Home Opener - Green Wave

Well this was was a series for New Orleans native Greg Monroe. So while Tulane is still on the schedule, Monroe is long gone.

Most of the teams from the power conference like to play schools like Tulane in their opener because it's an opportunity to play some of the younger guys and fool around with lineups before the conference season starts. Well the Hoyas didn't really get that chance at ODU as they held on for dear life for a W.

The big question mark all season will be who can play alongside Julian Vaughn down low. After about 2 minutes inside the Acela Club before the game the new question became who can play in place of Julian Vaughn. Yeah that's not a question that I ever want to answer again this season. Apparently Vaughn was out with an illness so it was up to Henry Sims to hold down the fort.

Ironically enough the Hoya Hoop Club had placed magnets with the schedule on everybody's seat. Unfortunately that magnet would be the only place to see Julian's smiling face against Tulane.

After ending the ODU game by hitting 7 of their last 10 three pointers, the Hoyas continued their torrid shooting to start their home opener. They went through a little bit of a dry spell late in the first half as they tried different lineups but had no real problems in getting the 69-53 win.

Freeman and Clark did what they need to do all season long - hit shots. Wright's scoring dipped a little bit but his assists were up. Sanford was the one player off the bench to really look good. He didn't play at ODU because of an illness. He was stroking it from deep just like he did all summer.

Look one of the big guys needs to be more assertive offensively. Lubick is playing alright but hardly ever looks to score. Same with Benimon and Sims. I'm not advocating the taking of bad shots. Instead I'm looking for them to have a little confidence in a low post move or two. This team really needs Julian.