Breakout Game for Devon Dotson...Valiant Effort by Go-Go

Monday night’s matchup of the Capital City GoGo and the Delaware Blue Coats was a testament of it being early on in the season for both teams. The Blue Coats are the 2023 NBA G-League champions. The GoGo lost in a down-to-the-wire game to the BlueCoats with a score of 120-116.

The Delaware team began the game fast and out of system. They pushed the ball up the court and through the lane every chance they got and did not look to slow down when they got there. Physical and aggressive in the paint and they forced trouble on GoGo players like John Butler who to fouled out of the game in the third quarter. Notably, Ricky Council IV (19 pts) from my hometown of Durham, NC was a starter and major roll player for the BlueCoats. Terquavion Smith () and Council shot well from the midrange until about the second quarter which made for a fast paced game for the GoGo to keep up with. 

Where the BlueCoats pressed, the GoGo ran a patient game, which got off to a slow start. Point guard Devon Dotson walked the ball up the court at times and waited for his team to settle while commanding the court. Jules Bernard found the bottom of the net with a pull up floater that ended him with 25 points on the game. Gabe Kalscheur’s quick catch and shoot release from the right wing also proved successful with 12 points on the game. Both systems keeping the game within 10 points in the first half of the game, before the tide turned in the BlueCoats favor. 

The BlueCoats held a lead for second and third quarters with Javonte Smart (33pts) hitting nothing but the bottom of the net. After several calls falling on a blind eye, the GoGo found themselves in a scoring deficit. However, the drought ended for the GoGo as they found their rhythm again in the fourth quarter with Dotson going on a scoring run of uncontested layups to end him with 29 points. It came down to the last 15 seconds of the game where GoGo came back from a seven point deficit but ultimately dropped the game by two points--120-116. 

Dotson spoke on commanding the court and what's is next for the team in a post game interview: "It's a dynamic where you have to be communicative...knowing which guys you can push trying to get them back in...Rallying around the guys whether that's pregame and then on the court, when we have some mishaps (which we did) to get them back in line. But you know, we'll clean it up in practice tomorrow."

Overall, solid competition and a promising season for both competitors. This is only the second match for both teams with the GoGo beating the Maine Celtics in their home opener and the BlueCoats taking a 30 point loss to their opponent the Westchester Knicks. 

The GoGo will face off with the BlueCoats again on Wednesday at 11:30AM at the Entertainment Arena in Washington, DC.