Seawolves Fans

GEORGE WASHINGTON
2017-18 Record: 15-18 (6-11 Atlantic 10)
Last Meeting: #17 George Washington 88, Stony Brook 60, January 2006; Mitchell Beauford team-high 19
Checkmate Unofficial Line: George Washington -7
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 224, George Washington 194
KenPom Prediction: George Washington 73, Stony Brook 68
Listen/Watch:
TV: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/b7be7adc-481f-4d4e-a635-b2ea8aa8fd40/stony-brook-vs-george-washington
Stony Brook radio: https://tunein.com/radio/WUSB-901-s23424/
Notables:
6-7/215 rjr F DJ Williams 15 pts, 7 rebs in exhibition (sat out 2017-18; reserve in first two seasons at Illinois)
6-1/180 rjr G Armel Potter 13 pts, 4 rebs in exhibition (sat out 2017-18; started in first two seasons at Charleston Southern)
6-2/180 so G Terry Nolan Jr. 9.1 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.6 spg, .319 3-pt FG% in 2017-18
6-8/250 jr F Arnaldo Toro 7.8 ppg, 6.9 rpg, .767 FT% in 2017-18
6-3/195 so G Justin Mazzulla 2.2 ppg, 2.0 apg in 2017-18
5-10/175 fr G Shandon Brown

I don't expect to win this one, but I wouldn't be surprised either.

It was a rough offseason for GW. Yuta Watanabe's now with the Grizzlies. Patrick Steeves and Bo Zeigler are gone too. And it got worse when Jair Bolden transferred to South Carolina. The cupboard isn't bare but they should finish near the bottom of the A-10 – as evidenced by their preseason ranking of 13th out of 14 conference teams.

So what did all those departures leave them with? Well, we don't put a ton of stock into exhibitions but ... it's impossible to completely overlook GW's underwhelming 69-64 win over Division III Catholic. GW threw up bricks at the line (15-32) and from three (2-16), and also got outrebounded. It was the first game action for Williams and Potter, two transfers who are going to have to carry the water for a very inexperienced squad. That duo did just that in the exhibition, combining for 28 points to pull out the W.

Coach Maurice Joseph is very high on Potter, particularly his quickness with the ball and ability to get into the lane. According to the Buff and Blue podcast, he expects that Potter will "live at the line." At Charleston Southern, he made the all-freshman team his first year, leading CSU in scoring and assists, and then led the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio as a sophomore. At the point, it seems they'll divvy it up between him, Mazzulla, who started the latter half of last season, and freshman Shandon Brown, who Joseph loves – big-time floor general/leadership kind of kid. Maybe Shawnta Rogers in four years? He was good. GW beat out the likes of UMass and Providence for Brown's services.

In terms of returnees, Toro and Nolan were mainstays in last year's starting lineup. I'm sure that on any given night Nolan, Williams and Potter could lead the team in scoring.

Yeah yeah yeah, so where are we in all this? I'm really curious about the following ...

• Who are our second and third scorers? Olaniyi? Garcia?
• Can McKenzie be an offensive threat, particularly from the perimeter?
• Outside of Akwasi, who's knocking down three balls with any kind of regularity? Sekunda .375, Iroegbu .375, Yeboah, then it was pretty bleak. Like or hate the three, we need at least some of them.
• Outside of Akwasi, if we need free throws down the stretch, who's taking and making them? Akwasi was over 80%, then it was VERY bleak.
• How big of a jump, if any, has Ochefu made from year one to year two?
• Otchere: the real deal? How are the bigs used?
• Double whammy for Latimer: Can he handle the nerves of a first collegiate game in front of every friend and family member?

We have a shot at this though! Last year, GW lost to Rider at home, and needed a furious comeback against Morgan State at home too. UNH had them on the ropes too, only losing by four. This year, you figure it's a lazy Tuesday night, a team without any scholarship seniors, the season snuck up on everyone, Virginia and Michigan on the horizon, everybody in town is looking at polling, and here comes an America East squad that surely doesn't have much bite. In the end, I think our youth shows as we're still feeling around a bit too, but I'd love to get a real nice win on our resume from the opening tip.

Pony up for ESPN+ or listen to it on WUSB. Looks like we’re off the Shark this year.

You're right that everyone in town will be looking at polling  I will do, but only after the game. I'll be at this one and expect a competitive, exciting game. Expecting to win might be a bit much, but it should definitely be close. Really excited for the season and the opportunity to see the team live for the first time in a long time.

Great analysis as always, Checkmate. It’ll be interesting to see who steps up for us, and how a very new team gels.

Just ponied up for ESPN+ for the year ($50). For those of you who don’t know, looks like half our games will be on ESPN3 and half on ESPN+. ESPN+ has a new feature which allows you to pause and rewind streams, which is pretty cool.

Good luck SBU!

Yup. I have it to. Been using it to watch other FCS football games all season. Nothing free anymore and going back anf forth from Watch ESPN to ESPN+ and ESPN3 is confusing and annoying. Just make it all one now and forget all these different broadcasts.

As always, thank you Checkmate!

Yeah, no more AETV, and agree that ESPN’s integration of the free and pay-for stuff is awkward at best.

According to the coaches Lattimer is the best shooter on the squad so I expect him to shoot 35% or better from 3 along with Yeboah. The 3rd long range threat is a big question.

wow, so nothing is available anymore on AETV?

i guess for $50 im not going to miss our games... GO SB

Oh nooo. that sucks.

AETV was good while it lasted I guess.

I cut the cord recently so I don't have access to ESPN3...

I will have to pay for ESPN+ I guess...

But damn. Not having cable sucks. I'm tempted to get it back until april.

I watch a TON of Big East basketball on FS1 so not having that its a big void to fill