This post was written by Hatchet Reporter Noah Cohen.

With such an inexperienced roster this season, GW men’s basketball head coach Karl Hobbs knows that his team will have to compensate for a lack of seasoning with energy. Saturday’s 78-44 preseason victory over West Georgia displayed this point, showing that the Colonials’ liveliness will go a long way in determining their fate.

“I think with a young basketball team we’re gonna make mistakes and the way to make up for those mistakes is with work and with enthusiasm and energy,” head coach Karl Hobbs said. “And I thought that we accomplished that in the second half.”

Unfortunately for GW, the energy from the players was lacking before that point, which led to a meager 34-23 halftime lead over their Division II opponent.

But the team shot nearly 46 percent in the second half and improved their energy on defense.  The Colonials forced their opponent into 14 second-half turnovers, leading to 14 points.  The squad had been outscored in points off turnovers category in the first half.

“I saw some energy. I saw the potential of what they can become,” Hobbs said, referring to the team’s freshmen in particular. “I thought all of them at times did good things and I thought there were times when they really looked like freshmen.”

The style of play that Hobbs implemented for the Colonials opening exhibition game probably helped to lead to the jolt of energy.  Throughout the contest, GW was constantly looking for the outlet pass or pushing the ball down the court, showing flashes of the signature up-tempo style of Hobbs’s most successful GW teams.  This type of offense allowed the Colonials to put up 44 second-half points.

“We’re just trying to play with energy,” Hobbs said. “I want the guys to play fast. We want to play a fast-paced game and when you play a fast-paced game you’re gonna tend to have some turnovers. That’s part of it. But for us, we have to put points on the board.”

The Colonials committed 18 turnovers throughout the contest.  Hobbs said the squad will have to learn from its lackluster opening half in order to build a more energetic and successful atmosphere.

“I think my only real disappointment was our lack of energy and enthusiasm in that first half because that’s the one thing that doesn’t require any skill,” Hobbs said. “We have to be an energy basketball team because we’re not very skilled and we’re gonna make mistakes. The only way we’re gonna make up for those mistakes is to play with a great of enthusiasm and with a great deal of energy.”