Gaines isn’t a 4 either. He’s a wing just like Frazier and Gadsden. Not sure why you’d want any of those guys playing there but I guess we’ll see what happens.
2021-2022 Mason roster
- Thread starter CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY
- Start date
For any of you all questioning Mike Gray...
View: https://twitter.com/englishscope24/status/1381441893301678081?s=21
View: https://twitter.com/englishscope24/status/1381441893301678081?s=21
FreeGunston12
All-American
The 4 is a wing now. That's the impression I get from everything English has said and done. The way I see it, there are 4 positions now. A ball handler, a shooting guard, 3/4 wings, and a post player. He said he wants to play 4 out or 5 out, "positionless basketball"
I was more than comfortable with the idea of Miller (who is pretty much the exact same size as Frazier) coming back and running the 3/4 with Schwartz. I think that was English's plan A. We'll see if plan B ends up a different direction, but I think he'll just take the best player he can get regardless of position and flex Schwartz up or down to make it work.
Mason32
Starter
This teedering a little too close to Hewitt-esque group of 5 or 6 (6'6" - 6'7") wing players and no real player at the 4
FreeGunston12
All-American
Agreed. But it is not fully an English roster yet. Not in year 1 when he is building a roster around DP leftovers.
Maybe he addresses it with the last scholarship anyways. Maybe someone else transfers out and he finds a true 4 later. He might have one in development in Mbaye. But I do get the sense that he loves his wing players.
After KE's McKinley Wright/Mike Gray comparison last night, I watched some of the UCLA-Colorado game to see what he's talking about. Not that I need to qualify his statement, but the style of play is, in fact, similar. Bulldog mentality, multi-level scorer and facilitator, physical guard, etc. The obvious difference is Wright did this for 4 years in the Pac-12, as opposed to the VISAA.
On a related yet unrelated note, my biggest takeaway is that D'Shawn Schwartz is a 3. While I only skimmed through the game, at no point was he not playing the 3. His best chance to make it professionally will be playing as a 3, and he did not transfer down to play out of position. Not saying he can't/won't play some minutes there, but I'd be shocked if that was his home.
On a related yet unrelated note, my biggest takeaway is that D'Shawn Schwartz is a 3. While I only skimmed through the game, at no point was he not playing the 3. His best chance to make it professionally will be playing as a 3, and he did not transfer down to play out of position. Not saying he can't/won't play some minutes there, but I'd be shocked if that was his home.
After watching more video on Mbaye I think he may start next year. So, I'll adjust accordingly. My WAY too early prediction on the starting lineup is...
Polite 6'2"
Cooper 6'4"
Schwartz 6'7"
Mbaye 6'9"
Oduro 6'9"
Fun to speculate if nothing else.
Polite 6'2"
Cooper 6'4"
Schwartz 6'7"
Mbaye 6'9"
Oduro 6'9"
Fun to speculate if nothing else.
I don’t know anything about Mike Grays game but agree completely on Schwartz. We’ve gotta get out of this mindset on playing guys out of position just because we can. Kids want to play at places that will best showcase their talent, you won’t get that by playing a guy at an unnatural position. Schwartz is a 3, and projects to probably be one of the top 3-4 guys in the A10 at that position. Why would we want him to play, and guard, outside of that position? Doing stuff like that is partially what caused us to rack up losses the last few years. Instead of putting the square peg in the round hole, let’s just go find a round peg.
I personally hope that by the time conference play starts we’ve shortened our bench to 8 guys barring foul trouble. One of my biggest frustrations last year was watching a guy almost start to get warmed up just for us to pull him for a set substitution at the 12 minute mark. Id like to see a few of our starters average 32+ mpg and see what they can do. Conditioning should not be an issue at this level.
GMU_DCU
All-Conference
His high school coach thinks highly of him anyways...
This video has some good clips of Mike though...looks pretty good. Nice looking outside shot and rare for a Paulsen recruit he doesn't have a weird looking release. His High school coach compares his game to former Kansas player now Charlotte Hornet Devonte' Graham.
I have Gray, Gaines, Frazier, and Henry as our first 4 subs in no particular order. There is the nine man rotation.
I could 100% live with that. Will be really interested to see how Henry develops this off-season and if he’ll be ready to contribute next season. This roster could really use a Henry ready to give 15ish good minutes between the 4 and 5 next season. Will be equally interested to see what we do with Frazier, he showed some flashes at the end of the year of really good basketball but there is a bit of a jam at his position. I’d see him sharing minutes more at the 2/3 than the 4 but we’ll see, physically he looked a bit more developed than most of our freshman so a full offseason of college strength/conditioning could push him in another direction.
Mason32
Starter
I like this lineup but don't think we'll have the luxury of playing Mbaye and Oduro at the same time unless another big is added. Oduro has to prove he can stay out of foul trouble, especially if they are playing a higher tempo
I'd like to see Henry get starters minutes at the 4 at least to start considering he didn't even get a chance to play last year. Then again if Mbaye is THAT good, he will have earned the minutes at the 4. There is a chance he is considering the offer sheet etc. I suspect the idea is to give Oduro a backup at the 5 that can actually play and grow.
Either way, thats probably a good problem to have.
A lot will depend on how much Henry has grown physically. He MAY be the solution if he has put on weight and added strength.
The film on Mbaye is very good. Can post up, go outside, or take his man off the dribble. He would be a nightmare for others to guard. He has some serious potential. I hope he plays as advertised. I'm confident he will.
There is definite potential there agreed. In fact, there might be a variety of styles that English can look to have, if he goes with two bigs with Oduro/Henry or goes more athletic with Mbaye at the 5.
Should be interesting. Either way there is definite talent coming up front to help Oduro out which is great.
Less questioning about him than Gadsden that’s for sure. Injury history is quite scary but kid was really highly touted two years ago. Hope he’s feeling good!!
It’s how Duquesne wound up landing Sincere Carry — he was expected to end up at a Big Ten school until he blew out his ACL a couple times. He was a handful in the A-10 and hopefully Gray will be too.
I could see that. Hewitt never landed a true PG. every team needs a floor general. It’s useless to have shooters if no one is going to pass to them ahah.
Im hopeful that Gray will be the true PG mason needs.
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