There were some not-so-subtle jabs thrown at James's direction on the transfer thread.   So as to not change the subject of the transfer thread, I am responding here.  

There are some folks here who feel that James played like a selfish ball hog who should be held out to dry for someone like Jamison deciding to transfer out.  Then, there are some who recognize James is a high level talent who played the point very much along the lines of how JC wanted him to play the position.

There are a few available statistics to help analyze this.  First, James shot over 51% from the floor during GW wins, and under 40% from the floor during GW losses.  Well, this makes sense given how often he had the ball.  He also averaged about two more shot attempts per game during losses which leads me to my major point.

Prior to the final game of the season where James was about our only source of offense, the team's three preceding games saw James's fewest field goal attempts in a game all season.  The SBU game makes sense since the starters were pulled so early (he was 2-7 from the floor in Olean) and he put up a pair of 4-12's against GM (game 1) and Fordham.  Let's compare this to a 5-19 performance against VCU or a 5-16 game against Dayton earlier in the year.

My thoughts are that James began the year with the understanding that he was being counted upon to produce points.  He had some familiarity with Paar and Brelsford but had to learn which teammates he could count on.  Lindo wasn't playing yet, Moyer was not a catch and shoot threat, JNJ did not seem to fit as an off guard, Maceo had lost his starting role.  And the whole Jamison dynamic seemed strange at first.  Towards the end of the season, it did seem like James learned not to shoot as much if his shot wasn't falling.  His ability to find Jamison also seemed to improve.  

So the big point is maybe James wasn't the same player at the end of the season than he was earlier on.  In some earlier games, James kept shooting because he felt this was the team's best option.  Over time, he learned to trust his teammates more, as well as to shoot fewer times when he wasn't "on".  His game evolved, at least in my mind, and to continue to chastise him for selfish play that he was likely guilty of earlier in the year strikes me as being very unfair to him.

More "fake news". 
Note the list put out by GW0509 was the "media" poll winners - not sure who that is but do GWHoops.com visitors qualify as media for voting purposes?
The League/Coaches A-10 2020-2021 award winners includes only 1 GW player on the entire list of 30 players - and that player is James Battle.
I guess the real experts - other A-10 coaches don't think as much of Bishop as 1 poster here does.

I personally think Bishop has potential with the proper coaching. I just don't think he's going to get that "coaching" here at GW. Let's hope he doesn't figure that out soon and transfer like the others.

Jenny, stop addressing me on this site.
I was done with you after your incompetent representation on my case against Xerox!

Thought I'd start a new thread before it was started for us.  (See Barry, I am learning.)  No reason why an Ira Lee thread should bear the brunt of this.

To paraphrase some old saying, statistics will tell you whatever you would like them to tell you.  This is especially true when highlighting some statistics while conveniently ignoring others.  In the case of James Bishop, few if anyone here is arguing that he is not an extremely talented player.  His scoring and assist averages will attest to this which is why these figures are being repeated so often.

But what about his assist to turnover ratio which represents a truer indicator of point guard performance than assists by itself?  James was tied for 10th-12th place in the conference, and finished in 16th place when factoring conference games only.  He shot 42.7% from the floor which is neither outstanding nor horrible for a guard, and shot 33.8% from three which is a disappointing percentage for someone attempting as many three point shots as James did.  James averaged under 1 steal per game which is also subpar when considering that he averaged over 36 minutes per game of playing time.

By now, some of you may be thinking what I am about to write next.  Putting the stats aside, what about the questionable decision making we saw from James at times?  Early in the season, we watched James take many ill-advised shots while often failing to get his teammates involved.  In particular, it appeared as if James was not inclined to find an open Jameson Battle along the arc.  I accused James of playing hero-ball which is understandable when considering that James had great belief in his abilities while perhaps not being convinced that setting up a teammate was a better option for the team.  And since he was the one almost always with the ball in his hands, James compiled nice numbers while the team lost a considerable number of games than it had no business losing. 

To James's credit, this issue improved as the season unfolded.  It is not a coincidence that Battle averaged 27.5 points in the two best wins of the season over Duquesne and URI.  I'd dismiss the final loss of the season against Mason where James appeared to be taking on the Patriots by himself (and succeeding for a while).  The fact is that GW was exhausted playing that game and everyone could see this, including James.  I don't begrudge him one bit for that performance.

As for Jaren Sina, repeating again and again that he was not athletic enough doesn't detract from his basketball playing abilities.  (The fact that he's been playing professionally ought to tell you that at least someone else feels similarly.)  As has been stated, Jaren kept that team under control, and at times from unraveling.  His free throw shooting alone was responsible for "saving" at least a half dozen wins.  His development was severely handicapped when the coaching change was made.  Jaren clearly came to play for ML,  a former point guard who could help teach him the nuances of the position.  He was never going to be a prolific scorer, and quite frankly, he made the best of a bad situation.  As was mentioned, his absence in that CBI loss could not possibly have been more glaring.      

James Bishop, GW's first representative on the Preseason All-Conference First or Second Team since 2016-17

Release: https://gwsports.com/news/2021/10/27/mens-basketball-bishop-named-to-preseason-all-conference-second-team.aspx

James Bishop was second in the league in scoring last season behind Bones Hyland.

In A10 games, he was 4th in the conference in scoring behind Bones Hyland, Jameson Battle and Taylor Funk.

Attention Fact Checkers:  Your jobs are safe.

I think his GW legacy goes in one of two directions, if the program isn't entirely turned around, he's a highly prolific scoring Guard on teams that didn't win much, ala Chris Monroe.

But, if the program is turned around....

 

I like Bishop. Yes, he was a bit of a ball hog last year, but I think that for the most part that was because he had to be. Battle was the only other player on the team who could consistently score. I look forward to seeing him play with some other scoring options. Hopefully that will be the case this year.

His electric quickness, and shooting touch combo is such a rare pair of skills, especially at GW.

The A10 Coaches and Writers have already picked him this year as one of the league's 10 best players, so really he's already a candidate, but more likely next year with a better team around him.  Maybe this year if the team is a big surprise.



 

Last edited by The Dude (11/03/2021 7:00 pm)

At the halfway point, team MVP is?

I'd vote:

1. Bishop
2. JoeBam
3. Freeman