10 days to launch. Finally, American Sports fans can deal with 10 days... 2 weeks. That's why they invented bye weeks. We can survive that amount of time. My impressions at this point are very poitive. Recruiting failures to date are all that we can see, but we also can notice that we are shooting high. That's fine, but we also know that this knew coaching staff has to prove it on the bench. They have to find a way to make this team gel and to be special between the lines.

In the meantime, the coaches are visiting the right programs. I hold out hope that we can get the pair from Montrose. Sometimes, it is easier to get two guys and let them be cornerstone recruits. They have the size and talent to do so. They certainly won't come in with stage frieight. We need a decent group in 2012. I may be crazy, but the problem recruiting at GW right now is a measure of the damage done to the program. We were down to being a personality cult and not a solid program. With that in mind, the timing and the nature of the change is totally understandable. While never a great thing to go through, it was totally needed. In comparison, we all know what will happen when we finally abandon Iraq, but it still needs to be done--same with Afghanistan--you have to face the music at some time, so don't blame the result on the folks who have to manage through the problem.

At anyh rate, we are here. I am excited to see how everyone does. Not that excited to find out how "the Show" will go, but I do look forward to the basketball.

The rest of the show? As I have said in the past, I think one of the things that I found tiring was the formulaic noise and spectical around the game day in-arena activity during the game on breaks and halftime. Call me old, but I would rather see more game and new stuff rather than loud hiphop-ish stuff. I never really minded the Green Tumblers.

On the games themselves... I have concern. I think that it will take time to teach a college level approach to Lonergan's system at both ends. We are going to see some serious matchups and it won't be overnight. Am I managing my own expectations? Maybe, to a degree, but it is also reality. No system gets a 100% modification and produces positives right away. 

Biggest opportunity right out of the box? I would say it falls to David Pellom, who, todate, has been the most  promising and undelivering player on the court. He has the ability to play, but maybe doesn't have his head at the level it needs to be to perform in a full schedule sense. The table is truly set for Pellom to step up and be the player he, in his mind, thinks that he is. One thing for sure, Lonergan will be pushing him hard. Who knows if he can take it. Pellom has to see that, but every young kid takes this transition differently and most get their minds twisted in the process. Can Pellom stay on the floor and play defense with his feet? Can he create little 5 to 7 foot shots and make the on a consistant  basis?  Can he step up and be that cornerstone in the paint, no matter how undersized, that Lonergan builds his teams around.

There is a maturity there that he may not be ready for. Well, there is no deep bench. There is no swarming defense to kill the shot clock. The request from the coach is just some solid defense. THe basic, everyone does their job and we will win sort of appraoch. Hobbs' approach covered up a lot of bad technique. We have an extremely talented group. They maybe not are not a classic arrangement of sizes and shapes, but guys can play two positions--that's good and will be very helpful in creating mismatches which we can count on will be featured with this coach. If the other team cannot cover Smith, then rest assured that Lonergan will put Smith's defender on an island until a change is made.

Lonergan is the type of coach who is more likely to win the game that we should win on paper and further win some games that we look like the loser on paper. If you get a chance to win a really tough game, you have to win them.If we do, that's the next step in the recruiting wars. As they say ...

it's a process.

I am less worried about what will happen out of the box then I am long term. ML largely is going to get a pass for this season in order to make the long term changes that GW wants to its basketball program - that's why he was hired for the long-term not the short-term. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to dump Hobbs because he was the best coach for the short-term (2011-12). So I focus more on what is on the horizon in 2012-13 and beyond. Again, it is early but so far we have many spots to fill and as of yet we have not exactly been lighting it up with recruits. We again seem to always be a bridesmaid and never the bride with higher profile recruits. And yes, this staff has swung and missed on several key recruits so far which is nothing new to long-time GW fans. Fortunately, there are still others out there.

ML, as any coach knows, will have his future dictated by whether he can attract talented players that he wants and fit his style of play. Other than Kopriva there is not a player on the current roster the current staff is responsible for. So 2011-12 is largely an effort at working with players he neither recruited nor necessarily fit his style of play - not saying that they don't but all of that remains to be seen. It will be more interesting and more determinative to see who replaces Taylor and so on down the road. That will tell the story and largely answer the question of whether ML was the right move long-term. I am fully optimistic but hope to start seeing some results on the recruiting trail beyond Savage soon. To me, it might be as important to consider what happens off the court this season as on it if we are interested in the long-term solution for this program. We have 7 scholarships over the next 2 years (including Savage). How those are filled will largely dictate the future. Best of luck to ML and staff and hope they do their shopping wisely.

Armwood is also a player on the current roster that the staff (from the articles, Pete and Kevin) is responsible for but he won't see the court till next season.  Agreed that expectations sound appropriately tempered for this year, but then again, TT and AW may want to will the team back to post-season play for their senior campaigns.  The question is how quickly does the supporting cast, warts and all, jive in the Lonerverse.

Dolphin, I do have a few comments on what you wrote.  You indicate that we are having some recruiting problems and that this is a measure of the damage done to the program.  I'm curious as to how you meant this.  The damage as in what we went through with Omar, Maureece, etc., and the subsequent changes to recruiting that came about as a result, or the damage as in releasing Hobbs.  The latter would make sense to me if KH was still the coach and great uncertainty existed regarding his future.  However, the hiring of Lonergan ought to represent stability in the eyes of a potential recruit.  Of course, another factor is the stability of the A10 and the type of conference that GW will be playing in 2-3 years from now.  That is a legitimate concern but doesn't have anything to do with the "damage to the program" which you described.

Of course, I'd contend the statement that the change from Hobbs to Lonergan wasn't "totally needed" as you say but will leave that one alone for the most part.  I understood your Iraq/Afghanistan analogy but that one raised my eyebrows nevertheless.  I certainly agree that Nero, Lonergan , staff, new regime, etc. get more than a year to show their mettle.  In some respects, they already have.

I'd also add that Lonergan and staff are responsible, certainly in part, for every returning player who obviously opted not to transfer.  Two of our 3 transfers were leaving prior to Lonergan coming on board and the third sounds more like a coaching staff decision than anything else. (Funny how not one poster mentioned the notion of Warren being run off the team by Lonergan and staff, considering how quickly so many here were to criticize Hobbs for the very same thing.) In any case, Lonergan and staff get lots of credit in my mind for keeping the core nucleus of this team together.

MV, how do you know Warren was "run" off the team? Just asking because I've seen no confirmation as to how/why he left.

DMV, how come when numerous posters here have commented on Hobbs running someone off of the team, you never asked them how they "knew" this?

I don't know this for a fact but I am willing to put two and two together here.  Warren played in the Kenner League this summer (although he was injured for some of the games), and was on GW's campus as late as September.  This does not sound like someone who was planning on leaving GW or not playing for GW.  While there certainly could be health issues involved, it was reported here that many players were unhappy about the decision as Daymon was a very popular player on this team. Therefore, this very much sounds like a decision or at the very least, a strong influence on the part of the coaching staff.

But you're right...I don't know this for a fact so perhaps I never should have written this.  Maybe we can all play by these rules, nobody posts anything here unless they know it for a fact and can substantiate what they write with actual proof, quotes, etc.  Just saying.

good to have you back, MV

For what it's worth from what I've heard he was definitely pushed out. Have no clue on the reason and it will likely never come out. I still think the coaching staff looks promising and people are sleeping on the Armwood addition.

What's particularly strange about the Warren situation is that there was a press release out for a few hours but then then it was mysteriously withdrawn.  He's since been dropped from roster page and there is still no official explanation.

MV I was just asking a question that is all - I thought I made that clear. I have no idea whether he was pushed out, chose to leave, etc. I was trying to find out. No need to make a federal case out of it.

It's certainly  possible,but absent discipline or academic  flaws, don't see what would be in it for the new coaching staff to have one less player, especially one who is a center, given our height deficit this year.

Seems like there is always a good reason beyond coach's spite when players leave a program. I don't think we really need to worry about why,  or in this instance, the effect of losing a player who has yet to make much of an impact on the program. Wish him well and move on.

MV, where there is smoke, there is fire. We were getting less and less traction in this area. I would suggest that this infers damage. Counter that, the recent reports of having GW coaches and assistant coaches being complimented for renewing friendships. Really, the way to get attention from the kids is to get to the dance and, secondly, get talked about with the dance in the same sentence.

Notta, thank you.  DMV, I didn't mean to make a federal case out of anything but this is the downside of electronic communication.  "How do you know" can just as easily have a skeptical or judgmental connotation as it can an innocent one.  If we were talking on the phone, there would not be any confusion.  Dolphin, granted that the new regime has local contacts in place which the Hobbs regime  did not bother to cultivate.  Nevertheless, the school decided to turn its back on a 10-6 conference season, played without arguably their top player, and an incoming recruit who was perceived as a player who would give the team a dominant inside presence particularly on the defensive end.  Not quite as dire a circumstance as you are asking us to believe.

As for making the dance, yes, that is what so much of it is about.  In the 100+ year history of GW basketball, the Colonials played a grand total of 2 NCAA tournament games prior to hiring Mike Jarvis. (Granted it was more difficult to make the smaller field for many of these years, but a fact is a fact.)  I believe Jarvis took them 4 times, Penders once with Jarvis's players, and Hobbs three times with his own players.  Anyone who says "what about the last 4 years" fails to realize that these past two years were quite different than the two that preceded them.  The arrow was again pointing in the correct direction.  We were primed to go back to the dance with Hobbs and Copes on board, and while there will be no way to know whether this would have actually happened, it is difficult to argue against the notion that it would have been a strong possibility.

I am very excited about the upcoming season.  While I believe our lack of a dominant big man on defense will cost us an NCAA bid, an NIT slot is clearly within reach.  So please don't take this post to mean that I am not looking forward.  My only objection is to the "this had to happen" message contained in your post.  I'm just not convinced that this had to happen.

OK, so we are agreed

 Bump

http://www.gwsports.com/trads/ColonialsInvasion.html

I hope everyone in the DC area can make it to support the team and the new staff - I'd be there if I could.  Go Colonials!!

 I hope we get a big fan turnout tomorrow night. At least two big-time recruits will be there and it would be embarrassing to have 500 people in the stands.. Not totally sure why they're coordinating this with the volleyball game either. I understand you want to get attendance for that, but you are going to have people show up thinking they're going to this Invasion and see it's volleyball and leave. I wish they would treat this more like UMD or GTown treats theres. It's unspoken that the basketball team is the main attraction at GW. Why try to force something different. 

link to one of those big-time recuits attending Colonial Invasion 

DEA, Volleyball is a big attraction at GW, they get a ton of fans at every home game. And the marketing department has made it very clear that Colonials Invasion starts half an hour AFTER the volleyball game....there will be NO confusion about attending C.I. and showing up for a volleyball game.  I for one will be in attendance at both. Hopefully you all can start to support the school you supposedly "love" in stead of continually tearing it down.

Surprised to see Jenkins with dribling and outside shooting skills in the video at the bottom of hippo hunter's link.  I thought he was more of a Tamal Forchion/Charles Little type.

Nero has been very clear that he wants to upgrade all of GW athletics and that he also wants to see the GW athletes supporting each other. I have seen at least one, and often more, GW men's basketball players at the Smith Center volleyball matches I have attended this year. I applaud this cross-pollination of GW sports and like the idea that the rising volleyball team will get a bump in their attendance this Friday. Despite what typically gets represented on this board, GW sports is more than just men's basketball and some of the school's more benevolent supporters trace their connections to those sports -- look no further than the committee that convened to evaluate GW athletics this past summer. Equally important, the attraction of GW for a conference affiliation is going to be defined by the strength of the non-revenue sports in addition to what Mike Lonergan's team brings to the table. That has continually been Patrick Nero's mantra. Tri-corners off to GW for Friday's piggyback ride...it in no way demeans the position of basketball at GW.

Agreed, a tip of my tri-corner hat as well.

FWIW, either last year or two years ago (I'm getting old), Midnight Madness in College Park was "bundled" with a women's volleyball game at Comcast Center.

 Um volleyball is not a a "big attraction' at GW. Basketball is barely a "big attraction" at GW and it's far and away the most popular sport. I'm happy they're doing well but I personally could care less about them. 

Hail to the Bump and Blue!

 I'll be there. 

DEA- it might not be a big attraction to the masses- but like basketball, it has its niche.  You aren't a part of it--that's fine.  But to combine two events--and maybe develop some school pride (as opposed to just basketball pride) is a good thing.  I firmly maintain that a lot of the current problem with GW students (and this dates back to when I was a student between 2001-2005) is that there is no sense of school pride.  The University marketed (and I believe still markets itself) as the school in the city--that it is not just the school--but the things that come because of where the school is located that makes it great.  This is great for marketting--but terrible for school pride.  If we can start to show that the school/administration cares about the athletics---which is what generally gives college students their sense of school pride--then maybe the basketball games become less about winning and losing and more about supporting the school you care about.  If even the voleyball team is important--imagine how important the basketball team must be.

Another bump...saw on facebook that Pops, Mike Hall and Chris Monroe will be judging the dunk contest

...to Foggy Bump-ton!

how long is a volleyball game typically?

Kromah didn't seem hesitant on those dunks did he?  :)

Saw Kevin Larsen in the stands.

good turn out? 

They closed off half the arena and were able to fill most of one side. Crowd was nice mix of students and alums. The event was good with only the lulls being the uneventful dunk contest, the lengthy dance routine and, unfortunately, the deer-in-headlights-notes-filled poorly delivered speech of Lonergan (think all of the uncomfortable nature of anything that has happened to Larry David in his whole life all rolled into one moment).

Herve, those seem like serious lulls...love the Larry David reference. 

Still, closing half the arena and not filling the gym?

herve, that's the part that doesn't get developed in Vermont. Look for that to improve.

herve,

This thread disappeared from the threads list to the left, I looked it up in Google to find url and and posting now to see if it shows up again.

yep it back.

 It's a time sync issue on the server.....AGAIN. It's maddening. The posts ARE going up, but sometimes they go up as being up to a full month earlier and thus do not make the board. It's crazy and I've got an auto-sync which runs every 30 seconds to try and correct it.

Went to the Bill Maher show at the Smith Center tonight (October 15th).   I hope "The" is listening.  The show was excellent, but the performance of the event staff was not.  It took me 30 minutes to enter the arena, with tickets in hand (not "Will Call").  People were on huge lines that winded around the block, while one of the entrances was not even being used! (As you entered on G Street, the entrance to the North (left) was not in use.  Further, folks could have entered from the gym level, but that was likewise not in use.  Don't get it.  Also, with all those parents/alum and students (especially new students, as it was "parents weekend'), it would have been nice for the team to get a g while some university offical was giving his 5 minute welcome speach.  On the plus side, the banners are up (were they up last season).  Also, spoke with the freshman son of one of the long suffering girlfriends friends..  He said that the school was really promoting the team and that there is a block party planned for I believe opening night.  He said he is looking forward to going to the game, having never seen a big time college basketball game before.  (insert your own wisecrack here).

Some video from Colonial Invasion.  Free food and short lines for suffering fans not included.

That was awesome how those blow up dolls danced.  Fail

Steinberg really liked it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/post/george-washington-midnight-madness-features-inflatable-mascots/2011/10/17/gIQA3zBVrL_blog.html

Yeah no big deal but at least one George school can do it right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxhDuvzHT28

The damn hippo is STILL around? So much for Nero making improvements for the better...

It needs to be banned from the Smitty (and campus!)  Stupid "Spirit" office keeps it around.

Kids seem to be less scared of Hippo than Big George. Could be worse...we could be Stanford and have a really scary tree running around the Smith Center.

GW taking Metro to the BB&T going viral... Good,

Hippo humping video doing the same... Not so much.

Personally i had an awesome time. Photo and video to come on the blog.

Another recap/video.

Any publicity is good publicity.  Right?

 more press from SB nation...sorry if posted else where....