A few observations trying not to repeat what's been said:

The energy level was sky high compared to last year.  A lot of scrappy rebounds and soffocating defense.  They'll fill up the stands in no time.

Taylor seemed pass up on the open looks and wanted to take the tough shots (which he missed).  I'm not really worried about his scoring... that will come after he's satisfied KH that he can be a Division I PG.  He did have a couple of silly turnovers which will have to stop very soon.

I couldn't tell if King was just rusty or hestitant because of the injury.  His outside shot seems off as well, a bit flat-footed.

I'm a Wilmore fan, so you may discount this, but i thought he did a good job on D staying in front of his man.

Don't get why Katuka got so ferw minutes after his great start.

Damian and avier were just fantastic.  A full-energy duo all over the court.

Recap, stats, quotes.

West Georgia is not a good team, so it's hard to determine what this pre-season beat down really means for the season.  But GW ran its offense more effectively and played the transition game much better than last year.  They pressed, they ran, they attacked the glass and forced turnovers.

avier Aleander was the best kid on the court.  Very active in all facets of the game.  Handled the ball and passed more fluidly than I recall from last year. He also hit most of his free throws (I like it).  avier got out of control at times and will occasionally be a turnover machine this year, but nobody on this team gets to the glass and thus the line like Aleander.

Hollis shot the ball well but, as is his custom, settled for jump shots way too often.  He made one drive to the basket but was content to hang out on the perimeter for the rest of the game where as he could have driven the lane whenever he wanted.  When his shot is off, Hollis will be too if he doesn't start taking a page from avier's aggressiveness.

PG play was solid but not spectacular: King did look rusty put makes good decisions.  Travis can still hit the open J, penetrates in the half court and is smart on D (9 points, 4 asts, 3 steals, 2 TOs).  Only played 10 minutes but that should increase steadily as the season progresses.  Tony Taylor looked like he belonged and demonstrated his quickness.  His points will come.  Lee still recovering from injury but will not be needed unless Travis regresses.

Katuka has a nice touch down low.  I was figuring the Edwards/Opoku/Katuka combo to get about 20-25 minutes/game. Herm and Joe teamed up for 14 minutes today. If it all has to come from Katuka this year, I'm fine with that as he can and should be getting the bulk of the time.

Wilmore can still shoot from distance and Witherspoon can do everything else - including a nice mid-range jumper.

As stated previously, it wasn't a gread defensive effort, but that's not easy when you're blowing a team out.  Moreover, the D was fine last year and should only get better with the big men down low.  The offense was the culprit last year. It was much improved today and we should all be feeling Levinator levels of optimism heading up to Boston.

This is my post that should have been in this thread.

Good game this afternoon.  I haven't seen the stats but here are my observations.  Also I have two who are insiders and this was my first opportunity to talk to them about the team so I'll add their comments as well.  Comments are in no particular order.

Starters were:

Opoku, Hollis, Taylor, Wynton, and avier.

Opoku looked better but still appears to be a cheap foul machine.  Hollis looks confident, his shot was falling and didn't travel a single time on his first dribble as he did often in the past.  Taylor had a ton of turnovers but also took a couple of charges.  He is very quick but will definitely get better with playing time.  He will certainly get lots of steals and assists.  My guess is that if he stays healthy he will end up as among the great guards to play at GW.  Ware was very athletic and drives to the basket fiercely.  He will definitely play a lot this year.  avier was a stat machine.  He blocked shots, made steals, rebounds, FINISHED at the rim and has a new free throw technique and made all of his shots (I think ecept one trip when he simply didn't concentrate). He really has worked on his touch and stroke - big step up from his freshman year.

Others: King looked tentative and not full speed but still the old King otherwise.  Katuka was much more active and showed offensive range that was several feet further from the basket than last year, including moves and shots that weren't the baby left hook.  Wynton was Wynton - definitely has that great mid-range jumper.  Matt Allbritton hit his first shot at GW then missed a bunch.  He's bigger than I epected.  One of my sources says he's the best freshman shooter of his size that he's ever seen, but doesn't epect him to play a ton this year.  Diggs picked up right where he left off - epect him to be an All A-10 player this year (he didn't appear to add any bulk though).  Noel was confident and hit most of his shots.  He has gotten comfortable with his more abbreviated shooting motion and seems ready to launch at any moment.  Shot well off the dribble as well which is something that we have sometimes lacked. Jabari and Johnny Lee are hurt and weren't dressed.

The base GW defense will be a matchup zone type of defense (not eactly clear myself on this) and as epected with numerous combinations and new players, guys were out of position frequently.  We will be very deep this year and I epect that we will be able to do a lot of things we couldn't last year.  From the first moment it was obvious that the team had better chemistry.  Taylor seems to definitely be starting out as a pass first guard who is super quick and will be a good scorer if we need him to be.

The team intensity has already been better in practice and in the game than at any point last year.  One insider who was very down on the team last year was almost giddy and thought that GW could even has a post season possibility if they continued to progress (salute to Lev) like this. 

It was a good start to the season, and at the present moment I feel SO much better than at any time last year.  avier has improved in a major way.  Hollis and Diggs will score in bunches.  Taylor will be very eciting while still being solid in his fundamentals.  I'm officially optimistic.

Well epressed by everyone.

TT will be another TJThompson.

avier making his shots completed his nose for the basketball with the ability to score.

Diggs not starting odd and hopefully not some sort of struggle with KH. Rob deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Opuku is the same.

Which begs the question: Katuka had a 60-second stretch where he scored with his hook shot, blocked a shot, scored on another baby hook and I believe was lifted soon afterward.

Now this was West Georgia so all of this has to be taken with a large grain of salt.

But why doesn't Katuka play more? He can be taught to foul as often Opuku if that's what KH wants.

It's like last year when you saw flashes of talent and frustratijgly little playing time for Katuka, even after our legendary battle

for 11th place was lost.

Very hard to understand what KH doesn't see in Katuka.

For those questioning the merits of having a guy  (Matt Albritton) who can only shoot the ball and does nothing else, I say think back to the slow balding  guard on Teas Tech who kept draining 3-pointers against us from about 30 feet out all night, several years ago.

Also see Hobb’s post game quotes on the GW Athletic Dep’t’ write-up regarding Diggs.

Biggest concern was Diggs, who was obviously unhappy at being benched.  Hobbs virtually ignored him. I hope we don't have another Rice, Ned situation on our hands.

avier and Hollis looked great; even Opoku who is unpolished and unskilled looked ok.  King appeared to be unhealthy or unsure of himself (or both)..  Taylor is quick and will come along quicly, I think...

The big problem with a game like this is thatt we were playing an absolutely HORRIBLE team and it's hard to take anything away from it other than the good feeling that we can have our way with a terrible opponent.

I still wish we had something less than a crappy team visiting the Smith Center this year (OOC schedule).  Why did we leave 2 games on the table??? (Read: Jack Kvancz is a loooooooooser)

The big takeway from the game is: Keep your eyes Diggs  and Hobbs and hope it's nothing.  If Karl's got Rob in his gunsights, it's going to be a long year.  I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Poog.  No matter who's responsible, it's going to be up to Rob to figure out how to fi things.  An unhappy Diggs will equate to a bad Colonial season.  A happy and effective Rob Diggs could mean a 17 or 18 win season.

Rocket, I'd also add that I believe that all 3 of Noel's 3's were pure catch and shoots while several if not most or all of his misses came off the dribble.

Probably a mistake to read much into this game at all, other than taking heart that we seemed much more energized.

On Rob, he has played entirely out of position for several years as our defacto center, with no bulk and without much of a front line otherwise. Believe he was even said to be a wing player in high school.

That effort and courage is the opposite of another recent GW star who found himself off the team a game before the end of the season--after resisting doing what the team needed him to do all year.

Rob Diggs has also been the best player on the team. Maybe Opuku beat him out in practice to earn the start. Maybe he has the "flu."

   Maybe it's nothing. But after the Montrell debacle and the fractious situation last year, even any whiff of discord,especially in your star player (and only one combining big man height with fully developed A-10 basketball skills) is of concern.

KH can start who he wants and players shouldn't make their disappointment evident, ecept by tryjng even harder. But

these situations shouldn't plague us again this year. So hopefully,it's what KH said.

Ross-Man, announced crowd was a bit over 1,500 which is of course padded (season ticket no-shows are included in this count).  Actual was likely around 800-1,000.  Student section had one full area virtually unfilled and a smattering of students in the upper sections (plus the band).  I hope that people will come out during the OOC games because these players and coaches work too hard to deserve less than this.  Yet at the same time, I wouldn't blame anyone for missing each of these games (with the eception of American, a local rival.  Please don't make this same case for UMBC who I recognize went to the Dance last year).

As for Diggs, for now, I do see this as nothing more than KH wanting to give Herm the spotlight to see how he'd perform (unfortunately, the answer was poorly) in the starting lineup, given the fact that this was a meaningless ehibition.  I can understand how Rob might feel that he has done everything asked of him and then some for this program, and therefore feeling disrespected over coming off the bench.  However, Rob must also realize that this was a meaningless ehibition and get over it (I'd hope he is by now).  Starting Friday, if Rob is not in the starting lineup, I'd say we have a genuine problem here.

More likely, Mailvan, is that Rob Diggs did realize that it was a completely meaningless game Saturday against a crappy West Georgia team.  No need for the senior forward to get overly ecited about watching the public flogging that GW was dishing out.  This is one completly manufactured controversy. 

Let it go.

When was the last time we played a big draw in the opening ehibition game? I actually liked the idea that we played a college team rather than a thrown together collection of former college players who may or may not be in shape.  As for the attendance, combine a beautiful Saturday afternoon with an impending season that many people are wrongfully fearing as part of the continuing decline of eciting and winning GW basketball under Coach Hobbs and it's no surprise that attendance left much to be desired. Putting aside whether I'm accused of drinking buff and blue Kool-Aid, it's been very disappointing reading all the negative talk about the men's team coming into this season before any game has been played. It has nothing to do with attitudes about the athletic administration, Smith Center renovation, or the OOC schedule.  None of that should impact a Brooklyn Dodgerian anticipation of the coming year.  Regardless of the quality of the opposition, those of us in attendance saw a GW team with 2 competent point guards and an array of interchangeable pieces elsewhere reminiscent of the glory days just a few short years ago.  Fast breaks and alley oops, despite a number of miscues, gave indication of a restored energy and enthusiasm by the players and the coaches.  Hollis showed us what he apparently demonstrated in the Villanova scimmage -- he is ready to step up to the talent he has frequently displayed - and Aleander played with the same confidence and intensity he showed down the stretch last year. This is NOT last year's team. All involved should be given a clean slate by us fans. Eventually the buzz will get around and the Smith Center will rock again, even if it has to wait until the BB&T thrashing of Maryland to convince people. 

As for Diggs, I saw what I saw with his demeanor on the bench and when he was pulled from the game. Others saw it too. I'm not disputing what Coach Hobbs said since it's a plausible eplanation of both Rob's non-start and his limited minutes. When he was on the court, he was a dominant presence.  But having watched in disbelief over the Mo Rice fiasco last year, I'm with LFO in wanting to keep an eye on the situation.  Hopefully my observations from the stands are misplaced and any concerns merely reflect an unlikelihood that Diggs is a good poker player.

Bobo, not at all sure why you would tell me to let the Diggs situation go when I wrote nothing to eacerbate the situation whatsoever.  At the same time, I'd like to commend Poog for acknowledging, per LFO's prior post that was 100% spot-on (first use of spot-on in the 2008-09 season), that this is worth keeping an eye on.  It's very easy to cavalierly dismiss any potential controversy as being nothing more than a theory brought about due to an active imagination.  However, as LFO correctly notes, what has happened in the past here with Montrell, Cheyene, Beatty, etc. were all real conflicts.  Sure you can say that Diggs has been an ideal player here for 3 years but for that matter, so was Rice leading up to last season, and that ended as badly as it gets.  Once again, I have no firm evidence that there is any problem to speak of between Hobbs and Diggs; it's simply a situation that shouldn't be swept under the rug just yet.  Like I said, if Rob starts on Friday and gets his minutes, I'd suspect things between the two of them will be fine.

I'll save the "I told you so" speech for never.  That's just not my style. 

All i'm looking for is a solid all around effort between coach and players day in and day out.  22-23 wins puts us in the NIT and even a possability for the dance (if we dont win the A-10 tourney).  That sounded etremely silly, unrealistic and overly optimistic as little as 3 days ago?  Why? 

Frankly- the level of pessimism and negativism runs rampant on this board and it makes me sick!  Even during the 2005-6 magical season (now that was magic DB ) , many posters were chiding JK and KH for the weak OOC schedule. 

So- what can I possibly advise?  Please remember- You can't blame the players for the schedule.  So, once the season starts (it already did)- attempt to settle in to your front row seat (via the computer) to see your 2008-9 GW colonials.  And- if your one of those lucky fans who actually scores a ticket to one of our home games- go prepared with your triangle hat, your buff t-shirt that looks overly washed and scream your heads off in supoort of your ressurected program. 

BTW- We will have 5 players in double figures this year and a team that will ocntinue to amaze throughout the season.  I have eptremely high epectations for a team with absolutely so little epectations.  Good things come to those will good morals and character.  Some just wait longer than others my friends. 

Aside- happy birthday son.  You deserve one.  Many more happy and healthy years as a Gw colonial fan.  let's hope this season shocks us all and makes us come together at season's end in support of $ for the major Smitty improvements as a balance to the almost guaranteed fan attack of the overtly mild OOC. 

I think a lot of the negativity and even hatred on this board is pointed towards the schedule and the overall marketing of the program.  When you look at Diggs, Hollis, King, Witherspoon, avier etc. on paper, we have had less talented teams under Hobbs, Penders and Jarvis in my opinion.  The complaint is that Hobbs has to recruit with a terrible schedule, virtually no TV eposure, and key members of a school admin. who could seem to care less about the program.  That is where my anger is directed.  I think the players we have this year will do their best to win.  We will all be rooting for them. 

I disagree slightly Oscar.  I think JK cares about the program the way an alcoholic abusive father thinks he loves his family.  He thinks he's doing the right thing, it's just it clearly isn't the right thing ecept in the minds of enablers and apologists.  I also agree that's it's almost gross the way JK preens around the Smith Center during a game when only about 200 students showed up on a Saturday afternoon NOT during eams or break. 

Poog, when the 2005-06 Colonials were 26-2, they were awarded a #8 seed and the potential for 2 games in NC against 2 NC teams, including the tournament's overall #1 seed.  At the time of this announcement, Jack Kvancz was reported to have laughed while questioning out loud if we should have epected anything differently since "we didn't play anyone."  Does that sound like someone who cares about this program?  Don't brush this off.  Think about what happened and how he reacted.  And don't try to convince me that this didn't happen because it most definitely did.

Speaking of 2005-06, Levinator, I'm usually willing to give you far more credit for your posts than what you wrote in your last one.  You are actually criticizing people like me who were so negative as to complain about our schedule as we were going 27-3.  I fully understand that 27-3 in Division 1 basketball is a great accomplishment with particular emphasis on the 16-0 conference record.  However, don't for a minute think that the criticism was uncalled for.  First of all, a team that was legitimately good enough to earn a #4 or #5 seed ended up with a #8 seed as a result of that schedule.  The selection committee went out of its way to make GW a scapegoat.  They said that they want teams to play higher quality games and that better teams would receive etra rewards for quality road wins.  Instead, we played two quality OOC games and nine subpar games with the majority of these nine games being played at home.  Our schedule said "screw the NCAA" so the NCAA screwed us.  Additionally, our talented players were cheated out of playing against real competition on most nights, thereby denying them the opportunity to better measure how great a team this truly could have been.  And, this was all due to the lousy schedule.  I cheered my guts out that season and enjoyed every win.  But you are crazy if you think of me as a pessimist because I went on and on about the schedule (and continue to do so, and will continue to do so until things improve).

Finally, LA Fan, that was one outstanding post.  You summed up my feelings, and the feelings of a growing number of posters, perfectly.

Our 2006-2007 team was probably the most talented team in the history of GW basketball.  Pops spent time on the roster of the Mavs, Mike Hall was on the Wizards roster, JR was drafted (through trade) by the Lakers, Elliott was an NBA prospect, and Omar was an etremely versatile and talented player.  I don't know if or when we'll ever have that kind of eperienced and talented of a lineup again.  What did we get from that lineup? A great season and a screw job at the end because of our amazingly weak schedule.  Playing two NC teams on their virtual homecourt is the fate that is supposed to belong to the Belmonts and College of Charlestons of basketball. 

I get (though I don't agree) that with this year and last year's young lineups Hobbs and JK think the team is better served playing a meatball schedule to get ready for league play.  But how in the hell did the most talented team in GW history get served by playing a bullshit schedule?  Maybe a once in a lifetime chance pissed away because we didn't have the guts to battle test our players.  JK has a great strategy if we think the ABSOLUTE MAIMUM upside is MAYBE getting to and losing in the second round of the NCAA's.  In 2006, we had more talent throughout the roster than did last years Davidson - But they were ready to play in the tournament because of their schedule.

It's not that JK doesn't care - it's that he has such LOW epectations and makes it tough to even meet those.  It's his defeatism and comfort with being mediocre to average that is the most aggravating.

Precisely thinker! 

Low Epectations Soft OOC =  GW Hoops circa KH

But- when you go 27-3---- it's so hard to keep to these low epectations year after year.  This is precisely why posters like Mailvan and LFO advocate an overhaul in our AD office 

that being said Mailvan- we can't change the schedule and all of this pessimism gets redirected onto the players.  If the fans boycott to show Jk his scheduling sucks- who gets hurt?   If the fans show no interest--- who gets hurt?

Mailvan- I appreciate that you gernally give me the benefit of the doubt.  Let me clarify my last post.  No matter how we view the 2005-6 OOC-  it DID obviously help the team as they were prepared enough to run the A-10 table!!!   You can not underemphasize that point.

For every person that tells me that GW's OOC hurt their seed in 2005-6, there is another person who claims that the relatively soft OOC (we did play 2 ranked opponents that year in OOC) enalbed the team to form unity and cohesion that ultimately led them to dominate throughout the season.   Perhaps if they played 2-3 tougher OOC games and lost- they would not be feeling as competitive or as dominant and who knows---perhaps they lost a few games in the A-10 that year.  You just don't know.  So- all i'm saying--  with a YOUNG squad like this- with etremely low epectations- and the new scheduling philosophy in the A-10---perhaps this WAS the best OOC for this specific squad despite the fans call for freakin competition already. 

Please note as well Mailvan- that I have always agreed with you that we need a tougher OOC.  AS a consumer- I want the best product on the floor and I feel we have been slighted for years now.  So- perhaps i just needed to clarify a bit. 

I was very happy watching Saturday's game.  If the team is this focused and motivated, I don't know if it will be a great season, but it should be fun.

Only question -- in an ehibition game, why not give Katuka most of the minutes as the backup center?  He looks like he can be a player.  I don't see any difference in Opoku's game, and it's nice to give LaPlante a few minutes for his efforts, but I'd rather see them spent on seeing how far Katuka can take it.

Poog, my position has NEVER been to build a schedule around the toughest opponents possible.  That's eactly what John Chaney used to do and I've never advocated this for GW.  I'm happy to repeat my position again: my position is a balanced schedule.  Take your 12 OOC games and divide into thirds.  1/3 good to great teams that truly test the team.  1/3 respectable teams where GW would be favored to win (in most seasons) but by no means are automatic wins.  And, 1/3 cupcakes or automatic wins.  I have said this countless times and have never wavered.  It's really not so hard; in fact, most schools are able to do it.

Levinator, it is the lack of balance that creates a legitimate criticism of this program.  True, we may have had a few more losses if a few cupcakes are replaced with tougher games.  But if that's the case, then you really don't deserve to be ranked #6 in the country, do you?  Therefore, when the team actually was ranked #6 in the country, that ranking had to be considered superficial due to who we had been playing.  And yes, this does undermine the ecellent play of the team which is entirely unfair to them.  As a reminder, in 2005-06, yes we did play 2 OOC games against ranked teams at the time.  However, the other 9 OOC opponents all had RPI's greater than 200.  That is pathetic and inecusable.  And yet this year's OOC is actually worse in certain regards.  I know we're generally on the same side of this argument but I did take eception to your surprise/indignation over how some fans can be so negative as to complain during a 27-3 season.  The complaint was more than warranted.