George Washington University: If only George still had his axe
September 17, 2009 Jim O'Brien George Washington University, where $50,000 a year buys you an Ivy League attitude, second class citizenship on M Street and a mediocre basketball team. GW seemed like a program on the rise under Karl Hobbs back in the mid-Aughts, reaching Top Ten status in 2005-2006, yet have won only 19 games in the past two seasons. Hobbs is now on one of the hottest seats in the A-10 and probably doesn't have the talent to lift himself up. Gone is one of the best players in the conference, Rob Diggs, as well as a supporting cast that accounted for 52% of the scoring and 47% of the rebounding last season. If you're asking yourself whether or not Dayton played GW last year, it's because your mind has blocked out the traumatic events of last season. As a favor to Dayton fans I'm going to pretend last year's "win" against the Buff and Blue just didn't happen, and to appease Colonial fans, I'm not going to mention your campus wide "Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week." (Go ahead, call my bluff)
Joining me today to help figure out how so much talent could have been wasted last year and what GW fans can root for this season besides Hobb's firing, is Andrew Wiseman, a prominent and handsome blogger of ColonialHoops.com. Wiseman has been covering GW for a couple years now through the good times and bad, which is more than we can say, cause as soon as Dayton goes more than two gam
Artist's rendering of the 2008-09 GW basketball seasones below .500 we're shutting it down. We discussed the fall of Karl Hobbs, the possible rise of Damian Hollis and of course, the legendary women of Foggy Bottom. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Andrew Wiseman (/applause).
O'Brien: Looking back at last year, George Washington came into the season with optimism. They might not have had the best team in the league, but they had talent and were looking to build on a mostly unsuccessful year. What was the largest contributing factor to their failure last season? Can blame be placed in one particular place, or has this team simple run upon bad luck?
To be honest, I'd blame Karl Hobbs. The team lacked chemistry, I think due in part to his always crazy substitution patterns and line-ups -- he'd see a mistake, then immediately angrily take the player out. That can't help either the player or the team on the court when that happens, always afraid to make an error and get pulled. Hobbs' personality is not to be that supportive of his players, and I think that turns some players off -- as a bunch have transferred in the last few years or been suspended for whatever unknown reason, which doesn't help matters.
The offense also seemed to lack a game plan often -- there'd be 4 guys around the perimeter and they'd pass it back and forth between them and hope somebody did something, or wait to take a bad shot. It was pointless and extremely ineffective. The games GW won, it was either good outside shooting or an actual game plan, the usual Hobbs trap and transition game plus stout defense. And there were some lapses, like the terrible and infuriating Dayton game where GW got whistled for a tech with too many men on the court. GW had the lead, with something like 30 seconds left and couldn't close. Probably cost us the game.
O'Brien: While researching GW, I found something that pretty much sums up the feelings I’ve been hearing about Coach Hobbs, “the neglect of this program over the past few years makes Haiti seem like a model for reform.” The best part of that quote is that it didn’t even come from the website whose sole purpose is to get Coach Karl Hobbs fired. Is Karl Hobbs in an impossible position to succeed this year, given that he’s returning only one key player and will not only be suiting up 6 true freshmen, but will be depending upon their immediate success?
I think that comment is more about the athletic department as a whole. They're pretty lazy about putting out press releases and such (though lately that's improved), they failed to capitalize on the great season a couple years ago when GW was in the top 10, and they just seem kind of clueless sometimes. They're very opaque about anything that happens, and when the team is not doing well, that makes everybody nervous. GW hasn't scheduled the full set of games in a couple seasons, which is annoying, and often home games are scheduled when everybody's out of town, like Christmas or Thanksgiving.
As for Hobbs, it's going to be tough. There are some decent returnees and the freshmen look good, but I think this is an actual rebuilding year -- unlike every other year that Hobbs calls a rebuilding year. I think if the team at least competes and shows some improvement, people will be happy.
I'm sure there's a metaphor in this picture someplace.
O'Brien: Speaking of your coaching staff, Hobbs hired former Michigan coach Brian Ellerbe. After the scandal’s broke I thought he went into a witness protection program funded by Ohio State boosters. What was the motivation behind this hire? Was there a 4 year gap on his resume that just said, “On Vacation?” Was Kelvin Sampson unavailable?
I've heard that Ellerbe is an Xs and Os kind of guy, which is something that Hobbs lacks sometimes, especially in the half court offense. Most folks I've heard from on the GWHoops.com message board and such seem pretty supportive of him, as I think the scandals happened before he was the coach. Supposedly he has strong local ties too, and GW has had trouble recruiting locally. I'm pretty happy with him as an assistant. A head coach, I'd be more worried.
O'Brien: Mr. Blackburn and I have….intimate…knowledge of some of the women at GW. We discussed them at length and two theories emerged. I am of the camp that they are what I like to call “rich hot.” They would normally be mid level players, but because they can afford really nice clothes/makeup/surgery, they appear to be more attractive than they are. It’s often too late before I realize I’ve made a terrible mistake. Mr. Blackburn on the other hand doesn’t fall into such traps due to his cunning guile and ability to stay sober while imbibing large quantities of Gin and Tonic, yet he still has noticed what he refers to as “+2 syndrome.” This theory holds that girls who are 4’s think they are 6’s and girls who are 6’s think they are 8’s. What role has this played in the recruiting process of tall and awkward European centers, as well as former freedom fighters from conflict strewn nations of Africa? What is your theory on the deceptive and misguided self-esteem of the ladies in your student section?
Well, the girls in the student section at basketball games are only a subset of the ones in the school. If I could have a nickel on how many girls in the student section actually watch the game or seem to know what's happening, I'd be very poor. That said, there are some hardcore fans who are girls, and that's pretty cool. GW girls in general, it's a tough one. I'm not from Lon Gisland or New Jersey, so that was new to me -- the accents and the clothes and such. But often you'd be surprised -- a girl who seems snooty or whatever from afar might actually be cool and down to earth. And the really obnoxious ones I wouldn't hang out with anyway. Plus GW is 65% girls or something, and you can't 
You won't find a GW girl at Old Navy.argue with that.
I dunno about recruiting, but I remember when I was a junior or so, Albert Roma, a 7'3" center from Spain, was dating this girl on my floor who was maybe 4'11. So that was pretty funny. (ed. note: VERY funny)
O'Brien: It’s becoming increasingly clear that GW needs fresh blood in its program, not just with its coaches, but also with its facilities. The renovation of the Smith center appears to just be putting a band-aid on a skull fracture. Is the renovation of the Smith Center going to be comprehensive enough to keep GW from being the punch line to jokes the way Fordham’s 189 year old Rose Center is? Is the ultimate goal of the renovation to just make more money through luxury suits or to lure higher level recruits?
The stadium issue is always a problem. I personally like the Smith Center, it's got a good atmosphere and is very loud when it's full, but getting a new one would built be very tough as the local residents hate GW with a burning fire. I think the updates to the Smitty look pretty decent, nice design and modern architecture and such, and I think there's a lot going into improving the training facilities and stuff like that which are aimed at recruits. There's going to be a few luxury boxes but the actual seating capacity is going down some. If they make more money, good! What most people hope is they do something about the white walls behind the backboards -- it makes it look like a high school or Northeast Conference gym. Plus the arena is supposedly getting better food, which would be a Godsend. Those hot dogs are rough.
O'Brien: There is little doubt that this is Damian Hollis’s team. Hollis can play inside and hit the three from deep, but it doesn’t look like he can do it alone. Who do you expect to step up and fill the void left by Diggs, Witherspoon, and Wilmore?
Big men could be an issue, but Joseph Katuka and Hermann Opoku performed well in spurts last season and have supposedly gotten better in the offseason. Plus they fulfill GW's quota for international players. I've also heard freshman Lasan Kromah is a big time scorer and will get time right away, but who knows with that. I think everybody hopes Travis King returns to his form from his freshman year, where he played well. He was a little off last season. Aaron Ware plays with a lot of hustle in the SG/SF role, and Tony Taylor was good sometimes and crummy sometimes. It's honestly a lot of hope. Maybe a lot of freshmen will get time, and thus get accelerated practice?
O'Brien: George Washington’s out of conference schedule closely resembles the in conference schedule for the Patriot League. Is GW preparing its team to take on the Atlantic Ten, or just trying to puff up its winning percentage? What does this soft schedule say about the teams expectations this year? Are they trying to build a young team's confidence or is Karl Hobbs just hoping to win enough games to keep his job?
Surprisingly, this is a decent schedule for GW -- less games against absolute dogs and more against vaguely mid-major conferences. Hobbs always schedules awful teams and always complains that he can't get good teams to come to the Smith Center, even though places like Hofstra and stuff can do it. This one always gets a lot of play on the message board (gwhoops.com) and no can figure it out. Confidence? Winning percentage? Let the young kids get experience? It backfired horribly last year as GW lost to teams like Coppin State. Who knows what Hobbs' plan is, or if it's even Hobbs' plan -- some people say it's the AD, Jack Kvancz.
O'Brien: Prediction time. Give me your best case scenario and worst case scenario for this team. Any hopes of post season play or will this season end with Karl Hobbs making a call to Mayflower Movers?
Best case scenario, something like 17-15 (or however many games we have, since it's not up on GWSports.com). If we finish .500, I'd be pleased. If they look decent and seem to have an offense and the young guys improve, I'd be pleased. I don't expect an NCAA tourney or anything, obviously, but I'd be pissed if we didn't make the A-10 tourney again. And who knows, maybe we can go on a run there and win a game or two in the A-10. I'd at least like to get back to Atlantic City for a day or two.
Worst case scenario, same garbage as last season. I would want Hobbs gone in that case. One terrible year I can handle; two, not so much.
I can taste the disgust in my mouth.
Reader Comments (4)
The Smith Center absolutly blows. I was there for the UD-GW game last year and it was aweful. You have to walk to the basement to go to the bathroom, no bars anywhere near th eplace and they don't serve beer in the stadium (and with the way that game was going I needed a beer bad). Saying it looks like a high school gym is actually being nice, because I remember playing in places like that in grade school. The one nice thing about it is that no matter where you sit you are close to the court.......
On a note about GW's team I can't believe they can't find more talent. The DC/Baltimore area is stacked with players, but they are stuck recruiting overseas...ouch. If that Ellerbe actually has local tie's it would be huge for their program.
@Kevin...I think it's obvious to everyone that GW needs to go back to the mid 90's level of recruiting where they were just another United Nations. That's when they had their success. Giant Belarussians and midgets.
Thanks again gents. I should note that the GW schedule is up now link
As a GW fan I agree with the well reasoned responses from Andrew.
One thing that always strikes me when I read takes on GW is the presumption that GW recruits heavily overseas. Although players might have 'funny names' and some may in fact have been born in other countries, they almost all went to high school or prepped in the US prior to joining GW. This list would include Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Danilo Pinnock (check out his FIBA Panama team), Regis Koundjia, Dokun Akinbade, and Alex Kireev of Hobbs vintage and Katuka and Opoku more recently. DC is a pretty cosmopolitan city with a lot of offerings for students from diverse backgrounds. I think that's the bigger draw for players with international links. Jarvis made overseas poaching so fashionable that most D1 schools caught up and now far out pace GW in that department (see Juan Fernandez @ temple and some aussies @ SLU for more modern incarnations).