Think GW has a mask requirement in general, which it should in the Smith Center and elsewhere.

Looked like there were several hundred fans in the scrimmage.  Women's team went first.  I don't really follow their team but was happy to learn that Darryl Webster's daughter was on the team.  (Darryl was a solid forward on the Mike Brown team of the early 80s.    Could not tell much from the 15 minute men's scrimmage, in which approximately 100 points were scored and there was not even a pretext of defense being played.  What was clear to me was Bamisile looked like a stud, with one monster dunk after another, sprinkled in with a 3 point shot, Brown, who is still listed at 6'11" and 270 pounds, is in much better shape and really does look like a force inside; Brendan Adams showed incredible 3 point range and likewise appears to be a player and that Samuels likewise seems like a very versatile player, with 3 point range to go along with inside moves, and some quickness.   FWIW...by my count, Bishop already launched 5 shots in the first 3 minutes and looked like, well, Bishop.    If you liked Hunter Dean last season, you should like him again, as he looked the same.    Didn't notice too much about freshman Nixon and Freeman, but they both looked like players.  The team seems to have upgraded its athleticism over the past several years and should be improved.   My many gripes with the team last season included its bad defense,  its inability to protect the ball, lack of athleticism (they were just slow) and lack of scoring options.   Seems like athleticism and scoring options should be improved but certainly unable to tell if either the defense or protection of the ball were improved.  The Q & A session with the coach was a waste of time.   Submitted softball question that didn't seem to provide much insight.   Don't recall anything worth sharing

Hard to put much stock in the scrimmage since no defense was played, but it was nice to see what the new guys could do. Agree that the Q&A was useless. I had submitted some specific questions about the defense for MBB and the offensive system that WBB will run but neither got answered. Perhaps I submitted them a bit late.

Joe Bamisile was a lot of fun to watch. My goodness does he have a lot of bounce. Maybe the most athletic GW guy I've seen in quite some time. I think he even brought out a reverse dunk during the scrimmage. He seems like he has good range as well and a nice looking stroke.

Brendan Adams as mentioned above looked good shooting from distance which was pretty encouraging. He made a half court shot and an additional really deep three (he had a couple other makes from distance as well). I think more consistent playing time will do him a lot of good (as with Joe).

James Bishop was pretty much the same - definitely not afraid to put a shot up though he was having an off night from distance. Maybe it's the effect of watching him in person for the first time in a GW uniform but he can really get downhill fast. He had a nice dump-off to Noel during the scrimmage. Given how infrequently we involved the bigs in our offense last year, that was nice to see.

Qwanzi Samuels was a pleasant surprise. He definitely showed that he has stretch big potential (going under the assumption he'll play the 4 off the bench). He made a three from the top of the key and also had a nice move where he knifed through the lane for a basket. This might be his first healthy season in a couple years - I am guessing that played a role in his inefficiency at Florida Gulf Coast.

Noel Brown definitely looks stronger and seemed to have better positioning near the hoop compared to last year. I believe his splits showed that he held up pretty well defensively in limited time but he definitely showed some rawness offensively. If he can man the 5 for us this year that would be huge (maybe providing some rim protection??).

Hunter Dean was more or less the same guy we saw last year. Like last year's scrimmage, he attempted some threes, something I don't believe he did in any regular season games last season. He seemed to hit the back rim on all of them, but if he could knock those down in the future a true 5 out look could be really interesting on offense. He is also pretty athletic and threw down a few alley-oops. Made me remember the times we used to lead of games in the ML era with the alley-oop dunk. I feel like as a team we just haven't dunked the ball much in recent seasons. Hope we do that more - let's get Hunter and Noel actually involved more on offense this year. Dean also had a block in the game.

Brayon Freeman was a bit erratic at times (it's just a scrimmage so whatever) but he had a really nice acrobatic layup late in the scrimmage. He is really crafty getting downhill and finishing near the basket. Threes weren't falling, but perhaps it was an off day.

Daniel Nixon seemed to defer a bit, but he definitely has a college ready body and should be a useful piece down the road. JC in recent interviews seemed to indicate that he might need to be eased in a bit to get a better understanding of where to be on the floor at certain stages of the game.

Bryan Knapp seems like he can play the three point specialist role pretty well on this team. He has a swagger about him that I do like. While his defensive numbers at Cornell are definitely below average, they aren't Seymour bad so perhaps he can see the floor a bit more depending on the situation.

Laziz Talipov showed a nice stroke in shootaround. Tyler Warner looked pretty good defensively - I think he deflected one of Noel's attempts near the rim. Theofanis Stamoulis even bounced in a corner three.

Amir Harris was off to the side working on some drills. Ricky Lindo was in a cast as mentioned above - was nervous to see that, but it appears not too serious. Nice to see Ira Lee was walking around a bit - there were pictures earlier with him in a wheelchair so by all accounts he seems to be progressing well in rehab from injury.

No scrimmage from WBB as their exhibition is tomorrow. I was unfortunately looking more on one side compared to the other, but Nya Lok caught my eye as someone who can really give us a boost offensively. Sheslanie Laureano was in a boot like Ricky but not sure how serious the injury is. Kyara Frames is a bit undersized, but was one of the more consistent shooters I saw (which gives her an edge over Aurea Gingras) and by all accounts seems like to start at point on day one with her experience. Maddie Loder looked a bit more consistent in shootaround from 3, and I think Leila Patel gives us another option from distance. Definitely good to see more shooting on this team - while still not the most consistent, it's hard to be worse than we were last year from distance.
 

Bamisile looked electric and will be a star at GW.

We're going to be very thin this year, talented atop the roster but very, very thin on depth.

 

I know it is ridiculous to try to evaluate talent in a scrimmage that was barely more than a glorified shoot around.  How do you assess a player that you have not seen dribble, pass, (seriously) defend, rebound, etc?   Still, I could not help leaving the scrimmage without feeling good.   There appears to be real talent on the team, and 2 of the better players (Lindo and Harris) weren't even on the Court.  Nearly everyone on the court had a three point eye and appeared athletic.   Moreover, I have a feeling that we are going to get help from 2 unexpected sources, namely a faster and stronger Brown and a versatile Qwanzi Samuels.   This team really  may be underrated.   I know you are thinking "LSF, have you lost your mind?  You know better than that", but hey, its October, the time for unbridled optimism throughout the college basketball world.  Maybe I shouldn't read GWRisings posts during the off season, as they have a side effect of making one delusional.  For me, It will be a major disappointment if we go out and lose to the likes of Navy and UMBC this season, and I am in no mood to hear excuses for early season bad losses.

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (10/30/2021 10:55 am)

As for the event itself, you probably didn't miss anything by not attending if you were simply looking to learn much about the team.   There wasn't much to learn (other than tidbits of information such as Lindo's health status and Lee returning to the team next season).  In the end, for me it was worth the drive from Fredericksburg and I am glad I went.  It felt good wearing the gear again, being in the Smitty, seeing familiar faces (even if I don't know hardly anybody's name) and cheering in person for the players.   It also has sunk in that after an interminable wait, college basketball is here once again, and I will be attending a game in a little over 48 hours.  

Exciting to have potential talent. However, after two seasons and an abysmal 17-32 record, will Christian and his staff finally begin to coach this season? The jury is out. The other big problem: Too few players with any real experience. 

To those of you who actually made it through the rain to attend, thank you very much for the recaps.