NEW NEW Game 18: GMU (9-8 / 5-6) vs vcu (15-4 / 8-2) on Saturday, February 20, at 2:30 PM.

[Falco]

Oduro off the bench. What a night for him.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Dave coached his a** off in the 2nd half and OT.

Coming off a 10-day lay-off, on the road against the 1st place team and your hated rival, this game was one of Dave’s best wins at Mason.

Has no one mentioned that Dave didn't let Oduro and AJ share the floor at all today? Missed some bits and pieces (sad dad life) but I'm pretty sure that's true. It was either AJ, or Oduro, or Calixte all game long, and never more than one at a time. Playing two post bigs against that attack is death and he opted for playing one true big surrounded by athletes, a big reason Frazier/Dady/Polite got extended run.

It's not like, some genius adjustment, but it's nice to know there's a reason to pay attention to the A10 tournament.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Has no one mentioned that Dave didn't let Oduro and AJ share the floor at all today? Missed some bits and pieces (sad dad life) but I'm pretty sure that's true. It was either AJ, or Oduro, or Calixte all game long, and never more than one at a time. Playing two post bigs against that attack is death and he opted for playing one true big surrounded by athletes, a big reason Frazier/Dady/Polite got extended run.

It's not like, some genius adjustment, but it's nice to know there's a reason to pay attention to the A10 tournament.

Very noticeable...also, I like smaller lineups if we actually have a gameplan kind of condusive to it; today it seemed like we kind of did for once.

I liked that we didn't necessarily slow it up when we had run outs in transition...I liked the halfcourt spread offense with the athletes who would draw defenders and then find Oduro...I liked a little bit more doubling and ball pressure than normal on defense (I think).

But most of all I liked ruining vcu's season.

Again.

 

[JimP]

haha he’s probably happy for us

Actually feel bad for DL. Just perused the vcu boards and some posters are dogging him for starting the GMU game thread. Apparently some other guy usually starts the thread. We've got your back DL.

 

[mkaufman1]

Actually feel bad for DL. Just perused the vcu boards and some posters are dogging him for starting the GMU game thread. Apparently some other guy usually starts the thread. We've got your back DL.

yeah they are getting on him pretty hard.

 

[mkaufman1]

Enjoyed the win yesterday as much as everyone else did.

What kills me is that somehow the last few times in Richmond against vcu, Dave whips up a competent game plan with adjustments. Whether its pressuring the ball and trapping more for some turnovers, going with some more athletic lineups, whatever. I thought having Frazier and Miller out there together worked really well as odd as that might sound. Its great to ruin their season and basically piss on their parade even if Mason isn't anywhere close to relevancy and where the program wants to be.

Yet when we see the same team match up against a team (especially this year) like a Dayton URI Bonaventure Richmond etc, Mason looks like they don't belong in the league.

I get some of it could be just how the match ups work, but how the level of effort on the floor and to a degree game planning fluctuates is head scratching. If the guys played like they did yesterday EVERY GAME, we all would have a much different look on the program. Maybe this is just what its like to have a mediocre A10 coach, sometimes you pull out all the tricks and win, and a lot of times you look like crap.

 

[GMUgemini]

To me, the biggest head scratcher is you get these games or stretches from the young players (it was Otis against vcu this time, Kolek at many points this year) and you think about the possibilities for the future and then those players rarely get any better and we are left cycling through the next promising freshmen over and over and over again.

 

[mkaufman1]

To me, the biggest head scratcher is you get these games or stretches from the young players (it was Otis against vcu this time, Kolek at many points this year) and you think about the possibilities for the future and then those players rarely get any better and we are left cycling through the next promising freshmen over and over and over again.

Endless cycle of "hey we got something!" and then by year 3 we are like "this is all they are?"

 

[tblack33]

The win is great. Loved it.

It also took us an OT period to beat vcu without their best player, their only player who averages double figure scoring. When he was in it looked like we were going to lose by 15. Let’s not all hop on Paulsens jock for “expert coaching moves” yet, this was much more vcu's plan fell apart after the A10 POY went down with an injury and they didn’t have anyone to carry the water.

Commence the flaming hurr durr enjoy the win over a rival replies. I do enjoy the win, but also calling it like I see it, with Bones in this game we lose by 15-20.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

What kills me is that somehow the last few times in Richmond against vcu, Dave whips up a competent game plan with adjustments. Whether its pressuring the ball and trapping more for some turnovers, going with some more athletic lineups, whatever.

There is also definitely an element that what we have and how we play, especially defensively, is a better natural fit against a team like vcu than a team like, say, Richmond.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

The win is great. Loved it.

It also took us an OT period to beat vcu without their best player, their only player who averages double figure scoring. When he was in it looked like we were going to lose by 15. Let’s not all hop on Paulsens jock for “expert coaching moves” yet, this was much more vcu's plan fell apart after the A10 POY went down with an injury and they didn’t have anyone to carry the water.

Commence the flaming hurr durr enjoy the win over a rival replies. I do enjoy the win, but also calling it like I see it, with Bones in this game we lose by 15-20.

I thought this game was there with or without Bones just the way vcu was playing in general. Just not enough intensity/efficiency.

There is a danger a player like Bones just wins it by himself down the stretch or in OT, though.

Really should have won in regulation though taking out Miller bad shot, doesn't hustle back on defense, they get three-point play.

 

[mkaufman1]

There is also definitely an element that what we have and how we play, especially defensively, is a better natural fit against a team like vcu than a team like, say, Richmond.

Right and that's understandable.

But shouldn't Mason be planning to beat teams in the A10 across the board with different styles, not just vcu? Like I get its a tough league but isn't it then up to the coach to adjust and figure out how to make it work against a different style? Sure the certain style can beat vcu instead of a Richmond.

I am just perplexed at the variances, but I'm not a coach so maybe I am overthinking it.

 

[GMUgemini]

The win is great. Loved it.

It also took us an OT period to beat vcu without their best player, their only player who averages double figure scoring. When he was in it looked like we were going to lose by 15. Let’s not all hop on Paulsens jock for “expert coaching moves” yet, this was much more vcu's plan fell apart after the A10 POY went down with an injury and they didn’t have anyone to carry the water.

Commence the flaming hurr durr enjoy the win over a rival replies. I do enjoy the win, but also calling it like I see it, with Bones in this game we lose by 15-20.

Mason was leading 65-62 when Bones Hyland was being carted off the court with 2:06 left in the game, so I'm not sure where you get that idea from. Maybe Bones does what most game changing players do against Mason and will their team over the finish line, but it was not going to be a blowout loss.

 

[Herndon]

I agree with GMUTom. Josh Oduro is GMU's best big man since....Ryan Pearson.

So, I'm going to be honest I thought this was ridiculous, until I looked at their numbers through two years.

They're actually pretty comparable.

In term of style they're different. Pearson had a weird array of spin moves and awkward angle shots, and Oduro is more of just an old school meat-and-potatoes post game, but through the same point in their career, they've been about as effective as one another.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/josh-oduro-1.html
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/ryan-pearson-1.html

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Oduro played a great game and I love that he's a Patriot...think he is/will be solid.

But nowhere near the level of a low post scorer as Pearson. We have yet to recruit one of those under DP. Oduro had some great one-on-one post moves which should continue to get better but a lot of his buckets were just him waiting by the basket for open dishes when the defense reacted to someone else.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I mean, look at the offensive talent on the teams Pearson played on. You take any of the L (caveat, he sucks now did you see they lost by 57 to Georgia Tech yesterday?) good post players and they're probably 20 and 10 on this team. If we have Jesse Young as a sophomore on this team we think he's guaranteed NBA.

 

[By George.]

New episode: Oops.. We Did it Again

https://giantkiller.co/ByGeorge/2021/02/21/oops-we-did-it-again/

 

[tblack33]

Mason was leading 65-62 when Bones Hyland was being carted off the court with 2:06 left in the game, so I'm not sure where you get that idea from. Maybe Bones does what most game changing players do against Mason and will their team over the finish line, but it was not going to be a blowout loss.

Should have clarified— more than just when he got carted off (although I’ll maintain they probably win in regulation with him in the game with 2 to go). He was very clearly nursing an injury coming into this game, then rolled an ankle in the first half, and he was still absolutely having his way with our guards. He was doing that at half strength.

 

[gmutom]

I mean, look at the offensive talent on the teams Pearson played on. You take any of the L (caveat, he sucks now did you see they lost by 57 to Georgia Tech yesterday?) post players and they're probably 20 and 10 on this team. If we have Jesse Young as a sophomore on this team we think he's guaranteed NBA.

Playing devil's advocate, imagine how Oduro would thrive on a team surrounded by the shooters Ryan, Jai and Will had around them. Those guys had the luxury of teammates, coaches and a game plan that focused on operating inside out and spreading the floor. I agree he was the recipient of some nice dishes yesterday, but more often than not Oduro has to come out to get the ball or score on rebounded misses.

If I was an opposing coach, my strategy against this team would be to pack in a zone to stop dribble penetration and Oduro in the post. Period. It's very rare that Kolek, Miller, Greene and Hartwell get hot from behind the arc in the same game, so I would take my chances.

 

[GMUgemini]

Playing devil's advocate, imagine how Oduro would thrive on a team surrounded by the shooters Ryan, Jai and Will had around them. Those guys had the luxury of teammates, coaches and a game plan that focused on operating inside out and spreading the floor. I agree he was the recipient of some nice dishes yesterday, but more often than not Oduro has to come out to get the ball or score on rebounded misses.

If I was an opposing coach, my strategy against this team would be to pack in a zone to stop dribble penetration and Oduro in the post. Period. It's very rare that Kolek, Miller, Greene and Hartwell get hot from behind the arc in the same game, so I would take my chances.

Oduro would also be playing alongside Ryan and Jai (or Thomas) as well as having those shooters...imagine that scenario.