You are making a rather large assumption that he has other viable options to try something different. Again, he watches practice everyday so he should have a handle on who can do what at this point.  

Also, if he put Ball or Brelsford in there and they got beat everyone would ask why did you put a freshman in that situation? Sort of a no win place right now.

The larger point which would eliminate the need to have these discussions of what could or should have been done is to find a way to get these guys to have some pride in playing defense and being that tough minded team whether it's a loose ball or a rebound. That will do far more than worrying about individual matchups that will never exactly be repeated again and are now water under the bridge at this point.

The current level of determination, grit and defense will cause this team to lose most if not all of the 18 games in the A-10. To me that is job 1. Find a way to fix that.

Nobody needs to jump off the bridge!
I am about the biggest ML supporter left out of the few remaining die hard GW Hoop fans. I watched as ML led Catholic U to a National Championship in 2001, maintained excellence at a Vermont program (where the previous coach was above .500 about half his tenure) and then came to GW to resurrect a down program in the later Hobbs years.
However, GW made some decisions (very bad ones) 5 years ago and we are stuck with those decisions. ML seems to be living a very comfortable and happy life in retirement from basketball (per his social media which he's very active on). Time for us to move on and stop mentioning his name after every game or comparing every JC move to ML.
JC is not going anywhere for another 3 years (he will be here for 5 years) because GW has NO MONEY. Just today, GW announced they will NOT be back to normal for the FALL 2021 semester. We, like many educational institutions are bleeding money. Nobody in their right mind is going to pay GW tuition for a school not even in the top 50 academically.
I never liked the GW hire because of the way it went down - I thought the AD hire was bad and I thought JC wasn't a proven winner (.500 at 2 low level schools) and experienced enough. My concerns have certainly played out for the last 16 months. I always liked JC as a person and I still hope he can turn this 5 year old dumpster fire around.
I stopped following GW in real time after ML was terminated out of self preservation for my health. I now get my hoops info from this site and scores in the paper the next morning.
I knew yesterday's game had the potential to be depressing because it's one of the few nationally televised games we have this year on national tv (thanks South Carolina). It's tough to know people equate GW basketball to what they saw yesterday. Compare it to the Christmas Day game on national TV we had when we beat Wichita State in Hawaii. I watched that game with about 30 others, many GW alums who normally don't give a shit about bball. Or the Virginia game, beating Vandy to win the NIT, Maryland win in the BBT, etc, etc.
Let's hope we have those days again, preferably in the next 5 years. But I'm not holding my breath because we have an inept administration and apathetic student body.

moneybox wrote:

I  Sad thing is that there is talent on this team that is being wasted for lack of discipline, strategy, fundamentals.

No one is yet serious about firing JC, though this has to be fixed, so we are at least respectable. Don't need to see another 3 losses to Fordham.
However, he is the coach. He is paid probably $750,000 or more when GW employees making a small fraction of that are being laid off. 
And unlike Hobbs or Lonergan, he has the team composed of nearly all of his players in year 2, as he turned over the roster (more on that on another post). These are his people. So if they don't buy in, it's on him.
 JC is supposed to be a master motivator. He is hard not to like, and still like him. He seems big on social media, analytics and branding, which is nice, but doesn't appear to be winning games.
JC showed our history some respect and unlike the departed, unlamented Mojo, didn't pretend the former coach didn't exist, which buys a fair amount of credit. But this, barring the surprisingly decent first half, is unwatchable and frankly, a disaster.
Even the TV commentators, former coaches, note that a team should be able to play 2 defenses. We play zone when we need to play man, and man when we need to play zone. And when we play zone, it is a weird-looking one, as it is so crappily executed.
  There is no team play, no hustle, no apparent strategy. Was there a time-out called during their huge runs and comeback, that was not an early or last minute time-out?
If the defense doesn't work, it's on the coach. Loewey beat us with the right hand, but the other guy, Covington? beat us with a left hand. And the whole W&M team beat us with desire.
   We are losing to lower-tier teams, which have (with maybe the exception of Delaware) lesser facilities, budget, access to recruits, etc. Navy players have a demanding life and a future that include being at war. These players of ours have a full ride scholarship at a university many can't afford, just because of their presumed talent at basketball. Even other talented athletes at GW don't get their perksl
  And while there was no summer league and things were delayed and different, let's not pretend the team wasn't on campus. We were not at a huge handicap, except for new personnel, which was the coach's choice. Didn't W&M lose a pro player from last year. And yet, playing only their second game if I heard right, they beat us at our place
  Except for Battle, Jack, and Paar, who all--despite whatever happened last night or this year--are capable of playing at the A-10 level, all the players are JC's. He turned almost all of the roster after the first year. Maybe Hobbs or ML turned over the roster like this in their second year, but just from memory, it doesn't seem like this, in total. 
  Adjustments, knowing who to play out of the box at the start of the season, etc, are all questionable and non-existent.
  This performance so far raises legitimate questions of whether he can recruit the right talent for GW (i.e. Joe Mac vs. James Bishop) at the right level and use them properly. Because of our ineptness, we pissed away a chance for Ball or Brelsford and to some extent Brown, to develop in the OOC normally gimme games against lesser opponents.
  The team seems torn (no doubt by Bishop ball hogging) and listless, with players like Jamison who have real talent, not living up or having a chance to live up to their proven abilities.
   In college basketball, the coach has a huge amount of authority. With it comes responsibility. It's time to accept responsibility, which we didn't hear previously (don't know about last night) and take charge before this spirals out of
control. League play is a new season, in effect.
  Analytics and talking about more love (reserved for his guys) aren't the answer. Talking about where execution failed and what needs to be done would at least show some awareness of how the rest of the world sees this.
In short: less New Age crap and more wins should be the goal
  This is a coach who has a surprisingly positive media (among the lesser ones that pay attention to us), PR machine and following. We grumble here, but we all support GW basketball, even after humiliating performances that would leave other fan bases either deserted or howling for a change.
  Time to start performing and at least show us some hope for the future.

Spot on JF.
I'm tired of waiting in 3-5 year cycles after bad decisions. I've moved on and now focus on the Terps (who have their own problems). Hopefully I can come back with all the others who have left before we die of old age!

GWRising wrote:

The thing I don't understand here is why some posters believe JC should be viewed within the lens of a previous bad decision by GW to let ML go. Nobody sat here during ML's first two years and said well ML didn't have the record or success of Jarvis. You take the program as you find it and go from there. Again, JC had nothing to do with ML being fired. Didn't inherit a single player from ML. There is no indication JC even thinks ML should have been let go or even has voiced an opinion about it. Nobody is comparing him to ML at this juncture.

Whatever happened prior to JC's tenure has nothing to do with how he should be critiqued. He should be critiqued solely on what has happened in the past 19 months. I am getting the view that some think he wasn't supposed to take the job 3 years later because GW mishandled the ML situation.

Joel good luck with the Terps. Don't think you are going to have much better luck over there judging from their last two games.

I don't think anyone is trying to punish JC for the sins of GW's past decisions including the firing of ML. We bring up ML to put into context the reality of the current situation - from regularly beating SEC teams to currently sitting1-4 against sub 250 level programs and facing the very real prospect of going 1-27 this season. True, it's not fair to compare ML's high point with JC's low but it's perfectly reasonable to compare JC's progression in year two with that of past regimes and when it's all said and done, JC should be further a long in the process and showing severe deficiencies on all fronts including strategy/game tempo, player development and wins.   

How about this: Probably very few people as of right now, seriously want to fire JC.
 But because of our very bad losses, it's time to light a fire under him to challenge his losing "strategy."

ThomasFromBowie wrote:

GW Rising- ML was 13-17 in year 2 with 4 freshmen starters. Why did you write that he was 10-23? I know why but was just wondering if you would admit your distortion of the facts.

You are correct. I meant to write 10-21 in year 1 and 13-17 in year 2 after inheriting a 17 win team. My mistake.

Rising,
1st, I know JC isn't going anywhere for another 3 seasons so he will have plenty of time to turn this thing around if he can.
I'm personally not comparing JC to ML - in fact, I've been told by very reliable sources that there's always been a good relationship between the 2. They both had a very good friend and mentor in common - Jim Phelan. 
I was upset with the way GW made this hire - under the fraud of a national search. I still believe an A-10 school (even as bad as we were 2 years ago) is an attractive job for a young up-and-comer coach - like ML was after Hobbs started declining the program. ML won a National Championship at Catholic and had very competitive teams at Vermont. His winning percentage was close to .700 when he came here. He ran a good system and consistently beat higher level and more talented teams. JC came to us with a .500 record after around 8 years. I don't recall either MSMU or Siena ever beating any Power 5 teams. Our habitual poster dud wants to talk about how he won an NCAA tourney game - a play-in game against powerhouse New Orleans in 2016-2017. Winning the NEC Tourney and beating New Orleans in the play-in game doesn't make you ready to take on an A-10 team. That was my feeling 2 years ago.
Now that JC is the coach, his performance will determine whether or not he's here at the end of his contract. I hope he does well. If he does, I think he will be gone at the 1st opportunity because he has witnessed 1st hand the dysfunctional administration and the financial problems we are having. We will eventually run out of D.C. real estate to sell to keep afloat. Then we will start this process over again. Like other die hard GW Hoop fans, we are frustrated and at the end of our patience. It's not directed at JC personally but at the program he leads and has to be accountable for. Show improvement and we will become his biggest supporters.

Joel, 

I think this discussion is best served at the end of year 2 to see what if any progress has been made. Granted the first 6 games have been disappointing. I don't think JC would dispute that. But we've all seen seasons where teams start out hot and fade or disintegrate later. We've also seen teams that start slow and improve.

For whatever reason, this team is not playing to its ability yet. If that continues throughout the 2020-21 season, no one expects JC to get a free pass not even JC. But there are 19 games left, the possibility of 2 impact additions to the lineup and much can still happen in terms of development. 

As a result, I think it is ridiculous that we have Fire Jamion posts starting now. I am sure JC like any coach understands when you don't win you are going to be criticized. But I do think the story has not yet been written either on JC or the rest of the season. 

HI everyone. I know my voice doesn't count for much here as I don't have the depth of knowledge or "inside scoop" others have. I learn a lot from many of you and I appreciate you.  However, I feel that I must say the title of this thread is upsetting to me.  Please don't misunderstand me, I know it is your right to express your opinion. You are free to say that this player is not good or this coach is bad, but I feel the title of this thread and some of the things written serve no purpose except to blow off steam in a very unproductive and unhealthy way and/or hurt the feelings and characters of others.

In this case the victim is Coach Christian who seems to have become a punching bag for some of us.  I feel it's unfair and nasty.  It's one thing to discuss, criticize and question certain decisions, but it's something totally different when the tone takes on such mean tone.  Maybe it's just that I am dumb, or maybe I was brought up the wrong way and am too soft, but I'd ask those of you to are piling on in a mean way to pause for a moment and see if you can take a different approach.    I don't think JC deserves to be treated this way.  I'm sure he's tough and can take it, but that doesn't make it right.  I for one would like JC to be successful and stay for a long time.  Maybe treating him better would be a good start to both.  Okay, that's the end of my rant.  I don't know if it will help change the way things happen here, but I thought it might be worth a try.  And remember what GWRising says....give the bread time to bake!!

Depending on what or if you celebrate, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa (which begins 12/26).  May God bless each and every one of you and everyone on our team this holiday season.