Georgetown this year

[quickgtp]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I hope the Dukies take it to the Hoyas this year. Of course I want to win every game, but Greg Monroe really left a bad feeling with me after he stood us up in the recruiting process.

Who do you think can match up well with Greg Monroe from the Duke squad? Thomas or Singler? Maybe Miles?

I know this post may not be the most productive one here, it just registered that Monroe is coming to town with the Hoyas!

[MChambers]

Don't know what you have against Monroe. I'm sorry he didn't come to Duke, but it seems to me that he simply chose to go elsewhere. Shouldn't be any hard feelings. I hope the Crazies treat him with respect.

[Bob Green]

Don't know what you have against Monroe. I'm sorry he didn't come to Duke, but it seems to me that he simply chose to go elsewhere. Shouldn't be any hard feelings. I hope the Crazies treat him with respect.

Agreed. Georgetown and Greg Monroe coming to Cameron this season offers the Crazies an opportunity to display their class. It is counterproductive to be upset over losing a recruit. Monroe simply decided he liked Georgetown. The list of top recruits who decided against Duke is long and distinguished.

[studdlee10]

As long as they don't make personal attacks, who cares if the Crazies give Greg Monroe some good-natured ribbing? That is part of the charm/fun of Cameron. I think I'd be more disappointed if the Crazies didn't make fun of Monroe IF Duke somehow pulled out a comfortable victory.

As for who matches up well with Greg...he is not a low post banger. From sheer size, he'll grab some boards, but he's not going to willingly back down anybody in the low post. We'll be fine putting Thomas/Plumlee/Czyz on him. Honestly, the guys who scare me the most on G'town are Chris Wright and Jason Clark. If we put Paulus on either of those guys...they will have a field day on offense.

[Devilsfan]

Yes Crazies, just "keep it real"! Hope you can find the remedy that made you famous. Creativity PLEASE!!!

[Ignatius07]

As long as they don't make personal attacks, who cares if the Crazies give Greg Monroe some good-natured ribbing? That is part of the charm/fun of Cameron. I think I'd be more disappointed if the Crazies didn't make fun of Monroe IF Duke somehow pulled out a comfortable victory.

As for who matches up well with Greg...he is not a low post banger. From sheer size, he'll grab some boards, but he's not going to willingly back down anybody in the low post. We'll be fine putting Thomas/Plumlee/Czyz on him. Honestly, the guys who scare me the most on G'town are Chris Wright and Jason Clark. If we put Paulus on either of those guys...they will have a field day on offense.

Agreed there's no reason to spare Monroe or act like we didn't recruit him. It's just more ammo to use once we build up a big lead.

I would expect Singler to guard Monroe, as they're both inside-out big guys, though I think Thomas or McClure would do a good job on him as well. I'd expect Plumlee and Czyz to generally guard the 5 more, at least early on.

[BD80]

... the guys who scare me the most on G'town are Chris Wright and Jason Clark. If we put Paulus on either of those guys...they will have a field day on offense.

Why do many people on this board believe that man-to-man defense means five individual games of one-on-one basketball?

Greg and Jon could be better a keeping in front of their men, but that does not make them deficient defenders. Many times they are instructed to take away one lane and force their man into a help defender.

[kramerbr]

Agreed ^^ Jon is and will continue to be one of our best perimeter defenders. I am a firm believer that Jon might be our best "all around" player.

[quickgtp]

Don't know what you have against Monroe. I'm sorry he didn't come to Duke, but it seems to me that he simply chose to go elsewhere. Shouldn't be any hard feelings. I hope the Crazies treat him with respect.

This is a perfect example of why I am reluctant to post here sometimes. I wasn't asking how the CROWD would act, rather how Duke would do against GU. And I do realize it isn't "5 one-on-one games" in basketball, but I was thinking of who would draw Monroe on the defensive end. There are moments when things clear out and 2 players are left to go one on one....

I agree with the Crazies statement...they need to go hard after Greg Monroe, and I am sure it will be done with great creativity!

[heyman25]

Monroe did not extend any courtesy to all the Duke attempts to recruit him. I say let the Cameron Crazies have their day. They should not go out of bounds in crowd behavior. Many times that backfires. The Dodgers got payback from the Hawaiian Phillies outfielder.( his name escapes me)Don't give Monroe any extra edge in the game.

Both Monroe and Paterson disrespected the Duke Coaching staff in my opinion, but anything can happen in college basketball recruiting. We have to move on.

[2535Miles]

This is a perfect example of why I am reluctant to post here sometimes.

I felt the same way for years until I joined the OTB.

[whereinthehellami]

I'm not that sold on Monroe. Seems kinda of soft. Physically and athletically talented but I don't expect to see him dominate this year. We'll see what JT2(3?) can do with him.

[gw67]

There are some folks on this board who follow the Hoyas closely and are better qualified than me to comment on the Hoyas but I’ll provide my two cents. Georgetown lost several starters and backups to graduation and transfer. Nevertheless, I expect them to have a good season. Young Thompson will have a thin bench but he plays a deliberate style offense so I don’t think that it will be a problem. I expect them to start Sapp, Freeman and Wright on the perimeter and Summers and Monroe inside. Based on their offensive sets and back door play, I don’t expect a lot of one-on-one play and I don’t worry about either Wright or freshman backup, Clark, scoring a bunch of points against Paulus. I expect Sapp, Freeman and Summers to be their leading scorers during the season until Monroe becomes acclimated to the college game.

gw67

[CDu]

Why do many people on this board believe that man-to-man defense means five individual games of one-on-one basketball?

Greg and Jon could be better a keeping in front of their men, but that does not make them deficient defenders. Many times they are instructed to take away one lane and force their man into a help defender.

While man-to-man doesn't mean five individual games of one-on-one, an inability to stay in front of your man DOES make you a deficient defender. It requires the team to restructure the defense in a way that protects this deficiency as much as possible, and can create opportunities that wouldn't be there with better defenders.

Take Shelden Williams for example. He was, by all accounts, a spectacular defensive player at Duke. He was terrific in man-to-man and he was also a great help defender. As such, he covered a lot of mistakes made by perimeter defenders. But it came with a cost. Because Shelden had to help out, his man was frequently left for easy buckets from passes by the driving guard. The best example of this was against Indiana, in which Marco Killingsworth got 34 points and 15-20 shooting, many of which came on uncontested layups in which Shelden was playing help defense.

So no - man-to-man doesn't mean five games of one-on-one. But at the same time, having weak on-ball defenders puts a LOT of stress on a man-to-man defense, and can create easy opportunities for the opposing team to score.

[Wags]

Georgetown lost out on Ryan Kelly when he committed to Duke. Does anyone know where Jeremiah Rivers transferred?

[jimsumner]

I think the criticism of Monroe is a bit over the top. He found the school he thought was the best fit for him and ended his recruitment. Duke has received countless committments over the years from recruits who canceled visits to schools they had just eliminated.

Would you rather Monroe had wasted Duke's time, money, and energy by making an official visit after he had made up his mind to go elsewhere?

[gw67]

CDu,

I respect your opinions and agree with much of what you stated in your post; however, the issue of playing weak defenders is more complex. How much does that player add to the offense? Can he be hidden on defense or does it matter depending on the opposition? My observations are that very few teams play or, in some cases, even have five good defenders. It generally doesn't matter because very few teams have five strong offensive players. College basketball isn't the NBA where you are playing five talented players, isolate and play one-on-one on many occasions. Help and off-the-ball defense can play a big role on defense in college basketball.

One of my favorite college players was Juan Dixon. He was not a particularly strong on-the-ball defender but he played good position defense and made his man work for his points. He was also a terrific off-the-ball defender and led the team in steals.

gw67

[CDu]

I don't think that you said is in any way contradictory to what I said. And I completely agree with you. I think help defense is essential to any man-to-man scheme. I wasn't in any way intending to disparage help defense. I was just showing how, even with the team defense concept to man-to-man, having a weak individual defender creates problems for the defense as a collective.

My point was that the existence of help defense doesn't eliminate the problem of failing to stay in front of your man. To say that because defense isn't five individual one-on-one matchups means Paulus's inability to stay in front of his man isn't a deficiency is just plain wrong.

CDu,

I respect your opinions and agree with much of what you stated in your post; however, the issue of playing weak defenders is more complex. How much does that player add to the offense? Can he be hidden on defense or does it matter depending on the opposition? My observations are that very few teams play or, in some cases, even have five good defenders. It generally doesn't matter because very few teams have five strong offensive players. College basketball isn't the NBA where you are playing five talented players, isolate and play one-on-one on many occasions. Help and off-the-ball defense can play a big role on defense in college basketball.

One of my favorite college players was Juan Dixon. He was not a particularly strong on-the-ball defender but he played good position defense and made his man work for his points. He was also a terrific off-the-ball defender and led the team in steals.

gw67

[BD80]

... I was just showing how, even with the team defense concept to man-to-man, having a weak individual defender creates problems for the defense as a collective.

Conceded. However, I do not define Paulus as a "weak" individual defender. He may not excel at staying in front of his man, but he is not deficient or weak. In which game(s) did an opposing point guard "go off" on Greg and take advantage of his supposed inability to stay in front of quick point guards?

My point was that the existence of help defense doesn't eliminate the problem of failing to stay in front of your man.

My point is that it may be better to funnel your man to his bad side, even if he gets by you five times in a row on that side, rather than to let him by you even once to the other side, depending on how your defense is set up.

To say that because defense isn't five individual one-on-one matchups means Paulus's inability to stay in front of his man isn't a deficiency is just plain wrong.

If Paulus were so "deficient," he wouldn't be playing, and he certainly wouldn't be instructed to pick up his man so far away from the basket. Greg certainly is not a "deficient" college defender, saying or implying as much is not productive and is "just plain wrong."

Our defensive "woes" are also in part due to our lack of a strong post "help" defender.

If your point is that Nolan is a better defender than Greg, I will concede that point as well. You will probably see Nolan defending opposing point guards more often, as he and Greg will see more playing time together due to Markie's departure.

[CDu]

Conceded. However, I do not define Paulus as a "weak" individual defender. He may not excel at staying in front of his man, but he is not deficient or weak. In which game(s) did an opposing point guard "go off" on Greg and take advantage of his supposed inability to stay in front of quick point guards?

My point is that it may be better to funnel your man to his bad side, even if he gets by you five times in a row on that side, rather than to let him by you even once to the other side, depending on how your defense is set up.

If Paulus were so "deficient," he wouldn't be playing, and he certainly wouldn't be instructed to pick up his man so far away from the basket. Greg certainly is not a "deficient" college defender, saying or implying as much is not productive and is "just plain wrong."

Our defensive "woes" are also in part due to our lack of a strong post "help" defender.

If your point is that Nolan is a better defender than Greg, I will concede that point as well. You will probably see Nolan defending opposing point guards more often, as he and Greg will see more playing time together due to Markie's departure.

We are going to have to agree to disagree. I think Paulus is a deficient defender. I think he's stayed on the floor because Duke had no other experienced ballhandlers and because Coach K values his leadership and shooting ability. I think those things outweighed his defensive liabilities.