I want to see vintage James Bishop take over.

With Max out our defense is a lot better.  He just not on his game today

Darren big boy rebound and big boy finish. Dang!!!

10 turnovers…yay
14 missed free throws…ugh
4 of 20 from 3…ugh

jf wrote:

Interesting thing about the schedule is if we somehow go 11-7 in the league, that would put 22 (counting Bowie State) and 9. 
Then, does our schedule matter?

Most people think a team like St Joe’s, who is top 50 NET, needs to go 14-4 in conference to get a AL. 11-7 (especially if the 11 don’t include wins against all the top teams) isn’t going to cut it.

We’ve played down to the competition the last month or so, but the question is, will we play up to the competition in the coming weeks and months? I could see us going 6-12 in conference, but I could also see us go 12-6. I for one think we will play better and be closer to the latter (10 or 11 wins).

One of the reasons that Hupstead was able to have a career game was based upon who was guarding him (Akingbola).  Like many here, I like Akingbola but he is basically a one trick pony who brings very little else to the game.   Finding a replacement for him for next season I hope is very high on the priority list.   Three formulas for near disaster were 1.  shooting 4-20 from the three;  2.  missing a whopping 14 free throws and 3.  the ineffectiveness of Max.  Coach had a very short leash with him, playing him only 18 minutes for the game, and hardly at all the second half.  Max did start the second half and was pulled after just 3 or 4 minutes for his lackadasical play, benched for 10 minutes or so, brought back in and almost immediately pulled again for more ineffective play.   However, I did not see any "attitude" concerns from Max, as alluded to earlier.   Still, I hope a "dog house" situation is not emerging.   He has not been playing well since the Bahamas and needs to step up his play or he is going to start losing minutes to Trey, who seems to improve with every game.   There were many other factors involved in the poor play, including the aforementioned lack of energy (I am not certain that this team can turn it on or off); ineffective ball rotation (our offense consists too much of one playing holding the ball for 5-10 seconds, trying to make something happen then dishing off if he cannot) and again being outrebounded by a smaller team (17-12 on the offense boards and 45-40 overall).  James and Max shooting a combined 4-20 certainly didn't help.   I hope we can turn it on vs. Fordham, as Free is saying, but based on our play of late, frankly this team doesn't look like it is capable of beating anyone in the conference, home or away, unless it really steps it up.   Our strength of schedule is now a jaw dropping bad 360th out of 362 D-1 teams, and whereas there is a feel good aspect of being 11-2, I just don't believe that this schedule has done us any favors in preparing for conference play.

Last edited by Long Suffering Fan (12/31/2023 10:01 am)

https://gwradio.com/gw-escapes-tight-non-conference-closer-to-start-season-11-2/

I'm happy we're 11-2 heading into conference play and avoided losing any buy games. I'm not happy about the performances recently. I share the concerns about Max but I'm confident about the abilities of Caputo and co to get him to play his best. Hopefully the return of students/start of conference play reenergizes the team

We forget how JB4 and Max grabbed the headlines last year, and underestimate the major adjustments they both needed to make.  With the addition of new talent and the loss of BA, Ricky, and Hunter, these past 6 weeks required a major adaptive change that is still evolving. Not only is it a challenge to incorporate the basketball side of things, but the egos are equally tested.  This is where we find out CC’s real coaching abilities.  We haven’t been privy to practices but I bet CC is forming his best rotations for conference play. 

I think Max will be fine but he’s struggling right now.  He needs to buy-in and play within the system.  I also think Benny will be fine.  He and Max have an adrenaline problem where they start out overexcited and settle down. They need to let the game come to them.

Am confident and hopeful that CC will navigate the rough waters of conference play.  He did say that we have a lot of guys who never played college hoops before.  JB4 and Max are still figuring that out.

Max played like he had transfer on his mind. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some "DNP/not with team" in the boxscore during some A10 games with no explanations for the absence.