Glad a professional made that response.  Didn't want to jump in and maybe missed a really offensive po
Respect the poster, but think other fan bases would be more vigorous. This is a very mild fan base for a 3-7 team that has lost to Hampton, W&M, UMBC, Towson, etc. 
James has great ability and it helped the team early in the first half and at the very end today.
It is up to him to look to his teammates, beyond Moyer, with the ball in his hands. And up to JC to make sure
that he does.
Now, if Duq (pressured by us) hadn't given up the turnover and we got a second chance--and there wasn't someone passing to James, it would be a very different outcome.
   Because in the replay, he did push off to create separation. If it was an offensive foul, which it more than arguably could have been, we would be singing a different tune. And it wouldn't be the happy one we feel
right now.
  Credit to Bishop for the big shot on the second opportunity, with a good inbound from a teammate.
  James can be a great player and hope that he sees sharing the ball makes a difference, as it did at the start of the game.

Today's win was very big.  Not so much from a win and loss perspective (this does not put us on the NCAA bubble), but it has shown a very young team that it can win the game in the final minute.  I don't think anyone would argue that the last minute of tight games have not been our shining moment this season.  In fact, I don't think anyone would disagree if I were to use the term disastrous.  That is the reason, as much as any, why a team that has outscored its opponents for the season is only 3-7.  Today's final seconds win against a superior conference opponent could provide the self confidence that could benefit our young team (and even the coach) for the rest of the season.   

Last edited by GW0509 (1/03/2021 7:54 pm)

This was a great and potentially season changing win over a strong Duquesne team with 4 starters returning from a 21-9 season. Kudos to J Bishop for the game winning three. Battle, Bishop, Moyer, Dean, and Brelsford showed us a lot today. Both teams were worn down from the doubleheader but GW with the fewer guys playing managed to make the big plays down the stretch against a team that had 15 players in the game.

Raise high!

Ten points about the game/team as well:


1) To address BGF, I have no argument regarding James's play being maddening at times.  Although I am encouraged that his decision-making has improved considerably over the past few games.  That said, it's not like he's never going to take an ill-advised shot, never have the ball stripped from him, etc.  The goal is to limit these instances.

2) It's hard to believe that there was a point in time where my primary concern about Jamison was that he develop his game to the point where he is not another Nemanja Mikic, meaning a fairly one dimensional three point shooter.  His offensive arsenal has evolved exponentially.

3) Matt really stepped up yesterday on the offensive end.  There will be concern all season about alleviating the scoring burden from James and Jamison.  Matt is a player who can score points without really having to set up plays for him which is a big plus.  And of course, his defense on Carey over the full weekend was extremely tight.

4) As this team is presently constructed, we should be vulnerable to a player like Weathers who has a fair amount of girth and uses it to his advantage.  Hunter is long but lean, Chase hasn't physically developed, and while Noel may be the solution one day, his game is still raw enough that he is not seeing many minutes.  Nevertheless, allowing him to go one-on-one on the game's final play, given all of his missed free throws, was a real head-scratcher.  

5) I am normally not a fan of taking a quick 3 with a hand in your face.  But, Jamison and James do manage to hit their share of these (including the game winner).

6) Enigma #1.  One would have thought that by reuniting with Tyler and James, Chase Paar's game would thrive.  Instead, just the opposite has happened.  As I see it, the difference is that last year, Chase would often touch the ball and score seemingly within a split second.  He showcased an exceptionally quick move by a big man.  This year, he is catching the ball often much further away from the basket, his moves are deliberate, and it appears he is thinking way too much out there.  He needs to get back to the low post, catch, turn and score.

7) Enigma #2.  Sloan Seymour has been a target on this board but here's how I look at him.  He hit 3 threes in the first half against Fordham almost in the blink of an eye.  While we would have won this game without his contributions, the fact is that those quick 3's helped open up the game and GW never looked back.  His range is so deep that many defenders will not extend their defense as far as needed.  Seymour needs to be able to pump fake those who do come all of the way out, and create space for a closer-in 3 (much like Jamison clearly has worked on).  The fact is that this guy can and should be an offensive weapon for this team as he may also be the 3rd scorer it needs from game to game.  Yesterday, he took 4 threes (making 1) in 9 minutes.  I would rather see him take fewer 3's per minute but play at least 15 minutes each game.

8) I know we should not look backwards, but why again did Tyler and Lincoln play so little during the OOC season?  Actually, JC made interesting remarks about Tyler in his postgame remarks.  To paraphrase, it sounded like Tyler wasn't ready for much game action early on, but once he went through the regimen that the coaches designed for him and he started tearing it up in practice, he was given the green light.  Both players are providing solid intangibles which is impressive given their limited experience.

9) Great coaching adjustment by JC and staff.  On Saturday, we double teamed their bigs whenever the ball reached the baseline, but did not make any real effort to force turnovers.  Yesterday, the double teams on the bigs were used far more sparingly (it helped that Michael Hughes was in foul trouble for much of the game).  When we did double team, we were far more aggressive (and not afraid to foul) in going for the ball.

10) The Bishop game-winner was obviously the play of the game, but it likely does not happen without the possession that preceded it.  After cutting the Duquesne lead to 1, we went into a full court press (MAYHEM!!), and forced a traveling violation.  This was certainly the defensive play of the day.     


 

Couple of responses Mayhem:

-Battle has quickly gone from a one trick pony to one of the most versatile scorers I can remember at GW.   If he can ever develop his defense and was maybe a step quicker, I think he could play in the NBA, he is that good.    
-When we first signed Moyer, I looked at his college numbers and said great, another Goss.  I was so wrong about him.   If he ever starts knocking down some of those 3s, he could be an additional incredible offensive threat, to go along with his excellent defense.   Unfortunately, it appears we are going to lose him after this season (so he can move on with a professional career) although he would have that bonus year of eligibility.
-I use to kinda scoff at the notion of a weight trainer.  No more.   One of my concerns with the team is how soft they are inside.   They have trouble guarding anyone at the post and they simply get out muscled for too many rebounds.   We should not have been man handled by Weathers like we were.  Thank god he could not hit a free throw.  In particular, Chase needs to continue to develop some more upper body strength.   You can see the formation of a 3 center rotation, with Chase, Dean and Brown.  2 are sophomore and one is a freshman.   I don't know if any of the 3 could play with the other, and teams do not need a 3 center rotation.   For now, the rotation should likely be Dean, who will see his minutes increasing and Chase, who will see some of his minutes go to Dean.  Brown will continue to be developed slowly (as he should), but once he is developed, I am not sure how Chase will be used.   
Not sure where I am with Seymour.   If the bench was a little longer, I would use him more situationally.  One thing the team has shown it is very capable of doing is scoring points.  I think it is important for Sloan to develop at least one more aspect to his game (preferably defense, of course) before I would give him serious minutes on a full squad, but given our player losses and having 3 frosh, I suspect that he will get those 15MPG.
As for Brelsford and Ball (and even Brown), I am generally old school about freshman. Development them slowly over their first year, let them adjust to the higher level game, and then come the serious minutes.   Again, we do not have the luxury this  year.   I have gotten glimpses of things to like from all 3.   In particular, I like Brelsford's ability to beat his man off the dribble and hit a mid range shot. 
As for the coaching, agree that this was a great game by Christian.  No time to go into detail other than to say I was impressed with his strategic use of time outs, especially in the first minute of the second half when Duquesne came out hot and we came out flat.  They did eventually catch us and take a small lead, but the key was that we were not blown out in those first few minutes of the second half, which we could have been.

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (1/04/2021 12:26 pm)

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

Couple of responses Mayhem:

-Battle has quickly gone from a one trick pony to one of the most versatile scorers I can remember at GW.   If he can ever develop his defense and was maybe a step quicker, I think he could play in the NBA, he is that good.

This is what i was wondering having caught up on some of his games. He reminds me of Braxton Key but potentially better shooter. Transferring like Key could be a mistake.

Interesting how the discussion has shifted so quickly from whether we could win a game to where we are today. I've told some of you let the bread bake. Not only is it better for your mental health but it's true. This team had a lot of new parts, some chemistry issues, and COVID put that all on steroids. We had to play through that. It is now settling out for various reasons and will continue to as the season progresses. There will still be ups and downs but that's part of the growing process. Remain calm and all will eventually be well. You just have to have a little faith and stop over analyzing every play, mistake or strategy. JC is a damn good coach but like all coaches including those before him here, you have to learn on the job about what works at GW. Again, at the end of the season there will be a body of work and there will be months to discuss the pros and cons. The daily manic-depressive state of this board really does no one any good. Relax. Enjoy the ride. 

Last edited by GWRising (1/04/2021 1:08 pm)

Weight room only does so much. Plus these guys are in the weight room. There are guys who play stronger than they are and guys who play weaker than they are. Weights help but grit and want to matter more. Our guys need more nasty in them. That will do much more than the weights.

GWRising-You are constantly asking everyone to. “trust the process”.I am a huge believer in that
notion.I’m fairly certain most,if not all the posters here do indeed trust the process or they wouldn’t 
keep posting on this site year after year after year etc. etc.However as I mentioned earlier on some 
post “faith is necessary but not sufficient”.To me it’s definitely not manic-depressive to discuss questions 
around what is or is not sufficient.Isn’t that why we are here.We all “trust the process”.