George Washington dropped their season opener at Navy, 78-71.
James Bishop and Jamison Battle led the Colonials with 20 points each. Jameer Nelson Jr. chipped in with 18 points.
Navy was led by John Carter Jr’s 17 points and 6 rebounds.
Takeaways
Zone Defense
Really didn’t understand why George Washington felt the need to play zone defense. The Mid shooters found creases throughout. The wing jumper was open and when Navy cut hard they got good looks below the free throw line.
It was strange watching the back wings in the zone. Even when Navy didn’t have anyone in the corner, the wing on that side would essentially stand in no man’s land. Several times, Navy was able to get the ball to the high post and the wing defender would be woefully out of position.
Nothing against Navy but with George Washington’s talent and athleticism, there’s no reason to allow Navy to shoot 54.8% in the first half including 6-12 from three.
James Bishop and Matt Moyer
Bishop (LSU transfer) was everything he was advertised to be. Bishop provides speed and explosiveness when he’s the primary ball-handler. He can also get his own shot and breakdown defense and create. He went for 20 points, 9 assists with only three turnovers in his debut.
Moyer’s (Vanderbilt transfer) debut was a little more up and down. Grabbing 10 rebounds certainly helped but his 1-5 shooting didn’t help nor did being out of position in the zone. In fact, Christian started Chase Paar in the second half.
Turnovers
Not only did George Washington have too many turnovers (16) but a lot of them were unforced. This time of year you can live with turnovers of aggression but most of the Colonials turnovers were caused by indecision.
Takeaways
It’s early in the year so Christian is probably figuring things out but his game plan was puzzling. Defensively they were passive. By being passive, they never pushed pace consistently. Add that with Navy’s shooting, it’s not surprising that George Washington loss.
The most shocking thing was there was no “Plan B” when it became obvious that the zone was inefficient.
Another thing to keep an eye on is minutes. Is there a way, Christian can get his best offensive players out there at the same time? We didn’t see Bishop, Battle, Nelson Jr. and Jack out there together. Yes, that would mean going small but why not try that in little spurts. Push pace by playing a more aggressive full court press and see if you can’t stress your opponent out on defense.
