Hard not to be impressed with Castro's game, but has been pointed out by many, Maryhurst was hardly s tough test for him.  Lets see how he does against players with his size and athleticism.   

Too often, Caputo's teams come out flat. Something else that needs to change!

Hampton Pirates
Date: Friday November 8th, 2024
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Venue: Charles E. Smith Center (Washington, DC)
TV: ESPN+
Ranks: 314th (KenPom), 316th (Bart Torvik), 353rd (Haslametrics), 246th (EvanMiya), 274th (Sports Illustrated)
2023-24 Record: 9-24, 3-15 (14th in CAA)
2024-25 Projected Record: 11-18, 6-12 (T-13th in CAA)

Head-to-Head: 2-2. GW has faced Hampton in Washington DC in all four meetings - one as part of the Red Auerbach Classic, and another as part of the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off. In the most recent meeting, GW fell to the Pirates 82-78 back in 2020. The team had a rough night from 3, going just 3/16 with none of those makes coming after halftime. GW was also outrebounded by 7 and turned the ball over 17 times. If there was a saving grace, it was that they got to the line twice as many times as the Pirates. Four players finished in double figures: JB (22 points, 7 assists), Matt Moyer (15 points, 7 rebounds), JNJ (14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals), and Jamison (11 points, 9 rebounds). GW is favored by 12 points in this game but has not defeated Hampton by double digits before.

Offensive Efficiency: 283rd (KenPom), 270th (Bart Torvik), 351st (Haslametrics), 233rd (EvanMiya)
Defensive Efficiency: 332nd (KenPom), 352nd (Bart Torvik), 354th (Haslametrics), 262nd (EvanMiya)
Pace: 120th (KenPom), 55th (Bart Torvik), 75th (Haslametrics), 245th (EvanMiya)

Strengths (2023-24 Season):
Bench Points Per Game: 25.1 PPG (48th)
Three Point Percentage Defense: 32% (77th)
Rebounds Per Game: 37 RPG (95th)

Weaknesses (2023-24 Season):
Turnovers Forced Per Game: 10.9 TO/G (263rd)
Effective Field Goal Percentage: 48.4% (277th)
Field Goal Percentage: 42.4% (284th)
Turnover Margin: -1.6 TO/G (290th)
Three Point Percentage: 31.8% (291st)
Scoring Defense: 76.4 PPG (293rd)
Scoring Margin: -4.6 PPG (299th)
Winning Percentage: 27.3% (324th)

Projected Starting Lineup:
#1 G Noah Farrakhan (Graduate Student; Newark, NJ) - 7.7 ppg, 3 rpg, 1.7 apg; 41% FG, 35% 3-PT, 75% FT per 19.9 mpg/23 GP at West Virginia last season
#12 G Tyler Rice (Senior; Columbia, SC) - 3.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg; 36% FG, 30% 3-PT, 80% FT per 10.4 mpg/27 GP at East Tennessee State last season
#31 G Wayne Bristol Jr. (Graduate Student; Upper Marlboro, MD) - 3.7 ppg, 3.3 rpg; 36% FG, 30% 3-PT, 74% FT per 20.3 mpg/32 GP at Georgetown last season
#25 F Xzavier Long (Junior; Washington, DC) - 6.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.2 apg; 46% FG, 31% 3-PT, 71% FT at Canisius in 2022-23 season
#3 F Kyrese Mullen (Junior; Norfolk, VA) - 14.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.5 apg; 46% FG, 30% 3-PT, 57% FT per 29.1 mpg/27 GP at Hampton last season

Key Bench Players:
#0 G George Beale Jr. (Junior; Suffolk, VA) - 4.3 ppg; 48% FG, 36% 3-PT, 79% FT per 10.5 mpg/19 GP at Norfolk State last season
#2 G Trevor Smith (Sophomore; Newport News, VA) - 1 rpg; 50% FT per 5.5 mpg/6 GP at Richmond last season
#5 G Etienne Strothers (RS Freshman; Newport News, VA)
#13 G/F Daniel Johnson (Freshman; Chicago, IL)
#10 F Richard Goods (Freshman; Greensboro, NC)

Key Losses:
Tedrick Wilcox Jr. (Graduated; Pawtucket, RI) - 11.4 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.2 spg; 40% FG, 32% 3-PT, 86% FT per 30.8 mpg/33 GP
Jordan Nesbitt (Transferred to Wyoming; St. Louis, MO) - 10.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.3 apg; 34% FG, 25% 3-PT, 70% FT per 30.4 mpg/25 GP
Jerry Deng (Transferred to Florida State; Rochester, NY) - 10.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg; 46% FG, 39% 3-PT, 80% FT per 21.8 mpg/33 GP
Ja'Von Benson (Transferred to Mississippi; Columbia, SC) - 7.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg; 56% FG, 50% 3-PT, 76% FT per 15.2 mpg/32 GP
Trey Thomas (Transferred to Bethune-Cookman; Washington, DC) - 6.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1 apg; 34% FG, 31% 3-PT, 88% FT per 14.6 mpg/16 GP
Tristan Maxwell (Graduated; Huntersville, NC) - 6.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1 spg; 36% FG, 34% 3-PT, 59% FT per 23.7 mpg/30 GP
Joshua Lusane (Graduated; Americus, GA) - 5.6 ppg, 2.4 rpg; 56% FG, 44% 3-PT, 79% FT per 15.7 mpg/33 GP

Preview:
After 15 years at the helm, the Hampton administration parted ways with Edward "Buck" Joyner, who notched over 200 wins during his time there and guided the Pirates through not one but two new conferences in the past six years. Throw in COVID during that process and it's not exactly surprising to see why the results were the way they were. Joyner had great success in the MEAC and was responsible for three of Hampton's six NCAA tournament appearances. The Pirates did a reasonably good job in their transition to the Big South, but Hampton's win total continued to go down in each of their four seasons in that conference.

Ultimately, three consecutive seasons under ten wins (13-39 combined in conference play) could not be overlooked. Hampton also went a dismal 3-8 against the spread at home. It will be interesting to monitor whether the move to the CAA is a good move for the Pirates long-term. Everyone here obviously feels the same way about FloHoops, but as a conference the Coastal has become quite bloated and top-heavy. The Big South on the other hand seems to be rising the ranks a bit behind the success of High Point and other teams at the top. I'm sure the financial aspect was a deal breaker, but it's worth asking whether Hampton can be a power relative to their conference peers as they were in the MEAC.

Ivan Thomas is the new man in charge. Thomas spent the past eight seasons as an assistant under Ed Cooley (seven at Providence, one at Georgetown). Prior to that, he was a head coach at the HS level for 13 years at Edison HS, TC Williams HS (both in the DC area), as well as Kecoughtan HS just three miles down the road from his current gig. From a pure pace perspective, it will be interesting to see whether Thomas keeps a similar middling pace as his former boss the past several years or whether he maintains the uptempo system Joyner had in place. Joyner's teams ranked in the top 150 in adjusted tempo all 15 years he was at the helm (per KenPom) and in 12 of those 15 years Hampton ranked in the top 100 in pace. Last year, they were also 118th in total possessions per game. Playing at even a remotely methodical pace is alien to Hampton fans, as Kevin Nickelberry's 2009 squad (Joyner's predecessor) was the only time Hampton has ranked outside the top 200 in pace since 1997.

When Hampton was a juggernaut in the MEAC under Joyner, they got it done on the defensive end, forcing turnovers and tough shots. They were not quite able to replicate that formula in better leagues, but an identity on that end would go a long way in the team becoming remotely competitive again. Hopefully Thomas is taking notes from Cooley's Providence tenure rather than the train wreck that was Georgetown last year where the Hoyas played zero defense whatsoever. Height is not plentiful in Hampton's frontcourt, so it would not be surprising to see some zone thrown in to prevent teams from getting to the hoop without much resistance. Unfortunately, that may mean conceding more three point attempts, not ideal in a conference that ranked 5th in 3PA% last year, per KenPom.

Georgetown crashed the boards hard on offense and ran a lot of iso plays for their go-to players last year. It wouldn't be surprising to see Thomas count on the leading scorer from last season, Kyrese Mullen, to help out in the former category while West Virginia import Noah Farrakhan take care of the latter.

Hampton lost seven of their top eight scorers from last season but getting Mullen back is huge. He's a bit undersized at 6'7" if Thomas deploys him at the 5 for long stretches, but he provides a similar level of energy as Jun for their team. While he's not a true post presence, he is a solid enough offensive player and most importantly, crashes the glass hard on both sides of the ball. Mullen ranked 86th nationally in defensive rebounds per game and 111th in offensive rebounds per game last year. He finished with 10 double doubles last year, which was the top mark in the CAA (the now departed Tristan Maxwell even notched a triple-double in a game during the year!). Despite Hampton being picked to finish dead last in the CAA, Mullen was an all-CAA preseason first team selection.

Farrakhan has put up a lot of stats over the course of his college career but not nearly enough wins. He began his career at East Carolina, and the Pirates went 8-11 that season. He then ended up in Ypsilanti at Eastern Michigan, leading the team in scoring but the Eagles (real missed opportunity to use "Emus" as their mascot) went 10-21. Farrakhan stayed put at EMU for an additional year, notably serving as the sidekick to Emoni Bates but the team somehow finished at an even worse 8-23. Most recently, he was a rotation player at West Virginia. That Mountaineer squad finished 9-23 and 144th on KenPom, the worst mark for the program since 2002. Adding that up is a career W-L record of 35-78. It's hard to expect much changing on a rebuilding Hampton squad but Farrakhan is certainly not lacking in talent. I can't help but feel this is just a replacement for Jordan Nesbitt on last year's squad, with better shooting and less playmaking. At the very least, he serves as a go-to player for Thomas and he has been a reasonably good three point shooter over the course of his career. Farrakhan may also need to take on playmaking duties similar to his time at EMU - although that came with a lot of turnovers. Per EvanMiya, his defensive metrics have been brutal the past two years but he did show promise on that end in his first year at Eastern Michigan.

Thomas also plucked Xzavier Long (Canisius), Wayne Bristol Jr. (Georgetown), Tyler Rice (ETSU), George Beale Jr. (Norfolk State), Trevor Smith (Richmond), KJ Satterfield (UAB), Elijah Kennedy (Texas State), and Etienne Strothers (Appalachian State) from the D1 ranks. Many of these players did not play much at their previous stop but carry upside. In general, being able to land 8 transfers from D1 is still pretty impressive.

Bristol and Long both have DC connections, and of course Bristol followed Thomas from Georgetown. Long started 40 games across two years at Canisius. When paired with Mullen, that gives Hampton two strong rebounders up front on both sides of the floor. He was also an underrated playmaker, and theoretically provides a bit of floor spacing although his efficiency has not been there yet. Much like Hampton, Bristol will look to return to the success he had back in the MEAC. He was the rookie of the year at Howard, and actually made his D1 debut against GW back in 2019 when he had 2 points in 11 minutes. Having two years of Big East experience can't hurt although it came with limited success (I'm sure the Hoyas were thankful DePaul was around as a punching bag).

Like Mullen, Beale, Smith, Kennedy, Strothers, and returning graduate student Dan Banister Jr. all hail from Virginia giving Thomas a fairly strong local presence on the roster. Beale is the sharpshooter - he's a career 38% from deep and did well as a bench option for ex-rival Norfolk State. At the very least, he's definitely well coached coming from that Spartan program. Smith was a three-star guard out of HS but wasn't a factor at Richmond. There will likely be some growing pains in his first year in an expanded role but the potential is there. Kennedy returns home after beginning his career at Florida and having a cup of coffee at Texas State. He did not see action in Hampton's opener and there will likely be rust in his game having not played since 2022 but the pedigree is there. Strothers redshirted last year but gained valuable experience from watching a successful Appalachian State program from the bench. Banister is the veteran on the team, having played nearly 100 games at Hampton. He'll provide leadership and experience, and is at least somewhat of a proven commodity.

Rice and Satterfield round out the D1 transfer options. The former began his career at another Virginia school (William & Mary) and spent last year in Johnson City. Rice is a good FT shooter, but he has struggled with efficiency over the course of his career. He lost playing time at William & Mary after a successful rookie year where he showed some passing chops. Still, his presence gives Thomas the opportunity to play multiple ball handlers at once. Satterfield rode the bench for a good UAB team. He played HS ball at the famed Patrick School in NJ, just like his teammate Farrakhan.

Old friend Daniel Nixon also enters the fold after a year on a middling JUCO team in Western Texas College, where he started all 28 games, was second in scoring (16.5 ppg), first in rebounding (5.9 rpg), and chipped in about two assists a game. Honestly, I'm not sure that the minutes will be there for him but he's a pretty good insurance policy should anyone get hurt. His shooting splits weren't particularly good at the JUCO level either so I'm not sure they'll look better in his transition back to D1. Nevertheless, I'm very glad Nixon is getting a second chance to prove himself at this level.

It wouldn't be too surprising to see Thomas unleash his trio of freshmen right away in what figures to be a rebuilding year. All three bring size to the frontcourt which will benefit the team. Daniel Johnson is a wing from Chicago who was fairly well-regarded coming out of HS. He should get minutes right away and I could see him starting by the end of the year with his two-way ability. Richard Goods has the goods at 6'8" and has the versatility to play either spot up front - that will provide Thomas with lineup optionality. Goods dominated his senior year of HS in North Carolina, stuffing the stat sheet with 21 ppg, 14 rpg, 2 apg, 2 spg, and 4 bpg. Finally, Eunique Rink, a potential all-name candidate, is the tallest player on the roster at 6'10". He will likely need time to adjust to the college game.

It's a step up in competition from Monday but Rafael should once again have the height advantage up front. Stopping Farrakhan from getting hot will be priorities 1, 2, and 3 on Friday. Hopefully the team will have a bit more success from deep. Getting to the hoop as much as possible should be a goal given Hampton's lack of size up front. The team is different, but both Moss and Drumgoole had success against Hampton last year. Moss averaged 16 ppg in the two matchups against the Pirates, including a 20 point performance to close the regular season. Drumgoole was just behind Moss with 15.5 ppg in two games and went 5-9 from 3 between the two games.

Projected Score: GW 83, Hampton 71. 86% chance to win (KenPom). Bart Torvik gives us a 90% chance at a W, while ESPN places the win probability at 81.8%.
 

GW -12.5
O/U 151.5

If they force us to hit 3s, hope we are more successful tonight than Monday.

ESPN+ picture terrible. Just me?

Sloppy game.  GW needs to do a much better job on the defensive glass - way too many 2nd (and 3rd and 4th) chances for Hampton

Blocking out? Hampton with too many offensive rebounds. 

Fun win, nice to open it up and how about Jones! he was very good

Nice to win by 30 despite a 6-25 from 3 showing

 

I missed the game as well, but I have been watching the minutes played from the first two games and like what I see, albeit both in double digit wins. Baby steps. Go Geedubs.