Goodbye Malik Henry

[sleeperpick]

In hindsight, I have no idea why Reuter was allowed to play, and I complained about his minutes many times as it was happening.

I didn't see AJ being treated much differently than any other player - Paulsen has made it clear from day one that if you can't play defense, you won't play. I assume the reason the old AJ got yanked so often was because he was repeatedly out of position on defense, moreso than any other player I can think of. The very first thing I noticed about AJ this past season, from the first scrimmage, was how much his defensive instincts had improved.

How do you think he achieved that improvement?

If you really didn’t see him have the quickest leash on him soph year we were just watching different games. Which apparently we are because your Twitter makes it seem like we are consistently overachieving when it fact it seems to me the exact opposite

 

[MasonFanatic]

If you really didn’t see him have the quickest leash on him soph year we were just watching different games.

I saw it, and I hate to say it, but it seemed deserved. He would make a big play or two, but then he would blow a defensive assignment, and he would just sort of give up, you could see it in his body language. This article alludes to that a bit: https://theathletic.com/1401781/201...teresting-man-on-campus?source=shared-article

 

[sleeperpick]

I saw it, and I hate to say it, but it seemed deserved. He would make a big play or two, but then he would blow a defensive assignment, and he would just sort of give up, you could see it in his body language. This article alludes to that a bit: https://theathletic.com/1401781/201...teresting-man-on-campus?source=shared-article

It’s a great article. But to me this didn’t happen directly overnight because of some magical bean Paulsen used on AJ. Aj put in the work and even undisciplined soph year he deserved double the minutes. The Richmond home game highlighted that. Now we see it 75% of games. It’s always been there he just now gets the mins and he refined his game.

 

[mkaufman1]

I only hope in 3 years we're debating about how good Malik Henry is and how AJ Wilson took Mason to the NCAAs in his redshirt senior year.

 

[JPgmuswim]

I am hoping that Malik will be like a sponge under AJ this year and be ready to take over his sophomore season.

 

[MasonFanatic]

It’s a great article. But to me this didn’t happen directly overnight because of some magical bean Paulsen used on AJ. Aj put in the work and even undisciplined soph year he deserved double the minutes. The Richmond home game highlighted that. Now we see it 75% of games. It’s always been there he just now gets the mins and he refined his game.

It definitely wasn't overnight. It was months of hard work. You make it sound like AJ was always this good, if Paulsen had just played him. I don't think that's fair to AJ (it downplays his hard work) or to Paulsen (it ignores the need for a coach to instill discipline).

 

[tblack33]

I am hoping that Malik will be like a sponge under AJ this year and be ready to take over his sophomore season.

He’s going to have to because there’s no other 4 on the roster after AJ graduates.

 

[tblack33]

It definitely wasn't overnight. It was months of hard work. You make it sound like AJ was always this good, if Paulsen had just played him. I don't think that's fair to AJ (it downplays his hard work) or to Paulsen (it ignores the need for a coach to instill discipline).

There’s a super fine line between instilling discipline and killing a players game by giving him no leash and I think it’s a fair point to debate for how AJs sophomore season was handled. Paulsen certainly didn’t apply it evenly across the board that year, look at Reuter’s minutes. Otis defense also left a lot to be desired that season..

 

[MasonFanatic]

I am hoping that Malik will be like a sponge under AJ this year and be ready to take over his sophomore season.

Yeah, this. Seconded.

 

[MasonFanatic]

There’s a super fine line between instilling discipline and killing a players game by giving him no leash and I think it’s a fair point to debate for how AJs sophomore season was handled. Paulsen certainly didn’t apply it evenly across the board that year, look at Reuter’s minutes. Otis defense also left a lot to be desired that season..

Otis's defensive shortcoming were a necessary evil, and I thought a lot of those were more physical limitations. He gave us all he could. It's a lot harder to explain what happened with Reuter's minutes, especially if he really was playing injured (as some have speculated). But I didn't often see the slumping body language from either of those players after they blew assignments, either. (I did see it from plenty of other younger players that season, I don't mean to single AJ out here. That was a clear point of emphasis this past offseason)

 

[MasonFanatic]

I am really excited about Malik Henry dawning the green and gold. If you guys have seen, he was the 2-time Defensive POY in High School. Out of our 3 incoming recruits, I think that Malik will provide the biggest impact right away because of his ability to defend the post. Oduro is quite nifty and gifted as an offensive threat, but he was not agile enough or strong enough to defend other big men down low. If he got pinned down, he would routinely allow the opponent to score. I really hope that Oduro gains that agility/quickness and turns that baby fat into muscle this summer. This offseason is huge for Oduro's development.

Malik is gonna team with AJ and provide fierce shot-blocking ability, and has the same type of athleticism as AJ possesses. It seems as though he's lengthier than AJ is too.

If anything, the addition of Malik gives us 5 more fouls to give in the post. The way I see it, we will have AJ (32 MPG), Oduro (28 MPG), and Calixte (5 MPG)...It allows Malik Henry to slot in with approx. 15 MPG as a true freshman between the 4-5 positions.

Since you mentioned fouls, another thought - hopefully AJ won't have any trouble with early fouls next season, but if he does, hopefully Malik can step in and make sure we don't have the same dropoff in athleticism and defensive identity that we sometimes had this season. He doesn't need to be AJ, but if he can be a passable imitation for a few minutes at a time, that could be huge.

 

[sleeperpick]

Otis's defensive shortcoming were a necessary evil, and I thought a lot of those were more physical limitations. He gave us all he could. It's a lot harder to explain what happened with Reuter's minutes, especially if he really was playing injured (as some have speculated). But I didn't often see the slumping body language from either of those players after they blew assignments, either.

Reuter was constantly slumping

 

[MasonFanatic]

Reuter was constantly slumping

Hmm. Maybe I've just suppressed my Reuter memories already.

 

[tblack33]

Otis's defensive shortcoming were a necessary evil, and I thought a lot of those were more physical limitations. He gave us all he could. It's a lot harder to explain what happened with Reuter's minutes, especially if he really was playing injured (as some have speculated). But I didn't often see the slumping body language from either of those players after they blew assignments, either. (I did see it from plenty of other younger players that season, I don't mean to single AJ out here. That was a clear point of emphasis this past offseason)

Playing injured or not, if the deciding factor for minutes was blown defensive assignments then Paulsen didn’t apply it equitably between Reuter and AJ that season. At the end of the day it’s a moot point, but I hope that Paulsen handles Henry’s fresh/soph seasons better than he did with AJ.

 

[Jack Strop]

You mean the kid paulsen would pull immediately for any mistake while playing a flat footed 6 foot 8 dude that couldn’t run or jump over him that wasted OTis senior season. That AJ Wilson?

Coach L used to do the same thing.

 

[Jack Strop]

Because Paulsen is the greatest coach in college basketball history

I heard he went back into the lab with his AAU coach and slowed the game down during the summer and came back a completely different dude. Paulsen gets some credit but he clearly stunted his growth his redshirt soph year

That is the most uninsightful comment I have ever seen from you. It's like you posted that just to say something. Everything that I've seen is that his players like him and they respond to him. Paulsen's players have three of the last four A10 MIP awards. By definition, coaches "coach" and players execute. Do you really think AJ improved himself in a vacuum? The credit for AJ’s development is split 50/50.

 

[sleeperpick]

That is the most uninsightful comment I have ever seen from you. It's like you posted that just to say something. Everything that I've seen is that his players like him and they respond to him. Paulsen's players have three of the last four A10 MIP awards. By definition, coaches "coach" and players execute. Do you really think AJ improved himself in a vacuum? The credit for AJ’s development is split 50/50.

that is your opinion sir. Some are in the camp that Paulsen made AJ and that the kid went from total project to what he is now.. that is fine. Some others are of the opinion that AJ refined his game quite a bit but would have been much better his SOPH year if he would have just been allowed to play real minutes. You can't really prove either opinion so that is exactly what they are. He had the shortest leash imaginable and was buried in the bench behind a dude that was not very good. I also believe Greg's growth was stunted as well by it.

 

[sleeperpick]

Back to Henry, can't wait to get him on campus and have AJ take big brother role with the kid.

 

[gmujim92]

I think we all can agree it’s an enormous sigh of relief that AJ is staying. It would’ve been a dagger in the balls to see him blow up next season in somebody else’s uniform.

Looking forward to giving that young man a standing ovation on Senior Night, assuming we all don’t die and there is a college basketball season.

 

[psyclone]

If you really didn’t see him have the quickest leash on him soph year we were just watching different games. ……..

I think you're forgetting how often AJ was getting in foul trouble his first 2 years. In conference games both years he averaged 7 fouls per 40 minutes. This year 3.5.