We move up to #199 in KenPom with the loss, one spot ahead of future opponent Cal State Fullerton

Just got back from College Park with my nephew, who is a Terps fan. Not much of a crowd, but we had a lot of fun. Could have been a very exciting ending if Adams hit that three! This team is a lot of fun to watch and I don’t think there’s any way we finish 13th in the A10 this year.

Turgeon with the clown quote of the night:

Turgeon on George Washington: "I tried to explain to our guys that everybody on their team thinks they should be wearing a Maryland uniform. And they competed. They played their tails off. They were really good. They were inspired."

https://twitter.com/emilygiam/status/1458983382348615689?s=21

Free Quebec wrote:

Skittles wrote:

MD 85 GW 58. Just being realistic

Realistically, you don’t know anything about basketball. Lol.

Big words after a game is over. When the team is 10 losses deep by December will you still have this energy? Thought not. This team is badly coached and undisciplined and one squeak past a shitty NEC team and close loss to a TURGEON coached MD team that is still trying out new plays for funsies doesn't prove a point. And honestly this school deserves it for how they've handled this program so you'll get no sympathy from me

Skittles wrote:

Free Quebec wrote:

Skittles wrote:

MD 85 GW 58. Just being realistic

Realistically, you don’t know anything about basketball. Lol.

Big words after a game is over. When the team is 10 losses deep by December will you still have this energy? Thought not. This team is badly coached and undisciplined and one squeak past a shitty NEC team and close loss to a TURGEON coached MD team that is still trying out new plays for funsies doesn't prove a point. And honestly this school deserves it for how they've handled this program so you'll get no sympathy from me

Thanks for showing your true colors.  I know you are a friend or relative of Lonergan, who hangs out here to defend him/trash the program for what they did to him, but at least you’ve admitted that you are not rooting for GW basketball to succeed. 

I posted before the game questioning your “realistic” take.  You were wrong. Just be a man/woman and admit it.

And if we aren’t “10 losses deep by December,” maybe you’ll just leave us alone?

The influx of talent is really eye opening.  Lindo, Basimile, Bishop, Adams.  (not to forget about Ira Lee)

Such an improved athletic, fun to watch collection of players.  

The arrow is clearly pointing north.  

Much better performance than I expected. Bamisile appears to be the real deal. Don't understand what is going on with Bishop. Literally not there until the end of the game when he caught fire. Also can't figure Hunter Dean out. Had a great exhibition game and then has completely disappeared. Rebounding is going to be a problem. That said, there is a lot of talent on this team and I just hope that Christian will improve down the stretch in terms of being more hands on.

If we're going to gripe about unimpressive victories, then it's only fair that we acknowledge a great loss and praise the team accordingly.  The team looked very confident, something that's hard to do when you're coming off a win that nearly catastrophically turned into a loss and you then have to play a road game against a top 25 team.  We will always be able to identify a few plays like the jumper with 8 seconds left in the first half that led to a Terp dunk which led to Terp momentum to start the second half that were ill advised or boneheaded.  Teams at every level know to hold the ball for the last shot in that situation.  But, we can't look at a handful of plays and theorize that these are the reasons why GW lost.

GW will lose games to any team that takes advantage of our weak defense in the paint and has the personnel to effectively exploit this. Turgeon's team took over 30% of its attempts from 3 which played directly into our hand and explains why the game was as close as it was.  Yet, they scored enough from inside the paint, often without much resistance.  Both Noel and Hunter are limited defensively.  (And please don't wonder where the Hunter Dean who dominated Hood College went to, unless we play another team without any distinguishable size.)  They try hard, they can make plays here and there, but by and large, each will likely be schooled against more talented big men.  Again, no Ira Lee translates to a big problem.

Nevertheless, the team played with a lot of heart and energy.  If you didn't like Joey B pandering to the Smith Center crowd, how do you like him now?  That guy puts a target on his back and screams "Let's Go."  Terp fans may have had the last laugh but that was to be expected.  Theatrics aside, I'm happy to go to battle with guys like Joe Bamisile.

As for James, it was another 30 frustrating minutes though it was great to see him show up in a big way down the stretch.  While Brayon shows promise, it's clear that James will continue to serve as this team's quarterback for at least a while longer.  Hopefully, he is officially out of the funk that began the season.

Final point...it's easy to see how the team competed last night and conclude that the team will be fine throughout the rest of their OOC season.  It should be noted that sports rarely works exactly the way you think it might.  (Introducing the Tennessee Titans, winners of 5 straight games including victories over the Bills, Colts, Chiefs and Rams.  Their last loss...to the NY Jets.)   Again, this is two nights and one game after nearly losing to St. Francis, PA.  While GW might be favored in the rest of its OOC games (doubtful, but perhaps a possibility after last night), one shouldn't be too surprised if the team plays flat a handful.  Even their next game, 48 hours or so on the west coast from this draining loss, does not represent "a great spot" for the team.

Cutis wrote:

I echo Moneybox thoughts. Bishop gives and he takes. With 20 seconds left in the first half and in possession of the ball, GW is up by 3. A chance to maintain this or go up by 5, instead Bishop takes a rushed shot, UMD comes down for an emphatic dunk to close the gap to one. Not a  smart play. Early, in the second half , Bishop is not aware of a pass by Lindos  and another turnover occurs. JC calls him over. The team played hard with great intensity. A win was possible. GW needs smarter point guard play.

Bishop didn’t take the shot.  It was Bamisile.  Criticize him for that, not James.

I’m glad you mentioned that moment where he didn’t see the pass and JC called him over.  That was such a great coaching moment.  You could tell Bishop was rattled, between the poor shooting and not seeing that pass, but JC really calmed him down. Put his hands on shoulders and gave him a hug.  I’d like to think that support, rather than ripping the kid as most of our coaches would have done over the years, is part of what helped James settle down enough to get back to his game down the stretch.

Skittles wrote:

Free Quebec wrote:

Skittles wrote:

MD 85 GW 58. Just being realistic

Realistically, you don’t know anything about basketball. Lol.

Big words after a game is over. When the team is 10 losses deep by December will you still have this energy? Thought not. This team is badly coached and undisciplined and one squeak past a shitty NEC team and close loss to a TURGEON coached MD team that is still trying out new plays for funsies doesn't prove a point. And honestly this school deserves it for how they've handled this program so you'll get no sympathy from me

Don't need sympathy but how about a little realism - 10 losses by December? First of all that is absurd if you look at our schedule. Second of all, if we have 10 losses by December, Maryland is going to be the worst team in the Big 10. That is also absurd. You can be angry at the way GW handled the ML situation but making clown basketball posts here isn't going to rectify that.