Hey everyone. Thought I'd come back in a little more limited way to talk some basketball. My thoughts so far:
1) Everyone who thought we would be better after having lost Shevon Thompson was always deluding themselves. And another thing, underestimated the loss of Marko as well, who not only could hit that tailing three, but had court vision and allowed us to play the high-low game (which is something sorely lacking this year).
2) Just like last year, we won't know who this team is until they've played at least 10 games. A lot of new faces, plus both Moor e and Jenkins are adjusting to a different system. Everyone needs a little patience.
3) The freshmen look like freshmen. Kier and Tamara (and to a lesser extent Boyd) look like the only ones who might help this team at one point this season, but they will screw up a lot too.
4) Not sold on small ball plus Paulsen's conservative system. Only way a 4 guard lineup works in a half court system is if you can put 4 shooters on the floor at the same time. We don't have the shooters and Paulsen isn't going to try to press for turnovers and run. I'd rather see two forwards out there and a return to a high-low/pick and roll offense, even if Temara or Relvao aren't ready yet.
5) This loss today was all about becoming too easy to guard. All those offensive fouls were a result of a lack of confidence to shoot even when they were. You could see the hesitation and the. The inevitable desperate drives to the basket. The other team just packed it in and dared Mason to shoot over them. They went 2-9 from long distance.
6) I said at the end of last season that this team will go as far as their defense will take them. And they are marginally better on defense, but Otis is still limited. We are playing a lot of freshman. When the opposing team pulls Jenkins off the low block, there is no one to cover for him and that basically opens up huge driving lanes and so they are going to struggle if they can't keep opposing guards in front of them.
Jenkins was so afraid to foul at the end of that game, it basically cost us the win.
7) The sky is not falling. Calling for Paulsen's head is premature. If we are worse in game 29 than we were tonight, we will have a problem. But just like last year, I think we will see improvement.
8) Expect the exact same thing next year without Jenkins and Moore. And until we can find some consistent shooters, this team isn't going anywhere.
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