Ritchie's Pregame - George Washington
The #16/#18 George Washington Colonials (3-0 A10, 13-1 overall, 33rd Pomeroy, 61st RPI) travels into Halton arena at 4pm Saturday to take on the Charlotte 49ers (4-1 A10, 11-6 overall, 95th Pomeroy, 84th RPI) which are surprisingly bad at home this year. With only a 4-4 record at home, the usually tough Halton Arena has become the Niners biggest problem this season after going 7-2 on the road and holding one of the greatest road records in the nation. The less than intimidating home record led Coach Bobby Lutz to joke that the team might just stay in a hotel Friday night and that they are looking to move the upcoming matchup vs Temple up to the city of Philadelphia where the Niners hold a 2-0 record with wins over La Salle and St. Joe’s.
George Washington was the preseason pick to win the A10, with the Niners finishing 2nd. The Colonials are currently holding up to their preseason predictions with a 3-0 start vs A10 opponents, although they performed less than average during their most recent wins in matchups vs Stony Brook (3-12 non-conference game) vs Saint Louis in OT (8-8) and Marshall in OT (7-8 non conference game).
The Colonials have one of the top backcourts in the game, ranked 7th in the nation by SI.com, with the explosive combination of Danilo Pinnock and Carl Elliot. Pinnock averaging 15.6ppg and Elliot averaging 11.5ppg are only two of the five players on the team that average double digits. Mike Hall (12.5ppg), Maureece Rice (12.0ppg) and Pops Mensah-Bonsu (10.8ppg) are also nightly scoring threats with their consistant performances.
One could argue the Colonials have put up their impressive numbers against sub-par competition. And that argument has some merit, the Colonials hold the 276th strength of schedule according to the RPI with only 2 wins coming against top 50 RPI opponents and 8 wins coming vs. opponents with an RPI lower than 201. GW has an over non-conference SOS of 316th which is one of the lowest in the country. Comparably, the Niners have a non-conference SOS of 143rd and an overall SOS of 82nd.
This could be the Niners game to break into the national spotlight and increase their hopes of an at-large tourney birth. For Charlotte to put together a solid game, they must improve their perimeter defense and play with the stifling intensity the entire team showed in the 2nd half during their win at Saint Joe’s. Pinnock and Elliot must be held to single digits and the Niners should try to give up the majority of points inside where Pops Mensah-Bonsu (6-9 240lbs.) has a slight size advantage over Charlotte’s Curtis Withers (6-8 246lbs).
George Washington was the preseason pick to win the A10, with the Niners finishing 2nd. The Colonials are currently holding up to their preseason predictions with a 3-0 start vs A10 opponents, although they performed less than average during their most recent wins in matchups vs Stony Brook (3-12 non-conference game) vs Saint Louis in OT (8-8) and Marshall in OT (7-8 non conference game).
The Colonials have one of the top backcourts in the game, ranked 7th in the nation by SI.com, with the explosive combination of Danilo Pinnock and Carl Elliot. Pinnock averaging 15.6ppg and Elliot averaging 11.5ppg are only two of the five players on the team that average double digits. Mike Hall (12.5ppg), Maureece Rice (12.0ppg) and Pops Mensah-Bonsu (10.8ppg) are also nightly scoring threats with their consistant performances.
One could argue the Colonials have put up their impressive numbers against sub-par competition. And that argument has some merit, the Colonials hold the 276th strength of schedule according to the RPI with only 2 wins coming against top 50 RPI opponents and 8 wins coming vs. opponents with an RPI lower than 201. GW has an over non-conference SOS of 316th which is one of the lowest in the country. Comparably, the Niners have a non-conference SOS of 143rd and an overall SOS of 82nd.
This could be the Niners game to break into the national spotlight and increase their hopes of an at-large tourney birth. For Charlotte to put together a solid game, they must improve their perimeter defense and play with the stifling intensity the entire team showed in the 2nd half during their win at Saint Joe’s. Pinnock and Elliot must be held to single digits and the Niners should try to give up the majority of points inside where Pops Mensah-Bonsu (6-9 240lbs.) has a slight size advantage over Charlotte’s Curtis Withers (6-8 246lbs).
posted by 49er Update @ 9:14 PM
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