Game 20: GMU (11-8 / 4-2) at LaSalle (6-13 / 1-8) on Saturday, February 5, at 2PM.

mkaufman1

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I went to the game today so I have a lot of thoughts obviously.

-it was great to meet up with mason folks as always. Nice little crowd we had. That said Tom Gola Arena is awful. We can complain about our experience but it truly feels like a high school gym. The food is cheap and they have beer but the popcorn I got was drenched in 5 pounds of butter that I couldn’t eat it. A plus was that the mens room was near the stands but it was small and cramped. The video production is high school quality and the announcer really made insensitive comments about English which is really unacceptable. Their band was about 5 members and we made jokes that we were going to ask them if they played a song yet because we didn’t hear them.

- there was about 10 minutes in the first half where Lasalle couldn’t miss and we couldn’t keep up with their scoring. We were a step slow on defense (sometimes more). If our main guys aren’t rolling it’s very tough. We missed some bunnies with a bad roll but also got blocked by their big man near the rim a bunch as well.

-ticket looked gassed during the game. He also seemed like he may have been hobbling.

- Blake buchanon chipped in with some good minutes today, but it says a lot about the bench guys if he’s playing. Rome wasn’t built in a day but I assure you the depth issue is going to be fixed by this staff over the coming months. I expect another 2-3 transfers to come in with guys moving on. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done before this team can truly compete.

-Henry got mauled in the early part of half 2 but got called for a foul. I’m rewatching and realizing I can’t even tell what he did wrong as it looks like they got tangled up before Henry got leveled. He then picked up a quick second and we went small

-Brantley for them chopped blocked XJ on the brickus three late in the game and didn’t get called for it. Ridiculous.

-English had every right to be pissed when Frazier and Cooper got hammered with no call. Very happy he let the refs hear it.
 

GSII

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Otis seemed to get fouled and was most blatant.....the Cooper drive was a toss up. Couldn't tell which one got CKE hyped. Glad he didn't stand in the hall way.
 

mkaufman1

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Otis seemed to get fouled and was most blatant.....the Cooper drive was a toss up. Couldn't tell which one got CKE hyped. Glad he didn't stand in the hall way.
It was an accumulation of calls especially in the second half.
 

GMUgemini

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On transfers: if Gadsden and Gray aren’t hurt and are being played over in favor of a walk-on I can’t imagine either one sticking around.

I like Henry, but right now he doesn’t seem well suited to how English wants to play. If he is going to become a contributor going forward he’s going to have to remake his game completely.

Blake is an enigma. He was playing with professionals last season in Australia and averaged more points and rebounds per game than he is now. There can be massive improvement from freshman to sophomore season (Bryon Allen went from 1.2 ppg on less than 1 made basket per game to 7.7, but he was also 18 and as Petey said Blake will turn 20 at the end of the month). I’m hoping he can stick around a develop because he would be a really nice option as a stretch 4 if he can get it together.
 
Blake's birthday is actually in his bio on the official roster page, as are all our guys' birthdays. Born Feb 28, 2002, he's gonna turn 20 this year. I found that surprising. I'm slightly less hyped on him after that but KE has called him a developmental player since day 1. He was probably as surprised as anyone how much Blake had to play early on.

Since Gray and TJ also prepped, they're also turning 20 soon. Otis turned 20 last year and Fernandez is turning 20 next year. We have old freshmen.

I mean, this is how it is almost across the board. Private schools in hs, even overseas, have 19 year olds, sometimes 20 year old kids now.

Thats why you see more higher floor but lower ceiling recruits now. XJ pretty good example on better side...others, well...

Bigs like Blake still adjustment though with style and speed of game, and even most 19-20 year olds are still weak compared to 22-Grant Golden year olds.

Good thing is easy to find 2-4 hs that score. We'll be fine re bench pretty quick.

Polite was the exception age wise, and KE does love his potential still...just cant afford to depend/wait on him through injuries anymore. Cant blame us.
 
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Patriot Lawdog

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I would bet KE mentioned something to the effect of “Not even gonna make it look good in the box score, huh?”…That’s 100% a foul called when the game is decided so the totals don’t look as lopsided.
 

gmujim92

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It was an accumulation of calls especially in the second half.
It was either 7 or 8 consecutive fouls against Mason at one point in the final 6 minutes of the game. Even allowing for the usual home whistle, that was absurd and I don’t blame KE one bit for losing his shit. At some point enough is enough.
 

Earl the Squirrel

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On transfers: if Gadsden and Gray aren’t hurt and are being played over in favor of a walk-on I can’t imagine either one sticking around.

I like Henry, but right now he doesn’t seem well suited to how English wants to play. If he is going to become a contributor going forward he’s going to have to remake his game completely.

Blake is an enigma. He was playing with professionals last season in Australia and averaged more points and rebounds per game than he is now. There can be massive improvement from freshman to sophomore season (Bryon Allen went from 1.2 ppg on less than 1 made basket per game to 7.7, but he was also 18 and as Petey said Blake will turn 20 at the end of the month). I’m hoping he can stick around a develop because he would be a really nice option as a stretch 4 if he can get it together.
It's a BIG "If." While It's unfair to judge Jones based one year, there are clear indications he might not make the leap. Is he suddenly going to become a quicker, better defender at the same time he's trying to add weight? CAN he gain weight? I'll bet he hasn't added many lbs over the past two years.

And while English appears to be a more than able recruiter, sometimes you miss on a kid. Most coaches are going to get excited about a 6'10" guard/forward who can light it up from beyond the arc.

I'm less enthralled with Jones than when I first learned he was coming our way, but l'm perfectly willing to give him another year to show what he can do.
 

Dawgs99

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On transfers: if Gadsden and Gray aren’t hurt and are being played over in favor of a walk-on I can’t imagine either one sticking around.

I like Henry, but right now he doesn’t seem well suited to how English wants to play. If he is going to become a contributor going forward he’s going to have to remake his game completely.

Blake is an enigma. He was playing with professionals last season in Australia and averaged more points and rebounds per game than he is now. There can be massive improvement from freshman to sophomore season (Bryon Allen went from 1.2 ppg on less than 1 made basket per game to 7.7, but he was also 18 and as Petey said Blake will turn 20 at the end of the month). I’m hoping he can stick around a develop because he would be a really nice option as a stretch 4 if he can get it together.

Gray hasn't even suited up for the last several games......I assume to save the red-shirt.
 

GMUgemini

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It's a BIG "If." While It's unfair to judge Jones based one year, there are clear indications he might not make the leap. Is he suddenly going to become a quicker, better defender at the same time he's trying to add weight? CAN he gain weight? I'll bet he hasn't added many lbs over the past two years.

And while English appears to be a more than able recruiter, sometimes you miss on a kid. Most coaches are going to get excited about a 6'10" guard/forward who can light it up from beyond the arc.

I'm less enthralled with Jones than when I first learned he was coming our way, but l'm perfectly willing to give him another year to show what he can do.

He doesn’t have to get “faster” per se. it’s his positioning that needs to get better. He needs to learn to use his length against shorter players. He takes really bad angles when guarding on the perimeter and then gets blown by.

One example of him doing it right was against Dayton guarding Mali Smith. Smith gets by him (obviously) but he trails the ballhandler and makes himself big and takes a good enough angle that Smith can’t just rise up for the layup but instead has to shoot around him — turned into a miss.

He definitely needs to get stronger. You are right that he just looks like his frame isn’t going to support a ton of mass, but he doesn’t have to get up to 220 to be effective in college (Yuta was listed at 6’9 205 as a senior, for example). He should be able to get to 210 with the right nutrition and workout regiment. Kind of thin for a 5, but could play the 4 in this system — maybe play emergency minutes at the 5.
 
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