This is an interesting game and also a good time to be playing UMASS.  My guess is that March UMASS will be a much tougher out than early January UMASS.  We blew this team out last year in Amherst and I suspect they'll be using this as fuel.  On the other hand, that really has not helped in the recent past.  GW has won (and covered) the last 8 head-to-head meetings which sounds insane.  Well, if you're 1-27 and the 1 is against UMASS, if you can beat the #1 team in the country who happens to be UMASS, then even the below average GW teams can get the job done too.  Remarkably, Feb. 15, 2014 was the last time GW lost to the Minutemen.

UMASS has become the major league franchise for Woodstock Academy so many of their players should have some familiarity playing with one another.  They are 2-3 having split games with Northeastern (KenPom 159), lost to Bryant (KenPom 198 but 7-2), beaten a La Salle team that has already knocked off Dayton, and lost a double overtime thriller to Mason.  Five games is a limited sample but they are averaging nearly 87 points per game so get ready for lots of running.  It will be interesting to see whether our game plan is to run along with them or try to control/slow down the tempo.

Of course, stopping them starts with defending Tre Mitchell who may very well be the conference's best player.  I'd imagine that Matthew draws the assignment (imaging guarding Sincere Carey for two straight days and then moving onto Tre Mitchell...talk about versatility) but this will take a team effort.  Their three point shooting may be a key to this game.  Carl Pierre has the ability to go off although I think we've held him in check for the most part.  TJ Weeks is back from an injury but his near-50% clip from 3 over 10 games or so last year has disintegrated to 6-29 thus far.  He's either struggling and will continue to or is due for a breakout game.  Noah Fernandes is now a sophomore and is very capable at the point.  A pair of freshmen fill out the bulk of the rotation, Javohn Garcia and Ronnie Degray, III.   Garcia is an aggressive ball hawk but he fouled out in just 12 minutes of playing time against Mason.  Degray is a 6'7" Woodstock graduate who has been solid.  With Garcia in foul trouble, he played 43 minutes in the double OT loss to Mason.

It's an interesting series in that the talent level on both teams is somewhat comparable as has been where both schools have finished in the conference standings over the past 6 years, yet GW has won the last 8 meetings.  

According to GW pre-game summary and A10 website, game will be on ESPN+.

NBC Sports Washington is not carried on the West Coast on Fubo.  Alas.  Any other possibilities?

GWG wrote:

Checked the ESPN+ schedule for tomorrow, looks like the GW game will be televised there. Wizards are playing tomorrow at 6 on NBC Sports Washington (same time as the GW game) so I assume they wont be covering us.

I'm pretty sure NBC Washington+ will just carry the ESPN + feed.  For those in the DMV, NBC Washington+ is Xfinity Channel 856.

Massachusetts Minutemen

Date/Time: Wednesday January 6th @ 6:00 PM ET at The Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, DC.
TV: NBC Sports Washington+, ESPN+ (I see the game on the ESPN+ upcoming schedule as of now).
Ranks: 114th (KenPom), 119th (Bart Torvik), 133rd (CBS)
Record Last Year: 14-17, 8-10 (T-8th in A10)
Projected Record (as of now!): 9-12, 8-10 (T-7th in A10)

Coaching Record: Matt McCall, 38-58 in three seasons at UMass. After two very successful seasons at Chattanooga where he won a combined 48 games, Matt got the McCall from the Minutemen (although he was admittedly not their first choice - Pat Kelsey originally took the job only to get cold feet and return to Winthrop soon after). It has been a struggle thus far for McCall, as UMass has had three middling seasons since he's taken over thus far. His seat is getting warmer, although it's worth mentioning that his 8 wins in A10 play last season was clearly a step in the right direction. Prior to his head coaching career, McCall spent six seasons at his alma mater Florida (two as director of basketball operations, four as an assistant) as well as three seasons as an assistant at Florida Atlantic.

All Time Record: 44-29, and we have won the past eight contests going back to the 2013-14 season by an average of 13.5 points. In the 75-51 road victory last season Armel led the way with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists, Maceo added 20 points with four made threes, and JNJ had 14 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Potter and Jack made seven field goals each. The team had a good day shooting the ball - 51% from the field, 47% from three, and 95% from the line.

Offensive Efficiency: 84th (KenPom), 64th (Bart Torvik)
Defensive Efficiency: 173d (KenPom), 211th (Bart Torvik)
Tempo: 31st (KenPom), 34th (Bart Torvik)
Returning Minutes: 58.9% (166th in country)

Key Returning Players:
Tre Mitchell (SO; Pittsburgh, PA) 17.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 1.9 apg, 1 spg, 1 bpg; 48% FG, 33% 3-pt, 73% FT
      Last season against us: 13 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists (5-11 FG, 1-4 3-pt, 2-3 FT) in 25 minutes.

T.J. Weeks (SO: Warwick, RI) 14.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.8 spg; 42% FG, 49% 3-pt, 72% FT
      Last season against us: DNP (suffered season ending hernia surgery 12/7/19).

Carl Pierre (SR; Boston, MA) 12.1 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.6 apg; 37% FG, 34% 3-pt, 85% FT
      Last season against us: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists (4-11 FG, 3-10 3-pt) in 36 minutes. 

Key Losses:
Sean East II (Transferred to Bradley; Louisville, KY) 9.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.9 apg, 1.1 spg; 40% FG, 32% 3-pt, 78% FT
Samba Diallo (Transferred to Manhattan; Rufisque, SEN) 6.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg; 43% FG, 17% 3-pt, 67% FT

Comments:
The Woodstock Academy Minutemen entered the 2020-21 season with high expectations after finishing last season on a high note, winners of five of their final eight contests. Unfortunately, they were victims of COVID early on, forcing them to pull out of the Mohegan Sun Bubbleville tournament, an event that honestly completely fell apart in November given teams coming down with COVID left and right. It's crazy to think of a team like Arizona State getting on a plane and making the trip all the way to Connecticut without any knowledge of who they were going to play in a matter of days.

Once able to get back on the court, UMass split a back-to-back with crosstown rivals Northeastern (not a true back-to-back as there was a day in between - I feel like in general it's very tough to sweep the doubleheader) before crushing a hot-shooting La Salle team in mid-December by 19 (a contest that took place before A10 play got officially underway). They are currently on a two game losing streak however, falling to Bryant by 5 and losing a heartbreaker to George Mason in double overtime where they blew several leads during the game. Between their track record against us of late and that last 2OT loss leaving a sour taste in their mouth, UMass definitely seems likely to come into tomorrow's contest angry. They also had a week in between the double overtime contest and our game. Considering Duquesne shot a dismal 29% from the floor against a Davidson team that isn't exactly stellar defensively, I do worry about how well we'll shoot tomorrow playing three games in five days.

There's no secret as to who the alpha is on this team. Tre Mitchell leads all players in the A10 in scoring and is a frontrunner for player of the year in the league. There is simply not much that Mitchell does poorly - he can bang inside but also shoot the three at a good clip (although he tends to settle for threes too much at times like in our game last year). He is very strong on the glass as well and a great passer. Mitchell has improved as a defender in his sophomore campaign as well after a somewhat shaky first year. I can imagine JC definitely spent a good amount of the past few days thinking how we'll guard him for tomorrow. Obviously our frontcourt is going to have issues containing him and I wouldn't be surprised to see double teams throughout tomorrow. Hope to see Noel play a bit more as probably a slightly more physical presence although he needs to spend more time in the weight room -  he has been solid defensively so far in limited time. Mitchell's backup is American transfer Mark Gasperini. He didn't have much of an impact in our local matchup last year, and his role after transferring to Amherst is basically to give Mitchell a breather.

McCall has wisely complemented Mitchell with several snipers along the perimeter to prevent teams from just packing the paint and focusing solely on Tre (not that zoning would be a great strategy for us anyways for a long period of time). The guys to watch out for dotting the perimeter are T.J. Weeks, Carl Pierre, Noah Fernandes, and Javohn Garcia.

Weeks had his very promising freshman year cut short by injury, but prior to that was torching the nets from deep and probably could have challenged Jamison for the three point title had he stayed healthy. He is off to a slow start so far from distance this year perhaps shaking the rust off from injury, but he is the exact guy I see getting back into a groove if we lose track of him along the perimeter.

Pierre is basically the Maceo Jack of their team, a four year player who takes more than half of his attempts from distance and shoots a good clip (38%) from there, but forcing him to put the ball on the floor and finish inside tends to throw him off a bit. He is also a decent rebounder.

Fernandes (35% from deep) returns home after a year at a crumbling Wichita State program. He has basically taken Sean East's role as primary facilitator of the offense with good rebounding but is a solid player on both sides of the ball - he averages 2.2 steals per game as well (UMass as a whole does a good job of generating steals on defense).

Finally, Garcia is their prized freshman who is shooting a hot 46% from three and 53% from the floor. He is a good complementary initiator in halfcourt settings and plays good on-ball defense (although he has found himself in foul trouble at times this year).

The rest of the returning rotation from last year includes Dibaji Walker, former GW target Preston Santos, and Kolton Mitchell (no relation to Tre). Walker, a Cleveland State import, provided some nice energy off the bench in our game last year with 10 points. He has overall struggled with efficiency during his time at UMass though and has seen his minutes cut in favor of others. Santos hasn't played yet this year as he has taken a leave of absence from the program. (Kolton) Mitchell resumes his deep reserve role as a guard who can step in if others are in foul trouble.

UMass can go 11 deep, which includes other freshmen Ronnie DeGray III, Cairo McCrory, and Dyondre Dominguez seeing action during games (all are guys who we either showed interest in or offered at one point). DeGray, a Colorado native, has started and done a great job being a glue guy so far in their lineup. He is a great finisher inside, and although he isn't a high volume three point shooter has the ability to stroke it as well. McCrory has been solid coming off the bench, pitching in a bucket or two when in the game and adding some rebounding. Dominguez has played a bit less compared to the others as he is a bit raw offensively at this point in his career, but has great potential defensively with his long arms and ability to disrupt the opposition from getting into an offensive rhythm.

Neither team is good defensively, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is a high scoring contest, assuming we aren't a bit winded from this past weekend. Hoping to see the ball movement from the second Duquesne contest and for Tyler to continue seeing time at point with Bishop off the ball. I loved the play where Bishop cut to the basket and Tyler found him for a layup - we executed that successfully in both the Duquesne and Fordham contests. I'm not quite sure we have a chance of winning the rebounding battle (although we enter statistically with the slightest of edges), but limiting second chance opportunities will be important (something we've struggled with all season). The number of times we just haven't been able to put a possession away after forcing a missed shot has been frustrating at times, and that sometimes includes losing the ball out of bounds trying to come down with the board. If Dayton's loss to Fordham today was any indication, any expectation of consistency in the college game should be tempered, and that is multiplied given COVID. That's what makes college basketball so great! We might be slight underdogs tomorrow, but none of that matters once the ball is tipped.

Just a couple of quick thoughts from the second Duquesne game before I wrap up. Ball movement was so much better on Sunday, and defensively the help side defender did a much better job rotating to prevent passes to be executed down low by the Dukes. Matt gets the game ball for his great defense all weekend and especially his rebounding which sometime goes unnoticed (the numbers indicate that, but that play where he got the offensive board and got fouled to get Hughes out of the game was a really key play that will be forgotten). There were complaints about Bishop in the other thread - even as a guy who was a bit harsh on him early on, he deserves a ton of credit for progressing as a passer, and Sunday was his best performance yet from that standpoint. He made really good decision making in terms of when to shoot and when to defer and should be praised for that. It seems like some do criticize him when he does poorly, but he should also be given credit when he does well! From the other thread, it seemed like only the former which was disappointing. Credit to JC and staff for making adjustments without much time to do so. Also, the Marcus Weathers comparison for me is closer to Markieff Morris - I actually think he can get there as a player if develops a more consistent three point shot.

Predicted Score: UMass 82, GW 78. 38% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN gives us a 48.3% chance to win, a true tossup. The Minutemen open up as a 4.7 point road favorite.
 

Will this game happen? Isn´t the proverbial doo-doo supposed to the hit the fan in the neighborhood about the time this game tips off? While I hope the only shots fired in DC today are on the Smith Center court, is that going to be the case? Clearly, the conference has learned its lesson about not scheduling GW at home on Jan 20, but I guess Jan 6 is going to be a date that has to be blocked off in the future, too.

A 6pm curfew has been decreed for DC today (as per ABC News). The point spread and Bishop´s ability to pass the rock may not be very relevant...

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (1/06/2021 2:39 pm)

Pete Thamel  @PeteThamel 1m 
Sources: George Washington' home game with UMass scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight will not be played because of the curfew in Washington D.C.

I'm glad I pressed preview to see the newer replies about tonight's game being postponed and didn't give my take on the game. Earlier today, I read GW Alum Abroad's suggestion about the game being cancelled and thought it was ridiculous, I was wrong, I didn't think MAGA WOULD STORM THE CAPITOL!! I thought that they could still play tonight since no fans would be attending, but I understand the decision.