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

[tblack33]

Barring an absolute disaster in conference this year, GMU should and likely will stick with Paulsen. Anybody remember how bad we were in the A-10 with Hewitt? Better chance getting into top 4 with Paulsen than going out and getting a new guy and starting over.

In the 1 year Hewitt was in the A10?

Not defending Hewitt cause he needed to go too but weren’t we identical in Hewitts 1st A10 season as Paulsens?

 

[Five Two]

Two things for me from this game:

1. XJ is as tough of a freshman as we've had (I already knew this, but they way he played today against a team like that confirmed it)

2. It was a noon tip so I still have the majority of my day left

 

[sleeperpick]

Yeah that’s what it seems based on highlights, just not sure to what extent he’s going to alleviate our outside shooting issues.

He’s not but will be a good addition athletically

 

[mkaufman1]

@Patriot Lawdog @MasonSAE4
I get what both of you guys are saying. Height isn’t the only thing. I do think it comes down to strength and bulk, and that’s something a guy like Oduro will eventually have to add. Hopefully next year when Henry is around him and Oduro can be strong in the post and provide the size.

I also agree the shooting continues to be a problem. Some of it is mental and maturity in that they miss a shot and then mentally lapse at the other end. Kier lost the ball and then gave a lazy foul. Can’t do that at this level. The team definitely has more maturing to do, but we also have to remember that so many of them are sophomores and freshman. Hopefully they continue to grow with game playing.

it’s disappointing that Greene still is inconsistent, because they need him to really have some killer instinct.

 

[mkaufman1]

Yeah that’s what it seems based on highlights, just not sure to what extent he’s going to alleviate our outside shooting issues.

Kolek is supposed to help with that. Then again Greene and Jds were too...

 

[tblack33]

I get what both of you guys are saying. Height isn’t the only thing. I do think it comes down to strength and bulk, and that’s something a guy like Oduro will eventually have to add. Hopefully next year when Henry is around him and Oduro can be strong in the post and provide the size.

I also agree the shooting continues to be a problem. Some of it is mental and maturity in that they miss a shot and then mentally lapse at the other end. Kier lost the ball and then gave a lazy foul. Can’t do that at this level. The team definitely has more maturing to do, but we also have to remember that so many of them are sophomores and freshman. Hopefully they continue to grow with game playing.

The idea that we have young guys playing tons of minutes is flawed. We have 4/10 players who are sophomores or younger getting significant minutes. XJ, Oduro, Hartwell, Miller. That accounts for what, 30-35% of our total minutes? Most of those guys out there tonight have played vcu a minimum of 5 times today, and we had a week off to prepare and that’s what we got.

That is unacceptable.

 

[gmutom]

he may not play the 5 but when you have Oduro and Calixte who can’t defend Silva (for the most part, greg had a few nice moments on him), AJ is your next bet. Plus I think they went 4 guards for ball handling and what not. Hopefully he can play more of the 4 in other matchups.

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.

 

[MasonSAE4]

I get what both of you guys are saying. Height isn’t the only thing. I do think it comes down to strength and bulk, and that’s something a guy like Oduro will eventually have to add. Hopefully next year when Henry is around him and Oduro can be strong in the post and provide the size.

I also agree the shooting continues to be a problem. Some of it is mental and maturity in that they miss a shot and then mentally lapse at the other end. Kier lost the ball and then gave a lazy foul. Can’t do that at this level. The team definitely has more maturing to do, but we also have to remember that so many of them are sophomores and freshman. Hopefully they continue to grow with game playing.

Yeah I mean MSS is what? 6’7? 6’8 at best? But you look at him physically and the way he plays and he looks way bigger than our guys. He’s built like a house and he’s aggressive around the rim.

In terms of shooting, it’s not the freshmen that worry me. It’s Greene and to a lesser extent Hartwell.

 

[Patriotsince81]

We suck. DP cannot recruit or coach. Time to move on Brad. Blunt enough?

 

[Sons of Mason]

But would a new AD (assuming USC is serious about wanting BE) and President agree with this assessment? I have no idea, but when the people who hired you are no longer a part of the picture, things can change.

That's my point, he won't be removed barring a disaster or new AD.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Our ballscreen offense is terrible and most of all I'm annoyed at how predictable that was. It looked great when we ran away from American in the second half by isolating mismatches, but we can't get to the rim when we're not playing tomato cans. Not playing Monday morning QB here, I openly asked if this style would fly against better teams. TCU and vcu ice ball screens really well and the ball didn't even touch the paint half the time. Very disappointed in Dave's failure to recognize this as a potential issue. We ran NOTHING in the last two games to get our bigs the ball in the post, where at least we might be able to get some kick-out jumpers.

Between the Reuter debacle last year and the fool's gold start this year, really wondering about Paulsen's long term viability here. Not much evidence he's good at evaluating what his own team will be able to do to stay competitive.

He also handled AJ's foul trouble like a donkey. AJ gets 13 minutes but only had 3 fouls. Auto- benched with two in the first half when vcu ran away, sat him after number 3 in early 2H. Game is over when AJ comes back.

I'm tilting pretty hard but this is how I feel, dammit.

 

[tblack33]

Box score today Gonar our up goose eggs across the board with 8 minutes of game time. Can anyone explain why he’s averaging 7ish minutes a game besides bad roster management? Did anyone realistically expect for Dady to come in and play those minutes this year? That’s bad roster management compared to the conundrum we are in with not starting Kier.

 

[Falco]

Barring an absolute disaster in conference this year, GMU should and likely will stick with Paulsen. Anybody remember how bad we were in the A-10 with Hewitt? Better chance getting into top 4 with Paulsen than going out and getting a new guy and starting over.

Why is Hewitt the measuring stick. That was 5 years ago now. Time to move on from Hewitt and excuses.

 

[tblack33]

Our ballscreen offense is terrible and most of all I'm annoyed at how predictable that was. It looked great when we ran away from American in the second half by isolating mismatches, but we can't get to the rim when we're not playing tomato cans. Not playing Monday morning QB here, I openly asked if this style would fly against better teams. TCU and vcu ice ball screens really well and the ball didn't even touch the paint half the time. Very disappointed in Dave's failure to recognize this as a potential issue. We ran NOTHING in the last two games to get our bigs the ball in the post, where at least we might be able to get some kick-out jumpers.

Between the Reuter debacle last year and the fool's gold start this year, really wondering about Paulsen's long term viability here. Not much evidence he's good at evaluating what his own team will be able to do to stay competitive.

He also handled AJ's foul trouble like a donkey. AJ gets 13 minutes but only had 3 fouls. Auto- benched with two in the first half when vcu ran away, sat him after number 3 in early 2H. Game is over when AJ comes back.

I'm tilting pretty hard but this is how I feel, dammit.

This is a great take, but most on this board will look past because “we’re still 11-3 it’s not the end of the world”

 

[JimP]

Our ballscreen offense is terrible and most of all I'm annoyed at how predictable that was. It looked great when we ran away from American in the second half by isolating mismatches, but we can't get to the rim when we're not playing tomato cans. Not playing Monday morning QB here, I openly asked if this style would fly against better teams. TCU and vcu ice ball screens really well and the ball didn't even touch the paint half the time. Very disappointed in Dave's failure to recognize this as a potential issue. We ran NOTHING in the last two games to get our bigs the ball in the post, where at least we might be able to get some kick-out jumpers.

Between the Reuter debacle last year and the fool's gold start this year, really wondering about Paulsen's long term viability here. Not much evidence he's good at evaluating what his own team will be able to do to stay competitive.

He also handled AJ's foul trouble like a donkey. AJ gets 13 minutes but only had 3 fouls. Auto- benched with two in the first half when vcu ran away, sat him after number 3 in early 2H. Game is over when AJ comes back.

I'm tilting pretty hard but this is how I feel, dammit.

Valid

 

[mkaufman1]

The idea that we have young guys playing tons of minutes is flawed. We have 4/10 players who are sophomores or younger getting significant minutes. XJ, Oduro, Hartwell, Miller. That accounts for what, 30-35% of our total minutes? Most of those guys out there tonight have played vcu a minimum of 5 times today, and we had a week off to prepare and that’s what we got.

That is unacceptable.

Fair point. You would expect guys like AJ/Kier/Calixte/Greene to know what to do by now. Unfortunately AJ had foul trouble, Greene was mostly a nonfactor and Kier is still coming off injury. I expected better but it seems like every year the younger guys out play the older ones to get better minutes. Not sure why or what it is. At least XJ looked competent and Miller settled back in, in the second half.

Yeah I mean MSS is what? 6’7? 6’8 at best? But you look at him physically and the way he plays and he looks way bigger than our guys. He’s built like a house and he’s aggressive around the rim.

In terms of shooting, it’s not the freshmen that worry me. It’s Greene and to a lesser extent Hartwell.

With you 100%, kid is built like an ox. Not sure what his conditioning program is but I'd love to get Josh Oduro on that plan.

Also 100% on Hartwell and Greene. Hartwell has disappeared since Grand Cayman and Greene looks amazing or can't shoot at all. Its time for a junior guard to be a bit more consistent, but he just hasn't been at this level.

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.

This. There were no adjustments other than taking off our 3/4 press and maybe a few doubles on Silva. One of the doubles he found an open guy for a foul. But no junk defense, no traps, nothing creative to try to get him uncomfortable. He just kept getting the ball for easy layups. Fortunately his backup, Douglas, is terrible and the other big is a freshman so he doesn't really play. Who knows what they'll be like in another year.

 

[mkaufman1]

Box score today Gonar our up goose eggs across the board with 8 minutes of game time. Can anyone explain why he’s averaging 7ish minutes a game besides bad roster management? Did anyone realistically expect for Dady to come in and play those minutes this year? That’s bad roster management compared to the conundrum we are in with not starting Kier.

He is quickly playing himself out of the rotation. At this point hes nothing more than a piss break for the regulars for a few minutes. Brings absolutely nothing on either side of the ball. At least last year he was playing good defense.

 

[tblack33]

Why is Hewitt the measuring stick. That was 5 years ago now. Time to move on from Hewitt and excuses.

Thank you. Everyone said that we needed a complete culture overthrow after Hewitt (which I agree with) but where has it gotten us? A lucky top 5 in the worst year in A10 in the last 10 years?

I’ll forever be happy for paulsen pulling us out of the gutter and fixing the deep rooted issues with our program but he’s not the guy to turn the corner.

 

[tblack33]

He is quickly playing himself out of the rotation. At this point hes nothing more than a piss break for the regulars for a few minutes. Brings absolutely nothing on either side of the ball. At least last year he was playing good defense.

He played 8 minutes today?

I get foul trouble but the fact he has to play the 4-5 when we are in trouble is a symptom of poor roster management.

 

[tblack33]

Fair point. You would expect guys like AJ/Kier/Calixte/Greene to know what to do by now. Unfortunately AJ had foul trouble, Greene was mostly a nonfactor and Kier is still coming off injury. I expected better but it seems like every year the younger guys out play the older ones to get better minutes. Not sure why or what it is. At least XJ looked competent and Miller settled back in, in the second half.



With you 100%, kid is built like an ox. Not sure what his conditioning program is but I'd love to get Josh Oduro on that plan.

Also 100% on Hartwell and Greene. Hartwell has disappeared since Grand Cayman and Greene looks amazing or can't shoot at all. Its time for a junior guard to be a bit more consistent, but he just hasn't been at this level.



This. There were no adjustments other than taking off our 3/4 press and maybe a few doubles on Silva. One of the doubles he found an open guy for a foul. But no junk defense, no traps, nothing creative to try to get him uncomfortable. He just kept getting the ball for easy layups. Fortunately his backup, Douglas, is terrible and the other big is a freshman so he doesn't really play. Who knows what they'll be like in another year.

I’d the younger guys are playing more quality minutes does that mean guys are regressing under paulsen? Or at a minimum not developing to their full potential?