Game 2: AT Mercer, Monday, Nov 16th, 7 PM, ESPN3

[GMU_DCU]

I know Paulsen deservedly gets a lot of rope this year, but he had no counter whatsoever for their zone. No penetration, no designed plays to get the ball to our bigs in the post. We became completely passive and just started passing the ball around the perimeter. Seriously, four fricking foul shot attempts the entire game! Think about that for a second.

Less free throws might be a good thing with this team, just saying...

 

[Petey Buckets]

5-25 from 3 today. Combine that with our 3-18 game 1, we're now 8-43 on the season. Not going to beat many zones shooting that badly from outside.

 

[GMU84fanman]

On the plus side, how about Livingston's effort? Played 39 minutes and led the team in scoring (17) and had 5 assists. In over 70 minutes he has had one turnover. Not bad for a freshmen point guard.

 

[JimP]

Certainly the criticism of the play against the zone is valid. I came away from this game much more pleased with the effort than the Colgate game though. Our freshmen on the whole look like pretty good building blocks.

Hoping we can keep things respectable vs. Ole Miss on Thursday and get our first win against Towson on Friday. Not to end on a downer, but it is unfortunate we still can't get too excited about a double-digit lead in the 2nd half.

 

[gmutom]

Livingston and Marko were both great tonight, and Grayer had some nice moments as well. Onward and upward, as they say.

 

[JPgmuswim]

I thought we played better....still a long way to go. The fact that we could not penetrate and get the ball down low drove me crazy the whole game and made me think of next season. Paulsen has got to get some big men at least one being a Juco or 5th year guy(don't know why one would want to spend their last year on a rebuild though). With Marko and Thompson gone what will we look like down low.

 

[Jack Strop]

These Freshmen look really good considering it's only their second NCAA game. Sure they had mistakes, but also some showing some good skills. That laser pass from Otis into a minuscule opening for the layup was... was... well, I dribbled beer down my chin as I watched that one! Keep giving the youngsters mucho minutes.

 

[liem.le.3388]

I thought we played better....still a long way to go. The fact that we could not penetrate and get the ball down low drove me crazy the whole game and made me think of next season. Paulsen has got to get some big men at least one being a Juco or 5th year guy(don't know why one would want to spend their last year on a rebuild though). With Marko and Thompson gone what will we look like down low.

Scoring down low will get a whole lot easier after we get more shooters in.

 

[JimP]

Was the line 7.5? Anybody who took Mason must not be happy with Gujanacic. Probably not many people in that boat though I imagine.

 

[gmutom]

Was the line 7.5? Anybody who took Mason must not be happy with Gujanacic. Probably not many people in that boat though I imagine.

That was exactly my first thought, Jim. Depending on the line, there's a lot of people really hating or loving Marko tonight.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Even in the Coach L days, we struggled with zones. It's tough because at some point, you have to hit some outside shots or they'll never go away from it. That or destroy the other team with offensive boards and putbacks, but usually to do that your team has to have a decided athletic advantage. Also, nowadays no one practices getting into the middle of the zone and nailing a pullup jumper. The play is to drive and dish and this doesn't work when the 3s aren't falling. I'm confident we'll get better with this as the season goes along.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Was the line 7.5? Anybody who took Mason must not be happy with Gujanacic. Probably not many people in that boat though I imagine.

Didn't Jollay put the mortgage on this? Will he be homeless again?

 

[DeepValue]

Two thoughts: 1. Everyone is going to play make our freshman beat them. It worked tonight. 2. Was Dixon wearing an old pair of Luke Hancock's sneakers? They were gray.

 

[psyclone]

On the plus side, how about Livingston's effort? Played 39 minutes and led the team in scoring (17) and had 5 assists. In over 70 minutes he has had one turnover. Not bad for a freshmen point guard.

Agree with this as well. Very smooth.

 

[liem.le.3388]

With ball movement being so much better Holloway will have plenty of open shots when he returns.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Takeaways from this game:

- Movement on offense is really good. Night and day different from last year. They tightened up and looked a little lost against the 2-3, but like I posted earlier, you won't beat any zones if you can't hit open threes.

- The two biggest obstacles facing this team right now are outside shooting and creating turnovers on defense. We are 8-43 from three this year, and we have 6 total steals on the season. You leave almost no margin for error in your halfcourt sets if you can't hit threes or turn the other team over.

- Danny Dixon flashed some nice ability tonight. Grabbed 3 rebounds in short minutes and rolled to the basket and finished a nice pass from Otis (I think) against the zone.

- Marquise fouled out for the second time this year. Combine his propensity for fouling with his inability to hit jumpers and finish at the rim, and I don't know how much longer he starts for. Otis is clearly a better point guard, and if Murrell or Abram start hitting threes, it could be curtains for Marquise.

- Overall, very pleased with the effort, energy, and coaching of this team so far. That feels weird to say after a 13 point loss and a 9 point loss. It's disappointing that we couldn't close tonight, but we're headed in a good direction.

 

[Petey Buckets]

With ball movement being so much better Holloway will have plenty of open shots when he returns.

I'm kind of terrified that Holloway sees how poorly we're shooting right now and plans on throwing up ten 3s a game when he gets back.

 

[psyclone]

5-25 from 3 today. Combine that with our 3-18 game 1, we're now 8-43 on the season. Not going to beat many zones shooting that badly from outside.

Paulsen has said all along that we're not a 3 pt shooting team. Even said that we might shoot fewer 3 pointers than any other team in the country. But when you can't get the ball into the bigs, that limits your options.

Right now we're shooting 18.6% from 3. By the way, Holloway's career number: 36%. Streaky for sure, but still twice what we're currently getting from deep.

 

[liem.le.3388]

I'm kind of terrified that Holloway sees how poorly we're shooting right now and plans on throwing up ten 3s a game when he gets back.

Most of his 3s last year were forced bc the offense was so stagnant.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Most of his 3s last year were forced bc the offense was so stagnant.

I'd agree. Holloway with an open/semi-open 3 is much different than with the shot clock running down and a hand in his face. We could have really used him these past 2 games.