Don't let their 17-1 mark fool you, the Colonials aren't that good
CINCINNATI -- Karl Hobbs was right. He told us, all of us, but we weren't listening. Our fault. But in our defense, this isn't a message you can hear. This is a message you have to see. Thursday night, 10,250 people at Xavier's Cintas Center saw.
No. 10 George Washington really is overrated.
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| Karl Hobbs watches his Colonials jack up one bad shot after another against the Musketeers. (AP) |
Maybe he's trying to lower the expectations. Maybe he's bragging. Maybe both.
George Washington rallied from a 17-point deficit to beat Xavier 89-85, a quality win for a quality team. George Washington is good. But No. 10? Not that good.
If you want George Washington in a nutshell, that nutshell has a name: Regis Koundjia. Koundjia is the LSU transfer who became eligible at midseason. He's a 6-foot-8 swingman, an incredible leaper who is skilled enough to break the press. Koundjia is a great athlete. He has a great body. But he can't play. Not really. Not like he should.
That's George Washington. Beautiful to watch in the layup line. Harder to watch in the game. Great talent, but not a great team. It's hard to describe. If you saw it for yourself, you'd understand.
George Washington is good, and George Washington is winning, but its No. 10 ranking and 17-1 record have been inflated by an awful schedule. The RPI is a tool to be used carefully, but in this case the RPI has a better gauge of the situation than the polls. According to the RPI, George Washington is No. 45.
George Washington is better than No. 45. But if you're asking me, after watching GW at its best -- and this victory was one of GW's best this season -- the Colonials are closer to No. 45 than No. 10.
Hobbs has assembled an impressive array of talent. A dozen NBA scouts were in the arena, and they weren't here for Xavier seniors Brian Thornton or Dedrick Finn. The scouts were here for GW seniors Pops Mensah-Bonsu and Mike Hall, juniors Danilo Patrick and Carl Elliott, and maybe even Koundjia, senior Omar Williams and sophomore Maureece Rice.
The Colonials' starting lineup went 6-4, 6-5, 6-8, 6-9 and 6-9. With athletic ability and length like that, their best weapons are defense and offensive rebounding. Xavier coach Sean Miller talked about GW's "amazing depth and quickness and size." Hobbs talked about wearing the other team down.
Run with George Washington, as Xavier tried to do, and you're playing to the Colonials' strength. Slow the tempo, force George Washington into a half-court game, and you get North Carolina State 79, George Washington 58 on Dec. 30.
If anything, George Washington might be too physically gifted. This is a problem most coaches would love to have, because everyone Hobbs ran onto the floor Thursday night -- every single one of them -- was athletic enough to get a shot whenever he wanted. But with the exception of Hall and Elliott, none seemed to know the difference between a good shot and a bad one. Tall players launched early 3-pointers. Smaller players drove wildly into traffic. Mensah-Bonsu, the team's best NBA prospect, will dunk on you in one moment, then force a 5-foot airball the next.
Here's another nutshell, and another name: Noel Wilmore. He's a GW freshman reserve, who watched the first 19 minutes and 15 seconds from the bench. Because of foul trouble, Hobbs inserted Wilmore in the final minute with the Colonials trailing by 13. On his first touch, cold Mr. Wilmore jacked up a 3-pointer. Missed. GW grabbed the rebound and the swung the ball back to Wilmore. Another 3-pointer. Another miss.
In the second half, with George Washington leading by seven in the final seven minutes, the Colonials began rushing shots as if they were down 15. One shot came when Elliott forced a transition against two Xavier players, chunking a bad shot and collapsing to the floor. Hobbs should have been mad at Elliott, but instead he got mad at the officials. Hobbs turned his back on the game and stomped down to the baseline, where GW athletics director Jack Kvancz was sitting, and screamed at Kvancz about the %##&* referees. Just as Kvancz was giving Hobbs a supportive nod, an official was giving Hobbs a technical foul.
That's Hobbs. He's manic. He stomps and whistles. He pouts and sulks. He's so small and so naughty, you don't know whether to hug him or spank him. At the end of the first half, after doing a slow burn off the court, Hobbs burst into a run toward the tunnel. He sprinted past his assistants, turned and gestured angrily. They started running, too.
George Washington is in such a hurry, you wonder if the Colonials know where they're going. If they can figure that out, they just might get there.
