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GW Men's Hoops » Grades » Today 9:05 am

Gwmayhem
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LSF, as a longer sufferer than myself, I can understand you being a tougher grader.  My two biggest disagreements with you are over Autry and Bishop.  I believe Trey is a complete player.  It is very hard to perform consistently when you go from starting one game to playing 6 minutes the next to 18 minutes the game after that.  I understand that you have to make the most of your opportunities, which Trey sometimes did not, but I see a player who is a willing passer with good court vision, a solid rebounder from his position, a defender with athleticism (who must learn not to overplay at times), and of course, a player who can knock down 3's.   I'll admit that perhaps my optimistic grade had more to do with future potential.

As for James, let's not lose sight of the fact that my grade of B should be construed as a disappointing one.  Clearly, we needed an A type season out of him to be successful.  Nevertheless, given his numbers, his third team all conference selection, and the number of times he helped this team win when it did, I could not justify a grade of C or C- for him.
 

GW Men's Hoops » The NIT Thread » Yesterday 3:27 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 27

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Free Quebec wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

The Dude wrote:

22 points, 8 boards no turnovers  for Jamison Battle and Ohio State, 4-9 from 3, wrapping up an illustrious career

2,018 career points  725 boards for Jamison Battle, 93% from the line 88-95 on the season.

Next time we land a stretch 4 like that, it would be nice to actually keep him at GW.  348 Threes made 

Indiana State to the NIT Final 4!  They SHOULD be dancing, but this will have to suffice 

You are every bit as predictable as you are a simpleton.  No, three home court wins in the NIT has nothing to do with whether Indiana State deserved an at large bid or not.  In 2015-16, GW won the NIT.  Did it deserve an at-large bid?  Did Valpo after reaching the final?

And sure, let's criticize GW for failing to keep a player who wanted to play closer to home.  Next time, let's just hold them against their will.

Please stop the personal attacks. This doesn’t need to turn into the old board.

FQ, when the trolling stops, so will the personal comments.  I stayed away from making any personal comments practically all season long with the hope that the trolling would stop on its own.  It did not.  Maybe you're barking up the wrong tree?  Why don't you ask The Dude to knock it off?  Or, do you see nothing wrong with the incessant repetitiveness of his posts?  A million Gonzaga posts on a GW message board.  Yeah, that's normal behavior.

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » Yesterday 12:10 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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Except that you wouldn't.  If you let 96 schools in, the 97th-100th teams are going to feel ripped off.  Plus, you're still going to whine and whine about P6 schools getting in ahead of mid-majors.  Your .500 or better rule?  Do you really think that's ever going to happen?    Let's see, the NET was created and that allows an even bigger advantage to P6 schools.  The NCAA just changed the NIT so that regular season conference winners (i.e. mid-majors and smaller conference schools) who do not make the Dance no longer receive automatic entry into the NIT, which provides an advantage to P6 schools.  Do you really think that the NCAA is going to adopt a rule that would have prohibited Ohio State from making a 96 team field because it went 9-11 in its conference games this season?

Seriously, what planet are you on?
 

GW Men's Hoops » Grades » Yesterday 10:58 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 3

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Time to offer one person's opinion of GW's 2023-24 season by offering grades.  Everyone is entitled to agree or disagree but the one thing I ask is that you understand how I grade.  These grades have less to do with giving the best grade to the best player, etc., but more to do with how I perceived performances relative to my anticipated expectations at the start of the season.  I'll be the first to admit that some of this is based on "gut feelings" formulated from what I had previously read about the player (i.e. high school and college accomplishments), what I witnessed at Kenner (again, not close to being a perfect barometer but impressions are made there), and how a player progressed (or regressed) over the course of the season.  I'll give all of the walk-ons an A+ because walk-ons deserve that.  Let's go alphabetically.

Babatunde Akingbola.....C+       We knew Stretch would arrive as a raw player, having played so little over three seasons at Auburn.  What we also knew that he would arrive possessing a genuine rim protector's body and athleticism.  The hope was that he would be more polished than expected having gone up against several NBA players each day in practice.  The best case scenario was that Stretch was more than capable; he simply needed the opportunity that GW would provide.  The result was an offensive player who could do little more than score off of putbacks and very occasionally in the post, and a defensive player who exuded joy over swatting away shots but whose footwork when going after blocks often left him out of position to offer much on the boards.  Loved the guy's enthusiasm but the team clearly needed more out of Stretch.

Trey Autry.....B-         Trey became 4th in line amongst a backcourt of JB, Max and Jacoi (and further back if we are to consider Jun and/or Garrett to be guards...which I personally do not).  He began the year as a starter likely because his game is so fundamentally sound.  His freshman sea

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » Yesterday 8:54 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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The Feinstein conversation with Gary Williams perfectly summarizes this.  Gary favored expansion, not just because it provides more job security to coaches but also because players so desperately want to play in the tournament.  And John's response was that the reason why it's so important to players is because it's so HARD to do (make the tournament).  Expand the field and the event automatically becomes less exclusive and subsequently, less special.  I've been critical opf Feinstein in the past but on this point, he's spot-on.

GW Men's Hoops » The NIT Thread » Yesterday 8:49 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 27

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The Dude wrote:

22 points, 8 boards no turnovers  for Jamison Battle and Ohio State, 4-9 from 3, wrapping up an illustrious career

2,018 career points  725 boards for Jamison Battle, 93% from the line 88-95 on the season.

Next time we land a stretch 4 like that, it would be nice to actually keep him at GW.  348 Threes made 

Indiana State to the NIT Final 4!  They SHOULD be dancing, but this will have to suffice 

You are every bit as predictable as you are a simpleton.  No, three home court wins in the NIT has nothing to do with whether Indiana State deserved an at large bid or not.  In 2015-16, GW won the NIT.  Did it deserve an at-large bid?  Did Valpo after reaching the final?

And sure, let's criticize GW for failing to keep a player who wanted to play closer to home.  Next time, let's just hold them against their will.

Recruits » Recruit: Ty Bevins, Guard, 2024 - Committed to GW!! » 3/26/2024 4:03 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 33

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Congratulations to Ty on being named second team All-Met for the DC Metro area.  By my count, there were only three public school players on the first team, making Ty one of the best public school players in the region.  Looking forward to seeing you in a GW uniform.

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » 3/26/2024 2:37 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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Let's just break this down the way it ought to be broken down.  The vast majority of people love to see midmajors and lower level conference schools go head to head against P6 schools.  One thing the committee has almost consistently gotten wrong (though this year has been a bit of an exception)  is limiting these matchups. pitting P6 vs P6 and midmajor vs midmajor when possible.  People enjoy seeing the little guy pull off the upset.  They love having that in their bracket.  Make this an exclusive P6 tournament and this event will lose much of its appeal.

However, the committee must decide which of the 36 at larges have the best chance to win the national championship, even if practically all of them do not.  That's what they are charged with.  And, by week 2 of the tournament, the little guys are only valued by fans/alum/students of their school and anyone who has them going a bit further in their bracket.  By the time the Final 4 is reached, there is little public appetite for the mid-majors as is evidenced by the poor television ratings whenever a mid-major reaches the final Saturday or Monday.

As for Lunardi's comment, three of those 4 schools were AQ's which a strong enough mid-major needs to be able to be.  The 4th, Indiana State, went 1-4 in Q1 games.  Normally, I'm empathetic to the school that's like 0-1 in Q1 games because it's clear that they have problems getting better teams to play them.  But when you have 5 chances to prove you belong in the Dance and you lose at Alabama, lose at Michigan State, and go 1-2 against Drake, sorry but that's just not good enough.
 

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » 3/25/2024 4:26 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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Yale, James Madison, Grand Canyon...all automatic qualifiers.

P6 school vs lesser conference, 1st round (skipping 1's vs 16's and 2's vs 15's):  Northwestern, Illinois, Washington State, Alabama, Clemson, Baylor, Duke, Kansas, Texas were all winners.

Wisconsin, Kentucky, BYU and TCU were all losers.

9-4.  69%.  Right around what one should expect.

Include the 1 and 2 seeds and it's 17-4.  81%.

No evidence to suggest that Indiana State, Princeton, VCU or any other midmajor would have had any success at this year's tournament. 
 

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » 3/25/2024 10:22 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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It's probably not a good idea to follow the work of 20 or so bracketologists, find one who states that Dayton might be in trouble of missing the field, and then use this to support your tiresome arguments about midmajors getting screwed time and again.  Dayton went 5-4 over it's last 9 A10 games (including its lone game in the conference tournament) and still managed to receive a 7 seed.  Translation:  Dayton wasn't anywhere close to missing the Dance as an at-large.

It's probably not a good idea to post that Western Kentucky has a 10 point lead over Marquette but then fail to mention that Marquette won that game by 18.  But there's Shaka yet again, in the Sweet 16.  Pretty clear he's forgotten how to coach since he left VCU.

It's probably not a good idea to sing Greg Gard's praises during the regular season only to blast him once he loses in the tournament.  Or for that matter, to post his failures in the tournament since 2018, conveniently omitting that he reached the Sweet 16 in each of his first two seasons (obviously with Bo's players).  This speaks to a lack of credibility and can also be construed as disingenuous.

It's probably not a good idea to draw conclusions about any two teams based on the outcome of a single game.

 

GW Men's Hoops » The Coaching Carousel Thread » 3/25/2024 10:05 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 61

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Free Quebec wrote:

Dusty May to Michigan.

Last year he decided to come back because he had a great team coming off a final 4 run, but now he’s gone.

I’m sure Byington will chase the money, especially in the portal era where he can’t be sure his players will stay if he does.

Sad but understandable.  Dusty made less than $500,000 during his Final 4 season.  The school's boosters made a concerted effort to keep him at FAU.  They were able to about double his income this past season.  And from there, Michigan can at least triple this.  (Sad because no matter what the backers of a small school can do to keep a beloved coach, there's only so much that can realistically be done.) 

A native Indianan, May had one eye on the Hoosiers this season which would have been a dream job for him.  Indiana decided to stick with Mike Woodson which was neither an obvious or dreadful decision.  A good friend of mine became close with Dusty and claims he's a great guy.  Am rooting for him for that reason, along with not having to hear from a certain poster as to why he just couldn't stay at FAU earning substantially less pay.
 

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » 3/22/2024 2:46 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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The Dude wrote:

Tennessee Colonial wrote:

Two days ago SEC commissioner Greg Sankey advocated for taking away NCAA tourney bids from smaller leagues because they couldn’t compete. The SEC is now 0-3 and mighty Kentucky was sent home by Horizon League champ Oakland   

Yet year after year the NCAA tournament proves just the opposite to be true even though these smaller schools are always up against it in the seed line

Did Duquesne or Dayton look like they did not belong? Oakland? Samford? Even the majority of the 15 seeds played a competitive game.

What about all those schools that we never get to see like Indiana State?

Reminder that the year VCU made a run to the final four they got an at large bid as an 11 seed from the colonial! Those days are long gone. Under the current criteria GW tournament appearances would be mostly wiped out with the exception of the conference titles in 2005 and 2007. The O6 team would be a nail biter bubble team on selection day

Gonzaga spent almost the entire season as a supposed bubble team because of a so-called lack of quad one wins. They are 12 in the computer and probably the most impressive team on day one. If not for a game or two down the stretch they are not even in the tournament of this current criteria

How much of the national discussion is there of this? Most of the whining went to St John's not getting included! Poor St Johns!

FAU playing right now looks better than northwestern more athletic you'd have a hard time figuring out who was the power 5 squad if you didn't know. Same thing last year whe

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » 3/22/2024 9:47 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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Free Quebec wrote:

I’m also glad that Duquense shut up all the numbskulls who said they were oversteered as an 11 without checking their resume. Aside from winning a very strong 8th ranked league, they had 8 wins over Q1/2 teams - more than all four 12 seeds combined. If that’s the criteria used to keep Indiana St out, then it should also be used to seed Duquesne where they did.

I guess our definitions of "numbskull" might vary since I would consider anyone to invalidate decisions made based on approx. 35 games worth of work, because of the outcome of a single game, to be a bit of a numbskull.   Like I said, Duquesne's seed was largely based on the A10 being a stronger conference than any of those who represented the 4 #12 seeds, and that the committee was not going to start reseeding the field at 3:00 on Sunday once the VCU-Duquesne winner was known.  Should an A10 school ever win a national championship, perhaps the committee will start to pay more attention to meticulously seeding the A10 champion.

Plus, your assertion also happens to be incorrect.

Team      Seed         NET entering the Dance         Q1/Q2 Record

Duquesne   11                    83                                    8-8
UAB           12                  105                                    7-7
JMU           12                    52                                    1-2
Grand 
Canyon       12                   50                                     3-2
McNeese     12                  56                                     3-2


So, three of the 12's had NETS in the 50's while Duquesne was in the 80's.  And, the 4 #12 seeded teams won nearly twice as many Q1/Q2 games as Duquesne (14-8).

That was a great win by Duquesne.  And under the circumstances, a very emotional one as well.  But does it validate their seed

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » 3/21/2024 9:37 am

Gwmayhem
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The Dude wrote:

districthoops wrote:

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

As much as it pains me to say this, betting against the A-10 in the postseason seems to have been a wise investment over the past several years.

Yeah, I mean I just don't see either Dayton (injuries) or the Dukes (6th in A10) reaching the second round. I think Dayton was extremely overseeded, especially with the last 3 of their last 6 games { loss @ Mason, @ Loy-Chi, and vs. Duquesne). The Cinderella story is there for Dambrot, but they just don't pass the eye test against real competition. But hey, it's March, I'd love to be and most likely will be embarrassingly incorrect. 

I was wondering how the A10 has done in the Tourney, always hard to find that data.  

The data below is a few years old now, but close to .500 is the answer.  Adding in the recent results, from the top of the head, Hurley's Rhode Island teams won back to back round 1 games, Richmond won in 2022 (2 games?) and I think bagels for the league in 2021 and 2023.  Dayton never got to play as the #1 seed in 2020

    As for this Dayton team, slumped down the stretch losing a bunch of close games but they still have top 25 computer rankings and did very well in the OOC.   If you want to see how unfair the seeding is for ALL teams outside of the Power 5 and it gets more and more ridic as you get to smaller and smaller conferences, why is Duquesne seeded 11 over teams 30 spots ahead of them,  James Madison, McNeese and Grand Canyon?  
Just because of "who did you play"  criteria.  Who did Duquense beat? no one really but played more Quad 1 and 2 games obviously.     

Here's the most recent data I could find showing every conference in the NCAA Tourney:  A10 88-98 as of a few years ago, Pretty darn good for a non Power 5. How many of those games was the A10 the higher seed? I'd think 20-30%

https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2019-02-28/how-every-conference-has-fared-march-madness-1985
 

Dude,

GW Men's Hoops » The NIT Thread » 3/20/2024 12:02 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 27

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Am not willing to pass judgment on a conference but it's worth noting that the wounded Big East went 0-3 last night, with Xavier, Providence and Butler all going down.  That leaves Seton Hall and Villanova left in the field.

The A10 lost Richmond, with Loyola, VCU and St. Joe's playing tonight.

17 schools turned down an offer to play in the NIT, including St. Bonaventure.  This used to be an ego move ("we were ripped off by the NCAA committee so our statement will be to skip the NIT") but it's now a transfer portal thing.  Players who know they are transferring would rather enter the portal as quickly as possible than spend up to two more weeks playing in the NIT.

It's really shameful though nobody actually feels any shame in passing.

 

GW Men's Hoops » The Coaching Carousel Thread » 3/20/2024 11:06 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 61

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DC Native wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

DC Native wrote:

Is Michigan really that much better of a job than Marquette? I mean, both have one championship, and Marquette has been in the Tourney more often than Michigan (36 vs. 31), although Michigan does have more Final Fours (3 vs. 8, although 2 of them are vacated). When is Shaka Smart going to just stay somewhere and coach? Or will he keep "moving up" until he is at Duke, UNC, Kentucky, or UCLA?

This is a really curious post.  Shaka has been a head coach for 15 seasons.  He spent the first 6 at VCU (after serving there as an assistant) and then left for Texas where he more than doubled his pay.  He was in Austin for the next 6 seasons but it was clear the handwriting was on the wall and he agreed to leave for Marquette before he was fired.  At Marquette, he is radically underpaid but the tradeoff is that he has no buyout whatsoever.  Not that Michigan has even talked to him let alone offered, or that Shaka would have interest in Michigan.  That said, Juwan made $1.5 million more this season than Shaka did, so if he did leave to try to rebuild Michigan, it would be hard not to understand this.

It was an honest question. Maybe Michigan can pay significantly more and is a better job. I remember when Michigan was a top program, but the Fab 5 was 30 years ago. Michigan State seems to have been the better program for a couple decades now. I like Shaka, and it just seems like he’s built a good program and could win a championship there. The grass is not always greener elsewhere…

Am sure it was an honest question.  What I'm questioning is why you would ask "when is he's going to just stay somewhere" when he left one job after 6 years to about double his income, left another job after 6 years because he was otherwise likely to be fired, and hasn't said or done anything at this point about the Michigan job?  And, why he could conceivably leave Marquette after just 3 seasons is because the school

GW Men's Hoops » The March Madness Thread » 3/20/2024 9:18 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 164

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The committee isn't making decisions based on teams who shoot the best or those that are the most aesthetically pleasing to watch.  Out of conference, Indiana State lost at Alabama and at Michigan State, each  by double figures.  Meanwhile, out of conference, UVA beat Florida, beat Texas A &M, and in conference, beat Clemson and split in the regular season with NC State.  UVA's wins, specifically out of conference, are much better.

In fact, I'm perplexed (though I'm really not) as to how Indiana State has a NET in the high 20's.  They went 1-4 in Q1 games, 4-1 in Q2, 10-0 in Q3 and 12-1 in Q4.  The reason I'm really not perplexed by this is because they beat up on inferior teams, which the NET acknowledges and rewards.  Am convinced that if ISU had beaten Drake in the MVC title game, Drake with its 4-1 record in Q1 games would have received an at large.  Indiana State is undoubtedly fun to watch but their NET ranking, IMO, was a bit of a mirage.  UVA was arguably more deserving but how terrible they looked last night is in fact inarguable.

 

GW Men's Hoops » The Coaching Carousel Thread » 3/19/2024 5:02 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 61

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DC Native wrote:

Is Michigan really that much better of a job than Marquette? I mean, both have one championship, and Marquette has been in the Tourney more often than Michigan (36 vs. 31), although Michigan does have more Final Fours (3 vs. 8, although 2 of them are vacated). When is Shaka Smart going to just stay somewhere and coach? Or will he keep "moving up" until he is at Duke, UNC, Kentucky, or UCLA?

This is a really curious post.  Shaka has been a head coach for 15 seasons.  He spent the first 6 at VCU (after serving there as an assistant) and then left for Texas where he more than doubled his pay.  He was in Austin for the next 6 seasons but it was clear the handwriting was on the wall and he agreed to leave for Marquette before he was fired.  At Marquette, he is radically underpaid but the tradeoff is that he has no buyout whatsoever.  Not that Michigan has even talked to him let alone offered, or that Shaka would have interest in Michigan.  That said, Juwan made $1.5 million more this season than Shaka did, so if he did leave to try to rebuild Michigan, it would be hard not to understand this.

GW Men's Hoops » The Coaching Carousel Thread » 3/19/2024 2:18 pm

Gwmayhem
Replies: 61

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Yes Dude, thank you for the reminder.  We did have a bet on whether Juwan would be fired at season's end or not.  I believe we bet one of your weekly paychecks, otherwise known as a gentlemen's bet.  So I have this check made out for $0.00.  Just let me know where to send it.

GW Men's Hoops » The Coaching Carousel Thread » 3/19/2024 9:24 am

Gwmayhem
Replies: 61

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Brian Dutcher.

He's 64 years old and is coaching in San Diego, CA, perhaps a preferable destination for a 64 year old to be than Ann Arbor, MI.

He must like it because he just signed a five year extension with the Aztecs.  He's under contract through 2027-28. 

Oh, but Michigan can afford it, right Dude?  Dutcher's buyout is $10.788 million which is a hair less than three times the amount of money that Michigan paid Juwan this year.  Or for that matter, it's higher than what any college basketball coach earned this past season.

But we get it.  Ducher to Michigan makes so much sense to you Dude, so keep on saying it.
 

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