Free Quebec wrote:

GW Alum Abroad wrote:

So is Caputo still in the "shit don't smell" phase with the fan base? Because at some point the listless offense, poor rebounding, career nights from rival teams' scrubs, uncontested treys and getting picked apart by other teams would come back to him, no?

I think the same question needs to be asked of James Bishop.  Where’s the leadership? His defense is still terrible, he’s obviously not a vocal leader or a guy who gets pissed off, and he’s killing our offense right now - not just because he’s missing everything, but because every time the ball comes to him, he pauses to look around (in fact, most of our guys do that), which gives the defense time to get set.  We aren’t using passes to get the defense off balance, but are just passing to give a different guy a chance to jack up a contested three or try to drive 1 on 4 and make a play.  Seriously when you watch our offense, watch how often it stops moving when it goes to James (or most guys, it’s not just him). 

Also his bread and butter that made him one of the leading scorers in GW history has been an absolutely deadly pull up game from about 7-12 feet.  He’s been money on those shots for three years, then they just disappeared from his arsenal this year.  I was excited he actually tried one tonight but he air balled it.  What happened?  Is he trying to prove to the pros that he can get to the rim?  I miss those pull up 8 footers.

I’ll also add, Bishop has the lowest 2 pt percentage of his entire 5 year career, making just 42.9% of this twos. Last year, he was money at 50.6%. I still think the abandonment of his midrange game has really hurt his game.  Wish he would just get back to what he did so well for 3 years for us.

Free...I think Max is an adequate 3 point shooter.  I am not saying he shouldn't shoot them, just not more than 2-4 per game, and never when there is still 20 seconds on the shot clock.  Rather, he should use his three point shot as a vehicle to set up the other aspects of his game rather than as his primary source of scoring.

Gwmayhem wrote:

GWRising wrote:

Gwmayhem wrote:

Forget the record.  The bad habits have had to do with playing too loose with the ball, failing to defend properly off of screens, and being in less than ideal position to grab defensive rebounds (largely due to Stretch going for blocks and the team failing to account for the weak side).  We were able to get to a 14-3 record largely because we could get away with these things given the level of competition.  It's more than teams have adjusted to us; it's that the teams we are playing in-conference are simply better.  The 3-1 start to conference season could very easily have been 1-3. 

... or 4-0. If it's what you say, why did these bad habits enable us to be very competitive for 4 games in A-10 against better competition? Habits suggest consistency. Either they were bad habits entering A-10 play or they developed during A-10 play. If it's the former, how did they largely magically disappear for 4 games. If it's the latter, then they weren't bad habits that emanated from OOC play. You decide.

This response is just silly.  The world just is not as binary as you're making it out to be.  Lifelong smokers can live to be 100.  Students who don't study for tests can still get A's.  And yes, basketball teams can develop bad habits and still manage to win games, even against decent opponents, despite these bad habits.  The point in bringing up bad habits is that there is a strong likelihood that these habits will catch up with you over time against better competition.  Right now, we have a 3-6 conference record, meaning I'd have to conclude that this has been the case.  Am not suggesting that they are the sole issues.  We could have played a near-perfect game at Dayton and still not have won.  Sometimes, you're just not the more talented team.  Nor am I suggesting that youth has played no role in any of this.  The reality is that this team was never the caliber of a typical 14-3 team when it had this record, just like they are not the caliber of a typical 0-5 team right now.

Also, the exception doesn't make the rule. The lifelong smoker who makes it to 100 is a very tiny subset of smokers. The kid who gets an A on the test but doesn't study is again a small subset of everyone taking the test. That's why we tell people not to smoke and to study. So, again, I think while you are correct it's not completely binary, my question is more likely than not to be accurate given the fact that for 4 A-10 games we were pretty competitive and those 4 just happened to follow our OOC schedule.: When did these bad habits develop? My argument is that whatever bad habits we have developed have been largely the result of us not adjusting to adjustments made in how teams are playing us on both ends of the floor and not as a result of the OOC. And the reason we are not adjusting as quickly as perhaps we should is largely due to the youth and inexperience of the bulk of the roster and the fact James/Max have been in a rut. Bottom line is when we start hitting some threes at a more reasonable clip (say mid-30's), you will see how things open up on offense. Defensively, we need some tactical adjustments as well as a better effort from all players.

creeksandzeeks wrote:

GWRising wrote:

The simple fact is we are young and this has been pointed out time and time again by CC and many others including posters on this board. Being young especially in a system which increasingly favors older more experienced teams due to the transfer rules and the extra year granted by COVID is a huge detriment. Young is not just age but actual playing experience and playing experience where the outcome of the game is on you (not mop up minutes). All one has to do is look at the average roster ages. The best teams not surprisingly have the oldest rosters. Even Duke which brings in the best five star youngsters and Kentucky are not killing it when they have to play teams older than them. The youthful talent is not enough to offset experienced teams.

Rising, if this were 2004 or even 2014 I'd agree with you. however, I don't think any of us can take for granted that our youth will grow old with GW. GW lives squarely in that in-between space where high-major talent can drop low(ish) if it doesn't work out in the Power 5/BIG EAST, and it's just really hard for me to believe that young men will want to stay at GW when there's better TV exposure and actual literal better money to be had when their stock rises.

 Two things can be true at once. We can be young and inexperienced this year which is causing some issues for us. We can also never have this team grow old together for the reasons you have suggested.