Who's your Daddy?!?! - Welcome Bahaide Haidara

[Herndon]

spot on

AJ for all a10, amirite?

 

[sleeperpick]

AJ for all a10, amirite?

never in my life said that... Just wish we had a coach that knew how to coach someone with the natural athletic talent.. beating a dead horse at this point because we don't and AJ has one more year left on the team

 

[GSII]

How would you use AJ?

For me, he would be a 3. I'd teach him to be a guard since he has little size and girth to play the 4 or 5. Maybe sometimes guard a comparable 4.

 

[sleeperpick]

How would you use AJ?

For me, he would be a 3. I'd teach him to be a guard since he has little size and girth to play the 4 or 5. Maybe sometimes guard a comparable 4.

AJ does not have the ball handling or poise to be a 3. Very similar to when Paulsen tries to have Mar play the 3 and it is an epic fail over and over again (face it folks Mar cannot dribble)

AJ needs to be taught when to jump and when not to jump. pump fakes kill him and his excitement kills him.

Paulsen's horrible defensive teachings of let them shoot and see if they miss should be great for AJ but it is not because he times his blocks and rebounds poorly and gets pulled at every single mistake he makes.. (imagine if Paulsen used this philosophy on Reuter during the beginning of the year... we may have had 3 more wins). (or conversely if he used it on Otis and Kier... we may have gone winless).
He is extremely uncomfortable out there and it has nothing to do with his talent level...

I look at the Richmond game and think AJ could do what he did in the last 6 mins every damn game for 15+ but he just never really gets the chance or is put in situations to succeed...

I would set up AJ with back screens over and over again and give the kid some lobs until his feet hurt from jumping (nobody in A10 his size can jump with him)

 

[GMUgemini]

The problem with AJ is he’s not really a 5 (even though that’s his best position), and he’s not better than the other players we have been playing at 4, especially Miller. So he kind of gets lost in the shuffle.

I personally think he should be converted to the 4 permanently and let him work exclusively on what he needs to do to be successful there.

Sleeperpick is probably correct that he grad transfers after next year if we can’t figure out how to get him on the floor more consistently.

 

[Mason2005]

The issue is that we don't play with 2 bigs so AJ is always a 5 which he sucks at. I think he'd be a really good stretch pick and pop/roll 4 but that isn't Paulsen's offense. All we do is dribble hand offs and baseline kicks.

But I think it wasn't Otis's forte to play pick and pop ball but Hartwell showed promise with it. Maybe it'll change with Hartwell at the wheel now.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[mkaufman1]

AJ does not have the ball handling or poise to be a 3. Very similar to when Paulsen tries to have Mar play the 3 and it is an epic fail over and over again (face it folks Mar cannot dribble)

AJ needs to be taught when to jump and when not to jump. pump fakes kill him and his excitement kills him.

Paulsen's horrible defensive teachings of let them shoot and see if they miss should be great for AJ but it is not because he times his blocks and rebounds poorly and gets pulled at every single mistake he makes.. (imagine if Paulsen used this philosophy on Reuter during the beginning of the year... we may have had 3 more wins). (or conversely if he used it on Otis and Kier... we may have gone winless).
He is extremely uncomfortable out there and it has nothing to do with his talent level...

I look at the Richmond game and think AJ could do what he did in the last 6 mins every damn game for 15+ but he just never really gets the chance or is put in situations to succeed...

I would set up AJ with back screens over and over again and give the kid some lobs until his feet hurt from jumping (nobody in A10 his size can jump with him)

I actually agreed with you until you said Paulsens horrible defensive teachings.

I agree he needs to be taught things. However it’s his third year in the program, he’s still being duped by pump fakes and constantly going out of position on defense. If he doesn’t know what to do by now, I can’t help but think some of that is on him. He also lost minutes to Miller and to Mar who play much more in control on both ends.

He provides some good depth at the 5, but he’s essentially undersized for it as we’ve all talked about. He tries obviously but it just doesn’t always work.

In addition, on offense he plays out of control and is a liability. It once again goes to the point of if he doesn’t know what to do, will he ever. The wild charge he had against bonaventure sticks out to me. Obviously only one instance but regardless.

Not trying to knock the kid or your post. I think AJ is incredibly talented, fun to watch, and with some focus and maturity could really help the team on both sides of the ball. But I’m skeptical if and when that’ll ever come.

This thread is also supposed to be about Haidara but somehow we are debating AJ haha

 

[sleeperpick]

I actually agreed with you until you said Paulsens horrible defensive teachings.

I agree he needs to be taught things. However it’s his third year in the program, he’s still being duped by pump fakes and constantly going out of position on defense. If he doesn’t know what to do by now, I can’t help but think some of that is on him. He also lost minutes to Miller and to Mar who play much more in control on both ends.

He provides some good depth at the 5, but he’s essentially undersized for it as we’ve all talked about. He tries obviously but it just doesn’t always work.

In addition, on offense he plays out of control and is a liability. It once again goes to the point of if he doesn’t know what to do, will he ever. The wild charge he had against bonaventure sticks out to me. Obviously only one instance but regardless.

Not trying to knock the kid or your post. I think AJ is incredibly talented, fun to watch, and with some focus and maturity could really help the team on both sides of the ball. But I’m skeptical if and when that’ll ever come.

This thread is also supposed to be about Haidara but somehow we are debating AJ haha

Herndon brought him up... you're correct.. wrong thread

 

[GMUgemini]

The issue is that we don't play with 2 bigs so AJ is always a 5 which he sucks at. I think he'd be a really good stretch pick and pop/roll 4 but that isn't Paulsen's offense. All we do is dribble hand offs and baseline kicks.

But I think it wasn't Otis's forte to play pick and pop ball but Hartwell showed promise with it. Maybe it'll change with Hartwell at the wheel now.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

He has played a pick and pop/roll offense before. I think two things have happened to Paulsen with the bigs. One, he hasn't had two bigs on the roster at the same time who had the skillsets required to be a 4 and 5, so he's had to recajigger his offense around that, and, two, he's trying to figure out "positionless basketball," but he hasn't yet.

 

[JPgmuswim]

Mason officially made the announcement of the Daddy signing.

https://gomason.com/news/2019/4/17/...ddy-hadaira-to-national-letter-of-intent.aspx

 

[masonjoe]

Sucks about the news of him probably not being eligible for next season, guess we know why we didn't have to compete much to land him...

 

[JimP]

Sucks about the news of him probably not being eligible for next season, guess we know why we didn't have to compete much to land him...

He's not eligible next season?

 

[Patriot8]

Sucks about the news of him probably not being eligible for next season, guess we know why we didn't have to compete much to land him...

Uhhh what?

 

[GSII]

Where is this news?

 

[sleeperpick]

Sucks about the news of him probably not being eligible for next season, guess we know why we didn't have to compete much to land him...

troll

 

[mkaufman1]

Ugh Masonjoe you are the f**king worst. Unfortunately that is something that has made rounds, I don't know much more than what he basically said. Obviously Masonjoe feels proud to air all Mason Mens basketball dirty laundry on the message boards.

I’m trying to take a break and just read too.

 

[JPgmuswim]

Him basically redshirting isn’t the worst news. I’m sure the level of talent he was playing against wasn’t the greatest and a year in our program before games will help. Maybe he can even learn how to drive both ways.

As long as this isn’t a Mayimba situation.

 

[Five Two]

Got some info regarding international students that should be applicable here. He needs a F-1 Visa and so:

Maintaining Valid F-1 Status After You Arrive
After you are approved for your F1 visa, you are able to enter the United States as an international student. However, after you arrive, you will need to stay aware of your obligations as an F1 visa holder. If you do not maintain your valid F-1 visa status, you will not be allowed to return to re-enter the US if you leave and you will not be eligible for practical training (OPT or CPT) or on-campus employment. Here are some tips to assure you’re in good standing during your study abroad:

Upon Arrival
Make sure you arrive in the US no more than 30 days prior to the first day of classes. Check in with your international advisor as soon as possible before your program begins.


Don't expect him on campus this summer since he can't get to Fairfax more than 30 days prior to the fall semester.

 

[gmubrian]

Got some info regarding international students that should be applicable here. He needs a F-1 Visa and so:

Maintaining Valid F-1 Status After You Arrive
After you are approved for your F1 visa, you are able to enter the United States as an international student. However, after you arrive, you will need to stay aware of your obligations as an F1 visa holder. If you do not maintain your valid F-1 visa status, you will not be allowed to return to re-enter the US if you leave and you will not be eligible for practical training (OPT or CPT) or on-campus employment. Here are some tips to assure you’re in good standing during your study abroad:

Upon Arrival
Make sure you arrive in the US no more than 30 days prior to the first day of classes. Check in with your international advisor as soon as possible before your program begins.


Don't expect him on campus this summer since he can't get to Fairfax more than 30 days prior to the fall semester.

Don’t new recruits typically go to summer school to get ahead so they take a lighter load during the season?

And wouldn’t that count as the first day of classes?

 

[By George.]

Don’t new recruits typically go to summer school to get ahead so they take a lighter load during the season?

And wouldn’t that count as the first day of classes?

International students aren’t allowed to attend summer school as their first semester which is why he’s not at campus yet (I believe). This is separate from his eligibility issue.