Game 33: (A-10 Tournament, Brooklyn, NY), St. Bonaventure, Friday, March 15th, 2:30 PM, NBCSN

[PoorManProfit]

The lack of perimeter shooting also gets magnified exponentially, because we really have no low-post game, either. Most of our points in the paint are drives by Kier, tip-ins and offensive put-backs by Miller, and the occasional bucket by Calixte.

Everything is hard. Not a good team.

 

[Herndon]

AS long as Paulson is running this program expect to be disappointed next year and all the the remaining years he is here. His problem is poor recruiting and just poor coaching. He is not the answer. If mediocrity is your goal than he is your man.

I think next year we will be lucky to win 10 games. Problem is Mason is too cheap to eat any salary, so get ready for more of the same.

You care to put a hundred on that?

 

[GMUgemini]

^^^this. Dave / Brad at a minimum, owe the fan base that makes donations to the program a “state of the program” of sorts. Let us know what you’ve done with our hard earned money, where do you see the program going? Give us something to be excited about. I dislike Paulsen for a myriad of reasons, but the dude absolutely sucks with media/communicating with the fan base. Who are you excited about? How are we tweaking the system for next year? Give us something other than your bullshit canned statement about how great we are practicing. Just give us something.

Thought Petey's offseason interview with Paulsen was very good. If he'd be willing to do another one, would love to see if we could get him to assess what he needs to change after losing Otis and Grayer for next season to be successful.

 

[Herndon]

Thought Petey's offseason interview with Paulsen was very good. If he'd be willing to do another one, would love to see if we could get him to assess what he needs to change after losing Otis and Grayer for next season to be successful.

For what it's worth, I'm not actually sure that we're losing all that much.

Like, Grayer didn't play much this season and Otis didn't play well this season.

 

[Masonfan3]

Thought Petey's offseason interview with Paulsen was very good. If he'd be willing to do another one, would love to see if we could get him to assess what he needs to change after losing Otis and Grayer for next season to be successful.

I hope he does another interview and hope DP is honest. If he is honest then the things that need to be changed are:
-DP needs to change his defensive strategy as consistently helping/double teaming down low and leaving shooters wide open will never work especially against teams that lack post scoring (ie today).
-Needs to get a legit big man that eats up the middle and can get rebounds. I’m sorry but when your leading rebounder is a guard it’s not good. And don’t give me the “our bigs do a good job of boxing out nonsense.”
-Reuter needs to be the 3rd or 4th big man off the bench. He is horrible on offense, lacks effort on the glass, and is extremely out of shape. I have never been so disappointed in a player in my 20+ years of watching Mason.
-Needs to have an actual offensive scheme. 90% of our possessions have been a guard dribbling and everyone else standing around.

I am somewhat optimistic for next year because of Kier and Miller but DP needs to take a hard look in the mirror and stop being so stubborn and finally make some changes/adjustments.

 

[sleeperpick]

I hope he does another interview and hope DP is honest. If he is honest then the things that need to be changed are:
-DP needs to change his defensive strategy as consistently helping/double teaming down low and leaving shooters wide open will never work especially against teams that lack post scoring (ie today).
-Needs to get a legit big man that eats up the middle and can get rebounds. I’m sorry but when your leading rebounder is a guard it’s not good. And don’t give me the “our bigs do a good job of boxing out nonsense.”
-Reuter needs to be the 3rd or 4th big man off the bench. He is horrible on offense, lacks effort on the glass, and is extremely out of shape. I have never been so disappointed in a player in my 20+ years of watching Mason.
-Needs to have an actual offensive scheme. 90% of our possessions have been a guard dribbling and everyone else standing around.

I am somewhat optimistic for next year because of Kier and Miller but DP needs to take a hard look in the mirror and stop being so stubborn and finally make some changes/adjustments.

great post... this is my absolute best case scenario... very eloquently put

 

[GMUgemini]

For what it's worth, I'm not actually sure that we're losing all that much.

Like, Grayer didn't play much this season and Otis didn't play well this season.

I agree with you, but the dynamics of the team will change without Otis at the point.

 

[GMUgemini]

I hope he does another interview and hope DP is honest. If he is honest then the things that need to be changed are:
-DP needs to change his defensive strategy as consistently helping/double teaming down low and leaving shooters wide open will never work especially against teams that lack post scoring (ie today).
-Needs to get a legit big man that eats up the middle and can get rebounds. I’m sorry but when your leading rebounder is a guard it’s not good. And don’t give me the “our bigs do a good job of boxing out nonsense.”
-Reuter needs to be the 3rd or 4th big man off the bench. He is horrible on offense, lacks effort on the glass, and is extremely out of shape. I have never been so disappointed in a player in my 20+ years of watching Mason.
-Needs to have an actual offensive scheme. 90% of our possessions have been a guard dribbling and everyone else standing around.

I am somewhat optimistic for next year because of Kier and Miller but DP needs to take a hard look in the mirror and stop being so stubborn and finally make some changes/adjustments.

I really think a 1-3-1 base is the way to go on defense with Greene at the top, Kier at the base, and Mar and Miller at the wings.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I really think a 1-3-1 base is the way to go on defense with Greene at the top, Kier at the base, and Mar and Miller at the wings.

Generally a base 1-3-1 at this level only is successful as anything more than a change of pace if you have team length.

Not sure we have near enough top to bottom, though I guess the Mar at the four maybe.

 

[GMUgemini]

Generally a base 1-3-1 at this level only is successful as anything more than a change of pace if you have team length.

Not sure we have near enough top to bottom, though I guess the Mar at the four maybe.

Maybe. But our base man sucked, our pack line sucked, our 2-3 zone (the few times we played it) sucked, I think that lineup and where you put them in the zone would work better than collapse and hope.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I mean, went how I expected it to go, won 200 bucks with Bonnie -3.5 (went up to 5)...almost a criminal line. Was at least proud of how we battled back in the second half and I will miss Otis.

Agree with a lot of what's said. Guess you could still put me in the Paulsen camp but this year was extremely disappointing. Can't blame most of the critics, when you hype Reuter like Paulsen did you deserve everything. When you take a vet team to Spain and suck right off the bat you deserve it too.

As good as Kier has been I see a guy like Matt Lewis (O'Connell) as the only underclassman to make all-CAA at JMU and wonder why he isn't here. Lights out shooter with good size. Not sure why we don't have one of those yet, though I guess we'll see with JDS.

But he's it as far as a shooter with decent size. And of all the undersized guys, wish we'd have our Thomas or Lewis by now.

Wonder if the huge success many of the programs are having in Virginia is hindering us.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Maybe. But our base man sucked, our pack line sucked, our 2-3 zone (the few times we played it) sucked, I think that lineup and where you put them in the zone would work better than collapse and hope.

I think we have to go back to pure pack line and find a rotation but certainly up for trying anything in short order if we suck again non-conference at home to open.

Can't hurt that's for sure.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Thought Petey's offseason interview with Paulsen was very good. If he'd be willing to do another one, would love to see if we could get him to assess what he needs to change after losing Otis and Grayer for next season to be successful.

Thanks. DP is honest to a fault in interviews - feels weird that me just asking him fan stuff about what he expected from Reuter turned into all this.

I caught up with him in the locker room postgame and asked how we get from where we are to competing with the elite teams in the A10. He acknowledged the athleticism gap and that we don't necessarily have the horses we need. It's about five minutes of him talking about Otis and then talking about that question, but it's thoughtful stuff. It'll be in a pod we're dropping shortly.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Thanks. DP is honest to a fault in interviews - feels weird that me just asking him fan stuff about what he expected from Reuter turned into all this.

I caught up with him in the locker room postgame and asked how we get from where we are to competing with the elite teams in the A10. He acknowledged the athleticism gap and that we don't necessarily have the horses we need. It's about five minutes of him talking about Otis and then talking about that question, but it's thoughtful stuff. It'll be in a pod we're dropping shortly.

Great job.

 

[gmujim92]

Pretty sure it’s a sign of the apocalypse when Jollay is making serious posts.

It’s been a pleasure not knowing most of you.

 

[gmujim92]

Thanks. DP is honest to a fault in interviews - feels weird that me just asking him fan stuff about what he expected from Reuter turned into all this.

I caught up with him in the locker room postgame and asked how we get from where we are to competing with the elite teams in the A10. He acknowledged the athleticism gap and that we don't necessarily have the horses we need. It's about five minutes of him talking about Otis and then talking about that question, but it's thoughtful stuff. It'll be in a pod we're dropping shortly.

Does beating Dayton, Bona and Rhode Island — two of them on the road — not constitute “competing” with the elite teams in the A-10?

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Pretty sure it’s a sign of the apocalypse when Jollay is making serious posts.

It’s been a pleasure not knowing most of you.

Well, been drinking at the casino most of the day now painfully sober. And serious.

 

[PoorManProfit]

What a drag year. All the homers were talking legit postseason and they weren't even close. A nothing year, but next year will be the year for sure...

 

[Bricker]

During the losing streak to open the season, it was obvious we had not developed into a good scoring team. That wouldn't be the end of the world if we were more consistent and capable on defense, but due to size (or maybe effort/legs/focus) we could not sustain 40 minutes of solid D once over the course of the season.

Injuries aside, the worst part of the season is that the team did not make any notable progress from non-conference play. Our A-10 schedule masked many of our problems because we had some of our best shooting nights at St Joes and Rhode Island to get us off to a hot start. Could our guys beat either of these squads right now if we played them in Brooklyn? I doubt it.

I still think this team will be a little better next year, and I'm curious to see how we look and act without Otis at the point. Unfortunately, I think there are quite a few other squads in the conference that will pass us and improve even more. Can AJ get a clue? Can Greene find some consistency? Will Miller make a big sophomore leap? Will Reuter leap at all? Impossible to say.

It's clear other A-10 squads don't think much of us, so I assume we'll get a preseason ranking around 7th or 8th. That's probably about right.

Paulsen's not going anywhere. I'm ok with that for now. But it's time to put up or shut up. My fear is that's not how the AD views it. I think Paulsen is Brad's guy and he's good as long as we're not fighting for last place and we're bringing in "character" guys. Win a few games, be good citizens -- expectations end there.

If we fire Paulsen, who could we even reel in to replace him? Mason has no fanbase, little funding, few big donors, no expectations, no pedigree outside Larranaga's tenure, an old arena, and no bells and whistles to attract big recruits. The program is a project in every sense of the word. Oh, and we're not exactly shelling out big bucks for a coach, either.

I also question the university's support for our flagship sport. From what I've seen from afar, the Cabrera era has been a lot of talk about Basketball being a priority. But I have a feeling that it still isn't a "front door"... and that they've just been slapping some new paint on Tom O'C's old side-door and hoping no one would notice. Everything the school does, from handrails to social media to the logo redesign has been decidedly small time. No guts. No vision.

Very low-energy. SAD!

 

[JDK]

Well, been drinking at the casino most of the day now painfully sober. And serious.

CTown in West Virginia or MGM?