GW Men's Hoops » The 5 GOATs of GW basketball » 5/02/2024 5:58 pm |
Everyone here raises good points. I particularly like H&R.71 and xAC posts. Listing only five players does not do justice to the many great players who have been at GW. On any team , I find it hard to leave out Pat Tallent, Chris Monroe, Dirkk Surles, ( a personal favorite of mine), Yuta. Yegor, Plato and Mike Brown. Though Mike Hall has always been a fan favorite, I place him further down the list of great players. It is truly astonishing the many great players who played for GW. Hopefully, more talent will be seen.
GW Men's Hoops » GW beats St. Bonaventure Game !! » 3/06/2024 10:23 pm |
Great defense in the second half made the difference. Noticed how we doubled teamed the center position when the ball was sent into the low post. Excellent work. Kudos to Noel Brown for a good game-8 points ,three rebounds. Mark Schmidt saw something that was missing at GW.
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs Richmond Game » 2/17/2024 3:13 pm |
I was pleased with the effort. I thought Max coming off the bench was smart.We should have done better with Quinn. James was James today. Why was Garrett in scrubs? Clearly, Richmond has more speed, more athleticism and numerous inter changeable parts. They have recruited well. GW has to do better in that department.
GW Men's Hoops » Noel Brown » 2/17/2024 7:29 am |
Agree with Ralphie. Noel is 6’ 11 inches and 260#. How often does GW get a player at this size in addition to be a local? Noel hustled , enthusiastically was supportive of players on the floor and I am told was a positive locker room presence. CC made a mistake. Noel should have played more and would have helped the team this year.. Once Michigan had a football coach who did not play Tom Brady until his senior year.. Coaches make many decisions that are head scratchers. We can only hope for better .
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs George Mason Game » 2/13/2024 9:02 pm |
I thought this was a disgraceful performance by both the players and the coaching staff. GW was unprepared to start the game. Our offense at first consisted of Max chucking a 35 foot shot only to allow Mason to score 3 quick 3 pointers. Bishop was also out of control. We had no plays. No attempt at low post scoring. I believe for the first half we had no offensive rebounds. Max kills the team with his desperate shots. There was no aggressiveness except for A. Smith who had a strong game. Players stood around when rebounds were to be had. We were behind by 27 at the half and Mason was shooting over 60%. This is on the coaching staff. Controlling pace and tempo is foreign to them. A 15 game losing streak to end the season is certainly a possibility.
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs Loyola Chicago Game » 2/10/2024 3:35 pm |
Houston-we have a problem. Obviously , a coaching problem. Each game we seem to be out coached. We have no offensive sets or plan. Out signature play is a 35 foot shot. Other teams work the ball into the low post, look for easy banks against the backboard. GW takes repeated low percentage shots and has to work to catch up. Time and again GW fails to double team a player with the ball in the low post. Does anyone have an explanation ? GW has a 6 point lead with about 5 minutes to go. We do not control tempo, nor take smart shots and repeatedly take our 35 footer to no avail. Our passing is horrible Buchanan starts the game with two bad passes, then walks into a double team ,creating three turnovers in the first 4 minutes. A dagger may soon enter the heart of the program with a potential 8-10 game losing streak. Will we beat Mason on Tuesday and Richmond the following Saturday. I think not. I am sad. All fans should be sad.
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs La Salle Game » 1/27/2024 9:06 pm |
This was a very disappointing game for the program and the fans. Early, in the first half both Buchanan and Edwards took high risk shots allowing LaSalle to climb back in and go ahead. Edwards made no field goals for the game. His long shots and poor passes hurt the team. Caputo needs courage and needs to bench this player. Buchanan has great power and has a game not seen frequently in a GW uniform. Unfortunately, he handles the ball too much, takes many ill advised shots and is an awful passer. Put the ball in the hands of a point guard. GW shot 39% from the field. LaSalle shot 49%. LaSalle shot 52% from the 3 point line. GW needs to play players who guard better, make less turnovers and do not take high risk shots. The offense needs to look like there is a plan. On appearances non seems evident.
GW Men's Hoops » GW beats Maryland-ES Game » 12/31/2023 10:17 am |
Agree with LSF. An excellent analysis. I believe the coaching staff had a weak game. Even after 13 games ,GW struggles to inbound the ball under pressure. Players stand around and often do not to come to the ball. Allowing Hupstead to go from averaging 11 point a game to 27 is not acceptable. Players like to be known as high I.Q players. When James fouled a three point shooter with 60 seconds left ,he lost this designation. I believe Buchanan handles the ball way too much . He left 8 foul shots on the floor, missed two bunnies and fouled a desperation three point shooter with 0ne second left in the first half. With 40 seconds left and GW in the lead ,he makes a steal and promptly heads for the basket instead of bringing it back out and taking time off. Contrast this with Garret Johnson who 10 seconds later received a pass and brought the ball out to milk the clock. GW struggles with tempo. We give up leads too easily. I would like to see more Autry and less Buchanan at the end of each half.
GW Men's Hoops » GW New Moniker Discussion » 5/28/2023 8:17 am |
I too have been disappointed with the name change. Silly and stupid are not intellectual terms to describe some ones actions. But they fit for the administrators involved with this scheme. I particularly like Merrik’s comments -the 3rd and 4th paragraph stating that over the years we have not heard complaints about the Colonial name This was the gist of the letter that I wrote to President Wrighton. I voiced my displeasure. I wondered if a group of Duke University students approached their administrators with the concern that “Blue Devils” represented evil doings and this must be changed. Surely, they would be shown the door and dismissed out right. 500 hundred students were behind this movement. The days of great administrators like Bob Chernak are long gone. With six months to go until the first basketball game. As the teams approach half court for the opening tip off, I will standing and yell with all my might “Lets go Colonials” Please join me.
GW Men's Hoops » Noel Brown » 4/21/2023 8:12 am |
I was disappointed that Noel choose to leave. I thought he was a good teammate. He displayed good body vibes on the bench, was one of the first to congradulate a good play or player. Unlike others , I thought he had skills. He hustled, ran the court and gave maximum effort. Think of how many players GW has had that are 6’11 tall and 260 lbs. I can only think of two-Mike Brown and Alexander Koul. With Hunter Dean leaving the center position was his. I can only think that there must have been a coaching issue that lead Noel to leave. Mark Schmidt at St Bonnie is no fool. He saw something in Noel that the GW staff may have missed. I again am perplexed that a student who lives in Oakton would want to be in Olean N.Y. I wish Noel well. I believe he will blossom in a new environment.
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs LaSalle Game Thread » 2/25/2023 9:29 pm |
All GW wins are good. But ,I am very frustrated by this game. All young coaches improve with time and experience. Notice the numerous plays being run on out of bounds plays. Clearly, these were instituted to correct a weakness the team had earlier in the year. Tonight, Our offense was clicking. Bishop and Adams are very talented. Dean has come along way. But it is obvious, that our coach is not teaching tempo control, clock management and how to end out a game with a lead. Bone head plays were the norm with minutes left in the game. Max may be A-10 rookie of the year but he wore a dunce cap tonight. Forcing shots instead of taking time off the clock is not the hallmark of smart play. I look for Caputo to next work on this.
GW Men's Hoops » Solving The Attendance Problem » 2/11/2023 9:11 am |
All good points. But, I believe the central issue is that the team persists in a “failure to disappoint mode” Last year losing so badly to Mason and Umass put a dagger in the hearts of Alums who travelled to the games. This year having a three game losing streak to Fordham, Duquesne and LaSalle caused great disappointment. With a 5-2 start in the league, with wins against South Carolina and Dayton, did anyone expect this three game losing streak? Again “disappointment” seems to follow the team and their fans.Additionally, during games, a less than thought out fan strategy exists. I am in strong favor of providing pizza and snacks to the students. But, whoever decided to bring these to the blue seats and members of the Colonials Club is not very bright. Spend resources and gifts on the students. Old farts like me do not need pizza after eating in the cLub. I like the ides of giving points to students who attend consecutive games. Reach a point level, pick a lottery number for iPads or a flight to Miami during spring break. The management needs to be creative and efficient. No more having a repair man with a cast on his hand taking 20 minutes to repair a basketball net.
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs Duquesne Game Thread » 2/04/2023 5:10 pm |
This could have been a great day. Clear skies, cold weather, great chilli in the Colonials Club and the return of many GW hero’s of the last 30 years. Coach Jarvis putting together his “sweet 16” team. Even giving Dirkk Surles some grief as he always did and it was nice to see the comraderie. Dirkk was one of my all time favorites. GW started the game with a lazy pass from Adams leading to a steal. Bishop is a great offensive threat but why does he miss free throws early in many games. Speed kills a famous sports cliche. Duquesne handcuffed our guards and made them impotent in the basketball sense. For GW, 18 turnovers, 64% foul shooting, 17 three pointers by the opponent. Clearly, not a formula for competing and winning.
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs Dayton Game Thread » 1/21/2023 6:05 pm |
Overheard two families new to GW talk about how much fun they had at the game. They praised the coach and looked forward to more games. Our next milestone will be when souvenir shops only carry GW gear, hats and T-Shirts. Is a GW fan allowed to smile this much?
GW Men's Hoops » What Went Wrong With JC? » 5/09/2022 7:15 pm |
I believe the downfall of JC as head coach was the simple fact that under his direction the program locally became irrelevant. Not once in the past year did The Washington Post contain an article highlighting the team. Once the Post covered the Mason vs GW game but the article centered on Mason. Attendance was down , fan enthusiasm had all but disappeared. JC held the record of the GW coach who lost most often to Fordham . Not a record one would want. The last three games were the nails in the coffin so to speak. Losing to Mason after a 10 point lead, another loss to Fordham and defensively unprepared to challenge Umass. JC teams never failed to disappoint. The loss of quality players i.e Battle, Jameer Nelson and Maceo Jack really hurt, the team and his image. I believe GW is in a better place right now.
GW Men's Hoops » GW HIRES CAPUTO » 4/01/2022 7:15 pm |
I strongly support this hire. I like his time spent with Larranaga, his ties to the DMV and his hair challenged scalp. The last time GW had a coach with a shiny scalp ,we did well with Mike Jarvis. Perhaps the team will learn how to inbound the ball, control pace and tempo, double up on “Bigs” who are stronger than our players and be able to make sound half time adjustments as they are called for.So much was missing from team play these past three years. I look for significant changes.
GW Men's Hoops » Richmond Beats Iowa!! » 3/17/2022 6:41 pm |
Richmond has been a giant killer in a previous NCAA. Can anyone believe that GW could have duplicated this great win. The Spiders controll pace and tempo. Kudos to them. Hopefully, our next coach will copy this style.
GW Men's Hoops » Jamion Christian is out at George Washington, sources told ESPN. » 3/14/2022 7:36 pm |
My take is that a JC coached team rarely got to disappoint. ML teams frequently beat good teams. I can not recall JC upsetting one much better team. At the second George Mason game, alumni packed the pre-game restaurant with a strong buzz. All GW had to do was stop one big man and keep the game close. As usual, there was a dearth of coaching and disappointment followed. Following, a loss to Fordham and Umass was the nail in the coffin. If JC remained the coach, I had planned not to renew my tickets next year. A string of 56 years would be broken.JC has a good heart, as witnessed by playing seniors in the last home game. I was always saddened by the number of players that left the program. Many are now playing on teams as part of the NCAA. The fact that the Washington Post never printed a lead article about GW Basketball shows how little respect the program had garnered. The future will be brighter.
GW Men's Hoops » Richmond To the Dance! » 3/13/2022 4:19 pm |
Agree with LSF. Winning basketball is played with pace and tempo. Both teams held leads. Neither team took 40 foot three pointers while nursing the lead. In contrast, to GW play. Both teams took the ball inbounds with set plays. After watching GW put the excitement into the inbounds play, I did not know this was possible. GW is years away , and one new coach from competing with either Davidson or Richmond.
GW Men's Hoops » GW vs Davidson Game Thread » 2/06/2022 9:23 am |
Great reviews by DMVpirahna and Free Quebec. I have been a staunch critic of JC in the past. Against Davidson, there was good defensive coaching that kept us in the game as outlined by the other two posters. That being said, I can not understand why opposing teams frequently seem to have a player who scores his career high against GW on a regular basis. Davidson made adjustments at half time . GW failed to do so. When you are getting abused down low many coaches would switch to a 2-3 zone. Syracuse has used this defense since 1996 on a regular basis. JC can only dream of the success that Jim Boeheim has achieved. A variation of this would the triangle and two-keeping man pressure on two guards. Certainly, the team has to practice these defenses. Good coaches follow the Boy Scout motto “Be prepared”