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

[Pikapppatri8]

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.

Agreed but he does provide a tough presence for rebounding and driving to the bucket. His offense has been made under the basket - - with mid-range jumpers and perimeter shots. You put him on the floor with Jenkins and Copes and we look pretty solid.

 

[polepino]

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.

Hewitt's style of offense is definitely predicated on versatility from what I can see. He wants bigs that can run the floor as well as cause damage down low or pop out for jumpers. Everyone should be able to slash to the lane. Larranagas offense seemed a little bit more defined; you had the bigs down low(and primarily down low at that) and the guards usually floating around the edges, definitely more of a half court game. Larranagas bigs seemed to have a more prominent back to the basket game and were more bruisers in side where Hewitt, from what I've seen so far, prefers bigs that have a little more finesse. Again, not knocking Larranagas style, just noticing the differences.

 

[GMUgemini]

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.

La Salle also lost their two best players and can't play defense. So it's no surprise they aren't going to finish that high. They also just lost 50-65 to UNI and are 3-4 right now. So let's not pretend they are some juggernaut team.

UMass, vcu and SLU are the class of the league. We have as much chance as the next 4 or 5 team to finish fourth behind them.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I'll take the win as unimpressive as it was. The bright spot, Jalen Jenkins was a STUD tonight.

 

[gmujim92]

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.

Would people please stop reading things into my posts that aren't there?

I never said we're destined to be bottom feeders -- just that we need to play much better to compete in a much deeper league than the one we left.

Do I think we can play much better? Yes. If I didn't, I certainly wouldn't waste my time here.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

On a side note is this our first OOC win with an in-conference opponent?

 

[gmujim92]

La Salle also lost their two best players and can't play defense. So it's no surprise they aren't going to finish that high. They also just lost 50-65 to UNI and are 3-4 right now. So let's not pretend they are some juggernaut team.

UMass, vcu and SLU are the class of the league. We have as much chance as the next 4 or 5 team to finish fourth behind them.

Dayton has beaten Gonzaga and Cal.

GW has wins over Manhattan and Miami.

Richmond beat a decent Belmont team.

All 3 of those teams are clearly better than us right now. The key is improvement.

 

[GMUgemini]

I agree with you Jim. But we haven't been full strength so far this season either, so it's to be expected we haven't played as well as we should have.

Missing Arledge will hurt, but Marko has stepped up I'm a big way this year and Jalen is already a better rebounder than Arledge.

 

[Dawgs99]

I disagree on Richmond....they are def. not clearly better than us. GW is playing better and Dayton is def. playing better.

 

[Walter]

Has Copes forgotten how to play basketball?

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Has Copes forgotten how to play basketball?

What makes you say that.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Besides the end of the game, BA has really been struggling. If BA can have even an average game for him, we would have won by at leas 12 tonight. I refuse to believe he will continue to play this bad. We are really hard to defend when both Sherrod and BA are on, so that gives me some hope.

I am just glad we won. My fellow Mason fans, we can no loner be picky about our wins. I no longer care how ugly we win, we just need to win.

 

[Walter]

What makes you say that.

He was a non factor tonight?

 

[Dawgs99]

BA has been stuck playing the point much of the season....look no further than this for why his is struggling. Until CE or MM take the reigns of the point I'm afraid BA will be asked to play that 1 for much of the season. Im sure we can all agree that BA is much better off the ball. We need his scoring ability going forward,

 

[Pikapppatri8]

He was a non factor tonight?

We'll I think it's because we didn't really need him while he spelled on the bench. Different scenarios and defenses require different approaches. Jenkins was a beast on rebounds and we had a few blocks with Jenkins, Marko, and Vaughn Gray doing duty.

I think it is also a reflection of depth for bigs. We can rotate as needed. Another topic of conversation in he stands today.

 

[GSII]

Lets see if the changes made today were just for Rhode Island, or if they are gonna stick to it. Someone please wake Copes up. Jenkins comes to play so he only needs one on one with Coach Houston to devlop some inside moves. But Copes needs to represent, and soon.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Lets see if the changes made today were just for Rhode Island, or if they are gonna stick to it. Someone please wake Copes up. Jenkins comes to play so he only needs one on one with Coach Houston to devlop some inside moves. But Copes needs to represent, and soon.

Agreed - although it could be Copes just shaking off rust. I think he will be fine. But you are right - we need him with Jenkins and J2 to really control the post.

 

[JBiggs]

Game highlights: http://www.gomason.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3124096

This is what actually happens when J2 decides to use his body (3:10 mark). If he could do that consistently, he would be near unstoppable.

 

[Pikapppatri8]

Game highlights: http://www.gomason.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=3124096

This is what actually happens when J2 decides to use his body (3:10 mark). If he could do that consistently, he would be near unstoppable.

Agreed. Saw that during the game and just thought that was sweet. He has the ability - he just need to let himself loose and go for it.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

3 possessions of zone defense tonight.

Total URI points against the zone--6. All on lay ups, including an offensive rebound.