Game 30: AT George Washington University, Tuesday, March 1st, 8 PM, CSN

[liem.le.3388]

I'm going to say it every game. We need more shooters!!!

 

[emjayar08]

I'm going to say it every game. We need more shooters!!!

And maybe a guy that can guard the perimeter. Maybe even a guy that can produce turnovers. No, I'm being greedy.

 

[JimP]

Loss was expected, but boy has the last 15 minutes been ugly. Bummed about Marquise. Feel bad for the kid.

 

[GMU_DCU]

Danny Dixon needs to do a lot of work in the offseason.

 

[The Great PATSby]

Lonergan is a dick for keeping in most his starters with 3 minutes left and being up by 20+ against 5 freshman.

 

[GMU_DCU]

10 minutes of decent basketball and the rest was pretty embarrassing.

 

[Haxormax]

I didn't see MM get hurt, is he done for season?

 

[JimP]

I didn't see MM get hurt, is he done for season?

He missed the 2nd half. I think he was still on the bench throughout. Didn't seem to be propping his foot up or anything, so who knows.

 

[liem.le.3388]

Snagged court tickets from a co-worker for this game, I was right next to their dancers. GW dancers > GMU dancers. Upper classmen looked down, prob from knowing they are in the PIG again for the 3rd straight year. Patted Paulsen on the back as the team made their way off the court, he thanked me for coming to the game. I hope he doesn't have a heart attack soon and coaches here for a long time.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Not much here. Only got one beer. Shevon bringing the ball down to guard level is almost comical. Grayer was pretty good, Otis okay. Pretty retarded otherwise, though it was nice to see Danny score.
GW's stork-like freshman that came on late is pretty terrifying.
All hail President Trump!!

 

[liem.le.3388]

Not much here. Only got one beer. Shevon bringing the ball down to guard level is almost comical. Grayer was pretty good, Otis okay. Pretty retarded otherwise, though it was nice to see Danny score.
GW's stork-like freshman that came on late is pretty terrifying.
All hail President Trump!!

On one of Shevon's turnovers Paulsen was screaming at him, you are 7 ft tall put the ball above your head.

 

[GMU92]

On one of Shevon's turnovers Paulsen was screaming at him, you are 7 ft tall put the ball above your head.

He never seems to extend his elbows either to give himself space.

 

[smccart5]

I hope GW makes it into the tournament. I really have nothing against this team, I just want to start winning this darn presidents cup or whatever we call it.

How was the crowd? Seemed a little empty for senior night and a team fighting to make it into the tournament

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I felt like I was at GW for an historic moment. The Mexican or Spaniard and the fat Danish guy will no longer teach foreign language to their fans on their jumbo-tron during games due to graduation.

Now the spastic Jap will take over professor duties.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I love this team, I love this coach. But that doesn't make getting stomped repeatedly this year any easier. Yesterday was the first time I stopped watching a Mason game at half time.

From the high of the ealry season victories against Ok State and Ole Miss to what we have been doing lately................ just very disappointing performances this year.

We look out manned, out talented, out experienced.......just out every thinged.

Paulsen has them where they want to be on the court, they just can't sink good shots, they miss easy lay ups, always leave the three point shooter open, (no matter how many times they sink open 3's.), they miss free throws, they turn over the ball, they travel on almost every other play.

And yet still the team doesn't look as disorganized as it did last year. On almost every play, they look like they have a plan and are able to get in positions to score, they just can't simply put the biscuit in the basket on any kind of consistent basis.

Here's what I am optimistic about:


1. Freshmen Growth: A year under the Freshmen's belt will have them physically and mentally acclimated to division I ball.
2. Plug and Play recruits: We have some studs coming in that could potentially contribute right away.
2. A completely healthy roster (Hopefully). Moore has not been the same since the first injury. Shevon was and in my opinion still is negatively affected by the foot injury. If we had both fully healthy the entire year, I think that may have translated into 4 maybe even 5 more wins.
3. Dave Paulsen
4. Moore & Jalen's Breakout year Moore will be coming in next year knowing his role 100%. He is the scoring leader and now we know he can do much more than scoring. Jalen has really impressed not only with his increased scoring but his court vision. He ha sbeen making some very smart decisions with th e ball lately. Just needs to cut the travels down alot!

 

[GSII]

Next year I hope we put pressure on teams'offense. I will say again, experienced teams will destroy our man to man defense as it does nothing to disrupt shooters. We saw it last night. Being last in forced turnovers will not bode well in a guard heavy league. Book it.

 

[gmutom]

This year has obviously been frustrating, but we all need to keep reminding ourselves that Year 1 of the rebuild is mercifully almost over. I disagree with anybody here who thinks we are a .500 team next year, because we won't be. Losing Shevon will hurt more than anybody wants to admit, and the incoming freshmen won't help us much as some folks want to believe. I can't wait to see these new kids in a Mason uniform, but we are at least two years away from getting our head above water.

The biggest revelation to me this year is the reality that Dave had to fill out the roster with with non-A10 talent. He and his staff did a remarkable job of finding guys to plug holes at the 11th hour, but I really only see Livingston and Grayer as future starters/contributors. I hope I'm wrong about Dixon, Murrell and even Abrams, who did have a few very good games before disappearing. Every good team needs good bench players, and I think that's where these three can help the most if they stick around.

As has been pointed out many times here, the cream always rises. Competition will only make our returning players better, and that is ultimately what you need to rebuild a successful program. I've never wavered in my belief that Paulsen is the right man for this job. Everybody just needs to keep calm and put some Dave on.

 

[disgruntled]

On one of Shevon's turnovers Paulsen was screaming at him, you are 7 ft tall put the ball above your head.

I am usually screaming this at the TV too, that and use your height when he is playing defense (though he has gotten better at this aspect lately).

 

[mkaufman1]

I also have to say Lonergan had a completely different game plan than last time Mason and GW played. It was obvious that it was use the 1-3-1, trap in the corners, and get out in transition for easy baskets. There was no way for Mason to keep up against the game plan, especially with Moore out. It was obvious that the game plan for Mason early was to get it inside to their bigs and drive with Moore, but once Moore got hurt, they couldn't handle the zone.

It is all a process. As Leesburg said above, even though they don't do basic things well, you can tell that the "scheme" is good. They pass the ball on offense to get the best shot (even when its an airball), and on defense its nothing gimmicky even though they don't always close out or rotate off a screen too well.

I still have to wait about 50 games before I do a full evaluation and feel of "where are we going", but I have to say after 30 games, I can tell that the team and program is moving in the right direction. Another losing season most likely won't change that outlook either, because it appears that the coach actually knows what he is doing. I suspect next year will be much like 09-10 did , although its a much tougher league.

 

[psyclone]

Game article in the Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...8afc88-df62-11e5-8d98-4b3d9215ade1_story.html