Colonials Trying to Rebuild
George Washington lost three starters from their team two seasons ago, all key players. While last season figured to see a drop-off – and it did in terms of wins and losses – the Colonials were very much a force and won the Atlantic 10 championship.
They may have managed with three key starters gone last year, but this year they’re finding the going to be a little tougher. They lost three more starters, but it’s not that the numbers have added. While the other two starters were important, one of those starters gone this time around is Carl Elliott, who was as valuable as any player on the team for four years and had more wins than any Colonial in the program’s history. In addition, this year’s team is noticeably younger than last year’s overall.
The result thus far is a 5-9 mark, including 1-3 in Atlantic 10 play with three straight losses after Wednesday night’s 81-70 loss at Rhode Island. They haven’t won on the road after going 11-8 away from home last year, including 6-5 in true road games. Perhaps most telling is head coach Karl Hobbs noting that this is the first time he’s had to play freshmen significant minutes, as he starts big man Joseph Katuka and brings classmates Xavier Alexander and Miles Beatty off the bench.
There are good building blocks, like senior guard Maureece Rice and junior forward Rob Diggs. Rice can simply score, although he’s a volume shooter making just 37 percent of his shots, while Diggs is the prototypical forward in this up-tempo system as an active forward who will score and rebound. And Hobbs is still there after his name was mentioned for some other vacancies the past couple of seasons.
But whereas recent teams have been defined in part by their experience, this one is defined by their youth.
“The toughest part for me this year is maintaining a certain level of patience as a basketball coach and allowing these young guys to grow,” said Hobbs. “This is the youngest, most inexperienced team that we’ve had in four years.”
Not helping matters is the loss of point guard Travis King for the season with a knee injury. While he’s not Elliott, King figured to give them an experienced floor leader and allow Rice to play off the ball more and utilize his scoring. King was their most productive freshman last season, capably running the show off the bench and giving them another shooter. Without him, the Colonials have struggled even more with turnovers, as only three players have more assists than turnovers. While turnovers are a natural occurrence in a fast-paced offense, they haven’t been as much of a problem as they have this year.
Hobbs knew what he had this season in terms of experience, that there would be bumps in the road. It’s not a good year for that, considering the Atlantic 10 is having its best season in several years, but it’s also a little top-heavy. Hobbs is impressed with the conference’s overall depth and compared it to the mid-1990s, when he was an assistant at Connecticut.
The Colonials certainly shouldn’t slip all the way to the bottom, and could pull off an upset of a top team before the season is out. Hobbs is confident that this team will round into form before the season is out.
“Every game is a step for us. Every game is a process,” said Hobbs. “We’re going to be a work in progress throughout the season, I said that from day one.”
Another noteworthy item with this team is that they aren’t winning the high-scoring games recent Colonial teams did. In the seven games where the opponent scores at least 70 points, the Colonials have yet to win. Part of it is the offense needing to continue to get better, as this team isn’t quite running up and down the floor the way past Colonial teams have, although their offense has looked better of late. They have scored above their season average the last three times out, and in the second half of Wednesday night’s game they did it with Rice not scoring a point.
Alexander, the younger brother of former Charlotte guard D’Angelo, has shown some promise thus far, as has Beatty. In particular, Beatty is a nice fit for this up-tempo system as he can simply score and doesn’t have to be asked to fire the ball up. Sophomore Damian Hollis has emerged with more playing time this season and looks like he’ll be a key to this team the next two years as well.
The team’s two glaring issues, youth and the point guard spot, show come game time. The Colonials don’t lack talent, but they’re in a growing process and part of that is at the most important position on the court, which isn’t a good combination. Add that to a strong conference, and it’s a combination for a little step back in the standings.
Hobbs feels this team can improve and become a factor down the stretch, and if they can take better care of the ball, they can’t be counted out. Considering his track record thus far, there’s no reason to doubt him.
