St Francis sounds like a team that would be very bad, but KenPom suggests otherwise. 

What do we know about this team?

I'd guess GW about  -6.5?

Before we get too confident. Does anyone (Hello, GWRising) know whether Lindo and Bamisile will play and will they be at full strength?

Which one?

St. Francis Red Flash

Date/Time: Tuesday November 9th @ 8:00 PM ET at The Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, DC.
TV: ESPN+
Preseason Ranks: 244th (KenPom), 284th (Bart Torvik), 287th (CBS), 297th (SI)
2020-21 Record: 6-16, 5-13 (T-9th in NEC)
2021-22 Projected Record: 12-17, 7-11 (8th in NEC)

Coach: Rob Krimmel, 125-148 in nine seasons at St. Francis (PA) with three CIT berths and an NIT appearance in 2019, the year the Red Flash tied for first in the NEC (Krimmel also won the coach of the year in the NEC that year). Last year's finish was an anomaly compared to his previous four seasons at the helm, where SFPA finished third or higher in the NEC. Krimmel has been associated with the Loretto, PA program for the past 25 years - from 1996-2000 as a player, 2000-2012 as an assistant coach, and as the head honcho since 2012 (the same year JC became head coach at rival Mount St. Mary's). JC won 11 out of 13 matchups against Krimmel and SFPA while he was coaching in the NEC, with the Red Flash only winning two games during the 2014-15 season.

Head-to-Head: 5-1, although the last matchup was 16 years ago. JR Pinnock went for 20 in a 17 point victory. Maureece Rice (16 points), Mike Hall (15 points, 8 rebounds), and Omar Williams (13 points) all pitched in as well. Pops missed the game as he was serving a three game suspension for some violation related to declaring early for the NBA draft. We were ranked in the top 25 in the last two matchups against them.

Offensive Efficiency: 212th (KenPom), 292nd (Bart Torvik)
Defensive Efficiency: 272nd (KenPom), 259th (Bart Torvik)
Pace: 141st (KenPom), 149th (Bart Torvik)
Returning Minutes: 99.9% (3rd in country)

Key Returning Players:
Ramiir Dixon-Conover (Senior; Newark, NJ) 15.5 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.9 SPG; 43% FG, 30% 3-PT, 75% FT
Myles Thompson (Junior; Camden, NJ) 10.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.1 APG; 37% FG, 25% 3-PT, 70% FT
Maxwell Land (Freshman; Cincinnati, OH) 8.9 PPG, 4.2 RPG; 47% FG, 41% 3-PT, 71% FT
Ronell Giles Jr. (Freshman; Brandywine, MD) 8.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 2.3 APG; 37% FG, 33% 3-PT, 81% FT
Marlon Hargis (Junior; Mays Landing, NJ) 8.3 PPG, 4 RPG; 51% FG, 42% 3-PT, 84% FT
Mark Flagg (Senior; Fairless Hills, PA) 8 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 1.6 APG; 55% FG, 58% FT

Key Losses:
Bryce Laskey (Transferred; Uniontown, PA) 7.5 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 1.3 APG; 36% FG, 31% 3-PT, 69% FT

Comments:
It feels inevitable that every preview this year is going to have some mention of COVID effects when reviewing an opponent's season in 2020-21. In that regard, the Red Flash may consider themselves to be one of the "luckier" teams in that they managed to play all 18 conference games last season and only had the one OOC game canceled against St. Bonaventure (Bona had an interesting stretch where they weren't able to play anyone because their opponents kept getting COVID - that included us earlier in conference play).

The aforementioned "down year" that SFPA had could definitely at least partially be attributed to the strict COVID protocols and limited practice time, but the team was also relatively young and Krimmel opted to give several freshmen court time right away (a smart idea all things considered given how almost incomplete last year felt). Things certainly started off on a strong note against Pittsburgh, where St. Francis was able to come away with a 10 point win. As one would expect with a young team, they were pretty much and up and down the rest of the way - a loss against Central Connecticut in any scenario is never a good thing but when in doubt blame COVID!

With pretty much everyone returning from last year's trial run (and a number of freshmen making that sophomore jump), it's fair to expect somewhat of a bounce back year for St. Francis (PA). They were picked eighth in the preseason NEC poll, but I could definitely see them finishing a bit higher than that. Both double figure scorers from last season return in guard (and former JUCO player) Ramiir Dixon-Conover and forward Myles Thompson. Dixon-Conover and Thompson (who both hail from the Garden State) form one of the better inside-out duos in the NEC. RD-C performed fairly well off ball screens and isolation plays much like Bishop and actually got to the rim more often than the other bigs on the roster. He led the team in points, assists, and steals and was second in rebounding despite standing at 6'3". Per hoop-explorer, SFPA's offense and defense tanked when RD-C was on the bench (net rating of -19 when he sat) so expect him to play as many minutes as he can handle:

Thompson was a fairly strong rebounder last year (third on team) but struggled with efficiency from all over the court. Krimmel is more willing to run post-ups than many coaches in the country so Thompson improving his post-up game would go a long way in balancing the offense.

Other key upperclassmen include senior Mark Flagg and juniors Tyler Stewart and Marlon Hargis. While Thompson is more of a stretch forward, Flagg is a traditional big who knows his role - he's an active rebounder and can finish inside when his number is called. Stewart and Hargis provide greater versatility, and their best asset might be their ability to shoot from deep. St. Francis isn't a team that constantly guns from 3 (and they shoot just 31% as a team), but Stewart and Hargis shot 41%, albeit on low volume. Stewart missed half of last year with injury.

Maxwell Land, Ronell Giles Jr., and Josh Cohen enter their second year looking to build off strong freshman campaigns. With Laskey departing late in the offseason (guessing he was the odd man out in the rotation), Land is the leading returner in threes made on the team, shooting 41% from deep. He was also strong on the glass but struggled with turnovers. Giles Jr. serves as backup to Dixon-Conover at the point. His percentage from the FT line (81%) suggests he has the capacity to be a better shooter than he showed in year 1. Cohen was very productive down low and led the team in field goal percentage (65%). Like Flagg he is averse to shooting from distance. Zahree Harrison, Luke Ruggery, and Jeriah Coleman may also see spot minutes. Harrison earned the most minutes of the three as a promising passer but has a long ways to go on the offensive end. Coleman definitely has the height if he can show he is ready for more minutes.

St. Francis (PA)'s issues defensively were very similar to ours - their guards could not stay in front of their man, and there wasn't enough shot blocking/intimidating frontcourt presence to deter players from getting to the rim at will. Per ShotQuality, SFPA ranked 328th in "shot quality defense" which definitely correlates with the large number of attempts allowed near the hoop. Opponents shot 61% at the rim and took 43% of their attempts from there (Hoop-Math). By comparison, we allowed opponents to shoot 56% near the hoop, but opponents took 45% of their shots from inside (hope Noel's emergence reduces this figure). Given we finished first in free throw rate during conference play last season, we should see success driving to the hoop and getting to the line. Our team this year figures to be similar to last year in that we aren't too heavy on shooting threes.

This is a good opportunity for us to come out of the gate with a strong showing. COVID or not, St. Francis proved they could catch a superior opponent napping last year. JC's track record against Krimmel suggests a good result, but as a GW fan I should know better than to expect anything as a given at this point.

Predicted Score: GW 77, St. Francis (PA) 72. 69% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN believes we have a 73.2% chance to win the game. The line more or less seems to have us around 5 point home favorites.
 

Dumb question......is a vaccination card (or photo of one) enough to get into Smith Center on Tuesday?  Or do fans have to register as a visitor online with GW?  I feel like I saw an email that said register, but then gwsports.com says vaccination card is an option.  

Late start due to Women’s Basketball earlier (5?)  and need separate tickets I guess.

Masks required inside unless actively eating or drinking. Vaccinated patrons need only show their vaccination cards; no need to register. Unvaccinated and under 12 must register and demonstrate Covid-free test status within 72 hours.

Selected games to be televised on local NBS Sports channels evidently 10 men's games and 4 women's games.  Does us non-DMV folks no good as far as I know.    I'll trade Fox news for MASN , NBC Sports if anyone could arrage it.