Hewitt, Extension, wait, what?

[polepino]

Despite all the talk of perfect storm of things that happened to Hewitt.....the bottom line he is not a good coach. His overall track record at GT proves what happened here is not just a fluke that befell him.

The devils advocate thing to say is "What about his time at Siena?" Was that pure luck?

 

[gmu05]

And there it is.

You sure do love ripping players.

Yes seriously, we all know Hewitt is a great scheming x's & o's guy who always makes the right adjustments in games. Those dumb players need to listen I guess!

 

[JamesMason]

And there it is.

You sure do love ripping players.

%^&$#&* Hewitt doesn't have all HIS GUYS yet! There are still two Larranaga holdovers, how dare you judge him!

 

[gmutom]

And there it is.

You sure do love ripping players.

It's called accountability, which you would know nothing about since you hide behind multiple screen names and rip fellow Mason fans anonymously from afar.

As I said very clearly above, the buck ultimately stops with the head coach. But if a player turns the ball over twice in 10 seconds, he deserves to be criticized. And I'm sure Sherrod would agree with that, just as much as he embraced being mobbed on the court when he hit the game-winner against vcu.

 

[GSII]

Great dialouge. Maybe Brad can use some of these points down the road.

 

[JamesMason]

Hey Virgil didn't Vaughn tell you not to post here anymore?

 

[MasonFanatic]

I don't mean to rag on former players who gave us everything they had, but Wright and Allen probably landed in the CAA in part because they had flawed basketball fundamentals. Those flaws should have been corrected long before they arrived at college, but they were not. As a result, they would have been fine CAA players in Larranaga's system, but at the A10 level, and in Hewitt's more individual system, those flaws got exposed. It's easy to be frustrated with Hewitt and his staff for not fixing those problems, but the truth is that old habits die hard, and there may not have been anything Hewitt could do to correct the problems.

However, what Hewitt should have done better was to adjust his system to compensate for those flaws, rather than repeating the same failures over and over again. He did a good job of making adjustments (especially for Pearson) during his first season, but the last 2 years have felt like the definition of insanity. A good coach schemes for the players he has, not the players he wishes he had.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

I don't mean to rag on former players who gave us everything they had, but Wright and Allen probably landed in the CAA in part because they had flawed basketball fundamentals. Those flaws should have been corrected long before they arrived at college, but they were not.

Allen arrived because the Big East team he'd originally signed with, West Virginia & Huggins, had a player unexpectedly return over a medical redshirt and ran out of scholarships.
http://zagsblog.com/duke/nit-notebook-carolina-wants-duke-to-lose/

Wright arrived because he was recruited like Hell and chose Mason over the ACC, SEC, Big 12, and Big East teams who were on his final list.
http://zagsblog.com/george-mason/sherrod-wright-to-george-mason/

These are two of the highest rated recruits we've ever had.

As for flawed basketball fundamentals.....who exactly has Mason ever recruited that didn't have any flawed fundamentals prior to showing up on campus?

 

[Raider_SPE]

A good coach schemes for the players he has, not the players he wishes he had.

What is the scheme for a line up that has 3 guards that seemingly dribble the ball off their feet more often than any other team in the A-10.

I do agree with much of what you said, I wonder if his scheme would have been different if we actually had an above average PG.

 

[MasonFanatic]

As for flawed basketball fundamentals.....who exactly has Mason ever recruited that didn't have any flawed fundamentals prior to showing up on campus?

Probably no one, because we were a CAA school.

 

[MasonFanatic]

What is the scheme for a line up that has 3 guards that seemingly dribble the ball off their feet more often than any other team in the A-10.

I do agree with much of what you said, I wonder if his scheme would have been different if we actually had an above average PG.

Well, there are some flaws I'm not sure he could have escaped, lol...

I'm sure it would have been better. Having a stretch-4 would have really helped with spacing on the floor, too. *cough*Arledge*cough*

 

[gmutom]

I've always thought of Bryon Allen as a player without a position, which is testament to how much he evolved over his last few years. He never really had the handle to be a PG, and his perimeter game wasn't good enough to play the 2; but what I loved about him is how much he worked on his game to earn playing time at whatever position we needed his help. His ball-handling, ability to penetrate, and outside shooting improved exponentially by his senior year.

I honestly don't know if he ever would have seen the floor had he gone to WVU, but I am happy he was able to play at Mason for four seasons. He was a baller, pure and simple, and that's the biggest compliment you can give a kid.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Completely agree, Tom. I think if Allen had been able to focus on playing a single position (SG) for all 4 years, with a dependable PG getting him the ball, that would have helped him a lot.

 

[GSII]

Even though hewitt said he wouldn't change much in his first year, didn't it seem like Pearson, instead of all 5 guys, was the focus on offense? Pretty much it was give him the ball in the high post and let him go. (Then he got burned out by seasons end) Is such a small adjustment, right or wrong, such a big factor in how games end up looking? Alot of our games looked like a mess even though we'd win. While we may have been leading in the game, towards the end it looked like we hadn't figured out anything about the other team. Instead we'd keep running the same stuff and hope the clock would run out with us having more points.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

What is the scheme for a line up that has 3 guards that seemingly dribble the ball off their feet more often than any other team in the A-10.

I do agree with much of what you said, I wonder if his scheme would have been different if we actually had an above average PG.

What team in college outside of your Kentuckys and Dukes actually have a true point guard? They have trouble finding those guys in the NBA. Finding a true point to play at Mason (of decent quality) is an extremely difficult proposition.


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[KAOriginal]

The devils advocate thing to say is "What about his time at Siena?" Was that pure luck?

He had 3 1,000 point scorers. Here's what was said about that group (while talking about the 2010 Siena team.)

“I think athletically, this class is far better,” Huerter said in referring to the Class of 2010 relative to the Class of 2000. “I think that class played in the right system under Paul Hewitt. They were in great shape and they would just keep shooting until their arms fell off. I don’t think they were considered a strong defensive team because of the points per game they gave up, but they were strong enough in that they outscored you. But again, I would give the nod to this team because of the wins. You just have to look at the victories.”

No different than GT with what 4 NBA prospects that year.

Or what does his first year look like without Pearson to ride?

 

[Raider_SPE]

What team in college outside of your Kentuckys and Dukes actually have a true point guard? They have trouble finding those guys in the NBA. Finding a true point to play at Mason (of decent quality) is an extremely difficult proposition.


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Hmmm . . . I don't think I ever mentioned anything about a "true pg", much less infer that top 50 pg recruit would come here.

I was just questioning whether Hewitt would have adjusted his scheme if he had a PG who was better able to handle the ball under pressure, than the options we had.

I would have hoped so but I have my doubts.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Hmmm . . . I don't think I ever mentioned anything about a "true pg", much less infer that top 50 pg recruit would come here.

I was just questioning whether Hewitt would have adjusted his scheme if he had a PG who was better able to handle the ball under pressure, than the options we had.

I would have hoped so but I have my doubts.

Maybe, you weren't, but one of the common refrains (excuses) I hear in favor of Hewitt is that he hasn't had a true point guard to run his offense. My point is that most mid-majors (and even BCS teams for that matter) don't have a "true" point guard. They have a couple of combo guards who handle the ball reasonably well enough to get by. At GT, Hewitt actually was at a place where he could recruit true PGs because of the status of the program and it's history of having great PGs. GT fans still complained that his offenses were dysfunctional. I think that answers your question about adjusting.

 

[gmutom]

...but one of the common refrains (excuses) I hear in favor of Hewitt is that he hasn't had a true point guard to run his offense.

lawdog, I think one of the most valid critiques of Hewitt is that he hasn't addressed the PG position correctly. You and I agree that great PGs don't grow on trees — and they certainly aren't coming to Mason — but it still doesn't mean we can't get a kid in here who can get the ball across half court against the press and distribute the ball without turning it over.

We thought Edwards might be that guy when Coach L initially signed him (and Hewitt re-recruited him), but he plays way too scared and passively to thrive in a position that relies so much on self confidence and aggressiveness. Hewitt needed to realize this much earlier.

Coach L never really had a true PG other than Tremaine Price, but he adjusted and found a way to creatively use guys like his son Jon, Tony Skinn and Folarin to get the ball up the court and get our offense in motion. I don't fault Hewitt for not landing the top guys like Quarterman (who incidentally hasn't lived up to the hype at LSU yet), but he's absolutely to blame for not addressing/resolving the situation better.

I'm hoping Marquis Moore can finally stabilize that position for the next three years, because it really has been a major problem since Hewitt took over.

 

[Raider_SPE]

GT fans still complained that his offenses were dysfunctional. I think that answers your question about adjusting.

Yeah, I think that many have come to that realization. I am excited to see the year over year growth for Marquis the the rest of his career. He could be a great player by the time he leaves.