Opportunity Tonight

[Piratz]

Tonight's game at George Washington is a great opportunity for the Pirates to notch an important non-conference road win over a very good team. Can they play tough, disciplined basketball?

I think that's what it'll take to have a shot against GW as they are a well-coached, veteran team that plays good defense and gets the ball inside with a number of talented bigs. If we play offense the way we did against Georgia, we're going to have trouble. We need to pass the ball and create space tonight, the way we did against Ole Miss. Unfortunately that's been the outlier this year.

I'm sure KW will try to zone against them and push them to the perimeter, but can we rebound out of the zone?

Will be a huge challenge and not sure we're there yet, but it should be the best test so far for the team and especially our young, talented forwards.

 

[Seton75]

Yes, will be interesting. Lots of time to get better or worse, so I will try to temper my reaction. But a good test. I was surprised to see they score so much after last year's slugfest.

 

[dcPirate]

Anyone else going tonight? I'll be there with my 8 year old son. I have lived in DC area for 15 years and have never been to GW for a game. Looks like a cozy place, should be interesting...

 

[Halldan1]

This is the kind of game that a young team gains a lot from, Even if it ends in a loss. Providing of course they don't get blown out.

I really like this scheduling and feel that it's more beneficial in the long run than playing Wichita State (if healthy) at home.

 

[Seton75]

Anyone else going tonight? I'll be there with my 8 year old son. I have lived in DC area for 15 years and have never been to GW for a game. Looks like a cozy place, should be interesting...

If you see a dignified looking guy an shu clothes screaming his head off, that may be the poster turridu who said he is going. (While many know Sal and may question the "dignified", I can only go from the back cover of his novel. Lol)

 

[garyshu71]

KW's road record is not so good. Time to toughen it up and enhance the resume.

 

[Piratz]

I agree on the schedule, HallDan. This is refreshing for us fans, too.

I am really interested to see how Desi, Ish, Delgado, and Nzei play. These bigs on GW are assassins.

Can we speed GW up and get out on the break a bit? Can we hit the 3 consistently? Probably need both to have a shot. GW is big, experienced, and prefer the half-court style, which is our kryptonite at the moment.

 

[mjs428]

You like this schedule? Maybe in the offseason.

Georgia, Mississippi, south Florida, Troy, st peters, Wagner, Dartmouth, & Wichita St all with at least 2 losses before December!!! But I'm negative and this is a great schedule! LOL

 

[Bud Boomer]

KW's road record is not so good. Time to toughen it up and enhance the resume.

15-41 to be precise. Has only beaten 1 top 50 kenpom team on the road in his entire tenure (GW is currently #47).

 

[Piratz]

15-41 to be precise. Has only beaten 1 top 50 kenpom team on the road in his entire tenure (GW is currently #47).

Let me guess... The game at Syracuse in his first season with Hazell back and when the team went nuts from 3PT range?

 

[Hall91]

I see this is a real test for us tonight. Win a game on the road in what I assume would be a small gym/hostile environment.

 

[Halldan1]

IMO sooner or later if this young team stays together they will jump this kind of hurdle. Are they ready to do that now? I have my doubts. But eventually this group is going to surprise our fans.

 

[Bud Boomer]

Let me guess... The game at Syracuse in his first season with Hazell back and when the team went nuts from 3PT range?

That's the one. To be fair, he has had 3 road wins over teams in the 50-60 range. But when you consider that those are generally bubble teams (12 seeds at best), well you get the point. The road record is horrible.

 

[Section112]

I think they are moving in the right direction. This is a good test and perfectly timed in my opinion. Have to be playing tough games like this to get ready for the BE games. Good luck Pirates!

 

[theaterman]

I'm thinking 12-16 point loss. Talent close to the same, head coaching...not!
Would love to be wrong

 

[Bud Boomer]

IMO sooner or later if this young team stays together they will jump this kind of hurdle. Are they ready to do that now? I have my doubts. But eventually this group is going to surprise our fans.

I agree. This group is going to be pretty good. Unfortunately, I think it will happen a year too late for Willard. If only he had recruited the Whitehead class in year 1 or 2.

 

[HALL85]

This is a game that we have to win if there is any shot at an NCAA bid. I won't take much from a "moral victory" loss.

 

[Bud Boomer]

This is a game that we have to win if there is any shot at an NCAA bid. I won't take much from a "moral victory" loss.

Eh, not really. People say this every year, and every the year the bubble is filled with such horses**t that it almost never proves true. The benefit of being in the BE is that we will have more than a dozen opportunities to play top 100 teams, both at home and on the road. A win would be nice, but there will be plenty of chances to make up for a loss.

 

[Piratz]

That's the one. To be fair, he has had 3 road wins over teams in the 50-60 range. But when you consider that those are generally bubble teams (12 seeds at best), well you get the point. The road record is horrible.

To be fair, those can be rare for sure, but unfortunately, I think it makes sense. Over the past 5 years a lot of the criticism from my vantage point has been the concept of a coach who may be good with x's and o's, run efficient practices, have the team looking good when a gameplan works out to near perfection, all things that I would classify as coming under, "controlled circumstances."

It's when we get outside the box that we have trouble. It's when we need off-the-script leadership, motivation, inspiration, and adjustments where we have repeatedly failed. Whether it's within a game or just the human side of things in a locker room, that's when you need to excel to be a consistently good and winning coach at this level.

To me, this is why we've seen so many collapses and disappointments despite changing personnel, different seasons, and so forth. We don't overcome when the plan goes astray. We crumble.

Typically you need to summon up that part of your coaching skill set on the road against good teams. The environment is raucous, things go into a frenzy quick, and so on and so forth.

 

[SHU11516]

Anyone else going tonight? I'll be there with my 8 year old son. I have lived in DC area for 15 years and have never been to GW for a game. Looks like a cozy place, should be interesting...

I'll be there as well. Unfortunately my 10 year son has no interest and has decided he doesn't want to go (where did I go wrong?).

 

[hallgrad80]

A much more competitive schedule this year and not only will it be a good road test for us but will also be a barometer as to where the program stands in year six of the KW tenure. If we win that's terrific , if we lose I don't want to hear any excuses or alibi's.

 

[Merge]

Can we speed GW up and get out on the break a bit?

Going to be key to in my opinion. I don't see us handling their zone that well.

 

[HALL85]

Eh, not really. People say this every year, and every the year the bubble is filled with such horses**t that it almost never proves true. The benefit of being in the BE is that we will have more than a dozen opportunities to play top 100 teams, both at home and on the road. A win would be nice, but there will be plenty of chances to make up for a loss.

Chances, but the hill gets very steep and no margin for error. We will be hard pressed to win one or two games from the top four in the conference, which means we need to be almost perfect against the bottom five....10-8 without a lot of quality wins in the OOC will get us nowhere.

 

[Bud Boomer]

Chances, but the hill gets very steep and no margin for error. We will be hard pressed to win one or two games from the top four in the conference, which means we need to be almost perfect against the bottom five....10-8 without a lot of quality wins in the OOC will get us nowhere.

Last year, St. John's was 10-8 in the league and got a 9 seed. Xavier was 9-9 in the league and got a 6 seed. Guess how many kenpom top 50 road wins they had in the non-con? Zip. In fact, each had 3 top 100 non-con wins in total. We currently have 2. Ideally, you want one more, but 10-8 in the league (maybe even 9-9) will almost certainly do the trick no matter what happens tonight.

 

[Shuathelete]

Last year, St. John's was 10-8 in the league and got a 9 seed. Xavier was 9-9 in the league and got a 6 seed. Guess how many kenpom top 50 road wins they had in the non-con? Zip. In fact, each had 3 top 100 non-con wins in total. We currently have 2. Ideally, you want one more, but 10-8 in the league (maybe even 9-9) will almost certainly do the trick no matter what happens tonight.

Thats true if you dont do things like lose to depaul twice

 

[Bud Boomer]

That's true if you don't do things like lose to DePaul twice

Both St. John's and Xavier actually did lose to DePaul last year. They also both lost to another bad BE team, Seton Hall. Xavier also lost to Long Beach State. But yeah, you're point is generally a valid one. Avoid as many bad losses as possible. We currently have 1.

 

[Halldan1]

Seton Hall MBB ‏@SetonHallMBB 4h4 hours ago

Derrick & Ish talked w/ Pirate Sports Network to preview tonight's road battle @ GW! WATCH: http://www.shupirates.com/collegesportslive/?media=516022…

 

[Piratz]

Going to be key to in my opinion. I don't see us handling their zone that well.

This is where our forwards will be interesting, especially Ish, who thrives on defense and rebounding. Can they play under control and use their quickness and athleticism to disrupt?

 

[Halldan1]

Seton Hall MBB ‏@SetonHallMBB 3h3 hours ago

Tonight, we’re in our nation’s capital for big game at GW. Watch on @LiveonASN or listen @am970TheAnswer! #HALLin

 

[TheBluePirate]

If we go 10-8 in conference, something that has not happened in a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long time, I will sure as heck be thinking post-season.

We keep predicting an above .500 in conference performance and no Willard and no Gonzo team has done it.

 

[Shuathelete]

Both St. John's and Xavier actually did lose to DePaul last year. They also both lost to another bad BE team, Seton Hall. Xavier also lost to Long Beach State. But yeah, you're point is generally a valid one. Avoid as many bad losses as possible. We currently have 1.

For some reason we matched up really well against X... One loss to Depaul, ok. TWO?? Thats twice as bad!...jk its like a million times as bad.