GW Hoops / Princeton Game

**Posted by BC** 11/10/2019 12:50 pm

at the half, Princeton leads 29-27. Neither team shooting well, but Princeton has out-rebounded GW 28-14 with 14 offensive rebounds. Princeton was voted No. 1 in the Ivy league.

**Posted by BC** 11/10/2019 2:04 pm

Princeton wins 75-50. For GW - lousy shooting, lousy rebounding, all of 6 assists and 20 turnovers. Bah Humbug.

**Posted by BC** 11/10/2019 3:37 pm

I shouldn't be so negative after only 2 games. Sigh.

**Posted by GWRising** 11/11/2019 4:16 pm

Embarrassing loss. Plain and simple. A 25-point home loss to even a good Ivy League team should be unacceptable for a program that hopes to be at or near the top of the A-10. I would say that unfortunately Jen's seat is getting warmer.

**Posted by keithgreene** 11/11/2019 4:35 pm

Let's not get carried away about a hot seat. It was a two-point game at the half, and the Colonial Women got awfully sloppy with the basketball, leading to breakaway layups galore. It was a bad loss, but they will learn and get better. Remember, they are not picked first in the conference.

**Posted by GWRising** 11/11/2019 5:17 pm

Keith, Jen Rizzotti's record ... moving in the wrong direction

2016-17 20-10/13-3 (Tsipis recruits)
2017-18 19-14/10-6
2018-19 10-20/7-9

Don't believe GW should get rid of her yet but the trends are not good and if they continue, I'd imagine it will be a problem. That is why I said her seat is getting warmer. Games like yesterday don't inspire great confidence that she will get this turned around anytime soon.

**Posted by Poog** 11/11/2019 10:40 pm

Went to Villanova and I saw a far different team dominate the Wildcats than the one which stumbled badly against a strong Princeton team featuring a Wooden Award nominee in 6’4” Bella Alarie. This year’s GW team has far more talent and depth than last year but with all the new players, it’s going to take some shake-down voyages before they’re consistently clicking on all cylinders. Never quite understand the rush to trashing at GW every time one of the teams has a bad game. We play like this in Feb-March than harp away. We throw lazy passes or get the ball easily stripped away than dump on them to your heart’s content. Two games in sitting at 1-1 without having played a cupcake, how about showing some patience and support? As Coach McKeown reminded us at the HOF induction, the Elite 8 team started out 1-4. Not saying this year’s team is as good, but they’re a heck of a lot better than to be abandoned because they had a bad afternoon against an NCAA tourney team featuring Littlefield and Alarie.

**Posted by The Dude** 11/12/2019 12:17 am

Also, one season removed from winning the A10 Tourney.

**Posted by The Dude** 11/12/2019 12:20 am

Plus, 30-18 in the A10 is nothing to sneeze at.

**Posted by GWRising** 11/12/2019 9:51 am

Poog, a close loss I can deal with. We were embarrassed. Princeton might be the class of the Ivy but if we are being embarrassed AT HOME by the best of a weak league that's not the GW women's program we all came to know and love under Joe or even Tsipis. This is year 4 not year 1 or even 2. We were told Jen Rizzotti would lead this program onward and upward (hopefully Nero got that right because even a broken watch is right twice a day). But what actual evidence do you have for that at this point in Year 4?

I'm all for being a cheerleader here but sometimes you have to step back and look at the big picture. I am not saying to fire her today as we are just 2 games in and I would definitely let the season play out. But I think this is a crossroads year and this situation should be monitored closely in Year 4 because as I noted above the overall trends aren't going in right direction. Hopefully, we will get better during the season and show progress so that Tanya Vogel won't have a hard decision to make at the end of it. However, we wouldn't (and didn't accept) this trend from the men's program under Mojo so why should we treat the women's program as any different?

Last edited by GWRising (11/12/2019 10:22 am)

**Posted by xAC** 11/12/2019 10:39 am

This a transition year for GW. We have a lot of young players, the first year where all of the players actually recruited by Coach, and and we'll have some ups and downs. Coach Rizzotti isn't going anywhere.

"30-18" in the A10.

By comparison, in 11 years at Northwestern, Coach Joe has only one year that he bettered .500 in Big Ten, and his Big Ten winning percentage is .317.

Tsipis first three years at Wisconsin has him at .180 in the Big Ten.

Let's at least give Coach the same opportunities as these guys and see what happens.

**Posted by GWRising** 11/12/2019 11:00 am

Transition year in year 4? That's interesting since Rizzotti has had 3 recruiting classes and even more interesting when you consider her best team was the one Tsipis left her.

The difference between the Big Ten and the A-10 is like the Grand Canyon. I seriously hope you are not comparing Rizzotti to McKeown at this point ... you know the guy who regularly led us to 20+ wins (starting in his second year), A-10 titles, some Sweet 16s and an Elite 8. By Joe's second year we were in the NCAA tournament in a much better league. Don't remember any "transition years" during Joe's tenure. You must have missed the HOF inductions on Friday.

Last edited by GWRising (11/12/2019 11:02 am)

**Posted by Poog** 11/12/2019 11:57 am

Nobody’s giving anyone a pass on the expectations for this year. Joe’s time at GW were magical years but the A-10 was hardly a powerhouse conference back then, especially in his 2nd year. The emphasis and commitment to women’s basketball rose dramatically at the Power 5 schools so the landscape has changed. We know women’s basketball can be highly successful at GW since we’ve seen it happen under two different coaches. Rizzotti will ultimately be judged by her successes on the court. Losing to a good Princeton team, even one whose previous coach is now at UNC, should not spell the end of the season or the beginning of a death watch. Forces me to temper my enthusiasm which the coaches understood and tried to warn. Coach Christian talked about how his players needed fan love and support because they had been through a lot the past few years, had worked hard, but had not gotten the desired results on the court. No less is true for the women with all the new pieces. Stay skeptical if that’s your predisposition. Just don’t look for the nearest bridge every time the team hits a bump in the ugly road on the way to beautiful places.

Last edited by Poog (11/12/2019 12:00 pm)

**Posted by GW Alum Abroad** 11/12/2019 11:58 am

Coach Rizz is definitely under the microscope but as poog mentions the heat will not be applied to her seat until late February (if at all). She has hung a banner in the Smith Centre and has landed some top players that are only this week beginning their GW tenures. So while there have been some sucktastic results, the jury is not even being sent to deliberations yet.

**Posted by keithgreene** 11/12/2019 1:37 pm

So this is a VERY civil conversation! What a difference from days gone by, when attacks became personal. Everyone is expressing their opinion - and passion - in a positive way. RAISE HIGH Y'ALL!

**Posted by GWRising** 11/12/2019 2:16 pm

I agree Keith. And to be very clear, I am not looking to run Jen Rizzotti out of here. However, I can't ignore what my own eyes are telling me so far. Hope to be wrong about this.

**Posted by GW Alum Abroad** 11/12/2019 2:31 pm

I will part with poog on one issue, back in the late 80´s the A10 was a very good conference at the top, especially Rutgers, Penn St and St Joe´s. Yes, Bona and URI were miserable squads, but as a whole the conference was quite good (not Cheryl Miller playing in the Pac10 good or ACC good, but better than it is now).

(And if it makes Kieth feel any better, imagine in your head that I am calling poog all kinds of four-letter words just for fun and sport! But don´t, because BGF has been a saint in setting this up and I harbour no ill will toward poog.)

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (11/12/2019 2:33 pm)

**Posted by GWRising** 11/12/2019 2:39 pm

GWAA, I would argue the A-10 of the mid-late 90s and early 2000s was better as well than the current version..

**Posted by Poog** 11/12/2019 3:43 pm

Back in the late '80's, GW was not part of the top of the conference. McKeown started at GW in the 1989-90 season and showed accelerated improvement from his first year on. Penn State left after the '91 season, Rutgers after '95. The league is stronger now top to bottom than it was back then. But I agree that GW should be at the upper rather than the middle tier of the conference. I expect that to play out this year. proverbial time will tell.

**Posted by GWRising** 11/12/2019 4:15 pm

Poog. last year the conference rpi placed the A-10 17th; in 2017-18 it was 11th; and in 2016-17 it was 12th. Not sure that is stronger than in the 1990s and early 2000s when A-10 was pretty much always within top 10.