I have been so impressed by Castro's play, seems like he gets better every week. Amazing hands both offensively and rebounding, good defense, good positioning, can jump, etc. He can dictate play and is often the best player on his "portion" of the court.

A lot of things haven't gone according to plan this season (Buchanan, Hutchinson, etc). We'd probably be fighting to stay out of the basement if not for Rafael Cruz.

Last edited by Alum '04 (1/25/2025 8:36 pm)

Castro has been unbelievable over the past 5 games. Over that span he's averaged:

19.8ppg
9 rb/game
1.6 blocks/game
1.2 steals/game
72.7% from the field
54.3% from the FT line (biggest part of his game that needs improving)

One of if not the best newcomer to the conference. Best center we've had in years.

Castro has indeed been terrific and critical to any success we're having in Conference play so far.  Frankly, his performance during the OOC did not inspire much confidence, and I could never have predicted how dominant and effective he'd be.   In fact, I'd have thought the center position would be a notable weakness for us this year.   It is clearly now our strength.  Jun, Trey and Jacoi still seem to be working their way back to somewhere near 100% (very slowly).  Drumgoole's several hot games seem to have inspired the opposition to view him as our biggest offensive weapon, and someone who they have to key on.   He seems to draw very tough and close man-to-man defense every game lately, and he is fortunate if he gets 1 or 2 more-or-less open looks a game from 3pt range.   Early on, he seemed to have lots of open 3's available, and was hoisting up what I thought were way too many unsuccessful 3pt attempts.   When he finally started to make them, the other teams reacted with alacrity.  Overall team defense has somehow morphed into a strength as the offense declined a bit  Happy with how hard the team plays and their consistency of effort.   Agree with CC's observation in his presser today that we can compete with/beat anyone in the A-10 on any given night - which has not always been the case in recent years.

Sure a lot of St Louis shots rimmed out, but many were contested. This team can DEFEND and for how many years could the other team eat a sandwich and do whatever the freak they wanted on offense?

Now if they could just stop running the 1-4 at the of halfs (yes I know they scored in this game). And how about running offense at the of the game? You spend days trying to build trust. Play it out.

Of course I wanted to be 7-0 rather than 3-4, but notwithstanding we have to be pleased with what we are seeing from the team and we are really just a whisker away from being 5-2 or even 8-1.   The most important takeaway is that we have shown that we can play with anyone in the conference, at least so far, and that we are no longer anyone's gimme win on their schedule.  If we can hold this team together during the offseason and add a healthy Garrent Johnson and a defense minded, rebounding 4, I believe we can compete for the top of the conference next season.   Briefly addressing the individuals and using DMV's post as a base:

) Agree with the praise of Rafael. Unfortunately, given the position he plays and how productive he's been I'd be lying if I wasn't thinking about whether GW will be able to keep him after the year. For now, I'm enjoying having an actual center for the first time in several years.
 Yes.   My concern with Rafael was initially whether he could dominate against bigger, stronger bigs.  That concern was based on little more than (1) his not having played much at Providence and (2) the level of competition in the OOC.   I am no longer ocncerned.   Wish he had any shooting range, but he makes up for that by being able to put the ball on the floor and having great hands.  As for his transferring, obviously nobody knows, but I will note that Rafael's girlfriend goes to American, where she transferred from Providence to follow him.  That may be a factor in keeping him here.
2) Sean shows good fundamentals and I thought this would be a better matchup for him. His ability to read plays and slap the ball away on defense is underrated. The missed layup on an inbounds play was tough, and there were a couple times he had the ball knocked from his hands but he was still solid.

Not loving him, especially as a starter.  Does a lot of nice things, but not frequently or good enough. I am concerned about his defense and inability to rebound.   I am perfectly fine with him at 5-10 minutes a game but just don't see him as as a starter

3) Trey (Autry) has been great at attacking the hoop lately. Nice dunk in the first half! Gerald's pass to Trey streaking to the hoop in the first half was one of the better plays in the game. Also really liking his effort on the defensive boards - that shows a lot of heart.

Agreed,   Troy is still growing into the game but is showing he is much more than  someone who just stays in the corner and asks for the ball.   He can score creatively, rebound and defend.   Looks more and more comfortable with each game.   I hope he continues to start even upon Moss' return to full health.

4) CJ had a good game, but sometimes I feel when he drives to the hoop he gets himself a little too deep under the hoop which puts him in a tough spot. Somewhat of a freshman tendency, but he seems to be building good chemistry with Castro. Great defense as usual from him.

I absolutely love nearly every aspect of his game.   He can dribble, pass, has 3 point range, can go strong to the basket and is an incredible defender.    He has a tendanct to sometimes force the issue inside, but that is curable.   I believe he has all conference potential

5) Was surprised to find out Dayan only played 2 minutes. It felt like more. Good to see him knock down 2 FTs - I think he came up empty on his prior two trips in previous games.

Like so many of us, I want him to be on the court moer often.   I think he can be the real deal but base duon his limited playing time, it is way to early to say that.

6) Ty is starting to gain confidence. Previously, he would hand the ball back to another player seconds after touching it. Now, he's starting to drive a bit and look for his shot. He moves the ball well too.

Like our other young players, he seems to be growing and improving with each game.  Most important, he appears to be another top defender.

7) Good to see Jacoi make some positive plays. Much better bounce passes, including finding Sean for an open layup. His lobs to Castro are still somewhat off and it feels like a guarantee that any layup he attempts will be swatted by the other team but was happy for him when that 3 fell. CC mentioned it in the presser and retweeted it as well. Hutch also had some nice defensive moments midway through the second half.

Not sure what to make of Jacoi.   I have seen him look like an all conference quality point guard who defends, drives hard to the basket, hits a 3 and runs a stady boat on offense.   But since St. Thomas, he has mostly been a train wreck.   Agree that hopefully his finally making a 3 pointer may help with is confidence and get back some of his early season, and last season mojo, but at this point, giving the vast bulk of the point guard minutes to Christian and having Jacoi come off the bench for maybe 5 minutes per hald seems appropriatel

) Jun looked extremely tentative and not very healthy out there. He made a huge fadeaway late, but he got the ball in the mid-post several times and seemed hesitant to drive the ball/was unsure what to do with it. I like that he's not forcing things but was surprised how uninvolved he was in the offense. Credit to him for not allowing it to affect his effort on the boards and defense though.

I do not know if the substantial decline in Jun's recent play is being caused by his injury or the league now having a book on him.   I suspect  both.  But even after he is healthy, I do not know if the staff knows how to use him with these new look Revs which now features far more than his inside scoring as its prime offense.   Once these 2 things happing (healing and redefined use), he will be fine.

9) Same goes for Trey (Moss). He doesn't look 100% but also continues to not do things on the floor that would help both him and the team. Should be looking to drive the ball more, not settle for a 3. If he can help out on the boards/do the little things like he did earlier in the season that might be a path to earn more minutes.

THere are so many aspects of Trey's game that I like.  Unfortunately, 3 point shooing is not one of them.  There is a humongous difference between Trey's 2 point and 3 point shooting percentage, but Troy continues to launch 62% of his shots from beyond the arc while making only 24.6 percent..  On the other hand, he makes 62% of his 2 pointers.  The role I would like to see for Trey is a high energy sub who is capable of giving us some serous points off of the bench.

Drumgoole:  So much of his game that I like, but like Moss, he needs to put somewhat of a lid on his 3 point shooting.   He has missed at least his last 19 shots from the 3.   I have no ttrouble with him starting, but being ready to pull him if the shooting.






 

Was Nessah hurt? Little surprised he only played 2 minutes.
Or maybe he’s not playing well in practice?

Gerald has been able to score inside and took less outside shots this time. He should get out of this slump atsome point, hopefully real soon. 
  But looking to the present and the future, Dayan not only deserves more playing time, he energizes us.
And Ty Bevins can shoot and seems to be coming along. He got 12 minutes last game, but hasn't gotten a lot of time before that.
  Perhaps we can see a little less from the other players and a bit more of Dayan and Ty B to
see whether they can continue to contribute and develop.