A10 Talk Coach Countdown: #7 Maurice Joseph

Welcome to A10 Talk’s Top 14 Coach Countdown of the 2016-17 season. We like to rank the players of the A-10 each season, but we’d also like to take a look at the brains of the operations. Who were the best coaches of the 2016-17 season? Who were the worst? Our site voted and compiled a list based on last season alone. This list is representative of how well each coach performed in the 2016-17 season, not in his entire career. Today, we feature #7 Maurice Joseph.

 Best Moments:

1. Win over Dayton on Senior Night

The Colonials got their best win of the season on Senior Night, with a 87-81 victory over the newly-crowned Atlantic 10 regular season champion Flyers. Mojo and GW absolutely blitzed the best team (and arguably, the best coach) in the conference, jumping at a 50-33 lead at the half. George Washington shot 47% from the field overall, and drained thirteen threes total. Even as Dayton made their second half charge, Mojo and the Colonials held them off, securing a huge home victory.

2. Road win at Temple

In their final years in the Atlantic 10, Temple was a team that George Washington struggled against. Even after the Owls’ departure from the A-10, they defeated GW in the second round of the NIT in 2015. This road win was a welcomed one for the Colonials, and set the precedent early in the season that in crunch time, you want the ball in the hands of Tyler Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh drained a three to give GW the lead in the final minute, which resulted in one of the few road wins the Colonials secured last season.

Worst Moments:

1. Coaching gaff in closing seconds against VCU

Every coach has to know end-of-game scenarios. You have to know what you’re going to do, how you’re going to react if the other team throws a certain play at you, the list goes on. In an otherwise excellently coached game, when it came down to crunch time, Joseph and the Colonials cracked under the pressure. As a head coach at a Division I school, you have to anticipate that a coach of the calliber of Will Wade is going to try to draw a foul down by a point with under a second left in regulation. George Washington, and specifically, Collin Goss, were unprepared for this situation though, and ultimately, lead to one of the most heart-wrenching defeats in recent memory.

2. Loss to UIC in the CBI

As someone who has followed George Washington basketball since 1999, this loss is the among the most befuddling I have witnesses. Until the final few minutes of the game, GW couldn’t close the deficit to within 15 against UIC for God’s sakes! It’s not like we’re talking about some up-and-coming team that was snubbed out of a NCAA or NIT tourney bid or anything. This was one of the most poorly coached, and played, games I have seen from any A-10 school in a long time, let along GW.  I will never understand this loss, and it was a pretty awful end to the collegiate careers of two of the best players ever to come though Foggy Bottom.

Next Season:

While there’s certainly hope for the future for George Washington, next season is likely going to be another down year. The Colonials have lost six players from last year’s roster (Cavanaugh, Hart, Sina, Roland, Goss, Marfo), and have not signed any transfer yet for next season. Granted there’s still a long way to go in the offseason, but it is disappointing that none of at least as of yet, have signed on to come to GW next year. Next year is going to be another season of growing for the Colonials, and this team is more than likely still a year or two away, especially with the resurgence of Saint Louis and maybe even Saint Joseph’s.

Previously:

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