Billy Lange is 12-42 in the A10 in 4 years, 3 of those wins being the last 3 games.

Saint Joe fans wanted to run Martelli out of town for years, got ....Billy Lange results

Phil won 7 NCAA tourney games won 444 games including 218 in the A10.   Be careful what you wish for.

I will say Saint Joe's starting to play a lot better the last 2 weeks, two teams on win streaks 

Watched the St Joe's vs. La Salle game.  They looove their three point shots.  They're 20th in the country in three pointers as percent of total attempts.  The other two teams we've played with that profile are Richmond and Seattle (both losses).  They camp out outside the three point line and run a series of picks to open up their shooters (they love the corner three).  If you over commit to defending the three, they roll to the basket for a layup.  If they're on from three, they usually win (unless the opponent shoots better than 50% from beyond the arc).

Last edited by BM (1/24/2023 4:51 pm)

I would not call Seattle a "lesser team".  They are 16-4 and 7-0 in the WAC.  While they do not have wins over big name opponents, their losses are at Washington, at Oregon State as well as Iona and Utah State in the Hawaii tournament.  Of those teams, only Oregon State has a losing record.  They lead in a conference with some pretty good teams such as Utah Valley.(win at BYU), Sam Houston (win at Oklahoma), Grand Canyon and Stephen F. Austin..

Wanted to echo the sentiment about carrying the momentum through to a game against a bottom half A10 team. I think we'll do it. It certainly feels like we turned a corner against Dayton.

While I understand there are going to be ups and downs, and some serious growing pains in Year One,  I can't help but look at the upcoming schedule and see a not-so-crazy path to 13-5/12-6 and a top 4 finish. I'm not predicting it, but still.

GW seems to benefit from playing before energized crowds.  (I imagine that is true for most teams).  I anticipate Wednesday's crowd will be half of what it was against Dayton.  (Just subtract the Dayton fans will reduce the crowd by nearly 50%).   I am concerned about that.  Speaking of the crowd at Dayton, it was, relatively speaking, large and energized, however the Smitty was still only at 50% capacity.   The return of the fans is a very slow process.   Thank you again, Mr. Nero.    (Jack Kvantz was present for Saturday's game.    Good to see him there).

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (1/23/2023 11:35 am)

DC Native wrote:

LA Colonial wrote:

I would not call Seattle a "lesser team".  They are 16-4 and 7-0 in the WAC.  While they do not have wins over big name opponents, their losses are at Washington, at Oregon State as well as Iona and Utah State in the Hawaii tournament.  Of those teams, only Oregon State has a losing record.  They lead in a conference with some pretty good teams such as Utah Valley.(win at BYU), Sam Houston (win at Oklahoma), Grand Canyon and Stephen F. Austin..

Yes, Seattle has a KenPom of 108, so certainly not a bad loss. With our current KenPom of 169, the only bad losses have been UCSD (294) and American (222). The Pepperdine (167) loss, although not bad, was worse than Seattle (108).

The last time our KenPom was as high as it is now, our starting lineup was Terry Nolan, Jair Bolden, Arnoldo Toro, Patrick Steves, and Yuta Watanabe.

Saint Joseph's Hawks

Date/Time: Wednesday January 25th @ 7:00 PM ET at The Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, DC.
TV: ESPN+
Preseason Ranks: 169th (KenPom), 173rd (Bart Torvik), 193rd (Sports Illustrated)
2021-22 Record: 11-19, 5-13 (T-12th in A10)
2022-23 Projected Record: 14-16, 8-10 (T-9th in A10)

Head-to-Head: 30-38. St. Joe's won last year's meeting in Philadelphia 72-61, snapping a three game win streak for GW in the series. Last year, GW's reputation during conference play was that we beat up on the bottom of the league, as we did not notch a single win against any of the six teams that finished above us in the standings. The lone exception to that rule was a loss to the Hawks, which was to be honest a game that was easy to forget given it was lodged between two close games which we came out on top (at home against George Mason, on the road against Rhode Island). The game was played just two days after the Mason game as a makeup (the game was originally scheduled for 1/2/22 but was postponed due to COVID). The only other thing I remember about the game was that the Hawks were whistled for a technical before the game started so we led 1-0 before the ball was tipped.

There wasn't a whole lot GW did well in the game. Defensively, it was just like any other game in the JC era. We did a good job running the Hawks off the three point line, as they shot just 4/17 from 3. Given that's one of their strengths (39th in threes made per game) it was a reasonable strategy, but alas they adjusted and made the 2-PT shots that we were more than happy to concede every game. Joe's finished shooting 51% from inside the arc. Offensively, we didn't get to the line enough on a day when shots weren't falling (just 9 FT attempts) and the team was outrebounded by 14 (unsurprising because we were one of the worst rebounding teams in conference by a fairly sizable margin). At least we only turned it over eight times all game. Joe led the way with 22 points and Brayon added 13 points. Hunter had 11 rebounds and an impressive five blocks.

Offensive Efficiency: 211th (KenPom), 197th (Bart Torvik)
Defensive Efficiency: 196th (KenPom), 169th (Bart Torvik)
Pace: 70th (KenPom), 70th (Bart Torvik)
Offensive Shot Quality Rank: 199th
Defensive Shot Quality Rank: 207th
Rim & 3 Rate: 85% (26th)

Strengths (OOC Play):
Three Point Attempts Per Game (35th)
Free Throw Attempts Per Game (43rd)
Free Throws Made Per Game (T-55th)
Three Pointers Per Game (T-62nd)

Weaknesses (OOC Play):
Scoring Margin (258th)
Fouls Per Game (T-261st)
Assists Per Game (266th)
Blocks Per Game (T-275th)
Assist Turnover Ratio (277th)
Field Goal Percentage (285th)
Rebound Margin (287th)
Bench Points Per Game (337th)

Key Returning Players:
Ejike Obinna (Graduate Student; Enugu, Nigeria) 12.1 ppg, 7.9 rpg; 57% FG, 49% FT
      Last Season @ St. Joe's: 16 points, 12 rebounds; 8-14 FG, 0-2 FT in 35 minutes.

Erik Reynolds II (Sophomore; Temple Hills, MD) 12.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.3 apg; 42% FG, 34% 3-PT, 84% FT
      Last Season @ St. Joe's: 19 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists; 8-15 FG, 1-5 3-PT, 2-2 FT in 38 minutes.

Cameron Brown (Senior; Laurel, MD) 8.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.8 apg; 41% FG, 34% 3-PT, 57% FT
      Last Season @ St. Joe's: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists; 3-6 FG, 1-3 3-PT in 31 minutes.

Key Losses:
Jordan Hall (Exit Early Pro; Wildwood, NJ) 14.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 5.8 apg, 1.2 spg; 39% FG, 36% 3-PT, 74% FT
Taylor Funk (Transferred to Utah State; Lancaster, PA) 13.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.8 apg; 41% FG, 37% 3-PT, 87% FT

Comments:
The Hawk may never die, but it sure seems like it's been on life support for the past half-decade plus. When Billy Lange took over the program from longtime head coach Phil Martelli, he did not exactly inherit a lot (23% of their scoring returned from Martelli's final team) so a six win season wasn't exactly a surprise. The following season was of course largely influenced by COVID, but even if you give Lange that five win season a pass as well the reality is that the former Villanova/76ers assistant is 22-60 through three seasons.

It's unusual for a school to move on after three years (I'm still surprised we moved on from JC when we did) so I'm not surprised Lange remained as coach this year but by all accounts he appears to be the one coach in the league who's on the hot seat. I can't think of anyone else might be in the running, especially given nearly half the league hired a new coach this year. It will certainly be tough to move on from him given the Hawks are bringing in one of the top recruiting classes in the league next year, but I can think of a coach who would be a good hire for them. Just add another "L" to the name of the current coach.

Like GW, the Hawks have played a relatively weak schedule OOC - that is, after their opener against Houston which was an understandable 26 point loss. St. Joe's decisive victories were against some not very good teams. Albany is the worst team in the America East, St. Peter's has sadly fallen to the basement of the MAAC after a historic run, and wins over Sacred Heart/Central Connecticut State aren't exactly notable either. They somehow managed to lose to FDU by 17. Just the other day there wasn't a single team in the NEC that was in the top 300 of KenPom.

The Hawks played St. Louis relatively close to open conference play, only falling by 5 but followed that up with double digit losses to Dayton, Fordham, and Duquesne. They are currently on a three game win streak, so they come to Foggy Bottom with some momentum although it's to Loyola, La Salle, and UMass, all teams currently at the bottom of the league.

Although they haven't been too efficient offensively, the Hawks are very analytically focused when it comes to shot selection. Per ShotQuality, 85% of their attempts come either near the hoop or from 3 so it should come as no surprise that SJU was 35th nationally in three point attempts per game and 43rd in FT attempts generated from their shot attempts near the rim.

St. Joe's was picked 13th in the A10 preseason poll as they lost two key pieces from last year's team in Jordan Hall and Taylor Funk. Hall created matchup problems as a point forward last year, ranking 11th in assists per game and 79th in defensive rebounding. He had 9 assists in last year's meeting but went an uncharacteristic 0-6 from the field. Funk was an efficient stretch forward, making the 48th most threes nationally at the 67th most efficient clip. Had both of them returned Joe's could have been a potent team offensively.

Instead, their departures have made SJU more of a backcourt oriented squad (like GW). There are a number of interesting matchups to watch tomorrow. Returning in the backcourt are two local products in Erik Reynolds II and Cameron Brown, both of whom will likely be extra motivated to play well in front of their family and friends. Reynolds, a preseason all-A10 third team selection, finished the 2021-22 season strong - he scored in double figures in 11 of St Joe's final 13 contests including a season high 27 in their regular season finale against Rhode Island. He is a versatile three level scorer who has upped his three-point percentage to 37 this year (72nd nationally) and shoots free throws really well (21st best in country). Reynolds can also orchestrate the offense but is best served off the ball where he can focus on what he does best - score. He does that very well as he's fourth in the conference in points per game at just under 18 a game.

Brown is another dynamic offensive option who also rebounds well for a guard - he averaged over 4 boards a game last season. He is enjoying a career year from three point land, shooting an impressive 46% (24th nationally OOC - he was also 28th in the country in threes made). Brown has had back-to-back 20 point games against UMass and La Salle and was recognized as co-player of the week in conference with JB. When Reynolds and Brown share the floor, it's very tough to slow down both at the same time as they complement each other well. He's a bit inconsistent from the FT line compared to Reynolds.

Up front, Vanderbilt transfer Ejike Obinna provides size and veteran leadership. Obinna had a monster game against us last year (16 points, 12 rebounds) as one of many frontcourt players who we had no answer for. He led the team in rebounding and field goal percentage as a paint-bound forward. It is notable that he is a very poor FT shooter as he's around 50% for his SJU career. Sending him to the line depending on our frontcourt foul situation may be wise if the game remains close.

Also returning are Polish forward Kacper Klaczek, East Carolina transfer Charles Coleman, and Swedish center Anton Jansson. Klaczek was looked to be St. Joe's X-factor coming into the year. He is enjoying a second year breakout and plays the glue guy role well, averaging 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists while shooting 47% from the field. While he doesn't quite provide the outside shooting Funk left behind (he's just 31%) his future is undeniably bright moving forward. Coleman is a 7 foot center who has the ability to provide some rim protection/a made bucket here and there but will likely continue to play limited time from off the pine. The same is true for Jansson, who has not yet developed enough to play meaningful minutes. At the very least, it's a luxury to have depth in the frontcourt.

The Hawks welcomed four key contributors to this year's squad:

Lynn Greer III returns home after not quite finding his footing at Dayton. He comes from a basketball family, as his dad had a strong career at Temple and his grandfather was drafted by the Suns in 1973 (he attended Virginia State, which happened to be our first opponent of the season!). Greer has done a good job of orchestrating the offense, as his 4.5 assists per game ranks 5th in the A10. He has struggled with efficiency when asked to be a scorer (especially from distance) but has turned in some good performances in their recent winning streak. He uncharacteristically made five threes in their blowout of Loyola and followed it up with a 12 point performance against La Salle. Greer is a streaky shooter that will hopefully not have a good shooting day tomorrow.

Christian Winborne is a Baltimore guard who I believe we expressed interest in but never offered. While he's had some good games scoring wise, he's struggled mightily with his shot this year (31% from the field, under 20% from 3). Winborne is the kind of guy who you would rather force to take shots and make him beat us than Reynolds or Brown. Still, he's only a freshman and was a 3-star prospect out of HS so he's potentially a year away from being a bigger factor.

Rasheer Fleming is a long forward who is the furthest along in development of the St. Joe's freshmen. He has made a decent 32% of shots from 3, is a good rebounder, and is very adept at slashing to the hoop. Of the SJU frontcourt, he is definitely one of the players to keep an eye on.

Finally, JUCO wing Louis Bleechmore is their energy guy who doesn't take a lot of shots but will give the Hawks nice minutes in spurts. I haven't watched too many Joe's games, but from the little I've seen of Bleechmore I'm surprised he doesn't play more. He definitely seems like one of the more dynamic/versatile guys on their squad.

In many ways, St. Joe's is the anti-Dayton. They aren't devoid of size by any means, but they go as their guards go, much like us. I'm actually less worried about Obinna going off on us because by all accounts we've been better about dealing with frontcourt players this year. However, our perimeter defense has been shaky at best all season and with the shooting numbers Reynolds and Brown have been posting this year they can get going in a hurry if we let them get comfortable on offense. Fouls and rebounding are always keys, but perimeter defense has never been more important going into this game. Both GW and SJU like to play uptempo despite not having much of a bench. I could see this being high scoring. It's pretty much who wins the 3 on 3 sub-game between Bishop/Adams/Edwards and Reynolds/Brown/Greer. My guess is BA gets the Reynolds assignment and Max is guarding Brown but it will be interesting to see how that shakes out tomorrow.

The other interesting storyline is that Coach Straughn came to GW from St. Joe's this past offseason and knows how Reynolds/Brown like to operate as guys he recruited to Hawk Hill (Winborne too). Coach Lee also played at SJU so I'm sure he'll also be ready for the game tomorrow. Any tidbits either can provide will go a long way apart from the game being at home.

Projected Score: GW 79, St. Joe's 74. 68% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN gives us a 68.2% chance to win our third game in a row. The last time we won three games in a row was February 14th-21st 2018. Yes, it's been nearly five years which is very depressing.
 

BM wrote:

Watched the St Joe's vs. La Salle game.  They looove their three point shots.  They're 20th in the country in three pointers as percent of total attempts.  The other two teams we've played with that profile are Richmond and Seattle (both losses).  They camp out outside the three point line and run a series of picks to open up their shooters (they love the corner three).  If you over commit to defending the three, they roll to the basket for a layup.  If they're on from three, they usually win (unless the opponent shoots better than 50% from beyond the arc).

We've shown we can pack it in and successfully dare poor shooting teams to beat us from deep (Dayton); we've shown a lot more difficulty in defending the opposite.  

Brief thread on the game by Atlantic10Stats

https://twitter.com/A10Stats/status/1618279464630353920