Game 2 - AT Lamar, Nov 12th, 8 PM, No TV

[KAOriginal]

Marko is going to piss off a lot of fanbases with that Serbian hook and ability to trail the play and drain the 3 on the catch and shoot.

Heck yeah finally our own Andrey Semenov.....

 

[Bricker]

I actually enjoyed watching this one... it feels like the team is more mentally tough than last year.

And my boy Moore with 5 assts, 1 steal, a block, 2 rebs, and just 2 turnovers? The kid has confidence. Can't wait to see him play against better competition.

 

[Flexxar]

It makes me wonder why Moore didn't play in the first game. Dude is a beast.

Is Wright hurt or something? Because it looked like he already checked out. I haven't seen any heart from him these past two games.

 

[Bricker]

Also, Edwards was the only Mason player who saw the court tonight who did not score.

 

[Bricker]

It makes me wonder why Moore didn't play in the first game. Dude is a beast.

Is Wright hurt or something? Because it looked like he already checked out. I haven't seen any heart from him these past two games.

He scored 13 and had 4 fouls midway thru the second. We actually had really balanced scoring tonight for the first time in forever. Last season, it always felt like we needed 20+ from someone to stay in the game...

 

[Five Two]

Any road win is a good win. Lots of work to do but better than losing.
Impressed with Moore.
Love how Marko is letting the game come to him and not forcing too much.
We still make dumb turnovers and miss way too many free throws.

 

[Bricker]

Any road win is a good win. Lots of work to do but better than losing.
Impressed with Moore.
Love how Marko is letting the game come to him and not forcing too much.
We still make dumb turnovers and miss way too many free throws.

FWIW, I seem to remember looking over the box score after a few of our losses last year and thinking, "well, we made 15-17 from the line... so I guess that's something"

But yeah, the only thing that frustrates me more than FTs is our hamhanded rebounding. Our bigs don't grab for the ball-- the just slap it around, which tends to lead to second chance baskets.

 

[gmutom]

We still make dumb turnovers and miss way too many free throws.

We actually shot better from behind the arc (47%) than we did the FT line (46%). Unreal.

 

[smccart5]

Loved that bucket from Moore at the end...super quick and even looked under control which has lacked in our past 'super quick' guys (Acorn particularly comes to mind) Very happy to see VG with some good point production.

The team looked really aggressive most of the time and a little pissed off. Good to see

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Anyone notice how much more chiseled Marko looks? He must have at least 10-15% less body fat than last year.

 

[gmujim92]

It's only one game but I'm liking what we've seen from Moore.

He's already more assertive and creative than Corey. He actually penetrated to the basket and kicked the ball out for open 3s, and wasn't afraid to go to the rim. He had a couple of the typical freshman mistakes, but the offense was so much better with him in the game.

Makes me wonder why he didn't play at all against AU. Maybe Hewitt wanted to give Edwards a real chance to keep the job, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Moore in the starting lineup sooner than later.

The only drawback is that he can't shoot the ball at all. The one FT he took was hideous. Once teams figure he can't shoot, they'll lay way off him and he won't be able to penetrate as effectively.

 

[Scythe]

I think I found the article which the announcer was getting "Byron" Allen from: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/11/12/gmu-has-everything-to-prove-and-nothing-to-lose-in-a-10/

 

[gmu2006]

I think I found the article which the announcer was getting "Byron" Allen from: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/11/12/gmu-has-everything-to-prove-and-nothing-to-lose-in-a-10/

Hewitt:

With the new hand-check rules, we’ll play 2-3 zone and clog the paint as much as possible. It’s going to turn games into a three-point shooting and free throw shooting contest. I think we’ll do pretty well with that

I guess that explains why we double down in the paint and leave a lot of shooters for 3 open.

 

[gmujim92]

We're gonna need to play primarily zone against the better teams in the A-10 -- especially vcu, LaSalle and UMass.

Our guys had a tough time staying in front of CAA guards under the old rules.

We have literally zero chance of keeping guys like Tyreek Duren or Chaz Williams out of the lane with the "no contact" rules in place.

The math says your odds of success are much higher by forcing opponents to shoot even somewhat contested 20-foot shots than giving up one layup after another.

And we're not a great rebounding team no matter what defense we play, so that argument goes right out the window.

But knowing the stubbornness of our coach, we'll probably play man all season.

 

[99 Patriot]

Lot to like about last night. For one, it gave me hope for next year and beyond. Figuring Sherrod, Bryon and Jon would be our leading scorers this year I worried about next year, but a lineup of Moore, Holloway, Gray, Copes and Marko looks like it will be pretty solid.

Impressed like everyone else by Moore, but totally get why he didn't play against AU. Where he normally might have come in we were already down 15, so PH figured he'd go with the senior he knows at the point instead of the untested freshman. I think people overanalyze a single game. Pretty sure we won't see many more DNP's from Moore in the future.

 

[PDGL Hoops]

Nice to look at my phone and see we won after a late dinner meeting. 2-0 makes me happy.

 

[gmuEX]

Edwards who? Officially on the Moore train, all aboard.

 

[GMUYoda]

We actually shot better from behind the arc (47%) than we did the FT line (46%). Unreal.

Yeah, that annoyed me... in fact it just really does. We have to make our FTs. We won't shoot ~50% from 3 pt land every game... probably average more like 30% in most games.

I would like to see our FT throw avg near 70% this year. So far this year, we are shooting just under 39% from 3 pt land. In our first two games, we are 25/44 from the FT line, which is 56.8%. I know its early, but this is unacceptable. It needs to be improved quickly -- with UNI up next, we need to make our FTs when it counts. Against teams that clog up the middle and foul our guys, we need to make the FTs. 3 pt shooting cant carry the day

/rant

Besides that, I liked the game. We came out with intensity and played hard from start to finish, with a few times of lackadaisical play. I believe what others have said as well, Hewitt was giving Corey a chance to see if he could take the role... and as of right now it looks iffy IMO... expect to see Moore in more often, perhaps as a changeup from time to time to kick-start the offense... hopefully when Copes comes back he can add a big inside presence and help the kick-outs, clog the lane and get to the line, and get some inside buckets

 

[mkaufman1]

As a mere comparison the first two games at the free throw line weren't pretty last year either

vs UVA - FT % was 8 for 19 (42%)
vs Bucknell- FT% was 5 for 12 (41%)

And as a team they finished 72.5% for the year.

I think this is something we'll see improve as the team has several good free throw shooters ( Arledge, Wright, Allen )

 

[smccart5]

Probably been mentioned but why didn't Arledge play last night?