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

GMUgemini

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I 100% agree that Chaz is what makes UMass go and we definitely have a better shot at winning if he doesn't play. But, we can't discount their post guys who will absolutely poop on our chests all game with the softies (other than Jenkins) that we have down low.

Putney, Carter, and especially Lalanne are no joke. I'm afraid we're going to get destroyed on the glass on both sides of the floor.

If we attack them the way St Bonnie did we can get them in foul trouble. They are not quick in the open court and they were bumping St Bonnie's guards all day and getting called for it. Of course it's GMU so I'm guessing the refs will just ignore it.
 

EXpatriot13

All-Conference
GIVING DAY 2023
If we attack them the way St Bonnie did we can get them in foul trouble.

Hewitt should have told our guards to attack Kanecevic of St. Joes last game because he was their only consistent scorer in the paint with Roberts out. We didn't come close to doing that. I doubt we get any of UMass's bigs into foul trouble either.

If we do get two quick fouls on one of their bigs in the first half I'm sure we'll forget about it and they'll end the game with two fouls.
 

GMUgemini

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Hewitt should have told our guards to attack Kanecevic of St. Joes last game because he was their only consistent scorer in the paint with Roberts out. We didn't come close to doing that. I doubt we get any of UMass's bigs into foul trouble either.

If we do get two quick fouls on one of their bigs in the first half I'm sure we'll forget about it and they'll end the game with two fouls.

UMass plays an aggressive trapping style like vcu does. Their bigs will try to trap our ball handler in the open court. The idea is to go right at them, they are not nearly as quick as vcu. Against St Bonnie they resorted to hip checking the guards.
 
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pjjack

Spectator
I have seen a great deal of UMass games so let me sum up a few things. Umass doesn't trap too often like vcu does. They will do it in spurts and try to catch the other team off guard. This has been effective in getting turnovers. Umass can get into early foul trouble which is why they don't press all the time. Umass has played very well away from home. The have wins away from home vs. New Mexico, Ohio, Clemson, Nebraska, and lost their only game in a close game to Florida State in Florida despite having a 4 point lead with 2:30 left in the game. At home they have gone 8-0 but many of those games have been a grind.


Chaz Willimas is the straw that stirs the team he is hurt but expected to play Wednesday. He was on crutches after the game Saturday and in a walking boot Monday & Tuesday. This is something to keep an eye on, UMass has 3 games in a week, all on the road so there is a chance he may be limited or not play at all. Trey Davis is the backup and does play a lot of minutes; UMass will use a 3 guard lineup at times. When Trey and Chaz are both in the game often Trey is at PG with Chaz at SG. I would not be surprised to see Trey at PG a lot Wednesday with Chaz on the bench or at SG to reduce the wear and tear on Chaz’s foot. Umass is thin at guard so the Chaz injury could be the X factor. The freshman guards have played very little this season. Umass can play out of control at times and will turn the ball over. They also play with great speed and often will shot with more than 20 seconds on the shot clock. They are very athletic and love to run the floor. They don’t play a zone defense but they can be relentless on M2M defense and create chaos in the half court and get turnovers. On offence they have struggled vs. the zone and Umass leads the county in most shots blocked against them. The thing to watch early on is does Putney hit the first few open shots he gets and how quickly Cady pick up his first foul. If Putney gets off to a good start and Cady doesn’t get any fouls in the first 5 minutes then Umass can execute their game plan. Smapson Carter is a streaky player who has had recent struggles but did play well Saturday. Derrick Gordon is a great defender but limited on offence, he has a poor outside shot and awful from the FT line (40%) but he can score going to the basket very well and is a good rebounder. On the bench Maxie Escho is prob the best 6th man in the A10 and players starter minutes. When he is in the game he makes very few mistakes on either end. The last player who plays significant minutes is Tyler Bergintin (T-Berg) who will come in for Cady. T-berg is limited on offence but can bang around under the basket and collect garbage rebounds and plays pretty good defense. Seth Berger is a freshman who hasn't played much but he might see some action Wednesday night. A true freshman from Washington who could have gone to Gonzaga. RS Freshman Clyde Santee is a pure lefty shooter who hasn't played a lot this season but he could see some action if Umass is struggles to score. he put up 14 points in a game earlier this season in less than 4 minutes.

I think this game is close, at the half I see a 3 point Umass lead but GM coming on strong in the second half and pulling off the upset and winning 70-63 with the help from some late FTs.
 
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GMUSSTN

Starter
GIVING DAY 2023
I think this game is close, at the half I see a 3 point Umass lead but GM coming on strong in the second half and pulling off the upset and winning 70-63 with the help from some late FTs.

So you're saying J2 won't be playing in the final minutes?
 

JBiggs

Starter
I wonder if Hewitt will try to match size a little bit in this one. UMASS will have quite the size advantage over Allen and Wright on the wings.

Since Wright can't hit the broad side of a barn right now anyways, I actually wouldn't mind inserting Okoloji in at the 3 for rebounding and defense-purposes. I'd roll with Allen either way, because he's our motor and does the bulk of scoring and facilitating. He has the quickness to toast bigger guys anyway.

It will be interesting to see if the line-up changes at all.
 

GMUgemini

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I wonder if Hewitt will try to match size a little bit in this one. UMASS will have quite the size advantage over Allen and Wright on the wings.

Since Wright can't hit the broad side of a barn right now anyways, I actually wouldn't mind inserting Okoloji in at the 3 for rebounding and defense-purposes. I'd roll with Allen either way, because he's our motor and does the bulk of scoring and facilitating. He has the quickness to toast bigger guys anyway.

It will be interesting to see if the line-up changes at all.

I'd rather see Jenkins on the wing than AO, but we need him in the post more.

If we are giving up size anyway, I'd rather go small ball and try to run (especially if Chaz doesn't play) with something like Moore, Holloway, Allen, Gray, Jenkins but that isn't going to happen.
 

gmutom

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Another option if we want to go bigger without starting Sherrod is to go with Moore, Allen, Marko, Jenkins and Copes. It won't bother me if Sherrod gets another start, but I hope the leash is short if he looks like his head's not into it. I
 

JBiggs

Starter
I thought about Marko, but he's just an absolute liability on the wing from a defensive standpoint.

I'm with Gemini, and prefer to go small and try to run in this situation (since we don't really have any capable size on the wing), but we all know Hewitt doesn't do that...
 

Pablo

Hall of Famer
I wonder if Hewitt will try to match size a little bit in this one. UMASS will have quite the size advantage over Allen and Wright on the wings.

Since Wright can't hit the broad side of a barn right now anyways, I actually wouldn't mind inserting Okoloji in at the 3 for rebounding and defense-purposes.

Does anyone know what Anali's status is for this game?
 

mkaufman1

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Does anyone know what Anali's status is for this game?

I heard he was only practicing about half the time last week. Not sure if hes hurt or what. I also saw rumblings that Marko is battling an injury too.
 

gmutom

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Who will be your scorer in this line up?

Keeping in mind that this was a hypothetical conversation about going with a bigger lineup, the only way to include a scorer would be start Allen over Moore and put Sherrod or Holloway at the 2.
 

MasonFanatic

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Does anyone know what Anali's status is for this game?
No one I've asked seems to know, but Anali just chirped at everyone's favorite blogger on Twitter for implying that he's out with an injury, so...
 
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