From what I have seen so far, Thomas, I am liking   Harris as a tall point guard or even a point forward.  Not sure I like the other aspects of his offense so much.  As for Paar, he has made a bunch of layups these past 2 games.  Not to minimize that (ahem, Toro), but lets see how he develops.   He looks pretty raw out there.   Nelson Jr. needs to be coached, plain and simple, even if that means he is pulled from the game to be told that when your team is on a run, you don't take a low percentage step back 3 point shot with lots of time on the clock,or put your head down and drive wildly to the basket.  

LSF,  maybe I went a little overboard after GW was able to cut the deficit down to 9 a few times behind the play of Harris and Paar(to a lower extent). Vermont had their way with GW after their lead was cut to 9, so maybe it was more a case of Vermont getting too complacent after they dominated in the 1st half, rather than GW playing well. It definitely looks like Harris is capable of playing point guard for long stretches of games, and his size, length and athleticism should give him an advantage against most teams as the season goes on.

We can discuss the odd "coaching" and player rotation all week.
On Arnaldo, who has given us a lot and must be suffering from nagging injuries, something is not quite right,which seems less rust and more physical limitation. He's not able to get rebounds like he did even earlier this season. He was one of the best in the country first few games, which was impressive, even considering our competition.
 But the coaches (it seems to be a multiple coach affair) much like their general refusal to play zone, may have to use him differently. Basically, he or Ace or even Paar, is the only big man out there and we have no PF's to complement him with. Arnaldo (and Ace and Chase) is generally playing 1 on 2, or 1 on 3.Since, with the exception of say Longwood and a few other bunnies, most teams have a couple of players who have the size or skill to rebound.
With some of the earlier games, Arnaldo succeeded. But whatever is going on (could it be hip again?), he seems badly strained. And Arnaldo is a good player and a good guy who has shown the ability to do damage on the boards certainly.
Maybe Arnaldo and Chase were paired briefly. But we have no solid big or no thin but springy PF helping Arnaldo out. Jamison is trying and learning, but it is a bit of a stretch for him and he is no stretch 4. Mezie has no outside shot and is a bit undersized, but solid anyway. And even if he could contribute, it looks like he is the next transfer out candidate as he seems to be permanently glued to the bench.
   So, for defensive reasons, at least and maybe helping Arnaldo with offensive rebounding (none of our bigs light up the scoreboard), we may need to pair Toro with some help.
This is just one thought amongst the numerous player usage areas that need to be addressed.
  However, while don't really believe this, as in general numerous A-10 teams should be of the caliber or better that even a good Vermont team, perhaps we can look forward to starting over in the New Year and league play. We can hope, anyway.
 

OK, I will be the one to say it:

After this blowout, there is no doubt that this rivalry has lost its mojo.

We can talk about whatever you want but when Battle, Nelson, and Potter combine to go 6-29 from the floor and 1-10 from 3 and just 14 points, everyone knows what the result will be. This is not about coaching but a talent deficit that until we make up that deficit with personnel changes and experience, we cannot survive that kind of shooting game from those 3. I don't think most of you fully recognize how far our talent level sunk under Mojo. To be frank, currently we don't have one player who is all-league or even close. Mojo survived for awhile because Lonergan left him two pros and some talented freshmen. They are all gone now save for Toro. Toro is a nice complimentary player as is Jack. They however do not have the talent to lead GW to a championship or even the top half of the league. It will get better but it will take time. Patience. Help is on the way.

Last edited by GWRising (1/02/2020 12:38 pm)

Point regarding lack of talent really hits the nail on the head. Program has gone from having 3 NBA caliber players on the court with promising young talent on board to a bunch of role players with hopefully a freshmen class that will eventually compete. GW needs to find some quality bigs, hopefully transfers or grad students, who can play at the A-10 level.

Well, I don't think anyone is going to put up the argument that GW has more than enough talent right now to compete for an A10 title.  I think everyone here understands how low the talent level sunk under MoJo who clearly was a victim of circumstances, at least to a large extent.

I don't want to speak for him but I think LSF's comment pertained to the Vermont game specifically and not the season as a whole.  Again, anyone can readily see that this team's defense is well ahead of its offense.  It just wasn't necessarily that way against Vermont.  

Also worth pointing out that games can go entirely different ways based on changing even one thing.  The story line of this game, IMO, had more to do with the fact that we could not stop Anthony Lamb in the first half than anything else.  Let's say Amir draws the Lamb assignment throughout the entire game and Lamb is held in check.  Chances are GW is not behind 17 at the half.  Chances are we don't run out of gas in the second half after cutting the lead to 9.  Chances are that in a more contested game, Battle, Nelson and Potter are playing with more focus and their shooting percentages aren't as bad as they are when desperately trying to get back into the game.  In other words, maybe this one move results in an entirely different game.  Or, maybe it doesn't.  There's no real way to know.

Personally, I would prefer to write and read about what went wrong and what potentially could have been different or better than to state after each loss that the problem is we don't have enough talent and leave it at that.  Though Anthony Lamb is an exceptional player, it's not like the rest of Vermont's team is significantly more talented than GW.  (Am not arguing though that Lamb isn't a huge difference maker; he clearly is.)  Vermont is exceptionally well coached and that came through loud and clear between one team whose coach has been with his program for 9 years and another who is still figuring things out with his new team.

I can't argue with the stats, GWRising; however I am using the eye test, and it at least looks like we have some players who can score, but I am not sure that we have many who can defend, again due to lack of size, speed and strength.