2014 Recruiting

[gmujim92]

Julian Royal is already better than Ryan Pearson? Hold your horses there, buddy. Lets see the kid play some damn games first. Pearson was a great player for us, if Royal comes anywhere close to that I'll be impressed and we'll be lucky to have him.

Ryan Pearson is one of the top-10 players in our program's history. Julian Royal has yet to log even a minute in a Mason uniform.

I can see how the 2 would be easily confused.

 

[GSII]

First of all, Royal does not have the fire Pearson had. He doesn't play with that NY swagger. Not sure many do. But he is very skilled and plays hard.

More importantly, who is our Howard Schnellenberger going to be? B/c thats the type of coach we need to move the program to the next level.

 

[jmckend1]

Seriously, sometimes I feel like half the people who post here were in a coma during the Larranaga years.

Newsflash: We don't have to suck at basketball, people. And as a fan base, we don't have to be satisfied with a coach who has proven over the better part of the last 15 years that he is nothing more than a slick recruiter.

Being afraid to fire a lousy coach out of fear that you might wind up with someone even worse is a loser's mentality.

There are plenty of quality coaches out there who would love to take $750K to rebuild a winning program at Mason. Now it's up to the new AD and Cabrera to find and hire him.

Hewitt is dead man walking.

If by "in a coma" you mean "attending Mason," then your feeling is correct. What he wants as a final product in terms of personnel and style of play hasn't been achieved yet. If he pieces it together and it's crap then get him out of there immediately. In the mean time, don't let the trees block your view of the forest. And stop getting so f*#king worked up.

 

[gmujim92]

If by "in a coma" you mean "attending Mason," then your feeling is correct. What he wants as a final product in terms of personnel and style of play hasn't been achieved yet. If he pieces it together and it's crap then get him out of there immediately. In the mean time, don't let the trees block your view of the forest. And stop getting so f*#king worked up.

Frankly, I don't need you to tell me to stop getting worked up. I've invested way too much time, energy and money in this program over the past 26 years to just be chill about some dumbass coach taking it from the penthouse (relatively speaking) to the shithouse. Save the advice for someone who jumped on the bandwagon after 2006 and doesn't really care that much if we win or lose.

We've all season what Hewitt's "final product" looks like -- and with few exceptions over the past 15 years, it has been a collection of suck. Expecting it to be anything different during the upcoming season is either ridiculous naivete or willful ignorance. Regardless, it's not good enough. Not even close.

The guy is tantalizing because he's a wizard at assembling talent, but he's a crappy coach. Fortunately, we most likely only have to suffer through one more season of his nonsense before he gets his walking papers.

 

[masonjoe]

Regardless, it's not good enough. Not even close.

Agreed. We've seen nothing from Hewitt so far that would suggest any sort of success or competitiveness in the A10 next season. The fact that some fans here seem to think there's more that Hewitt can offer here then what we've seen is mind-boggling.

 

[mkaufman1]

If by "in a coma" you mean "attending Mason," then your feeling is correct. What he wants as a final product in terms of personnel and style of play hasn't been achieved yet. If he pieces it together and it's crap then get him out of there immediately. In the mean time, don't let the trees block your view of the forest. And stop getting so f*#king worked up.

Final product? Really? Again, Hewitt was brought in to bring continuity. He has failed to do so in a very weak league and with talented players. If it was a rebuild it would make sense, but in the sense of continuity, figure out how to make what you have work for you. Thats part of coaching, and Hewitt has shown he can't adapt for the most part.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

What about Julian Royal? Julian Royal is a bigger and better version of Ryan Pearson with the outide shooting of Jonathan Arledge. Hewitt has already found his Mo Creek with Julian Royal right? Or is it not until someone has picked up Anali Okoloji's scholarship that Hewitt has found his Mo Creek?

Please tell me where and when you've seen Royal play? Cause that's some serious comparisons you are making.....

And pick up ball at the RAC doesn't count

 

[GMUgemini]

Please tell me where and when you've seen Royal play? Cause that's some serious comparisons you are making.....

And pick up ball at the RAC doesn't count

I saw him play while he was at GT and I would say he plays nothing like Pearson, but he is long and athletic and he can hit the 3 pretty consistently. A comparison to Arledge is fair, I would say, at least stylistically.

For anyone new who us criticizing Jim for not knowing basketball, he has covered basketball as a sports writer for a long time so he knows what he's talking about.

As for Hewitt assembling a roster for his system, look at our roster next year and tell me where we have 10 players who make sense to be on the floor together in any combination or any kind of rotation in any system. I like the potential of each of our players individually, but it will be a challenge to assemble a team out of them.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

I saw him play while he was at GT and I would say he plays nothing like Pearson, but he is long and athletic and he can hit the 3 pretty consistently. A comparison to Arledge is fair, I would say, at least stylistically.

For anyone new who us criticizing Jim for not knowing basketball, he has covered basketball as a sports writer for a long time so he knows what he's talking about.

As for Hewitt assembling a roster for his system, look at our roster next year and tell me where we have 10 players who make sense to be on the floor together in any combination or any kind of rotation in any system. I like the potential of each of our players individually, but it will be a challenge to assemble a team out of them.

Yes, I see where his 30% shooting from long range (13-43 in 2 years) would be impressive.....

I think the kid can play but let's slow down on the comparisons.

I do agree on the "10 guys but who can play together?", question.

 

[GMUgemini]

Yes, I see where his 30% shooting from long range (13-43 in 2 years) would be impressive.....

I think the kid can play but let's slow down on the comparisons.

I do agree on the "10 guys but who can play together?", question.

I said stylistically they are similar type of players, which they are.

And Arledge shot 25% and 20% respectively his first two years at Mason. A funny thing happens when you start logging regular minutes and can get into the flow of a game.

 

[gmujim92]

As for Hewitt assembling a roster for his system, look at our roster next year and tell me where we have 10 players who make sense to be on the floor together in any combination or any kind of rotation in any system. I like the potential of each of our players individually, but it will be a challenge to assemble a team out of them.

This is one heckuva point. While some uncertainty is to be expected because we're replacing 3 seniors and have 4 freshmen coming in, I can't remember the last time we've entered a season with so much up in the air.

I do give Hewitt credit for most of the players he's brought in. The guy clearly has an eye for talent, but our roster seems like the Island of Misfit Toys.

We have exactly two proven perimeter shooters, and one of them hardly ever plays.

We have no proven post scorer and probably still won't have one next season.

We have a backlog at the 4 spot and recruited three 6-6 SF types in the same class.

Expecting Hewitt to make all these pieces fit together effectively, when that is obviously the weakest part of his skill set, is unrealistic IMHO. I just don't see it happening.

 

[GSII]

Roster HAVOC lives here.

 

[jmckend1]

Roster HAVOC lives here.

Our version is called PANIC

 

[KAOriginal]

Our version is called PANIC

That or "WTF?" would work well too......

 

[jmckend1]

I saw him play while he was at GT and I would say he plays nothing like Pearson, but he is long and athletic and he can hit the 3 pretty consistently. A comparison to Arledge is fair, I would say, at least stylistically.

For anyone new who us criticizing Jim for not knowing basketball, he has covered basketball as a sports writer for a long time so he knows what he's talking about.

As for Hewitt assembling a roster for his system, look at our roster next year and tell me where we have 10 players who make sense to be on the floor together in any combination or any kind of rotation in any system. I like the potential of each of our players individually, but it will be a challenge to assemble a team out of them.

Would this perhaps mean we could be looking at more of a flex offense moving forward, since we seem to have loaded up on a bunch of "hybrid" players?

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Would this perhaps mean we could be looking at more of a flex offense moving forward, since we seem to have loaded up on a bunch of "hybrid" players?

A Flex offense from a coach that loves the pick and roll??

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Is this the Paul Hewitt should be fired thread? Or my Larranaga thread?

I'm not sure, so I'll go ahead and post that Parker and Hood coming out early will help L's cause this year, I think.

What does everyone think about Hewitt? Strengths and weaknesses as a coach?

 

[Cool Disco Dan]

Is this the Paul Hewitt should be fired thread? Or my Larranaga thread?

I'm not sure, so I'll go ahead and post that Parker and Hood coming out early will help L's cause this year, I think.

What does everyone think about Hewitt? Strengths and weaknesses as a coach?

Duke will be better next year because Okafor is that good.

 

[jmckend1]

A Flex offense from a coach that loves the pick and roll??

It would be a part of the PANIC offense we run.

 

[gmulion]

Any update on the JuCo big man?