I agree withe comments regarding Max in the last couple of games. I've been told that he's been sick and is playing through it.Also, it is very hard to watch them play when they miss foul shots, turn the ball over, and play weak on defense. As many of you know this is the first time since Lonergan was here that we have had the pieces to compete. They are young. Yes, Buchanan is streaky at the line but his ability is obvious. He actually covers 1-5 during a game. Lets be patient and see what happens starting Wednesday. If you don't think this is the most young talent we've had in a long time you're not watching the game.

Martiniboy wrote:

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.  

We have a winner for worst post of 2023!

Comgratualions!   I’m impressed that you got this patently absurd take in with less than 5 hours to go in the year. Playing like he had transfer on his mind is truly a message board classic.

Not the best game but we survived and a wins a win.  Have absolutely no idea what's going to happen with conference play this year; we've got a nice record coming in and there's talent here but there's also been so many close calls against teams who we are a lot better then.  

Just happy these "GW beats ...." title threads haven't jinxed us yet.  

As for the game, I actually thought the team played great defense for about the first 14 minutes or so.  They seemed very committed to staying with their man and handled the switching defenses well when there was no other choice.  Then for some reason, we morphed into some kind of loose zone and immediately surrendered a three pointer.  That basket seemed to will UMES back into the game and while we did not go back to this defense, it felt like our defensive intensity disappeared from then on in. 

The best thing to say about this team right now is that they do know how to win close games even after considering that many end up being far closer than anticipated.  As we know, these types of subpar performances have not always been wins over the past several years.  What's unsaid for the time being is whether this trait will transfer against better competition.  Or for that matter, will this team even be in position to win close games against the better A10 teams?  I'd like to say yes to this based on our recent history under CC and Jamion to play well against the A10.  However, every season is different and there are no guarantees.

I guess my planned remarks about Max just got a tad longer courtesy of MartiniBoy.  First, I felt that CC handled Max's minutes perfectly on Saturday.  This has not been a one-game off day situation for Max but has instead carried over into several games.  His play has been lackadaisical at times and this often is the result of missing most or all of his first few shots from the field.  Last year, Max more than made up for off nights from the field with his relentless defensive rebounding, something that team desperately needed.  This year's team may look like it's much better equipped to rebound defensively, perhaps giving Max the impression that it's less critical for him to be a force on the boards.  (Though watching subpar opponents enjoy offensive rebounding success against GW may suggest otherwise.)  In any case, Max's body language (I know how much some of you don't want to read commentary about body language, but I feel it needs to be pointed out when applicable) has been quite negative and these funks over a few missed shots are leading to some careless play at times.  I'll also add that Max entered this season being the team's "clear #2" behind James and now likely sees that this dynamic has changed.  The TEAM has improved but Max is a young man who may need more time mentally adjusting to embracing being a part of a more talented team than another player might.

This last comment is speculative on my part but is in a completely separate league than MartiniBoy's comments.  I'm suggesting that Max MAY have to adjust to not being a clear second option with the team than he first envisioned.  MartiniBoy seems to be suggesting that Max is currently considering transferring schools, and that he would not be surprised if he missed some games as a result of this.  Either MartiniBoy has some inside information to this effect which should not be posted here, or more likely, he is grasping at a notion that's arguably unlikely but that's also detrimental both to the player and to the team.  MartiniBoy, I don't hand out "worst posts" to anyone but I will say that I had a similar reaction to FQ.  Thought your post was wreckless and if there's any real truth to it, irresponsible to say the least.
 

If you want to talk about body language; I was very disappointed in Bishop’s vs UMES.  When he missed a midrange shot in and out in the second half (the kind he usually makes but isn’t taking this year), he hung his head and slumped his shoulders, and didn’t get back in defense - leading to a bucket for UMES.  He didn’t get back a couple times after his misses (and other times, multiple players didn’t sprint back and we were beaten down the court).

Just got around to watching the game. The defense looked a lot better, but the offense was a bit off (apart from the missed threes and FTs). Some thoughts that are probably all over the place:

- I think CC was hoping the weak schedule would allow the team to fare well in the NET by winning big (as GW0509 mentioned earlier) while at the same time get the newcomers more comfortable playing CBB. Specifically for Zam, I was hoping he would get a bit of run the past two games since we're not likely to see him much the rest of this season. It's a bit of a bummer in that regard that the games have been close. Thinking about what Zam and Christian are going to bring to the table next season is interesting but that's a conversation for the offseason.

- This team seemingly needs to face adversity before they start playing hard. This is a product of the team being young and playing against lower level competition. Hopefully this will not be the case next season but it's understandable that it's happening right now. The first half intensity was completely missing (as has been the case for most of December), and unsurprisingly the team was trailing going into the half.

As FQ mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm not necessarily worried about the team necessarily coming out the same way once conference play rolls around. The one issue I have with these buy games is that the nature of most of these contests turn into glorified pick-up games so that in itself lowers the quality of the game. It's a bit up-and-down which leads to a bunch of slop ball that wouldn't otherwise happen in a conference game.

I'm grasping for straws when it comes to finding a silver lining to playing close games against low-level teams, but at least the end of this game and the Alcorn one felt more like the team was getting good practice trying to execute plays in crunch time. I think we could have kept the schedule light while facing a bit more varied competition based off this. The one thing that I disliked about this schedule was specifically playing similar play styles over and over again with Coppin, Bowie, Alcorn, and Eastern Shore (they aren't all 100% the same, but I think you know what I'm saying).

- Back to the first half - I thought the team took way too long to get into the offense as LSF mentioned earlier. It appeared that CC was trying to make a concerted effort to slow things down to limit the unforced turnovers, which helped to an extent but I think it hurt the flow of the offense and the team went back to at least moving assertively after halftime. There was one possession in particular that stuck out around the seven minute mark (I think it was a Benny turnover) where there was absolutely no movement off the ball which led to a dysfunctional possession.

- Against teams that have guys at the 5 that can shoot the ball, I'm not sure Akingbola is a great fit to play a ton of minutes. He was torched a few times by Hupstead because he's still a work in progress guarding the perimeter. That doesn't take away from his great abilities inside though and I can see considerable improvement from him offensively. A number of offensive rebounds and putbacks during the UMES which may go unnoticed but was something he didn't do earlier. He's improved a lot there.

- I may be partial to guys like Darren, Max, and Benny despite their unforced errors because they play with a lot of motor which helps when the team is seemingly going through the motions. I know DBJ has had a couple games where he's missed several FTs, but the proposition that he should be benched in favor of Trey for the final few minutes of each half doesn't seem ideal. In my opinion, he's been the best player on the team this season and is the reason we've pulled out some of these games that have been tighter than expected (for example, Navy). I also noticed him bringing the team together and being a vocal leader already which has been impressive to see.

I've noticed Max's demeanor as being a bit down in the past, but I personally didn't take anything to be supremely worried about after the UMES game (at the minimum, he didn't get ejected again or anything). He was clearly not 100% healthy for the game and I didn't get the sense he's in the doghouse or anything like that. The reality is that his impressive stretches at times sometimes hides the fact that he's still only in year 2 of CBB. His ability to take over games (like Ohio in the Bahamas) is something that not every player can do, and is something this team will certainly need in the post JB era. However, he still needs to learn when to take on a possession by himself in isolation versus play within the flow of the offense. The careless turnovers (loose dribble into traffic, not seeing the defender in the backcourt against UMES) also need to be cleaned up, but I'm confident he'll be able to get there. Becoming the #2 option after BA's graduation has also been a transition. His rebounding efforts have kept up despite the slump, and I think going into the game he was leading the team in rebounding so he's still making an impact despite not scoring.

Benny has definitely had some lapses on his rotations, but he shows so much potential offensively. His problem is not that different from Jun or Max - that is to slow down a bit when he makes his move. Benny's length and mobility could create mismatches in the A10 as he continues to develop.

- Garrett managed to notch a double-double despite not looking 100% recently. He's been very impressive thus far on the year, but it feels like he's still working his way back (I believe he has also been battling an illness this month). There were a few times where he was somewhat slow to run back on defense. I also think some of his threes were shot a bit off balanced and he probably could have set his feet a bit before shooting them. Still, he's been a huge asset for the team.

- JB has done well to get others involved this year, but there are definitely times where he seems too cavalier. While he's never going to be a lockdown defender (he just doesn't have the length to be disruptive), I did see a better effort against UMES where he was trying to stay in front of his man. Still, he has a turnover or two each game that just makes you scratch your head. It will be interesting to see whether he continues to be facilitate first, score second as conference play comes around. He will certainly need to be more assertive regardless.

- Trey isn't a complete product defensively, but I think CC has found the perfect role for him as a 20 minute guy off the bench. It's nice to see his shot start to fall, and I'm really excited to continue to watch him grow. By all accounts, he looks like a piece you'd need on a winning team. The same is true for Jacoi. Every team needs a low usage guy that isn't always looking for their shot, and I think that's what makes Jacoi so useful - he does the little things well on defense and facilitates the ball well.

- It was interesting to see CC take the ML approach and play Antoine for a few minutes in the first half. I wish he got the chance to shoot the ball when he was in. Speaking of ML, the discussion of PJ leaving because he didn't get enough minutes just makes me think he would have struggled to field a high-level team in the current transfer portal era. He rode the starters too much, like Schmidt has done at Bona in recent years (although I think even Schmidt has started to realize he needs to change his approach a little bit).

Next up is the conference opener against Fordham. The Rams are not the best offensively but this team will need to execute on offense. Given the opponent and the fact that it's being played at home it feels like a must win. I know that's ridiculous at this point of the season, but given what comes afterwards it feels like the case.