Thoughts from today?
Open Scrimmage 10/22/16
- Thread starter Patriotsince81
- Start date
Work to do, but impressed with #3, 32, and 25 among the freshmen. Not sure why Grayer didn't play. Need to work on stamina and free throws. Good ball movement and communication. Liked the improved confidence and shot by Murrell. We'll see improvement this year over last, but next year and the year after will really be fun.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #3
I liked Paulsen's comment that he no longer has to coach effort, now it's about execution. Agree that there is a TON of work to do. We are just so damn young. We didn't shoot well today, from the field or free throw line. The turnout was just plain sad. I wonder if we will ever have a really passionate fan base of more than a few hundred. The facilities are poor which Paulsen alluded to, the sound system must have been borrowed from a local elementary school.
It's demonstrably false that "we have no bigs." Troy is gonna be an all-A10 player before his Mason career is over. Dixon is improving, Jalen is Jalen and AJ's defense might get him on the court sooner than expected.
We also have the best young PG in the league, which will be a very nice asset to have for the next 3 seasons.
Do I think a team with 11 freshmen and sophomores is going to finish in the top half of the A-10? No, most likely not.
But I'm honestly not sure why so many of our own fans are Eeyores. Things are moving in the right direction, even if it takes longer than any of us would like. It's no longer all doom and gloom.
gmu05
Starter
So yeah, THIS season, we don't have any bigs
Couldn't...agree...more! This is an exciting team. Young, but exciting. We're not going to be great this year. As I said above, next year and the year after are where we make our move in the conference. For now, we make sure our young guys get plenty of playing time. Otis was acting like a senior leader out there today, especially with the freshmen. This confirms why he was chosen as a captain. Let's stop the negativity and get excited about the future!
Damnnnnnn you guys are harsh. The turn out was two or three times what it was last year so we are trending up. Newman's shot is amazing. Temera is the real deal but I am concerned about his injury possibility with the way he plays. AJ def needs to redshirt but great potential. Dixon is three times the player he was last year, a redshirt would have been ideal. Boyd and Kier showed good things. MM could be first team A10. Our starting 5 can compete with most the A10 teams and our depth is considerably better. Good times are soon to be had with this team. Go Mason!!!
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Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
I'm not sure that the turn out was double last year's but it wasn't bad. They had to order a second round of Pizza as the first round was gone before the end of the scrimmage.
Newman did make a couple of 3's (not many made or even taken in the scrimmage) so he shows some promise. Not sure I would describe his shot as amazing but he looks like he could help us.
Temara showed more low block moves than I expected and he looked like he will contribute this year. As for his height, my wife commented that he doesn't stand straight up--more slightly hunched as if striking a "tough guy" pose.
Dixon did also make a few hook shots off of moves down low but wasn't a force off the boards, unlike Jenkins. Moore as usual also came away with a share of rebounds and was in mid-season form scoring time and again on dazzling drives to the hoop.
Boyd showed some promise as well --a one-man fast break past 2 defenders on one play. But both he and Kier (pretty good floor game) also disappeared some times when they were in.
Stupid me--didn't even notice Grayer didn't play until DP mentioned post scrimmage about him having an ankle issue. I then noticed that he was taking foul shots with the team after the scrimmage with no ankle boot or protective equipment showing.
When asked about a starting 5, Coach demurred, saying that things change even within practices. He did point out the obvious core 3 (Jenkins, Moore, Livingston) always played on the Green Team today. I'm rather sure that if he didn't have ankle issues, Grayer would have been the 4th guy. Kier and Abrams were part of the Green team during the first 20 minutes. Temara and Boyd also got some time on the Green team as well. Not sure about the last period--Neuman and ?
Myles Tate was often the White team point guard and made some good plays although he's unlikely to get much playing time, assuming that Moore will get some duty at the point when Otis needs a break.
Coach, as mentioned previously, also said they are beyond coaching effort thus year which didn't happen until January last year and can focus on execution. Although he did have the Green team repeat coming to the huddle for a time out because they didn't sprint to the sideline the first time.
He also mentioned that they hadn't gone full-court much prior to today's scrimmage as there's always many stops in play during practice for instructional reasons.
3 weeks to go!
GMU_Polevaulter
Preferred Walk-On
Live feed here on Facebook maybe else where:
https://www.facebook.com/MasonAthletics/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
I thought alumni turnout was fair - what I thought was missing were students. One student actually showed up midway looking like he wanted to play BBall and was surprised to see a event and not a empty gym. I think the Girls BBall team showed - would have been nice to see other teams and student organizations push the turnout as well.
Great event by the staff - Coaches Q&A after with meet and great of all the players - and FREE!
Noticeable player improvement - especially with Dixon and Murrell
I thought the shooting was much better then last year across all positions - at one point OTIS hit 3
or 4 back to back baskets - 2 of them 3's.
MM looked awesome.
FT are still going to be a issue - but they will keep working on it.
Teams were very energetic and competitive which was nice to see.
I liked what I saw from the freshman - very athletic and no doubt several will contribute.
JJ - still has to work on not getting the early fouls.
For the doom and groomers - NO WAY this team finishes 12th in A10. This will be a better year then last year in conference play - I'm going with GMU finishing in the 6th - 8th spot.
https://www.facebook.com/MasonAthletics/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED
I thought alumni turnout was fair - what I thought was missing were students. One student actually showed up midway looking like he wanted to play BBall and was surprised to see a event and not a empty gym. I think the Girls BBall team showed - would have been nice to see other teams and student organizations push the turnout as well.
Great event by the staff - Coaches Q&A after with meet and great of all the players - and FREE!
Noticeable player improvement - especially with Dixon and Murrell
I thought the shooting was much better then last year across all positions - at one point OTIS hit 3
or 4 back to back baskets - 2 of them 3's.
MM looked awesome.
FT are still going to be a issue - but they will keep working on it.
Teams were very energetic and competitive which was nice to see.
I liked what I saw from the freshman - very athletic and no doubt several will contribute.
JJ - still has to work on not getting the early fouls.
For the doom and groomers - NO WAY this team finishes 12th in A10. This will be a better year then last year in conference play - I'm going with GMU finishing in the 6th - 8th spot.
Low student turnout could have had a lot to do with Miley Cyrus walking around campus recruiting for Hillary at the exact same time.
Vurbel
Hall of Famer
C
Cedric Dempsey
Spectator
I apologize. Couldn't believe they had sausage, shrooms, peppers and onions. I lost it and even put two slices in my pockets for the Bama/A&M game later.
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Lisa Anne
Recruit
Grayer didn't play because he twisted his ankle during practice earlier in the week. He said he would be good to go for opening night.
I didn't think the turnout was better than last year, even made a comment to my wife about it being sad we couldn't get more fans there. I agree with all of the general comments made in this thread - Marquis and Otis looked great and will likely be our 2 leading scorers, Jaire didn't play b/c of slight ankle issue (Marquis said his is fine btw) but did not walk with a noticeable limp and looked absolutely ripped when shooting FT's, Temara was much thicker then I expected. Boyd is a full grown man, was shocked when I saw him and he showed the ability to get to the rim we all expected and I think he hit a 3 towards the end.
I think our top 4 can compete with the top half of the league, but the youth and inexperience (though better overall than last year) gives us a reasonable ceiling of a 6th to 8th finish.
Other tid bits - Paulsen said this team is already doing things defensively that they were never able to do last year, so he expects there to be a significant defensive improvement from the jump.
Overheard a coach's wife mention scrimmages vs Temple and Virginia Tech
I think our top 4 can compete with the top half of the league, but the youth and inexperience (though better overall than last year) gives us a reasonable ceiling of a 6th to 8th finish.
Other tid bits - Paulsen said this team is already doing things defensively that they were never able to do last year, so he expects there to be a significant defensive improvement from the jump.
Overheard a coach's wife mention scrimmages vs Temple and Virginia Tech
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