We will overlook attempting to blow the game at the end and focus on how, by limiting second chances for LaSalle in the 2nd half, this went from a tight one to a thumping,
Hail to the Buff! Hail to the Blue!!!!

 

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (2/25/2023 8:04 pm)

Saw the first half (-2), ate dinner, came back they were +20, then -11 from there.
Team was -13 while I watched, so it appears I have tuned into my last Colonials men's basketball game ever.

All GW wins are good. But ,I am very frustrated by this game. All young coaches improve with time and experience. Notice the numerous plays being run on out of bounds plays. Clearly, these were instituted to correct a weakness the team had earlier in the year. Tonight, Our offense was clicking. Bishop and Adams are very talented. Dean has come along way. But it is obvious, that our coach is not teaching tempo control, clock management and how to end out a game with a lead. Bone head plays were the norm with minutes left in the game. Max may be A-10 rookie of the year but he wore a dunce cap tonight. Forcing shots instead of taking time off the clock is not the hallmark of smart play. I look for Caputo to next work on this.

Agree. Could be the worst bench in the history of GW basketball and this team may finish above .500! 

Fran Dunphy presser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pcoe36oGg

 

I for one was not criticizing Caputo for clearing his bench at all. I thought it was great. It was just too bad that La Salle kept fouling and hitting threes so Caputo couldn’t let them finish the game. This was a great win for Caputo and the team. I really hope the team can win one more and finish above .500, but even if they don’t, this team has exceeded all reasonable expectations.

Couldn't agree more that Caputo has done a masterful job coaching this season. Great adjustments at halftime against La Salle. Can't believe anyone on this board thought we would be in 6th place with one week to go in the regular season.

Also, JBIV is conference POY. Don't @ me.

for those of us who missed the game, is there a link to where we can watch a replay?

Great win! This is one the team needed to create a bit of separation from the teams below them in the standings.

As others mentioned, GW didn't play exactly poorly in the first half but were trailing going into halftime due to the number of second chance opportunities La Salle had to score. Half of their points came from offensive rebounding (21) while GW only had 5. I know the zone has been good to us the past couple games but La Salle was coming into this game shooting the 3 pretty well. I think we were a bit slower to get out of it than I would've liked, especially when Nickelberry entered the game. The zone gave them both threes and extra chances. I get that we were worried about dribble penetration but I'm not sure it was worth conceding threes and rebounds.

Not sure where Patsos got that La Salle was the worst offensive rebounding team in the league because the Explorers were third best in the A10 coming into the game. I had mentioned that they have been largely neutralized there in their previous five games but offensive rebounding is one of their strengths.

I would honestly put a couple of our 12 turnovers in the "good" category because it was clear that we were trying to hit a cutter getting to the basket but mistimed the pass. I've just been so impressed with the offense that Boisvert and other assistants have assembled. It's been a true pleasure watching us on that side of the ball and actually see movement off the ball.

I know this is nitpicking a bit and is partly a product of guys playing a lot of minutes, but it would be nice if we finished better at the free throw line. We've been winning the past few so it's been brushed aside but yesterday marked the seventh straight game where we shot under 70% from the FT line. This is disappointing because we do have good FT shooters and began conference play as one of the best in the league. Perhaps this is just things averaging out (and other teams making them against us to average our luck earlier in the year). It's never easy to make free throws in crunch time but those OT games may have not happened had we hit that average a couple times during that stretch. La Salle partly continued to foul us because we kept missing FTs late.

Hunter's recent emergence has made a world of difference offensively. JB and BA are good enough to make any offense above average, but it's clear Dean is a lot healthier than he was earlier in the year. He missed time before the season due to injury and he just didn't have the same verticality during OOC play. Truthfully, there are maybe like five teams in the A10 that have good bigs so getting Hunter going is key to the team having success moving forward. Once he's in the air attacking the rim the other team is better off getting out of the way.

Was really happy to see Ricky have a good game yesterday. Boy did he need it. It certainly feels like he picks up that second foul within the first 10-15 minutes playing so it was nice that it only happened in the final play of the half allowing him to play right away coming out of halftime. When Ricky is benched for long stretches of the first half I think that hurts his rhythm and exacerbates his frustration. It goes without saying but this team badly needs him on the court. Now that he's not settling for threes his ability to cut near the rim and get an easy two while providing good defense on the other end (when he's not making a mental error) is game-changing. While I get that Hunter would get the game ball for reaching another career high, I think Ricky was the player of the game. When he's engaged, this team reaches another level.

JB was fantastic offensively. I think it was only a matter of time that the threes would start falling - while he's not the best shooter from distance he's probably a bit better than 29%. When Bishop has 6+ assists, the team usually has a good night on offense. He just can't be doing it by himself.

BA had maybe the quietest 15 points that I've seen in a while. His shot selection was good yesterday. The threes that missed were good shots and taken in good rhythm (minus one from the corner that was slightly rushed). I think Adams is really key when it comes to stopping runs from the other team. He doesn't drive all the way to the hoop as often as JB but when he does it's a momentum-changing one. It happened against Rhody to tie the game late in regulation and a couple times yesterday when La Salle was going on a scoring run.

Max might have been a bit more out of rhythm compared to usual due to foul trouble - this was only his fifth game of the year where he's picked up four fouls in a game (one of the others happened to be the other matchup against La Salle). Still really like the swagger he plays with and that he's not afraid to attack the basket - not to mention his rebounding. Hopefully with time he tightens his handle a bit because he can be a bit loose with the ball at times. That's not something that can't be fixed. He's overall been fantastic this year.

When Amir is in the game I'd like to see him continue to get the ball closer to the basket. If he can get us a layup once a game that would make a huge difference. Not sure that I feel good about him handling the point with his loose handle - given CC usually keeps one of JB/BA on the court I'd rather they just handle it coming up the court. Obviously with this team our bench will be outscored against every team in the country but if we can get 6 points between Harris/Brown/Samuels that would be big. It does seem though that CC is probably going to ride the starters even more for the last couple weeks of the season so that isn't likely to happen. It was nice to see Qwanzi make those FTs late though - he has a good rotation on them!

Good on CC to put Theo and Laziz in the game late. They may see action if the VCU game is a blowout, but if that one is somehow remotely close this was probably their last chance to take the court - especially since I believe Theo is moving on after this year.