An Interrogation: George Washington Has Found His Hatchet

I don't want to talk about the game on Saturday anymore. I don't even want to have to think about X for another... (check calendar)...TWO AND A HALF WEEKS! Damn it I want of piece of those smug Jesuits now. Ok, anyway. Since I got some time to kill before our real rivalry (well real for us anyway) starts again, how about a personal rivalry? The George Washington Colonials come to the Fieldhouse with an 11-5 record and $180,000 of my girlfriends' father's money. I also am pulling recon duties for the game tomorrow, so in an effort to not reuse material (I don't have that much), I'll save my thoughts for the morning. Instead, I got a guy whom this blog owes a debt of gratitude to answer some questions for us.

Andrew Wiseman is a dear friend of the blog and proprietor of the Colonial Hoops Blog. He's been on before to help bring us up to speed with his squad and has answered the call once again. Today we talk about the successful start of the season for HC Karl Hobbs, his very talented freshman class, and how jokes about international players are getting old. I told Ollie to stop making jokes about that. 

O'Brien: When we last spoke, you said the best case scenario for this team was in the 17-15 area and if it was much worse you’d want Hobbs gone. The Colonials enter tomorrow night’s game at 11-5 (1-2) and in a position to make some noise in conference. I’m sure you’re not surprised by the quick start, but do you think GW has the potential to finish with a winning record in conference? Have Hobbs done enough to keep his job or will it take a post season ticket?

Karl is as surprised as I am that he might have a job next season. Good for him. AW: I am pretty surprised actually -- I was expecting more of the same pass it around the perimeter and wait, then do something bone-headed offense, like in previous years. That's reared up a bit, and the team has lacked an ability to finish in the last two games (up 12 to Xavier then losing, up 5 to Lasalle then losing). This year's group really seems to have gelled and there doesn't seem to be any conflict or issues like before. I think Hobbs definitely will keep his job, unless the team goes winless from here out, and I don't expect that. There's a lot of excitement back about the program. I think GW can finish around .500 in conference.

O'Brien: You told me you expect good things from Damian Hollis and he has delivered (15 ppg, 5 rpg), but what surprised me is the Colonials have 11 players averaging 10 minutes or more. If the Flyers are able to limit Hollis, is there one other guy Dayton fans should be watching or will it take a team effort from the Colonials to take us out?

AW: Multiple guys averaging a lot of time is Hobbs' game plan. One of the good things about GW's style is that someone will probably pick it up, and it's hard to guess who that will be -- other than Hollis, high scorers in recent games include Lasan Kromah, Aaron Ware, and Bryan Bynes. Often a bunch of players will get around 8 points each. Then again, if everybody else is having an off day, it can be rough. The point guards can be a good way to stop GW: Tony Taylor, Tim Johnson, Travis King, Bynes to some extent -- they've struggled in recent losses.

O'Brien: Have the jokes about International players gotten old yet? Cause if so, then maybe we have to rethink the welding certification jokes we tell about the Bonnies too.

AW: Yes. GW is no more international than most other A-10 schools these days. But I think welding jokes never get old.

O'Brien: Talk to me about Lasan Kromah. The freshman guard is averaging 10 points a night and 2 steals, all while draining 40% from three point range. Where the heck did this guy come from (other than Maryland)? Do you expect him to be the centerpiece for the future and what other freshman have you been impressed by?Lasan Kromah: Get used to him averaging 20 points a game against us for the next 4 years

AW: He's a big surprise. He was supposedly one of the better players in Maryland, but he was less heralded than a lot of the other GW freshmen this year. His first home game he scored 20 or so over an 8 minute stretch and had 7 three pointers total, driving the Smith Center crowd crazy. GW relies on quick big men more than guards, so I wouldn't say he'll be the centerpiece, but he'll definitely be an important part. Kind of like JR Pinnock's role a few years back -- quick, slashing SG/SF who can steal it but also shoots well.

The other freshmen have been impressive at times -- Tim Johnson is an energy guy at PG and can get runs started and get the team fired up. Guard Bryan Bynes sometimes plays well, sometimes disappears. David Pellom is occasionally good, though he gets less time since Hermann Opoku, Joseph Katuka, and Jabari Edwards rotate down low -- folks have started to call those three the Three Headed Monster, though sometimes that monster doesn't play defense. I've liked what little I've seen of Dwayne Smith, who's more of a wing forward and can hit threes. Center Daymon Warren has been hurt all year and I think may redshirt if he hasn't already.

As for returnees, Opoku and Katuka have both improved as big men, though they have some issues like handling rebounds, and Edwards has become a defensive force in limited time. Travis King is a bit of a disappointment, and sophomore Tony Taylor is sometimes a solid PG and good leader, but occasionally makes  mistakes late. Aaron Ware has been great too, taking up the scoring slack when it's needed and driving the lane when nobody else does. Lots of folks are really pleased about his improvements.

Courtney Cox: GW Alumni. More importantly, hot or not? O'Brien: Prediction time. How does this season end for GW? Who wins the game tomorrow, how do they do it, and what kind of strain will this have on my relationship with my girlfriend who, regretfully, is a George Washington alum.

AW: Tough one. GW usually goes through a losing streak every year (maybe they're in it now) but I feel like there's more pride and cohesion than previous years, when the long streaks seemed to sink the team. Let's hope at least. I'm going to say 16-11 (plus maybe a game or two in Atlantic City), which means GW goes 7-9 in the A-10. I think most people would be happy with that, especially with the potential of the freshmen.

O'Brien: And tomorrow?

AW: Got to give you guys the edge -- home game for you, Wright and Johnson playing well inside and judging by the Xavier game, big guys can eat us up inside. You're  pretty deep so our usual tire-them-out approach probably won't work. Hopefully we can keep it close.

Smart move Andrew, steering clear of the girlfriend comment. Don't worry, she'll defend herself tomorrow.

George Washington University: If only George still had his axe

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 gamArtist'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.