Game 12: GMU (7-4) at ODU (7-4) on Wednesday, December 21, at 4:00 PM.

[sleeperpick]

There is a reason he wound up at Coppin and lack of talent is not one of them.

Felton literally recruited and signed a drug dealer that committed a murder lol Sessoms has to be at least a step below that

 

[JimP]

Devil’s advocate, Dinkins hadn’t played at all and I don’t think you can just throw a freshman into the game cold in that situation.

We had 4 other guys to get the ball to and it ended up with none of them. That’s lack of execution.

Fair point too.

 

[JimP]

There is a reason he wound up at Coppin and lack of talent is not one of them.

Yeah...I wish Mason got him...wasn't GMU in his top 3? I don't blame the staff for that. Man, he'd of been a huge get for Mason this season though.

 

[gmujim92]

Felton literally recruited and signed a drug dealer that committed a murder lol Sessoms has to be at least a step below that

The recruit from Georgia wasn’t a murderer when Mason offered him. So that’s literally not true.

 

[sleeperpick]

The recruit from Georgia wasn’t a murderer when Mason offered him. So that’s literally not true.

He def robbed and drug dealed for the first time 4 weeks after committing to mason lol. I’ve got a ocean front property for you in Missouri for you Jimbo

 

[JimP]

Such a winnable game. We did a lot of good things, but it doesn’t overshadow missed FTs, getting out rebounded, and Cooper somehow failing to score a single point and only take 4 shots. Ojiako needs to play more.

Yes - tough to make sense of Coop's failure to get on the board...was the best player on the court against Toledo. GMU needs to have more than just a couple guys to have a good game. Hell, if Coop chipped in 5 Mason might have won. Too many ifs.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Don't know where to start. Maybe it's the 27 beers talking but we totally suck. Major overhaul needed before we're any damn good again. I would get into specifics but I try not to bash players because they're just kids. Not always successful at that but I'm trying. I have nicknamed one player "Charmin" because he's so soft opponents wipe their a$$ with him but I won't name him specifically. KE on the other hand is fair game at this point. I am becoming more and more convinced he's a used car salesman. He says all the right stuff but he's trying to sell me a Pinto by saying it's a Lamborghini. I know he'll be back next year and I hold out hope that he's the man (Coach K was 38-47 his first three years) but damn, you are causing me to loose faith in you, slowly but surely. A few other players have no business ever setting foot on the floor again. I am mystified as to why they play while others sit.

 

[Falco]

Wow at those last 11 seconds

 

[Patriotsince81]

Yes - tough to make sense of Coop's failure to get on the board...was the best player on the court against Toledo. GMU needs to have more than just a couple guys to have a good game. Hell, if Coop chipped in 5 Mason might have won. Too many ifs.

Therein lies one of our issues. We don't have anyone who shows up night after night. Several guys have had a great game or two but who can we really count on 31 nights a year?

 

[GMU79]

Don't know where to start. Maybe it's the 27 beers talking but we totally suck. Major overhaul needed before we're any damn good again. I would get into specifics but I try not to bash players because they're just kids. Not always successful at that but I'm trying. I have nicknamed one player "Charmin" because he's so soft opponents wipe their a$$ with him but I won't name him specifically. KE on the other hand is fair game at this point. I am becoming more and more convinced he's a used car salesman. He says all the right stuff but he's trying to sell me a Pinto by saying it's a Lamborghini. I know he'll be back next year and I hold out hope that he's the man (Coach K was 38-47 his first three years) but damn, you are causing me to loose faith in you, slowly but surely. A few other players have no business ever setting foot on the floor again. I am mystified as to why they play while others sit.

And they hung Dean Smith in effigy. BUT, so far, KE is NOT living up to his "sales pitch."

 

[GSII]

Was so hyped to watch JF this yr. I believed KE recruited a stallion. I had the same excitement for Erik Herring and he delivered right away. Guess I'll wait a lil longer.

As for the game today.....still haven't watched it, but I'll be sure to tune into our defensive ethos.

 

[JimP]

Was so hyped to watch JF this yr. I believed KE recruited a stallion. I had the same excitement for Erik Herring and he delivered right away. Guess I'll wait a lil longer.

As for the game today.....still haven't watched it, but I'll be sure to tune into our defensive ethos.

Ha ha. Something was amiss with the defensive ethos today.

 

[psyclone]

Not that it was decisive, but was Malik suited up for the game? Given Josh's early foul trouble, it seems puzzling that he never saw the court after playing well lately. Granted, Ojiako played well (team high +11), so maybe that's the reason. Just hope that he isn't hurt.

 

[99 Patriot]

Think Malik was under the weather, but he was there.

Kid who was 7 for 37 from 3 this year got hot. I think the game plan early was to be ok letting him get up some of those 3's, then once he got hot he was hitting even well contested shots. Sucks, but sometimes it happens. Their big who shoots 47% from the line also went 4/4. I don't really fault the strategy of playing the odds, but even with those anomalies we win this game if we can make one stop in the final minute or if we can make all our free throws.

On to Friday.

 

[GSII]

What are the odds Cooper scores zero!?

What didn't we do to the kid who was 7 for 37 today that earned him that percentage? We obviously made him really comfy.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

Its easy for me to coach from my couch, so I'll ask:
if you know ODU is going to foul, why not put your best 5 free throw shooters on the floor? If you tell me Josh is one of our top 5 free throw shooters, fine. But if he isn't (he's tied for 6th with Ojiako heading into this game), he shouldnt be out there in that situation.
Devils advocate- who else is going to be out there? Dinkins, by % is our best FT shooter, but did he even play today?
Credit ODU for forcing the ball to the right shooter.

True...but Dinkins is hyper quick and could be assured of getting open.

Shoots a better FT % than Josh, as you point out.

 

[dr. gunnie]

This loss is 100% preventable and due to bad coaching and bad defense, we gave ODU their Christmas gift four days early.

Let’s look at the last 5 minutes.

ODU has the ball up 3 at 4:37 - come down the court and we have Cooper guarding Jenkins. Jenkins gets the ball and drives right past Cooper without any meaningful screen, just goes right by him. Keep in mind, Kim has called out Cooper before for his lack of defense during the offseason. Ok. I’m sure we’ll adjust.

Fast forward to about 3:30 left after we tie it up on a Polite 3. There’s a timeout. Probably a good time to address the mismatch of Cooper on Jenkins. ODU comes down and we still have Cooper on Jenkins. What do they do? The same f’ing thing - Jenkins gets the ball at the exact same spot, drives and passes Coop like he’s standing still and gets an easy dunk.

Still, no change has been made. I’m guessing we are keeping Cooper in because he’s been so hot on the offensive end?

Anyway, ODU gets the ball back tied at 71 with about 2:15 left. Cooper is still guarding Jenkins. Any guesses what they are going to do? You guessed it. He gets the ball and after some help from Oduro on his initial drive, Jenkins drives past Cooper for the bucket - granted it was a tougher shot, but he scored again.

Keep in mind, we got Singleton on the bench this whole time who has shown to play much better defense, but we still are going with Cooper on Jenkins. Also keep in mind that Kim is telling us defense is our calling card. We are going to win with defense. Yet, we just gave up three layups by putting one of our worst defenders on their scorer and didn’t change a thing. Gave them three baskets.

Polite hits a basket and we are up 2, ODU goes right to Jenkins who still has Cooper on him. This time, Cooper makes no attempt to stay with him and calls for a switch which is done late by VBJ and Jenkins gets fouled by VBJ at the basket. He makes one free throw - now 7 easy points for Jenkins all under the 5:00 mark.

VBJ hits 2 free throws with :20 and we are up 3. Kim finally puts Singleton in to guard Jenkins. He has 4 fouls and we still have one to give. Who ends up giving the foul? Singleton! So we finally get a better defender on Jenkins and it lasts for about 3 seconds. Why is Singleton the one giving the foul? Now he’s back on the bench and we have Cooper back on Jenkins. Jenkins gets the ball, Oduro comes out to help Cooper because he can’t guard him alone and we leave Fields wide open under the basket. We have to foul Fields and he makes both free throws.

Of course, we throw the ball into Oduro up one on the inbounds, he gets fouled and can’t hit the free throw. ODU drives with under 10 seconds - Jenkins takes it end to end and scores on VBJ who got matched up with Jenkins during the scramble. Would have loved to have Singleton in for that matchup, but he’s on the bench because apparently nobody else was available for the meaningless foul :15 prior.

For a team that is going to make defense their calling card, we sure didn’t act like it. Not sure if I should be more upset with Cooper for not being able to guard down the stretch, or Kim for allowing it to happen… over and over and over again.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Gunnie's post is the quintessential example of the "in-game coaching" that we all hoped CKE would learn on the job. Some of this is obviously growing pains, but you have to start asking the question does the staff have the right makeup? It appears that this might not be the case.

 

[sleeperpick]

This loss is 100% preventable and due to bad coaching and bad defense, we gave ODU their Christmas gift four days early.

Let’s look at the last 5 minutes.

ODU has the ball up 3 at 4:37 - come down the court and we have Cooper guarding Jenkins. Jenkins gets the ball and drives right past Cooper without any meaningful screen, just goes right by him. Keep in mind, Kim has called out Cooper before for his lack of defense during the offseason. Ok. I’m sure we’ll adjust.

Fast forward to about 3:30 left after we tie it up on a Polite 3. There’s a timeout. Probably a good time to address the mismatch of Cooper on Jenkins. ODU comes down and we still have Cooper on Jenkins. What do they do? The same f’ing thing - Jenkins gets the ball at the exact same spot, drives and passes Coop like he’s standing still and gets an easy dunk.

Still, no change has been made. I’m guessing we are keeping Cooper in because he’s been so hot on the offensive end?

Anyway, ODU gets the ball back tied at 71 with about 2:15 left. Cooper is still guarding Jenkins. Any guesses what they are going to do? You guessed it. He gets the ball and after some help from Oduro on his initial drive, Jenkins drives past Cooper for the bucket - granted it was a tougher shot, but he scored again.

Keep in mind, we got Singleton on the bench this whole time who has shown to play much better defense, but we still are going with Cooper on Jenkins. Also keep in mind that Kim is telling us defense is our calling card. We are going to win with defense. Yet, we just gave up three layups by putting one of our worst defenders on their scorer and didn’t change a thing. Gave them three baskets.

Polite hits a basket and we are up 2, ODU goes right to Jenkins who still has Cooper on him. This time, Cooper makes no attempt to stay with him and calls for a switch which is done late by VBJ and Jenkins gets fouled by VBJ at the basket. He makes one free throw - now 7 easy points for Jenkins all under the 5:00 mark.

VBJ hits 2 free throws with :20 and we are up 3. Kim finally puts Singleton in to guard Jenkins. He has 4 fouls and we still have one to give. Who ends up giving the foul? Singleton! So we finally get a better defender on Jenkins and it lasts for about 3 seconds. Why is Singleton the one giving the foul? Now he’s back on the bench and we have Cooper back on Jenkins. Jenkins gets the ball, Oduro comes out to help Cooper because he can’t guard him alone and we leave Fields wide open under the basket. We have to foul Fields and he makes both free throws.

Of course, we throw the ball into Oduro up one on the inbounds, he gets fouled and can’t hit the free throw. ODU drives with under 10 seconds - Jenkins takes it end to end and scores on VBJ who got matched up with Jenkins during the scramble. Would have loved to have Singleton in for that matchup, but he’s on the bench because apparently nobody else was available for the meaningless foul :15 prior.

For a team that is going to make defense their calling card, we sure didn’t act like it. Not sure if I should be more upset with Cooper for not being able to guard down the stretch, or Kim for allowing it to happen… over and over and over again.

While I completely agree with this it sucks when all three of your starting guards can’t play any defense (vbj plays some but he’s small). Did you want Polite on Jenkins (they scored at will on Ronnie all game)? Did you want Singleton in who while the best option seems to have a low bball IQ and fouls in the worst spots? You might as well forfeit the right to shoot free throws if he’s fouled also. If Oduro could play a lick of help defense without being a hack maybe they wouldn’t score wide open layups at will. Should have put in Ginka down the stretch for free throws and for at least a fake rim protector.

 

[gmujim92]

Just to add to Gunnie’s post, I’m not sure why Ticket wasn’t guarding Jenkins because he’s ODU’s leading scorer and Ticket is by default our best defender. You had to know they were gonna go to Jenkins down the stretch of a close game and as noted they did over and over again.

These are the questions that (hopefully) would get asked postgame if we had a beat reporter covering the team.