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I know that you guys will criticize and say he was a America East recruit, but this kid can play.  He is a big time athlete, was looking at playing D1 football as a QB.  He's going to be a very nice player.

Sounds good from the reports I've read and brief Video.  Only "issue" is that our only other recruit for 2011 is also a 6'7", inside/outside scoring SF and we have a couple of other pretty good SFs on the roster.  The position isn't a priority.

I guess it's a bit late in the recruiting period to get too picky.

He just needs to add some weight to take his game to the next level, which will happen over his four years in Foggy Bottom.

He just needs to add some weight to take his game to the next level, which will happen over his four years in Foggy Bottom.

I'm not quite sure how that helps this team, but if he's good I'll be happy. 

He is certainly an athlete: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNDPTUT356E 

I think I was critical of the signing of Pinnock because we already had top 100 recruit Ricky Lucas in the fold as a 2-guard.  I learn from my mistakes, so no criticism here -- especially since he is apparently rated as one of the top 5 players in the state of Wisconsin.

And he appears to be a great student, so maybe he'll turn into a Mike Hall type for us? 

I liked this section in one of the articles: 

Kopriva attended the Hoop Grand Elite Camp in Pennsylvania. The camp featured some 630 participants and saw over 300 college coaches in attendance. Kopriva made the all-star team at the camp as a reserve but when he got in the coaches were not going to take him out.

“These events are really point guard orientated,” said Kopriva. “They have the ball in their hands and they are trying to get their own looks. I tried to beat my man down the court every time and be active on the glass.

“I had some tip-in baskets and was going for offensive rebounds and that’s what really caught people’s attention.”

 for all you scary stalkers out there:

http://www.facebook.com/john.kopriva

Wow.  34 ACT.  That's close to 100th percentile.

Sounds like he's the same height as J. Davis and that's where the comparison ought to end.  Kopriva will be a power forward while J. Davis might be able to play either guard position or small forward. John sounds like a VERY smart kid who understands how to help his team win.  Sounds like a smaller version of Erik Copes.  Let's hope so.

Copes less fifty pounds, but including a mid-range shot?  I'm thinking Mike Hall-type without buying into the hype that comparison implies.

Just like that "JK" goes from being a ugly word on this site to "one of the guys".

if he gains some weight and muscle are we talking about Bill Brigham or a step-out 4?

 Looks like a Bill Brigham type.  A guy who would be a star in America East but will be a complimentary player in the A-10.  I like his intelligence and  his history of winning.  A nice first step.

I am not going crazy here with the Copes comparisons, but I like this pick-up.  Copes was a potential all A10 player/Defensive player of the year type, and I don't we are getting that here.   

From the brief highlight at about 10:30 here and the football pedigree I think we can safely say he is an A10 athlete.  Also appears to be much more of an inside player but also versatile enough to defend on the wing.  No clue if he can shoot.  Smart basketball player, good athlete, hopefully willing to hit the gym and I think we have a solid role player here.  Love it if he turned out to be as good as Mike Hall, but I gotta think that is his absolute ceiling. 

If he's a Bill Brigham type, GW has itself a player. Jarvis'  team took off when Brigham became eligible after transferring from BU. And we spent the next upteen years lamenting the fact that we didn't have a Bill Brigham type power forward on GW. The fact that he was a recruited HS QB at least suggests a toughness that could be well utilized inside. Don't think we're talking anything near the quality of player Copes was supposed to be but a more than adequate addition to the Colonials lineup. Have to readily defer to the coach's judgment on this guy; ML is well aware of the difference in play between the AE and the A-10. At the very least, it gives everyone someone to assess ML's judgment on recruits and what he thinks the current Colonials squad needs to be successful next year.

Brigham is the better comparison.  The Copes statement had more to do with work ethic and getting physical than anything else.  As soon as BM warned us not to buy into the Mike Hall comparison in full, GWALUM2001 refers to Hall as JK's absolute ceiling.  I'd like to see him play first but unless you want to convince me that JK is an NBA caliber player in the making, it's hard to see JK being as productive a player as Mike Hall given what we know about him.  If Kopriva turns into a 10 point, 7 rebound, takes a couple of charges type player for us, that sounds great to me.

34 on the ACT is very impressive

Great highlights posted by GWAlum2001.  He looks bigger, faster and stronger than I thought.

By Mike Hall-Type player, I mean someone who defends hard, rebounds, scores when needed and is a leader.  Pleanty of those around who won't get a sniff at the NBA.  Then again, ML recruit Joe Trapani (6-7, 215 out of HS) is trying out for the Celtics right now.

Darn it, there I go with the hype again.

 He's a very good recruit.  He will need to add 20-25lbs though to play the 4 in the A10.  He wouldn't have needed to add any muscle to step into the AE and play.

Upside definitely projects to be a Joe Trapani- type.  

Is he an American East type player on paper?  Yes.  Will he probably be grabbing some good rebounds and banging around in the paint, just like Brigham did?  Yes.  Our roster is short on guys like this, so we could use a player like him.  Hopefully he starts to put on the weight and hits the weight room this summer. 

Seems like he has good speedfor a guy that size. Would be very curious to see previous Colonial's #s on those things.

But right now, I really want to know who posted the 4.77 inch vertical leap?  Even Antxon Iturbe after both foot injuries could probably post at least a 5 inch vertical.

"The colleges that have offered the 6-foot-7 forward include: Bucknell, Cal Poly, Holy Cross, Monmouth, New Hampshire, Siena, Vermont and local UW-Milwaukee to name just a few. Even more impressive is Kopriva has been offered roster spots on three Ivy League schools including Brown, Princeton and Dartmouth."  Now, in all fairness, if this was a KH recruit, I would be critical based on the other schools that were interested.  Or, to put in another way, he does not appear to be an A-10 quality recruit.  So, part of me said that this kid may be a good test of ML's eye for talent (or that jewel in the rough we kept hearing about with KH).   However, another part of me says to not use this as a measure of recruiting talent, just like we did not use 1st year coach KH's 11th hour recruit, Darrio Scott, to judge KH's recruiting ability. 

Interesting that when Fitzgerald was announced last year you were all up in arms and he was a better recruit from a better school. Very interesting...

Just so it is clear, I heard that hsi VLeap was around 28 inches.Gandhi had a VL of aver 7 inches even when he was 63.

There are so many other factors about who would offer to Kopriva--do you think that more schools would have offered if he hadn't been committed early? Or that he was a football player? There are networks of awareness that coaches have. They don't know every college level player in the country.

What I like the most is the power and speed factor. Then, there is the footwork. Kopriva was a dual threat QB. There is a lot of footwork. Much of the college game in the paint is footwork, speed and balance. If he is 210, then he is a lean 210 and that is also good.

As I said last week, I don't turn down hustle points.

I'm pumped.

MV,

I do not think the JK is going to be the next Mike Hall (who is by far my favorite all-time colonial).  By "absolute ceiling" I meant exactly that.  If he works his ass off the next few years and everything falls the right way, he looks like he could be a Mike Hall kind of player.  This is based on 2 minutes of highlights and reading the same profiles everyone else did so grain of salt obviously.  The more likely scenario is what you mentioned, a 10 and 7 "glue" guy.  Either way, he looks like a decent pick up this late in the game. 

BTW, I can't speak for the rest of JK's competition, but in the clip his team beat J.P. Tokoto who is a stud heading to UNC. 

Our AE Level talent in many cases was A10/CAA Level talent- if it wasn't that way we wouldn't have had so much OOC success as we had in the Lonergan era.

Our AE Level talent beat George Washington and Colorado in the Rainbow Classic a few years back.  

I wouldn't be so worried about who offered the kid.  

I don't think he compares at all to Mike Hall.  With some more muscle and a reliable mid-range jumper to go with his ability to run the floor, rebound and score some down low I'm thinking more like (dare I say) Kevin Frey from XU. 

Ah, the hope that springs eternal... Don't you just love irrational exuberance? But at least this has everyone talking positively for a change. Let's hope Kopriva is, in fact, coming to GW, and proves to be the solid contributor over 4 years that it appears he could be. Sure looks like a plus on the GPA side.

Poog

Why is everybody jumping up and down!!?!?!?

What about a point guard?!

It's time to say that the sky is falling!

Actually, the Sky were in first place in the WNBA last time I looked at the standings. I'm certainly happy as I was hoping for an inside player rather than a guard if ML filled one of the open slots. Now we just await confirmation from GW.  But at least we now know that ML isn't just soaking up the adulation that comes with being a featured guest tonight at Nationals Park before the Luther Rice Society.

The irony is that posters like Dolphin (or his alter ego Tuna) enjoy mocking those of us who simply aren't accepting every development of this program without questioning things that perhaps deserve to be questioned, by perceiving us as a bunch of Chicken Little's, when in reality, those who are doing the questioning can't even be justifiably thought of as worriers let alone naysayers.  In other words, I don't feel that myself, LFO, DEA, Seneca, or anyone else who may have been troubled by the decision to release KH (either the decision itself and/or the timing of it) is showing any sign of being overly critical or is panicking in any way and yet posters like Dolphin would have you believe that we're running around thinking that our program has been run into the ground.

^^^^^^^^

Hijack alert!!!

I think Tuna's jab is directed more at the posters who were already complaining about Lonergan's lack of signees (although he's only been on the job for about a month) and his inability to keep recruits signed under the previous regim.  Mostly the younger crowd.

Although John Kopriva wasn't rated by ESPN and Fitzgerald was, I don't think he is a lesser recruit.  Fitzgerald's youtube video and lack of production (3pts, 1.6 rebs) in HS is what raised concerns from the start. That and the realization that CF didn't fit Hobbs' defensive style well.

It looks like Kopriva is type of athletic banger that typically does well in Lonergan's system.  We shall see.

At the very least, the fact that ML has now signed this kid twice indicates he'll be a good fit in ML's system in theory. However, ML will have to adjust his system to fit the personnel he's inheriting here and JK may not fit as well with what we need to do to win here in the short term.

I think it's pretty hard for us to assess this kind of off-the-radar type of player because we don't really know what style of basketball Lonergan intends to play this season.  Remember that the roster that he is inheriting is very different athletically than any roster that Lonergan has ever had before.  I think that it's quite possible that Lonergan himself isn't totally sure what he'll do this year because he hasn't worked with these players before.  

lean, strong upper body with long muscular arms.  all rebounders and interior defenders don't have to be 6'10.  also, i love that he's a QB.  they are trained to see the whole field and process quickly.  should translate well to court awareness and an interior passing game.  despite the initial fears of another 6'7 perimeter player he seems to have the inside play we needed.  could prove to be a great role player for this team in particular.

I don't know anything about him.

What's wrong with some of you other guys who also don't know anything about him  acknowledging that fact, even if only in the context of arguing with somebody else?

That said, we first saw Bill Brigham as what? A red-shirted Junior? So he was maybe 3 years ahead of this young man. I don't see how any of us can yet see him as the next BB, the next Mike Hall, or the next anybody else. All I see is the first recruit the new coach has brought to GW. Over the next 12 months, we'll see his raw skills and how he takes to Lonergan's coaching and system. As for his talents, I'd venture to say that as a QB, he's likely capable of dealing with being banged around. Can't see yet if he is really a banger himself.

Otherwise, it's reassuring that all that claptrap about the coaches sitting on their hands was only that, and that their efforts have been productive.

Now, I'd like to see a thread on the schedule, as it seems we ought to be able to piece it nearly together. It's time to start planning for away trips.

 Not really Ziik considering they recruited him months ago. I hate to rain on the parade but there's nothing that excites me about this signing. A 6'7 big man who was ticketed for Vermont before we "fortunately" were able to pick him up. I hope he pans out but this in no way, shape or form softens the blow of losing a top 5 center nationally. 

I don't consider a 6'7" player a big man any more, DEA. Not since ziik, jr. got to that point. Not unless he tops 225 lbs, and is a quick and strong banger, anyway.

I'd like to know where on the court they project this guy to play, based on his current skill set and his expected growth.

I'd also like to be certain that GW is playing Tulane in Louisiana, as I'd like to spend some vacation dollars there.

DEA- two days ago you were complaining that the team wasn't deep enough and that Lonergan was in trouble.  Today, we find out that they sign somebody and you seem to be complaining about that too.  GW was not going to find a top 5 center to recruit in June.  Copes is gone.  you can't compare every other recruit to Copes, just like we couldn't compare every other center to Pops and every other small forward to Mike Hall and every other point guard to Carl.  For somebody who was such a big backer of KH, you sure seem to be a big basher of anything that goes on.  Did you really expect ML to replace Copes with another top center?

 I mean obviously they weren't going to find a top 5 center. That doesn't mean we couldn't have gone the transfer or juco route. People throwing out comparisons to Mike Hall already? All I'm saying is Xavier or Temple fans would not be jumping for joy if they convinced an American East recruit to move up two levels. 

So it was OK to favorably compare seemingly hundreds of coaches, assistant coaches, and other prospective new head coaches to KH while he still had the job, but it's not OK to negatively compare an incoming recruit to a recruit that we once had but lost due to KH and RH no longer being at GW? 

 Mike Hall?! I wish! Rocky Battistoni?! Way better! Kopriva will be fine and has a legit shot to become another in the long line of "under-appreciated" Colonials.

DEA- A transfer would have to sit out a year- what good what that do this years team?  About as much good as Copes is going to.  A Juco?   OK- they could have gotten a Juco, but who knows if that player would be any good.  Maybe ML likes this kid.  Hard to bash a kid you've never seen play solely because he had already committed to Vermont. 

Tony Taylor got recruited by Boston University, Manhattan, Saint John's (NY), Seton Hall, Siena, St. Bonaventure, and Wright State.

MV- First, I never said it was OK to do that.  Second, we were discussing who would be a good replacement, if the head coach was fired.  Third, it is not morally or ethically unacceptable to compare Copes to the new JK.  However, they play different positions, and it doesn't really seem to serve much purpose.  Clearly he is not going to be a starting center at GW--but if anybody expected a top 100 player to sign at GW in June, I'd argue their expectations were probably too high.

 Danj- every single one of the schools you listed for Tony as your example our better basketball programs than Vermont. Hell Seton Hall and St. Johns are better than us. 

Vermont not better than BU, Manhattan, and St. Bonaventure..what has Wright State done?  LoL..that's insane.  Do you follow/know anything about college basketball?  

I'll give you St. John's now that Lavin has rescued them....Seton Hall interviewed Mike Lonergan last year.

Last 10 Seasons (05-06 was Lonergan era). 8 20+ win seasons in 10 years.  

2001-2002 (1) 21-8

2002-2003 21-12

2003-2004 22-9

2004-2005 (1)  25-7 (Ending RPI #15 this season)

2005-06 13 17 (7-9)
2006-07(1) 25 8 (15-1) 
2007-08 16 15 (9-7) 
2008-09 (1) 24 9 (13-3) 
2009-10 (2) 25 10 (12-4) 
2010-11 (1) 23 9 (13-3) 

Win against Top 25 team (BC)
Wins against multiple teams from better conferences (CAA, A10, MAAC, Rutgers, Colorado, Boston College, etc etc) 
5 AE Regular Season Titles
6 AE Title Game Appearances
8 20+ win seasons
2 NIT Appearances
1 CBI Appearance (2 games)
4 NCAA Tournament Appearances

1 First Round NCAA Tournament win: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbFNFHsNo3w

215- 104 Overall  

Seems like a fine young man.

From the video clip,anyway,plays defense. And goes up strong.

If he became another Bill Brigham (who was 6'8 I think in hazy recollection, but played like 6'10 in hitting the boards), that would be great.

We've certainly lacked someone like that for a long while.

The reason why a JuCo would have been a good way to go is obviously they can play right away but they also have experience on some college level and can replace someone like Copes who seemed ready to play right away.  Instead, this guy becomes a bit of a project who will need to add weight before becoming much of a factor.  And a JuCo is only here for 2 possibly 3 years while this guy should be here for 4 years thus eating up a spot for a future recruit and I would venture to guess that this isn't the type of recruit that the ML supporters wanted going further not including this year.

 http://www.gwhoops.com/default.aspx?mid=20110514162316876174

DEA- You'd really take Wright State over Vermont?  The Bonnies?  Sienna?  Manhattan?  Really? 

Let's be honest- this kid is not going to be Copes.  But I don't know that any kid would be.  As somebody who always had a problem when players were being bashed on this board, I don't know why you'd bash a kid you've never seen play. 

 I'm not bashing him. He seems like  avery smart kid and a good athlete. Some people ran into this same thing last year before Chris came and I think it's even more relevant here because Chris came from one of the best high school basketball schools in the country. Of course I hope I'm proven wrong and at the very least it doesn't hurt to have another smart kid around the team.  

ML likes defense and rebounding.  We need defense and rebounding, especially given our weakness at the 5.  With the return of Kromah,the addition of Davis and with Nikec a year older, we should have more scoring options than last year.  Pellom, Edwards and Kopriva seem to be a good defensive front line.   For now, I will trust ML's eye for talent.  In any event, next year is the key recruiting year, as we now have only 2 frosh (Kopriva and Davis) and 3 sophs (Mikec, Kromah and Guest).

The difference between Fitzgerald and Kopriva is that Kopriva seems to fit his coach's defensive system better than CF did.  CF was just too slow to play the close out, switching system Hobbs had in place and was a streaky shooter at best. I'm not sure how anyone could have seen it working out well.

Kopriva is the type of tough, athletic banger that has done well in Lonergan's system in the past.  He add insurance if the somewhat unreliable GW bigs (Edwards and Warren) are injured or ineffective.  Talented juco bigs are hard to come by at this point in the off-season and I can't remember the last one GW has signed in the history of the program. 

C:   Edwards, Pellom, Warren

PF: Smith, Pellom, Davis, Kopriva

SF: Mikic, Ware, Davis

SG: Kromah, Bynes, Ware

PG: Taylor, Bynes, Guest

I do see JK as having the potential to fill an important need.  Among this team's biggest flaws over the past 5 seasons has been an inability to defend in the paint.  Even below average teams found plenty of easy points in the paint against us.  This is exactly why I could care less what Copes's scoring average was in high school.  His defense alone was going to save this team plenty of points.  While Kopriva lacks the height and for the time being, the bulk to be a true defensive stopper, he appears to have the work ethic and hopefully, desire to fulfill this role.  Hopefully, he hits the weight room hard.  I never cared much for Kevin Frey, but having this type of player on GW could easily turn out to be an important thing.

It is difficult to say for a certainty why we had such a difficulty guarding the paint.  It may have been the players were lacking.  I think that much of it had to do with the defensive scheme, whereby we would trap the ball handler and basically leave one player guarding 2 players on the  the weak (non ball) side, thereby leaving the paint  or the 3 point line unguarded.  It can also be argued that our guards were not physical enough to prevent the penetration.  A new defensive scheme may very well result in fewer steals/turnovers, but leave the paint better defended.

Last year, we were 129th in 2 pt FG% defense, but 281st in 3 pt FG$ defense.

In 2010, we were 80 and 216 respectively.

In 2009, 64 and 169.

Just facts, no argument or spin.

Last post was from me, sorry.

Classic example of the stats not meaning very much to illustrate the point.  We have exceptional team quickness around the perimeter which in turn makes it difficult to produce midrange jump shots against us.  This helps our 2 point FG % overall but does nothing to enhance our ability to defend in the paint.

Here are some numbers from last year's 5 most recent losses, excluding the two Richmond losses because their big men aren't power players which illustrates what i'm speaking of:

SJU      Aiken/Hilliard           5-10 2Pt. FG           8-8 FT

Temple    Allen                     8-12                          2-3

Xavier     Frease/McLean    7-11                          6-7

SBU        Nicholson/Cook   6-7                            6-11

Harvard   Casey                   4-11                          2-3

This works out to just under 60% from the floor by opponents most prominent big men during losses.  Way too many of these points were easy post-ups and put-backs from the lane.  We all know why the 3 point FG % has been what it's been but that's easily fixable with a new gameplan.  One of our keys to success is to reduce the number of easy points by the opposition.

MV- I'm curious if those numbers look different for other teams?  Do those guys have numbers like that  in a lot of their games, or just GW?  You took out Richmond, because you didn't think their big men were good enough.  Is it possible (I really don't know) that those players are just that good?  Were other teams better at defending them?

Danj..I took out Richmond because their big men, Harper and Geriout, were largely perimeter players.   As for how other teams perform, I'm not about to look that up but what I can say is that while big men tend to have higher shooting percentages in general, the 60% that these players shot over these 5 games is simply too high.  The more objective thing to do (which I'm not going to) is to calculate this for all of GW's games last season and not just the 5 most recent losses (excluding Richmond).  And, the best tool would be to have a shot chart from each game but I don't have this at my disposal.  Since I'm describing what I believe is a weakness, I think it's more instructive to analyze this within the context of losses.  It's only meant to help illustrate a point, nothing more or less.

You left off Duquesne -- Saunders went 4-10.  That puts our opposing big guys at about 55% shooting, but it's also worth noting that we held them a bit under their average number of shots and that some of these baskets (especially Lavoy Allen's big day) were jumpers outside the paint.  Then again, I have no idea why you only are counting losses to teams with inside players. Not sure what the logic is there.

Back to the point, though. I agree with LSF -- I think the problem was more scheme than personnel.  Hobbs was willing to concede a certain number of open threes and layups in order to run the kind of gambling D he liked and deny penetration or deep post catches.  Lonergan seems like less of a gambler, and favors more of a tough-minded defensive stayle. Therefore it's completely irrellevant to compare a recruit we never saw who would have played under a system that didn't really work vs. a recuit we haven't seen playing under a system we've never seen (but which has worked at every other coaching stop he's had).   Let's just hope Kopriva is the right kind of player for what we are trying to do.

MV- I'm not battling you here- merely trying to understand.  But it seems to me that if you're looking for a weakness, one would have to look at wins and losses.  If GW held the big men in all of the wins to 35% shooting (just making up a number) but the games they lost the big men shot 60%, is that a weakness, or is it another team's strength.  This is obviously semantics, and again- i'm not battling with you.  I just think that if you're analyzing a weakness, looking to the games they lost is not nearly enough- and I don't believe it is the right context.  If you look at the NBA finals, you'd say Lebron James weakness is driving to the hoop and getting the foul line. 

GW was 28th in the nation (345 teams) last year in % of points given up from 3pt shots, 19th in 2010 and 18th in 2009.  They ranked very low each year in the % of points given up on 2pts.  Basically teams shot a much higher percentage of their shots from the 3pt range vs GW than the national average and they made a considerably higher % of those 3pt attempts vs GW than the national average.

If something happens year after year, it's not easily fixable and Copes would not have helped much in that particular area of defense.  Maybe Hobbs would have changed his defensive philosophy...and maybe he would have scrapped "The Wheel" after years of ineffectiveness, but I wouldn't have wagered on either happening.  

So FQ, are you then of the belief that last year's big men...Katuka, Edwards, Warren Fitzgerald, and to a lesser extent Pellom, were both (collectively) aggressive enough and good enough defenders to have prevented substantially more points if only they were playing in a different defensive scheme or system?

bobo, a very good post. I thought that the flaw in Hobbs' D was that he would allow too many open looks to give guys a chance to get into a shooting rhythm and confident. For most guys, the 3 point arc is nothing if you have an open look. What's more, it took forever for Hobbs to actually address the hot shooter.

Please let us never mention Kevin Frey again.

MV, I'm of the belief that Hobbs recruited players he thought would fit his system - a system in which the team was more willing to concede open threes and layups than allow penetration or close-in post catches.  I have no idea if those guys would have been better in a different scheme, but again, I think Hobbs scheme actually did a decent job of preventing traditional back to the basket centers from catching it down low and killing us. 

For example, Ahmad Nivins never did much against us beause we just swarmed him inside and forced other guys to beat us, Nicholson had a very off game for the same reason (and because of foul trouble), Lavoy Allen did a lot of his damage from outside the paint against us (which our sheme was ill-equipped to prevent), Chris Braswell (and Spears before him on CLT) settled for catching the ball 15 feet from the basket against us or just getting garbage baskets, etc.   Where I do think his scheme (and personnel) fell down was when we faced a team with 2 good inside players (like Lavoy Allen and Michael Eirc, when he was still healthy the year before) -- in large part because his scheme relied on swarming the man threat inside, leaving a guy like Michael Eric with a smaller defender and no help.  Copes probably would have helped with that, assuming he's up to the hype, but it's all irrellevant because now we have a new coach with a new scheme recruiting player that he thinks fit his scheme and a proven track record of doing just that.

Kevin Frey

Release from UVM confirmed.

UVM fans understandably annoyed.  Hopefully his release wasn't conditional.

they got "Coped" 

Been reading the UVM boards and they sound pretty pissed thathe's leaving. Said he's their best recruit for this year.So that's good.

 Kopriva may not come in and help you right away (he would at Vermont in the America East), but he seems like he has the tools to be a solid A10 player.

Here's some video of his HS team against JP Tokoto's in Wisconsin (Tokoto is a player that everyone is after, his father is ex- Lethal Weapon 3/ Georgia Tech fame- Brian Oliver.).  Kopriva's team won and he had 19pts despite foul trouble.  

http://menomoneefalls.patch.com/articles/video-falls-boys-cant-stop-the-threes#video-4616444

HS,

Do you know what Kopriva's game like? From the videos we see mostly lowpost moves to the basket but I saw one pull up J from around 10 ft in the highlight game.   Does Kopriva have any range on his jumper?  Do we know if he can defend well and move his feet?  It looks like he runs the court well but he's still to thin to post up much in the A10 and would be greatly aided by some type of outside threat (like the hated but effective Kevin Frey posessed).

Bobo,

I don't really know much more on Kopriva then what's on limited video like this and other places.  He's an athletic 4 that can face the basket and probably has range out to 15'' ft right now but supposedly his outside shot is something that can be developed.  He runs the court well also. I'm not really sure how developed his low post game is.  He's fundamentally sound and is the type of player that will only get better w/ experience & added strength. 

As you can see here, his elbows are as sharp as razor blades.  He's going to need to gain weight in order to bang in the A10. 

Committed to GW per his dad.  Apparently will be on campus soon.

Welcome John!!

(Bonus question:  Who was the last John to be on scholarship for GW hoops?)

Holloran?

Since Atilla's invitee to his room at Thurston was a "working girl", Mr Crosby would be the last John. 

I was going to say Johnny Lee, but I realized that, a) His given name is actually Johnny and b) that I had forgotten that he was never on scholarship his senior year due to GW's secret, self-imposed academic penalty.

Who knew that in that last 20 years, we've had more Omos and Popses than Johns.

nicely done bobo

 More of what we already know:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110624/SPORTS0101/110624022/UVM-recruit-Kopriva-reportedly-bound-for-GW-?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE

Official announcement and another nice interview.  Sounds like a great glue guy, but lets see if he can play against Temple and X.

way to go, THE.  

I like repeated references to the excitement being generated amongst this years in-coming students.  Hope it turns into butts standing above seats.

Really like the fact that they have a video interview of him.  It's not terribly informative, but it's nice to put the faces out there and give a little glimpse into the players GW is recruiting.  Good work GW, and good luck to John!

Good stuff, GW.

Welcome John.

Good morning folks!

for Newtman: I haven't sat down for a meal, but will be making Carbonara in a bit if anyone else wakes up.

The reason I post is to explain why getting Kopriva was such a coup especially in light of the most recent Kenner League postings by a number of GWHoopsters. Here is the deal... football quarterback. Coming out of high school, there are two extremes in the preparation for the next level that you see--HS quarterbacks and HS basketball stars.

The acid test is when you get a bunch of those folks mixed together and see what happens. The football players are seeing a game that changes in an instant. They are forced to adapt to the immediate situation. The guy who has to do that most often is the guy holding the ball. On the other extreme is the basketball star with great physical attributes. Watch guys play a high level AAU game and you see a slow and predictable sport. The coaches are basically showcasing the physical attributes of their players. Other than seeing two guys go head-to-head, that's about it.

Why did, Kopriva seem to get rave reviews in camp play? He understands the benefits of basic technique. He has been coached on footwork to the nth degree. Most high school players don't appreciate the speed and precision of the college game until they are deep into their sophomore year and their coach keeps yanking them off the floor. Which brings me back to one of my favorite Colonials Carl Elliott. What do Carl and John have in common? Remember in Carl's last year, his shooting was sort of "not" there, but he willed us to the tourney after the GW bigs had brain farts and couldn't manage to block out defensively on free throws? Carl took the number one spot.

John, has the foot-speed to outrun some cornerbacks and safeties. He can hold the ball and run; he can think with the ball in his hands. He can pass. What's more, he has the understanding to influence the actions of the defender. Back to the AAU team or your basic high school basketball team and you see very monotonous basketball. The same thing over and over. Very little happens out of the half-court game other than outside shots or guys being taken off the dribble. Remember that GW's best player (IMHO) came to college with a huge rep about taking folks off the dribble and think back on Tony's freshman season and how rough it was on him. The game is different. The opportunities are much less and you have to do all the influencing and changing your tactics and you have to do it lighteningly quick.

OK, so the report from MV and others says/implied that Copes was frustrated by Kopriva. That's a guy who is at least 30 lbs lighter, shorter, and without the obvious muscle. We also see a guy who is confident enough to take a meaningful shot that he created with a step back and hit it. Quarterback--albeit a six-foot--seven quarterback.

On Copes, do I wish he were in the GW family still? Absolutely. Clearly, there is a lot there from the comments. I pretty much know that Copes' frustration at games end is a competitive manifestation--a feeling that many of us have felt at one point or another if one plays a sport at a competitive level. Managing that reaction and improving is all part of that journey. More, though, Copes was, as I said earlier in a High School sports nest. He had great potential. He has been a man among boys and hasn't had a lot of new stuff thrown at him. Then, he gets taken to the woodshed by a skinny kid from Wisconsin who, potentially, might have been his teammate for four years.

OK, back to Kopriva. I mentioned elsewhere that he had a number of the qualities of a Walt. I absolutely don't expect the scoring machine that could go up against a Dr. J, but I do see some of the defensive tools and quality in the paint to limit damage against good teams. Competitor... Battler... Awareness and very good athlete in one package.

From just a few clips and your comments, are we seeing a Mike Brown in Copes? Not unless he gets a lot better in two months. I remember the freshman year battle between Mike and Patrick Ewing. Gtown won, but the game in the paint was the battle. Patrick had been making mince meat of his previous competition. They had already played St. Leo's, I am sure. Then he ran into Mike.Brown who had the footwork and speed to go with his size and it kept Ewing out of his sweet spot. I remember multiple missed jams as Ewing smacked the ball off the front of the rim.

The best part of the battle however was that, as was the situation in the day when there was no network desk to cut back to the moment the game ended, the broadcasters had a bunch of time to fill and, if you remember, during that time, Ewing was kept away from the press, so commentators did the next best thing and pulled Mike Brown in... and started with the classic first question, "Great game ...." and as I remember, he started with "Actually ...." and proved within the first sentence that he was a very smart and articulate guy. The interview was hugely memorable and was the foreshadowing on a wonder career as a Colonial, professional career and now coaching. Is Copes a Mike Brown. No. We know that. Even as a freshman, Brown could kill you if you let him down to the low blocks. 

I am also thinking that the trio of Edwards, Warren and especially Pellom will flourish under the Lonergan coaching staff. They may not know it or want to accept it yet, but they will if they so choose. Take a guy like Pellom who has amazing talents and see what he has accomplished so far at GW. Except for a couple really great games, it comes down to a lot of "coulda, shoulda, and wouldas." If we could get 20 UNCC games rather than 2 per season, it would be a whole different story. Compare his play to Dwayne from the last half of this past season and you are seeing a difference, if only in appearance, of one player who will do anything to win and one who is, as we say in some sports, a passenger on the bus.

Based on skill and physical talents alone, David Pellom most likely would be the starting 5. GW has several options for 2 to 4 to see David getting significant time at 4. One has to get guys who can score on the floor. If you are just alley-oops and you are a rebounder, then you may end up in today's GW team at 5, which he would be more than capable to handle. I am also guessing that ML and staff have called off the dogs on a guard signing for this year as they are aware that they can cover 1 and 2 with many combinations. Their focus became 2012 at guard, fairly early on. Bynes' play/improvement over the season was impressive and reports from Kenner have been even more encouraging.

What I see for 2011/12 other than a new coaching staff is a team that will be far less likely to beat itself and survive the tougher shooting games. Just like Mikic was part of the puzzle last year, Kopriva will come in to make that doable this year. We will go about 10 deep so there will be some running. In Lonergan, you have a coach who will try to exploit match-ups. We also have a team that can go from very good small to very good big with two subs. That's also something that ML will do. Heck, he could do it with just one... start with TT, BB, LK, DS, and JE. Then take out BB and slot in DP at 4 to make TT, LK, DS, DP, and JE.

So, again, where does this leave us? To Coach Hobbs' credit, by year's end, we had gotten to the point where we would get that run that he so often talked about to win a game. Not all the time and it was high enough risk to give people ulcers. As market watchers would say, our approach under Hobbs had a high Beta. It was risky. Hobbs had a very decent team assembled, no doubt. In Lonergan, you have a coach who is in the classic steal points through a steady, well-oiled offense that creates open looks and then gives up little in transition or in set defenses. Force the opponent to take difficult shots  and give up few freebies.

All being said, my hopes were that we could become an East Coast version of Gonzaga--attractive private smaller school playing an upscale schedule and taking on all comers and winning or keeping any game close by playing solid ball.

So what does this have to do with Kopriva? Well, he is the type of player who will get that last board and hit that last shot that kills you. Gonzaga routinely has 4 to 7 guys with that skill set.at the college level. In Davis and Kopriva, we have two guys who will eventually be there in my opinion. They are proven money players who can hone their skills for the next level. I also think that guys like Aaron Ware will be more successful offensively in a Lonergan offense. The transition will come from a requirement of a whole new set of skills from our 3-4-5 players. If they can get it rolling, this team will, in my opinion, experience a great awakening.

OK, newtman, everyone woke up so I can make breakfast.

Can't beat reading an upbeat Tolstoyan observation, unless it's being there to watch it play out as scripted.

Why am I hated so much? lol