CBS Sports has the broadcast.

So CBS Sports Network goes from South Carolina -GW to William & Mary-GW?  They are probably thinking that a Motocross or World's Strongest Man rerun might produce a better rating.

 

William & Mary Tribe

Date/Time: Monday December 14th @ 7:00 PM ET at The Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, DC.
TV: CBSSN
Ranks: 281st (KenPom), 310th (Bart Torvik), 216th (CBS)
Record Last Year: 21-11, 13-5 (2nd in CAA)
Projected Record (as of now!): 6-15, 5-13 (10th in CAA)

Coaching Record: Dane Fischer, who went 21-11 in his first year at William & Mary. After the surprise firing of legendary coach Tony Shaver (who by no means did a bad job in his 16 years at W&M - he arguably took them to heights they had not seen before), Fischer's first year cannot be deemed anything but a success. Winning 20+ games as a first year coach isn't exactly commonplace, let alone at a place like W&M. Prior to getting his first coaching job, Fischer spent four seasons at Mason, seven seasons at Bucknell, and three seasons at Rider. A native of Minnesota and graduate of Ithaca College, Fischer etched his name in the Ithaca record books, ranking top 10 all time in both assists and steals as a player.

All Time Record: 28-20, and we won the lone meeting that has taken place in the last 40 years, 73-57 during the 2003-04 season. JR Pinnock led the way with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals. He was supported by Mike Hall who chipped in with a double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists), Ricky Lucas (11 points, 2 rebounds), and Pops (10 points, 5 rebounds). Quick trivia question: the starting lineup for GW in that game was composed of Carl, TJ, Mike, Omar, and what other player?

Offensive Efficiency: 188th (KenPom), 247th (Bart Torvik)
Defensive Efficiency: 336th (KenPom), 326th (Bart Torvik)
Tempo: 206th (KenPom), 197th (Bart Torvik)
Returning Minutes: 48.5% (240th in country)

Key Returning Players:
Luke Loewe (SR; Fond Du Lac, WI) 10.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.7 apg; 54% FG, 44% 3-pt, 72% FT
Thornton Scott (JR; Glen Cove, NY) 7.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 4.4 apg; 35% FG, 33% 3-pt, 79% FT

Key Losses:
Nathan Knight (Graduated; Syracuse, NY) 20.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.5 bpg; 52% FG, 31% 3-pt, 77% FT
Andy Van Vliet (Graduated; Antwerp, BEL) 13.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.3 bpg; 46% FG, 36% 3-pt, 67% FT
Bryce Barnes (Graduated; Chicago, IL) 8.3 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.3 spg; 45% FG, 33% 3-pt, 73% FT

Comments:
William & Mary is coming off a successful 2019-20 campaign, a season in which they definitely exceeded expectations. Tabbed to finish 7th in the preseason polls, the Tribe showed right away that they had the ability to outperform that placement, beginning the year 4-0, and playing Oklahoma close in game 5. Although the Tribe finished off OOC with two close losses to St. Joe's and St. Francis (PA), Fischer's squad once again found their early season form, winning the first six games in conference play (including a resounding 27 point victory against champs Hofstra). After a minor blip in the middle of the slate, W&M finished strong, winning their last five conference games and entering tournament play on a high note, hoping the momentum would help them finally punch their first ever ticket to the dance. Unfortunately, they were unable to slow down a hot shooting Elon team from deep and were sent home prematurely, just eight days after defeating the same Phoenix team at home.

Winning 20 games his first year should give Fischer some confidence entering year two, where he will finally be able to put his mark on the program after the most intimidating frontcourt in the conference in Nathan Knight and Andy Van Vliet graduated this offseason. Despite having more experience with guard-centric attacks from his time under Dave Paulsen, Fischer did well to change up his approach to match the strengths of the roster and give Knight and Van Vliet all the opportunity to lead the team with lots of post-ups. Knight in particular will be a big loss as one of the best ever to play at W&M, amassing over 2,000 points in his career (one of only four players to reach that milestone in Tribe history). While it's great that we dodged having to play Knight, it would have made a nice side headline in the game if he had faced off against Bishop in an all-chess duel. Just like the knight moves, W&M takes the L.

All signs point to W&M shifting into more of a perimeter-oriented attack, which would fit what Fischer aims to do in his time in Williamsburg. A great starting point will be the return of two guards from last year's rotation, Luke Loewe and Thornton Scott. After spending two years as an inefficient depth piece, Loewe took his game to the next level and then some, shining as an off-ball guard in a starting role. This is simply a guy you don't want to lose track of behind the arc - Loewe can get hot in a hurry. He shot the long ball at 44% and had a game against JMU last year where he knocked down 6 threes. Loewe is also a great passer, notching 10 assists in their first game of this season. Scott handles the point, averaging 4.4 apg last season (led team) and adding some rebounding as well. He is more of an opportunistic scorer, although he struggled to finish inside the arc at times. With another key guard in Barnes graduating this offseason, Scott may be counted on to handle the ball even more entering year 3.

Other key pieces in W&M's rotation returning this season include forward Quinn Blair, Spaniard Miguel Ayesa, and Latvian Rainers Hermanovskis. Blair did well in an off the bench role last season (appearing in every game) but will likely be counted on to play more minutes this season. Maintaining his efficiency in a higher usage role (probably starting) will be something to watch. Ayesa is more of a shooting specialist, something he did well (knocking down 41 threes at a 37% rate) but not providing much of anything else. Hermanovskis should continue his minor off the bench role this season - he too can also shoot it when given the opportunity.

Californian Mehkel Harvey didn't see too much action last year, but given the holes in the frontcourt he will probably see minutes by default - he is the tallest guy at 6'9". Thatcher Stone will serve as Blair's backup, resuming his role as a deep reserve guy.

There is definitely some intrigue with William & Mary's incoming freshman class. Given how much production was lost, these guys will have a chance to step in and play right away. Connor Kochera is very versatile and had a great debut against ODU, going for 19 points with 6 made threes. Yuri Covington will handle backup point duties and did a great job in his first game, although he experienced some struggles shooting the ball. Texan Jake Milkereit and Ohioan Ben Wight will likely see sizable roles as well. Milkereit is yet another shooter, and Wight will provide some much needed size down low although he's inexperienced at this point in his career.

William & Mary will be the best offensive team we've faced so far this year so this should be a good test for the defense. Playing man and running their guards off the three point line seems like a reasonable strategy here, especially since we were very good at doing that last season in OOC play (we were among the best in limiting 3PA rate). ODU is an above average defensive team, but W&M made 12 threes at a 50% rate and there are at least five guys on the roster capable of shooting it from deep, making it difficult to key in on just one guy. For the sake of getting more practice time in (and saving us from further anger in such short time) I was hoping we would have rescheduled the game for a Wednesday or Thursday instead. Anyways, hope to see some better ball movement tomorrow and for us to finish these final two "tune-up" games strong (assuming Charlotte is the last OOC game of the season) to enter conference season with at least some confidence. While W&M is expected to finish towards the bottom of the league, they do have some pieces, and given how even the CAA is this year, they could definitely move up a few places. Although Knight may not be playing, hope our rooks get to play! Okay that's the last one - just recently watched The Queen's Gambit so chess is fresh in my mind. Tyler played well on Friday and looked pretty composed so hope he gets another opportunity tomorrow.

Predicted Score: GW 78, William & Mary 71. 75% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN gives us an 88% chance to win. Honestly, both numbers seem high to me given how we are playing right now. Definitely expect another high scoring game as W&M plays really bad defense.

I would definitely give W&M (or any D1 team) 7.5

The Dude wrote:

Kind of wild, watching Sunday Night football that not one, but BOTH NFL Coaches are William and Mary Products, in what might be a Super Bowl preview.  11-1 vs 9-3.

Pleasantly surprised we are getting CBS for this game tomorrow night.  

As crazy a year as 2020 has been, the Super Bowl will not feature two teams from the American Football Conference.  In fact, with Kansas City now having the inside track to a #1 seed, there is a greater likelihood that Buffalo and Pittsburgh would face one another in the divisional playoff round than in the AFC Championship game.

GWRising wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

Great trivia question DMVPiranha.  I had to look up the answer and I would be amazed if anyone can get this right without looking it up.  I hope it's OK with you that I provide a few hints:

1) Since you mentioned Pops and Ricky Lucas, let's get out of the way that both came off of the bench in this game.
2) The answer is a very heralded recruit whose playing time was negatively impacted by injuries.
3) The answer is someone who you would not associate as being a teammate of Mike/Omar/Pops/Carl/JR, but like TJ, there was a small overlap.  

Let me guess... he had an injury caused by Ron Rollerson (Temple) in a summer league game in Philly?

That's another great, great clue GWRising.

Tamal is a good guess.  Thinking of another short-lived Colonial from that era - Lafonte Johnson.  Maybe a 3 guard starting 5?

Yahoo NCAA Basketball page shows this game as cancelled. Is game still on?

Official Twitter account with the starting lineup, so game is on: https://twitter.com/GW_MBB/status/1338631522153340928. Maceo cracks the starting 5.

Maceo Jack rewarded with a well earned start, begins with game with a monster SWAT

what a blocked shot