Men’s basketball is looking to run a versatile offense this season that prioritizes both attacking the basket and shooting a high volume of 3-pointers, continuing on a similar trend from last season despite a revamped roster.
The Colonials have gone 28-of-98 from beyond the arc thus far, good for a 28.6 percent conversion rate and three percent higher than their opponents on average, despite the higher volume of shots. The Colonials are also earning on average 1.2 3-point baskets more per game than their opponents.
“We got a lot of good players that make outside shots,” Head Coach Jamion Christian said. “I don’t know if we’ll take 60 percent of our shots for three, or 50, but we’ll still take a good number of threes. And the thing is, we have a talented roster, it’s about giving these guys enough freedom where they can go out and make plays.”
After adding 10 new players to the roster this season, the Colonials now have more offensive weapons than in previous years. GW relied heavily on junior guard James Bishop to score last season, who finished second in the A-10 in scoring with 19.1 points per game.
Christian said he believes the new roster additions will help to share the offensive load this year and play fast in transition.
“Last year, James Bishop was prominently our ball handler, and he’s a great point guard,” Christian said. “I think the nation’s going to get a chance to see him operate and create for others this year. And he’s always been a great scorer, but you know, he’s got a better canvas to play with this year.”
Despite Bishop’s prominent role last season, he has had somewhat of an inconsistent start. Bishop has shot 28.2 percent from the field through four games this season after sinking 42.7 percent of his shots last year, but he remains tied for second in scoring for the Colonials with 63 points and has eight assists.
Bishop said the emphasis for him this year is to keep the “ball moving.”
“We got a lot of great scorers, a lot of great shooters on our team, making sure everybody’s touching the ball, making sure everybody’s involved in the offense,” Bishop said.
Sophomore guard Joe Basimile and graduate student guard Brendan Adams, both of whom transferred to GW this season, lead the Colonials in scoring so far through the first four games. Basimile has scored 70 points in total while shooting at a .400 clip while Adams has scored 63 points while shooting at a .392 clip.
Adams said he’s going to do “everything in his power” to help the team stack wins this season after the team finished 5-12 overall last year.
“I’m just a two-way player,” Adams said. “Someone who’s gonna be consistent on offense, someone who’s gonna make shots on offense and then be consistent on defense.”
In both the home opener against Saint Francis and their first road game against Maryland, four players on GW’s roster took the vast majority of shots – Bishop, senior forward Ricky Lindo Jr., Bamisile and Adams. They shot 49 out of the total 62 team field goal attempts against Saint Francis and 60 out of 66 team field goal attempts against Maryland.
The Colonials overall scored most of their points from deeps shots, free-throws, and points in the paint. GW scored 71 out of 75 total points against Saint Francis from 3-pointers, free throws and points in the paint and scored 54 out of 64 points against Maryland from these same areas.
Through five total games, the Colonials have scored a good portion of their points in transition, scoring 22 points in transition against Saint Francis, 10 against Maryland, 11 against UC San Diego, 18 against Cal State Fullerton and 20 against Massachusetts Lowell.
While GW has recorded 47 assists in their first five games, fans can expect the Colonials to keep the ball moving through their offense this season.
Christian said he will focus on giving his players the necessary freedom to go out and make plays, even when it seems there are none to be made.
“It’s going to be good to have a group of guys like that, because that group of guys, like we could be in a scoring lull and they can make something then get an offensive rebound, they can get in the lane,” Christian said. “You need all those things to be a great team.”
