by Patrick Stevens
Chris Caputo won’t shy away from the fact George Washington wasn’t far away from having a better season.
True, George Washington hasn’t made it back to the NCAA tournament since 2014. And the Revs lost a frustrating batch of close games last year. But he isn’t going to ignore the real improvement the Revolutionaries have experienced over the last four seasons, either.
Especially last year, when Caputo’s hard-luck team still won 19 games.
“First time in the NIT in 10 years, first time in the top 100 in 10 years, first time in the top 100 of the NET ever,” Caputo said. “Good progress from our group.”
Is there more in the tank? If so, it will be with a dramatically different roster. Only one major contributor—point guard Jean Aranguren—returns to Foggy Bottom.
“I think this team is a little bit more well balanced,” Caputo said. “I think we’ll have a little more chops defensively while also having the ability to score. I like the seriousness of approach. I like the demeanor of the group. We haven’t had to ask these guys to play hard. They kind of do it.”
Caputo’s tenure has featured a heavy lean into analytics, and a pair of notable sites – BartTorvik.com and EvanMiya.com – peg the Revolutionaries as the Atlantic 10’s fourth-best team in the preseason.
And if George Washington exceeds even those projections? An even more meaningful March run could be in play in a few months.
“We do think we’re one of the teams that can play at the very top of the league, and I think if you can play at the top of this league, then you’re prepared to win in the postseason,” Caputo said.
A LOOK AT THE REVOLUTIONARIES:
Coach: Chris Caputo, fifth season at George Washington, 71-62 with the Revolutionaries and overall.
Last year: The hard-luck Revolutionaries lost seven games in conference play by six points or less, but still went 8-10 in the A10 to earn the No. 9 seed. They split with Fordham and Saint Louis in the league tournament, then advanced to the second round of the NIT with a victory at Utah Valley before falling at New Mexico to cap a 19-16 season.
They’ll miss: A lot. Caputo effectively reset the roster, with the top seven scorers (and eight of the top nine) departing after last season. The most challenging figure to replace will be center Rafael Castro (15.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg), a second team all-A10 pick and a member of last year’s all-defensive team.
Impact returners: GW brings back only one player who appeared in more than four games last season, senior guard Jean Aranguren (8.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.4 apg). He led the Revolutionaries in assists and shot 40 percent from 3-point range during league play, and he’ll set the table for a new set of teammates this season.
“You look at the numbers and you look at the production and you look at the performances in league play, it was clear to us that Jean was going to be a priority to keep,” Caputo said.
Newcomers of note: Caputo acknowledged that Castro was “kind of off the chart” according to the team’s analytics, and it probably isn’t realistic to expect one guy to fill in all that production.
So George Washington will take a strength in numbers approach in the post. Dylan James has been a steady reserve at Georgia the last three seasons. Slovenian forward Lovro Urbiha is a multidimensional forward who can stretch the floor. The 6-foot-11 Andrija Vukovic averaged 5.3 points for Oklahoma State last season.
“I think the depth of our frontcourt,” Caputo said. “The serious of approach of a guy like Dylan, a guy like Lovro. Andrija’s experience in the Big 12 and internationally, I feel really good about our frontcourt, our versatility and our size there.”
Reasons to be optimistic: Not to be too simplistic, but GW has plenty of players who have spent time in power conference programs. Maybe all of them won’t pan out for the Revolutionaries, but clearly there is talent to work with.
In addition to James and Vukovic, George Washington picked up Terrance Arceneaux (Houston/N.C. State), Ryder Frost (Notre Dame), Felix Kossaras (Colorado), Aidan Shaw (Boston College) and Omari Witherspoon (Pitt).
Plus, the Revolutionaries are bigger.
“Being able to really get some size on the perimeter and on the wing that we may have lacked in the past [was a priority],” Caputo said. “We felt like we were very skillful but a little bit small on the backcourt. I think we’ve gone the other way now were you’ll see real positional size across the board at the guard and wing positions.”
X factor: Can George Washington figure out how to win close games? Through the end of February, the Revolutionaries were 1-8 in contests decided by six points or less, which went a long way toward explaining why they were in the middle of the league rather than contending for a double-bye in the A10 Tournament.
GW won three of four games settled by one or two possessions in March, including its NIT victory at Utah Valley. But the Revs need to at least manage a split in those taut contests over the course of the season.
“I think we can be right there in that category and in that fight, but we have to be able to close some of those games,” Caputo said. “Trying to figure that out is really important.”
Circle the date: George Washington’s lone game against power conference opposition comes Dec. 12 at Boston College. The Revolutionaries close out their non-league schedule in the Dallas area when they face San Francisco (Dec. 19) and Utah State (Dec. 21) in Frisco, Texas.
Bottom line: The Revolutionaries had the offensive end figured out last season. With this revamped iteration, can George Washington maintain some offensive potency while making gains on defense? If so, they will have a chance to finally move back into the A10’s top tier.
Patrick Stevens is a veteran college basketball writer who oversees Mid-Atlantic College Hoops. Previously, he worked for The Washington Post, Syracuse Media Group and The Washington Times. Stevens has written selected pieces for the Atlantic 10 Conference since 2013.