Game 33: (Atlantic 10 Tournament, Washington, DC), St. Joe's, Friday, March 9th, 2:30 PM, NBCSN

[GMUgemini]

Wasnt one of their starters out vs us?

Only once. He played the other two times.


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[JimP]

Livingston is done, we've drained every last ounce of energy from him this season.

I would expect next year GMU will win a few going away and Otis will actually get some strategic breaks.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Got some good stuff from Martelli and Paulsen in the postgame presser. Martelli said they went zone exclusively in the second half even though Mason was 6-12 against it in the first because they were confident in their scouting (read: Mason's zone offense isn't very good).

Dave said he tried some things to get the offense going, including getting Otis the ball on the baseline to help him drive, but there's not a lot you can do when shots aren't falling. He thought they were getting good looks.

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[emjayar08]

Would've like to see More Combos of Calixte-Mar and Wilson-Mar on the floor. Thought AJ showed great energy and defense in the first half, dont care if he had 3 fouls quickly, play him. Calixte shot over 60% this year and was 2-2 but we stopped feeding him. We cant rely on our guards all game, especially when they cant make anything.

Beside his buzzer beaters, Ian really took a step back towards the end of this year. Not sure what type of player he wants to be, and he seems as hesitant as Kier from the 3pt line. He should be a bruising guard, but he seemed afraid to make contact on the drive and afraid to shoot from distance. Grayer obviously was still playing injured, so I'll give him a pass.

Do the coaches not teach our players how to take a charge? I think the only player that learned it is Javon Greene, and I'm sure he brought that with him from HS. Every college player should know how to.

Looking forward to having a pure scorer here next year in JSD. And Reuter too obviously.

Was that the worst shooting game Mason has had in the last 10-15 years?

 

[Mason2005]

49 points. See you guys in November.

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[patriot2000]

This team did what it could. A tourney win and a top 5 finish is overachieving in my eye. Not being able to play a complete game against Joes hurts, but in the grand scheme it doesn't mean anything.

I have no problem admitting to being high on Paulsen. I do understand some of the questions about his in-game decisions this year but I think he did what he could with the horses he had.

Now, "the horses he had" may very well be his fault and that's where I'm looking for immediate improvement. I have been, and continue to be, a vocal supporter of the "Hewitt's mess was bigger than some people realize" argument. But next year is THE year in my mind. An overachieving Otis and a hopefully healthy Grayer, backed by DP's boys (no excuses about last-minute roster fill-ins who didn't pan out), should contend for a title. They certainly don't need to win the A10, but if they're not in the conversation I will start to question things.

This year was an unmitigated success IF it leads to better things. I am unashamedly hopeful that it will. I think we have the right athletic department and I think we hired the right coach.

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[PoorManProfit]

49 points. See you guys in November.

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I’m waiting for the “I’d love to see this team play more ball even it’s in the CLIT or CBI...” from some board members.

 

[GSII]

Our fan base sucks.

The kids played hard and i cant blame them for being out of gas. I am proud of them.

The coaching staff needs to make sure they are bringing in the right horse. The A10 is full of big guards and Boyd needs to step up starting next year. Grayer, while some say he is hurt, it didnt look like he was hurt too badly, but ok, he still needs to step up next year, mentally. He should be averaging 17-20pts next year. Greg needs to fix his release also.

We have a good coach but bad luck bit him roster wise. Maybe cut back on the mt dew. Next year is it though. Gotta dance for Otis at the least.

 

[GMUgemini]

Our fan base sucks.

The kids played hard and i cant blame them for being out of gas. I am proud of them.

The coaching staff needs to make sure they are bringing in the right horse. The A10 is full of big guards and Boyd needs to step up starting next year. Grayer, while some say he is hurt, it didnt look like he was hurt too badly, but ok, he still needs to step up next year, mentally. He should be averaging 17-20pts next year. Greg needs to fix his release also.

We have a good coach but bad luck bit him roster wise. Maybe cut back on the mt dew. Next year is it though. Gotta dance for Otis at the least.

Kier needs to work on his release.

Grayer needs to be stronger going to the basket and around the rim offensively. I don’t know how a player who is such a good defensive rebounder gets flustered on the other side of the court.

Otis needs to work on defensive positioning in the half court.

Greene just needs reps. Lots and lots of reps.

AJ needs to work on staying in control.

Calixte needs help with his shooting motion.

It’ll be interesting to be able to go with a defensive lineup sometimes, Like a Kier Greene, Grayer, AJ, Reuter/Calixte (no idea what kind of defender Reuter is yet) lineup next year. I don’t think they’d be horrible offensively either. Run these guys for 5 minutes when we’ve got a big lead and try to build in it instead of scrambling and trying to hold on for dear life.


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[Falco]

I would like to see some plays designed for Wilson. Nice back door alley oop.

 

[psyclone]

Steve Goff of the Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...4bfff693d2b_story.html?utm_term=.b4cb40cb4ead

 

[mkaufman1]

Frustrating end to the season, but the team had a good run. Unfortunately every open look didn’t go down today. Very excited about next season and expect some big things coming over the next few seasons.

I’m ready for November to get here already.

 

[dr. gunnie]

Time to put this new practice facility into use!

Hope to see a lot of pics and videos of our guys in there over the next 7 months or so... with a short break while they travel over to Spain this summer. Really shocked they went with Spain for their trip... I wonder if any of our administration had any input into that location?

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Zone strategy was very interesting by them. Low-scoring game was a surprise too, we actually played good defense for once for most of the game.

Outside shooting might continue to be a limitation for us. Staff seems to want to develop it more than specifically target it in recruiting wings.

 

[MasonCrew]

I'm on a little snowboarding trip out west. My legs are done after the first few days. I can relate to the team. Great season. Would have liked to see a little bit of a better ending, but we finished ahead of vcu and they're sitting as well. Next season should be a good one. Onwards and upwards.

 

[smccart5]

Got some good stuff from Martelli and Paulsen in the postgame presser. Martelli said they went zone exclusively in the second half even though Mason was 6-12 against it in the first because they were confident in their scouting (read: Mason's zone offense isn't very good).

Dave said he tried some things to get the offense going, including getting Otis the ball on the baseline to help him drive, but there's not a lot you can do when shots aren't falling. He thought they were getting good looks.

Support my habit of playing reporter by clicking on stuff, it's all I ask:

http://giantkiller.co/2018/03/09/a10-tournament-liveblog-day-3/

Appreciate the reporting! Agree that there’s not much you can do when shots aren’t falling. We were about as cold as you can be. Bummer way to end the season, would have loved to drink some beer and watch mason tournament basketball on a Saturday

 

[gmujim92]

Outside shooting might continue to be a limitation for us. Staff seems to want to develop it more than specifically target it in recruiting wings.

They definitely targeted perimeter shooting with Douglas-Stanley. I’ll be shocked if he’s not one of the better shooters on the team from Day 1.

 

[Dawgs99]

While we're talking about what each player needs to improve on for next year.....I really believe that Grayer is our X factor. If he can refine his game by improving his ball handling (this to me is his biggest weakness), being able to create a shot for himself, and generally being more consistent of the offensive end I think we challenge for the A10 title. I already love what he brings on the backboards. Reuter and JD-S will undoubtedly help next year but I think it really hinges on what kind of player Grayer will be a a senior.

 

[MasonSAE4]

While we're talking about what each player needs to improve on for next year.....I really believe that Grayer is our X factor. If he can refine his game by improving his ball handling (this to me is his biggest weakness), being able to create a shot for himself, and generally being more consistent of the offensive end I think we challenge for the A10 title. I already love what he brings on the backboards. Reuter and JD-S will undoubtedly help next year but I think it really hinges on what kind of player Grayer will be a a senior.

Grayer being healthy will be like adding another player. He was clearly limited during the back half of the season. Took some uncharacteristic turnovers and was clanging shots left and right. Not that worried about him.

Boyd and Kier worry me a little (although Kier less so.) Both started well, dipped way off, picked it up again, but then fell off again. Does anyone know if Ian’s knee is still bothering him? Seemed reluctant to drive towards the end.

Aside from Reuter, my biggest hope for next year is JDS being able to stretch the floor and open up defenses. Our offense yesterday reverted to early season swing it around the arc-style and it didn’t work. Forcing defenders higher up should open up the ball to go down to Reuter and for him to kick it back out for more open looks.

 

[Jack Strop]

We're all excited about JDS next, but he will be entering his freshman season with Miller, who also appears to be able to score from anywhere and create drives to the rim. Remember, though, these two will be freshmen and will take about 3/4 of the season to get up to speed. The one aspect that most freshmen pick up on very quickly is that nearly everyone they play against play like the fastest opponent they've ever seen in HS. Give these boys time to man-up.

On Grayer, he has a very frustrating injury. I believe he had a bad arch sprain. I had one playing sports in HS and it was absolutely brutal and debilitating. I could walk around and it appeared that nothing was bothering me. But try to push off of that foot to run or jump and it's intant pain! Also, as it is an injury far from the blood supply, it takes FOREVER to heal.

For the rest of the team, time to get your legs back and work hard on your skills and deficits. Big things are afoot for next season, I'm assured.