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GW69, who said JC was perfect? I would hope you can distinguish between he decided to hold a scholarship even when danjsport thinks he shouldn't (and didn't really want to) and JC being perfect. This is one of the reasons we have trouble having nice things at GW ... everyone is so negative about every little thing whether it's real or imagined. My job is not to idealize JC, it's to correct the record here when there is either wild or false speculation or statements being made. I was here (on the message boards) when JC was in HS lol.
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Please take the bickering to a different thread before Barry has to lock this one.
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Well, we have here a self proclaimed "an incredibly gifted Psychotherapist" and a persona who claims it is his job to correct the record.
Bizarre yes, but is it really "Bickering?"
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Ahh parsing the word bickering. How tremendously unhelpful. Try being adults and letting things go. Be civil and funny. There are no points in heaven for relentlessly shrill or unkind.
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I’m also the “self -styled” legend in my own mind “King of Doowop”.Really!
Sometimes you just someone to come out and play with you. Remember?
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Perhaps we can go back to talking about recruiting.
One recruit seems underwhelming for this level,as ideally you would want evidence of solid performance coming from a lower level. But maybe there's something the coaches spotted that we don't know. We'll see.
One thing that may be a benefit to our seeming inability to land someone right for the final spot is that a good player could become available at the last minute.
Zeke Armwood for example,who ML got in the summer. Someone like Tyler,for another example,probably would have transferred if our coaching change happened before classes started.
(Note: examples for illustrative not debate purposes on this particular thread.)
Maybe we can luck or strategize into someone like that. We always have the pocketing option,which can also be used for a midseason transfer.
Even a hardened GW fan can look on the bright side in the off-season before reality crushes our dreams. Always hope this time of year.
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Plenty of blame to go around as is often the case.
I don't think it's fair to say that JC did not get any of the players he wanted. He has rebuilt practically the entire team. Even if the meaning behind this pertains to filling a final roster spot or two, the statement seems to convey that his recruiting turned out to be disappointing, which by all accounts was not the case.
It's also not fair to do a 180 and claim that JC somehow made this great move to pocket a scholarship, since only 5 guys can play at a time and that bringing another player in would have only resulted in another player transferring out at some point. I can agree that it was a wise move not to use the scholarship on a subpar player for the sake of filling up the roster. But if pocketing the scholarship was such a smart move to begin with, then why was JC still interested in recruiting another player? Of course, he was trying to improve his team which he should. But, don't say that's a good move that the scholarship was pocketed because the objective of further improving the 2021-22 team was not fulfilled.
Finally, there are debates and there is bickering and there are personal attacks. I would hope we can all agree that intelligent debates are welcome here and that personal attacks clearly are not. Bickering is that gray area that I would hope we don't overreact to. Stating that someone is wrong about something is admittedly a bit more harsh than saying that you disagree, but this is also often said within the context of a legitimate debate. Agree that excessive bickering can be a bit much to take but in general, when two posters are arguing their sides, I would hope that we could all patiently wait things out. When the bickering moves to personal attacks, then it should be time to shut it down. Just my unsolicited opinion on the subject.
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Two points.
1. First, it is a great move to pocket a scholarship when there is no further way to improve the team in the near term without creating additional headaches. Clearly, if a top transfer wanted to come to GW now, JC would seriously consider. But to bring in another guy just for the sake of having 13 guys even if that guy was potentially the same as what you have now, just makes little sense in this era of hyper transferring. The fact of the matter is no coach can regularly play more than about 9 guys (regularly play means more than 10 minutes per game). And recently, it is apparent that the 9th guy thinks he should get more than 10 minutes and will likely transfer. Why add another potential headache unless he moves the needle significantly? Not saying you Gwmayhem, but if JC brought in another guy and someone leaves, people will flock here screaming..
2. Where is it written that you have to have 13 scholarship guys?
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Snark-filled question: If the basketball team leaves a scholarship unused, can said scholarship be used by a gifted student who us not a gifted athlete to attend GW?
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GWRising, I don't think anyone is in disagreement with what you are now saying. The issue has more to do with let's say a month or two ago when you enthusiastically posted that JC was not done yet or words to this effect. The distinct impression you gave was that the 2021-22 team was going to improve even more than it already had and several here were excited by this. As it turned out, we picked up a transfer from FGCU who put up pedestrian numbers and a transfer from Cornell who we hope can be an upgrade over Adam Mittola. I can't believe these were the players you had in mind. We apparently missed out on one solid player due to grades and perhaps another because he chose a different school.
So rather than say that JC and staff tried very hard for landing even more talent but came up short (which there is no shame in), you instead are quick to point out that it's a good thing that he's pocketing the scholarship. Which it is under the circumstances, but which was not the original goal or hope. I think this is why you're receiving some pushback..because you are very quick to praise JC over the good developments and are just as quick to defend him or explain things away regarding the less than good developments.
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I think you are missing the point. It is a wise move NOW to pocket the scholarship. Of course, if JC could have gotten another transfer - one that would be immediate impact - he would have taken him. He had one in mind but unfortunately and curiously (and surprising to everyone) the University could not admit him. So rather than take someone else just to fill a scholarship (even perhaps someone who could compete for minutes) he adjusted his thinking. Not sure why anyone could have a problem with that at this point. Yes, two months ago it looked like we'd be getting said transfer. But that didn't happen. It wasn't that he missed out on guys. It was that admissions threw a surprise at him because the kid was definitely coming (and before anyone thinks he brought in a questionable academic kid, his grades weren't the issue).
That said, I do think the transfer from FGCU will be better than predicted. His problems have been injuries and if he can stay healthy, he will do well.
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Can I add that the transfer from Cornell (Bryan Knapp) is a walk on . Correct me if I'm wrong GWRising
Can we now all agree to move on.
Before we know it, we can actually start debating actual on court performance
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Florida Colonial wrote:
Can I add that the transfer from Cornell (Bryan Knapp) is a walk on . Correct me if I'm wrong GWRising
Can we now all agree to move on.
Before we know it, we can actually start debating actual on court performance
Correct
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GWRising, I did not miss your point. I think we all see that after JC was unable to land the player or players he was interested in, due to academics or any other reason, he was correct to pocket the scholarship. It's just that the original hope was to land additional talent. So for you to say that it's just as well that he didn't because another player would only have resulted in someone else eventually transferring out sounds like a cop-out. Put another way, if he had been able to land the player who is unable to play at GW due to academics, you would more than likely be posting a lot about how the talent level of this team has been remarkably raised and not so much about how this new addition will likely result in another player transferring out.
I get the feeling that if JC had his team open in a zone, watched the team fall behind 15-0, took the team out of a zone, and GW eventually lost that game by 2, many here would be lamenting over why the team played zone at all while you would be reminding us how intelligent it was for JC to take the team out of the zone and to imagine how much the team would have lost by if JC hadn't changed strategies.
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Gwmayhem wrote:
GWRising, I did not miss your point. I think we all see that after JC was unable to land the player or players he was interested in, due to academics or any other reason, he was correct to pocket the scholarship. It's just that the original hope was to land additional talent. So for you to say that it's just as well that he didn't because another player would only have resulted in someone else eventually transferring out sounds like a cop-out. Put another way, if he had been able to land the player who is unable to play at GW due to academics, you would more than likely be posting a lot about how the talent level of this team has been remarkably raised and not so much about how this new addition will likely result in another player transferring out.
I get the feeling that if JC had his team open in a zone, watched the team fall behind 15-0, took the team out of a zone, and GW eventually lost that game by 2, many here would be lamenting over why the team played zone at all while you would be reminding us how intelligent it was for JC to take the team out of the zone and to imagine how much the team would have lost by if JC hadn't changed strategies.
Well if the other player had been accepted, I doubt he takes the transfer from FGCU. So we'd still be talking about the extra scholarship either way. But the point you continue to miss is that he was likely never going to use that scholarship.
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I am not wanting to get involved in any of the disputes, but I do feel it's smart of JC and his staff not to extend a scholarship offer for the sake of using all available.
I feel this way because I'd be concerned that if the fit isn't exactly right, it may cause hard feelings and result in someone deciding to leave the team. I feel making a commitment that has a decent chance to cause disruption is a commitment better not made.
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Former team manager and D2 transfer added to roster
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Good for Theofanis.
I can already imagine the end of game "Greek freak" chants.
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In terms of in-bound additions, I'd say best off-season in a long time.
We've gone from a collection of guys like Darian Bryant, to a collection of high end BCS talent
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Who needs The Washington Post when I can receive all of my GW basketball news from The Arizona Republic and JewishInsider.com?
Here is a great article from the latter on Bryan Knapp. Looks like he'll be at the very least a great locker room presence on this team and hopefully, quite a bit more than that.