Game 11: James Madison University, Friday, December 7th, 7 PM, MASN

[Petey Buckets]

Last night was the first game I missed. What defensive adjustments did we make?
Looking at the stat sheet it looks like we had less turnovers and if we had shot the ball well we would have blown them away.
Hopefully they are starting to get it together, 2 more games before A-10 play.

Two big things:

1) bigs hedged out way higher on PNRs than I've seen this season. Missed a few games so I haven't seen everything, but it was clear last night.

2) lots more doubles and trapping in the halfcourt. I've been beating this drum for a long time - we don't have the team speed to press effectively, but we do have the guard length to raise hell in halfcourt ball. Louis Rowe said in the presser that most of his team's turnovers were unforced, and I strongly disagree with that. Kier, Javon, and Otis were trapping really well.

 

[mkaufman1]

Two big things:

1) bigs hedged out way higher on PNRs than I've seen this season. Missed a few games so I haven't seen everything, but it was clear last night.

2) lots more doubles and trapping in the halfcourt. I've been beating this drum for a long time - we don't have the team speed to press effectively, but we do have the guard length to raise hell in halfcourt ball. Louis Rowe said in the presser that most of his team's turnovers were unforced, and I strongly disagree with that. Kier, Javon, and Otis were trapping really well.

Agreed - the trapping and defensive movements/ rotations in half court were very good. The turnovers appeared to be forced as Kier and company were jumping in passing lanes to get out and run. In addition to the trapping and just going after the ball especially when JMU gave it to their big tree.

 

[Five Two]

I did not see the Brad Edwards encounter with a JMU staffer.

I too am upset that our faculty failed to instruct our students this week on how to give directions to the Dukes after a beatdown.

I'm dissappointed that we didnt take a moment of silence last night in rememberance of the attack on Pearl Harbor (I asked my daughter if her history teacher mentioned in class. nope. damn Montgomery County schools....)

I'm watching the replay of the game. Calixte is playing well but he shuffles his feet almost each time he makes a move in the post. He didnt get called last night, but those are clearly traveling violations.

 

[sleeperpick]

Two big things:

1) bigs hedged out way higher on PNRs than I've seen this season. Missed a few games so I haven't seen everything, but it was clear last night.

2) lots more doubles and trapping in the halfcourt. I've been beating this drum for a long time - we don't have the team speed to press effectively, but we do have the guard length to raise hell in halfcourt ball. Louis Rowe said in the presser that most of his team's turnovers were unforced, and I strongly disagree with that. Kier, Javon, and Otis were trapping really well.

To point number 1: Greg Calixte was finally given starters mins and proved that he deserved them. Took down tough rebounds, challenged shots, got extremely aggressive with their less skilled big men. I loved it. He should play 25-28 mins a night with AJ taking the other mins as well as spelling Mar at PF. Very clear Reuter should not be playing.

Not to discredit a good team win BUT Jmu is horrible. Not sure how they beat a good Radford team. They certainly look like a team that lost to ODU by 20. If stuckey doesn’t kill you they will not win games bottom line. Their bigs are Danny Dixon quality and Lewis may have scored 15-16 but he seemed to shoot the ball every possession Stuckey sat for which was a lot.

Hopefully this fire keeps up and Paulsens rotations stay this way

 

[Pikapppatri8]

I did not see the Brad Edwards encounter with a JMU staffer.

I too am upset that our faculty failed to instruct our students this week on how to give directions to the Dukes after a beatdown.

I'm dissappointed that we didnt take a moment of silence last night in rememberance of the attack on Pearl Harbor (I asked my daughter if her history teacher mentioned in class. nope. damn Montgomery County schools....)

I'm watching the replay of the game. Calixte is playing well but he shuffles his feet almost each time he makes a move in the post. He didnt get called last night, but those are clearly traveling violations.

Where are you watching the replay? I would like to do that as well.

 

[MASONscott]

To point number 1: Greg Calixte was finally given starters mins and proved that he deserved them. Took down tough rebounds, challenged shots, got extremely aggressive with their less skilled big men. I loved it. He should play 25-28 mins a night with AJ taking the other mins as well as spelling Mar at PF. Very clear Reuter should not be playing.

Not to discredit a good team win BUT Jmu is horrible. Not sure how they beat a good Radford team. They certainly look like a team that lost to ODU by 20. If stuckey doesn’t kill you they will not win games bottom line. Their bigs are Danny Dixon quality and Lewis may have scored 15-16 but he seemed to shoot the ball every possession Stuckey sat for which was a lot.

Hopefully this fire keeps up and Paulsens rotations stay this way

Love seeing Calixte getting better and bringing intensity. Hope to see him getting the minutes he got last night. However, time share was closer to equal - which might be a good balance.

Reuter played 16 minutes. Calixte played 19. AJ played 7 minutes. Reuter out scored Calixte (7 vs 4) and out rebounded him (5 vs 4). I realize Reuter is far from the top 5 A10 player we expected, but he still is an important cog in the wheel.

 

[gmubrian]

I know Madison is a bad team, but our team has played poorly against other bad teams this year. Not only did we play well, but we dispatched them the way you do an inferior opponent. So I choose to take that as a sign that the team is finally putting things together until it is proven otherwise. It was nice to do that with the two week layoff so bad thoughts don’t mess with everyone’s heads in that time.

Doing it to Madison was icing on the cake. For older alumni that experienced the true rivalry years, and when we were on the short end of it, it was great to see. Hopefully the tensions shown in the game mean the rivalry is alive and will continue. The arena had moments yesterday where it felt like it did in our better days.

It just felt right in so many ways.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

I know Madison is a bad team, but our team has played poorly against other bad teams this year. Not only did we play well, but we dispatched them the way you do an inferior opponent. So I choose to take that as a sign that the team is finally putting things together until it is proven otherwise. It was nice to do that with the two week layoff so bad thoughts don’t mess with everyone’s heads in that time.

Doing it to Madison was icing on the cake. For older alumni that experienced the true rivalry years, and when we were on the short end of it, it was great to see. Hopefully the tensions shown in the game mean the rivalry is alive and will continue. The arena had moments yesterday where it felt like it did in our better days.

It just felt right in so many ways.

Agreed - it was a pants hit the floor kind of game.

 

[Five Two]

Where are you watching the replay? I would like to do that as well.

It re-aired on MASN last night from 11-1am. I DVR'd it.
The double T comes at the 12:21 mark in the 2nd half as we are bringing the ball down the court. As I watch it again, Rowe is on our side of the court and is barking at DP. So whatever DP did or said to piss off Rowe, it happened before the double T.

 

[dr. gunnie]

Mar is going to break out of this at some point, isn’t he?

I thought he played well and I liked every shot that he took - they just aren’t falling. Can’t remember ever seeing a slump like this.

 

[Five Two]

At 11:21 Rowe gets T'd up. As the action starts to move toward our end of the court, the camera picks up Rowe pointing at DP. I didnt see him pointing at DP last night, but I clearly heard him say "I'm coming after you! I'm coming after you!" which is what got him a T.

After the T, the camera zooms in on Rowe and novice lip readers can see he is still saying to DP, "I'm coming for you, I'm coming for you"

 

[gmubrian]

I don’t know if DP said or did something to warrant Rowe’s anger, but I doubt he did something bad based on what we see of him. I suspect it was just a misinterpretation of something (like the Kier high five). Based on DP’s actions at the handshake DP seemed to take the high road.

And, If you watch the post game interview, he was given an opportunity to throw Rowe under the bus for his behavior. DP didn’t take it. He said that it was just the heat of the moment and moved on.

I hope the rest of this works out for him because he is definitely a stand up guy, the kind we want representing the school.

 

[Walter]

Over on DukesDomain (is it still called that?), some speculation about recruiting battles might be at the root of it. Hopefully we aren't recruiting the same level of player as that horrible program.

 

[mkaufman1]

Mar is going to break out of this at some point, isn’t he?

I thought he played well and I liked every shot that he took - they just aren’t falling. Can’t remember ever seeing a slump like this.

I agree. He had a few three point shots and a drive in the lane that were all good selections.

What I really liked was his effort on the defensive end and on the glass. Even if the shots aren’t falling those are excellent ways to contribute.

I have a feeling something will click for him and everything will be fine. He is just too talented of an all around player.

 

[mkaufman1]

Love seeing Calixte getting better and bringing intensity. Hope to see him getting the minutes he got last night. However, time share was closer to equal - which might be a good balance.

Reuter played 16 minutes. Calixte played 19. AJ played 7 minutes. Reuter out scored Calixte (7 vs 4) and out rebounded him (5 vs 4). I realize Reuter is far from the top 5 A10 player we expected, but he still is an important cog in the wheel.

Reuter is important but I don’t think he works half as hard as Calixte all around. Greg isn’t the most talented player but he puts a lot more effort out there and he actually catches the ball more times than not. Together though they make a pretty decent tandem, and I’m okay with that.

 

[mkaufman1]

I did not see the Brad Edwards encounter with a JMU staffer.

I too am upset that our faculty failed to instruct our students this week on how to give directions to the Dukes after a beatdown.

I'm dissappointed that we didnt take a moment of silence last night in rememberance of the attack on Pearl Harbor (I asked my daughter if her history teacher mentioned in class. nope. damn Montgomery County schools....)

I'm watching the replay of the game. Calixte is playing well but he shuffles his feet almost each time he makes a move in the post. He didnt get called last night, but those are clearly traveling violations.

I didn’t see the Brad encounter either. I did see that after handshakes Jay Marsh escorted Rowe off the court in a very calm and friendly manner, almost in a “don’t worry about it man”, sort of way.

 

[GMUgemini]

My take it was a combination of two things: 1) his seat is starting to get toasty and 2) he played for JMU at time when they were dominant and emotions run high when he can’t beat us (it would be like hiring Tony Skinn and he keeps losing to JMU is the way Rowe’s teams have).

 

[GMUgemini]

Where are you watching the replay? I would like to do that as well.

I watched the game in ESPN+ so I’d assume they’d have the replay available if you are paying for the service.

 

[GMUSig03]

I watched the game in ESPN+ so I’d assume they’d have the replay available if you are paying for the service.

they do, watching right now.

 

[GMUgemini]

To point number 1: Greg Calixte was finally given starters mins and proved that he deserved them. Took down tough rebounds, challenged shots, got extremely aggressive with their less skilled big men. I loved it. He should play 25-28 mins a night with AJ taking the other mins as well as spelling Mar at PF. Very clear Reuter should not be playing.

Not to discredit a good team win BUT Jmu is horrible. Not sure how they beat a good Radford team. They certainly look like a team that lost to ODU by 20. If stuckey doesn’t kill you they will not win games bottom line. Their bigs are Danny Dixon quality and Lewis may have scored 15-16 but he seemed to shoot the ball every possession Stuckey sat for which was a lot.

Hopefully this fire keeps up and Paulsens rotations stay this way

Watching the replay now and Reuter was definitely not the turnstile he has been on defense. Looks like he's doing much better keeping his feet moving on defense and not getting caught flat-footed as often.

I still think he needs to concentrate on dropping weight (maybe 5 pound by the end of the season and then another 10-15 in the offseason), that should help with his vertical (almost non-existent), endurance (not the best), and "quickness" (dude is never going to be quick, but the inertia of 240 pounds moving is a lot better than 260).

He has got some skills the other bigs are lacking, but he's being limited by what he's lacking.