Game Thread: Naval Academy (0-0) at Mason (0-0), Tuesday, November 5th, 7 PM (ESPN+)

[smccart5]

Postgame recap video with a ton of highlights (All AJ’s dunks!) Interviews with Jamal Hartwell and Brad Edwards and some clips from the presser included.

https://giantkiller.co/2019/11/06/george-mason-vs-navy-post-game-highlights-2019/

We’ve really upped our video game adding shooters on both baselines. Hope y’all enjoy. Provide any feedback you have, yes I know XJ finished with 15 and not 12. LOVE GETTING WINS.

Good work, great content!

 

[Five Two]

Probably same reason he called Timeout at end of 1st half and we got a backdoor cut from X via a beautiful pass from Mar.

I go back to Navy's strategy on defense, especially for this play. We had struggled against their zone in the last half of the 1st. We call timeout, they switch to man, and we burn them for an easy 2 on a great play. They over-thought it and it cost them.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Glad we pulled out the win, but what in the world happened to Goanar? Aside from winning the game, I wanted most for the kid to hit a shot just to get some semblance of confidence.

 

[gmujim92]

Glad we pulled out the win, but what in the world happened to Goanar? Aside from winning the game, I wanted most for the kid to hit a shot just to get some semblance of confidence.

The Monstars stole his talent. There can be no other explanation.

 

[The Great PATSby]

swimom says she sat next to XJ’s mom on Twitter. Better hope no “Misery” antics take place. Stay woke y’all that lady is nuts

Hope she wasn't trying to recruit Xavier's little brother with titty milk and cookies.

 

[gmujim92]

Also, it’s obvious XJ has already passed JDS on the depth chart.

XJ played 30 minutes in his debut as a true freshman. JDS played 5 minutes.

I root for all of our players to do well, but I’ll be shocked if he’s on the team next season. Kids want to go where they can play and I don’t blame them.

 

[GMUgemini]

I go back to Navy's strategy on defense, especially for this play. We had struggled against their zone in the last half of the 1st. We call timeout, they switch to man, and we burn them for an easy 2 on a great play. They over-thought it and it cost them.

Speaking of zone, we really missed Kier sitting in the middle of their zone instead of Miller. Would have probably made a difference in at least a few possessions.

 

[mkaufman1]

Also, it’s obvious XJ has already passed JDS on the depth chart.

XJ played 30 minutes in his debut as a true freshman. JDS played 5 minutes.

I root for all of our players to do well, but I’ll be shocked if he’s on the team next season. Kids want to go where they can play and I don’t blame them.

I would tend to agree. I don't see why XJ wouldn't be on the floor a lot, and even all the freshmen got in before JDS saw the floor. Maybe JDS finds a role for 5-7 minutes a game but he has to be able to hit a three or do something unique that helps the team for him to take away minutes from someone else. He did play some good defense and have a good pass at the end of half 1, but that is probably not enough.

 

[mkaufman1]

10 players above 6'7...interesting lol.

Gotta take care of business like last night. No messing around.

Mason 68
Navy 55

So I didn't predict overtime, but I predicted the score 100% last night. Should I buy a lottery ticket?

 

[GMUgemini]

Glad we pulled out the win, but what in the world happened to Goanar? Aside from winning the game, I wanted most for the kid to hit a shot just to get some semblance of confidence.

He needs to come in and concentrate on being positive, starting with defense (one positive thing I can say about Mar is he looks good at the top of that 1-2-2 zone press), and rebounding. Whether he becomes a real scoring threat again, who knows. With Kier out and both AJ and Calixte still relatively foul prone, we're still going to need him to be a positive influence on the floor (and please work harder to establish rebounding position!)

 

[Petey Buckets]

Stories of the game, for me:

- The zone press. Paulsen has length and athleticism he's never had here, and he wants to use it. Love it.

- Dady and Oduro still look like puppies, but XJ is already a dog. Can't wait to watch him grow into his role.

- Soft as baby shit on the defensive glass. Navy grabbed over 50% of their misses. No one lineup was responsible, but we had Oduro and Mar out there for a stretch that looked particularly bad.

- Splits against man and zone defense must have been outrageous. Thank God the Navy coach ever decided to leave that zone. We have exactly one play - Jordan Miller in the high post - that can beat it.

- Kinda hating the ballscreen motion offense with this group. It ends up with Greg holding the ball at the top of the key a LOT, where he's a triple-non-threat.

- Goanar's regression is still the most bizarre thing I've ever seen.

Glad we didn't lose. Drop your expectations and this will be a fun season. Guys will grow into their roles, we're athletic, and Dave will experiment with a lot of different lineups. On to the next one.

 

[GMU_DCU]

He needs to come in and concentrate on being positive, starting with defense (one positive thing I can say about Mar is he looks good at the top of that 1-2-2 zone press), and rebounding. Whether he becomes a real scoring threat again, who knows. With Kier out and both AJ and Calixte still relatively foul prone, we're still going to need him to be a positive influence on the floor (and please work harder to establish rebounding position!)

Actually Mar had 0.0 rebounds last night in 22 minutes...how did he not even luck into one rebound?

 

[GMUgemini]

Actually Mar had 0.0 rebounds last night in 22 minutes...how did he not even luck into one rebound?

He almost had an offensive rebound that I remember in the second half, but as I said he doesn't seem to work that hard to establish good rebounding position, and we need him to at least box out and gather the easy ones on the defensive side.

 

[By George.]

Speaking of zone, we really missed Kier sitting in the middle of their zone instead of Miller. Would have probably made a difference in at least a few possessions.

Actually Mar had 0.0 rebounds last night in 22 minutes...how did he not even luck into one rebound?

While now is prob not the time to get into a debate about DP and his staff’s ability to develop...Mar looks about the exact same as he did when he walked onto Mason campus for the first time. I know the injury slowed him down but that shouldn’t stop him from benching etc.

I don’t think it’s time to give up on Mar but my prediction is - his shooting form was always jacked up, we tried to alter it (rightfully so) and in doing so he lost confidence in it. He was able to be a mismatch playing center and PF for us early on but may not be quick enough on offense or defense yet. He absolutely has a spot in the rotation but I do wonder what happened to his progress.

 

[Herndon]

his shooting form was always jacked up, we tried to alter it (rightfully so) and in doing so he lost confidence in it.

This. I remember watching him warm up before his first ever game at Mason and thinking to myself "maaannnn, I don't know if that kid is ever going to be a dependable outside shooter with that form".

I was blown away when he shot an average % from 3 as a freshman, but it wasn't like a "legit" average %. It wasn't like he was missing by a little bit short or long when he shot, it was scattershot, and unpredictable. That's not what happens when you have a smooth, repeatable stroke.

 

[Cedric Dempsey]

Our crowd sucked students sat the whole game

punctuation
noun

1. the marks, such as period, comma, and parentheses, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning.
   "you will notice that no punctuation was used in your post."

 

[GMUgemini]

punctuation
noun

1. the marks, such as period, comma, and parentheses, used in writing to separate sentences and their elements and to clarify meaning.
   "you will notice that no punctuation was used in your post."

hey now no one puts ee cummings in the corner

 

[GreenLantern]

Stories of the game, for me:

- The zone press. Paulsen has length and athleticism he's never had here, and he wants to use it. Love it.

- Dady and Oduro still look like puppies, but XJ is already a dog. Can't wait to watch him grow into his role.

- Soft as baby shit on the defensive glass. Navy grabbed over 50% of their misses. No one lineup was responsible, but we had Oduro and Mar out there for a stretch that looked particularly bad.

- Splits against man and zone defense must have been outrageous. Thank God the Navy coach ever decided to leave that zone. We have exactly one play - Jordan Miller in the high post - that can beat it.

- Kinda hating the ballscreen motion offense with this group. It ends up with Greg holding the ball at the top of the key a LOT, where he's a triple-non-threat.

- Goanar's regression is still the most bizarre thing I've ever seen.

Glad we didn't lose. Drop your expectations and this will be a fun season. Guys will grow into their roles, we're athletic, and Dave will experiment with a lot of different lineups. On to the next one.

My expectations were never too high for this season so I am just going to enjoy watching these young players develop. If we match the wins from last season, that'll be the bar I set.

 

[Cedric Dempsey]

I'm probably going to get some heat for this, but why did Paulsen call timeout with 15 seconds left in regulation? The game is tied, worse case, it goes overtime. Play the possession out, and don't give the opponent time to set something up. I would think part of the practice is these type of scenarios.

It was for the same reason he did the same thing at the end of the first half. JH had a great look.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

I agree on the press. It was great last night at generating offense from defense and at worst, Navy had about 15 seconds to truly operate in their half court offense....My theory on Mar, besides losing total confidence in his shot (explanation mentioned above) is that he seems caught in between playing like a perimeter player and a big guy. It's like he's thinking "Do I post up/grab boards/play tough inside D or do I slash/play the passing lanes/and shoot from deep?"....My preference is the latter because that's how he dominated as a freshman, but I guess this all depends on him finding his stroke.