Exhibition #2: GMU at West Virginia on Friday, October 27, at 7:00PM.

[GMUgemini]

Felt like we saw what the ceiling of this team could look like in the first half, putting up 40-plus points and getting offense from a lot of different places, but the foul trouble in the second half forced Tony to play some weird lineups that took away the rhythm.

Still very encouraged. Maddox is a bucket and he’ll be able to get his against anyone we play. RP is doing a great job of picking his spots and sharing the ball, and Hall really showed flashes of a guy who will be a mismatch problem in the A-10.

So did Newton. Nice to have 2 guys who can stretch the floor at the 4 position (when was the last time you could say that!!!).

The foul trouble for sure was partially what did us in, especially once Hall got his fourth and then Kelly and then Henry both fouled out and we had Pavrette out there.

A few missed shots too (the wide open corner three that was missed with about 3ish? minutes to go—I think that might have been Polite who missed it after hitting the first one—Would have been a game changer). A couple of critical missed FTs (Pavrette missing both his after getting fouled going for the dunk). And of course having no answer for Edwards when he went on that run and single-handidly pushed their lead to 9 so quickly.

It was a close game against a P5 team on their home court. And while it was an exhibition no one was playing like it was. A lot to get excited about for next week’s real start to the season.

I really hope they give us a real game next year. Would love a home-and-home or even a 2-for-1.

 

[GMUgemini]

What about Dinkins? Can’t write him off.

He’s hurt so we will figure that out once he can actually play.

I will say this, though, Wood only played 2:30 minutes (I didn’t even notice him checking in). Because Okojie took the bulk of the minutes at the 1 and Polite played the 1 when Okojie was not on the floor and Billups was. Billups played 24 minutes but scored 2 points (I know he played solid defense and rebounded well and had 2 blocks, which is not something you’ll see from Dinkins). If Dinkins can defend he’s going to get his chances.

 

[JimP]

Wasn't able to watch, but sounds like there is quite a bit of promise. I did check out the stats at halftime and liked what I saw. They had some blistering shooting percentages - I was pretty sure they wouldn't maintain that....

 

[DRK331]

Wasn't able to watch, but sounds like there is quite a bit of promise. I did check out the stats at halftime and liked what I saw. They had some blistering shooting percentages - I was pretty sure they wouldn't maintain that....

Youtube video highlights here

Youtube video highlights here

 

[Patriotsince81]

West VA write-up.

Mountaineers Rally to Defeat George Mason in Charity Exhibition Game - West Virginia University Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia used 21 points and seven rebounds from Jesse Edwards and 21 points off the bench from Quinn Slazinski to rally for an 85-78 victory

wvusports.com

 

[GMUgemini]

Wasn't able to watch, but sounds like there is quite a bit of promise. I did check out the stats at halftime and liked what I saw. They had some blistering shooting percentages - I was pretty sure they wouldn't maintain that....

25-52 for the game; 7-16 from 3; 21-30 from the FT line (Kelly 5-5, Okojie 7-8) . Not bad at all.

 

[HoopsAdmin]

West VA write-up.

Mountaineers Rally to Defeat George Mason in Charity Exhibition Game - West Virginia University Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia used 21 points and seven rebounds from Jesse Edwards and 21 points off the bench from Quinn Slazinski to rally for an 85-78 victory

wvusports.com

Interesting that this mentions the Okojie foul on Kriisa was considered flagrant.

 

[JimP]

25-52 for the game; 7-16 from 3; 21-30 from the FT line (Kelly 5-5, Okojie 7-8) . Not bad at all.

Solid. I think they were well over 60% in the field and 3-5 from 3 in the first half though. Can't fault them for not maintaining that.

It is a bit disappointing that the FT percentage fell off so much though. I thought I saw they were 15-17 at one point.

 

[GMUgemini]

Solid. I think they were well over 60% in the field and 3-5 from 3 in the first half though. Can't fault them for not maintaining that.

It is a bit disappointing that the FT percentage fell off so much though. I thought I saw they were 15-17 at one point.

We had their bigs in foul trouble in the first half and were doing a really good job of getting to the rim. Was much harder to get those looks in the second half until Edwards fouled out.

 

[gmujim92]

We had their bigs in foul trouble in the first half and were doing a really good job of getting to the rim. Was much harder to get those looks in the second half until Edwards fouled out.

Kelly was really effective until he got in foul trouble, then it seemed like he never got back into the flow of the game. Like what he showed being able to score and draw fouls around the rim against a quality big.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Interesting that this mentions the Okojie foul on Kriisa was considered flagrant.

I'm still mystified by that sequence.

 

[gmujim92]

How’s this for a stat line for our freshman PG in his first college road game: 11 pts, 5 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals

Kid is a stud and only gonna get better.

 

[Patriotsince81]

How’s this for a stat line for our freshman PG in his first college road game: 11 pts, 5 rebs, 3 assists, 3 steals

Kid is a stud and only gonna get better.

Start him and play him 35 minutes a game. By the time conference play rolls around he'll be more than ready.

 

[Jack Strop]

Start him and play him 35 minutes a game. By the time conference play rolls around he'll be more than ready.

Let's not wear out Okojie. After all, in the past several seasons, we've seen a few players who crashed and burned in February after posting 35+ minutes every game—Otis, Kier to name only two. Mason has excellent depth—use it to its advantage.

 

[GMUgemini]

Let's not wear out Okojie. After all, in the past several seasons, we've seen a few players who crashed and burned in February after posting 35+ minutes every game—Otis, Kier to name only two.

Only one player so far has played over 30 minutes: Darius Maddox (34 against St. Thomas, 32 against WVU). Let’s keep it that way.

 

[gmujim92]

I find myself agreeing that Okojie should play as many minutes as possible and also that the staff should be careful not to wear him down so early in his development. How’s that for decisive lol?

 

[Patriotsince81]

My point, slight exaggeration lost in translation, is that Okojie is a key piece of the future of this program. I trust that he will be used wisely. He should be starting now IMO. +19 against St. Thomas and +5 against WVA. Right now we're a better team when he's on the floor. Will he have hiccups along the way? Sure, every freshman does.

 

[tblack33]

Let Okojie play the 1 and slide Ronnie off the ball. I’ll live with the freshman mishaps, but he is just so much smoother getting us into our offense and pushes the pace better than any of our guards to keep the other team on their back foot. Have to find a way to get him minutes running the point.

Lots to like from last night. I’m still not going to make any lasting takeaways good or bad from two exhibitions, but I think we’ll know exactly who this team is by mid December.

 

[psyclone]

Wvu had a player collapse on the court. He was carted off the court after 15 mins or so.

Follow up on Akok:

Akok stable after collapsing during WVU exhibition

West Virginia's Akok Akok is alert and communicating after he suffered what the school called a medical emergency during the Mountaineers' 85-78 win over George Mason in a charity exhibition on Friday night

www.espn.com

 

[Patriotsince81]

Good news.