The men’s basketball team began conference play this past Wednesday at home against La Salle University. The good news is that the Atlantic 10 season has started off somewhat positively, with a home victory against an average conference opponent. Including Wednesday’s 72-67 win over the Explorers, the GW men’s basketball team has won seven of its past eight games. The team can easily improve its 9-6 mark during the next few games, as it has a relatively easy schedule until it begins to play better conference opponents such as Richmond, Xavier, Dayton and Temple. Just like last season, the men’s team is predicted to place 10th by the time conference play finishes up.
Unfortunately for the Colonials, even with the recent string of victories, the offensive and defensive inconsistencies have plagued the team throughout the season. The team needs to solve these problems in order to improve from last year’s performance.
Similar to the past few seasons under head coach Karl Hobbs, consistency on both ends of the court has been a significant problem. The offense has continuously failed to put up points during long stretches in several games, while the defense has failed to regularly stop opponents from having big shooting nights. This is a reality that the Colonials and their fans are all too familiar with under Hobbs’ leadership.
Defensively, the Colonials have allowed opponents to shoot 45 percent or better from the field in five of their losses, too high of a percentage, representing the Colonials’ lack of defensive effort. Overall, GW allows 66.4 points per game, fifth most in the A-10. While this may not seem like a lot to the average fan, it’s an important number to look at because of GW’s offensive woes. The team scores only 66.3 points per game, which is the 11th worst in the A-10.
This kind of output will not cut it for the Colonials, who are looking to improve upon last year’s postseason appearance, (their first since 2007). It’s not as though the Colonials can’t score or defend. In seven of their victories, the Colonials have shot 40 percent or better, and have kept their opponents to a lower shooting percentage than their own. This shows that the Colonials can play well and win, but they just have to come out with the same level of intensity and effort every single night to remain consistent.
Furthermore, the Colonials have a big frontline and tend to rebound well, which should translate into an advantage offensively and defensively. Even without last year’s two leading scorers, Damian Hollis and Lasan Kromah – lost to graduation and injury, respectively – the Colonials can put up points with the likes of Dwayne Smith, Joseph Katuka, freshman Nemanja Mikic and guard Tony Taylor. When this group plays consistently on both ends of the court by rebounding, scoring, getting steals and dishing out assists, the Colonials are a strong team. If these four players continue to produce consistently, their efforts, combined with the rest of the team’s abilities, should help the Colonials finish the season strong.
The Colonials are a talented team and have the skills to place higher than 10th in the A-10. If they play like they did against La Salle, and like they have this season against teams such as Oregon State, Marist and Howard, the team can make a run in the A-10 tournament, instead of going one-and-out like it did last year against Dayton. It comes down to one thing – consistency on both ends of the court.
-The writer, a junior majoring in international affairs, is a Hatchet columnist.
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