Game 1: Colgate University, Friday, Nov 13th, 7 PM, MASN

[GreenLantern]

I loved the hustle, especially on defense. The crowd was large and loud which was great to be a part of. Offense needs work badly and the kid who stole my drink were the low points. It'll be a long season but this team has my support and it can only go up from nere

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Some of the downers here are just f**king hilarious. This is the first game under a new coach with a lot of new players. It was not going to be smooth. Per GL'a point, I liked he hustle and what Insaw on defense even with the hiccups. You all are underestimating the job Paulsen has to clean up after Hewitt. Still glad to be back at games and am happy with Paulsen at the helm.


Broads, Buicks, and Buckley

 

[gmujim92]

I loved the hustle, especially on defense.

I especially loved the sequence where two of the freshmen -- Grayer and I'm pretty sure Livingston -- went diving for a loose ball near mid court and the other three guys on the floor ran over to help them up and praise them for the hustle.

This is one of the things that players in quality programs do without even thinking.

Know how many times I saw it happen over the past four years? A handful, mostly when the roster was still Larranaga's guys and they hadn't yet had their "give a sh!t" gene purged by Blewitt.

While that one sequence didn't make a difference in the outcome last night, it means a lot in the grand scheme. Being connected and playing for each other will pay big dividends down the road.

 

[Washingtonian]

Dave Paulsen ‏@PaulsenDave
Disappointing result -We will be back to work today focusing on the process. Many thanks to @PatriotPlatoon and @GeorgeMasonU for support

 

[GMU_Polevaulter]

I thought this was a game we win given all that Colgate lost last year but even in losing the "play" was much different and that is the shining light.

Anyone that watched a lot of "Hewitt Ball" over the past 4 years could easily spot the positive changes:

1. Offensive ball movement was way better, it did not show on the stats because when we got the ball right where we wanted it - we missed the chip shot that would have shown the assist.
2. Inbounding the ball
3. Turn overs still had 14 but at least you felt several where caused by defense and not the old dribble off the toe - and I think 14 is below last years average.
4. Coaching was happening during the game.
5. May have some outside shooters - Murrell was 2-4 from 3 and OTIS and Jaire put up a few none went in so the jury is still out but maybe we have some one other then PH.

The last play before second half - with 8 or 9 seconds left Otis goes the length of the court gets off a good shot and scores. Now if Hewitt was still here - we would have called a time out, created a "play" - then we would have failed to inbound the ball and Colgate scores or we would have gotten the ball on the inbound and let time run out or take it inside and get a charge as we went to the basket.

This team will get better not sure how that translates yet in the win loss column.
Like many have said seeing progress is what will have me watching.

Pretty amazing what one bad hire can do to a program - good luck VT in getting a new FB coach...

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Holy crap, we have some people who need to get a grip on reality. I didn't realize we were Duke/Kansas/UCLA. First game under a new coach after waves of transfers and freshmen playing a ton of minutes. What the hell were people expecting? Let's push the panic button!!! We'll never win another game!!! It's all over!!! Shut the program down!! Paulsen is terrible!! So many people sound like Saul from Brooklyn on WFAN.

You want something to panic about? Try being NCSU and getting worked at home by W&M. Or any of the other 5 or so BCS teams that lost guarantee games at home. Early in the year, a lot of surprising results happen. Everyone needs to take a deep breath.

I watched the entire game and what I saw was a team that was tight offensively. Missing open looks from deep and close and missing FTs. Now, obviously, Shevon's issues at the line are a problem, but fundamentally I didn't see anything that couldn't be improved upon. As Jim said, the returnees have to be untaught a lot of bad habits like recognizing when a big guy is a good outside shooter and not leaving him.
Everyone has to be in for the long haul here. Dare I say it? Operation Patience.

 

[Cedric Dempsey]

That was a performance from a team that was trying way too hard to do what has been asked of them in a very short period of time in my opinion. First home game and these kids didn't handle the moment well. The growing process is massive from both ends, seniors to freshman. Everybody breathe.

 

[GMUgemini]

As Jim said, the returnees have to be untaught a lot of bad habits like recognizing when a big guy is a good outside shooter and not leaving him.
Everyone has to be in for the long haul here. Dare I say it? Operation Patience.

I think those of us who had higher hopes for the season underestimated how much it's going to take to fix the returning players (if they can be fixed at all). Moore, Thompson, Marko and Jenkins were all disappointing last night (with Holloway being disappointing in a totally different way).

We essentially were playing with an all-freshman team and nothing should surprise us in the first 10 games of the season.

 

[gmu05]

Quite the mood change on here after one game lol. I guess most now don't think it's lazy to preview this team last in the A-10....

 

[gmujim92]

That was a performance from a team that was trying way too hard to do what has been asked of them in a very short period of time in my opinion. First home game and these kids didn't handle the moment well. The growing process is massive from both ends, seniors to freshman. Everybody breathe.

The three freshmen guards were our best players. Livingston and Grayer both started and played major minutes without committing a single turnover.

Marko, Shevon and Jalen combined for 10 of our 14 turnovers.

Coincidence? Or lingering effects of The Virus?

Hmmmmmmmmmm..........

 

[GMUSig03]

The three freshmen guards were our best players. Livingston and Grayer both started and played major minutes without committing a single turnover.

Marko, Shevon and Jalen combined for 10 of our 14 turnovers.

Coincidence? Or lingering effects of The Virus?

Hmmmmmmmmmm..........

I didn't realize that, wow, that is pretty telling

 

[liem.le.3388]

Losing to a tooth paste school sucked but hopefully we see progression throughout the year.

 

[Jack Strop]

Right now there's no leadership on the court. Who didn't expect that?!? It's going to take until February or March for leadership to emerge.

Yeah, we'll lose a lot the next two or three seasons. I like it that DP played his freshmen a lot. With six of them on the team getting good minutes they'll be chiseled and grizzled quite well for their junior and senior years. Nothing like the school of hard knocks. DP is managing the team for the future.

And hey, look at the bright side, if we lose a ton of games this year we'll get next season's #1 draft pick.

 

[BandWagon18]

The game was super hard to watch, but I am extremely confident that Dave can pull it through. It wasn't realistic to expect lightning to strike on the very first game. Paulsen has the right attitude towards coaching and knows how to instill fundamentally-strong basketball skills. This is going to be a rebuilding year, no doubt, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a brighter future to come.
After all, how many games did the team win during Larranaga's first year?

 

[99 Patriot]

I love Paulsen, we played 4 freshman a lot and the sky is not falling, that said we lost by double-digits at home to a bad Colgate team.

The worst part for me, and please don't kill me too bad on this, is that we were outcoached bigtime strategy-wise. Colgate had a formula and stuck to it. Defensively, they doubled the post before a pass in and tripled on the catch, they didn't guard Moore outside of 10 feet and all helped on the glass. Offensively, especially after the half, they figured out how to get easy pick and pop looks for #14 and they started posting up on Otis, forcing help and getting easy looks off of it. Hats off to them for good scouting, but our inability to adjust and find easy looks against their triple-teaming in the post in particular was frustrating.

 

[GSII]

I love Paulsen, we played 4 freshman a lot and the sky is not falling, that said we lost by double-digits at home to a bad Colgate team.

The worst part for me, and please don't kill me too bad on this, is that we were outcoached bigtime strategy-wise. Colgate had a formula and stuck to it. Defensively, they doubled the post before a pass in and tripled on the catch, they didn't guard Moore outside of 10 feet and all helped on the glass. Offensively, especially after the half, they figured out how to get easy pick and pop looks for #14 and they started posting up on Otis, forcing help and getting easy looks off of it. Hats off to them for good scouting, but our inability to adjust and find easy looks against their triple-teaming in the post in particular was frustrating.

The coaches can't shoot the ball for these guys. Nor can they pass it out of a double team. We had enough open looks and were getting to the line to win the game. Just missed the shots. Our bigs looked like poo b/c they were sagging the D. Imagine if we hit some three's and there was less of a crowd down low? All this can be fixed. First thing, they need to get some swag. I think Otis has it.

 

[JimP]

I love Paulsen, we played 4 freshman a lot and the sky is not falling, that said we lost by double-digits at home to a bad Colgate team.

The worst part for me, and please don't kill me too bad on this, is that we were outcoached bigtime strategy-wise. Colgate had a formula and stuck to it. Defensively, they doubled the post before a pass in and tripled on the catch, they didn't guard Moore outside of 10 feet and all helped on the glass. Offensively, especially after the half, they figured out how to get easy pick and pop looks for #14 and they started posting up on Otis, forcing help and getting easy looks off of it. Hats off to them for good scouting, but our inability to adjust and find easy looks against their triple-teaming in the post in particular was frustrating.

I think you both make good points 99 and GS.

 

[gmujim92]

I love Paulsen, we played 4 freshman a lot and the sky is not falling, that said we lost by double-digits at home to a bad Colgate team.

The worst part for me, and please don't kill me too bad on this, is that we were outcoached bigtime strategy-wise. Colgate had a formula and stuck to it. Defensively, they doubled the post before a pass in and tripled on the catch, they didn't guard Moore outside of 10 feet and all helped on the glass. Offensively, especially after the half, they figured out how to get easy pick and pop looks for #14 and they started posting up on Otis, forcing help and getting easy looks off of it. Hats off to them for good scouting, but our inability to adjust and find easy looks against their triple-teaming in the post in particular was frustrating.

What adjustments do you suggest that Paulsen failed to make?

Without Holloway, we have one guy on this team who counts perimeter shooting as his primary skill.

Lengel didn't need to be Adolph Rupp to recognize that the way to beat us is to swarm Shevon, leave Marquise wide open and put both Jalen and Marko in position to handle the ball a lot in the high post.

We didn't have any answer for it ... well, other than making layups and more than 51 percent of our free throws. That might have helped a bit.

This is what comes when your few veterans are one-dimensional players with low basketball IQ who haven't been coached up to mitigate their weaknesses.

I was hopeful that Paulsen's emphasis on the fundamentals might have made a difference for the older guys, but that was naive and based on optimism more than anything rational. He's not going to be able to undo years of bad habits in a matter of months. It just doesn't work that way.

 

[99 Patriot]

What adjustments do you suggest that Paulsen failed to make?

Without Holloway, we have one guy on this team who counts perimeter shooting as his primary skill.

Lengel didn't need to be Adolph Rupp to recognize that the way to beat us is to swarm Shevon, leave Marquise wide open and put both Jalen and Marko in position to handle the ball a lot in the high post.

We didn't have any answer for it ... well, other than making layups and more than 51 percent of our free throws. That might have helped a bit.

This is what comes when your few veterans are one-dimensional players with low basketball IQ who haven't been coached up to mitigate their weaknesses.

I was hopeful that Paulsen's emphasis on the fundamentals might have made a difference for the older guys, but that was naive and based on optimism more than anything rational. He's not going to be able to undo years of bad habits in a matter of months. It just doesn't work that way.

Drawing up one or two backcuts and exposing the backside when they triple team the post should be something we could have done in a timeout. I realize Shevon is not Jai passing out of the post, but when 3 men swarm you it should not be hard to find an open man weak side.

Maybe we didn't go against Rupp, but my point was simply that usually in non-conference matchups you don't see a team come in with such a specific plan of attack. Colgate did from the tip and we never really adjusted to it.

 

[GSII]

In a way this was a conf game. Colgate swept Paulsen last year in the Patriot Leauge. Props to DP for scheduling a guy that owned him last year with an even shittier team.

There is little else to do if 60% of the defense is going to sag and give you a jumper. You have to make the Jumper. You could also start changing the tempo of the game by pressing here and there, but it doesn't look like Paulsen plays this style. Which is my only dissapointment thus far.