Game Thread: George Washington @ Rhode Island (Wednesday 1/23/13)

[xu95]

George Washington

vs

Rhode Island

Records: George Washington (8-9, 2-2 A 10) / Rhode Island (6-10, 1-2 A 10)
Game time: 7PM EST
TV: Cox Sports
Radio: George Washington FederalNewsRadio.com, 1500 AM / Rhode Island 101.5 FM
Websites: George Washington / Rhode Island

[twisted3829]

possible stream: http://apps.ohlulz.com/ncaa/?lulz=rt...m-baskbl@34205

[twisted3829]

Should be a good game, GW is coming off a road win at UMASS and URI is coming off a road at SLU.

URI could put themselves in good position with a win over GW

[Free Quebec]

And GW could put themselves in great position with a win (they'd be 3-2 with Charlotte, @duquesne and LaSalle coming next). Pomeroy gives uri a 54% chance at the win so very even matchup.

URI is one of the only A10 teams I haven't watched this year so not sure what to expect. I know they shoot a lot of threes and don't rebound we'll. GW is the opposite - they shoot almost no threes and rebound very well. I imagine if uri is hitting from deep, GW's offense could crumble but I think it's more likely that GW plays strong D and Uri tries to force GW to shoot from deep by packing in a zone.

Game probably comes down to whether GW can make some shots or find seems to loosen the zone. I also suspect that unless he is double or triple teamed and denied the ball, that Kevin Larsen could have a very strong game in this matchup. I like the way he matches up with Hare because he is good at getting his body into lighter shot blockers and forcing them out of position. Or, if hare is looking for the blocks out of the zone, Larsen and Armwood could feast on the offensive glass.

[twisted3829]

Uri typically plays in your face man to man defense but has been known to play zone. They don't necessarily press but will pick up full court man. URI has been known to struggle on offense. Xavier Munford leads the a10 in scoring at 17.75 points per game. It should be a great game and is the first game with students back on campus

[Free Quebec]

I think URI will find it difficult to guard GW inside if they go man, though a press could cause problems (GW struggled with full court pressure - and half court tough ball pressure - earlier in the year, but has been much more solid with the ball the last few weeks). Most of our opponents have found it easier to pack it in and force us to shoot from outside (we can't) than try to handle Larsen and Armwood (and undersized, but tough, Dwayne Smith) down low.

I assume Garino will draw Munford. He usually handles guards like that well, but Munford is certainly capable of getting hot at any time against anyone.

[antboy]

URI played zone quite a bit against Charlotte and did ok at it. I'd guess that's a pretty good indication of what they'd do against GW, as GW and Charlotte appear to have similar strengths and weaknesses.

[twisted3829]

URI's biggest weakness is their interior. They use a rotation of Freshmen Jordan Hare, and Mike Aaman along with Senior Ryan Brooks. Jordan Hare is very athletic and played well against SLU (10 pts, 9 rebs), Mike Aaman is not as athletic but is bigger and slightly more polished on the offensive end than Hare. Ryan Brooks has his ups and downs, he plays decent defense but really isn't much of an offensive threat. URI will need to control Armwood.

[Free Quebec]

Great game. Joe MacDonald comes up with a last minute game winning pull up for the 2nd road game in a row. Kevin Larsen is truly becoming one of the best offensive centers in the league. He really reminds me of Kevin Lyde.

Andre Malone got red hot in the 2nd half, and didn't cool off until Garino finally left Munford to guard him with like 4 minutes to go.

Looking forward to more great games between these teams - because it won't be long before both of these programs are back in the upper third of the league.

[twisted3829]

I thought Munford's shot was in at the end and then I thought Hare was fouled on the rebound (Hurley did too). Tough for either team to get in a rhythm with the refs calling foul after foul and mostly calls that were not needed.

It was definitely a good battle though, missing Aaman hurt us he may be the best down low defender we have.

[Free Quebec]

Are you trying to set a record for most excuses in the fewest words after a loss? You are a better poster than this last response so I'll chalk it up to just emotion after a tough loss.

By the way, with how GW shot from the line - and how hot Malone got - uri was lucky the game was close.

[RF1]

URI lost this game in the final 5 minutes with their inability to close it out after building a slight lead. This same problem cost them wins in games against Seton Hall and Loyola-Md earlier in the season. Rhode Island led GW 61-56 with 5:01 left when Andre Malone hit a jumper. During the last five minutes of the game, URI went 2-7 from the field and turned it over twice. GW went 4-6 from the field and 1-2 from the ft line in that same span. That was the difference.

[twisted3829]

Free I wasn't making excuses, I said I thought the three at the end was in, I thought hare was fouled at the end and the refs sucked both ways and neither team got in a rhythm offensively. Both teams were in the bonus with 11 minutes to play in both halves. Its tough for teams to get in a rhythm with that many stops in play. I never said the refs cost us the game just they effected the flow of the game. GW played well and would had won easy if it wasn't for their bad free throw shooting. URI did not do a good on the boards and is the reason they lost (usually is)

[Gansett55]

Sorry, but I don't think it simply was rebounding that cost the Rams this game. Overall GW is not a good shooting team including free throws. They have shown good shooting against weak opponents like Hofsta and BU, but in games against tough competitors GW pales.The Colonials, however, showed outstanding shooting in their game against UMass as building up a big lead gave them confidence in shooting, something they could not do against URI They beat URI because their front court could dominate in the paint and they had greater depth. They couldn't do that against other big teams like X and got blown out as a result.

GW program has a nice program going forward.

[Free Quebec]

Actually, since a bad first couple of weeks, GW has been very competitive in almost every game. The X game was really the only clunker in the last 6 weeks (Georgia, too, but GW was right in it until a late Georgia run). But GW "all but beat" Kansas St., Temple, and Rutgers on the road. The young players have been improving and gaining confidence.

You are right that GW doesn't shoot well, but most recent games, that's not been too bad (like the blowout of the Bonnies - a team who obviously isn't that bad). But they are aided by the fact that Nemanja Mikic and Bryan Bynes were both shooting remarkably bad, but are now starting to get back to their career norms (despite Bynes' 1-5 yesterday). Also worth noting that dwayne smith has been an offensive force lately, but against URI had his worst game in a long time. I suspect URI was a tough defensive matchup for him, which limited his minutes, and he just pressed on offense.

I like both programs going forward.