I know the loss stings given how close we were the entire way, but honestly there were several plays where we had the chance to swing the momentum back in our favor, but we rimmed out a 3 too many times. Jamison's 3 in transition, a couple Maceo threes that could have had us regain the lead, etc. Even at the end, a made Adam 3 would have cut the deficit to 2! I do think the offense is a bit too much live by the three and die by the three (it is guaranteed that there will be games where the three doesn't fall, which almost makes a loss more probable) but we simply don't have a consistent inside presence to make our offense more balanced. We without a doubt generated good shots on offense for most of the game, just couldn't knock them down. Thankfully help is probably on the way and we will have more three point threats apart from just Maceo and Jamison to keep defenses honest next year. Would have liked Adam to come into the game earlier.

Defensively, really not surprised by the result. Anyone could have guessed that Osunniyi would crush us inside without even watching the game. That is something we need to work out in terms of scheme, assignment, and recruiting. The Hunter Dean commit looks promising given that Dean averaged 3 blocks per game in HS, but we need multiple guys who can give us that shot blocking down low based on our intent to run guys off the three point line. The number of missed assignments was a bit infuriating (did we not learn from what Lewis did to us in the Harvard game?), and I think Jamison was probably guilty of most of them. To be fair though, Battle should never be guarding any 5 on defense. It speaks to our very thin frontcourt. AT is clearly not healthy, but he was never a plus defender to begin with honestly. Chase has made some nice strides, but he hasn't even played 5 games at the D1 level yet. Javier is injured. Surprised by the DNP from Ace today. He's been giving us some minutes here and there every game so far this season, and I thought we could have stolen some minutes from him today. He probably wouldn't have slowed down Osun, but at least it would have been a different look. I still am assuming our goal defensively is to force teams to shoot a bunch of midrange shots (based on our emphasis on the analytics) but right now the team lets the opposition get into the lane way too easily. Taking away the three is nice, but when you are the ninth worse defense in 2 point defense, it almost effectively cancels out. A made shot close to the rim or a dunk can't possibly fly analytically. As we get more shooters, I can see a scenario where our offense makes sense. However, defensively we need to figure out what to do after we run guys off the line. Against teams with poor offenses, we can get away with what we're doing many times. JC was able to do this against teams from the NEC and MAAC. You can't do the same in the A10, as teams will make you pay without any presence near the hoop.

A quick point about pace. I thought we played a bit too slow and tentative all game. I get that you slow things down during conference season, but the pace we played was what Bonaventure wanted us to do. We should have sped things up a bit and had guys get out a bit more in the open floor. Granted, we had a number of wasted transition opportunities which was very upsetting.

Player Breakdown:
Jamison - great game offensively. I liked the pump fakes and made midrange shots, even though the staff will probably dock him for taking such shots. As mentioned earlier, had a good look on a number of threes that just didn't fall. Defensively, needs to remember his assignment and stay with his guy. It was pretty telling how JC felt during postgame where after he was asked about Battle's offense he responded by saying we need to do better defensively. Still, very excited for Jamison's future here.

Chase - encouraged by his continued development. I see an improvement on defense from game 2 to game 4 in his career. He has shown a slight improvement in closing out on guys and holding his own down low. I'm excited to see him grow, because he shows a lot of promise. He's not quite ready for heavy minutes, but earned the start and showed some nice things, including that strong take to the rim at the end of the first half. The future is bright.

Amir - he has been great since taking the floor, but I want to say he was a bit too unselfish in the second half. He is clearly one of our biggest weapons on the team, and yet he had only one shot attempt in the second half (which was a made layup I think). I don't think Bona did a great job specifically taking him away, but we needed to do a much better job featuring him after halftime.

JNJ - hope he is okay as he looked to be limping even after halftime. He probably could have generated some pressure along the perimeter and get to the hoop a bit more when healthy. Unfortunately, with such a thin rotation we needed a bit more from him but it's hard to be impactful when you're not 100%.

Maceo - I will say this, his defense has come a long way from last year. I know he will never be known as a lockdown defender, but he was responsible for a lot of the deflections we had on defense and overall looks more comfortable guarding guys this year. Credit to the staff for developing him on that end. Offensively, a bit hot and cold as you'd expect. Had a number of good looks we really needed him to make. Probably could have used some drives to the hoop as well. Maceo also left a few points on the table in transition - I believe he could have found the trailing man on a couple of them.

Arnaldo - I think he did a bit better job finishing near the hoop, but something still feels off with him. He doesn't feel comfortable posting up his man, opting to take a weak fadeaway at one point. If AT isn't attempting a shot near the hoop, it's effectively a wasted play. He did a decent job on the glass and the and one play can only help his confidence, but he's clearly still bothered by the hip injury. When he shoots he can barely leave the floor. It's tough because a 100% AT probably could have neutralized Osunniyi at least a little bit.

Armel - was pretty much his steady self. Credit Bona for not letting him get downhill on offense, and make him pass the ball out earlier than he usually likes to. An 11 point, 8 assist performance is still nice, but he didn't get to play the aggressor like he usually can. Anyone tracking the number of and one opportunities he's had so far this season?

Adam - almost like a blast from the past from last season with his random appearances, but with the lack of three point shooting on this team, one would have thought he'd have played more by now. I know Adam probably can't provide much apart from shooting, but he's probably our third best threat after Jamison and Maceo this year and probably could see more run in his final year.

Things don't get any easier as we head on a plane to Missouri to take on SLU. If you want to talk about bad matchups, this is probably the worst one for us in the A10. If you think stopping Osunniyi is tough, try French. I foresee possibly a long night being manhandled inside, but maybe we change up our approach. I did like our double teaming Osun at points during the game, but it wasn't enough. Hacking French may be a good idea as he's still a lousy free throw shooter. Then after that is Michael Hughes and Duquesne, and we know what he did to us last year. Gotta figure a way to defend the post. We'll get plenty of experience over the next couple weeks.
 

Bmac3920 wrote:

One last note - St. Bonaventure made the Smith Center feel like Western New York tonight. I hope that fans start turning out and wake up during the games. I know a better product would help but it’d be a shame if GW has to play in what feels like a road game in Foggy Bottom. Thats on us.

It does suck the Smith Center has been taken over by visiting fans and as such I am thankful that both Dayton and VCU are road games this year.

Entertaining game but it was obviously frustrating.  SBU continues to be the best kept secret in our conference.  Last year, they finished in 4th place and lost to SLU in the championship game.  The game was essentially won and lost when SBU used Lofton and Osunniyi on maybe 4 consecutive pick and rolls in the second half, each resulting in easy dunks or baskets by Osun. (That guy is now 16-17 from the floor in his last 2 games against us.  Bet he can't wait for the return game in Olean.)  In this situation, GW has to force a turnover, or foul trying to do so.  Way too often, our traps and double teams consist of two guys with their hands up but it doesn't appear like we are really trying to steal the ball.    After the 4th one, this really looked like a practice drill rather than an actual game.

Jameson continues to look like a well-needed piece on offense.  He is a willing defender but really needs to improve his footwork and positioning.  I agree that guarding a 5 for him is like taking a knife to a gun fight though just about all of Osun's damage I can recall came against AT and Chase.  I was pleased with Maceo's defensive energy yesterday.  He does have the long arms needed to disrupt passes.  Unfortunately, he still gets beat way too easily in a straight up man-to-man situation.

Am unsure how AT and nor JNJ are feeling physically.  We have reached the point in the season where there will be a game every 3-4 days.  Both were clearly not themselves yesterday.  Better to sit a full week or play through it?  Hard to know.

Amir is now shooting 90% from the floor at the Smith Center.  He is also looking like a classic example of a very talented player who wants to fit in and becomes a bit too unassuming in an effort to do so.  Am really not sure there is anyone on this team who should be taking more shots than Amir, but I don't foresee this happening.  Great call earlier by I think FQ.  He is our best defender and rebounds and passes well too.

More than respectable performance with a few too many bad mishaps (Maceo missed wide open guys for layups/dunks on two occasions, Armel still makes up his mind that he's going to shoot, regardless of the defense, a few too many times, Chase had a two footer with only Osun covering him..I know he's a great shot blocker, he had 5 yesterday, but two feet from the basket, you need to go up and score or get fouled.)

Lastly, really nice to see Adam sink a three at a very meaningful point in the game.    

 

Is it good strategy to have 1 or none in any position to offensive rebound? No snark question. Where are opportunities for easy baskets the way GW is running what they are running? Really sorry not to sneak out a win. Could easily be 0-4 before we go on the misfit road trip @Umass and @Fordham.

Agree with gswb14 that I was pleased with the effort and am confident about the future. We just need more talent and the young guys need more experience. 

I'm hopeful that the incoming center  Brown can be something like Osunnyi.  Having an athletic big who can protect the rim, rebound above the rim, and dunk on/dominate smaller guys is a huge edge in the A-10.  Osunnyi is one of the top 3-4 bigs in the league (Toppin is clearly the best, though he also plays outside, and Osunnyi is up there for me with Santos-Silva and French).    We just need guys who are among the top at their league at their position, especially at pivotal spots like big men and PGs and wing scorers.  That's what it takes to succeed in the league - and hopefully Jameer Jr. can become that level of PG as his handle improves and he gets stronger and more  experienced, while Battle should continue to become an even more dangerous floor spacer. 


One negative thing I want to comment on was Maceo  blowing two different 3 on 1 fast breaks.  We got so few opportunities to get out and run that those two blown opportunities were real momentum swings against us.  Both times, if memory serves, he was on the left side on a 3 on 1.  The first time, he went too close to the middle, instead of spreading wide to make it harder on the defender, but then still missed an open pass (to Jameer I think) in favor of a contested shot himself.  The second time, he again missed the opportunity to pass and came all the way across the basket to try to score a layup from the right and got either blocked or just missed a contested layup (though the second time, he received the pass later, but still should have spread out wider to the left to create more space and force the defender to commit).  I may have the details wrong, but both times Maceo's spacing was bad and he tried to take it himself instead of passing, turning a 3 on 1 into a contested 1 on 1 that he couldn't convert.  Those are basic plays I'm sure JC will drill the team on to make sure those mistakes don't repeat.