32 seconds remaining, down 3, with the worst 3-point shooting team in the country... do YOU draw up a 3-point play, or do you try and score a quick 2?  I know which one I'd choose....

Yeah, but you don't make $650K coaching so WTF do you know

 Well at least we know somebody was making them practice their free throws

Total stomach punch game.  They'll be back.  The image at the end of Larsen crying on the bench will ultimately propel these guys.  You can feel it.  If only we had the irrational confidence of UMASS taking 3-pointers.

It seems the guy making 650k oftentimes doesn't know either...

 Shut up

Painful loss, but the team and coach can be proud of the effort, just not meant to be this season.  Larsen is a beast.  Strange that the defense that carried them all season seemed to come up short in the last couple of minutes.

Don't think we knew really what we were going to do--and pissed away some time before taking a bad 3, rather than taking it to the hoop, where Mr. Larsen would have helped.

 Inexperience and poor coaching lost this game.  You don't go for a three.  You go for 2 with a least 10 to 12 seconds and then play D on the inbounds play and then foul.  There was too much time left to be going for 3!

I like ML, but that was inexcusable coaching.

There bigs in fouled out and we put Larsen on the bench to watch while we waste 25 seconds trying to get a 3-pointer.

The future is bright for GW, but ML needs to get a better grasp on end of game strategy and substitution patterns.

Are you sure he didn't call for the 2? 

 It looked like ML was signaling Bynes to get out of Kromah's way so that Kromah would have an open lane to the basket to take it to the hole, but Bynes spaced the floor poorly, bringing an extra defender over and cutting off Kromah's driving lane.  Then Armwood found himself wide open and just decided to take it.

Maybe ML called for the three, but if you go watch the replay -and see how he set the offense up to create one on one space for Kromah (only to have Bynes get in the way, I think) maybe you won't be so sure. Or, maybe I am putting some undeserved blame on Bynes here.  We don't know because we weren't in the huddle.

 im sure it was a broken play he would not draw up a freakin armwood 3

 Whatevever the call was, the execution was abysmal!  It's poor coaching and a lack of experience.

FQ - You might be right. I need to go back and watch the play one more time.

Why do you think he decided to bench Larsen though? That seemed . . . odd.

I don't fault ML for that call.  What ML needs to do is get someone who can take that three.  Every team should have a go to guy to take that shot in game ending situations.  GW doesn't have that guy, so the ball fell into Armwood's hands.  There is a lid on this team's potential when there are no consistent outside shooters on the team.  With shooters, that lid comes off.  It's the difference between a good college basketball team, and one that is missing a few pieces.

Again, if you watch it, you'll see Bynes just standing at the top of the key, feet on the three point line, watchign Kromah.  ML signals to Bynes to get out of the way, then he grabs his head in anguish when he realizes the chance for Lasan to get to the basket is bust.   

As for why Larsen was out, I don't know.   If I had to guess his thinking, I would guess he wanted us to take it to the basket and didn't want Larsen bringing an extra defender down around the basket?    We can space the floor a little better for the drive without him, I guess?   I'd have preferred us to just feed Larsen in the post and let him score or get fouled or feed the open man, but in that situation, I guess driving to the basket against a D that doesn't want to foul seems like a higher percentage play?  

I'm proud of our team.  Great free throw shooting.  Great rebounding.  We got totally screwed on the out of bounds call with 56 seconds left.  It is clear as day that 34 for UMass knocked the ball out of bounds.  If that call is made correctly, we have the ball down by 1 with 56 seconds left.  Huge call, totally blown.  Everything that happened after that point was wrong.  It allowed them to run 25 more seconds before anything happened. Yes, we blew the defense after that, but the damage was done by giving them the ball, totally undeservedly, to allow them to run all that clock.  I know you all have it still on your DVR - go watch it.  We got screwed. 

At the end of the day, it's why basketball is so frustrating.  Basketball is more in the hands of the refs than any other sport except soccer (where a foul in the penalty box is a game-ender, which is totally disproportionate to the crime).  But I'm proud of our guys.

And I'm glad it's almost baseball season so no more of my happiness is dependent on the guys who wear the zebra stripes in the A-10 conference.

 We've got a sharpshooter in Mikic... He just can't shoot... Count down the days until Griffin is on the floor.

I'm proud of our team.  Great free throw shooting.  Great rebounding.  We got totally screwed on the out of bounds call with 56 seconds left.  It is clear as day that 34 for UMass knocked the ball out of bounds.  If that call is made correctly, we have the ball down by 1 with 56 seconds left.  Huge call, totally blown.  Everything that happened after that point was wrong.  It allowed them to run 25 more seconds before anything happened. Yes, we blew the defense after that, but the damage was done by giving them the ball, totally undeservedly, to allow them to run all that clock.  I know you all have it still on your DVR - go watch it.  We got screwed. 

At the end of the day, it's why basketball is so frustrating.  Basketball is more in the hands of the refs than any other sport except soccer (where a foul in the penalty box is a game-ender, which is totally disproportionate to the crime).  But I'm proud of our guys.

And I'm glad it's almost baseball season so no more of my happiness is dependent on the guys who wear the zebra stripes in the A-10 conference.

by the way, after he strips Garino, #3 for UMass travels (at least 4 steps, maybe more - he's practically dancing) with  7 seconds left as well.

I'm glad I'm not a basketball ref.  But if I was, I would suck.  And therefore I would work for the A-10.

STH, you are right (on both counts).  the travel was a close call, but the out of bounds was not.

You'd figure that a team shooting 38% for the game, down 3 with 32 seconds to go would have a fairly easy time of it to take it to overtime or win outright.  Must be the coach's fault.

On replay, it was clearly for Kromah to take the ball with about 22 left and drive/create a quicker look.  McDonald had a look in the corner but held up and Armwood had a clean look for a 3. 

The reality of it is that a team needs more than just one 3pt shooter.  Any team can defend that if they know what's comming.  Multiple outside shooters creates opportunities.  I'd like McDonald to go up fearless with a corner 3.  I'd like the defense to fear giving Garino an open look at the basket.  If you add in Griffen and maybe Kromah next season, then GW and Lonergan will have the building blocks of a multi-dementional offense.

Overall, I thought it was a great game. Back and forth. GW pounding the boards hard and Chaz Williams making plays that you'd expect from a senior leader and NYC point guard.  GW should be proud of the way they played, the way the GW fanbase showed up and cheered and the way the coaching staff has steered the ship in the right direction.

ML is a little like KH but without the world-class athletes, stomps around, makes it so the team needs 20 seconds of every shot clock just to understand what's going on before getting into the offense, no (or bad) endgame strategy, lots of bad plays out of timeouts, strange substitution patterns. Not sure why Mikic and Kopriva need ot be in at the same time, except maybe to emulate quicksand. Kromah and Smith needed to learn how to pass. I'll hear "Armwood for 3" in hell when I get there.

The team did play with a lot of heart for 39 minutes, but he play of the game for me was Larsen's reaction at the end of the game. There's a kid with heart.

I thought ML did a great job almost all game, balancing his subs and player fatigue to wear down UMass and eventually get their bigs in all sorts of trouble--the ONLY area GW could really exploit or had an advantage. It almost worked.

I'm not sure what the last 2 mins of basketball were all about, but there seemed to be little coaching on either side during that time-span as the kids just played. They were jacking shots, going back-and-forth at one-another. I can question ML on going to the 1-3-1 late which Williams torched three straight times and gave UMass the winning advantage. It's kind of like the shifty running back getting through the first wave of defense then having a slow linebacker to be beat. It was a silly defense and I would have gambled on straight-up man with Umass already down frontline men.

In the end, UMass just plain decided to do a little more to win the game. Pretty simple and nothing to be ashamed of. I would have been surprised by a GW victory, but was pleased with how they played and am excited that the whole starting line-up and best bench player are all coming back to be joined by some of the missing links in the form of new recruits. There are very few teams in the country who will return all their starters next year.

ML is a little like KH but without the world-class athletes, stomps around, makes it so the team needs 20 seconds of every shot clock just to understand what's going on before getting into the offense, no (or bad) endgame strategy, lots of bad plays out of timeouts, strange substitution patterns. Not sure why Mikic and Kopriva need ot be in at the same time, except maybe to emulate quicksand. Kromah and Smith needed to learn how to pass. I'll hear "Armwood for 3" in hell when I get there.

The team did play with a lot of heart for 39 minutes, but he play of the game for me was Larsen's reaction at the end of the game. There's a kid with heart.

Mentz, you expressed my thoughts about ML very well. it shows the team isn't totally prepared when a coach has to be involved in EVERY play, which as you point out takes more than 15-20seconds a possession.  oddly one of the announcers seemed to love that ML was so involved.  ML can recruit and next season will be better.

 You mean like at the beginning of the broadcast when they said Strickland was ML?

Mentzinger, we saw more good plays out of time outs, more halftime adjustments, more good coaching than we've seen in years.   I'm surprised you don't see that.  

Overall, i thought ML did an absolutely terrific job of covering up our weaknesses this year.  We can't shoot, we had only one or two ball handlers (depending on whether Bynes was healthy), we essentially lost our defensive stopper late in the season(our D was built around Garino taking out the best opposing player, but by the end he could barely play.   What a warrior), we have inexperience, and we have bench players who can't guard anyone (smith, Mikic) or sometimes choose not to (Kromah).    Yet he still found a way to put this guys in position to compete every game.  

Remember, his offense is built around making jumpers.  We didnt even have many guys who could consistently hit 10 footers so defenses packed it on is but we still got good shots and competed well.  

I thought GW's effort was extremely encouraging and thought the team played hard.  Not seeing GW play that offen, I am amazed at several things.  First, GW barely attempts any 3's and has to rely on post-up moves, drives to the basket, put backs and some very difficult one on one shots.  If you can't open up the floor and shoot from the outside, a team like GW is going to struggle closing out games.  Also, I simply don't understand why the offense doesn't run through Arnwood more often.  Hopefully we will get some recruits who can shoot.

I think FQ is not only correct that ML drew up a two point play, but I also think Armwood made the correct choice to launch up the 3.  Given the position the team was in and the time left on the clock, when the play breaks down and you find yourself wide open outside the arc if you think you can make the shot take it.  Good coaching is about playing the percentages.  As option B, I'm not sure the chances of an Armwood 3 going down are worse than the chances of us making a 2 point basket and successfully applying the hack and score strategy for the remaining game.  In either scenario, however, we were well shy of a 50/50 prop so pick the right one and you're still probably going to lose. 

I am in the camp that believes poor coaching at the end of the game cost GW the game. Having Larsen out makes no sense. Having Armwood away from the basket allowing Williams to drive untouched to the hoop in the last minute is a blunder. Perhaps, Larsen would have been in better position. The over enthusiasm of Garinos game is just not seen. Where did he contribute last night?  I believe Larsen is the jewel of the program and its future. The loss of Gabe Levin is a huge blow. This coaching staff made up of terrific people has trouble closing recruiting deals. We simply have failed to sign too many targets. It seems odd that parents of recruits favor GW    ( i.e. Rene Castro and Levins ) only to have their sons sign elsewhere.I am not optumistic that this years recruiting class will be significant. Where are the replacements for Armwood and Kromah?

Nice work Cutis. Armwood and Kromah will both be next year so no need to get their replacements. ML and staff closed on Garino, Larsen, McDonald and Savage. They have Griffin and Johnson coming in. Levin (from what I understand now) is NOT a huge loss at all and in fact would have been little more than a bench/role player. Did it every occur to you GW has passed on some of these recruits and not the other way around?

And Garino had a significant knee injury two weeks ago which has limited his mobility and cut his practice time to almost zero as of late, yet he still goes over 30 mins ppg, guards the opposition's best scorer and is one of the best steal guys in the A10....as a freshman.

And there are more recruits in the hopper. Just wait and be patient.

I was disappointed by the last couple minutes as well, but credit UMass for wanting it and taking it.  Their PG was motivated and  sometimes thats all it takes.  We're a little too young and inexperienced, and I agree the last couple minutes were pure chaos, no coaching.  That worked greatly in UMass' favor since we need Lonergan more than they need Kellogg. 

BUT I'm very excited by the direction of the program and the quality of the young players we have.  If Lonergan continues to bring in this caliber of player, things are going to get a lot better.  And just like the UGa game, I thought Lonergan is doing a great job, even when the team isn't executing.  Off nights happen, and players learn with experience.  UGA's loss was about an off-night.  Last night was about lack of experience. 

I'm very excited for next season.  Herve, dust off that futon in the basement....I'll be returning.

A 2-point play was drawn up with the caveat that if CERTAIN guys had an open look from three they could take it. UMass did a good job of shrinking gaps and not allowing any kind of penetration or post entry so Armwood had to make the best of a bad situation with the clock winding down. Armwood had attempted 12 3s coming into the game. Anyone who thinks it was drawn up for him to take the 3 is well just not very smart when it comes to basketball.

A 2-point play was drawn up with the caveat that if CERTAIN guys had an open look from three they could take it. UMass did a good job of shrinking gaps and not allowing any kind of penetration or post entry so Armwood had to make the best of a bad situation with the clock winding down. Armwood had attempted 12 3s coming into the game. Anyone who thinks it was drawn up for him to take the 3 is well just not very smart when it comes to basketball.

I'm glad someone with actual basketball sense and knowledge weighed in here. Far too often we, the fans, watch a close loss and look for a reason or person to blame. "Why would we take a three there? Poor coaching!" "Oh, the play was for a 2 and broke down? Poor execution! Poor coaching!" Sometimes plays break down. Sometimes an out of bounds call doesn't go our way. It isn't always the ref's fault or the coach's fault or poor execution. I'm not making excuses, but for anyone who understands the game and has played the game, sometimes these things just don't go the way they were designed to go.

The reality was that last night I watched a very close and very entertaining game that far exceeded my expectations - both for the game and for the season. Yes, this team was up and down last night. Yes this team was at points during the season maddening to watch. HOWEVER - this is a team that hung with arguably the best returning playing the A-10 will have next season (and likely the best player under 5-10 in the country). And did it while starting four Freshmen.

I'd rather take an open three on a busted play and miss it than try to force a crappy shot in the paint and pray for a foul call. I'm proud of the guts this team showed down the stretch last night and against Dayton. And the fan support in Brooklyn last night kicked the crap out of the UMass section. THAT is a positive takeaway.

We didn't have any technicals called for too-many-players on the court this year (that I know of). We improved our win total by 3 on the season. And we were a possession or two away from beating Bradley, K-State, Rutgers, Temple and Butler. There is a lot to build on for 2013-2014, and rather than talking about how our crappy coach is a crappy recruiter, maybe take a second and think about the steps forward we took this year. I know it isn't as fun as blaming people, but it shows that things are getting better.

 +1 Great post

Sorry forgot that minor stat line, which couple with the 18 against Dayton (including the game winner) that shows a team that attacks the rim.

Turnovers didn't exactly help us last night, but at least we didn't give the game away a la Richmond.

Think about how many breaks UMASS got to win the game: 

- A banked-in three

- A 30 footer by a poor three point shooter

- A GW player getting hurt in the middle of the play, crumpling to the floor, resulting in a wide open three pointer for them at a key time.

Those three plays alone are 9 points for them.  They also got a big break on the blown out of bounds call with 56 seconds left, and a career night from a guy who only hit 8 threes all year.  Pretty much UMASS needed a lot of things to go right to beat us.

Sorry forgot that minor stat line, which couple with the 18 against Dayton (including the game winner) that shows a team that attacks the rim.

Turnovers didn't exactly help us last night, but at least we didn't give the game away a la Richmond.

It's true, GW's defense was forcing UMass to hit a lot of tough shots. What's also true is UMass hit a lot of tough shots MUCH to their credit.

 On another note, nigel Johnson expressed on twitter his disappointment in failing to realize the game was on tv

i agree that ML drew up a two pointer. somebody please explain benching Larsen if that was the case. in a set offense Larsen is our go to guy. Armwood played a tremendous game with most of his points coming from offense rebounds not in a set offense. it's nice to feel proud of the team after the stretch we've been through.

Hard to get on Zeke's case given his warrior-like performance.  His offensive game returned, his rebounding was perpetual.  However, I sense that his making those back-to-back 3's against La Salle gave him some false confidence.  The three point shot is, by and large, out of his range.  So in that final sequence, I thought that Joe as about to take the 3 and then thought better of it as he saw a defender closing in.  Hindsight is always 20/20 but even if Joe misses that shot, we either rebound it or foul right away, thereby extending the game.  As for the called play breaking due to Lasan not having a clear driving lane, ML needs to call another timeout when that happens.  He had at least 1 more remaining, maybe 2. 

On a far more general note, I was extremely proud over how hard this team played game after game.  This just was not the case last season.  There are some clear deficiencies which ML and staff are well aware of.  And, let's not lose sight of the fact that this isn't Duke or Kentucky.  We will always have some deficiencies.  We are not going to become a constant within the AP Top 25.  But, you're crazy if you seriously believe that we aren't going to get better.

Last note, as hard as it was to watch, I was genuinely happy for Trey Davis.  His performance was akin to giving a giant middle finger to a school who allowed him to be manipulated and ultimately let him down.  I'm just sorry it had to be my school, in a tournament game.

newtman - I think Larsen was out of there so they could spread the floor more (not have a low post presence clogging the middle) and have 5 guys capable of taking to the ball to rim plus he was not a threat to shoot a three or really too much of an outside shot if things broke down.

Al Maguire said "the best thing about freshmen is they turn into sophomores."  We lost a close one last night due to UMass. making tough shots, a blown out of bounds call, a freshmen-Garino- being stripped of an offensive rebound and a freshman-Larsen- improperly defending on a pick and roll and traveling with the ball on a press.  But Larsen was better this year than I ever thought he'd be and had a great game.  Garino is plain and simple a complete basketball player. Joe Mac asserted himself in the second half and made a lot of big plays. Armwood lived up to his billing.  I'm confident Lonergan is a good enough coach that these guys will learn from their mistakes and get better.  I'm also confident that he'll bring in recruits that will  make the team better.  I feel a lot better about the team than I did a year ago.

I feel great. Fine freshmen, every one of them, and nice new recruits.

ML noted next year's tough schedule. I wish i knew what it was. NDU? KState U? The Missouri Valley Conference? Bring 'em on.

 Thx LG and IDK. Especially noting armwood's relative success from 3, the lack of a better option as the play developed and reminding people it was good good game game.. Where they were 2 years ago. My only quibble is I would have had Larson in there for board work

Definitely miles ahead of losing at home to Youngstown State. Hope not being on an all-conference team motivates KevLar to stay in rugged shape this summer.

You sit Larsen, to give the other team the idea you're going to take a 3 which just might clear out the middle.  I take away a good feeling for the team.  I also remember many discussions on this board whether to give 4 or 5 seasons to get his act together.