Game Thread: Mason (11-2) vs. vcu (10-3), Sunday, January 5th, 12:00 PM

[sleeperpick]

Come on man

We have 1 four and 2 bodies for a 5. That’s not good enough to compete against upper half of a10

 

[gmujim92]

We have 1 four and 2 bodies for a 5. That’s not good enough to compete against upper half of a10

There’s a huge difference between that and NEC-level

 

[Falco]

I think

Here’s where we agree, hiring mid major coaches is an absolute shot in the dark 75% of the time. But I think having new blood and some hope is better than where we are now.

Just hire the next ACC/SEC coach who is fired after a scandal. It’s working for Auburn.

 

[LOUDMOUTHS]

Regardless of the outcome, it was my mission to make sure Vann had a horrible game, and get in his head. He wasn’t much of a fan of what I had made for him.

 

[KAOriginal]

Whats odd....Paulsen would have been the OConner Merton type hire. Solid but not spectacular.

At this point....I'm not expecting much. Paulsen wont ruin us....but he won't advance us without getting that 1 recruit that moves the needle for the future.

 

[Falco]

Whats odd....Paulsen would have been the OConner Merton type hire. Solid but not spectacular.

At this point....I'm not expecting much. Paulsen wont ruin us....but he won't advance us without getting that 1 recruit that moves the needle for the future.

See I disagree. I would think the longer the program remains mediocre the harder it is to land that one recruit who moves the needle

 

[KAOriginal]

See I disagree. I would think the longer the program remains mediocre the harder it is to land that one recruit who moves the needle

Uh we agree?

I said he couldnt move us without a recruit like that. So if one doesnt come....that sort of says we re stuck....

 

[psyclone]

Steven Goff's Washington Post article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ceives-reality-check-vcu-its-atlantic-opener/

 

[NewPatriot]

I haven't read any posts in this thread but this is my first time seeing mason in person since 1993.

No one should be concerned about this team; 100% better than last year.

The score doesnt indicate how well Mason played. The Team ran great offensive sets, shared the basketball, back door cuts, got good open looks. Played MSS tough around the rim even though he got a double double..none.of the points came.easy like last year.

Oduro is.complete upgrade from Reuter last year. His footwork around the basket is tremendous. He can actually hedge and get back to guard the roller.

Mason needs to play more thru him.

vcu got no easy layins. Hartwell and Johnson are friggin awesome! They play with a alot of composure.

The offensive sets were fantastic, moved the basketball.

vcu, at this moment, is bigger, longer and more athletic and just wore mason down.

The good news, No other team in the A10.plays like this and I see Mason finishing in the top 4 with 12 wins this year.

The future is bright.

 

[By George.]

I don’t think the issue is whether we have anybody who can cover Silva, because there are few players in our league who are capable of doing so. It was unrealistic to expect Oduro, Wilson or Calixte to stop him. My main question is why didn’t we switch to a zone to limit the endless pick and rolls that lead to easy Silva baskets. I’d much rather take our chances with them launching 3s than giving them easy points in the post.

We haven’t been a team that adjusts mid game much in the last 4 seasons, I wouldn’t expect it to start now.

 

[Pablo]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ceives-reality-check-vcu-its-atlantic-opener/:

"'I told our guys, Today, January 5, they were better than us,’ Patriots Coach Dave Paulsen said. 'But now we have to work to narrow that gap.'”

With all due respect, shouldn't you work to eliminate that gap?

 

[gmujim92]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ceives-reality-check-vcu-its-atlantic-opener/:

"'I told our guys, Today, January 5, they were better than us,’ Patriots Coach Dave Paulsen said. 'But now we have to work to narrow that gap.'”

Coach Paulsen: With all due respect, shouldn't you work to eliminate that gap?

There’s a reason they were picked to finish 1st and we were picked 9th. They have five seniors and a junior who is one of the best bigs in the league. They’re better than us.

 

[KAOriginal]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ceives-reality-check-vcu-its-atlantic-opener/:

"'I told our guys, Today, January 5, they were better than us,’ Patriots Coach Dave Paulsen said. 'But now we have to work to narrow that gap.'”

With all due respect, shouldn't you work to eliminate that gap?

Good practices.....good practices.....

 

[patriotchild]

When did the post start putting Mason articles behind the pay wall or is that just me?

Our season started today. We are 0-1 and continued an unfortunate trend of getting blown out and embarrassed at home by that team we really dislike. and that team is not very good this year, making this hurt a little more.

although it’s hard to stay positive, I’ll try that first.

positives:
1) other than MSS, we didn’t look like children against them. Our teams were similar in body type and length. We may be turning the corner in recruiting, at least by appearances.
2) we played decent defense that kept us in the game. We should have gotten blown out by more.
3) I liked the substitution patterns until AJ and Miller both went out in the first half.
4) Odoro. He’s the right person to put on Silva but not in his first conference start. Would have liked to seen more of Calixte and ease Odoro in. Overall seeing lots of upside with Odoro going forward.
5) XJ is ready to play. Give the man some minutes

negatives:
1) while we look similar to vcu now, our skill level is not the same.

a) shooting, they made shots and could spread it out. We obviously don’t.
b) we don’t have strong ball handlers other than XJ and Jamal and those guys are prone to mistakes as fresh and soph.
c) this is one of the worst passing teams I’ve seen and it’s exacerbated by our scheme​

2) wtf is our offense. This was glazed over with our crappy schedule, but without someone who can create off the dribble we stand around with thumbs up our asses. This has to change or it’s not going to be a fun end to the season
3) Greene is not a gamer. He’s looked overwhelmed in big games and plays like crap. I’d say he should start losing minutes but there’s really no better option right now.
4) mar. Just sad at this point.
5) rebounding? Where was that today. We had our 3 offensive rebounds on one possession.


today’s takeaway:
Mason is maybe a decent team. hopefully scraping 9 wins out. Our defense can probably keep us in games but we have a horrible offensive scheme and limited skills.

 

[FreeGunston12]

When did the post start putting Mason articles behind the pay wall or is that just me?

Our season started today. We are 0-1 and continued an unfortunate trend of getting blown out and embarrassed at home by that team we really dislike. and that team is not very good this year, making this hurt a little more.

although it’s hard to stay positive, I’ll try that first.

positives:
1) other than MSS, we didn’t look like children against them. Our teams were similar in body type and length. We may be turning the corner in recruiting, at least by appearances.
2) we played decent defense that kept us in the game. We should have gotten blown out by more.
3) I liked the substitution patterns until AJ and Miller both went out in the first half.
4) Odoro. He’s the right person to put on Silva but not in his first conference start. Would have liked to seen more of Calixte and ease Odoro in. Overall seeing lots of upside with Odoro going forward.
5) XJ is ready to play. Give the man some minutes

negatives:
1) while we look similar to vcu now, our skill level is not the same.

a) shooting, they made shots and could spread it out. We obviously don’t.
b) we don’t have strong ball handlers other than XJ and Jamal and those guys are prone to mistakes as fresh and soph.
c) this is one of the worst passing teams I’ve seen and it’s exacerbated by our scheme​

2) wtf is our offense. This was glazed over with our crappy schedule, but without someone who can create off the dribble we stand around with thumbs up our asses. This has to change or it’s not going to be a fun end to the season
3) Greene is not a gamer. He’s looked overwhelmed in big games and plays like crap. I’d say he should start losing minutes but there’s really no better option right now.
4) mar. Just sad at this point.
5) rebounding? Where was that today. We had our 3 offensive rebounds on one possession.


today’s takeaway:
Mason is maybe a decent team. hopefully scraping 9 wins out. Our defense can probably keep us in games but we have a horrible offensive scheme and limited skills.

One of the things about JDS's high school tape that really had me excited was his ability to cut, catch, and shoot coming off of off-ball screens. I guess I forgot that he wouldn't get the chance to do that in our offense.

Screens serve no purpose in our offense other than to ruin spacing and bring another defender to the ball. We looked way better today when we just spaced the floor and cut without setting ball screens.

 

[Falco]

Silva is a beast, I’m surprised Mason didn’t intentionally hack him more. He has a horrible FT% I think 54%.

Oduro and Calixte are spilting minutes, so that’s 10 fouls to give

 

[Patriotsince81]

Stats up to date. We need a lot better production from the front court and we need Hartwell and Green to shoot at much higher percentages. Captain Obvious out.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.si...orts.com/documents/2019/11/6/Season_Stats.pdf

 

[GSII]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...ceives-reality-check-vcu-its-atlantic-opener/:

"'I told our guys, Today, January 5, they were better than us,’ Patriots Coach Dave Paulsen said. 'But now we have to work to narrow that gap.'”

With all due respect, shouldn't you work to eliminate that gap?

They will be better on feb 12 also.

 

[p8triotfan4life]

that crowd yesterday was amazing. we proved we don't have the horses to compete with vcu again. If we had a consistent shooter on this team, we lose that game by 5-10 points. Kolek can't arrive here fast enough.

 

[smccart5]

Exactly this. There have been games in the DP era where I’ve thought “man we really didn’t show up until the second half” but today I never really got the sense that the hustle wasn’t there. I just watched a team whose only 3 in the first half came on a circus shot. At this point Greene clearly can’t hit the broad side of anything, Kier is taking flat footed NBA range shots because he’s playing hurt, and Hartwell is ice cold. Not really interested in hearing that Koelek is the answer because we need more than one shooter. I can’t say I know enough to comment on Poliete or Henry, but man the shooting could be rough for a few years.

Our team hasn't been able to shoot for years! Our outside game hasn't been respected in almost a decade