
Makes me scream

In Durham, vs. the Hall, at Cincy
Could have won, it was tight
Took bad shots, lost the games
Cause this team, has no fight

Chorus



This video scares the freck out of me by the way.


Good talk.

I woke up this morning with the idea in my head. The tune was overwhelming, and words were flowing off my tongue. But after more thought, I decided it was a bad idea. I mean most folk already think I'm crazy, why add more fuel to the fire? But then on my way to work (yes, I actually have a job other than blogging) something happened that changed my mind. While doing my normal flip of the radio stations to avoid talk I stumbled across the song I had stuck in my head. I probably hadn't heard it in years but for some inexplicable reason 97.1 decided to play the tune. I took it as a sign from above, or possibly below, that the world needs to hear my message. So without further adieu, I present to you "How Deep is Your Bench" performed by Jim Boeheim and written by the Bee Gees.

I watched tapes of your games before
Knew how to guard against your starting five
And the moment that you decide to use your reserves
Is the moment that we win the game

Then you put in some tall Russian guy
Takes two shots, makes them both, gets a season high
And its me you need to show

Chorus:
How deep is your bench
I really need to know
Cause we're playing Georgetown again soon
They're hard to scout
With so many new players
Who never play the same way

I feel like a fool
I was too proud to scout Jason Clark
Put my hopes in Convict Cheddar Bob
Then was embarrassed on their floor
Vaughn, Wattad, Henry Sims
Who thought they would win
Can't believe I just lost
I had Johnny Flynn
And it's me you need to show
(repeat chorus)

Game observations:
- Third straight win at home against Syracuse. First time that has happened since 1989.
- Syracuse never had a lead in this game
- 29 points from our bench. Second game in a row we have had strong bench play, will need it against Duke
- We limited our turnovers, only two in the second half. We outscored them 29 to 13 on points off turnovers
- Onuaku had as many offensive rebounds at the whole Georgetown team but...
- We shot 59% from the field, highest since Savannah St. game
- And we shot 57% from beyond the arc, highest since first round of Big East Tourney last year
- So we didn't really have many opportunities for offensive rebounds
- Sapp continued his streak of sucking. Clark actually saw more playing time than him in this game
- Summers is scaring me. Can't afford to lose him at the end of this season. He is having phenomenal Big East season
- Monroe mania is getting a bit too much. Yes he led the team in assists and rebounds. But he was dominated on the defensive end
- We won this game because we were able to hit the mid-range elbow jumpers, which effectively took away the effectiveness of the zone. Good job on preparing the team, JT3
- We had 2 technical fouls called on us, hasn't happened since Radford game last year
- They shot 44% from FT line. Rick Jackson shot a Macklin-esque 1-8 from the line
- Two turning points in the game, both by bench players. (1) Nikita's second three, after Flynn answered his first. (2) Clark's three which halted an 8-0 Cuse run to start off the second half.
- Officiating was pretty terrible
- The most alarming missed call was committed by T^3 during the T-shirt toss. The foul was so egregious that it would qualify as a penalty in three different sports: Push in back in basketball, pass interference in football and catcher interference in baseball
- I am now 0-2 in T-shirt tosses, both times I was violently fouled. The first time was when follower Long Time/First Time callously tossed me aside when Gerald Riley threw a shirt into the stands during the '03-'04 season. Neither of us ended up with the baby blue #32 Riley shirt, something I still long for
- What T^3 didn't know was that I recently did an inventory of my wardrobe and noticed that I was lacking in gray, JT3 shirts. You broke my heart Fredo, you broke my heart.
- Special thanks for referee Ed Hightower for the second acknowledgment of existence this season
- Special thanks to Johnny Flynn for the acknowledgment of existence and subsequent offer of termination. I've never made a player actually come back out from the locker room tunnel to respond to one of my comments. I merely relayed to him my harmless observation that he was just embarrassed on national television. Guess that might have hurt his feelings or something


Good talk.

Well that was humiliating. Pretty obvious to anyone that looks at the box score that this game was lost on the boards. Luckily for the Hoyas they don't have much time to dwell on the loss because they face a tough game in South Bend on Monday against a Notre Dame team looking to rebound after an embarrassing loss to St. Johns. Unfortunately for the readers, I have a lot of time to dwell on the loss so here goes.

I have never really questioned JT3 (the name of this blog is a joke for those who haven't caught on yet). He has brought the program back to national prominence in less five years, something that is remarkable considering how difficult of a task it is (just asked Norm Roberts or Bobby Gonzalez). But I raised the issue in the first game of the season and the team has not made any improvements or adjustments. WE CAN'T REBOUND. For those of you that had the pleasure of being in my presence during the post-game shenanigans it was a point I clearly couldn't get off my mind. Follower IAmHagel and I even devised a dance to remind the team what they should do in order to rebound. It is called "Box It Out" and below are the lyrics to the song.

When you see the shot go in the air,
Don't throw your arms up in despair.
Prepare yourself for the next phase,
Don't get sad and start to glaze.
If he shoots a shot you couldn't block,
Just put your butt into his jock.
Throw your arms out to the side,
And give no room to move or slide.
Bend those knees and get real low,
When the ball comes close it's time to go.
It doesn't matter how high you can jump,
It's all based on how you use your rump.
Easy to remember but I'll help you out,
It's three simple words to know and shout.
Box It Out. Box It Out.
Just Box, Box It Out.

Look for the album entitled "Fundamentals of the Game of Basketball" to hit stores in late March, right around the time Georgetown gets eliminated from the NCAA Tournament. I'm bewildered by how we have been out-rebounded in every game yet there is no improvement from the team. When the ball goes in the air, our players just don't run to the ball. There is no boxing out, there is no one in the paint. We aren't a running team by any stretch of the imagination so there is no excuse for players to be hanging out on the top of the key. We run a slow, set offense so every player should be down in the paint hustling for rebounds. We had a height advantage on two of their forwards this game and we still couldn't prevent them from walking all over us. This was a problem with last year's team too. I'm fine with the fact that we won't get offensive rebounds because we play around the perimeter and take high percentage shots. But giving 18 offensive rebounds is embarrassing, and I want to know why this issue has not been addressed yet. Or why it doesn't seem like anyone cares. When asked about being out-rebounded, this is what Summers said:

"It was tough, but I don't want to take anything away from them (Pitt). As coach said, they are great players who did a good job at doing what they were supposed to do and we just need to do a better job at doing what we need to do. Weak side rebounding and pursing the ball...we're young and just need to do a better job at realizing that we need to get more boards."

A young team needs to do a better job of going into hostile environments for away games. A young team needs to learn how to deal with opposing fans. A young team needs to learn how to deal with the media. A young team should not have to get better at "realizing that [they] need to get more boards." That is something that should be ingrained in their heads since the first time they picked up a basketball. Poor rebounding is not a result of being young, it is a result of poor fundamentals and bad basketball habits. And it is a result of poor coaching. There, I said it.

But alas, all is not wrong. The sky isn't falling and JT3 is an incredible coach. We are still a very good team and have the opportunity to make a good run in the NCAA Tournament. And the conference is so stacked with good teams that games like this will happen. How the team comes out on Monday against Notre Dame will be a telling sign for the rest of the season. Here are some more random observations:

- This should not have been an early January game. It should be a March game, right before the BET. Pitt and G'town have a great rivalry and had some classic games in the past few years.
- This is our third straight loss to Pitt
- DeJuan Blair and DaJuan Summers have similar first names
- Blair and Summers were the two best players today
- I should name my kid DuJuan if I want him to be good at basketball
- DeJuan Blair had 17 rebounds
- The nine players that played for Georgetown had a total of 18 rebounds
- We did a good job executing our defensive game plan, their guards were 6 of 21 from the floor and 1 of 11 from beyond the arc
- Our starting guards were terrible, 4 of 22 from the floor and 2 of 12 from 3pt land.
- Jesse Sapp continued his streak of sucking
- Worst loss at home since JT3's first game against Temple
- Greg Monroe, now officially a second semester freshman, had his first press conference as a Hoya
- Begrudging and obligatory shout-out to followers Ronald Ramon Says "74-65" and Anov44 for winning this game and making me eat my words in the "Fallacy of a Top Ten Pitt" post. There, now you are famous.


Good talk.