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

[gmutom]

3 possessions of zone defense tonight.

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

Nobody said it worked great, but I'm sure they will work out some of the flaws we saw tonight with some practice.

 

[GMU_DCU]

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,

Bryon played well the first few games until the knee injury vs. UNI..not sure if the knee is still bothering him or not but hopefully he gets back to that form he showed in the CAA tournament last year.

 

[psyclone]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...100a8e-5a21-11e3-bdbf-097ab2a3dc2b_story.html

Steve Goff and some nice words on Jenkins. The hope here is that he will develop a little of an offensive game--even just finishing a few more putbacks. As it is, my rule of thumb is that any time you have more positive things (9 pts+11 rebounds + 5 blocks) than minutes played (17) you've had a heck of a game! Don't want to get ahead of ourselves--he's just playing in his first year so there will be some freshman mistakes (i.e. having a rebound stolen from him while he was looking away), but apparently his attitude is good (Hewitt addressed that at the post game presser) and he can be a real beast for us.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

1) Does anybody know what's going on with Moore? Is he still hurt and unable to play?

2) The lazy predictable pass crap that I saw at least 5 times will be eaten alive by teams like vcu, UMass, and SLU. They won't botch those turnovers like RIU did 2 or 3 times.

3) Copes has to learn some basketball IQ and not foul 30 feet from the basket. We need him to lock down the middle. We could be a pretty good defensive team if we go man and have him to challenge in the middle.

4) Agree that scrapping the press is a good idea. We don't create turnovers, give up layups and foul too much.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Moore never took off his warmups. Hewitt spoke to the ankle injury in the press conference (check GoMason.com) and it sounded like he's almost ready to come back.

I think there's a reason we don't play more zone: we're bad at it.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Moore had a sprained ankle and missed the Princeton game. I'm guessing he wasn't ready to go Saturday.

He'll be back on the floor before Arledge (sorry...couldn't resist)

 

[GSII]

Don't forget uri was missing one of their starters. Next game will be much tougher if Copes doesn't get going.

 

[DeepValue]

URI was not very impressive. Sherrod played well and I was impressed with Jalen who nearly had a double double in 17 minutes. Guy looks and acts like a basketball player. Good stuff for a freshman. We are going to miss Jon Arledge this year.

 

[Junkees9]

URI was not very impressive. Sherrod played well and I was impressed with Jalen who nearly had a double double in 17 minutes. Guy looks and acts like a basketball player. Good stuff for a freshman. We are going to miss Jon Arledge this year.

Yes, we are going to miss Arledge's scoring. And he was an excellent free throw shooter. I've lost track of the number of times we have said on these boards something like "... if Copes gets going..." or "... if Copes can lock down the middle..." or "... if Copes can (fill in the blank)". The fact is that "if" does not look to me like it is ever going to turn into reality. As our old DC sportscaster Ken Beatrice used to say -- "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, oh what a party we'd have"

 

[Patriotfan49]

I liked how Sherrod came out and Jenkins played in his minutes.

Other than that, I wasnt very encouraged that we are getting better. The zone they get credit for simply running it I suppose, but they cut right down the middle all night through it. That shouldnt happen that easily in zone. Our 5 and Copes in particular need to just sit in the middle and protect the rim. More times than not, our 5 was actually under the basket or not even in the paint, out of position. By the time they got to doing something, it was too late and the URI player either had great position or laid it in.

Maybe Im just mistaken, but watching us eek games against teams like URI, SFA etc...makes me very concerned about when vcu, St Louis etc come to town. The mistakes we make are going to be torn to shreds against teams like that. Hopefully its just somewhat playing up and down to the competition.

 

[gmutom]

...makes me very concerned about when vcu, St Louis etc come to town.

Oh, there's no question we are going to get taken to the cleaners by vcu and St. Louis, which is even more reason to celebrate the wins we do get — yes, even if they aren't pretty. Although I don't tolerate average effort or poor performance, I do accept that there are much teams better than us out there.

Although I agree with Junkees9 that we are going to miss Arledge's offense substantially, I hope the announcement gives some closure to the rest of the team so they can now move on. Copes is obviously a big key, because he hasn't been the same since getting hurt. I'll chalk last night up to be rusty, but it's time for him to step up if we are going to stand a fighting chance against the better teams on our schedule.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Although I agree with Junkees9 that we are going to miss Arledge's offense substantially, I hope the announcement gives some closure to the rest of the team so they can now move on..

You really think part of the performances has been because they are hanging on the Arledge situation?

Maybe we are different and its true a win is a win. But where is the sense of accomplishment if you beat all the cupcakes (even if you make them close) and then lose to all the top tier teams? Is that what you strive for, or are ok with? Ironic you say that you dont tolerate average or poor performances.....sure seems that you have for the better part of the past few years.

Maybe well steal a game or two from a better team due to any given night, but I am a bit dissapointed that you think we should just chalk a game up as a loss because its vcu or St Louis. I think we have a team where we should be able to go toe to toe wit those teams and not be completely run out of the gym.

 

[GMUgemini]

Something positive in our defense: Xavier Munford, who is A-10's leading returning scorer, was held to 5-18 shooting. That's not insignificant.

What we really need is better rebounding at this point. There have been a lot of times in the last three years we've forced a bad shot only to give up a soft offensive rebound and sent the team to the line or given up the lay-up or kickout three. If this team can limit their opponents to more one-and-dones the defense will look a lot better.

Oh, and the bad turnovers have just got to stop.

 

[gmutom]

Maybe we are different and its true a win is a win. But where is the sense of accomplishment if you beat all the cupcakes (even if you make them close) and then lose to all the top tier teams?

I felt great walking out of the Patriot Center last night after the victory. There are obviously some gaping holes with this team, one being we don't have a dominant big man or a great PG, but we've overcome enough of those to win five of our even games. Granted, some weren't pretty, but this isn't iceskating or gymnastics where points are awarded for artistry.

The goal just needs to be to get better individually and as a team a little each game, and we saw some improvements last night. I was happy to see us get off to a quick start yesterday after falling behind the last two games, and I was also happy to finally see some coaching adjustments — although the zone defense obviously needs some work.

If we get Moore healthy, Copes back to pre-injury form and J2 playing like a true big man, I think we are capable of competing with the likes of vcu and St. Louis. I just don't see either of the those teams being good match-ups for us given that their greatest strengths are some of our bigger weaknesses.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

You really think part of the performances has been because they are hanging on the Arledge situation?
Maybe we are different and its true a win is a win. But where is the sense of accomplishment if you beat all the cupcakes (even if you make them close) and then lose to all the top tier teams? Is that what you strive for, or are ok with? Ironic you say that you dont tolerate average or poor performances.....sure seems that you have for the better part of the past few years.
Maybe well steal a game or two from a better team due to any given night, but I am a bit dissapointed that you think we should just chalk a game up as a loss because its vcu or St Louis. I think we have a team where we should be able to go toe to toe wit those teams and not be completely run out of the gym.

Patroit49,

I agree with everything you have been saying this year, but it would be nice if you could bring up something new that we haven't heard before. We know Hewitt sucks, we know O'Connor's an idiot. Every single angle, you have covered quite articulately and thoroughly.

What GMUTOM, you, me or any other poster is satisfied with or not is irrelevant. We do not have the power to bring about any sort of change or influence.

We are who we are, an average team at best who may get lucky and get a couple of top tier wins. Am I happy with it? No, not at all, but what can we do? All we can do is continue to support the team and not get depressed after wins.

Getting depressed/mad after wins is like getting a Ferrari for your birthday, but all you can think of is the horrible accident you might get in. Just enjoy the damn gift!

 

[Dawgs99]

Patroit49,

I agree with everything you have been saying this year, but it would be nice if you could bring up something new that we haven't heard before. We know Hewitt sucks, we know O'Connor's an idiot. Every single angle, you have covered quite articulately and thoroughly.

What GMUTOM, you, me or any other poster is satisfied with or not is irrelevant. We do not have the power to bring about any sort of change or influence.

We are who we are, an average team at best who may get lucky and get a couple of top tier wins. Am I happy with it? No, not at all, but what can we do? All we can do is continue to support the team and not get depressed after wins.

Getting depressed/mad after wins is like getting a Ferrari for your birthday, but all you can think of is the horrible accident you might get in. Just enjoy the damn gift!

I completely agree, nobody can convince me that we have the talent/toughness on this roster to compete with the upper echelon A10 teams. Save for Sherrod, one could argue that our best players are our young guys. Not that we don't have talented kids but I believe there is this myth that we are uber talented and are only loosing games because of the coaching. Now our breakout player from the 2nd half of last year is done for the season. IMHO until we upgrade the talent on the roster we are never going to be any better than average in this league. Try to enjoy the wins when we are fortunate to get them.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Careful, Chank. Apathy is the only consistent trait I've seen at Mason throughout my years associated with the school. Don't be one of those people. I understand 49's comments can get old, but I'll never fall into the category where I am satisfied with maybe being able to compete with vcu. That's not acceptable. There's unrealistic expectations and then there is settling for average. Settling for average is BS and would not be accepted in any other walk of life and shouldn't be accepted with Mason athletics. I realize money is always the #1 reason things get done and most people on this board are not flush with cash to throw around, but it doesn't mean we should just be resigned to what's happening.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

True, PL, and as I stated, I am not happy with it either, but we are not a program that can afford to be picky about wins. The season is going on now. That's what I am worried about now. The other stuff we complain about, we can't do anything about until the off season.

Us complaining about the same thing over and over again without having any power to do anything about is like a crazy man yelling at the ocean that it is too salty.

And when there is something that goes right, like getting a win, it kind of a buzzkill to get back on the boards and see nothing to acknowledge that rare positivity about this program.

 

[Patriotfan49]

A win is always a win. That is good, and we won last night.

I was more talking about Tom, where Im disappointed in the fact that is all we should be happy with these days. Winning ugly against lesser teams. Like Lawdog said, I guess I dont feel that Im nitpicking wins but pushing for wanting more for our team. You get settled in with accepting simple wins, and never amounting to more then you get a ho hum product on the court.

Sorry its repetitive and Im well aware it is, but its takes on the game. If you see the same thing every single game, there isnt much more to post about. But short of simply not posting, or just being delusional....I dont really understand what else there is to take from our games. Sherrod had a good start, and Jenkins was nice....I mentioned that. If all people want to hear, is how Hewitt might possibly figure it out, or how Copes might possibly do this, or how we might possibly find out a way to get smarter as a team....Im not sure what good that does either.

If thats where the fanbase is, accepting mediocrity because there is nothing we can do and just simply taking wins for what they are meanwhile hoping and praying that coaches and players will magically figure it out after they have proven they cant..so be it I suppose. I can drink the koolaid an not post anything negative, Ill pull the Skins fan ability to find a silver lining in getting blown out or squeaking out a win vs somebody like the Jags or something lol.

 

[Pablo]

I know that many of the posters don't respect AD O'Connor as much as I do. But, do you seriously believe that he will accept mediocrity in the men's basketball program? The man loves basketball, and he was instrumental in getting Westhead fired before his contract expired (the AD can only recommend termination of the contract). I have no doubt he would recommend the termination of Coach Hewitt's contract (despite the cost) if he's not satisfied with the progress of the program.

I like the players that Hewitt has signed and his development of frontcourt players. While it's frustrating that the team does not consistently play fundamentally sound basketball, I believe that it's reasonable to be hopeful of the future.