Men's open practice

The men's team was on display to the general public for the first time tonight in the annual open practice. Everyone was in action, minus Reece Rice, who showed up late because of class, and Travis King, who was dressed but didn't participate.

Obviously you can't make season-long judgments based upon an hour-long practice, but here are some thoughts:
-Miles Beatty is thick, in the mold of Carl Elliott and Rice. He spent a lot of time running the point (which was surprising because I'd heard from a few people that he was a natural at the two spot in high school), and looked pretty solid. Beatty didn't seem like a score-first guard, but he handled the ball well and seemed to grasp the offense.
-Hermann Opoku looked a lot more comfortable on the court: he had some nice finishes around the basket and found the open man on the perimeter a couple of times.
-Xavier Alexander is definitely 6-6. He spent a lot of time battling Rob Diggs in the post.
-I really liked Joseph Katuka's presence on both sides of the court. When it's all said and done, I think he'll be the freshman with the biggest impact.
-Cheyenne Moore moved a lot better than he did last season. He had some nice moves to the basket, knocked down a few open shots, but was still erratic with the ball at times. The same could be said for Wynton Witherspoon.

Afterwards, Karl Hobbs addressed the audience and took a few questions. Here are the important things:
-Expect the team to go back to playing at "90 miles per hour" after generally slowing things down a year ago. Hobbs also said that he hopes to be able to have a 10 to 12-man rotation.
-When asked about the non-conference schedule, Hobbs stated the same things we've been hearing for a few years (size of the arena, opponents not wanting to risk losing at the smith center, etc.). He said that GW contacted two Colonial Athletic Association schools, but they couldn't fit in the dates. In addition, Hobbs said the reason why they're only playing 27 games this season is because they "couldn't find anyone to play." Also, UCLA declined an invitation to next year's BB&T Classic.
-New university president Steven Knapp came to Hobbs' office in his first week in office. His only question was, "What can I do to help this program?"
-Hobbs thinks Xavier and Rhode Island are the teams to beat in the Atlantic 10, as they return the most players. He also said GW should be picked to finish seventh or eighth, but that they've been voted into the top four.
-Hobbs said Opoku is starting to come along, and that he "really bulked up." On Katuka, he is a "talented, talented player" and that he got to see him play for the Nigerian national team a little bit while coaching the U.S. squad in Serbia this past summer.
-The squad was hit hard by injuries over the summer: Diggs, Jabari Edwards, and King all suffered knee injuries, but each of them looked fine on the court (minus King). Katuka also had minor knee surgery before coming to Foggy Bottom. I talked to King on the way out of the Smith Center tonight; he had a big ice pack on his knee, but said he'll be okay.
-Aside from watching Rice obtain his degree, Hobbs said his goal is to make his senior star the only GW player to ever make the NCAA Tournament in all four years that he donned the buff and blue.
-Like he did a year ago, Hobbs asked the fans to be patient with this squad, promising they'll be good by the end of the season.

We'll be doing live reporting from Colonials Invasion on Friday. Check back then. As always, feel free to post any questions or comments.