The season started! And it was good for GW. The Colonials took the lead early but couldn't pull awway until about 15 minutes had elapsed, and then they outran the Bulldogs for the rest of the game, 82-64. Lasan Kromah was out with an injury while freshman Nemanja Mikic started, so it was a pretty different lineup. Here's my thoughts:
It's going to be an interesting year. To me, there aren't a lot of assigned roles really. There's a lot of tall guys (Mikic, David Pellom, Dwayne Smith, Jabari Edwards, Chris Fitzgerald), a bunch of point guards (Taylor, Tim Johnson, Bryan Bynes, Dan Guest?), and then some other miscellaneous, but solid, guys (Aaron Ware, Joe Katuka, Lasan Kromah). It almost seems like it doesn't matter who's doing the damage, and at times, it was tough to notice who was in and who was scoring. But it worked.
The new guys: I liked Mikic, who played 31 minutes, the most of anybody. He shot from outside, shot from inside, and got 6 boards to go with 11 points. Pretty solid outing. Dan Guest was in briefly (9 minutes) but seemed pretty steady, getting 4 assists in that time, tied for most with Aaron Ware. My first impression of Chris Fitzgerald was that he looked like me as a freshman, aside from being big (listed at 6'8", 235, which I buy). He's maybe the palest guy ever but had some good defensive stops, though he was 0-4 from three, his only shots. Daymon Warren only got a few minutes and didn't do much.
The old guys: Ware was his usual athletic self. Tony Taylor had some nice offensive moves, and Bynes looked lightning fast. Tim Johnson was pretty quiet until about 10 minutes to go in the second, when he went off, getting two steals and hitting two 3s and a layup over about 2 minutes. He just took over, and finished with 19. I really liked his attitude, he was encouraging other players and looked good out there.
Joseph Katuka apparently played 22 minutes, but I didn't really notice, though he scored 10 and got 6 boards. There weren't many entry passed to him to make post moves, though he did one that worked pretty well, as I recall. David Pellom quietly got 11 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks -- reminiscent of Omar Williams, who'd have good games and you didn't really notice. Dwayne Smith got 6 boards and 7 points in 13 minutes, but it was sort of subtle too. Maybe that's the idea, it doesn't really matter who's doing the damage. A lot of threes were taken and made too.
Stay tuned for more about the atmosphere at the game, the Smith Center, and other non-basketball stuff I noticed.
All in all, an enjoyable game, and it made me look forward to the season. Here's the article, box score, and quotes, and the Hatchet's coverage, with lots of photos.
It's going to be an interesting year. To me, there aren't a lot of assigned roles really. There's a lot of tall guys (Mikic, David Pellom, Dwayne Smith, Jabari Edwards, Chris Fitzgerald), a bunch of point guards (Taylor, Tim Johnson, Bryan Bynes, Dan Guest?), and then some other miscellaneous, but solid, guys (Aaron Ware, Joe Katuka, Lasan Kromah). It almost seems like it doesn't matter who's doing the damage, and at times, it was tough to notice who was in and who was scoring. But it worked.
The new guys: I liked Mikic, who played 31 minutes, the most of anybody. He shot from outside, shot from inside, and got 6 boards to go with 11 points. Pretty solid outing. Dan Guest was in briefly (9 minutes) but seemed pretty steady, getting 4 assists in that time, tied for most with Aaron Ware. My first impression of Chris Fitzgerald was that he looked like me as a freshman, aside from being big (listed at 6'8", 235, which I buy). He's maybe the palest guy ever but had some good defensive stops, though he was 0-4 from three, his only shots. Daymon Warren only got a few minutes and didn't do much.
The old guys: Ware was his usual athletic self. Tony Taylor had some nice offensive moves, and Bynes looked lightning fast. Tim Johnson was pretty quiet until about 10 minutes to go in the second, when he went off, getting two steals and hitting two 3s and a layup over about 2 minutes. He just took over, and finished with 19. I really liked his attitude, he was encouraging other players and looked good out there.
Joseph Katuka apparently played 22 minutes, but I didn't really notice, though he scored 10 and got 6 boards. There weren't many entry passed to him to make post moves, though he did one that worked pretty well, as I recall. David Pellom quietly got 11 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks -- reminiscent of Omar Williams, who'd have good games and you didn't really notice. Dwayne Smith got 6 boards and 7 points in 13 minutes, but it was sort of subtle too. Maybe that's the idea, it doesn't really matter who's doing the damage. A lot of threes were taken and made too.
Stay tuned for more about the atmosphere at the game, the Smith Center, and other non-basketball stuff I noticed.
All in all, an enjoyable game, and it made me look forward to the season. Here's the article, box score, and quotes, and the Hatchet's coverage, with lots of photos.
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