George Washington University Athletics
11/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 1, 2007
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL Preseason Exhibition
October 31, 2007
UDC 71
@ GW 74 (OT)
Post-game comments
GW Coach Karl Hobbs
How much do you read into exhibition games?
There are certain things that I looked for and anticipated that we would do well, but we didn't do them well. That was rebounding, and we didn't start the game out playing with energy. Those two things got us off to a bad start. From that point on, it was catch-up the rest of the way.
The problems aren't easily fixable. This team is a work in progress. And we need a lot of work, obviously. There's a long list of things that we didn't take care of.
We had too many guys who didn't play well. We looked like we were out of sync. I need to "introduce" these guys to each of and make them spend some time together. It's unusual for a George Washington team not to share the game. There are times when we could have made one more pass. We just weren't patient enough. We have to develop better trust in each other...As we play more games, hopefully we will play better. Hopefully if the game is close, we will have better execution down the stretch.
What can you do as a coach to address these problems?
We have to change some things in practice. I don't think our conditioning was the best. Our focus coming into the game wasn't the best. And we have to continue to teach the fundamentals. That's what I do as a coach when the team is struggling, go back to the fundamentals--block out; set good, solid screens; make good passes; run your lanes. Just good, basic, fundamental basketball.
On the play of Wynton Witherspoon.
He's going to play with a level of intensity and energy, and will make some plays. He did a good job of it tonight.
How much did you miss Travis King?
Without Travis, we miss a great deal. This is the first time we've played without a true point guard, and it showed out there tonight, especially on our fast break. We just don't have anyone who can accelerate the ball and move up the floor quickly for us. It will take some time, but we will have to find a way to overcome some things, and this is one of them.
On Noel Wilmore's missed free throws near the end of regulation.
Part of this for me is testing [my players]. He had made the big three, so I wanted to put him in a pressure situation. Normally in a game of significance, Maureece would shoot the free throws. I wanted to put Noel in that kind of pressure situation so he could get used to being in that environment. I'm confident he'll make those kinds shots, but normally Maureece will shoot those free throws.
On the crowd's impact on the game.
Thank God! I thank them for their patience, and sitting and watching this game. But that's typical of our students. When we get down and find ourselves struggling a little bit, they seem to seize the moment, and the crowd did that today. They knew we were kind of sputtering a little bit and they sort of refused to let us lose. That's a great thing about this building.
Are you excited about the season starting?
I am, but I wish I could push our opener back a few weeks. We started on October 12, had 14 or 15 practices, and now we're playing an exhibition game. With a veteran team, that doesn't matter. But with a team as young as this, you'd prefer to have more time. Tonight was a product of that.
