Duquesne will host George Washington Saturday evening at 7pm. The Colonials are 5-9 on the season, and 0-7 on the road. On the surface it would appear that GW is struggling this year, which is mostly true, but most of their loses have come at the hands of big time teams, (UCLA, Auburn, VTech, Alabama, Xavier, and Rhode Island) and an overachieving UMBC team. 5-9 is a big change from last year when GW won the A10 Tournament and went to the NCAAs.
GW is led by one of my favorite A10 coaches Karl Hobbs. Hobbs is in his 7th year at GW and was the A10 coach of the year back in 2006. Hobbs has proven to be a capable recruiter and a coach who can develop talent. Before coming to GW Hobbs was an assistant coach at UConn and has been given credit for recruiting and developing Richard Hamilton, Khalid El-Amin and Kevin Freeman who were all starters on UConn's 1999 National Championship team.
GW is led by a duo of junior forwards, Wynton Witherspoon and Rob Diggs (pictured right). Witherspoon is a 6'7 195 pound forward who is averaging 12.2ppg, 4.4 rpg, and he leads the team with 20 steals and 35 assists. Rob Diggs is 6'8 202 pounds and is 2nd on the team in scoring with 12.1ppg and leads the team in rebounding with 7.6 per game. Diggs is also a monster on the offensive boards having collected 46 offensive rebounds on the season.
GW has lost 4 of their last 5 games with their lone win in that span coming in that infamous game against Saint Louis when the Billikens scored a total of 20 points in the entire game. The win over Saint Louis is GW's only win in the A10 this year, with loses coming against Fordham, Xavier, and Dayton.
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Will James be ready for George Washington?
Ron Everhart's response:
"If he looks good at the shoot-around and exhibits he's ready, it would be nice to have James available."
In short James is a game time decision.
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My thoughts:
This is a must win game for Duquesne. GW is an inferior opponent and they have yet to win a game on the road this season. If James can't play on Saturday the Dukes should consider themselves lucky in a way because if you had to pick two A10 games that you had to be without James they certainly would be home games against the St. Bonaventure and GW.
GW is led by one of my favorite A10 coaches Karl Hobbs. Hobbs is in his 7th year at GW and was the A10 coach of the year back in 2006. Hobbs has proven to be a capable recruiter and a coach who can develop talent. Before coming to GW Hobbs was an assistant coach at UConn and has been given credit for recruiting and developing Richard Hamilton, Khalid El-Amin and Kevin Freeman who were all starters on UConn's 1999 National Championship team.
GW is led by a duo of junior forwards, Wynton Witherspoon and Rob Diggs (pictured right). Witherspoon is a 6'7 195 pound forward who is averaging 12.2ppg, 4.4 rpg, and he leads the team with 20 steals and 35 assists. Rob Diggs is 6'8 202 pounds and is 2nd on the team in scoring with 12.1ppg and leads the team in rebounding with 7.6 per game. Diggs is also a monster on the offensive boards having collected 46 offensive rebounds on the season.
GW has lost 4 of their last 5 games with their lone win in that span coming in that infamous game against Saint Louis when the Billikens scored a total of 20 points in the entire game. The win over Saint Louis is GW's only win in the A10 this year, with loses coming against Fordham, Xavier, and Dayton.
--
Will James be ready for George Washington?
Ron Everhart's response:
"If he looks good at the shoot-around and exhibits he's ready, it would be nice to have James available."
In short James is a game time decision.
--
My thoughts:
This is a must win game for Duquesne. GW is an inferior opponent and they have yet to win a game on the road this season. If James can't play on Saturday the Dukes should consider themselves lucky in a way because if you had to pick two A10 games that you had to be without James they certainly would be home games against the St. Bonaventure and GW.
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It has been rumored that Duquesne recruit Johnny Higgins will be at the Palumbo for the game on Saturday night.
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College Chalk Talk has a great post about the Duquesne game against the Bonnies and an overview of how the two programs are going in different directions. This is a must read for Dukes fans.
Be sure to check out Colonial Hoops, a George Washington basketball blog and friend of Dukes Court.
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