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GW Men's Hoops » GW beats St. Bonaventure Game !! » 3/07/2024 2:23 am

Ralphie
Replies: 71

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For me a big key to winning this game was the double teaming of the Bonnies bigs when they got the ball down low.   Only wonder why we didn't do this much earlier in the losing streak when opposing Big Men were just leaning into Stretch one-on-one and calmly flipping in 2-3 footers with impunity.  Simply helping out Stretch with a double team when he got in trouble on D down low would have made a huge difference in our season.  

GW Men's Hoops » Noel Brown » 2/17/2024 6:04 pm

Ralphie
Replies: 40

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Today was another prime example of the results of our lack-of-an-effective-big-man situation.   Didn't matter whether on offense or defense, Stretch just wasn't up to it, not even close.   Could we have won a game like today's with Noel at center ?   

GW Men's Hoops » Noel Brown » 2/16/2024 10:34 pm

Ralphie
Replies: 40

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Anybody else notice that Noel Brown had 18 points and hit 80% of his shots in a Bonnie win over Fordham earlier this week ?    He's only averaging 6 ppg in about 14 minutes per game, but there's certainly no doubt we could have used him this year.   In fact, before he entered the portal, I was pretty excited at the prospect that he'd be a starter and finally get some minutes this year.   Always felt CC had less patience with Noel than any other rotation player.   Obviously losing our two big men to the portal is a big reason we are where we are today.   Any insights out there as to why Noel went to the portal ?   I suspect he felt/knew that CC had more or less written him off and that he wouldn't be given a chance to compete for minutes at center.

GW Men's Hoops » PA volume at games » 1/29/2024 1:45 am

Ralphie
Replies: 6

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It's not so much the volume, but rather the very poor quality of the audio that bothers me.   So much static and interference.   Let's invest in a higher quality set up that might allow one to actually comprehend the announcements, introductions, etc.   Reminds me of listening to the speaker on an old $19.99 turntable back in the day.

GW Men's Hoops » Solving The Attendance Problem » 1/09/2024 2:21 am

Ralphie
Replies: 94

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As a 50+ year alum, observer, and fan I believe our lack of a tradition of consistent winning is, of course, problem #1.  Students will always be fickle.   They want to be associated with a winner. Period.   They don't even have to be sports fans.  A highly publicized winning team year in and year out will do.  Do we still have a Sports Information Director position at GW ?   If so, what do they do ?  Ditto for an Athletic Programs marketing dept.   The SID used to be the one responsible for making sure the local Media was aware of our team and was provided with regular story lines, articles, game summaries, human interest angles, etc.   I remember when the Jarvis teams were a fixture on NATIONAL television coverage on Selection Day as a regular NCAA Tournament bubble team.   Our foreign players, Jarvis's personal charisma, an occasional Red Auerbach sighting/angle, and, yes, good winning teams had us on the way to some decent levels of recogntion and success across the board.  Pops and the 2006 squad provided a short-lived puff of success, as did the Lonergan NIT team - but all evaporated VERY quickly - no consistency.   For our Athletic Dept. to accept that we get no reasonable sports media coverage as the largest University in the city and the city's second largest employer behind the U.S. Government is embarrassing and ludicrous.  James Madison has now joined the list of "local" schools that are covered in more depth by the Washington DC sports media outlets than GW.   Do students have to pay anything to attend games ?  I recall that every time fraternities and sororities are recognized at half time for some achievement, the student attendance at least doubles - sometimes triples.   Who's marketing directly to the Greeks ?  I don't know the "rules" for membership in George's Army, but I'd lay a bet that the vast majority of the student body thinks it's "lame" to be a member - as most any teen-ager would.   How can we make it "cool" to

GW Men's Hoops » GW beats VCU Game! » 1/08/2024 1:37 am

Ralphie
Replies: 77

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This marvelous victory was a perfect example of JBIV taking over at crunch time and using his clearly superior offensive skills - quite likely unmatched in the A-10 - to win us a ballgame.   Look forward to more of the same.   Big kudos to CC for bringing him along from where he was during his first two years here (night) to where he is now (day).   He's even improved remarkably at his D - although we won't be seeing him on any All-Defensive squads.    He just carries himself so much better, and seems to enjoy the game more - not to mention better understanding of his role as both a team leader and an individual offensive force when need be.

GW Men's Hoops » GW vs Fordham Game » 1/02/2024 8:35 pm

Ralphie
Replies: 88

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In anticipation of the Fordham game and the start of the A-10 season, I will offer what have been my strongest impressions from our mixed blessing 11-2 OOC start; 1) The time has come for JBIV to once again assume his rightful role as the best offensive player on this team, i.e., option number one when we need a score.   He has spent the bulk of the OOC trying hard to become more of a distributor, ball-handler, and "true" team-first kind of point guard.   I commend his efforts, and they can work out OK against the Alcorns and UMES's of the world, but either he or CC (preferably both) has to realize quickly that the time has come to turn it up a notch or two.   We are going to need around 20-25 a night from JBIV from here on in. 2)  JBIV's play in the OOC should have presented the perfect opportunity for Max to emerge as a serious offensive threat ready to take that next logical step towards becoming a consistent 15-20 a night guy.   It didn't happen.   Not even close.   In fact, I see some regression here.   The attitude/demeanor do seem somehow off.   Let's hope it truly is just temporary - maybe a health concern.   Whatever is going on has now persisted for 5-6 games in a row, and must be viewed with some concern.   I just don't recall Max having gone through a stretch like this last year.   In fact, I gave him very high marks for consistently inspired and spirited play before this recent stretch.   I believe these two guys are the keys to our success (if any) in Conference play.

GW Men's Hoops » GW beats Bowie St Game » 12/15/2023 2:37 am

Ralphie
Replies: 52

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I'll beat the long dead horse I've been beating for several decades now - The lack of any meaningful, regular coverage in the local media, primarily TV, radio, and newspapers, is a major reason for poor attendance.   Someone always points out that "nobody reads the papers or watches TV anymore" by way of debunking this argument.    I remain convinced that many sports fans in the DMV (and, yes, even some alums) may not be aware that GW has a basketball team.   After all, it's never mentioned in local media, and wouldn't it be if they had a team ?   It is the biggest University in the city, isn't it ?  The recent POST piece on Garrett Johnson was terrific, but it was an outlier that only tended to prove my point.   The emphasis of the story was on a local kid from Episcopal High with a great human interest back story.   I suppose they did mention that he played for GW now..........I think.

GW Men's Hoops » The First 11 Games » 12/12/2023 3:19 am

Ralphie
Replies: 3

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I'm astounded by the #2 in the nation stat for defensive rebounds and would want to double check your source before taking it to the bank.   On the other hand, not at all surprised at the blocked shots stat given Stretch's rather incredible performance of late.

GW Men's Hoops » Other Games Thread » 11/20/2023 7:11 pm

Ralphie
Replies: 257

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Is it now safe to assume that Big John's influence at GTown has finally faded to the point where somebody might be able to bring that DMV area Holiday Tournament/Round Robin idea to fruition ?   The local rivalries/bragging rights involved would undoubtedly add tremendously to the excitement - and the box office - for OOC games.   Not only do you save travel expenses and time away from class, the games would do a lot to hype our area and our programs.   By golly, I'll bet the POST might even deign to cover the games (GTown will be the next to lose local coverage if it continues on its glidepath).    Plus, for the first time in many years, Maryland and GTown no longer are so clearly superior to GW, American, Mason, or Howard.   The BIG SIX in the Capital Classic - a dream come true for any real basketball fan in the area.

GW Men's Hoops » 2022-23 Post-Mortem » 3/11/2023 3:03 am

Ralphie
Replies: 13

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All in all, a positive year.   No one regressed - everyone seemed to improve.   For me, the nadir was the Hawaii tournament.   We finished dead last to a rather motley collection of mostly low mid-major West Coast flotsam.   This should really help our SOCAL recruiting, eh ?   Ouch !  I was frankly hoping we'd blow through the Tournament looking good and inspiring a boost to our West Coast reputation as a tough, gritty East Coast option with a good looking uniform and some interesting all-around cachet (academics, international players, Red Auerbach, Jarvis years, short walk to the White House, etc.).   Loved the Dayton and Mason wins, and a winning Conference record was the biggest of surprises.   I actually felt we could/might win every game after Dayton.   I'll admit it -  for the previous 2-3 years it was a rarity for me to watch an entire TV game that we lost, and my attendance at the Smitty had dropped precipitously.   Too painfully predictable and sad.    Not so this year as we at least always kept competing.    Gotta give our new Coach a ton of credit for the turnaround.   There was real evidence of halftime adjustments and mixing up schemes and trying to figure out how to rebound and get some stops once in a while, etc.     Big change from the last few post-ML years.   For the first time in a good while, I'm looking forward to next season with some degree of excitement.

GW Men's Hoops » The 2023 A10 Tourney » 3/08/2023 5:27 pm

Ralphie
Replies: 106

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Let's paste a big smile on Mentz's mug by destroying the Hawk this afternoon !   As an often cynical fan of 50+ years standing I certainly know and can appreciate from where he comes.....Truth is, we need to fight that Blue Fog, not use it as a name.

GW Men's Hoops » Greatest Men’s College Players of all time » 3/08/2023 4:58 pm

Ralphie
Replies: 3

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Joe has to be in the top 25 simply based on the clear superiority of his statistical accomplishments in comparison to the others.   Ranking him #56 is akin to ranking Pete Maravich as the #56 all-time collegiate SG or PG, take your pick.   Where did he rank Pete ?

GW Men's Hoops » Oh poop » 3/04/2023 2:28 am

Ralphie
Replies: 15

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Here's hoping JBIV decides to pass on European money, since that could very well mean another year at GW.   Agree it very unlikely he goes to another school, and he might decide to try and improve his NBA chances by sticking around and working hard on his defense and ball handling.   While I hope Dean comes back, my candidate for most improved player next year would be Noel.   Just a hunch............

GW Men's Hoops » GW vs VCU Game Thread » 3/03/2023 2:06 am

Ralphie
Replies: 101

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I believe this team really does feed off of an enthusiastic crowd.   If we can come reasonably close to filling up the Smitty on Saturday, we'll win.   VCU will help us to fill the place as they'll contribute several hundred to the crowd.   I just hope their contingent doesn't drown ours out........

GW Men's Hoops » The 2023 A10 Tourney » 3/02/2023 3:04 am

Ralphie
Replies: 106

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I'm not sure I agree with the oft-heard casual assertion about the A-10 being weak this year, and destined for a single rep in the Tournament.   The fact that some erstwhile A-10 recent bottom feeders have had reasonably good years (Fordham, Duquesne, LaSalle, even GW) has, I believe, lifted the competitiveness level of the entire League by a significant margin.   It always seemed like there were at least 4-5 fairly easy pushovers in the League - not this year.   What we lacked in overall quality by having a truly runaway top team(s) (the usual Dayton,VCU,SLU roles....) has been MORE than made up for by the improvement at the bottom in my view.    While we may only get one NCAA Tournament rep (I think we get 2 with VCU already in), that does NOT mean our League is weak.

GW Men's Hoops » GW vs Davidson Game Thread » 3/02/2023 2:29 am

Ralphie
Replies: 69

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Perhaps now everyone understands what I meant when I said about 6 games ago that JBIV had to be told that, on occasion, he MUST take on the responsibility of providing the offensive spark and carry this team to a needed victory.   I never meant that he needed to revert to his disastrous one man team act of 3 years ago.   What I meant was what he's done for the last few games.   He's the only guy we got that can create offense ALL BY HIMSELF if/when need be.    This does not denigrate the roles of his excellent teammates.   I suspect CC, the king of the halftime adjustment, has indeed had such a quiet talk with him.   To me, he's clearly accepted the role, and is inspired by it !   He is the A-10 POY, and it shouldn't be a hard call for anyone who has watched his maturation into a true team leader this year.

GW Men's Hoops » GW New Moniker Discussion » 3/01/2023 2:53 am

Ralphie
Replies: 729

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The list of 10 proposed names for our teams is so bad that I now favor just calling us the Buff n' Blue.   If we can't be the Colonials, why not the Presidents, Federals, or even the Generals (no current students, or darn near anyone else born after 1980 remembers the Harlem Globetrotters, much less their opposition) ?   Monuments has a chance only because our logo for Basketball especially would look so powerful (NOT with the -al on the end).   A Sentinal strikes me as representing something akin to a security guard on his post (E-3 checking ID's at front gate to Ft. Myer?) and NOT befitting George at all.  Can we just write off the money wasted on know-nothing consultants - not one of whom had probably ever even heard of GWU before being assigned the task of providing a suitable moniker - and start all over to try and get this right ?   Please...........

Recruits » Recruit: Patrick Ngongba II, Forward, 2024 - (Committed to Duke) » 2/28/2023 2:08 am

Ralphie
Replies: 18

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Does anyone know where we stand with Patrick Ngongba Jr ?   His Paul VI squad might be the nation's best, and I feel that with his impeccable bloodlines and GW connections that he should be getting super-max attention as the highest possible priority recruit.   I've always felt his dad was vastly underrated during his career at GW, and merited being a starter as an upperclassman given his talents.   His mom was simply the best ever at GW.   Do we have a chance ?

GW Men's Hoops » Early Vote For Coach of the Year » 2/24/2023 3:14 am

Ralphie
Replies: 4

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Sad that CC's outstanding work in really turning our program around through player development despite having to deal with a serious lack of manpower, scant student/fan support, etc., will only place him 4th in Coach of the Year voting in the A-10 - at best and deservedly so for this particular year.   My vote as a GW-centric would go to Dambrot, with Urgo and Dunphy close behind.   How's about next year for CC's hardware ?

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