Game 27: AT LaSalle University, Saturday, February 17th, 2 PM, Atlantic 10 Network

[Copes4Three]

Calixte has really made some great strides and I think Reuter has been a tremendous mentor for that development. Even AJ is starting to get some consistency and is starting to come together on offense. I was surprised they stopped going through them in the second half. The only freshman I have gotten to be disappointed in is Greene. He plays great defense from time to time which I respect, just thought his shooting % would be higher than it is at this point in the season.

 

[GSII]

Greene is starting to shoot better. Early on he missed every trey, expect the Auburn game. Now he makes one or two.

 

[Washingtonian]

Greene is starting to shoot better. Early on he missed every trey, expect the Auburn game. Now he makes one or two.

Don't forget, he had a good game against Richmond.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Calixte has really made some great strides and I think Reuter has been a tremendous mentor for that development. Even AJ is starting to get some consistency and is starting to come together on offense. I was surprised they stopped going through them in the second half. The only freshman I have gotten to be disappointed in is Greene. He plays great defense from time to time which I respect, just thought his shooting % would be higher than it is at this point in the season.

I'm going to have to disagree with you about Greene. He has far exceeded my expectations. No, he has not been the sharpshooter that we hoped, but I had so many more questions/worries about him on the defensive side of the court. He has been solid defensively, forcing more turnovers per minute than anyone else on the team from what I've seen, and he doesn't get beat taking gambles either. Based on his play in high school and the confidence he still shoots the ball with, I think it's only a matter of time before his offensive abilities adjust to the speed of the game.

 

[GMUgemini]

Next year, we should be legit two deep at every position with a bench in Boyd, AJ, and Greene who can play multiple positions (I would include Calixte in that, but a, I think if Paulsen does "go big" at times next year, Reuter will probably play the 4, and, b, I'm not convinced Paulsen will ever "go big"). Whatever JDS and Miller give us their freshman seasons will be a luxury (which will be nice for once). This should allow for guys like Otis, Kier, and Grayer enough rest to go an entire season without a game like the second half against La Salle.

 

[GSII]

If Grayer is still nursing a foot injury then I understand. But if his foot is 100%, then he should of stepped up when Otis was crashing vs Lasalle. Now would be a good time for him to get going again.

 

[GMUgemini]

If Grayer is still nursing a foot injury then I understand. But if his foot is 100%, then he should of stepped up when Otis was crashing vs Lasalle. Now would be a good time for him to get going again.

I think it was pretty clear Grayer wasn't 100%. He was missing some pretty wide open shots badly, and his explosion to the basket was nonexistent (think about that one play where he beat his man on the back door cut and wound up getting blocked because he had to pause in order to rise up for the layup -- that doesn't happen with a 100% healthy Grayer).

 

[GMUgemini]

Don't forget, he had a good game against Richmond.

He's 6-16 in his last 5 games from 3, or 37.5%. His overall shooting percentage is 43.75% over the last 5.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Weekly rundown is up a day late. Facts, numbers, thoughts, opinions, pontification, pleasantries, what have yous and such, etc. etc.:

http://giantkiller.co/2018/02/20/pe...ge-mason-basketball-weekly-rundown-volume-12/

La Salle shot 12-31 from the floor in both halves, so the meltdown is mostly a story of how Mason couldn’t generate buckets in the second half. Kier was 7-8 from the field in the first half but only 2-4 in the second, as La Salle kept a big stationed in the paint to prevent him from getting to the rim. In the first half the paint was open when he got around his man; in the second Tony Washington was there to meet him. Shots weren’t falling when he had to pass out of the paint. Ian Boyd was 2-7 from the floor in the second half, Otis was 1-9, and AJ Wilson was 1-1. No other Patriot hit any field goals.

 

[GSII]

I guess we didn't counter their adjustment of Washington in the middle? If he is gonna sag and stay, AJ should be free to shoot three's also. Make one perimeter player guard two guys.

 

[GMUSig03]

Ughhh, that game was soooo painful. Probably the best and worst halves of the last 3 years under Paulsen the team has had, offensively. To me, this is much more frustrating than the Fordham loss because that was a result of Fordham getting hot. LaSalle was who they were in both halves, only slightly better in 2nd half it seemed. We just played soooooo bad. Their big was un-guardable 1 on 1.

 

[GMUgemini]

Ughhh, that game was soooo painful. Probably the best and worst halves of the last 3 years under Paulsen the team has had, offensively. To me, this is much more frustrating than the Fordham loss because that was a result of Fordham getting hot. LaSalle was who they were in both halves, only slightly better in 2nd half it seemed. We just played soooooo bad. Their big was un-guardable 1 on 1.

He's 6'10...so trying to guard him with 6'6 AJ (who is also skinny) and Calixte (who basically just got outmuscled on the block) wasn't going to happen. I think we should have tried to turn them over a lot more, sped them up, and prevented a halfcourt game. All we really had to do is to keep the ball out of BJ Johnson's hands and forced Stukes and Powell into a whole bunch of bad decisions.

 

[GMUSig03]

He's 6'10...so trying to guard him with 6'6 AJ (who is also skinny) and Calixte (who basically just got outmuscled on the block) wasn't going to happen. I think we should have tried to turn them over a lot more, sped them up, and prevented a halfcourt game. All we really had to do is to keep the ball out of BJ Johnson's hands and forced Stukes and Powell into a whole bunch of bad decisions.

Agreed, problem is that this roster is just so damned limited and limiting in terms of strategy. Guys get exhausted because of short rotations, guys are now also getting run down/injured as the season comes to a close. Fouls are always a concern too. All this makes it hard to speed them up, trap, pressure, etc.

Denying Johnson seems like the one thing that we should have been able to do better, and Boyd was not the best choice to do it.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Denying Johnson .....

I hate when my Johnson is denied

 

[gmutom]

I hate when my Johnson is denied

I can't believe someone actually named their kid BJ Johnson. We're talking rock star porn status from day 1 with a name like that. I'm going to guess his middle name is Peter, Woody or Richard.