George Washington senior point guard Joe McDonald
George Washington - 2014-2015 Record (A-10): 22-13 (10-8)
2014-2015 Postseason: NIT: Lost to Temple 90-77 in the second round
Lafayette - 2014-2015 Record (Patriot League): 20-13 (9-9)
2014-2015 Postseason: NCAA Tournament: Lost to Villanova 93-52 in the first round
It's not a secret that when George Washington steps on to any floor to play, the game plan from opponents will be to neutralize their three senior leaders in point guard Joe McDonald, wing Patricio Garino and center Kevin Larsen. You take them out of the game, you stand a great chance to walk away victorious. Obviously if that happens, other players will have to step up and carry the load....look to sophomore forward Yuta Watanabe and junior forward Tyler Cavanaugh to be the x-factors in keeping teams off balance in Friday's season opener against Lafayette and throughout the season. GW will have a significant advantage in the paint against Lafayette, thanks to the good mix of bigs (Larsen, Watanabe, Cavanaugh) that they bring to the table and the graduation of Lafayette standouts Dan Trist and Seth Hinrichs, both were career 1,000 point scorers. On the perimeter, it will be a war. While GW may bring one of the best backcourts in not just the A-10, but the country in my opinion, with Joe McDonald and Patricio Garino, Lafayette brings arguably the best point guard in the Patriot League in junior Nick Lindner, who put on a MVP performance in the Patriot League Tournament last season, averaging 23.7 points per game to help lead Lafayette to the Patriot League title and to the NCAA Tournament. Lindner is a sniper from outside, a 85 percent shooter from the stripe and led the Patriot League in assist/turnover ratio (2.6). Lindner will be joined in the backcourt with senior guard Bryce Scott who averaged 8.3 points per game on 39 percent shooting from 3-point range lasts season. In the frontcourt, there are question marks to say the least for Lafayette. Lafayette will need 6'8 sophomore Matt Klinewski to emerge right away. The bench edge with the likes of Paul Jorgensen, Alex Mitola, Anthony Swan, Jordan Roland and Matt Hart goes to GW as well. While Lafayette may be bringing NCAA Tournament experience to the table, GW brings just as much experience, more production, size and versatility which should give them the edge to walk away victorious in the Smith Center.
Preseason Patriot League All League team member Lafayette point guard Nick Lindner
George Washington's 92-47 exhibition win over Gannon University