And now this from Dan Gavitt about March Madness:

Dan Gavitt to @GoodmanHoops on the controlled environment. "A bubble is only as good as your discipline within it." And what if there's a positive test? Or a team on a pause? "It's not really an event you can pause or postpone."

https://twitter.com/TheFieldOf68/status/1354145582089072641

Last edited by GW0509 (1/26/2021 3:35 pm)

I think college basketball will follow what football did and get the entire season completed/GET THE MONEY regardless of the postponements and uneven schedules(Ohio State played 5 or 6 games and still qualified for the BCS Final 4). As we've pointed out before on here, they are not going to have 2 straight years of no NCAA tournament. GW Alum Abroad mentioned that St.Louis hasn't played a conference game yet, despite that, St.Louis has actually been ranked the entire time they've been off, so they have a huge incentive to get games in, as opposed to a struggling team. I don't think any men's team will quit the season because they understand the money that is at stake. 

Also, when the NCAA and conference tournaments start, I assume everyone will be in bubble situations at each location for the conference tournaments and in Indiana for the NCAA tournament, so there will probably be a lot less COVID cases with everyone in a specific location.

GW Rising,  that is true about a team possibly contracting COVID before they arrive to Indiana and that causing big problems, but I'm assuming the NCAA chose one location as a way create a bubble. If they can get every team to Indiana COVID-free, they should be able to pull off the entire tournament without a lot of problems.

Texas lost to Oklahoma earlier tonight, they played the game with just 8 players and without their coach Shaka Smart. Would the NCAA allow teams to play in the tournament if they had a COVID issue but had an acceptable number of players available? I thought the NCAA was postponing games if there was any sort of COVID issue involving players, coaches or staff. Or is it up to the schools to decide whether they want to play with a limited number of players? 

It's hard for me to mentally check out of a GW basketball season but if ever there was a season....

Basketball is a sport of rhythm.  Rhythm featuring lineups gelling together, hot shooting streaks, 12-2 runs.  Rhythm may also be found when a team wins 3 in a row or 7 of 8.

The 2020-21 season has been the season of anti-rhythm.  Maceo, JNJ and Ace leaving mid-season. Hunter becoming eligible mid-season.  Ricky sitting out most of the season.  Our one game against a Power 5 school getting cancelled.  Replacing that game with two days notice.  Playing the same team on the same court on consecutive days.  Postponing what is now at 6 conference games.  Not playing a game for 19 days (at least), and not even being able to practice for much of this time.

I've often preached here that as long as they play the games, winning and losing matters.  However, so much has happened this season that the mere act of playing a game now feels like a victory.    Everything about this season has turned into the anti-rhythm season.  My hope is that anyone within the program who has been infected makes a complete and speedy recovery, that anyone who has not been infected continues to stay safe and healthy, and in the event that we get to witness more GW games this season, that we consider ourselves fortunate that we're able to be entertained for a few hours at a time.  

It would be nice if we all stopped vilifying our own players during games on this site because what this season has become is all about getting through this season and letting the top programs compete for a national championship, resulting in the financial windfall which the NCAA and their members desperately need.  This is no longer the season to pounce on every mistake on the floor or crucify every dubious coaching move.  It's one thing to point these things out here but it's another to lose your shit over it.  

I hope we can play some more and that we can gain needed experience playing together as a team.  And that I will continue to feel entertained watching the games.  Anything beyond these simple goals should be put on the shelf until the 2021-22 season begins.

GWRising, the only difference is that I did not feel this same way two months ago.  I am still at a loss as to why our OOC games played out as they did.  We did have to make some scheduling adjustments back then but we were still playing frequently.  Seems like all college basketball programs had to deal with the same issues regarding isolation and resilience, and none had a manual for dealing with this.  So I am not sure why the crisis would negatively impact GW's on-court performance harder than other schools.

Today, Covid-19 has hit the program hard and many games which have been postponed will likely not be rescheduled.  Plus, any realistic hopes for a postseason tournament appearance were dashed a while ago.  It's a lot easier today to feel the way I do than it would have been months ago.  At least that's how it is for me personally.

Not sure if anyone has noticed, but URi has played 10 conference games and SLU has played only 1.

The school is hoping to be able to play the Richmond game, although it may be with a shortened roster.  Battle not yet back from his injury, but team is hopeful he will be once we resume playing

Hi everyone. I've read all the posts in this thread and am still confused.  Can anyone confirm that the team is not practicing at all during this break?  I feel if we are able to practice, coming back to play game will be hard, but not as bad as it could be. 

The unfortunate thing is that this is affecting members of the team serially instead of all at once despite the best efforts to quarantine etc.  So this is likely to continue until the last positive is the last positive if you get my point since each positive starts the pause clock anew for that person plus those exposed to him/her. I think you are required to have 7 or 8 healthy players at a minimum to play a game. Since the players all live together - February 9th is aspirational but far from a done deal at this point.

Our next scheduled game that hasn't been postponed is Feb. 9 vs. Richmond. But now Richmond might not be available even if we are ready to play again. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30813642/richmond-pauses-men-basketball-activities-third-due-covid-19-concerns