Game 28: Dayton (14-0) on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7:00 PM.

[sleeperpick]

Oduro’s mom says GFY

I am glad you are so close to the players moms. Wonder if AJ's would like the comment you put on this public board about her son.. won't even name it it was so embarrassing that you posted it.

 

[sleeperpick]

Beat the spread against a much better team. I am also in the "we are 5 years too late to appreciate good losses camp" but I am not upset by this. Hopefully Mar and JDS transfer, Kier gets another year and AJ stays. If just one of the 3 freshman pan out next year we could be in the upper half of the league even with an inept head coach that has no clue what he is doing at this level.

 

[tblack33]

I feel like this is kind of a hallmark of a poorly coached team, even if we had won. Being able to get up for vcu and Dayton, but not being able to compete against GW and barely beating SJU on our home floor... Certainly don't seem properly motivated. Say what you will about the players/recruiting, but the talent is there to compete against the best in the league. They just don't seem prepared or motivated to compete with the rest. Maybe I'm reaching, and maybe it's just my unwillingness to blame the kids who are suiting up for Mason, but these kids have shown me something several times this season. But playing up to the competition, and down to the competition, and losing at home repeatedly; that's a culture/coaching issue

Agree on multiple points here. I get these are 18-22 year olds, but the difference in A10 basketball between middle of the road teams and top teams is consistency and that mostly comes from your coaching staff.

 

[psyclone]

Post game presser:
https://www.facebook.com/MasonAthletics/videos/vb.45624109537/1024593807910263/?type=2&theater

 

[gmujim92]

I am glad you are so close to the players moms. Wonder if AJ's would like the comment you put on this public board about her son.. won't even name it it was so embarrassing that you posted it.

Unlike you, I acknowledged I was wrong. And it was. No excuses here.

 

[tblack33]

Final final thought- Calixte is what he is at this point. He’s not bad, but he hasn’t improved a ton but he’s not a negative considering the minutes he gets. Makes some solid plays on D/rebounding and I’m terrified when he has the ball anywhere off the block. I’d call him a net neutral which is honestly fine for a role player.

 

[sleeperpick]

Unlike you, I acknowledged I was wrong. And it was. No excuses here.

good for you. probably should delete your first couple posts on the Welcome AJ as well since you are inferring things that aren't super nice to the then 17 year old kid

 

[GMU_DCU]

It’s so fun to come and read the same two people argue with each other after every game.

 

[psyclone]

Preview:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...4847ec-5745-11ea-8efd-0f904bdd8057_story.html

Goff's article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...-no-4-dayton-cant-seal-deal-takes-62-55-loss/

 

[By George.]

It’s so fun to come and read the same two people argue with each other after every game.

This got me laughing

 

[gmujim92]

This got me laughing

Me too

 

[mkaufman1]

Final final thought- Calixte is what he is at this point. He’s not bad, but he hasn’t improved a ton but he’s not a negative considering the minutes he gets. Makes some solid plays on D/rebounding and I’m terrified when he has the ball anywhere off the block. I’d call him a net neutral which is honestly fine for a role player.

I was thinking about this and him last night. I’m curious how much of an impact Reuter had on him in practice and just general mentoring. It seems like he was “coached” by him too. If Reuter stuck around I wonder if he would be a bit better.

 

[Herndon]

Final final thought- Calixte is what he is at this point.

I 100% get why you're saying this. It's not a crazy take it all, but I'm also not sure I agree.

I have something I call the Hibbert Rule, which is, you don't give up on bigs. Bigs development curve is often not linear like guards. Bigs have a unique attribute and sometimes there needs to be a critical mass of development reached to bring that attribute to bear.

The classic example is Roy Hibbert, who was big, but a terrible athlete, and so look like an absolute scrub every time he got in the game. Behind the scenes he was slowly working on his athleticism little by little, but it didn't show when he got in the games. Then, one day, his athleticism crossed over the critical plateau where it didn't ruin his game, and suddenly he could bring his size to Bear effectively and it seemed like he was a heads and tails better player overnight.

He wasn't, he had just improved enough on his bad things so that suddenly his good things mattered.

The point being, you just never know with Bigs. It's possible that Greg is done developing. I acknowledge that. I also recognize that it's possible that if his hands improved just a little bit, his prodigious strength and defensive skills suddenly make him an above-average a 10 center.

 

[Herndon]

Also, I'm considering renaming it the Hibbert/Wilson Rule, because by the same logic you don't give up on ultra athletic guys.

I had given up on Wilson, but ignored my own logic. He improved enough of his basketball skills to suddenly bring his extreme athleticism to bear and went from entirely ineffective to wildly effective seemingly overnight.

he did not improve overnight, of course, I was just not privy to seeing his basketball skills slowly improve through hard work until he reached that critical mass.

I will take a lesson from his career.

 

[Mason32]

Final final thought- Calixte is what he is at this point.

Oh, I thought he just wasn't getting enough minutes, lol

 

[gmubrian]

I 100% get why you're saying this. It's not a crazy take it all, but I'm also not sure I agree.

I have something I call the Hibbert Rule, which is, you don't give up on bigs. Bigs development curve is often not linear like guards. Bigs have a unique attribute and sometimes there needs to be a critical mass of development reached to bring that attribute to bear.

The classic example is Roy Hibbert, who was big, but a terrible athlete, and so look like an absolute scrub every time he got in the game. Behind the scenes he was slowly working on his athleticism little by little, but it didn't show when he got in the games. Then, one day, his athleticism crossed over the critical plateau where it didn't ruin his game, and suddenly he could bring his size to Bear effectively and it seemed like he was a heads and tails better player overnight.

He wasn't, he had just improved enough on his bad things so that suddenly his good things mattered.

The point being, you just never know with Bigs. It's possible that Greg is done developing. I acknowledge that. I also recognize that it's possible that if his hands improved just a little bit, his prodigious strength and defensive skills suddenly make him an above-average a 10 center.

Not exactly the same but this reminded me of the Oduro play in the second half. Toppin got the ball and ran the floor. He was clearly faster than Oduro, but Oduro kept in the play and was able to impact the play because Toppin had to slow down, I believe because he hit traffic. If I recall correctly, Oduro ended up with a block on that play.

 

[mkaufman1]

Not exactly the same but this reminded me of the Oduro play in the second half. Toppin got the ball and ran the floor. He was clearly faster than Oduro, but Oduro kept in the play and was able to impact the play because Toppin had to slow down, I believe because he hit traffic. If I recall correctly, Oduro ended up with a block on that play.

Yep, and overall Oduro just kept Toppin off balance as he didn’t seem super comfortable all night.

Very excited to see what the next steps are for kids like Oduro and XJ, because I think they can be really good players for Mason, and the type of A-10 players our program needs.

 

[Masonfan3]

Final thought of the night: AJ looked like a legit NBA prospect tonight. Second round talent with some upside as a stretch 4 if he can get some better ball handling.

And that is why I do not think he will be on the team next year. AJ will graduate and transfer to a power 5 conference team that is looking for a grad transfer to fill out there roster because someone turned pro early. I hope I am wrong but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't already have some people in his ear. Guy is a freak athlete and with the right system/coaching, could easily average 15 and 10. His game is more suited for the NBA so it wouldn't shock me to see him drafted or make an NBA roster someday.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I is glad I only lost 300...good effort from Mason.

Independent of your opinion of Paulsen/how talented they are/the general apathy it's hard not to root for these kids. Like their moxie.

 

[Patriot8]

And that is why I do not think he will be on the team next year. AJ will graduate and transfer to a power 5 conference team that is looking for a grad transfer to fill out there roster because someone turned pro early. I hope I am wrong but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't already have some people in his ear. Guy is a freak athlete and with the right system/coaching, could easily average 15 and 10. His game is more suited for the NBA so it wouldn't shock me to see him drafted or make an NBA roster someday.

My argument to that is AJ will without question play 32+ minutes a game next year, and share the primary scoring responsibility with Greene. What decent P5 program can guarantee that? Let's not act like the A10 is the MEAC or something. If you can play at the pro level, they will find you.