Alum1 wrote:

Joel Joseph wrote:

Free Quebec, I couldn't disagree with you more.
After 3 seasons, nothing to show for it. Excuses are many - NIL, transfers, lack of school support, etc, etc, etc.
Funny how we are no different from 300+ other D-1 schools.
We will be saying the same things about the next hire.

 
Way too tough on CC. He’s brought respectability back to the program, even though I think his scheduling philosophy was wrong - Lipsitz put an end to that mercifully. CC also beat the odds keeping a core group together in an era where that doesn’t happen often. Big props for that.

That said, anybody who calls him a great game manager is just an idiot. Improving, maybe, but long way to go to get to competent, much less great. Or maybe they missed the 75% of losses where CC ran the same strategy over and over and failed to adjust or have any consequences for repeated mistakes. How many times did we see him adjust too late after relying on a fire up the threes game plan and fail to change it when it was clear it was tanking? Or seeing him tolerate the repeated sprint down the court and haul up an ill-advised three with no consequences? 

I felt like he improved in this regard by the end of the year, but to call him a great game manager is comical and smacks of hoops ignorance.

Just because you can’t see the adjustments doesn’t make me an idiot.  It might be a you problem.

creeksandzeeks wrote:

I'm not in love with CC, but I think he's the absolute best we could hope for in this moment. He understands the business, knows how to operate in DC and keeps us finding ways to stay in the news for moments, and has earned the confidence of the admin to the extent that it seems they're paying up to let him build a competitive squad. He doesn't have the chops to manage a game like ML, hasn't been an ambassador for GW like Jarvis, or recruited (at his peak) like Hobbs, but he's met the moment well enough for me.

After a succession of false starts in wake of Lonergan's departure, I'm not convinced that we could hire any better. I think he's our guy until someone else poaches him.

By the way, wouldn't it be nice to have someone leave GW on their own terms through retirement or another gig? Hasn't happened since Jarvis....

I couldn’t disagree with you more.  I think he’s a great game manager. He makes excellent adjustments and has an eye for detail that our previous two coaches didn’t have. Just listen to his press conferences where he talks in a level of detail about adjustments or things the opponent was doing that we haven’t really heard from a coach before (maybe from Lonergan, but it was different). 

also don’t think the recruiting comparison to Hobbs is fair.  First, the game has changed massively. It’s much harder to recruit at GW now than it was in the early to mid-2000s (though revenue sharing is definitely helping now).   Second, Hobbs was great initially, but a series of failed recruits - the Miles Beattys and Cheyenne Moores and Xavier Alexanders just weren’t good enough.   Third, I personally think CC’s recruiting has been impressive (Castro was a great get, as was Jun initially, and we have quite a heralded transfer class coming in based on current recruiting standards for non-big money leagues.)

I think he’s the exact right guy for us at this challenging moment in college basketball time.

I don’t think it’s been mentioned here yet, but college basketball is moving to a 32 game schedule in 26-27.

Gwmayhem wrote:

I think these rankings are extremely difficult to project.  You have several players who put up nice numbers at lower level schools, transferred to P4 schools only to see their numbers cut, and are now playing in between in the A10.  Two such players are Frank Mitchell (#19..he nearly averaged 12 and 12 as a freshman at Canisius) and Xavier Amos (#50 who had a solid start at Northern Illinois only to underwhelm a bit at Wisconsin.   Who really knows if these guys are worse than lower-level school players who've put up good numbers but have never experienced a higher level of competition.

The few times I saw Xavier Amos I thought he was great and made some plays that really popped off the screen.  He was sort of stuck behind Tonje/Blackwell and didn’t shoot as well as the year, but I think he’s got a ton of potential and is one of the transfers to watch.

Well, as noted earlier in the thread, Florida owes us one for ending the season of their Dorian Finney-Smith team in the NIT. 

Still, can’t help but feel this is like the Hobbs scheduling Philosophy.  Play either the dregs of D1 who drag down your SOS or the most unwinnable big games.  Hopefully I’ll eat those words and we can shock the world!

Edit to clarify that I’m happy with this game. Just wish we also had some LSU or Providence types, who we would be more likely to beat, in addition to this great opportunity.

Gwmayhem wrote:

My facetious take on the possibilities:

Vanderbilt.  Our revenge game for what happened in the NCAA's, only 18 years later.

LSU:  Their payback game for taking James Bishop.  Or does Bishop for Hunter Dean and Bernard Woodside make this a wash?

Florida:  Playing the national champs on a neutral court?  The game must be in Orlando.

Oklahoma:  Joe Bamisile serves as the honorary captain for both teams.

Texas:  After our last loss to them, Texas coach Rick Barnes: :"P.J. Tucker definitely had an impressive night."  GW coach Karl Hobs: "Tucker is without a doubt the surprise player in the country."  God, I loved Hobbs.

Georgia or South Carolina:  We've beaten both at home this century.  We've lost to both on the road this century.  Neutral court decides it.

Tennessee: GW will only play the game at Barclay Center where it defeated the Vols ten years ago.  Rick Barnes wants the rematch in Honolulu where the immediate postgame festivities/fisticuffs eclipsed an 11 point win 25 years ago.

 

Florida: payback for us knocking their Dorian Finney-Smith team out of the NIT.

Kentucky: The Bob Tallent bowl?

The biggest problem with Murray St and McNeeae St being opponents in the MTE, is that we really need quad 1 opportunities on neutral courts (or home, but that’s unlikely). 

Last year, McNeese would have been Quad 2 and Murray St Quad 3.  With McNeese expected to take a step back, there’s a good chance these are both Quad 3 games - so lots of risk, little upside. 

Obviously we need to play the best teams we can, so if this was the best MTE we could get, so be it.  But it’s not exciting and FloHoops doesn’t help.

Thanks for that link.

We do seem to have the most complete roster in the A10 at this point (though other teams aren’t finished yet). 

One thing that’s crazy is that the depth is such high quality that it’s impossible to figure out now who our starting lineup will be.  I doubt the coaches even know. 

Assuming Garrett is full stregnth, do you go with him and Marsall or give us size on the wings?  Him and Bubu to really really spread the floor, without sacrificing length?   

And how does the guard rotation shake out?  That article has Jones (makes sense because his defense is so disruptive at the point of attack) and Aranguren starting (with Bubu and Garrett) - which would mean the shooting of Autry off the bench (could see that) and Dinkins off the bench.  But no way to know how it’ll shake out because Dinkins and Autry are starting caliber players.  Good problems to have. 

One thing I do wish I could get on - would love to bet that a GW player wins 6th man of the year.

Bubu can shoot the rock.  Made 5 threes vs Michigan and scored 21 against SMU.  Shot 38% from deep and has positional size at 6’7”!

Marshall is kind of a stretch 4.  Shot 36% from three his sophomore year. Slumped to 32% last year, but on high volume (43 made).  He also had huge block (4.9%) and steal (3.1%) percentages his sophomore year. 

These seem like exactly the kind of players profiles who seem both realistic and like good fits for us.

Going to be interesting to manage the minutes:

- Castro and Hunger at the 5.

- Garrett J, Marshall, Bubu as big wings/small ball 4s. 

- Dinkins, Aranguren, Autry, Jones as the guards.

Bevins / Moss as depth kind of for either group, plus the 2 freshman who could potentially be good enough for minutes.


Like the roster!

Was the Nebraska guy Ugnius Jarusevicius?  Lithuanian player transferring from Central MI.

Edit: looks like they also signed a F from Air Force.