- russianthistle
- Buff & Blue Club
Offline - Registered: 12/03/2019
- Posts: 167
Re: GW vs Howard Game Thread
BM wrote:
Other positives:
Ricky with no foul trouble
KILLED them on the boards
Clark played some tough D
Bishop had a shitty day and we still won going away
That was a fun game to watch
Want to highlight the adjustment on defense that Coach installed. First half, we were getting beat off our hedge/double team at the top of the key leading to lay-up/dunks for Howard’s. That was cleaned up with a half time adjustment.
Another smart move was realizing their bigs quickness made it a mismatch for Noel and used Samuels to spell Dean.
Used Clark a ton to combat the quick guard. Though Adams and Clark played great D - limiting their leading scorer to 1 three and a bunch of free throws.
I am thinking that Caputo is working with James approach and I may suggest that it may be become a current target for criticism in the near run of games. I sensed the same with Lindo. Brown had a frightening stretch of minutes as he took charged of a Bison recovery. I loved how Caputo handled the post game interview and was very charitable to Noel. I have that goes on to Caputo's list of coach-up list.
I think that we are seeing a coachable of making both in game and halftime changes. Both of Friday's teams were well coaches and playing smart. We all should be able to see smart play even in a loss andbad play in a win.
Best of all it so much nice to go a will her without all the BS.
Last edited by russianthistle (11/12/2022 12:19 pm)
- Free Quebec
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Re: GW vs Howard Game Thread
That was a really fun game, played hard at both ends all game.
Can’t help but think we lose this game last year. Howard pressured us all game and trapped very effectively In certain spots, including st the FT line. But we kept the ball moving and got some excellent individual performances from Ricky, Max, and Dean, not to mention Adams and Bishop played fairly composed. If Caputo can keep Hunter Dean playing like that, we will stay in a lot of games.
Best part to me was that we scored 85 points in 69 possessions (1.23 points per possession!). Last year the only times we broke 80 in regulation were the A10 tourney blowout when UMASS stopped defending and the 89-87 win over LaSalle. The LaSalle game was the only one where we had that level of efficiency all season last year (that was the only time last year we even hit 1.15 ppp, so you can already see how moving the ball is paying off on offense given that we’ve been over 1.15 both games albeit one vs a D2 team). The defensive efficiency could use some work, but hopefully that will come.
All that to say I know we’ll be undermanned in most A10 games, but I’m really liking the way he team is playing. You can see not only better effort than previous Novembers, but the team is much better drilled in how to share the ball and how to defend (back door dunks aside). Was impressed with Howard, too - I don’t know if they were just really fired up to play us, but they were very active with their pressure and traps and they shot it fairly well, particularly in the second half.
All in all a fun game. Hope we can keep improving - and that we’ll have more games where Ricky, Max, and Dean all click like that at the same time to go with our veteran guards.
- Long Suffering Fan
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Re: GW vs Howard Game Thread
And therein last night we saw the good and the troublesome. Causes for optimism include that Dean, Samuels, Lindo seem significantly better than last season and Max appears to be the real deal. Probably Bishop is better also...at least I like his game much more this season). We were the more talented team last night...frequently did not say that last season against weak OOC foes. I also like to see the players on the floor for loose balls. Saw it last night (at least twice for Lindo), not so frequently last season, but all indications seems to say that the effort is better. I suspect that the new coach has set the bar somewhat higher than were it has been set before.` My concerns are at the point. As previously stated by Wisconsin Colonial, Adams does not seem to be a point guard. He has been shooting the ball well and playing good defense, but he just isn't a point guard, as his 2 assist to 8 turnover ratio in 2 games will attest to. I suspect we may be seeing more of E.J. Clark, who is really looking like a solid pickup. A legitimate point guard who actually does point guard things. But who knows...maybe this is on the job training for Brandon, and by start of conference he will fill the role better, Concerned also about the defense, which at least in my opinion, remains a step too slow, and we do not seem to be forcing very many turnovers. Which leads me to Brown, for whom I have been a bit of a cheerleader for. Offensively, he has hit 4 of the 5 shots he has taken, but his number on offense just doesn't gat called, becuase he offers limited options. What likely kept him off of the banch for all but 6:47 last night (during which the team was a (-5) was he is too slow to guard anyone not in his weight range, He also needs to be more aggressive (not sloppy) overall. Coach hinted in the pre-season as to how much he seemed to like Dean and it is clear why. Wished Brown had some of Dean's aggressiveness. If Brown does indeed lose minutes, it looks like Samuels would be the beneficiary (along with Dean of course), rather than Keegan Harvey, who may need some time to grow into playing at this level. Finally, to echo what Free said...The Howard game was really fun. It wasn't so much of a blowout that it made the game boring. We led almost the entire game but not by enough to relax or lose interest. Further both teams played very well. I was impressed with Howard's coach and was surprised is 2 year reecord at Howard was pretty bad. Crowd was decent (still only 50% capacity) and they were loud, and to me the band always sounds good (I know they are not the Stones) and I hiave always been a big fan of the cheer team. Things appeared to be well run at the Smitty. The "event planning" staff puts on an entertaining product beyond the game (but please, don't ever give us that hula hoop competition from the first game ever again). Seemed like the perfect atmosphere for a college basketball game, I have seen us play 3 times this season and we won all 3 games. Life doesn't get better than that. Definitely leaving my March calendar clear.
- jf
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Re: GW vs Howard Game Thread
The passing is a major difference.
James, who's made major strides in choosing hit shots, especially important when they're not falling, passed
the ball out on the perimeter at one point, rather than go 1 on 3 or whatever it was on a drive to the basket.
There was a reference above that we kept the ball moving and that describes it exactly. Some cases where the extra pass caused a basket. Rather have too many passes than not enough.
Defense obviously needs work, but again, we have shown some adjustment. Amir playing a bit could help. EJ Clark also is a steady presence who has veteran experience.
Prob wouldn't hurt to get in a little bit of Nixon, if we have any future hopes for him, when we build up a good lead. Keegan Harvey also, but he needs to use his height as well as what seems to be a nice stroke at times.
Didn't we play with 4 guards at times? A guard-centric strategy is interesting, given the good recruits we have coming in next year.
And Max Edwards, who clearly is a D1 players. And sure seems like he has the potential to be a very good A-10 player,
The thing is outside of Max, the vast majority of players getting time now will be gone next year, so it will be a tough balancing act.
Developing the future with the few we have that can return next year, versus the need to get wins.