85-80

Helluva game.  No quit in this team

44 points for Bishop

Caputo´s first career loss as a head coach. Probably the most points ever scored by a GW player in a losing effort.
Not planning a Selection Sunday watch party, but at least this team is entertaining...
 

Ps GW covered

Bishop has got to be one of the most under appreciated GW players ever.

One super small positive is that our KenPom continues to go up, even with the loss, from 212 to 209.  Our defensive metrics are the drag on our ratings.  

Can we get back to being sub-200 for the first time since immediately after the UMD loss last season?

 

Last edited by GW0509 (11/15/2022 8:02 am)

So far, we've hit 80+ in all of our games... so much better than watching the team struggle to hit 60 points game after game the past few years. Hopefully, our team defense will begin to gel soon.

Tough loss on the road, but loved to see the fight in the second half. I thought we had a good gameplan coming in by hedging ball screens but credit Hofstra for finding Boachie-Yiadom who was able to be more productive than he had been so far this season.

The first few minutes of the game were really rough - we were hoisting up isolation shots and credit CC for calming the guys down because it seemed like we were headed for a blowout at first. We took time to figure out how to operate in Hofstra's zone looks but eventually found success passing the ball around. Didn't like the fact that we finished with more turnovers than assists for the game, but probably part of that was simply due to the fact that Bishop was just scoring on his own for much of the game.

As others mentioned, it was really refreshing to see us come out with energy to start the second half. Seeing us begin the half on a 7-0 run felt abnormal given the past several years. Loved CC's decision to switch to zone. I thought that wouldn't be a great decision against the Pride, but we did a good job with the traps and catching them off guard. I believe Estrada only had 10 points in the second half after a superstar performance in the first. He is definitely deserving of CAA player of the year, and honestly I think most A10 teams probably would have struggled to guard Hofstra's offense last night. Despite the lack of size down low, it's very potent.

Have to mention Bishop's performance, which was one for the ages. He single-handedly put the team on his back. I think that was needed after halftime because it didn't really seem like anybody else on the team had it last night. More than just his offense though is his improvement on defense - JB took another charge and overall just looks like so much more of a complete player compared to last year.

There were four possessions that stick out - two missed layups by Max, and those two Hunter turnovers late in the second half - that probably made a big difference in the game. This was always going to be a game where we had to keep up with Hofstra on the scoreboard, and for the most part we did that. Had some of those plays gone the other way we probably come out on top with the W. The Hunter turnovers were unfortunate late. Dean otherwise had a great game (although we certainly need more than just 1 rebound in 30 minutes from him), but I'm not sure who we were trying to get the ball to on those two plays. It appeared that there was nothing but Hofstra jerseys down low on both of the possessions.

We had some issues here and there with recovering after double teaming Estrada which led to some open shots, but I'm actually not too worried about the defense yet. For the most part, I thought we did a good job contesting. Hofstra is a talented shooting team so they made shots even when we closed out on the shooters. Everyone on the floor can pass so the best you can really hope for is that Estrada has given the ball up to someone else.

Nice to see us continue to put up 80+ points a contest, but honestly we haven't faced a good or even average defense yet. The South Carolina game will be the test to see just how good the offense is. Outside of that game and the Hawaii trip, we are facing pretty bad defenses in OOC. There's no doubt though that we have taken steps forward on that end with better passing and decision making.

Ricky will need to take more than 4 shots in order for the team to have success this year. Max was solid and made good decisions when to look for his shot, but had some freshman moments with a frustration foul/a couple bad turnovers. Looks like Brendan's shot is much improved so far. Interesting that all his points came from threes in the first half, and then all his points came from twos in the second. He had a great overall game on both sides of the ball that will likely end up getting overshadowed by Bishop's heroics.

As for the bench, it was nice to see us get 5 minutes out of Amir. I think that's the right amount for him - it was really great to see him have the confidence to launch a three from the corner after Hofstra practically dared him to shoot. Otherwise, we didn't really get much from anyone else. Surprised Qwanzi didn't attempt a single shot in 13 minutes of action. Thought he would have had a bigger impact on this one. EJ put up a 7 trillion in the box score. Noel had a nice defensive play when he blocked a drive to the hoop but again fumbled the ball on offense (I believe Bishop might have bailed him out by recovering the ball and drawing a foul). Overall, I think that 9 man rotation is probably what we should go with the rest of the year outside of any blowouts one way or the other.

One final note about rebounding/luck. I was hoping we were going to outrebound Hofstra, but we lost 30-27 in that category. The times players on Hofstra showed that they were human by missing a shot, they generally got an offensive rebound (10 total last night). Some of that may be our defensive positioning but it feels like so far this year we have had some bad "luck" with certain plays not going our way. We did have a couple of fortunate bounces for once - on one possession the ball bounced to Brendan who calmly knocked down a midrange shot, but for the most part it seems like the ball always bounces the other team's way. This was apparent in the Howard game too where we got stops but somehow the ball always found an opposing player who would make a follow-up shot. Perhaps the rebounding "approach" should change for a jumper happy team like Hofstra, because seemingly every missed shot hit the rim and bounced out to a Hofstra player not even near the basket. It's nice to see us boxing out MUCH better this year, but I also hope our "luck" improves on that front.
 

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

Well, it is the last time folks at Hosftra have to worry about playing the "Colonels". (Maybe Squid can do a "GW Colonels Farewell Tour" t-shirt with the 2022-23 schedule on the back)

This is a good idea! I'll work on it!

Well, I'd be upset about seeing Jamison Battle (currently out with a foot injury) on the other bench if we played Minnesota.
Hofstra is pretty good, well coached and shot out of their mind, but we shouldn't quake at playing them in a normal year. Good news is we showed heart (and real coaching adjustments, a refreshing change) by not
letting their big early lead cause us to collapse.
    James also shot out of his mind and tried to will us to win. Most of the shots were good/not objectionable, particularly as they went in or brought foul calls. It was a remarkable performance.
Yet, his won't happen all the time, so hope he doesn't revert to previous seasons after showing much more maturity in passing and shot selection this year. 
    One bad comeback stretch was highlighted here. There was another one, when the game was tied or close either way in the 50's I think. James just popped a wonderingly long 3-pointer early in the clock that
missed and then Brendan Adams did the same with another long 3 pointer. Wound up being a significant
Hofstra swing.
   You can argue and I probably would agree, that James was willing us to win--and so much in the zone, it was worth a try. And Brendan shot well during the game, too. But for what it's worth, quickly popping two long 3 pointers in a row that missed did spark Hofstra.
   Not concerned about last night and impressed the team showed heart and the coach showed he know how to react. More concerned about reverting to last year's (and even worse, the year before) form in future games.
The new style of actually passing is going to be a lot more significant, especially if we can get the ball to Hunter in position, and have some inside-out threat.

It is all a matter of perspective, as I am likewise not overly impressed with our moral victory against Hofstra.  There were some things that I liked.  We shot  54.7% from the field, 44% from the three and 91.7% from the line (although we only shot 12 free throws for the game.  I also liked our getting back in the game after such a horrible start, as well as some of the defensive adjustments that were made.   Notwithstanding, in no particular order, I was concerned about:
-Our not seeming to be ready to play from the opening tap.  We are a veteran team.   Going down 15-3 after a few minutes and looking like deer in the headlights is inexcusable.  A team expends a lot of energy having to crawl out of a large hole early in the game.
-Our weakness guarding the back door.
-The fact that we had to rely on an insane scoring night from Bishop to stay in the game.
-Ricky Lindo being a non factor on offense. He did have his 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 0 turnovers, but we need more than 2 points in 33 minutes from Ricky.   
-Max Edwards reminding us that he is only playing in his 3rd collegiate game.
-We don't seem to have a defensive stopper...that Pato or Yuta who  you could use to shut down a hot scorer.   I thought Adams ultimately did a decent job, but that was after Estrada had already scored 20.  Cannot let an opponant score 85 points against us.  Our defensive rotations remain slow and we get beat regularly, resulting in just too many open looks for Hofstra.  
-Too many turnovers.   Even though Adams had arguablly his best game at point with 4 assists and zero turnovers, the offense did not look fluid.  Not enough assisted baskets and too many low percentage shots with the clock winding down.  We are desperate for help at the point.  Thank good news is help is on the wany next season.
-Too many second chance points given up to Hofstra.  We were outscored 16-6 on second half points. The last minute of the first half was especially painfull, expecially the 3 they hit at the buzzer on their 2nd or 3rd shot.
-There were too many minutes in which we looked like last year's team on offense, specifically having to resort to "hero ball" rather than running a controlled, set offense. 
-We need more than 1 rebuound in 34 minutes from Dean and Brown.
-In 29 minutes, the bench gave us 3 points, 4 rebounds, 0 assists and 4 fouls.

    Not terribly upset given that this is only the 3rd game (second d-1 game) with a new coach, but I must say I was a bit disappointed with the overall play.  We cannot count on having someone score 44 points in a game fo keep us compettive.  Expect to see much improvement as the season advances.




 

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (11/15/2022 4:48 pm)