Game 31: AT George Washington University, Saturday, March 9th, 2 PM, MASN/Stadium

[GSII]

For those that watched on TV, did you hear the comments by Dr. Giamattii or whatever his name is? He was one of the commentators. Said of the many practices he has seen all season the best practice he has seen was at Mason. Our guys all liked each other and were a self motivated group. The part I want to zero in on is the self motivated part. It sounds like a really good thing at first. But if you think about it, it could explain our up and down season. Meaning is DP not much of the motivational type. I thought he was so this would be interesting to find out.

 

[FreeGunston12]

For those that watched on TV, did you hear the comments by Dr. Giamattii or whatever his name is? He was one of the commentators. Said of the many practices he has seen all season the best practice he has seen was at Mason. Our guys all liked each other and were a self motivated group. The part I want to zero in on is the self motivated part. It sounds like a really good thing at first. But if you think about it, it could explain our up and down season. Meaning is DP not much of the motivational type. I thought he was so this would be interesting to find out.

That’s quite the spin to put on a really positive comment. Maybe the team has learned how to motivate themselves after seeing it modeled by the coach? Maybe the coach recruited guys with high motors/ internal drive that reflect his own values?

 

[GSII]

That’s quite the spin to put on a really positive comment. Maybe the team has learned how to motivate themselves after seeing it modeled by the coach? Maybe the coach recruited guys with high motors/ internal drive that reflect his own values?

Im not trying to spin it. Im just saying it would be interesting to know more. It's an awesome trait to have as a team. But just as we use the "we gotta remember these are 18 and 19 year old kids" explanation when things are going bad.....I'm curious to know if DP inserts more of his motivation magic when the "kids" might be lacking in theirs. That's basically it.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Im not trying to spin it. Im just saying it would be interesting to know more. It's an awesome trait to have as a team. But just as we use the "we gotta remember these are 18 and 19 year old kids" explanation when things are going bad.....I'm curious to know if DP inserts more of his motivation magic when the "kids" might be lacking in theirs. That's basically it.

I see your point. We definitely have seen some uninspired performances. Let the blame for those fall where you will. Sounds like Dr. G wouldn’t attribute it to lack of motivation, but I have accused the team of that myself once or twice this season. I also haven’t seen the team practice. DP says they practice hard. Dr. G says so too. The more sources that make the same observation, the more likely it is to be true. Unfortunately, if motivation isn’t the problem, I wouldn’t expect to raise the level of play much in the conference tournament.

 

[FreeGunston12]

I see your point. We definitely have seen some uninspired performances. Let the blame for those fall where you will. Sounds like Dr. G wouldn’t attribute it to lack of motivation, but I have accused the team of that myself once or twice this season. I also haven’t seen the team practice. DP says they practice hard. Dr. G says so too. The more sources that make the same observation, the more likely it is to be true. Unfortunately, if motivation isn’t the problem, I wouldn’t expect to raise the level of play much in the conference tournament.

Also, remember what Hewitt looked like coaching on the sidelines? Compare that to DP. I’m sure DP is a pretty passionate coach and motivator. Still, motivation is only as good as it’s received.

 

[GSII]

Haaaa....yea he looked like a typical Virus. Depleting a once healthy body, one game at a time.

It's just a guess, but every now and then, maybe the guys need one of those..."Kryptonite" speeches before a big game.

 

[Jack Strop]

I agree in theory but the eye test (granted, from a TV screen) in several games said his positioning for rebounds was good but the elevation wasn't. The kind of foot injury that's not that bad, but you're hesitant to come down hard on it? I think his hot steak offensively was helped by sneaking up on people, and his cool-off came from no longer being able to do so. But there was a visual difference in his aggressive-ness on drives and the aforementioned change in "rebounding hops."

I also fully accept I may have no idea what I'm talking about.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

You seem to know more about his "hot steak" than anyone on this forum. Great job!

 

[GMUgemini]

I don’t think it’s motivation. We are 4 close home losses from being 21-10 and 13-5 and finishing second in the A10 (Davidson finished 14-4 and was one of our close losses).

Early in the season, it was our defense. I thinkPaulsen is partly to blame here for starting Reuter and stubbornly playing him so many minutes and leaving Calixte on the bench.

The other two games were individual and don’t constitute any kinds of trends.

Unfortunately, when you can’t just “out talent” many teams, you are going to be in a lot of close games, and those can go either way. We were on the bad side of too many of those games this year and it really cost us.

 

[GMUgemini]

I don’t think it’s motivation. We are 4 close home losses from being 21-10 and 13-5 and finishing second in the A10 (Davidson finished 14-4 and was one of our close losses).

Early in the season, it was our defense. I thinkPaulsen is partly to blame here for starting Reuter and stubbornly playing him so many minutes and leaving Calixte on the bench.

The other two games were individual and don’t constitute any kinds of trends.

 

[gmubrian]

...his hot steak ...

Does he get the ribeye from Brion’s, too? That is just about my favorite meal from anywhere. I get it almost every time I visit Brion’s Grille.

 

[PoorManProfit]

I don’t think it’s motivation. We are 4 close home losses from being 21-10 and 13-5 and finishing second in the A10 (Davidson finished 14-4 and was one of our close losses).

Oh, I see, what about the close home wins against SOU, FOR and UMASS? I’m sure there are other close wins that could have, easily, been Ls...

 

[gmubrian]

I have been pondering the move of putting Mar in the game for 2 minutes of walk-on time. I just don't understand it.

I could see if he is still recovering from the injury still, suiting up just in case you needed him. But, we didn't need him so why would you risk it if he was still ailing. So it would seem to rule that narrative out.

That seems to tell me that he is fully healthy and we want to get him in to knock the rust off so that he is ready for the tournament. But, why do it with about 2 minutes left when the game was already over. If your goal was truly to knock the rust off, I would think you could have gotten him minutes earlier in the game and gotten him more minutes as well.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I have been pondering the move of putting Mar in the game for 2 minutes of walk-on time. I just don't understand it.

I could see if he is still recovering from the injury still, suiting up just in case you needed him. But, we didn't need him so why would you risk it if he was still ailing. So it would seem to rule that narrative out.

That seems to tell me that he is fully healthy and we want to get him in to knock the rust off so that he is ready for the tournament. But, why do it with about 2 minutes left when the game was already over. If your goal was truly to knock the rust off, I would think you could have gotten him minutes earlier in the game and gotten him more minutes as well.

I assume that he is healthy but is not back in game shape yet. All I know is that he had a smile a mile wide when he was greeted by the team at the buzzer. I was happy for him. I don't think anyone associated with the team would have allowed him on the floor if he wasn't healthy enough to do so.

 

[gmujim92]

I assume that he is healthy but is not back in game shape yet. All I know is that he had a smile a mile wide when he was greeted by the team at the buzzer. I was happy for him. I don't think anyone associated with the team would have allowed him on the floor if he wasn't healthy enough to do so.

Agreed. It’s also not that easy to change the rotation on short notice and find minutes for a guy who has missed 14 games without potentially screwing things up. I’m just glad Go is feeling well enough to play at all — my assumption was he’d be shut down until next season.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Agreed. It’s also not that easy to change the rotation on short notice and find minutes for a guy who has missed 14 games without potentially screwing things up. I’m just glad Go is feeling well enough to play at all — my assumption was he’d be shut down until next season.

On the other hand wouldn't it be sweet if he came in at some point to make a crucial game winning play!

 

[GMUgemini]

Agreed. It’s also not that easy to change the rotation on short notice and find minutes for a guy who has missed 14 games without potentially screwing things up. I’m just glad Go is feeling well enough to play at all — my assumption was he’d be shut down until next season.

Hopefully he gets 5-8 on Thursday (especially if Boyd is another scratch) and can build from there. Could use his length and defense if we are to go on a run.

 

[FreeGunston12]

I assume that he is healthy but is not back in game shape yet. All I know is that he had a smile a mile wide when he was greeted by the team at the buzzer. I was happy for him. I don't think anyone associated with the team would have allowed him on the floor if he wasn't healthy enough to do so.

Agreed. It’s also not that easy to change the rotation on short notice and find minutes for a guy who has missed 14 games without potentially screwing things up. I’m just glad Go is feeling well enough to play at all — my assumption was he’d be shut down until next season.

Exactly. The ATCs follow return-to-play protocols. The good news about the Mar sighting in a game is it means he has been practicing in full. They would've also put him through a pretty thorough evaluation pregame. Unless there is a setback in practice, he's fully cleared for the tournament. Usage will be up to coaches. I'd be surprised if he gets meaningful minutes in the rotation as he's bound to be rusty.

I have been pondering the move of putting Mar in the game for 2 minutes of walk-on time. I just don't understand it.

I could see if he is still recovering from the injury still, suiting up just in case you needed him. But, we didn't need him so why would you risk it if he was still ailing. So it would seem to rule that narrative out.

That seems to tell me that he is fully healthy and we want to get him in to knock the rust off so that he is ready for the tournament. But, why do it with about 2 minutes left when the game was already over. If your goal was truly to knock the rust off, I would think you could have gotten him minutes earlier in the game and gotten him more minutes as well.

Paulsen never seems comfortable with a lead. He waits longer than most coaches to put walk-ons in and really never lets them run any offense. My guess is that Paulsen didn't put Mar in because he didn't trust him as the best option off the bench yet. He wasn't going to risk a comeback by GW, but there was no real health risk in playing Mar. For the same reasons, I don't expect to see much of Mar in the A-10 tournament.

 

[gmutom]

Hopefully he gets 5-8 on Thursday (especially if Boyd is another scratch) and can build from there. Could use his length and defense if we are to go on a run.

The fine balance in a conference tournament is finding a way to shorten your bench while also extending it the more games you win. Coach L was able to ride 6 guys in our 2006 run due to so many days off, but we are going to need every guy available in Brooklyn on the rare chance we run the table.

 

[GMUgemini]

The fine balance in a conference tournament is finding a way to shorten your bench while also extending it the more games you win. Coach L was able to ride 6 guys in our 2006 run due to so many days off, but we are going to need every guy available in Brooklyn on the rare chance we run the table.

That and the extra long commercial breaks during media timeouts.

In Richmond, Fleming and Hernandez both got time and I don’t think either played more than 1 minute total in the tournament.

Four games in four days is a big ask.