The men’s basketball team has filled its job listing for a court general.
At the start of the season, there was a huge on-court leadership vacancy with Isaiah Armwood and Maurice Creek gone, and the team tried to fill the gap collectively.
Senior forward John Kopriva is GW’s captain, but the Colonials turned to the four veteran members of the junior class to be de facto leaders of the team.
While the idea of collective leadership sounded nice, GW ran into problems as the season progressed, particularly on the offensive end of the ball. The team needed someone to step up and take control of the game – but instead it seemed like the members of the core four were waiting on one of their classmates to take the reigns. That led to stale offensive possessions and questionable shot selection – games that come to mind include those against Penn State, La Salle, George Mason and Colorado.
Beyond the ability to hit shots, the Colonials simply needed a player they could get behind.
Starting in late December, junior point guard Joe McDonald began to demonstrate how he could be “that guy.” It’s been incremental, sure, but it’s nonetheless a significant change for the Colonials.
With the score tied early in the second half of GW’s matchup against George Mason on Jan. 17, McDonald fell down in the backcourt with an apparent leg injury.
McDonald, who had sunk the go-ahead field goal in the Colonials’ double-overtime win over Richmond just days earlier, limped off the court and into the locker room. But leave it to McDonald – who’s often called a warrior for his tough-as-nails tenacity and demeanor – to return to the floor and aid his team to a 10-point win.
His grit has been there since the first day he put on a GW uniform. He displayed it no more boldly than last year, when he played almost an entire season with a bad hip and didn’t miss a single game.
McDonald has the utmost respect from his teammates. He leads by example on the floor: As Joe goes, the team goes. That was clear during Wednesday’s road loss to Duquesne. Despite a strong rebounding performance, McDonald went 2-12 from the field and 1-5 from deep. Of course, that’s not to attribute entire losses or wins to McDonald’s stat line, but the correlation is clear.
Since the start of conference play, McDonald is third on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game and leads the team from three-point range, averaging 1.5 per game. McDonald has increased his presence on both sides of the ball, and in addition to leading the team in assists per game, he is the team’s second-best rebounder.
Until recently, all he was missing was the scoring ability. But he’s even begun to demonstrate that in conference play. McDonald confirmed it Saturday night with his overtime buzzer-beating putback against Dayton, adding to what is now a list of big shots during his GW career. In fact, I’d be shocked if head coach Mike Lonergan didn’t hand the ball to McDonald the next time a close game comes down to its final possession.
He’s a natural choice to step into the role of team leader – he is the point guard, after all, the game’s logical court general. Lonergan is on board, and even adamant about McDonald taking the next step. He told GW Sports after Saturday’s win that he’s pushed McDonald to not just be a leader but to “take ownership of the team.”
At the point guard position, McDonald has the natural ability to orchestrate, which may not have come as easily to players like Armwood or Creek, but perhaps to past leaders like Tony Taylor.
McDonald will have no better stage than Saturday night’s home game against a nationally ranked VCU team, which is looking to complete a regular season sweep and hand the Colonials their first loss at home.
McDonald always had the makeup of a team leader, he just needed a coach’s push.
