Game 19: AT George Washington University, Wednesday, January 17th, 7 PM, Atlantic 10 Network

[GMUgemini]

Per usual, as has been the case for the last 8 years, you have to contain Watanabe to beat GW. That guy is such a pain in the a**. I wish we had one like him.

We do. His name is Otis Livingston II...

 

[sleeperpick]

We do. His name is Otis Livingston II...

Big Otis homer here. But the last two years Otis has been shut down by the 6ft 7 quick Wantanabe. I am assuming their coach Mojo will keep him guarding him as none of their guards will be able to handle the beast that is Otis. Look for Kier and Grayer to have games... Also Goanar will be guarded by AJ's twin (plays just like him) Bo Ziegler so hopefully the pump fake will be used and GoMar can get going. Calixte or Mar will have to contain Steeves as he is their second best player. They have one guard Jair Bolden who shoots the ball every time he touches it, but he is horrible this year.

We win 72-65

 

[PDGL Hoops]

Play hard and win please. Thanks -

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

We do. His name is Otis Livingston II...

As much as I like Otis, he's not a 6'7" basketball Swiss Army knife.

 

[GreenLantern]

Us 83
Them 82
OT

 

[MasonCrew]

We did what we needed to do against SLU, now it's time to continue against GW. The next 3 will be tough after this one.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Wantanabe is annoying in that he can be quiet for large stretches and then still burn you. He did nothing against UNH for 30 mins and still ended up with like 16 points.That being said, Mar feels like the defender we've been in need of for years to guard him. So here's hoping.

 

[GMUSig03]

I wonder whether Mar is athletic/quick enough to guard Wantanabe. I would guess that Kier will primarily defend him.

 

[GMU_DCU]

I wonder whether Mar is athletic/quick enough to guard Wantanabe. I would guess that Kier will primarily defend him.

Mar has really quick feet and seems to be good at defending without fouling due to his positioning. I'd have no problems if he was guarding Watanabe.

 

[gmujim92]

Go definitely can guard Sir Flopsalot. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t because we tried to guard him with a 6-4 guy the last 2 seasons with very little success.

 

[MasonSAE4]

I wonder whether Mar is athletic/quick enough to guard Wantanabe. I would guess that Kier will primarily defend him.

I have no doubts about his athletic ability. The only downside is that Kier (and Grayer) both know his bag of tricks at this point whereas Mar hasn't had the pleasure of lightly grazing Wantanabe and knocking him halfway to Anacostia.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I have no doubts about his athletic ability. The only downside is that Kier (and Grayer) both know his bag of tricks at this point whereas Mar hasn't had the pleasure of lightly grazing Wantanabe and knocking him halfway to Anacostia.

To be honest, Mar has some Oscar worthy moments as well.

Difference between him and Watanabe is Mar does it when he does not have the ball.

He's very good at putting his guy in bad position, frustrating him, forcing him to over correct and acting a bit (sometimes a lot) to make sure the refs see it. I actually think Mar could give Watanabe a taste of his own medicine.

And I still have to remind myself he is a freshman from time to time.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

GW opens as a 5 pt favorite for you degenerate gamblers out there.

 

[GSII]

That's a trap bet. Take the points!

 

[FreeGunston12]

That's a trap bet. Take the points!

Or the moneyline. We either win or lose by 20. It’s a coin flip.

 

[GMUSig03]

Go definitely can guard Sir Flopsalot. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t because we tried to guard him with a 6-4 guy the last 2 seasons with very little success.

Happy to be wrong by consensus!

 

[psyclone]

GW opens as a 5 pt favorite for you degenerate gamblers out there.

Kenpom and rpiforecast have GW as a 5 pt favorite; Vegasinsider has the line at 4.5

 

[gmujim92]

GW blows but they’ve absolutely owned us. Time to start administering payback.

Huge game to start creating some separation in the standings.

 

[psyclone]

What worries me about Yuta Watanabe out front of the GW zone is that it's likely to disrupt Otis' 3 pt shots. He is so much taller than Otis, that I think it will be difficult to shoot over him. Seemed like in the past, we struggled to pass out front because of GW's height.

That said, GW's defense has nearly been as suspect as ours. Our offense has been in the 80s for our conference wins, so we can score. GW, on the other hand, hasn't scored more than 70 pts in any of their conference games.

Maybe we'll get them out of sync by playing a fast tempo like we did at UMass.

 

[Washingtonian]

GW blows but they’ve absolutely owned us. Time to start administering payback.

Huge game to start creating some separation in the standings.

St. Louis owned us for a while too, and we ended that streak on Saturday.
Now it is GW's turn.