The only takeaway from the game is that it doesn't matter who GW plays. The way the game transpires will remain the same lol. Maybe that's why we're 11th in consistency via Haslametrics, which measures how easy it is to predict the outcome of a game a team plays in. 11 points through 10 minutes, then 91 in 30. The latter is honestly very impressive regardless of competition. While I was never worried about how this game was going to go (outside of Dean making floaters Wise didn't do much well) taking a quarter of the game to get going will hurt the team once conference play comes around. This team needs to come out ready to play. GW has played a very weak schedule, but currently leads all A10 teams in steals per game. Hope that can hold up to an extent in A10 play.

I echo what other people say about Nessah. He seems to play the right way and make an impact whenever he's on the floor. The thing with Jacoi is that he was never a consistent shooter in HS (he was a great passer, but I think his shooting scared the high majors off), so I was surprised by his first year shooting performance. Regardless, a down year from 3 shouldn't impact his ability to finish inside. Prior to this game, outside of Dayan (who had limited attempts) Hutch was the only player on the team shooting under 40% from the field overall. At times, he could maybe take an extra step before attempting a layup as he tends to jump a bit early which hurts his balance/finishing ability (maybe just my imagination). Also like LSF's mention of Arrington. Now 2-2 from deep on the season, and halfway to tying Jun's total for the year despite taking 23 fewer shots and appearing in just 3 contests.

Overall, my thoughts now that the OOC slate is complete is that we have the frontcourt to be competitive (Sean will have to hold up defensively and the staff will have to be more creative with how they use Jun) but the guards are not dynamic nor consistent enough (finishing/creating their own shot) to be more than a

UVA-Wise Cavaliers
Date: Sunday December 22nd, 2024
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center (Washington, DC)
TV: ESPN+
Ranks: 182nd/303rd in D2 (Masset), 564th/1000th in NCAA Composite (Massey)
2023-24 Record: 10-18, 6-14 (11th in D2 SAC)
2024-25 Projected Record: 11-18, 8-16 (9th in D2 SAC)

Offensive Power: 146th/303rd in D2, 518th/1000th in NCAA Composite (Massey)
Defensive Power: 233rd/303rd in D2, 687th/1000th in NCAA Composite (Massey)

Strengths (D2 ranks - 2023-24 Season):
Assists Per Game: 17.1 APG (16th)
Three Pointers Per Game: 9.8 3PM (24th)
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 1.38 AST/TO (28th)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: 55.4% (28th)
Three Point Attempts Per Game: 26.3 3PA (31st)
Three Point Percentage: 37.3% (45th)
Field Goal Percentage: 47.4% (51st)
Scoring Offense: 80.1 PPG (65th)
Fastbreak Points: 11.7 PPG (85th)
Free Throw Percentage: 73.9% (89th)

Weaknesses (D2 ranks - 2023-24 Season):
Scoring Margin: -2.7 PPG (205th)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 46% (212th)
Free Throw Attempts Per Game: 17.1 FTA (212th)
Winning Percentage: 35.7% (221st)
Rebounds Per Game: 33.1 RPG (232nd)
Scoring Defense: 82.9 PPG (255th)
Rebound Margin: -5.7 RPG (269th)
Offensive Rebounds Per Game: 7.5 ORPG (271st)

Projected Starting Lineup:
#1 G Bradley Dean (Senior; Gate City, VA) - 7 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1 spg; 37% FG, 38% 3-PT, 86% FT per 19.7 mpg/24 GP at Miami (OH) last season
#2 G Zy'Ever Wingfield ([i]Seni

Seems like the Doug Gottlieb experiment is unsurprisingly not going too well at UWGB. The Phoenix lost to D2 Michigan Tech yesterday. If Anthony Roy wasn't on the team (and he is at that level only because of issues off the court) Green Bay might be winless on the year.

Bethune-Cookman upset South Florida by 8. Bray had 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists for the Wildcats.

Good on Alabama for playing at North Dakota. That's what makes CBB so great. Treysen Eaglestaff just earned himself a big payday for his 40 point performance last night

Oklahoma lucked out in their win over Michigan to stay undefeated as Fears was fouled on a made three in the closing seconds. The Sooners are good, but I'm still not fully buying that they can keep playing at this level the rest of the way.

Georgetown beating Creighton by 24 really surprised me. Sorber is a really good player. I think it may be more of a sign that Creighton is just not very good than Georgetown being good but the Hoyas are certainly improved.

In A10 action, La Salle slipped by FDU by 5. The Explorers have a freshman in Deuce Jones who seems to have had a great year thus far.

Temple edged Davidson by 1. Boy would that be a fun conference matchup in the future (although I know TU is never going to come back). The Owls won on an Elijah Gray bucket. Gray was at Fordham last year. It was also Temple's 2000th program win.

Richmond continues to disappoint, falling to William & Mary by 6 on the road. Neither team could get any stops apparently.

UMass beat Northeastern 77-72. The Minutemen probably could have won by more if they did better at the FT line.

St. Joe's easily defeated American 84-57. Lincoln Ball started, but went 0-6 from the field. The Hawks were without X Brown. GW could not have played worse against AU. Hopefully it's the worst performance of the year for the Revs.

SLU lost to Wofford at home 74-71. Honestly, Wofford is not that bad of a squad but SLU has very much underperformed. They seem to ha

Lafayette Leopards
Date: Wednesday December 18th, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center (Washington, DC)
TV: ESPN+
Ranks: 252nd (KenPom), 283rd (Bart Torvik), 269th (Haslametrics), 258th (EvanMiya), 322nd (Sports Illustrated)
2023-24 Record: 11-21, 10-8 (T-2nd in Patriot)
2024-25 Projected Record: 16-15, 10-8 (T-2nd in Patriot)

Head-to-Head: 1-2. These teams haven't faced each other too often. 45 years passed between the first and second meetings, and another 44 years went by before we faced the Leopards for a third time. The first matchup came back in 1925-26, when Lafayette won 24-22. They also came out on top in 1971, which was part of the Garden State Classic in Trenton. GW finally got on the board in 2015, notching an 85-76 win at the Smith Center.

In that matchup, GW pulled a reverse Caputo. They outscored Lafayette by 22 points, putting up a 50 spot on the Leopards before halftime. The script nearly reversed after halftime. I feel like every time I've recapped the last meeting of an OOC opponent, I say GW shot poorly from 3, and that was the case again for this game. The Buff and Blue went a dismal 2/17 from deep, with Pato accounting for both makes. Ultimately, GW held a significant advantage on the boards (50-32) and assists (13-9). Despite the final score, GW was in the driver's seat going into the final media timeout with an 18 point lead. Unfortunately, they did not make a field goal the rest of the way (the final eight points all came via FTs). The two teams took 14 free throws in the final one minute and two seconds of the game.

Four GW players finished in double figures. KevLar (24 points, 11 rebounds) and TyCav (15 points, 17 rebounds) both posted double doubles. Could Jun and Rafael follow suit tomorrow? Pato (17 points) and Paul Jorgensen (10 points off the bench) also

Some recent performances by former GW players:
- Bray is averaging 16.3 ppg in his last three games for Bethune-Cookman (they faced Minnesota, Virginia, and West Virginia). I only saw a bit of the UVA game. It took the Cavs 32 minutes before they were able to create any separation. I'm sure their fans can't wait to begin a new era where they actually get to see faster paced offense. The ACC isn't very good. It's hard to say whether VT or UVA is worse this year.

- Noel Brown had 16 points and 8 rebounds for the Bonnies in their win against Providence. Kim English still sucks against A10 competition. You never want a player to transfer to a rival but Noel was the one case where the fit seemed so good that I couldn't get too upset. Bona just does a great job with bigs.

- JoeBam had 25 points and 9 rebounds for VCU in a good win over Colorado State. CSU is a bit down this year in the Mountain West, and I wonder if Niko Medved gets a look at the Minnesota this offseason. VCU's offense has struggled at times to put the ball in the basket, so Bamisile being around to give them a bit of juice has been big for them.

As for Max, I find his situation a bit similar to Bray's. On a team at the A10 level, both players are better served as third or fourth options like they were in their first year at GW. Edwards came into last season as the expected #2 option on the team and I think that was just too big of an ask. URI and Duquesne were expecting both players to be primary options which they just aren't if you're expecting decent efficiency. As for the fit, Duquesne plays too slow for Max's style and runs an offense that doesn't make any sense. Their offense looks like a game of pickup basketball. Defensively, I think they are actually okay.

In other news, UAB blew a 27 point lead yesterday and eventually lost to Arkansas State in overtime. ASU is pretty good, but UAB is representative of a really down AAC this year. I think the fact that they finished 7th in our MTE probably

Poog wrote:

I have no problems scheduling a home and home with Army. Iconic institution with Bobby Knight and Coach K in their pedigree. The trip to West Point alone is a worthy destination for the players to absorb and appreciate. College is about learning. Attend an Army-Navy football game or visit one of the academy campuses and it's an experience and memory that lasts a lifetime. I've gotten over the return of ROTC to campus after we kicked them out during my student years. Good on GW and Caputo for this scheduling.

I appreciate this sentiment (as well as the thoughts of others on this), and don't disagree at all with the overall experience of playing at West Point. However, being in a conference like the A10 means that there's not much margin for error in terms of maximizing bids.

Heading into year 4 under CC, GW should start to care about their NET rankings not only for their own postseason aspirations, but also to help the top teams get more quality opportunities. I'm sure we'll have a fair number of Q4 opportunities at home. It's tough to win on the road regardless of opponent, so why potentially tank your NET by risking playing a Q4 game on the road? Without Rucker, it seems unlikely that Army will be Q3 even facing them on the road. At least the AU game snuck into Q3 since AU is top 240 in the NET (I probably should have been more critical of playing at ODU this year in the original post). The fact that American is local also makes it a somewhat different conversation. CC has 13 OOC games to work with. Most will likely be easier games at home. Outside of the MTE, that leaves 2 or maybe 3 chances to somewhat challenge yourself. The home and home is a great opportunity to do so.

If the next wave of realignment makes the A10 a guaranteed one-bid league, then all this becomes moot and who GW plays and where becomes irrelevant.

Gwmayhem wrote:

It's a lot more palatable if it works both ways.  Arrange another home and home with UVA, South Carolina, S

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