2021 Recruiting

[tblack33]

Miller apparently got jacked in the off-season, and XJ is pretty strong for a PG, but yeah that front line might be pretty soft.

It’ll be back to looking like we are a JV team going for a tune up game in A10 play. Well have some all time classics against longwood, American, and navy though. Will we stop having to pay them if they start beating us?

 

[gmujim92]

I think Henry plays all his minutes at the 5 regardless. As much as we want him to be AJ Jr, I don't believe Henry is cut from the same mold.

Actually Henry seems very much like an AJ clone. AJ was a raw tweener 4/5 and not at all comfortable playing on the perimeter when he got to Mason — the question is whether Malik is willing to put in the work on his own time to develop his jumper and handle ... AJ has made himself into a stretch 4 so at least there’s a blueprint to follow.[/QUOTE]

 

[GMUgemini]

Actually Henry seems very much like an AJ clone. AJ was a raw tweener 4/5 and not at all comfortable playing on the perimeter when he got to Mason — the question is whether Malik is willing to put in the work on his own time to develop his jumper and handle ... AJ has made himself into a stretch 4 so at least there’s a blueprint to follow.

[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but without an immediately available transfer big in the 2021 class, he's going to have to be able to play the 5 at least some (minimum 12 mpg even if Oduro becomes a good center for us). None of their weights are listed on GoMason, but his weight on VerbalCommits is 195. AJ was 205 his sophomore season and he was way to small to really play the 5 at 6'7 205. Henry is going to have to bulk up a lot by his sophomore year.

 

[sleeperpick]

Actually Henry seems very much like an AJ clone. AJ was a raw tweener 4/5 and not at all comfortable playing on the perimeter when he got to Mason — the question is whether Malik is willing to put in the work on his own time to develop his jumper and handle ... AJ has made himself into a stretch 4 so at least there’s a blueprint to follow.

[/QUOTE]
Not to split hairs but in today’s basketball AJ came in a 4 and has now molded his game to be a stretch 4 and could even play the 3 if needed. Nobody is recruiting a 6 foot 7 kid that weighs 195 to play the 5. Not in A10 power 5 or even below it. Just doesn’t happen. That is one of my biggest bones to pick with Paulsen. At least muscala was 6 foot 10 and skinny

 

[GMUgemini]

Oduro was listed at 195 too in high school and he came in at almost 240. Let’s see what Henry looks like on the court.

 

[gmujim92]

My point was that regardless of their size, both AJ and Malik were post players in high school and AAU. AJ worked his a** off to make himself a reliable 3-point shooter who can also now put the ball on the floor and go to the rim. We’ll have to wait and see if Malik can do the same ... or whether he can put on 50 pounds and become a legit 5.

In the meantime I always thought Malik would be our small ball 5 man so we don’t get stuck with Oduro having to guard guys away from the paint. We’ve been pretty terrible against teams that can spread us out and drive it and hopefully Malik’s athleticism will help in that regard.

And maybe just maybe Dave feels the heat under his seat and decides to go grab a couple immediately eligible bigs for next year instead of insisting on developing HS kids. We can always dream....

 

[sleeperpick]

Oduro was listed at 195 too in high school and he came in at almost 240. Let’s see what Henry looks like on the court.

Are you kidding me? Oduro was legit tubby in high school and Henry is paper thin. Idc what Oduro was listed at in high school. Look at Henry in the videos. He’s very thin. Don’t think his weight is some conspiracy theory

 

[mkaufman1]

It’ll be back to looking like we are a JV team going for a tune up game in A10 play. Well have some all time classics against longwood, American, and navy though. Will we stop having to pay them if they start beating us?

It'll just be mean more tweets from Jon Rothstein Bot. "George Mason loses a buy game to Longwood, the epitome of brutality"

And by the way, the fact that in year 6, we're now thinking that someone like a Malik Henry who is a bouncy stretch 4 is going to have to play potentially legit minutes at the 5 (and sure some is fine), is crazy. There is no reason to not have another more traditional 5 like an Oduro available to take minutes and give Oduro a piss break.

It was one thing when it was rebuilding and we had to watch Boyd and Grayer play the 4, but we shouldnt' have to see anything like that. If everyone else in the league can recruit 6'10 225 pound men to play the 5, Mason should at this point as well.

 

[tblack33]

It'll just be mean more tweets from Jon Rothstein Bot. "George Mason loses a buy game to Longwood, the epitome of brutality"

BREAKING NEWS

 

[GMUgemini]

Are you kidding me? Oduro was legit tubby in high school and Henry is paper thin. Idc what Oduro was listed at in high school. Look at Henry in the videos. He’s very thin. Don’t think his weight is some conspiracy theory

I mean, so is Castro, who we all wanted. You don't think Henry can gain 20-25 pounds in 10 months of basically having nothing to do but go to the gym?

 

[sleeperpick]

I mean, so is Castro, who we all wanted. You don't think Henry can gain 20-25 pounds in 10 months of basically having nothing to do but go to the gym?

Gaining that much weight is a lose-lose to me. They recruited him for his spring and ability to be tall and really fast. Rather him turn into a Brandon Ingram light than someone that bulked up to still play out of position. He needs like 10 lbs of muscle and needs to work like AJ did and he will be just fine playing the 4. If he plays the 5 like Paulsen has made AJ than Paulsen is even more of a loser than I thought

 

[GMUgemini]

Gaining that much weight is a lose-lose to me. They recruited him for his spring and ability to be tall and really fast. Rather him turn into a Brandon Ingram light than someone that bulked up to still play out of position. He needs like 10 lbs of muscle and needs to work like AJ did and he will be just fine playing the 4. If he plays the 5 like Paulsen has made AJ than Paulsen is even more of a loser than I thought

AJ is coming in at 223 this season. Malik Henry is not going to lose his bounce at 210-215, especially at 6'8. If he's not big enough to absorb contact, he's not going to be able to really challenge people's shots at the 4 or 5.

Also, weren't you JUST telling me Oduro was going to lose minutes to Henry next year at the 5 spot and that you hoped they'd be able to play Miller, AJ, Henry together?

We have Henry taking minutes too and I would hope he is already better than Goanar was last year. Hopefully Paulsen can utilize a long lineup of Henry AJ and Miller so we can’t be so inept against other teams athletic lineups. But Greg made a layup in a video so I think he will be all A10 next year anyways

 

[mkaufman1]

I mean, so is Castro, who we all wanted. You don't think Henry can gain 20-25 pounds in 10 months of basically having nothing to do but go to the gym?

To me (and perhaps I'm wrong), Castro was more of a 5 because he is a little bit taller. He lists his height as 6'10 on his twitter, so my thinking was that with filling out and bulking up, he can be an athletic 5 or at least be an option like Henry is.

Can Henry possibly fill that role like AJ did and Mar did? Absolutely. But I think even if Castro came, many of us (me included) would still want a more traditional big for the class.

I could be totally wrong though.

 

[gmujim92]

Everything that was said about Malik after he signed is that he’s a gym rat who wants to be great. If that’s true he should be able to develop into a nice 4 man for us because he’s already plenty athletic — by this time next year he should be up 10-15 pounds, my only question is his offensive game because I see him as an immediate asset defensively.

 

[sleeperpick]

AJ is coming in at 223 this season. Malik Henry is not going to lose his bounce at 210-215, especially at 6'8. If he's not big enough to absorb contact, he's not going to be able to really challenge people's shots at the 4 or 5.

Also, weren't you JUST telling me Oduro was going to lose minutes to Henry next year at the 5 spot and that you hoped they'd be able to play Miller, AJ, Henry together?

Long lineups that are quick are different than what Paulsen did to almost ruin AJ

 

[Patriot8]

Everything that was said about Malik after he signed is that he’s a gym rat who wants to be great. If that’s true he should be able to develop into a nice 4 man for us because he’s already plenty athletic — by this time next year he should be up 10-15 pounds, my only question is his offensive game because I see him as an immediate asset defensively.

Can’t wait to see what Coach Skinn does for him!

 

[ephoops]

Let's see what happens with transfers at the end of the season. At this rate, there will be at least two scholarships available.

The coaching staff may be able to fill the front court void via transfers rather than high school players. Given the current trends, I'm assuming that any transfer will be available to play immediately next year. It's a different modus operandi for DP, but the new realities of college hoops will force him to adapt.

 

[sleeperpick]

Let's see what happens with transfers at the end of the season. At this rate, there will be at least two scholarships available.

The coaching staff may be able to fill the front court void via transfers rather than high school players. Given the current trends, I'm assuming that any transfer will be available to play immediately next year. It's a different modus operandi for DP, but the new realities of college hoops will force him to adapt.

No offense sir but DP hasn’t adapted in 5 years. Sorry for holding my breath that will ever happen. He’s in way over his head

 

[ephoops]

No offense sir but DP hasn’t adapted in 5 years. Sorry for holding my breath that will ever happen. He’s in way over his head

It's a different world if kids are not required to sit a year. We'll see if/how DP adapts.

 

[sleeperpick]

It's a different world if kids are not required to sit a year. We'll see if/how DP adapts.

It’s been like that for 2 years. Nothing on our front in thinking that is an option. I just don’t see it happening