11/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2005
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
November 12, 2005
Augusta St. 96 (preseason exhibition)
GW 103
GW Coach Karl Hobbs
Did you have a problem with defense early in the game?
"I thought it was a problem all game. They shot 57 percent in the first half, and 44 percent in the second half. So it was a problem all game."
How did the early loss of Pops affect your interior defense?
"The defense was not good all around...Our defense is really way behind. It's nowhere where we need it to be for us to be an NIT team."
On Montrell McDonald's contribution to the game
"He gave a great effort. He ran the floor well, he made terrific decisions, and he did a great job being where he was supposed to be defensively. I was really pleased with how he played. Hopefully he'll continue to play that way and build on that. He played a lot of minutes tonight, and I don't see him playing more than 25 minutes a game. But he's capable of doing that."
GW is getting a lot of national attention this season. Is that affecting the team's performance?
"We were a pretty good scoring team last year. If you look at our stats, we allow a lot of teams to shoot a high percentage against that. We haven't found a way to eliminate that trend. [Augusta State] came into our building and shot [52.2] percent. To me, the most disappointing thing about today's game is that they had [five] guys in double figures, and one guy scored 25 points. I just don't know who we're going to beat in our league if we keep allowing that... Based on the way we played today, we'll be lucky to be an NIT team."
How will you address the defensive problems?
"We have to go back to square one, back to fundamentals and defense. And we have a lot of work to do. I'm taken aback by it. There are holes all over the place [such as] 14 offensive rebounds... [Augusta State] was the perfect team to play because they don't get rattled, they execute things on offense, and they play very disciplined."
Are you concerned about your depth?
"Not at all. I think we have a great bench. Montrell and Robert Diggs proved that they can play in these kinds of games... So we can easily play nine guys... Our depth is one of our positives."
"I think we're strong in all areas. The two areas were we are most vulnerable are our defense and rebounding. If we don't find a way to cure those things, we'll struggle to be an NIT team."
