The Paul Hewitt Thread

[GSII]

I have been one of the most optimistic about the Hewitt hire from the beginning, but I have to admit that my optimism is waning fast. The last things left that gives me some hope are:

Hewitt's true recruits. People that he went after because of what he saw of their ability in High School (not because he needed them to keep a full roster or snatched someone up at the last minute to fill the roster). You know, people that he recruited while they were in high school or AAU. The people I put in that category are: Gujanicic, Moore and Jenkins. Royal will count too since he recruited him while at GT, but we have not seen him yet. So, the guys that Hewitt had his eye on from the beginning to play for him that we have seen play at Mason have all been pretty good picks and performing well so far. The only issue with this hope is that it will take the full 5 years to see if it works, and if it doesn't, things could be really bad.

We have seen some minor changes that are going in the right direction. We have started to see more zone, which has been mostly effective the last couple of games. We just have not seen as much as most of us would like to have seen.

Are my rays of hope just grasping at straws at this point?
Are there other areas of hope?

Yes, Marquise Moore. Jalen Jenkins. Gotta like what we saw from them
Vs OK.

 

[Walter]

I agree with gmubrian, Hewitt's recruits look promising. Problem is Shaka has a top 15 recruiting class and THAT is who the competition is. Unless Texas or some NBA team backs a Brinks truck full of money and Shaka becomes a whore, Hewitt needs to step it up even more. And if this year turns into a complete disaster, recruiting will become more difficult.

But to end on a positive note, there is still time to turn this season around.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Why bring Syracuse into the discussion? Just because our zone won't be as good as Syracuse's is no reason not to use it -- especially since our man-to-man is so awful.

Also, I haven't seen anyone who suggested that Edwards or Williams should start. Pretty much everyone agrees that it should be Moore, Allen, Wright, Marko and Jenkins. No reason why those guys can't be effective in a 2-3 zone.

And I wasn't saying only use it against teams that are "better than us." I merely suggested we should go exclusively zone against the better teams on our schedule, each of whom have the kind of guards that can get to the rim consistently against us.

But it's nice to see you've finally come around to agree that we need some kind of alternative to this terrible man-to-man, instead of ripping anyone who dared mention the word "zone" like you did last season.

You bring Syracuse into the equation because they in part succeed playing zone as a primary defense because of their LENGTH.

With Mason, especially starting Edwards, Wright, Allen that doesn't do much. Plus as anyone that teaches zone knows, you still have to move your feet...perhaps even more.

I never said anything is wrong with it as a change up. But asking Hewitt to abandon what he has preached for decades and make it his primary defense is pretty silly. Plus it isn't going to work as anything much better than a change up.

These guys would have been playing man under L as well.

Play more zone against teams that can get to the rim but also can't shoot that well. Good guards also sometimes can shoot well.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

I agree with gmubrian, Hewitt's recruits look promising. Problem is Shaka has a top 15 recruiting class and THAT is who the competition is. Unless Texas or some NBA team backs a Brinks truck full of money and Shaka becomes a whore, Hewitt needs to step it up even more. And if this year turns into a complete disaster, recruiting will become more difficult.

But to end on a positive note, there is still time to turn this season around.

vcu is currently the best program in the state. We should aspire to be that but at no time have we ever actually been that outside of 2006 probably.

I wish we could end the vcu penis envy. Things go in cycles.

 

[Bricker]

I agree with gmubrian, Hewitt's recruits look promising. Problem is Shaka has a top 15 recruiting class and THAT is who the competition is. Unless Texas or some NBA team backs a Brinks truck full of money and Shaka becomes a whore, Hewitt needs to step it up even more. And if this year turns into a complete disaster, recruiting will become more difficult.

But to end on a positive note, there is still time to turn this season around.

vcu isn't even on my radar right now. I just hope our team doesn't look like a complete joke versus the rest of the A-1o.

Either way, vcu is the flavor of the week in college basketball. They were overrated going into last year's tournament and overrated heading into this season as well because the media is infatuated with Shaka and Havoc. That's fine-- it's fun to watch and a billion times better than what we have going on, but I knew the hype hit fever-pitch when a bunch of talking heads were talking about national championship hopes just before the season started...

Like Jollay said, these things move in cycles. vcu is far form invincible and I'm kinda tired of reading about them on these boards all the time.

 

[Walter]

IF Mike Rhodes is as good as the vcu fans think (I have no way of knowing), how about Hewitt hire him and name him "HC in waiting." Gives Rhodes time to establish relationships with the players and recruits and, maybe, hurt Smart in the process. Disclaimer: I am actually doubtful of vcu's fans' claim that Rhodes should be given a lot of the credit for Shaka's success.

 

[GMUSSTN]

vcu is currently the best program in the state. We should aspire to be that but at no time have we ever actually been that outside of 2006 probably.

I wish we could end the vcu penis envy. Things go in cycles.

We were legions better than vcu in 2011. Far and away. Embarrassed them at home. Inspired vcu fans to call for Shaka getting fired. They got hot in the tournament and shot through a cupcake bracket that only involved on real team (Kansas) who underestimated them. Once they met a coach who didn't underestimate them (Stevens/Butler) they lost.

Anyway the 2011 George Mason Patriots were the best George Mason Patriots ever, as proven by our record and our 17 game winning streak. Good enough that season to merit a raise for our coach, a big, fat one.

But this is a thread about Paul Hewitt...

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

PiKapp and others make me laugh at their bitterness towards OCM using the free market system. Aren't you guys the biggest supporters of it?

Walter, I have a simpler solution and it involves just simply hiring Mike Rhoades.

 

[GMUgemini]

PiKapp and others make me laugh at their bitterness towards OCM using the free market system. Aren't you guys the biggest supporters of it?

Walter, I have a simpler solution and it involves just simply hiring Mike Rhoades.

I have a feeling it will be just as hard getting Mike Roades to leave vcu as it has been Shaka Smart.

 

[gmujim92]

I never said anything is wrong with it as a change up. But asking Hewitt to abandon what he has preached for decades and make it his primary defense is pretty silly. Plus it isn't going to work as anything much better than a change up.

What's silly is thinking that "what Hewitt has preached for decades" is something that should be defended.

The guy has demonstrated that he is, at best, a mediocre coach.

And our players have demonstrated, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that they can't guard anybody in the man-to-man.

But please keep insisting that the zone won't work for us as a primary defense. You'll never have to worry about being proven wrong because the coach is too stubborn to try it for more than short stretches.

 

[ArrozBlanco]

Is there any chance we can get Doc Nix to play the Judy Collins' classic "Send In the Clowns" when Mason comes out on the court. "Send in the Clowns. There ought to be clowns. Don't bother, they're here".

 

[gmujim92]

I have a feeling it will be just as hard getting Mike Roades to leave vcu as it has been Shaka Smart.

I know Mike a little. He's extremely loyal, but I'm about 99.9 percent sure he'd leave vcu for $500,000 and a chance to be a head coach in the A-10.

It would prove to be a bargain, for at least as long as it took him to move up to the ACC or some such league.

It's not vcu penis envy to suggest that the guy is one hell of a basketball coach. He'd be a huge fan favorite here.

 

[GMUgemini]

I know Mike a little. He's extremely loyal, but I'm about 99.9 percent sure he'd leave vcu for $500,000 and a chance to be a head coach in the A-10.

It would prove to be a bargain, for at least as long as it took him to move up to the ACC or some such league.

It's not vcu penis envy to suggest that the guy is one hell of a basketball coach. He'd be a huge fan favorite here.

What about one of Beilein's assistants? Jeff Meyer might be a little long in the tooth for what everyone here is looking for, but what about someone like LaVall Jordan?

 

[gmujim92]

What about one of Beilein's assistants? Jeff Meyer might be a little long in the tooth for what everyone here is looking for, but what about someone like LaVall Jordan?

Jordan is an excellent recruiter and I really, really like Beilein. No idea if Jordan is a disciple of Beilein's offense or would want to do something different.

The reason I think Rhoades would be a great fit is that he'll press and play up-tempo on both ends. Most kids like to get up and down the court.

 

[gmujim92]

You know who else would be a nice hire? Kevin Keatts.

Even though he took Hancock away from us, he's a rising star in this business. He has a ton of recruiting contacts from his time at Hargrave and he'd run an up-tempo system as well.

As with Rhoades, we'd need somebody at Mason to be willing to hire a guy without D-I head coaching experience ... in other words, somebody other than TOC.

 

[GMUgemini]

Jordan is an excellent recruiter and I really, really like Beilein. No idea if Jordan is a disciple of Beilein's offense or would want to do something different.

The reason I think Rhoades would be a great fit is that he'll press and play up-tempo on both ends. Most kids like to get up and down the court.

My guess is Jordan would be more of a Lickliter guy, since he played for him at Butler and was an assistant under him at both Butler and Iowa.

But either way.

 

[gmujim92]

My guess is Jordan would be more of a Lickliter guy, since he played for him at Butler and was an assistant under him at both Butler and Iowa.

But either way.

Oh God, for the sake of his livelihood, I sure hope Jordan has wiped the Lickliter funk off him. Talk about a guy whose career went south in a hurry.

 

[KAOriginal]

Holy Crap I figured it out.

When Hewitt took GT to the NC in 2004, none other than Dean Keener was there by his side. Which got him the HC job at Madison.

We need to hire Keener ASAP to be an asst.

 

[GMUgemini]

Oh God, for the sake of his livelihood, I sure hope Jordan has wiped the Lickliter funk off him. Talk about a guy whose career went south in a hurry.

Didn't seem to hurt Brad Stevens too much

 

[gmujim92]

Holy Crap I figured it out.

When Hewitt took GT to the NC in 2004, none other than Dean Keener was there by his side. Which got him the HC job at Madison.

We need to hire Keener ASAP to be an asst.

Keener's out of coaching and happily so. He's got a cushy corporate job and is making just as much as he was at JMU, from what I've heard.