NewPatriot
Starter
Patriots missing a low post offensive scorer. .Kanga doesn't want to be that guy
Exhibition #1: GMU at Villanova on Saturday, October 17, at 1:00 PM.
- Thread starter Patriotsince81
- Start date
Any James Nnaji sightings?
Big takeaway: we are stronger at the 4 than I thought and weaker at the 5.
Still, they kept it within shouting distance for most of the game without their lead guard and maybe best backcourt defender. Okojie and Valentine should not only give the team an offensive boost but their both really good and physical defenders.
The FT shooting doesn’t look too great right now.
NewPatriot
Starter
Missing Valentine Marville,Nanji and Okojie...the team stepped up most of game..nice to see Pendergrass, the dude from Butler, Jones and O'Connor impact despite only being in the offense against a bonafide Top 25 team.
They just need to find a person willing to score in the low post to balance out the offense
Definitely a little discouraging to see Kanga only scoring 2 points. But it’s just an exhibition match.
NewPatriot
Starter
It's not that he had 2 pts. The villanova announcers made repeated remarks about how perplexed about kanga getting an offense rebound and passing up open lay ups at the rim and open 4 footers in the lane. He supposed to replace Allensbach...he needs to at least attempt to be an low post thread of Mason will be in for a long sesson
Could have been nerves or confidence. Might need a couple of games before we know about Kanga. I wouldn’t completely count out Marcus either.
Neither Allensbach or Haynes looked like world beaters in their first games. So maybe a little patience is needed at that spot.
Good thing: Mason isn’t going to have to face as good of a frontcourt for a LONG time. So we will see.
I remember being super underwhelmed with Haynes early on that even Gio had games where he looked like the better of the two. Then Haynes took off. Hopefully the same happens to Kanga… or Marcus… or Nnaji…
NewPatriot
Starter
Skinn post game address kanga at the 5 minute mark. You were right...Skinn mentioned confidence
OP
- Thread Starter
- #52
Thanks for sharing...... It's VERY early but also obvious that there is work to be done. Time will tell how good we can/will be.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #53
In case you haven't seen it.
gomason.com
Patriots Drop Exhibition Opener at Villanova - George Mason University Athletics
The short-handed George Mason University men's basketball team fell in its exhibition opener to Villanova, 84-67, on Saturday afternoon at the Finneran Pavilion.
gomason.com
So what else is new?
Considering they were down four players, including three who should see significant minutes, I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as the score looks. They were arguably missing their two best defenders and two leading scorers. I think they’ll be just fine. Actually, I was pretty encouraged by where the score stood with eight minutes left.
At guard look a lot deeper than last year, which ended up being a huge problem. A10 still a guard league so looking forward to seeing everyone on the court!
At guard look a lot deeper than last year, which ended up being a huge problem. A10 still a guard league so looking forward to seeing everyone on the court!
We have some silly depth at the 4 too, especially if you include Presley as an option as a small ball 4 (it was good to see him contribute after a shaky first few minutes).
I’d say we are a legit two deep 1-4. Would hope to see Nnaji and Marville get healthy and get a runout in some of these early games to see what we have there too.
Not sure how much we are going to see of Miller, Preston-Mendy, or Barrett (assuming he has a scholarship as he doesn’t have a walk-on symbol next to his name on verbalcommits) this year, but that’s OK.
thebiasedannouncer
Starter
Alright: I’ve slept on the Mason performance from yesterday, here are my thoughts.
- I’ve said this enough times about yesterday, but it does bear repeating; it’s so hard to judge yesterday completely without the asterisk of no Baraka and no Valentine. Those two are going to be so important to the offense that it’s hard to judge any preseason performance missing them.
-Thought BOC looked very good in his return to live game action. Didn’t see much time in the second half after getting poked in the eye, but he did not look out of place against P5 competition. Dare I say, people should be back on the All A-10 Train with him.
-Lotta kudos to the Freshmen Pendergrass, Miller and Barrett. Even in an exhibition I have to imagine it’s hard to be thrown in to heavy minutes like that, especially for the latter two considering they probably will not get close to those minutes when everyone is healthy. I saw a player in all of them.
-To Pendergrass specifically, even in this loaded frontcourt, you have to, HAVE TO, find 5-10 minutes a night for him at minimum. Definitely the best offensive instincts from any freshman in the Tony era thus far.
-Center play was not great yesterday. Kanga did his job on the glass and defensively, but needs to get up more shots and be more comfortable against bigger opponents. His play when Suigo was on the court specifically reminded me a lot of his struggles with L’Etang last season. Adair has a lot of offensive potential but I see what the metrics said about his defense. Surprised Mike Marcus got so little run.
-Elijah Jones will average 12/7 this year quietly and is already such an immediate upgrade at the four compared to last year. Just don’t get a tech in a real game in a similar moment please. Game really got away when he was pseudo benched after that.
-EOE is going to be the best slasher we’ve had in the Tony era. Got to the basket with such ease at points yesterday. I do not think I want him running point when everyone is healthy, but his passing ability is a plus when he’s at SF. Not sure it’s the same plus when he’s actually PG.
-Tale of two halves for Presley yesterday. The way he played in the first half would make me want to not even see the court. The way he played in the second half showcased how he could be a real energizer bunny off the bench. Need him to play much more like the second half in games that matter.
- I’ve said this enough times about yesterday, but it does bear repeating; it’s so hard to judge yesterday completely without the asterisk of no Baraka and no Valentine. Those two are going to be so important to the offense that it’s hard to judge any preseason performance missing them.
-Thought BOC looked very good in his return to live game action. Didn’t see much time in the second half after getting poked in the eye, but he did not look out of place against P5 competition. Dare I say, people should be back on the All A-10 Train with him.
-Lotta kudos to the Freshmen Pendergrass, Miller and Barrett. Even in an exhibition I have to imagine it’s hard to be thrown in to heavy minutes like that, especially for the latter two considering they probably will not get close to those minutes when everyone is healthy. I saw a player in all of them.
-To Pendergrass specifically, even in this loaded frontcourt, you have to, HAVE TO, find 5-10 minutes a night for him at minimum. Definitely the best offensive instincts from any freshman in the Tony era thus far.
-Center play was not great yesterday. Kanga did his job on the glass and defensively, but needs to get up more shots and be more comfortable against bigger opponents. His play when Suigo was on the court specifically reminded me a lot of his struggles with L’Etang last season. Adair has a lot of offensive potential but I see what the metrics said about his defense. Surprised Mike Marcus got so little run.
-Elijah Jones will average 12/7 this year quietly and is already such an immediate upgrade at the four compared to last year. Just don’t get a tech in a real game in a similar moment please. Game really got away when he was pseudo benched after that.
-EOE is going to be the best slasher we’ve had in the Tony era. Got to the basket with such ease at points yesterday. I do not think I want him running point when everyone is healthy, but his passing ability is a plus when he’s at SF. Not sure it’s the same plus when he’s actually PG.
-Tale of two halves for Presley yesterday. The way he played in the first half would make me want to not even see the court. The way he played in the second half showcased how he could be a real energizer bunny off the bench. Need him to play much more like the second half in games that matter.
What happened for Jones to get a T?
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