Game 17, UMass, Jan 15th, 7 PM, MASN

[Patriotfan49]

Allen "faked" like he was going to pull a Briante Weber and then backed off when UMass was rolling the ball up the court.

Along with that Hewitt called them off and waved them to get back beyond half court as well. Why he did that, I dont know.

What could some seconds ticking off and a little pressure hurt?

 

[GreenLantern]

I have no words to describe this game.

 

[gmutom]

The problem with pressing them is we obviously have nobody quick enough to stay with Williams in the open court (nor do many other teams in the country). Of course, it didn't really matter, because he sliced through us in the half court as well.

 

[GMUSSTN]

I have no words to describe this game.

Judging by your avatar, you could probably say MEE MMEEEE ME ME MMEEEE MEEE MMEMEMEEE MEME MMEE MEEE

 

[dr. gunnie]

To Gunnie's point, up 5 with under 40 seconds left, the TEAM should be prepared to execute the way Umass' TEAM executed on defense (on offense I grant you it was the Chaz Williams show). Having the team prepared is the responsibility of the guy getting paid to do it.

I agree. If you haven't watched Hewitt's post game press conference, I suggest everyone take a look. I think the reason why he was so down after the game was because he felt like he did have the players prepared to handle the press at the end of the game. I kind of agree with him because we handled the press so well against vcu. If we didn't look so good at breaking the press against vcu, I would probably feel differently, but that game showed me that they have put a lot of work into bringing the ball up against the pressure. He was upset because he thought the players froze and didn't get to the correct spots. Players have to perform in those situations; I put it more on them than Hewitt.

Having said that, it sure would have been nice to have a TO in your back pocket to settle everyone down and go over the plan again - and that is something Hewitt needs to improve on.

 

[Raider_SPE]

Is it crazy, or does anybody think that maybe Hewitt should have called us to press in the last minute?

Just spitballing here, but not allowing them to roll the ball up to half court and making it somewhat difficult to go coast to coast could have helped. Or at worst was no different than letting them go coast to coast for a uncontested layup 4 times....

Yes, I did not understand why we did not have anyone back to force a direct pass. It is easy to faint and get back on defense. You have to get them to take as much time off the clock as possible in those situations, just as the opposing coach is doing to opposite by trying to extend the game.

 

[99 Patriot]

Anyone have ACW's phone number?

 

[Patriotfan49]

The problem with pressing them is we obviously have nobody quick enough to stay with Williams in the open court (nor do many other teams in the country). Of course, it didn't really matter, because he sliced through us in the half court as well.

So like prevent D in football, we just sat back and got torched....we just let him do that 4 times in a row anyway? Id much rather like our chances at covering Williams through a press, as opposed to waiting for him at our own 3 point line......

So like normal, lets just sit back and be passive and hope we did enough to hang on. Fitting. Umass is out there trying to win, and we are trying not to lose it.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Is it crazy, or does anybody think that maybe Hewitt should have called us to press in the last minute?

Just spitballing here, but not allowing them to roll the ball up to half court and making it somewhat difficult to go coast to coast could have helped. Or at worst was no different than letting them go coast to coast for a uncontested layup 4 times....

Not at all. Not really pressed necessarily, but at least pressured the inbound and ball. It wouldn't have been crazy to triangle and two Chaz off the inbounds either.

I wouldn't say it was a tactical blunder by Hewitt, but imagination sure comes in handy sometimes. Of course you would expect a sagging man to be able to at least prevent Chaz from getting so easily to the rim and Okoloji from fouling as well.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Is that a problem that our average joe fans can figure something out for the situation....yet our highly paid coach cant?

Maybe do half court once.......MAX twice, but after two coast to coast layups, you have to do something to combat it.

 

[gmujim92]

For whatever reason, we played those last few possessions like we had a 20-point lead and just needed the clock to keep running.

Chaz is great, no question. But we made it way too easy for him.

 

[Scythe]

For whatever reason, we played those last few possessions like we had a 20-point lead and just needed the clock to keep running.

Chaz is great, no question. But we made it way too easy for him.

We pretty much gave him a wide open lane...4 times.

 

[GMUgemini]

It's strange since he's a freshman, but I feel most confident when the ball is in Moore's hands.

Not that I wanted him taking the last shot -- unless it was a layup or a floater, that's a non-starter. But he had time to get the ball upcourt quickly and find an open shooter.

I can't recall him ever dribbling the ball off his own foot, so that's an excellent start.

Agreed. He turned the ball over with 8 seconds on the clock and Holloway open to his left. I think Allen was unsure where he was going to cut, left or right and his body went left and the ball went right and that was that.

 

[GreenLantern]

Judging by your avatar, you could probably say MEE MMEEEE ME ME MMEEEE MEEE MMEMEMEEE MEME MMEE MEEE

LOL! I just spit out my lunch!

 

[expendable smurf]

Sherrod and Bryon have been making those late game turnovers their entire career. It's just their thing.

My assumption is that they were expecting to be fouled immediately upon receiving the inbound pass, but that's not what UMass did. Catching a pass and standing still while the trap comes doesn't typically lead to good results.

 

[Five Two]

I'm all for Moore getting as much experience as possible, but I understand being selective about when he gets that experience. There will be some games when he is playing well and warrants being on the court at the end, but last night was not one of those nights. He had three turnovers in 18 minutes, and I believe all of them were caused by trying to dribble into traffic.

IMO, I wouldn't be selective with his minutes. Put him out there and lets live with his growing pains. We may go 2-14 in the conference, but if he gets to play a lot, that only helps us next year. Look at GW last year. Their freshmen played tons of minutes. Sure they lost games, but its paying dividends now. If we are going to lose games (and we know we are), let the young guys play and develop. It can't get any worse than it is now.

 

[Pablo]

Sherrod and Bryon have been making those late game turnovers their entire career. It's just their thing.

My assumption is that they were expecting to be fouled immediately upon receiving the inbound pass, but that's not what UMass did. Catching a pass and standing still while the trap comes doesn't typically lead to good results.

It seems to me that when you have a recurring problem with a particular facet of the game, you need to run regular drills until the players could properly execute in their sleep.

 

[Walter]

Stole this from Knobby at basketballforum.com
']
']Fairfax Virginia News Corp:
Fairfax VA. (1/14/14): An arrest warrant was posted for Derek Kellogg, head coach of the University of Massachusetts Basketball Team last night after Paul Hewitt (Head coach of the George Mason University Basketball Program) filed a criminal complaint claiming tha coach Kellogg stole a win from his basketball team last night. Umass beat GMU by a score of 88 - 87, but had no right watsoever to win the contest.

Shortly after the warrant was filed, Fairfax Police located the bus transporting the team and coach Kellogg from GMU back to their hotel in downtown Fairfax. They promptly stopped the bus and arrested Mr. Kellogg, then escorted him in hancuffs into the back of a cruiser. Eye witness reports indicate that Coach Kellogg was grinning ear to ear and may have been smoking a cigar when the bus was pulled over. Despite the arrest, players were heard laughing loudly on the bus.

In a statement to police Coach Kellogg said, "It is a little embarrassing to be in this position right now; but honestly, Geroge Mason gave us that game... they litterally handed it to us on a silver platter". " We didn't want to take it, but Coach Hewitt insisted... it was consentual".

After questioning, the police reviewed the game tape and quickly released Mr. Kellogg and issued a public apology for the incident: "On behalf of the city of Fairfax Police Department we whole heartedly apologize to coach Kellogg and the University of Massachusetts for any embarrassment or inconvenience this may have caused. Upon reviewing the game tape it was clear that the game was handed to Umass in good faith. We are, however, looking into filing criminal charges against head basketball coach Paul Hewitt for stealing money from George Mason University under the guise of being a Head Basketball Coach. We will post further details once our investigation is complete"...

 

[dr. gunnie]

It seems to me that when you have a recurring problem with a particular facet of the game, you need to run regular drills until the players could properly execute in their sleep.

Or you don't force players that aren't good at a certain task to perform that task during crunch time. We all know that BA and SW are not point guards. I know you want your best guys out there at the end, but you also need to have a PG to handle the ball. Hewitt has been handcuffed because he was given these guys that can't dribble, but at the same time he hasn't gone out and landed one even though it's a position of need. I don't necessarily count Moore because we didn't really recruit him like a normal player, he fell into our lap after decommitting from Hofstra and we pounced.

 

[GSII]

Arent you forcing players to do those task's when you choose not to adjust your offensive scheme? Then proceed to neglect the PG position. This is why we are where we are. Poor decison making.