Here's hoping we get back to the Lonergan tradition of playing well against really solid OOC competition (not to mention winning this very tournament).

An event that will neither take place at a junior high gym nor a hotel ballroom? Is something wrong? (personally, I was expecting something held at mall food court or abandoned airport terminal...)

Joel Joseph wrote:

"all of these teams are top 150 or so"
In what rankings are we top 150?
 

I have to agree with this!! This appears to be an underwhelming group of teams(especially if Pitino takes the Maryland or Georgetown job!! LOL), I recall a much stronger group of teams when GW won this tournament in 2014 or 2015. 

Thomas wrote:

Joel Joseph wrote:

"all of these teams are top 150 or so"
In what rankings are we top 150?
 

I have to agree with this!! This appears to be an underwhelming group of teams(especially if Pitino takes the Maryland or Georgetown job!! LOL), I recall a much stronger group of teams when GW won this tournament in 2014 or 2015. 

Our first game was against 232 KenPom Ohio. Then 92 KenPom Colorado. Championship was against 13 KenPom Wichita State.

Other contestants included KenPom 150 DePaul, 271 LMU, 121 Nebraska, and 127 Hawaii.

Wichita State was definitely the marquee. They were ranked No.11 at the time. Big Q1 win that really helped our NIT resume.

Last edited by GW0509 (3/09/2022 5:32 am)

@roccomiller8
VMI and Radford will start a home-and-home series next season. The date is set for December 10th in Lexington, VA.

Also, Radford will host George Washington in a return game as part of it's 22-23 non-conference schedule.

Two years ago, I would have said...at Radford?  No big deal.  It's not like we're playing this postseason.

One year ago, I would have said...at Radford?  Probably not a big deal but should GW have a much better than anticipated season, I hope a game like that doesn't end up biting us (GW) in the ass.

Today, I say...at Radford?  Let's hope we're able to recruit enough players to field a team.

Missouri Colonial wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

Two years ago, I would have said...at Radford?  No big deal.  It's not like we're playing this postseason.

One year ago, I would have said...at Radford?  Probably not a big deal but should GW have a much better than anticipated season, I hope a game like that doesn't end up biting us (GW) in the ass.

Today, I say...at Radford?  Let's hope we're able to recruit enough players to field a team.

I disagree with you. Can y'all let Caputo do his job without constant scrutiny? We went 12-18 last year, why are you expecting only top quality opponents? Why should teams want to play us? Let the man recruit without picking the first guy from the portal he likes.

The Radford home-and-home series was announced prior to last season when JC was still coach (next season is the return game at their place) and is unrelated to Caputo or recruiting. While GW is unlikely to get heavy hitters on the schedule given our run of mediocrity, a home-and-home series against a Big South team that was guaranteed to finish towards the bottom of their conference (they hired a new head coach last season) made no sense at the time for GW and still makes no sense today.

I'm going to be honest, I'm surprised we're going through with the return Radford game. We got out of the return game against Valparaiso a few years back, and South Carolina never came to the Smith Center after we played them at their place (in a deal where we play two games at their place and they play one at ours). I guess it's good that we're finishing what we promised.

A home-and-home against a C-USA/CAA team would have made more sense. I would go as far as to say we were better off just playing a MEAC team at home both seasons. The Radford series doesn't strike me as a move done so a player could play in front of his family either. Bamisile (when he was still on the team) is from Chesterfield, but that's closer to DC than it is to Radford. I could have maybe seen it as okay if we faced the Mike Jones-coached teams prior to him leaving for UNC Greensboro.

It definitely feels like a panic move because teams were scared of the guys we were bringing in last season. We had difficulty putting together a full schedule. Two seasons ago, we were slated to face off against Tennessee and Virginia Tech. COVID canceled both games but when we tried to reschedule last season they refused to face us after we added Adams, Bamisile, and Lee in the offseason. We weren't expected to be good so we weren't going to help a team's resume, but we weren't bad enough to be an easy win for good teams either.
 

dmvpiranha wrote:

Missouri Colonial wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

Two years ago, I would have said...at Radford?  No big deal.  It's not like we're playing this postseason.

One year ago, I would have said...at Radford?  Probably not a big deal but should GW have a much better than anticipated season, I hope a game like that doesn't end up biting us (GW) in the ass.

Today, I say...at Radford?  Let's hope we're able to recruit enough players to field a team.

I disagree with you. Can y'all let Caputo do his job without constant scrutiny? We went 12-18 last year, why are you expecting only top quality opponents? Why should teams want to play us? Let the man recruit without picking the first guy from the portal he likes.

The Radford home-and-home series was announced prior to last season when JC was still coach (next season is the return game at their place) and is unrelated to Caputo or recruiting. While GW is unlikely to get heavy hitters on the schedule given our run of mediocrity, a home-and-home series against a Big South team that was guaranteed to finish towards the bottom of their conference (they hired a new head coach last season) made no sense at the time for GW and still makes no sense today.

I'm going to be honest, I'm surprised we're going through with the return Radford game. We got out of the return game against Valparaiso a few years back, and South Carolina never came to the Smith Center after we played them at their place (in a deal where we play two games at their place and they play one at ours). I guess it's good that we're finishing what we promised.

A home-and-home against a C-USA/CAA team would have made more sense. I would go as far as to say we were better off just playing a MEAC team at home both seasons. The Radford series doesn't strike me as a move done so a player could play in front of his family either. Bamisile (when he was still on the team) is from Chesterfield, but that's closer to DC than it is to Radford. I could have maybe seen it as okay if we faced the Mike Jones-coached teams prior to him leaving for UNC Greensboro.

It definitely feels like a panic move because teams were scared of the guys we were bringing in last season. We had difficulty putting together a full schedule. Two seasons ago, we were slated to face off against Tennessee and Virginia Tech. COVID canceled both games but when we tried to reschedule last season they refused to face us after we added Adams, Bamisile, and Lee in the offseason. We weren't expected to be good so we weren't going to help a team's resume, but we weren't bad enough to be an easy win for good teams either.
 

We struggled with our mediocre OOC last season. GW basketball is in a different state then it was 2 years ago. New coach, new players, new recruits. Caputo will build a schedule he seems fit for a 200+ kenpom rated team. Early wins create confidence. Everyone is freaking out about Radford meanwhile our Hawaii tournament is filled with below 100 on kenpom.i heard we need to play nc state back soon hopefully we get them also.

Missouri Colonial wrote:

dmvpiranha wrote:

Missouri Colonial wrote:

I disagree with you. Can y'all let Caputo do his job without constant scrutiny? We went 12-18 last year, why are you expecting only top quality opponents? Why should teams want to play us? Let the man recruit without picking the first guy from the portal he likes.

The Radford home-and-home series was announced prior to last season when JC was still coach (next season is the return game at their place) and is unrelated to Caputo or recruiting. While GW is unlikely to get heavy hitters on the schedule given our run of mediocrity, a home-and-home series against a Big South team that was guaranteed to finish towards the bottom of their conference (they hired a new head coach last season) made no sense at the time for GW and still makes no sense today.

I'm going to be honest, I'm surprised we're going through with the return Radford game. We got out of the return game against Valparaiso a few years back, and South Carolina never came to the Smith Center after we played them at their place (in a deal where we play two games at their place and they play one at ours). I guess it's good that we're finishing what we promised.

A home-and-home against a C-USA/CAA team would have made more sense. I would go as far as to say we were better off just playing a MEAC team at home both seasons. The Radford series doesn't strike me as a move done so a player could play in front of his family either. Bamisile (when he was still on the team) is from Chesterfield, but that's closer to DC than it is to Radford. I could have maybe seen it as okay if we faced the Mike Jones-coached teams prior to him leaving for UNC Greensboro.

It definitely feels like a panic move because teams were scared of the guys we were bringing in last season. We had difficulty putting together a full schedule. Two seasons ago, we were slated to face off against Tennessee and Virginia Tech. COVID canceled both games but when we tried to reschedule last season they refused to face us after we added Adams, Bamisile, and Lee in the offseason. We weren't expected to be good so we weren't going to help a team's resume, but we weren't bad enough to be an easy win for good teams either.
 

We struggled with our mediocre OOC last season. GW basketball is in a different state then it was 2 years ago. New coach, new players, new recruits. Caputo will build a schedule he seems fit for a 200+ kenpom rated team. Early wins create confidence. Everyone is freaking out about Radford meanwhile our Hawaii tournament is filled with below 100 on kenpom.i heard we need to play nc state back soon hopefully we get them also.

I think you misunderstood my point. The fact that we struggled OOC last season is a separate discussion - there was a lot of unnecessary traveling last season (we were traveling all over the place last year OOC when we could have got in a game or two at home against a local opponent like American or Howard - traveling to both California and Florida was too adventurous), the team had very little continuity with the number of offseason additions, etc. Like you said, we have a totally new coach this year. I'm not making an argument that we should play an easy schedule or a tough schedule OOC next year either, although obviously somewhat of a balance would be good.

I just think that playing Radford specifically at their place is a high-risk, low-reward situation. That's all. It's not a game that Caputo put on the schedule so he didn't have much say in the matter and I don't blame him. I agree easy wins create confidence, but if so why not play these games at home? Radford is a Q4 game whether it's played at home or on the road, so we don't really get anything out of it. No matter how bad GW is, this isn't a game we should be playing on the road. Fordham played Maine on the road a few years ago, and they ended up losing that contest. I think we all hope to come out on top of the Radford game, but a potential loss there is bad for the league. Whether we expect to be good or bad next year, you should schedule so that bad losses are avoided as much as possible (I fully expect an unfortunate loss or two at home next season OOC). The chances of that just grow that much more on the road.