George Washington University Athletics
After sitting out last season as a transfer, Armel Potter is ready to help GW push the pace offensively
Men’s Basketball Opens Preseason Practice
9/27/2018 5:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Colonials are looking to pick up the pace with a deep roster of guards
The VersaClimber sitting just off the court at Charles E. Smith Center provides an ever-present reminder for the GW men's basketball team.
Recently, head coach Maurice Joseph introduced the cardio machine into on-court workouts. Careless passing, out-of-control ballhandling and other offense-crippling mistakes earn a quick 100-foot trek up the mountain.
For the Colonials, it's perfectly fitting that the path to playing the up-tempo style that Joseph wants requires, at times, a literal climb.
"It's good for us," sophomore guard Terry Nolan Jr. said. "Turnovers are going to happen, but (Joseph) wants us to remember that even when we're playing real fast we still have to be real poised within that play style."
Entering his third season leading the Buff and Blue, Joseph believes he has the pieces in place to ramp up the pace.
With newfound depth in the backcourt, Joseph wants to maximize the group's speed and athleticism with end-to-end pressure defense to wear down opponents and a free-flowing offense that can take advantage of fast-break opportunities.
After a productive summer and early fall, the Colonials hit the court for their first official practice Thursday. They'll look to keep developing that exciting style with 30 workouts over the next 40 days, leading up to their Nov. 6 opener against Stony Brook at Smith Center.
"There's a lot that goes into it," Joseph said. "It's not just roll the ball out and say 'Hey, let's play fast.'
"It's on the court. It's in film sessions. It's in our meetings. It's in our strength room. Whatever we do is geared toward being faster and more aggressive."
GW's goal has been to build on last season's encouraging finish.
After averaging 63.9 points over their first 23 games, the youthful Colonials turned up the tempo down the stretch and averaged 75.5 points to earn a 6-4 record over their final 10 contests, including four victories in which they scored 80 points or more.
GW took a week and a half off after the season-ending loss to Saint Louis in the second round of the A-10 Championship and then plunged into the offseason plan.
For the first time in Joseph's tenure, the returners were on campus for the entire summer with the newcomers joining for the second session of summer school.
"The goal," Joseph said, "was to not forget the feeling that we had when we lost our game, to not forget about the progress that we made throughout the season and where we could be if we continue to grow."
Nolan and classmates Justin Mazzulla and Maceo Jack stepped up in the late-season surge, showcasing their progress adapting to the demands of the college game.
Nolan, a high-flying guard from Baltimore, has added muscle in his first full offseason in GW's strength and conditioning program and worked to polish his game to match the newfound pace.
"It's fun," Nolan said. "That's how all of us play. We're used to playing fast and free. It fits all of our play styles. It's comfortable for us."
The reinforcements include transfers Armel Potter and DJ Williams, who join the active roster after a season spent on the scout team mimicking the A-10's top guards, plus first-years Mezie Offurum and Shandon Brown, who were recruited with this style in mind.
"It's good to have a young, energetic and relentless team," said Potter, a redshirt junior point guard who tied for the Big South lead in assist-to-turnover ratio as a sophomore at Charleston Southern. "The young guys come out here, and they want to get better. We push each other to get better every day in practice by competing. I feel like that's a good recipe for a great team right there."
There's still much to learn for a group without any seniors, but the hard work is well underway.
GW has understandably taken its conditioning to the next level under the leadership of first-year director of strength and conditioning Todd Hamer.
The strides were evident during the preseason conditioning test, which requires 20 ladder sprints on the court in 20 minutes.
"Last year, I didn't make it the first time," Nolan said. "This year, I made it with flying colors. That's just because we've been pushing so hard."
Offurum chuckled at the memory of his toughest summer workout with the Colonials, which included a run to the National Mall with a 20-pound medicine ball in tow. Everything since then has felt easy by comparison for the newcomer from nearby Georgetown Prep.
"I feel a lot faster, a lot stronger, more athletic and everything," Offurum said. "I can really see the difference from when I first came in to now, and we still have more time before the season, so it's looking pretty good.
On the court, Joseph has stressed the details required to play fast for 40 minutes. It means training the guards to be dynamic yet under control and getting buy-in from the big men like Arnaldo Toro, who has dropped weight and added strength ahead of his junior season.
The Colonials have focused on the mechanics of turning defense into offense from outlet passing to filling the lanes in transition to finishing at the rim. They've also stressed the team rebounding necessary to potentially play with a guard-oriented lineup with one drill after another.
Essentially, Joseph has ramped up every element of a practice session. It's meant more post-practice trips to the training room for ice and some sore mornings for a hands-on coach who is quick to jump into the action with his players, but it's a small price to pay for progress.
"If we're going to get water, let's sprint to the water," Joseph said. "We're training ourselves to be fast and be efficient in everything that we're doing. It doesn't just happen like that. It has become your DNA across the board."
GW's VersaClimber-aided trek toward that vision figures to continue in the countdown to the season opener and beyond.
"We have a foundation set," Joseph said. "We're still a work in progress at this point, but all of our pieces are going to be able to build and grow together. Right now, the near future of this program is really, really bright."
Recently, head coach Maurice Joseph introduced the cardio machine into on-court workouts. Careless passing, out-of-control ballhandling and other offense-crippling mistakes earn a quick 100-foot trek up the mountain.
For the Colonials, it's perfectly fitting that the path to playing the up-tempo style that Joseph wants requires, at times, a literal climb.
"It's good for us," sophomore guard Terry Nolan Jr. said. "Turnovers are going to happen, but (Joseph) wants us to remember that even when we're playing real fast we still have to be real poised within that play style."
Entering his third season leading the Buff and Blue, Joseph believes he has the pieces in place to ramp up the pace.
With newfound depth in the backcourt, Joseph wants to maximize the group's speed and athleticism with end-to-end pressure defense to wear down opponents and a free-flowing offense that can take advantage of fast-break opportunities.
After a productive summer and early fall, the Colonials hit the court for their first official practice Thursday. They'll look to keep developing that exciting style with 30 workouts over the next 40 days, leading up to their Nov. 6 opener against Stony Brook at Smith Center.
"There's a lot that goes into it," Joseph said. "It's not just roll the ball out and say 'Hey, let's play fast.'
"It's on the court. It's in film sessions. It's in our meetings. It's in our strength room. Whatever we do is geared toward being faster and more aggressive."
GW's goal has been to build on last season's encouraging finish.
After averaging 63.9 points over their first 23 games, the youthful Colonials turned up the tempo down the stretch and averaged 75.5 points to earn a 6-4 record over their final 10 contests, including four victories in which they scored 80 points or more.
GW took a week and a half off after the season-ending loss to Saint Louis in the second round of the A-10 Championship and then plunged into the offseason plan.
For the first time in Joseph's tenure, the returners were on campus for the entire summer with the newcomers joining for the second session of summer school.
"The goal," Joseph said, "was to not forget the feeling that we had when we lost our game, to not forget about the progress that we made throughout the season and where we could be if we continue to grow."
Nolan and classmates Justin Mazzulla and Maceo Jack stepped up in the late-season surge, showcasing their progress adapting to the demands of the college game.
Nolan, a high-flying guard from Baltimore, has added muscle in his first full offseason in GW's strength and conditioning program and worked to polish his game to match the newfound pace.
"It's fun," Nolan said. "That's how all of us play. We're used to playing fast and free. It fits all of our play styles. It's comfortable for us."
The reinforcements include transfers Armel Potter and DJ Williams, who join the active roster after a season spent on the scout team mimicking the A-10's top guards, plus first-years Mezie Offurum and Shandon Brown, who were recruited with this style in mind.
"It's good to have a young, energetic and relentless team," said Potter, a redshirt junior point guard who tied for the Big South lead in assist-to-turnover ratio as a sophomore at Charleston Southern. "The young guys come out here, and they want to get better. We push each other to get better every day in practice by competing. I feel like that's a good recipe for a great team right there."
There's still much to learn for a group without any seniors, but the hard work is well underway.
GW has understandably taken its conditioning to the next level under the leadership of first-year director of strength and conditioning Todd Hamer.
The strides were evident during the preseason conditioning test, which requires 20 ladder sprints on the court in 20 minutes.
"Last year, I didn't make it the first time," Nolan said. "This year, I made it with flying colors. That's just because we've been pushing so hard."
Offurum chuckled at the memory of his toughest summer workout with the Colonials, which included a run to the National Mall with a 20-pound medicine ball in tow. Everything since then has felt easy by comparison for the newcomer from nearby Georgetown Prep.
"I feel a lot faster, a lot stronger, more athletic and everything," Offurum said. "I can really see the difference from when I first came in to now, and we still have more time before the season, so it's looking pretty good.
On the court, Joseph has stressed the details required to play fast for 40 minutes. It means training the guards to be dynamic yet under control and getting buy-in from the big men like Arnaldo Toro, who has dropped weight and added strength ahead of his junior season.
The Colonials have focused on the mechanics of turning defense into offense from outlet passing to filling the lanes in transition to finishing at the rim. They've also stressed the team rebounding necessary to potentially play with a guard-oriented lineup with one drill after another.
Essentially, Joseph has ramped up every element of a practice session. It's meant more post-practice trips to the training room for ice and some sore mornings for a hands-on coach who is quick to jump into the action with his players, but it's a small price to pay for progress.
"If we're going to get water, let's sprint to the water," Joseph said. "We're training ourselves to be fast and be efficient in everything that we're doing. It doesn't just happen like that. It has become your DNA across the board."
GW's VersaClimber-aided trek toward that vision figures to continue in the countdown to the season opener and beyond.
"We have a foundation set," Joseph said. "We're still a work in progress at this point, but all of our pieces are going to be able to build and grow together. Right now, the near future of this program is really, really bright."
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