Gwmayhem wrote:

Let's not forget that GW this season alone has give or take 6 wins which could easily have gone the other way without James performing the way he did.  I know we're talking about inconsistency, which is fair, but let's not lose sight of how well JB has played at times as well.

That said, here are my thoughts:

1) While I realize that some here like to show no correlation between playing a ridiculously easy out of conference schedule and the more arduous A10 schedule, here is where I can find an easy one.  First, it seemed that JB could drive the ball in November and December and practically always count on finishing against inferior opponents or getting fouled, things are quite different come January.  Calls that were fouls in the OOC are "play ons" in A10 play.  More to the point, officials appear to be making a point that offensive players who are either initiating the contact or who otherwise may be "looking" for calls are not going to receive the benefit of the doubt.  This is impacting JB and Jun as well.  Think about how many drives result in clear contact being made yet whistles are swallowed.  To illustrate, JB has gone to the line 18 times over the past 4 games or 4.5 attempts per game.  Exclude the 3 OOC games when he played 27 or fewer minutes and JB went to the line 7.7 times per game.  This is a sizable difference when considering how close some of GW's games have been.

2) This off-season, CC essentially told JB that the world knows what kind of scorer he is capable of being.  This final season, it was time to showcase other skills such as being a reliable distributor and playing better defense.  To JB's credit, there are plenty of times where he does appear to be focusing on these things.  His defense, while not great, has certainly improved.  And his shot attempts per game are down.  Yet, so are his assist totals while his turnovers are up despite having a more balanced attack on offense to work with.  We still see JB take some ill advised shots particularly during games when he's off to slow scoring nights and perhaps feels that he needs to make up for this.

We must remember that this is JB's final season playing college ball, and that he is essentially auditioning for scouts every game.  As much as CC wanted to make this year about JB leading a winning team, and as important as this may be to JB personally, the fact is that many pro prospects have had final seasons when the pressure of performing to enhance one's own chances to play professionally (i.e. and where they end up playing) ends up dominating one's thoughts.  There is no way to say whether this has been the case with JB or not but it is worth pointing out both how common this is as well as how understandable it is.

3) A quick comparison to Chucky Hepburn, Wisconsin's point guard playing his junior season.  Hepburn had  a tremendous sophomore season.  This year, more talent has joined the team with no notable losses in personnel.  As a pure point guard,  Hepburn has recognized that getting others more involved is the best way for his team to benefit. His shot attempts are down by more than 4 per game (so are JB's by the way) while his assists are up by over 1 per game.  His steals are up and his turnovers are down.  And, I believe the team is ranked 11th nationally, sitting atop the Big 10 standings at least for the time being.  I mention this to illustrate what was envisioned for JB.  Of course JB was always going to shoot more and score more than Chucky, but the willingness on the part of Hepburn to be more deferential towards teammates is what I have to believe CC had in mind.  And don't get me wrong, it's not that JB never looks to get his teammates involved; he certainly does.  It's the few too many possessions which result in bad shots or bad turnovers that I am referring to.  What a world of difference we could see if these were greatly reduced.
 

Thank you. You said it perfectly. We all know JB is one of the best players in GW history. I don't know about others on the board, but I know he is obviously more than a "great kid" and there is no disrepecting him. GW Mayhem says it well. 

It should not go without noting that tonight will be Bishop's 100th game as a Colonial/Rev. In his 99 games, he has scored 1875 points, which is just below 19 ppg, which is 7th all time for a GW men's BB player (just behind Chris Monroe, at 19.1 ppg). Bishop needs 42 points to pass Mike Brown for 3rd on GW's all time scoring list. He will likely achieve this at home against Loyola Chicago, although there is a chance he will do it in GW's next game, again at home, versus URI. Bishop does not seem to have a shot at passing Joe Holdup or Chris Monroe, so he will almost certainly end his career in 3rd place.

My biggest regret for Bishop is that he never got a chance to play in a postseason game. I know it was a long shot, but I was hoping after our good start that maybe he could do it this year, at least in the NIT. After the last three games, this looks very unlikely, unless they can somehow get hot in the A10 Tournament. So tonight's game, against the No. 21 ranked Dayton Flyers, is likely Bishop's last shot to get a signature win against a great team. ESPN gives us a 4.2% chance to win. I'm not hopeful, but I at least hope we can keep it close and that Bishop has a great game.

Last edited by DC Native (1/30/2024 9:30 am)

James need 23 points tomorrow to pass Mike Brown for #3 on GW's all time scoring list. It's been a tough stretch for him, but if he is able to get back to form, there is a fairly good chance he can get there. I for one hope he is able to reach this important milestone at home. If not, I will be in Fairfax on Tuesday, so I imagine I'll get to see him do it anyway. Good luck James!!!

Alum1 wrote:

Brownie was a good guy. Lived in Calhoun where a lot of the team was housed at the time. He and Troy Webster were a good duo. .

Wish I could have seen him play, but I missed him by just a few years... While Joe Holup is GW's best men's college player (still one of only two players to score 2000 points and grab 2000 rebounds in college), in my opinion, Mike Brown is GW's most successful player in the NBA. 11 seasons, 3,130 points, and 2,762 rebounds. It is quite an achievement for Bishop to pass him.

Congrats to James! I’m pretty sure A10 POY is out, considering our record, but James will always be a GW all time great.

For as much as the hope was that JB would become a more well-rounded player and leader of a winning team this season, these opportunities are slipping away.  None of this is to disparage what JB does so well.  He has had games, including some played this season, where he has been unstoppable on offense and seemingly willed the team to victories.  It's uncomfortable to think about what life will be like starting next season, when this source of practically automatic points at times is no longer playing in a GW uniform.  Will one player step up?  Will several?  Will any?

JB is such a prolific scorer and playmaker that there's really no choice but to play him a ton of minutes, warts and all.  One hope was to turn JB into a better defender which in turn would inspire his teammates to follow suit.  I think what has happened is that JB has become a more willing defender at times and he has subsequently made more plays with his hands than ever before.  However, when it comes to playing your man, positional defense, knowing what to do on switches, etc., JB's skills are limited.  (FYI...he's far from alone in this regard.  Aside from Jacoi, I am hard pressed to think of another GW defender who possesses both the speed and agility to play effective defense coupled with the smarts in knowing how to do so.  My sense is that being at IMG Academy, both from a coaching perspective as well as a "better competition" perspective, has much to do with this.)

Playing at a fast tempo that enabled the team to score 80+ a game worked against the inferior offenses we often faced in the OOC, but not against A10 competition.  GW's defense ranked in the top 150 entering conference play but today sits at #318 against A10 opponents.  The team's defense was likely never perceived as a serious issue in November, December, and yes, in early January.  When your 14-3, it's hard to convince players that they are going to NEED to get much better at something like defense. 

So if you're still of the mindset that the OOC schedule had zero effect on the team's current 8 game losing streak, think again.  There was no urgency to learn how to become a better defensive team and this is lack of urgency has caught up with the team.
 

GW0509 wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

So if you're still of the mindset that the OOC schedule had zero effect on the team's current 8 game losing streak, think again.  There was no urgency to learn how to become a better defensive team and this is lack of urgency has caught up with the team.
 

I'm sorry I just fail to see how an OOC schedule can influence defensive intensity that much.

JB has been in the A-10 for 4 years.  Max for 1 year.  Stretch was in the SEC for 4 years.  DBJ was practicing with an ACC team for a year.  The coaching staff had all been here for at least a year and have multiple years of experience in college basketball.  It's no mystery to them what good defense looks like at the college level and what sort of defensive effort is needed to win conference games vs. OOC games against sub-250 KP teams. I'd have to go back and watch some of the post-game press conferences, but I don't think CC was out there pretending that the defense was any good or telling the team they had nothing to improve upon.  If anything, he was constantly saying that the Stonehill game was an aberration. 

The mistakes we're making on defense are the same ones we made against low level teams in the OOC.  It's just our offense can no longer bail us out like it used to.  So, I don't think the coaching staff was lacking in film to show to the team what they were doing wrong.  Also, we've gotten our brains beaten in for 8 straight games.  Not sure what else we need for "urgency" than that and yet we're still playing lazy on defense.  I don't think a harder OOC would've fundamentally made us better defenders.

It seems as though there's a sentiment here that the team should've been punished more in the OOC; that winning 11 games against mostly cupcakes is not "fair" or a true reflection of the team in some sense.  If the team were 10-15 right now instead of 14-11, would the fanbase feel better because the team got what it deserved?  We're already worse in KenPom than where we started the year.  Not sure what else people want.

Couldn't agree more with this.

Gwmayhem wrote:

GW0509, am not at all suggesting that CC or his staff did not prioritize defense or for that matter, did not try to create some urgency about playing better defense.  You have to remember that we're talking about 18-23 year olds for the most part.  At 11-2, it's very hard to convince them that they are playing poorly in certain aspects of the game.  They don't look at their performances against W&M, Navy, Alcorn State or UMES as warning signs.  They look at them as wins.

If any wins gave the players a false sense of superiority, such that they tuned out coaching, it's more likely the 3 against VCU, Davidson, and Mason, than any of the 11 from OOC.  

Also, *whispers*, it's actually our offense that is sneaky bad.  Last year we were 3rd in the conference in eFG% and so far this year we're 14th.  Our 2P% has gone from 1st to 13th.  Our season-long defensive efficiency is actually better so far this year than last.

I'm sure playing from behind affects our shot selection somewhat, but we are clearly missing Adams, Lindo, and Dean taking high quality shots close in near the basket.  I think there is some truth in CC putting this struggle on the team's youth and inexperience (but that gets to DMVPiranha's point about CC not recruiting enough vets in the portal).  

I can’t believe I’m saying this-I believe I’m done with GW Basketball-and college ball in general.
I’ve followed Bball since I was a child in Philly in the 50’s.The Big Five was my focus-but I was in love with the 
game-and some players were my heroes.The game has changed so much since then-as has the world-but in most cases I’ve adjusted -as we all must.However,I’ve come to the conclusion that with the NIL nonsense 
college sports for me has become a bridge too far.I’ll dip into the board on occasion-but the thrill is gone-
and I really don’t care anymore how the team is doing.I wish them well.

Thank you for the nice words GW69.  It would be a shame to see you leave as your insightful commentary has also been invaluable here, and we can use more, not less, posters on this site.  Hopefully, you will reconsider.

Don't wish to drag this discussion on much longer but I will say that for all the talk about how inexperienced we were coming into the season, in a year where there were zero expectations to qualify for the Dance or even the NIT, that is all the more reason why it would have behooved this team to test itself more in November/December.  I am talking about trading 2-3 cupcakes for better quality games, not a complete overhaul of the schedule.  This is the needed "experience" that our younger players could have truly benefited from, not yet another game against Coppin State or UMES.

I do not disagree with GW0509's points regarding the offense having dropped off during conference play.  However, this team never truly learned how to play team defense throughout the entire season.  And, it's very hard to impress upon a young, inexperienced team that they have got to improve their defense when that young, inexperienced team is 11-2, irrespective of who they played.