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.  

https://gwradio.com/mens-basketball-finally-wins-86-75-over-st-bonaventure/

Very refreshing to see this team finally win and I'm glad they were able to stop the streak, especially considering it was senior night. I've seen them doubling big men throughout conference play but they've continually gotten burned by bad help defense and good passing from opposing post players. The difference tonight is they made Venning (and Noel, who we know isn't much of a passer) uncomfortable and forced them into bad passes, especially to open the 2nd half.

Just very happy to see MBB win yesterday given the circumstances. It's been hard to say a lot of positive things in the past month and a half, and I prefer to focus on the good things whenever possible. One thing I never questioned despite the losses was whether the team had given up. The limitations have been obvious, but the will to win was always there.

Not only did JB go out with a win, but he had a very efficient shooting night as well. His third game in the last six where he made at least five threes. The dunk was awesome as well. Seeing him sub out for the final time made me very emotional. Congrats to him on a great career at GW and I'm looking forward to following his professional career!

I'm not sure what was figured out coming into the game when it comes to moving the ball, but the team almost matched their usual average in assists per game by halftime. I didn't expect GW to finish with more assists than the other team the rest of the year, but we got that last night - 19 assists to just 11 for Bona and they outrebounded them by 9! It was also nice for once to see the refs give us calls at home and not the other way around (that deflection out of bounds with just under 8 minutes to go I believe was definitely off GW and not Bona). Making 15 threes helps, but better quality shots improve the likelihood of makes. There were few one-on-many isolation possessions from JB or Jun. Despite it being JB's night, he was still looking to make the pass to a teammate first. It felt like there could have been maybe better quality shots at times in the first 20 (even the shots that went in were a bit too deep) but the team really took good shots after halftime. Case in point: JB took just two shots from deep after halftime compared to seven before. One of the reasons he came back this year was to prove he could be more consistent from behind the arc. Despite all the challenges this year, I think he's done that. However, it's never been what's made his offensive game special. I would have loved to see his patented midrange one last time but that's a nitpick in what was otherwise a well played game by him.

Neither Venning nor Noel is close to Neal Quinn when it comes to passing the ball out of the post so the defensive game plan was really well thought out to double them going in. I also thought Bona looked somewhat banged up/not playing with a lot of effort which surprised me given they had seeding to play for. I guess they expected GW to roll over given the losing streak. Still, it was great to see the consecutive turnovers forced leading to fast break makes. It reminded me of the first half sequence against VCU. CC has slowed things down over the past few weeks to give the team a better chance to win with all the limitations, but it's been the inability to get stops and get out in transition which has prevented the team from truly flourishing when playing a fast tempo. Yesterday, the team finally secured the rebounds needed to end a possession defensively - Bona had just four offensive boards.

It was also nice to see Stretch and Antoine have some moments as well. Despite the technical (I get the emotions of the game, but not sure why Akingbola protested the call - he clearly bumped the Bona player and he should have vented his frustration looking in the air as opposed to the ref) it was great watching Stretch block three shots in crucial moments. He also showed a lot more effort closing out along the perimeter.

Smith has struggled from three in recent games but he was responsible for coming up with the steal and finding Jun that tied the game at 46 in the second half. He's like JB in that he has some limitations defensively but the effort on that end was definitely there last night.

While the team continued to lose, Jacoi has been consistently producing at a high level. I knew what he could do defensively and as a passer coming in as a freshman, but I'd be lying if I said I expected him to produce so consistently on offense as a shooter/scorer. Garrett played a few games injured, but Coi is leading the team in three point percentage. I never would have guessed that coming into the year. Anyways, he's a stud and I hope he stays at GW his whole career. It's easy to be scared about what a post-JB world looks like, but with Hutchinson around I feel better about MBB moving forward.

I was happy to see Trey hit that three before halftime to give the team a bit of momentum - he generally makes good decisions whether to pass or shoot. That deserves a shout out - time after time he chose to make the extra pass instead of taking a shot which he has shown he can make at least somewhat consistently. He finished with three assists today after not recording one in his last three games.

Jun was Jun. Outside of spotty FT shooting at times, he had some big time moves taking the ball to the basket and even went 2-4 from three! I'm interested to see whether he can emerge as a more consistent option from behind the arc next year - that would certainly have NBA scouts coming out to watch him consistently (I'm sure they already have).

And finally there's Max. Good to see him back after he missed the La Salle game with a finger injury. As others have mentioned, it's easily the most in control I've seen him play in a while, probably since GW last won a game. When he doesn't look to do too much, I think he is a very valuable complementary option. By that, I mean not dribble too much and just hoist a three when he even gets the slightest of space. Of his six makes last night, five were assisted. That's something I've been desperate to see happen for a while to get him out of a slump. JB also found him down low along the baseline that probably could have been another assisted layup had the ball not slipped out of Max's hands. Anyways, Edwards also played some of his best defense last night that I've ever seen from him, notably keeping the Bona player in front of him and not letting him blow past him to the basket.

I guess there's a way for GW to move up to 13th if they somehow win at Duquesne and both Davidson and St. Louis lose. If I'm being honest, there's not a pillow fight squad that I'm scared to face if GW plays actual team ball like they did last night with some effort defensively. I expected a bottom half finish based on inexperience coming into the year, but the talent is certainly not that of a last place team.

Anyways, it shouldn't be too hard to play better against the Dukes compared to last year's game as it was easily the worst the team played all year. What will make things tough is that it will be their Senior Day and on top of that possibly Dambrot's last regular season game before he retires so they will certainly be going all out to try to win.

gwstudent2024 wrote:

https://gwradio.com/mens-basketball-finally-wins-86-75-over-st-bonaventure/

Very refreshing to see this team finally win and I'm glad they were able to stop the streak, especially considering it was senior night. I've seen them doubling big men throughout conference play but they've continually gotten burned by bad help defense and good passing from opposing post players. The difference tonight is they made Venning (and Noel, who we know isn't much of a passer) uncomfortable and forced them into bad passes, especially to open the 2nd half.

Nice recap! Thanks for your coverage of both MBB and WBB all season. I'm glad you got to see the team win in your final home game as a student.
 

Class 'o 70 wrote:

For those of us who missed last night's game, but would like watch it, can someone put up a link to do so? thanks

http://www.espn.com/watch?id=42383f8e-8db4-4cec-9284-482fed8fb19a

Good to see some D and the guys smiling, cheering and clapping--- Having A Blast!

How does a team with James Bishop, Darren Buchanan and Max Edwards lose 12 straight? Three top players in the A-10. Obviously winning basketball takes more than three players, but those dudes aren't chopped liver. Still pisses me off to think about that.