107-104 Now I can watch the game all over again.

I really can’t believe how much better this team had gotten through out the season. They are showing they can compete with everybody in the league. I’m really looking forward to watching this team continue to develop and be a contender in the A10 next year.

Great game!!!  Wonderful win.

Incredible win!! 

Huge congrats to our team!!  

Thrilling stuff, keep on climbing up GW

One of the all time great GW games.  A gritty, gutty win.

In 30 years I don’t recall any game at the smith center going to 4OT.  An instant classic.

And let’s not bury Amir for the 0-10 shooting day. He had a tough first half on both ends, but for the last 40 minutes, I thought he played one of the top defensive games I’ve ever seen.  He was all over JAG (who made a ton of tough shots, as defending A10 POYs tend to do - but was just 11-29 from the field) and Harris singlehandedly got us at least 2 of the stops, maybe more, that kept the game going.  He didn’t have it on offense, but he played like Yuta in the NIT today, making everything tough on Davidson.

There were a lot of reasons for us to lose today:
- Potter foul trouble, then injury.
- Refs not being very even, which led to the first JC Technical I recall
- what seemed like a ton of balls just bouncing their way - from deflections that went right to them for layups, to a pass that hit the rim and bounced to JAG, to badly missed shots around the basket that bounced right to their guys, to one banker in 3 and another total prayer by a guy who didn’t want to shoot.
- falling down by 6 in 2OT with Paar our of gas

And yet we kept battling and found a way to win. 

The difference between this team in November vs today is remarkable.  We just know how to defend and how to compete in a way we haven’t seen for a few years.  It’s great. 


More shout outs:
- Chase Paar played a hell of a game before he ran out of gas. Even a block with a stare down. I though Luka B would have a big game, but Paar outplayed him.

- JNJ, like Harris, player a great defensive game.  He was all over Grady for most of the game (Grady was 9-21). And JNJ hit the clutch three that gave us the lead in the 4th OT, then found Battle with a great pass for the shot they finally  broke the stalemate at the end of the 4th OT.  He played a whopping 56 minutes and went for 12 points, 10 boards, 6 assists and only 2 TOs.

- Battle was also great and played 57 minutes (has to be a Gw record for minutes in a game). 25 big points, solid D

- Maceo was at his best. Career game with 36. Not much more to say.  Happy for the kid.

- Toro was hugely productive and carried us once he came in. Hopefully that will spark him moving forward.

- Shaun Walker played I think his best game. I was impressed with how under control he was, and he carried us in one stretch when Potter got in foul trouble in the first half.

There were several moments where we had all 4 freshmen on the floor together, and we more than held our own. 

The future feels good. Great team effort tonight.

I forgot the most epic stat of all.   The two teams COMBINED for only 15 TOs in 2 half’s and 4 OTs. 

What a game.

DMVPiranha,  I didn't realize that Amir Harris was 0-10 from the field because he seemed to do everything else very well, he was disruptive on defense(including a block on Gudmundsson in the final seconds of 1 of the OT's) and did a decent job running the offense. His athleticism, length and skill level allows him to play 3 positions, he may even be able to play some power forward with how high he gets up. He seemed to get a few rebounds over Davidson's taller players today. Amir Harris' potential is off the charts, imagine how great he can be when he's fully healthy and hitting shots!!! He could get double digit points, 5 or 6 rebounds, 5 or 6 assists, 1 or 2 blocks, and 1 or 2 steals per game!!

GW pulled out this win despite losing Potter to an injury. You can make a strong case that Potter has been GW's MVP this year, and for them to lose him and still pull out a 4 overtime win against a quality team like Davidson is a great sign for the future. What I like most about GW's 4 conference wins is that they have won these games with different players having big games. It's not a situation where GW just relies on 1 or 2 guys to win, which probably makes it difficult for opposing teams to design a game plan to shut down GW. Maceo Jack and Jamison Battle combined for 60 points(Maceo with 35, Battle with 25) today, the next game may see JNJ and Armel combine for 50-60 points. 

GW0509,  even though Brajkovic kept hitting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Sky Hooks over Paar, it's good to see a current player using the sky hook. I've heard people say that the sky hook is the most un-guardable shot in basketball. The announcers said that Brajkovic may have been using his shoulder/elbows to move Paar out of the way on his hook shots. I believe Brajkovic 4th or 5th foul was an offensive foul. 

Really like how team kept it's composure went getting behind at crucial parts of the game. And did anyone notice how few timeouts Christian called? He's letting the team play through tough spots. Really different type of not overly coaching a team during a game.  That man to man defense.
Shame one team had to lose this game in 4 Overtimes. Really happy we won.
And did you notice how many OT games the A10 played tonight?    

What a memorable win. This is the kind of win that can really build a ton of momentum for the rest of the season. Offensive play calls were great. I liked especially in crunch time that we weren't always settling for threes and were looking inside as much as possible. Defensively, we've found ourselves stuck under screens a lot recently which has allowed the opposition to get threes off fairly cleanly. If we can find a way to get around the screener that would help a lot moving forward, but overall we got stops when we needed to which is most important.

JC's lack of timeouts was truly interesting. He wasn't planning to call one on our final possession to win it until the ball went out of bounds and there were 4 seconds left. What was even more interesting was the lack of timeouts in overtime. We were starting to pile them up like crazy - I think we had four timeouts to use by the 4th OT. It's always nice to have some just in case we couldn't inbound the ball, which made the last few seconds of quadruple OT slightly less stressful than it otherwise would have been. Davidson had three tries to win the game at the end, but JC didn't stress it and call time. That showed me his confidence in the guys on the court, and the number of times they must have practiced crunch time situations in practice. Also, I'm sorry but it looked like Davidson wasn't trying to win with their final plays in each OT. I was honestly surprised by the terrible play designs. Some of their threes were super deep and barely drew iron. Did they know they just needed 2 to win? Great for us.

Hope Armel is okay, but after seeing him on crutches I worry it's a serious injury. AT, Juice, and Armel have all suffered injuries as seniors. Thankfully AT has made it back, but I really hope the other two do as well. I really hate seeing guys in their final years see their careers cut early.

Three guys played 57+ minutes, and two were freshmen. Our seniors only accounted for 15 of our 107 points. The future is truly bright.

Also while I've been tough on rotations in the past, it's clear that getting almost everyone to see significant action in games OOC has been paying off in conference season. JC's decision to bring AT in during the second OT was a brilliant coaching decision. On the surface, it would seem like he just wanted to give Chase a breather or bring in a more experienced guy after Chase concluded the previous OT by going 1 of 4 from the line. However, looking closer Brajkovic had four fouls when AT came into the game, which meant by default AT would have little resistance near the rim offensively as Brajkovic would have to be mindful of his 4 fouls, and being a fresh big that hadn't played up to that point meant Brajkovic was likely to be a step slow eventually and foul out of the game. It happened not too much later, and his departure was big for the rest of the game as their primary inside threat was gone (and we wouldn't have to watch him back down our guy and make a hook shot over them for the 7th time). Hope this means AT will get more run moving forward (he may by default given the tired legs in the Richmond game) but that was a great strategy.

Also credit the team for being sound with the ball (just 9 turnovers) and not fouling too much. It's incredible to me that we played four overtimes and no one on the team fouled out.

Game Ball: Obviously, Maceo's career game deserves this award, but I want to give the honorable mention to AT for coming in and being ready when his number was called. Also a shoutout to Jamison for only sitting 1 minute the entire game. He truly battled (too easy, I know) and I hope JC finds more minutes to rest him against Richmond.

Player Breakdown:
Jamison - glad he was able to redeem himself on that corner three to put us up 5 in the fourth OT after his open attempt from the same place rimmed out just 20 minutes earlier (it felt like an eternity between the two plays watching the game). We got to see his driving ability as well and he had a nice finish off balance deep into the shot clock on one play. His stellar free throw shooting made a big difference, hitting 90%. He also extended his lead in three point makes in the league I believe.

Chase - he legitimately gets 10x better every game. It's almost scary but extremely fun to watch. Chase just has a really good feel for the game. He is finishing with greater consistency as the games have progressed (though I'm sure he would want that miss back on the first play of the game!) but his rebounding was for me a difference maker in this game. His ability to tap the ball out and give us second chance opportunities is amazing. Lately he has even been able to outwork the opposition on the boards - this is a totally different Chase from his first appearance in the BU game where he went up weakly with the ball on his one attempt. 16 rebounds today (along with 13 points for a second straight double-double). Add him to the honorable mentions of the game ball list actually. JNJ and Jamison have been getting all the freshman attention, but Chase deserves some as well.

JNJ - his careless turnovers have really reduced which is nice to see. I believe he only had one bad pass in traffic, and dropped some nice dimes to Chase in the game for easy finishes underneath. The play where he passed up his three point attempt so Maceo could take it (which would tie the game in regulation at 72) showed really great maturity. He's not afraid to take a big shot in crunch time though, as evidenced by this play in overtime (reminds me a bit of the American game) and that late three of course to hit 100 points as a team despite being 0-5 before that. Jameer has also had an instant impact on the defensive end. His rebounding efforts should not go unnoticed - 10 rebounds today along with 12 points to give him a double-double. Nelson has 6+ boards in three of the last four games - he is not afraid to sky for a board to secure it. Also, glad we are setting up plays for him to get above the rim at least once every game - that always gets the home crowd fired up. Excited to see him grow in Foggy Bottom.

Armel - hope he is okay. Thought Davidson did a decent job making it tough on him to get in the lane, but it's telling that even playing 30+ minutes less than Amir and JNJ he almost still led the team in assists. He probably could have had a double double had he not got hurt. Again, hope he is okay - that fadeaway jumper he took was shot weird (though the Kobe influence was apparent) and he looked to have landed awkwardly. Nice to see him rejoin the team at the end of the bench, even though with crutches. I will say the team probably made more extra passes with him out, but there were also fewer easy setup baskets with Potter out. This team has dealt with a lot of injuries, but the next man up mentality has been nice to see. Still, you never want your leader out.

Maceo - what is there to say? A phenomenal game. He was clearly hot from deep, but it is important to note that this is probably the most in rhythm I've seen him shoot it in a very long time. When he doesn't rush his follow through the shots go in a lot more frequently. This team just looks so much better when Maceo is engaged and having fun. I said before that he is more than just a three point shooter, and it was nice to see him slash to the hoop a bit more (also here). Jack did a bit more on the glass than usual - this offensive board and putback was a big one for the team. Finally want to point out his improved defense. This is the best I've ever seen him move laterally to stay with his man (and Jack had to guard JAG and Grady at times). Also had 2 blocks, an underrated part of his game. Maceo finished with 3 fouls playing 57 minutes. Remember freshman Maceo? He probably wouldn't have been able to stay in for 15 minutes without fouling out. His growth defensively needs to be noted. While he hasn't exploded offensively in this system, he has definitely helped the team out by being a better defender. Hopefully this explosion is a sign of things to come. As a fan, I was happy to see Maceo fired up and smiling.

Amir - The 0-10 comment was meant to be tongue in cheek given we scored 107 points. I would actually say he was the key player to our success in the game. Harris has quietly been a very good shot blocker since he's been eligible, and did stepped up well distributing the ball in Armel's absence. His defense is his calling card, and he showed today why he's the top defender on the team, especially on Jon Axel and Grady. Jon Axel went 0-8 from distance after halftime. As I said in the preview, the key was coming down to whether we could get stops. Wasn't worried about our offense. After halftime, Davidson went just 3-17 from distance, and only 1 of those makes was from Grady.

Shawn - I've loved what he's been able to give the team in limited time. He was really hard on himself after that turnover he committed, but he overall gave great minutes off the bench. At the point, he plays with a lot swagger and doesn't usually make too many mistakes. He has also started shooting the ball better from deep, and has been good at the FT line on the year. His drive to the hoop, hesitation, and finish was really beautifully executed as well earlier in the game. The best is yet to come for him.

AT - mentioned a lot above, but just want to mention the fact that he was a few boards away from a double double in 13 minutes of play. Had he played 20 minutes, he probably would have reached there. Something that deserves more attention was his FT shooting. Arnaldo has struggled a bit from the line this year at 50%, but shot closer to his average in previous years at 70% in this game. His rotation seems to be a lot flatter than in previous years, but he made his first four FTs. Every point made a difference, and credit AT for making most down the stretch.

Ace - made a cameo and joined in on the block party, recording one of our eight blocks as a team. Also pulled down a rebound to help win the battle on the boards. We outrebounded Davidson by 11, 54-43 in the game which was huge as well.

Surprised Mezie didn't make an appearance, but this probably wasn't the best matchup for him.

Up next will be a tough one on the road at Richmond. Given how tired the guys are, I would understand if the game ended up being a bit of a letdown. I am hoping though that we are able to keep up this momentum!
 

One other small memory from the game:

When Armel went down someone in the stands was loudly yelling "Where's the foul!?" and JC responded loud enough for everyone to hear "That's a great question!"