There's a brief video out on Brayon Freeman where JC has commented that everyone is going to love Brayon.  His humor and enthusiasm are infectious.  Words to this effect anyway.  Brayon says he loves GW on the video, sings a bit during what looks like drills, etc.  All is good; it's August.

Make no mistake about this.  Brayon Freeman came to GW to become its starting point guard.  If he's not handed the keys right away, it will only be because JC does not want to apply too much pressure on him early on.  In case you are unaware, Brayon has been quarterbacking the types of high school teams who find their way to nationally televised games on ESPNU.  His pedigree is not unlike Pato's at Montverde or KevLar's at Montrose Christian, only Brayon was the floor general of his teams.

There are two other players on the roster who we've seen play the point guard position.  James Bishop and Amir Harris.  Let's discuss Amir first because his situation is simple.  First,  he must be healthy enough to play again at this level.  If he's not in acceptable health, then that ends his role in this discussion.  Assuming he's physically cleared to play, Amir should see some time at the point but not as the primary option.  He can clearly create mismatches, has very solid court vision, and has a fairly good handle for a player his size (though this area can always stand improvement).  Amir is a change-of-pace option at the point, someone who should spell the primary point guard and should only be given greater opportunities at the point on a game by game basis based on whether this move provides a huge competitive advantage for GW.

Onto James which is a more complex situation.  One question that I do not fully know the answer to is whether James ran the show last year out of necessity, because JNJ was not convincing in the role and there weren't really any other plausible alternatives, or because James came to GW to become its point guard for several more years.   Given the way James ran the offense last season, coupled with the amount of playing time he received, it stood to reason that just about all of his meaningful statistics would be high...points, shots, assists, turnovers.  The question becomes whether this is how James plays in general, or is this how James played on last year's (below-average talent) team?  Another question is whether James can be as effective, if not more, while playing off the ball?  The likelihood is that we will not need James to take so many shots this season given the upgrades in talent.  However, if he is the point guard and the ball is in his hands, will he repeat the tendency to be a scorer first or will he recognize that it's more logical to get teammates involved when they frankly are better players?

If this issue gets publicly addressed, JC will correctly point out that there's nothing wrong with playing two point guards together, or that basketball has become a positionless sport, particularly in the backcourt.  And to be fair, I can envision Brayon and James on the court at the same time, each bringing the ball up and setting up the offense on different possessions.  Nevertheless, I can foresee Brayon as a natural floor leader who is very comfortable playing the point.  This is not to say that Brayon will not look to score because he absolutely will.  It is to say that he will feel very comfortable with his decision-making because he has been doing this throughout his basketball life at  a pretty high level.  As for James, I don't want to write him off as a point guard just yet.  IMO, his decision-making improved over the course of last season but in all fairness, this facet of the game began miserably for him.  If he can limit his forced/bad shots and willingly get his teammates involved, this would be what every GW fan would want to see.

In the end, I see Brayon as someone who was born to do this and James as someone who is learning to do this.  My hope is that if the coaching staff realizes that one is simply more effective than the other, they will adjust their plans accordingly.  There should clearly be a role for both players on this team...that's why the coaches get paid the big bucks as it is said.