Oddly, this is a huge win.  We needed this really, really badly.  Having it be a team that beat Kentucky...that only helps.

Everybody, take a deep breath now...

HUGE shots by Armel Potter and Jamison, really needed that.  Clutch moments

No, we will stink, let the rebuild play out without force-feeding it and enjoy the victories as they come.

Today was a good one, things to build on.

25 points 4 dimes 3 boards for Armel Potter, back to back huge games, after starting the year barely playing.
22 points for Maceo 5-9 from 3  5-5 FTA, Maceo is now 76-86 career from the line. close to 90%

6 boards and 6 points in 11 mins for Mezie, steal, block, 0 TOs,  can someone explain why he is playing 50%  fewer minutes than Juice?

11 pts 6 boards,  3-6 from 3 for Jamison who continues a strong Freshman start to his GW career.

Next up Milwuakee tomorrow at 2pm.  They are 5-2 vs a light schedule.  (we are 2-4 vs a lighter schedule)

 

Last edited by The Dude (11/23/2019 5:18 pm)

We are officially undefeated in games where I don't write a preview beforehand. Taking that as a sign to stop doing previews for good. It was a good run...I prefer to win. The feeling is nice. Sorry guys.

Throw out our down the stretch play against UMKC, and this team has without a doubt improved in leaps and bounds. It is noteworthy that coming into this game we ranked 344th in KenPom's "luck" ranking (only 9 teams were lower) so I guess things were bound to swing in our favor eventually?

Offense: I'm going to highlight the offense end, where it is clear that we have dialed back the three point attempts somewhat. We took just over 40% of our shots from three today (probably slightly less than what JC wanted originally) but that may be our sweet spot moving forward. The difference between our play down the stretch of this one vs. UMKC was better ball movement. We still only finished with 8 assists, which is slightly less than I would like, but with a win it gets brushed aside. Compared to last year for sure this end has definitely improved even with a similar roster. I see guys cutting off the ball and various screens set to get open shots, something that was missing last year. It did get a bit tougher again in the second half (the offense wasn't nearly as free-flowing) but overall I thought the game plan on offense was solid.

Defense: Evansville got to the hoop a bit more than I would like, but I thought we did a solid job running them off the three point line (this is definitely a team you want to do that to - I believe they made 10+ threes last night against East Carolina. The biggest difference today was the presence of a help-side defender when a Purple Aces player got to the hoop. Yes, their execution could have been better for sure, but we made it tougher for them to convert (taking out their two transition dunks) and a second defender was absent down low to help in the UMKC game. I understand now why JC prefers taller players, especially on this end. The addition of a true rim protector is what is missing this year and will probably continue to hold the defense back a bit even when AT gets back. Still, the team as a whole tried their best to contest shots and fared decently. I hope we are recruiting for that kind of a player because that will definitely make a difference in the future. I will say sans AT we did well on the boards to only get outrebounded by 1.

Game Ball: This is a tough one. I was originally going to still give the edge to Armel, but today I'm splitting it between Armel and Maceo, mostly because Maceo played 40 minutes today and I have to respect a guy that was giving us offense at critical stretches without coming out at all. Honorable mention to Jamison for hitting the dagger at the end of the game. This is the Armel I was hoping to see last year. He looks much better fully healthy. Maceo had some nice moves on his threes as well. It was fun to watch the duo carry this team on their backs. It also means experience definitely means something! Interesting to see JC come out with the lineup that was clicking after the half. I think it was the right call. Don't fix what ain't broke.

Player Breakdown:
JNJ - hard to evaluate his performance much given that he was in foul trouble throughout. I believe his third or fourth foul was a slap on the hand of an Evansville player in the backcourt which was a poor decision given his current foul situation at the time. I still think at this stage in his career he is a bit better off the ball - JNJ turned it over three times in 11 minutes and since the 11 assist Howard game, has just three assists combined in his last four games. Although JC will frown on the midrange shot, that long two that he made in the second half was a big one. 

Shawn - is continuing to improve each and every game. His poise as a freshman today was outstanding. One notable play was the layup where he pump faked a bit and kissed it off the glass in the second half. I like that he plays within himself and doesn't force the issue. He has quietly taken over the point guard role somewhat and given the team 7 assists in the past three games (which is more than JNJ) and has executed really well on some passes. Although he too was in foul trouble like JNJ (it almost seemed like the refs were calling everything on us at the beginning of the game) I think it says a lot that he saw more action in the second half than Jameer did. Shawn definitely looked like he belonged today. He also had a big defensive stop in the game. Hope he keeps it up.

Jamison - the disappointment is that I believe he took just two shots in the second half. Of course, one of them was the huge three to put up us six late. I've been tough on his defense, but I'm going to mention his defensive rebounding the past two games. He has had six in each of his two games in the Bahamas, and did well to pull a few down when the ball looked to be up for grabs. Also had a nice play where he dove on the floor to collect a ball. Haven't seen too much of that so far from the team but that's always going to make a coach happy. His minutes continue to go up (played 38 today) but I'm not sure who I'd rather play instead of him. I just think we need to be doing a better job of getting him more open shots if there is anything.

Maceo - as mentioned, didn't come out of the game today and continues his en fuego shooting in the tournament. That block he had in the first half seemed to come out of nowhere and definitely stands as one of his best defensive plays ever. He has looked locked in the past two games, and a few threes he has attempted were contested but shot confidently which can make a big difference. He had a nice move in the first half to free him just a little for a three. Like Jamison, I'll say the disappointment is that we aren't giving him any easy looks from three (I guess credit defenses and Jamison/Maceo for being able to knock down some tough shots anyways). Maceo too was a bit more active on the glass than usual.

Javier - seems guaranteed to make a nice block on defense every game (which is always nice) but otherwise not a whole lot else to say. He only made 2-4 FTs today, but I think I'd rather have him go to the line than attempt a shot near the rim (he is a decent FT shooter).

Armel - man is it great to have a penetrating guard who can get to the hoop at will. For years, it seemed like we are always the ones facing teams with guards able to do that. The past couple of days it seems like there is no space to small for Armel to fit through getting to the hoop. I will say at times he probably runs the clock down a bit too much (and we don't pass as well on certain possessions) but he seems to be a bit better converting on layups now healthy and has improved on his free throws considerably (the two misses after the under 4 timeout were tough, but overall he was good). I can understand why he was buried a bit on the bench to start the year - as mentioned earlier, JC likes taller guards, and unfortunately at 6'1" Armel just is limited on that end and unfortunately found himself trying to defend against bigger players posting him up. Still, his offensive skill both scoring and passing the ball (4 assists today, which gives him 16 in three games) is too valuable to ignore for too long. Another nice game.

MENZIE - (I believe the announcers finally figured his name out during the game, but will continue to use it for the remainder of the tournament) MUCH better today. His defense is his strength, where he is able to disrupt an offense by swiping the ball away or rejecting a shot (he had another massive one today that was similar to his block against Howard). The team has looked better overall when Mezie has played better. He did better today with not fouling on defense, and although his range is somewhat limited (probably shouldn't take too many threes) he has a really nice touch near the rim, and has improved at the free throw line. If he can keep this up, he might be able to spell Jamison and Maceo a bit more moving forward which we'll need. He got 11 minutes of run today - I think that could go up by 5-7 if he plays like this.

Juice - got 21 minutes, but I don't remember much again except for a missed three in transition. Still I think it can be helpful to have a guy eat up some minutes when guys are in foul trouble, and sooner or later, Juice will have a high energy game we are used to seeing from him. I noticed that when JNJ picked up his second foul, JC went with Armel, and it was only when Shawn got his second that Juice came in so he likely wouldn't have seen as much time without the team foul trouble today.

Ace - it actually felt like he played less today, but his minutes actually went up in this one, logging 18 minutes of action. Interesting to note that Javier's minutes were cut in half, while Ace's nearly doubled. I still think long term Ace will probably not see much time with AT and Chase healthy, but he had a nice putback and one early in the game.

Adam - didn't play today, but every time we made a nice play he was seen punching the air which was a lot of fun to watch. Bench energy is always very underrated in my opinion. Monmouth probably went a bit too far a few years back, but I always enjoy seeing guys on the bench cheer on whoever is on the court.

Once conference season rolls around, it will be interesting to see how many guys we play. Today it was 9. When AT, Chase, and Amir can play does that go up in A10 play? I'd imagine as of right now probably Ace and Juice might get some DNPs but it's tough to make a case for a sure sit at this point.

Next up is Milwaukee, which strikes me as another opponent similarly ranked as us. Oh, and I'm kidding of course about stopping the previews. Expect the Milwaukee one later tonight. Let's keep up the momentum!

He's a 5th year senior, would not have been on this team, just like Collin Goss, would not be.

The 4th year seniors who would be: Juice, and possibly Darnell and Jair.

 

Yet, this is a game thread about GW's win over Evansville.  

The never-ending fixation on the firing of a Coach 4 years ago, brought down the last board.  Lets not mistake that again.  "JF" I see you registered just a few days ago, welcome to the new Board. Lets move forward shall we?


 

FYI....we were 7 point dogs today