Part of being very highly ranked is that people make a big deal out of it when you lose. It’s OK, and it’s OK for you to calm down. Basketball season is long, and this was in a separate time zone from an upset like Chaminade from 1982 and not in the same neighborhood as our defeats at the hands of Seattle in 2011 and ODU in 2013. GW is a good, veteran team helmed by a very bright coach that plays in one of college hoops’ most overlooked venues. Did last night reveal some things that we can do better? Oh, yes. Did it give us reason to fire off the hot take cannon? Absolutely. Is the season ruined? Not at all.
We had big problems with four different things, two of which (items two and four) were not a big surprise.
- GW’s Kevin Larsen carved us up as a creator instead of a scorer.
- We were overaggressive against cutters, and GW screened and cut us to pieces.
- We could not handle the officials, who could not handle calling a consistent game.
- We made five of 20 three point tries.
Larsen keyed the GW attack. He wasn’t a big threat as a scorer — he scored nine points on six shots — but grabbed seven boards and dished five assists with only two turnovers, adroitly staying one step ahead of the post trap for pretty much the entire game. Now, the traps weren’t executed perfectly — especially when Isaiah was in — but Mike Lonergan and his staff had been drilling Larsen on our go-to move against skilled bigs ever since his dud in 2015, and he executed to perfection. The open threes GW missed? Generated by the attention Larsen drew. Tyler Cavanaugh playing over his head? Generated by Larsen. Garino sliding behind our guys for layups and putbacks? It was easier with space generated by Larsen.
I’m used to being able to count on our defense to keep us in any game, so GW scoring on what felt like every possession for the last 15 minutes of the game felt like one of those falling dreams, with the final horn serving as my alarm going off right before impact. GW’s spaced out offense treated us like Georgia Tech treats football teams: our guys were a step slow sliding on defense and a step out of position, and the Colonials feasted on opportunities around the (very friendly) rim and drew a ton of fouls.
Speaking of fouls, we halted any semblance of early momentum with foul trouble, and battled untimely calls all game. This was, I’d say, two thirds our fault and one third due to an unpredictable crew of refs. GW made 23 of 28 free throw attempts, parading to the line thanks to our inability to stay in front of opposing handlers and the accompanying need to compensate by reaching, but the game was officiated like the officials had been informed of this season’s rule changes maybe 10 minutes before tip through a game of Telephone. The whistles came often and indiscriminately.
We took 20 threes and made just five. London was 1-4, Malcolm 1-5, Darius 1-4, Devon 0-3, Nolte 1-2, Tobey 1-1, and Shayok 0-1. Through two games, we’re 10-38 (26.3%), which is a number that has to improve if this team is going to prove me right that a vast collection of average to above average shooters can make up for not having a single knockdown shooter on the roster. The sample size is small, but I’m a little concerned.
Malcolm came up huge with 28 points (including 11 of our last 13 when it was clear that no one else had it, which is a role I wanted him to emphasize), but he could have scored even more if he’d gone to the rim early in the game instead of settling for inefficient jumpers. His help was lacking. The O went through a long stagnant stretch — with no movers around our blockers — when GW went zone, and didn’t pick back up until Brogdon started his assault in the second half. Anthony Gill scored 11 points, but also recorded a few instances of my least favorite AG move: the one where he catches the ball 18 feet away from the rim and immediately turns his back to the basket and starts dribbling as though he’s going to back down his defender. It looks like a bug in a video game, and takes him out of the play as an offensive threat, often unnecessarily, since he has a quickness advantage over almost every opposing four. London Perrantes was also a little disappointing. He scored five points (on 2-8 shooting), but his shots — aside from three threes from the top of the circle — didn’t really feel like rhythm looks, and he didn’t do a great job creating offense for others. There’s a little friction on the court between the respective games of Perrantes and Darius Thompson, both of whom thrive when the ball is in their hands.
Tobey canned a three and scored 10 points, but I would have liked more looks to him on the offensive side and a better game from him on D. He did not seem very mobile last night.
The Devon/Marial/Darius group of third wing contenders didn’t give us much. They ended this game 6-23, and none of the three gave us much of a lift on either end. Shayok has been the odd man out of the three through two games and hasn’t looked comfortable, four of Darius’s six shots were threes (a ratio which should perhaps be reversed), and Devon missed some good looks at threes and a couple of times tried to maybe do a little too much on his way to the basket.
Evan and Jack Salt combined for seven fouls in 11 minutes. Evan did at least score five points, canning a late quick release three that makes me wonder if he’s a better shooter with less time to load it up and mentally review each of his 89 three point misses from the last two seasons. Isaiah was -13 in his 14 minutes in turning in a dud on both ends of the court. He looked hyperactive and lost.
Do you know what the good thing is about all of these negative observations? They’re from one bad game, from players I know to be better than they looked last night, who play for a team that is still forging its identity after losing two guys that played big roles both on the court and in the emotional makeup of the team. There’s plenty of time to work this stuff out, and they’ll get some reps toward that end on the court this weekend with three games in the Charleston Classic. More soon.
