Game 7, Rhode Island, Nov. 30th, 4 PM, MASN

[Pikapppatri8]

Well tonight was actually a more positive game than I thought going in. The man to man defense actually forced URI to travel 5 times - and not by happenstance. It was actually quite good. Saw the zone changed up about three times. Jenkins was a beast. Marko was as good as always. BA had flashes early on but was inconsistent then woke up in the second half.

Good crowd - even without students. Decent atmosphere.

On a side note a guy sitting in front of me had his iPad mini connected to the sling box feeding him the tv transmission. I was quite envious.

 

[gmujim92]

Well tonight was actually a more positive game than I thought going in. The man to man defense actually forced URI to travel 5 times - and not by happenstance. It was actually quite good. Saw the zone changed up about three times. Jenkins was a beast. Marko was as good as always. BA had flashes early on but was inconsistent then woke up in the second half.

Good crowd - even without students. Decent atmosphere.

On a side note a guy sitting in front of me had his iPad mini connected to the sling box feeding him the tv transmission. I was quite envious.

Yeah, our man-to-man D was quite good, except for the dozen or so times we let URI players waltz right to the basket. Fortunately Jenkins was there to challenge and/or block shots, and URI struggled to finish other opportunities in close.

Jenkins is a stud -- the quickest leaping big we've had in a long time -- and strong as an ox. If he can develop a couple dependable post moves, he'll be an absolute handful on the block.

Otherwise it was as ugly as ever, full of Hewitt's typically stagnant motion offense and dominated by one-on-one play. I can't remember more than 3-4 times where guys shared the ball and created a scoring chance for a teammate.

We won. I'm happy about that, but once again, I think that was more a factor of the opponent's mediocrity than anything great we did. Still waiting for a sign that things could eventually get better.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Yeah, our man-to-man D was quite good, except for the dozen or so times we let URI players waltz right to the basket. Fortunately Jenkins was there to challenge and/or block shots, and URI struggled to finish other opportunities in close.

Jenkins is a stud -- the quickest leaping big we've had in a long time -- and strong as an ox. If he can develop a couple dependable post moves, he'll be an absolute handful on the block.

Otherwise it was as ugly as ever, full of Hewitt's typically stagnant motion offense and dominated by one-on-one play. I can't remember more than 3-4 times where guys shared the ball and created a scoring chance for a teammate.

We won. I'm happy about that, but once again, I think that was more a factor of the opponent's mediocrity than anything great we did. Still waiting for a sign that things could eventually get better.

Actually we led in assists in this game. The offense was aggressive and I believe better than you let on in your post. What I am noticing is the problem with our offense close to the post is the legacy OCM players not being big enough to really finish a a lot of the times.

And URI was not waltzing down the basket like you say - they were running isolation plays where the big moved out to the week side then slid in when a rotation on our end presented a mismatch. Three of those shots the man was almost behind the basket. Good play on URI's part - but not waltzing downy the post like you indicate.

 

[Dawgs99]

I actually think this was our best game yet, bar was set pretty low however. Defense was much better, not perfect but better. This team has no low post threat and has been shooting extremely poor. Was happy to see some zone tonight. Jenkins looked really good. As mentioned earlier he already has more offensive game than Copes. Also thought the effort was there from start to finish, which hadn't been the case for many games this season.

 

[gmujim92]

Actually we led in assists in this game. The offense was aggressive and I believe better than you let on in your post. What I am noticing is the problem with our offense close to the post is the legacy OCM players not being big enough to really finish a a lot of the times.

Sorry, but having more assists than URI is no great accomplishment -- they play just as much 1-on-1 as we do. Their bread-and-butter was the 1-4 set tonight because our guards can't stop penetration from the top of the key.

Hopefully with JA done for the season, we'll see Copes and Jenkins playing together a lot. J2 is soft as butter, and we need guys who can challenge shots at the rim and rebound the damn ball.

I know Marko doesn't really match up well defensively with a typical SF -- esp. against teams that run 3-guard sets -- but Marko, Jenkins and Copes would be an interesting front line against bigger teams.

Jalen is already our best rebounder and needs to be on the floor 30 minutes a game.

 

[gmutom]

Otherwise it was as ugly as ever, full of Hewitt's typically stagnant motion offense and dominated by one-on-one play.

Did you even watch the game? We had assists on 11 of our 21 baskets, which is pretty damn good. We ran several nice plays, including J2 hitting a cutting Holloway to the basket and a beautiful give-and-go between Marko and Allen near the end of the game.

Are there still too many one-on-one plays? Sure, but to not acknowledge the progress the offense is making without one dominant big man is shortsighted at best.

I've bitched that we press too much and that we've played no zone, and tonight we didn't press at all and we broke out the zone several times. I'd call both of those adjustments, albeit a little later than they should have been made. I also love that Hewitt rode Jenkins down the stretch instead of going with a very rusty Copes, because Jalen was the difference in this game.

It's pretty damn sad that you can't even acknowledge that your team won instead of going so far out of your way to say it's because the other team sucked.

 

[gmujim92]

Did you even watch the game? We had assists on 11 of our 21 baskets, which is pretty damn good. We ran several nice plays, including J2 hitting a cutting Holloway to the basket and a beautiful give-and-go between Marko and Allen near the end of the game.

Are there still too many one-on-one plays? Sure, but to not acknowledge the progress the offense is making without one dominant big man is shortsighted at best.

I've bitched that we press too much and that we've played no zone, and tonight we didn't press at all and we broke out the zone several times. I'd call both of those adjustments, albeit a little later than they should have been made. I also love that Hewitt rode Jenkins down the stretch instead of going with a very rusty Copes, because Jalen was the difference in this game.

It's pretty damn sad that you can't even acknowledge that your team won instead of going so far out of your way to say it's because the other team sucked.

Re-read my original post Tom.

I acknowledged that I was glad we won. I also acknowledged that we had 3-4 nice plays where guys set each other up for baskets. The Allen basket was especially timely.

But if you think what you saw tonight is gonna get it done against good teams, you're high as a kite.

It wouldn't have gotten it done tonight without a monster game from Jenkins.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Did you even watch the game? We had assists on 11 of our 21 baskets, which is pretty damn good. We ran several nice plays, including J2 hitting a cutting Holloway to the basket and a beautiful give-and-go between Marko and Allen near the end of the game.

Are there still too many one-on-one plays? Sure, but to not acknowledge the progress the offense is making without one dominant big man is shortsighted at best.

I've bitched that we press too much and that we've played no zone, and tonight we didn't press at all and we broke out the zone several times. I'd call both of those adjustments, albeit a little later than they should have been made. I also love that Hewitt rode Jenkins down the stretch instead of going with a very rusty Copes, because Jalen was the difference in this game.

It's pretty damn sad that you can't even acknowledge that your team won instead of going so far out of your way to say it's because the other team sucked.

Amen - where we were sitting in the game - there were four of discussing how the defense was played very well agains URI who does have athletic guards an the Latvian who is quick given his size. Likewise - I will still call this offense light years ahead of the oCM that usually resulted in guys waiting and waiting to go in and then usually ending up with a release for a three. It is a different offense than we are used to being from the CAA and it is one that relies on big men. Several comments were made that we looked bigger on the court than we had previously and I like to add it has been Hewitt's additions that seem to be making the difference.

 

[GSII]

If we are going to do damage in the a10, we need to improve that zone, have a better press in our back pocket and find someone man enough to post up down low. It's imparative that we have a post threat. Otherwise, we finish in the bottom of a10. Copes and Jenkins are the keys. Jenkins showed promise tonight.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

If we are going to do damage in the a10, we need to improve that zone, have a better press in our back pocket and find someone man enough to post up down low. It's imparative that we have a post threat. Otherwise, we finish in the bottom of a10. Copes and Jenkins are the keys. Jenkins showed promise tonight.

I would add Marko to that equation.

 

[GMUgemini]

URI doesn't suck as much as Jim wants everyone to believe either.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Re-read my original post Tom.

I acknowledged that I was glad we won. I also acknowledged that we had 3-4 nice plays where guys set each other up for baskets. The Allen basket was especially timely.

But if you think what you saw tonight is gonna get it done against good teams, you're high as a kite.

It wouldn't have gotten it done tonight without a monster game from Jenkins.

Actually there were more like 10-11 good assists and passes down low that set up baskets.

 

[gmujim92]

Not mentioning Hewitt's decision to scrap the "press" was an oversight on my part. Great move by him, and long overdue.

 

[gmujim92]

URI doesn't suck as much as Jim wants everyone to believe either.

Yes they do. They're gonna finish behind us in the A-10, book it.

 

[GMUgemini]

Yes they do. They're gonna finish behind us in the A-10, book it.

I think with the Arledge incident behind them and if everyone else is finally healthy this team is going to be better than you think it will.

 

[MASONscott]

Happy for the win.

I like that we are changing up our D, but our zone was soft and needs some teeth.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

 

[gmujim92]

I think with the Arledge incident behind them and if everyone else is finally healthy this team is going to be better than you think it will.

From your computer to God's ears, Gemini.

This A-10 is no joke. People who don't follow college hoops other than Mason are gonna be shocked at how much better the league is than the CAA top to bottom.

LaSalle went to the Sweet 16 last season, and they're probably gonna struggle to finish in the top half of the standings. Our guys need to play a lot better to avoid getting buried in this league, and hopefully they will.

 

[patriot2000]

I would add Marko to that equation.

Marko's one of the best players on this team, hands down, but he's not the kind of banging-in-the-post player like Jenkins is and Copes should be.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

From your computer to God's ears, Gemini.

This A-10 is no joke. People who don't follow college hoops other than Mason are gonna be shocked at how much better the league is than the CAA top to bottom.

LaSalle went to the Sweet 16 last season, and they're probably gonna struggle to finish in the top half of the standings. Our guys need to play a lot better to avoid getting buried in this league, and hopefully they will.

I don't think anyone on this board is underestimating the A10 and how tough they can be. Anyone on this board is clear the A10 is clearly ahead in hoops. Hence - I am glad that Hewitt is bringing in the bigger and quicker players that he has. While teams like St. Louis and vcu will be tough - very tough to beat - we have beaten a few A10 teams when we were in the CAA even with Hewitt - we beat Richmond, we beat GW, we even beat vcu once.

I don't expect us to win the A10 by any means - to say we are destined as bottom feeders is a bit premature and overly pessimistic.

 

[KAOriginal]

Glad Hewitt tweaked some things for a change!