Key Match-ups:
Jameer Nelson Jr vs Davion Warren
James Bishop vs Marquis Godwin
Chase Paar vs Dajour Dickens
Keep an eye on:
Chemistry: continuing to be built amongst the Colonials. With so many new faces on the roster, the lack of on court time throughout the pandemic, including exhibition games, GW got off to a slow start in their opener at Navy and they couldn't recover. With a game under their belt, I expect a more cohesive showing against Hampton who comes into DC in a similar situation as GW did against Navy, with a lot of new faces and this being their season opener.
Defense/Turnovers: were the main reasons why the Colonials fell in their opener to Navy. 16 turnovers and a horrible showing defensively for most of the game. Yes, as I stated before chemistry, a lack of familiarity with one another in a real contest for the first time played a factor in the subpar play in these two areas of the game, however, poor execution played the biggest role. GW allowed 48 percent shooting from the field, 43 percent shooting from three points range and 26 assists from Navy, while turning it over 16 times in the game. Jamison Battle alone had six turnovers. Yet with all of that being said, GW had a chance to win the game late. Being a presence defensively and making better decisions with the ball will put a lot of pressure on Hampton, which as a team, lost 74 percent of their scoring from last season, due to leading scorer Jermaine Marrow (24.8 ppg) graduating and Ben Stanley (22 ppg) transferring to Xavier. If GW plays up to their capability, getting back on the winning side of things shouldn't be an issue.
