Thanks russianthistle. Unfortunately what I said at the end ended up being true:

We should aim for 25 free throws. Duquesne could of course shoot ridiculously well from the field, but if this game ends up being closer than it should be it will likely be because we took too many jump shots that didn't fall instead of getting better shots.

We did hit 25 FTs but it took 3 overtimes to do it (I believe half our attempts came in OT). The Dukes didn't shoot great from the field, but we did not attack the rim despite Williams being out. At least Joe shot his threes more in rhythm today. I know we only took 16 threes but we were still not aggressive. In fact, Duquesne actually did what we were supposed to all game. They got into the paint all game and we had no answer. It reminded me of some of Richmond's guards in the past who we couldn't stay in front of.

Glad the seniors got to finish their careers with a W on the home floor. Shout out to Miles for making that three early on that was nothing but net. He has a nice stroke. Amir actually felt compelled to shoot the ball!

The rest of the game was pretty awful. I'm happy we finally turned it on (a bit) during the overtime periods but it was pretty frustrating to watch the team coast during regulation. The lack of energy was more of the disappointment than the fact we had a chance of losing or the final margin of victory. It was clear GW won because we simply had the better players, but there is no doubt Duquesne played 1,000 times harder than us tonight. Great that we can win despite not playing our best ball, but that's not something we can rely on. The Dukes took us to 3OT despite missing two double figure scorers in Ayers and Williams. I'm not sure if the team was fatigued from the Mason game but you would think after losing two straight games (with the GMU game being a heartbreaking loss) the team would come out with more energy, if not for the seniors.

Thank God for Ricky. Had he not provided energy on his senior day during regulation we might have lost outright before overtime. He was one of the few guys to attack the basket consistently - he actually took zero threes in the game. It also shows how much better we can be if he can just avoid the stupid fouls and stay on the court. While ball movement has been better from OOC season, our general sloppiness turning the ball over looked more like the November version of the team which is not a good thing.

That's not to say other guys did not step up.

Joe made two clutch free throws in the second half, and the team was able to win this one because of their ability to make FTs late tonight (85%). We definitely picked a good day to shoot way above our season average from the line. Joe was great tonight but was fortunate to not get T'd up for doing a pull-up on the rim in triple overtime on a made dunk.

Bishop was a bit quiet early on. I appreciated him trying to get others involved (finding Brayon for three in 2 OT was huge) but he has to get himself going in some capacity for the team to have a chance on most nights. Glad he took some ownership in overtime.

Brayon made a huge three in double overtime to get us even with Duquesne after we dug ourselves into a hole. He maybe didn't have his best game of the season tonight (not bad by any means) but really came up big with some timely buckets.

Brendan wasn't at his best defensively but made some huge FTs to force the third overtime. I feel like he weirdly overshoots his perimeter shots and undershoots shots closer to the rim. I guess the FT line is the "just right" range.

Hunter had some moments, including one time where he attacked the rim and made a hook shot. Given the fact that he's finished pretty reliably when he does attack, it continues to beg the question why he doesn't back his man down more often than he does. He has a good FT stroke as well even though the shots don't always fall. Seemed out of sorts defensively though which was confusing given Williams was out.

Qwanzi got a basket for us but I continue to feel that he's overmatched when in the game. The fact Noel got only one minute in a 3 OT game against a Duquesne team that doesn't exactly have dominating post players does not inspire confidence.

Basically the above points conclude that this team has improved partly because we have more guys who can step up when we need a big play and when others are in a slump. That's great (definitely a step in the right direction) but I'm still waiting for the game where EVERYONE is playing their best ball together at the same time. That hasn't yet happened this year which is why we are prone to putting up points in bunches.

This team's inability to rebound was not exposed nearly as much this game (we outrebounded them by 15 with Williams out) but it certainly did at the end of the first overtime period for me. Bishop makes a three to give us the lead with around 10 seconds left. At that point, it might be too early to foul when up three but I personally would have done it. I'm sure JC looked at the figures and saw Duquesne shoots well from the line and poorly from three so let it just play out. It made me think that this team can probably never take that foul up 3 approach because I don't think you can trust us to come down with the rebound once the second FT is missed. Hindsight is 50/50 but I wish we had at least called a timeout after the Bishop 3 to set up our defense. I believe we had a timeout to spare at that point. A lot of coaches take a timeout off a made shot when the game is close late but I guess JC isn't one of those coaches. We were burned on a tying 3 from Duquesne. The shot wasn't remotely contested, but given our tendency to foul the three point shooter perhaps it could have been worse.

It remains unclear how much we'll have left in the tank against a feisty Fordham squad to close the season in The Bronx but obviously there are seeding implications on the line. This part of the season is all about finding that extra gear as all teams are likely gassed.
 

GW0509 wrote:

Ricky gets the Chain
https://twitter.com/gw_mbb/status/1499226169937469447

Fantastic stuff
What it's all about