Why can't we shoot foul shots?

I don’t know enough about coaching to say X was good coaching or Y was bad coaching, but are there coaching chances, risks or trade offs at play here?

Appreciate the kind words H&R..71 and jersey guy!

dmvpiranha wrote:

Saturday's game feels like a bit of a trap game. La Salle knocked off GW all three times last year, which suggests that Dunphy has CC's number and the Explorers are also coming off a very disappointing performance against Fordham. Winning on the road will be tough, and the Revs will need to keep their shooting up from the last game. What's concerning is La Salle's strength is on the glass, which is what gave GW fits in the UMass game - easily their worst performance in conference play. It would definitely help if Lilley remains out. The keys will be limiting their transition looks and preventing penetration in the halfcourt.

GW was predictably crushed by La Salle on the boards today. Just too many second chance opportunities allowed all game. No ability to finish the defensive possession after forcing a miss which was a bigger issue than usual because the Explorers rarely turn the ball over and GW generated few steals today. I second the FT shooting complaints as well. May not be the reason GW lost but that's six straight games now under 70%. The better FT shooters on the team probably need to get more attempts. I'm not confident Rafael will suddenly be consistent from the line. He probably overperformed earlier in the season. Castro still had a solid game overall and made good passes out of the post.

It's a shame, because there were a lot of things to like earlier in the game. Giving Jun scoring opportunities in different ways cutting off the ball, Jacoi making a layup, Moss making a three, 18 assists, etc. Unfortunately Buchanan was a no show for much of the second half, Hutch suddenly got the idea that he should be taking threes in crunch time, and Moss was pretty bad the rest of the time. Drumgoole fumbling the ball late is something no fifth year player should do. CJ has nice moments but as others mentioned he makes careless decisions at times and has a tendency to get caught too deep in the paint. Hansen had a good offensive game and was assertive, but needs to be better on the boards, especially when Rafael is out of position after contesting a shot. Autry has good moments offensively, but is guaranteed to do at least three stupid things on defense every game.

Ultimately, just like the GMU and Richmond games the game was winnable on the road but just like in those games the team got uptight and stopped executing when things got close. The late game play against Rhody was an anomaly. MBB should know that even in crunch time they are still allowed to pass and don't have to take a shot in isolation out of panic. That's ultimately what is holding this team back from being a contender this year, because they have shown they can play with anyone in the league. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say the last three minutes of today's game were CC's worst as a coach at GW. Why start fouling with over a minute to go and down only 4? The last few minutes a few years ago at Mason under Jamion definitely comes close with JB and JoeBam jacking up idiotic threes when the game was still close. CC was definitely out coached by Dunphy down the stretch. It honestly looked like he was in a rush to go home or something at the end because what transpired was truly that confusing. Well he gets to go home with two unused timeouts and an L.

Pirana, to your point that late game execution is holding us back from being a contender, I agree and would add that it doesn’t shock me.  We’ve jumped 75 or 80 spots in KenPom, which us a significant improvement, and so learning how to close out games like this consistently on the road is really the next step (and the difference between us being a top 100 or top 80) team.

We might not be a top 4 team but we are certainly a top half of the league team. Those are my expectations at this point.

Repeat after me .... we gave up 20 offensive rebounds leading to 21 second chance points and scored 7 points in the last 6:42!!!! That's all you need to know about this game. The rest is window dressing.

In our five  A-10 losses we are giving up nearly 5 more offensive rebounds per game than in our 4 wins. Aside from our inconsistent three point and free throw shooting, if there was one thing to fix - this would be it.

One final note on this game: Of course, losing sucks, but I am glad to see that LaSalle has a new arena.  That helps the conference overall, which also helps GDUB in a small way. Anyhoo...on to the Mason game in less than an hour...