here come the Colonials  34-31

 

The talent on GW is pretty bad, I was pretty alarmed watching that game.

I'm inclined to agree with those looking to make a change from Rizzotti.  Things are trending down, the recruiting hasn't been good enough.    

I don't follow our women closely enough to have a strong opinion, but the lack of talent on the team is pretty clear.  
Four years in Rizotti should have things looking better than they do.

Loss of Neila Luma since the Maryland game and subsequent injury to Maddie Loder takes two experienced key returnees off the court. We’re pretty much running with a lineup featuring 4 first year players and 2 grad transfers playing their first year under Rizzotti. Add the in and out injuries to Stephenson, Maund, Zambrotta and Overcash and it’s a crap shoot who will be available to play. Lots to criticize and be disappointed in but too early to throw in the towel on this team or season. Talent level is fine and getting more help next year. Both the men and women’s teams are works in progress. Reagan’s trust but verify is a good approach.

As far as talent goes, our current players as talented as we have seen in the past several years, once you get past JJ and Brianna Cummings (in her senior year). Tsipis did not leave a lot behind. In fact, had Rizzotti not recruited Lexi Martins in her first year, our record would have been mediocre. Caira Washington had a great inside game, but was very limited beyond that. Briana had not blossomed yet. Result was 20-10 season and WNIT.

In the following year, Briana played at all A10 level. Her consistent play offensively and defensively willed the team to victories. The rest of the cast was very inconsistent, although various individuals rose to the occasion at times, and the result was an A10 tournament championship and NCAA bid.

Last year, we saw a deep drop off in talent and experience. Our two seniors (Mei-Lyn and Mahoney) were both very inconsistent scorers, and we had no juniors (Tsipis recruits had transferred out). We had to start the team’s manager for most of the games. Our most consistent player was Luma. Injuries to Hyduke and Taiwo didn’t help. 10-20 was not good.

Not sure what everyone’s expectations for this year were, but this team was projected to finish 7th in the A10 this year. They may still do that in spite of the injuries. I think the injuries could be a blessing because it’s giving some of the younger players more time on the court. Talent-wise I think we’re doing OK. The young players are still adjusting. MoKwuah already has better low post mechanics than anyone we’ve had in a long time, including JJ. Taiwo is the most athletic player we’ve had in a while. When her basketball skills catch up to her athleticism, she’s going to be an All A10 player. She’s just a freshman, and at this stage has better all around contributions than any other freshman I can remember. Hyduke is getting bounced around by stronger players, but she’s going to figure it out. Blethen is also a player with a ton of up side. For me, the jury is out on Zambrotta, who is having trouble fitting in to the scheme and needs to have the ball (too much). The grad students are helping out, but the future is in these young players. So, as much as we may have to suffer this year, let’s let things play out, and if we’re experiencing déjà vu at this time next year, you can start taking the coaching changes.

xAC wrote:

As far as talent goes, our current players as talented as we have seen in the past several years, once you get past JJ and Brianna Cummings (in her senior year). Tsipis did not leave a lot behind. In fact, had Rizzotti not recruited Lexi Martins in her first year, our record would have been mediocre. Caira Washington had a great inside game, but was very limited beyond that. Briana had not blossomed yet. Result was 20-10 season and WNIT.

In the following year, Briana played at all A10 level. Her consistent play offensively and defensively willed the team to victories. The rest of the cast was very inconsistent, although various individuals rose to the occasion at times, and the result was an A10 tournament championship and NCAA bid.

Last year, we saw a deep drop off in talent and experience. Our two seniors (Mei-Lyn and Mahoney) were both very inconsistent scorers, and we had no juniors (Tsipis recruits had transferred out). We had to start the team’s manager for most of the games. Our most consistent player was Luma. Injuries to Hyduke and Taiwo didn’t help. 10-20 was not good.

Not sure what everyone’s expectations for this year were, but this team was projected to finish 7th in the A10 this year. They may still do that in spite of the injuries. I think the injuries could be a blessing because it’s giving some of the younger players more time on the court. Talent-wise I think we’re doing OK. The young players are still adjusting. MoKwuah already has better low post mechanics than anyone we’ve had in a long time, including JJ. Taiwo is the most athletic player we’ve had in a while. When her basketball skills catch up to her athleticism, she’s going to be an All A10 player. She’s just a freshman, and at this stage has better all around contributions than any other freshman I can remember. Hyduke is getting bounced around by stronger players, but she’s going to figure it out. Blethen is also a player with a ton of up side. For me, the jury is out on Zambrotta, who is having trouble fitting in to the scheme and needs to have the ball (too much). The grad students are helping out, but the future is in these young players. So, as much as we may have to suffer this year, let’s let things play out, and if we’re experiencing déjà vu at this time next year, you can start taking the coaching changes.

Fair or not, this was once a dominant program in a much stronger A-10. I believe we can be that again at least in a much weaker A-10. But we've shown no signs of becoming that over the past 4 years. Again, maybe I'm spoiled in that I came up in the McKeown era. But we maintained a high level of excellence for close to 20 years. To me this is a better product than the Bozeman era but nowhere close to McKeown.

Again, I like Rizzotti and think she can coach but I also know that right now we are not where I think we can be and where we have been in the past (and not even close). I haven't seen anything that convinces me that we will be much better soon - I would say marginally better. I am willing to be convinced otherwise but I do think we need to start having an honest conversation about this because whether at the end of this year or next, this is likely to be a huge decision for GW absent some big and fairly immediate changes.