Game 20: George Washington University, Jan 25th, Noon, NBCSN

[GMU_Polevaulter]

This team has been in some very close games with some of the better A10 teams - despite the coach - and in many cases - if they (Sr's) made free throws in the final minute they would not be winless in the A10 and could have won a few more by playing some defense in the last 5 minutes of a games.

I hope something starts to gel before the season ends with the younger players because they will be the core of next years team. Looking at today's game the rotation appears to be getting shorter. Moore got a lot minutes today if you want to complain about his lack of a jump shot - at least give him credit for the 7 assists and only 2 turn overs - he would have had a few more assists if his team mates could catch and hold on. A freshman playing a good team with a 3.5 A/TO ratio - I'll take it.

PH - needs plays to free him up or he needs to get better at creating a shot - teams are playing him tight not giving him many good looks.

I don't mind all the calls/post to dump the coach - but I'm hoping for this team to start playing 40 minutes and win some A10 games not because I'm a fan of the coach but I personally think firing the coach no matter how bad it gets this year - it's not going to happen because GMU is to cheap. Can't imagine them coughing up the money to payoff the cancelled contract especially after paying money to move to the A10.

Hope I'm wrong - I really want to see a strong GMU BBall program.

 

[GMUgemini]

This team has been in some very close games with some of the better A10 teams - despite the coach - and in many cases - if they (Sr's) made free throws in the final minute they would not be winless in the A10 and could have won a few more by playing some defense in the last 5 minutes of a games.

I hope something starts to gel before the season ends with the younger players because they will be the core of next years team. Looking at today's game the rotation appears to be getting shorter. Moore got a lot minutes today if you want to complain about his lack of a jump shot - at least give him credit for the 7 assists and only 2 turn overs - he would have had a few more assists if his team mates could catch and hold on. A freshman playing a good team with a 3.5 A/TO ratio - I'll take it.

PH - needs plays to free him up or he needs to get better at creating a shot - teams are playing him tight not giving him many good looks.

I don't mind all the calls/post to dump the coach - but I'm hoping for this team to start playing 40 minutes and win some A10 games not because I'm a fan of the coach but I personally think firing the coach no matter how bad it gets this year - it's not going to happen because GMU is to cheap. Can't imagine them coughing up the money to payoff the cancelled contract especially after paying money to move to the A10.

Hope I'm wrong - I really want to see a strong GMU BBall program.

The A-10 paid our exit fee. And we didn't leave any FF money on the table like vcu did when they left. We should be in good financial position to absorb the buyout. And like I said if the next hire is worth his salt it will be paid for with NCAA tournament money and revenue from the increased interest.

1.5 million isn't that much.

 

[Washingtonian]

Really can't stand Hewitt during the pressers, it truly seems like he doesn't care. Broken record of heaping praise on the other team and making light of our inability to make lay ups. How about our terrible defense? How about of lack on any cock and balls? This team has def. taken on his laid back, some might call it aloof demeanor.

I wonder if the press conferences are that short, or the press doesn't ask a lot of questions?

 

[rockster]

Hewitt post game press conference reveals a coach who accepts losing. No emotion, lack of sincerity, and who relies on the stats to defend his constant losing. What BS. oh, and we just have to deal with a " little rust". Is this guy kidding. We deserve better than this. I was at the game and couldn't help notice how totally quiet TOC was with this thinking man pose in the front. He virtually said nothing all game long to his wife. He must be in total denial. Those GW loud chants of "Who is George Mason" must have got to him.

Finally has Korey Edwards hit the skids like Vaughn Gray. That's probably two more who are gone next year, plus consider that Marco must be contemplating heading back to Europe as he is getting less and less minutes.

What a F...g mess.

 

[GMU84fanman]

I have remained out of much of the Hewitt debate and won't engage in that debate now. However, watching yesterday's game and prior games this season, I believe our biggest problem has been our lack of athleticism. Ironically, our two freshmen may be our two best athletes (with a nod to BA too). While MM's shot is an obvious issue, he can at least keep up athletically with the other team. JJ is a stud, and in my estimation the best all around player on the team. He is a match up problem because of his athleticism (too big, strong for a wing to guard on the block and too mobile and quick for a big man to cover with his face to the basket). His desire is also off the charts. I am not sure about Jackson but Mayimba, Lockett and Porter are all said to be very athletic (with of course the assumption that they will gain D1 strength over time).
In my estimation, our biggest problem has been our inability to stop almost anyone defensively when it matters. Opponent point guards penetrate at will and our slow rotations leave big men and long-range shooters open at will. Is some of this due to coaching, no doubt, but it doesn't take a genius to see our team lacks the ability to play above the rim, get up and down the court and keep themselves between their player and the rim.

BA, who I think is one of our more athletic guards, gets caught from behind and blocked by their wing (Guarino--although determined a goal tend by the refs). On another critical play deep in the second half, BA is in perfect rebounding position under the basket and Creek rises well above the rim and BA for an easy tip-in. No disrespect to Williams, Copes and Marko but they can't handle an athletic big man with hops inside or out and cannot defend anyone off the dribble. This game turned on foul troubles. We did a great job getting Armwood off the court in the first half via strong penetration off the dribble from JJ. Armwood returned the favor on JJ in the second half. When JJ was off the court (or on the court with foul trouble), the other team took the game into their hands.

While we may never fully know the reason, the loss of Arledge this year has been significant. Can you imagine a rotation at the end of the game with JJ and Arledge in the lane.
While our team is clearly going in the wrong direction in terms of W's and L's, I think Hewitt is doing the right thing by going after players who can run the court, jump and hopefully finish. We need to be able to compete and that requires a more athletic basketball player. I believe that is the biggest difference between the A10 and CAA and the core reason for many of our losses this season.

Irrespective of who is coach next year, we have to get more athletic in order to compete. I agree that coaching can hide some of these deficiencies but ultimately with the game on the line we need players that can compete not only with a high basketball IQ and heart but also with athleticism.

 

[GMUgemini]

On Creek's rebound, Allen was caught ball watching and didn't get a body into Creek. Creek basically ran right past Allen for that putback. You don't need athleticism in that situation if you find your man and get into him first.

The reason Allen was caught by Garino is because Allen turned his head, slowed down and waited for the contact probably hoping for a foul. Garino did well not to jump through Allen (like our players probably would have in that situation).

You don't need to be a freak athlete to play good defense. Look at Will Thomas. He was a 6'6/6'7 230 pound center who couldn't run the floor and wasn't particularly explosive, but he was damn strong (you almost never saw him get backed down for an easy layup), played great position defense, and moved his feet well on defense. Copes could learn a hell of a lot watching game tape of Thomas defending.

I think our problem is less overall athleticism and more a product of reactive offense/defense. Meaning, the players aren't anticipating where the pass is going to come from, or when or where the player is going to make their cuts. When you are reacting, you always look a step slow, especially in basketball. When you anticipate and force the player to go places he is uncomfortable going, then you look more athletic.

Maybe it's a product of not doing their homework on opposing teams? I don't know.

 

[Patriotsince81]

We don't need athletes, we need basketball players. Huge difference.

 

[Pablo]

I really enjoyed watching GW play, particularly the way the Colonials shared the ball (20 assists on 29 FG's). I also wondered how the Patriots would be playing if the two teams switched head coaches. Is it possible that the outcome would have been different?

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Ive come to the conclusion that anytime your strategy is based on incoming recruits you're F'd.

Copes
Williams
Birdsong
Thomas
Butler
Hancock
Edwards
Morris
Moldoveneau
Cornelius
Vaughn
Davis


Go ahead and pick a team from that group based on how they played in college and another based on their anticipated play out of high school. Guarantee they don't look the same.

You can never guarantee who will surprise, who will bust, who will get injured, who will have the right/wrong attitude, and who will transfer.

 

[GMUgemini]

You forgot two very important ones, especially if we're talking about athletes versus basketball players:

Foster
Pearson

 

[Patriotfan49]

I think our problem is less overall athleticism and more a product of reactive offense/defense. Meaning, the players aren't anticipating where the pass is going to come from, or when or where the player is going to make their cuts. When you are reacting, you always look a step slow, especially in basketball. When you anticipate and force the player to go places he is uncomfortable going, then you look more athletic.

Maybe it's a product of not doing their homework on opposing teams? I don't know.

Takes a matter of watching our team one game to know they are completely unable to process the anticipation or foresight of the flow of basketball.

Telegraphed passes to a player where a defender is sagging off trying to lure them into passing for an easy steal.

Not boxing out anybody beyond the cylinder in long shots. Guess they just assume all long shots have rebounds that fall right next to the basket.

How many times did GW get a easy, uncontested dunk yesterday when they whipped the ball around and then a guard penetrated to the hoop....all 5 of our guys collapsed leaving 4 other guys open and the guard tossed to a cutting team mate for a wide open dunk?

But then again, seeing who they play for it doesnt shock me they have issues with these things. When you cant forsee adjustments being made, or the inevitable zone being tossed in every game....and fail to adjust to it every game.....not surprising.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

You forgot two very important ones, especially if we're talking about athletes versus basketball players:

Foster
Pearson

Nah, just rankings/expectations vs. results. That entire class was a great example though. Anyone else think Cornelis, Morrison, Foster, and Pearson would rival the Thomas, Vaughn, Campbell, Carter class?

 

[GMUgemini]

Well, to be fair to DJ, Morrison and Pearson, they were an integral part of GMU's second best season ever (and tied for the Final Four for overall wins).

As for a few of the other post-FF recruits like Birdsong and Vlad, I think Coach L mismanaged them -- putting Birdsong at the 3 his senior season was a mistake (I know he was trying to get Birdsong, Pearson and Morrison on the floor at the same time, but it just didn't work out), and trying to turn Vlad into a low post player was a mistake.

 

[gmutom]

I also wondered how the Patriots would be playing if the two teams switched head coaches. Is it possible that the outcome would have been different?

I think GW wins 8 out of 10 times regardless of who's coaching, and that's not a slight to Lonegran or praise for Hewitt. They are just better than us at all five positions. In fact, I wouldn't take one of our starters over theirs. Jenkins might ultimately be better than Larsen down the road, but I'll go with the 6-10 big man for now.

In addition to being better coached, their players shine on both ends of the court and they are unselfish on offense. A majority of our players are liabilities on defense, and they rarely do anything to make one another better (a lot of which is due to the offensive system we run).

 

[Patriotfan49]

I think GW wins 8 out of 10 times regardless of who's coaching, and that's not a slight to Lonegran or praise for Hewitt. They are just better than us at all five positions. In fact, I wouldn't take one of our starters over theirs. Jenkins might ultimately be better than Larsen down the road, but I'll go with the 6-10 big man for now.

In addition to being better coached, their players shine on both ends of the court and they are unselfish on offense. A majority of our players are liabilities on defense, and they rarely do anything to make one another better (a lot of which is due to the offensive system we run).

How much of that being better is due to coaching? Seems to me alot of their superiority has to do with things that are coachable.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

I'm not calling them busts. It was was a very successful class, just not the group that was going to dominate the CAA multiple years we thought they were. vcu getting two hidden gems that turned into 1st round NBA picks might have had something to do with that.

Birdsong at the 3 I liked, had a great 3 point shot if he set his feet and got a clean look like Edwards and Heinen plus the athleticism to lower his head and drive and finish at the hoop. He had the bad luck of injuries/transfers at the PF position and was needed to play beneath the basket which he wasn't ideal for. Senior year we had a better option in Pearson and by then he played 3 years in the low post and it didn't naturally flow.

I'm not justifying his bad attitude that Senior year, but I can somewhat understand it. Had he been at a program that had used him differently, might have been a similar player when he graduated as a Kent Bazemore - athletic mismatch.

 

[patriot2000]

Oh come on. Our main problem is not our athletes. It's our coach. We play well every first half because Hewitt and Friends are good at watching tape and coming up with a game plan. Then, every team we play has a better coach than we do, so they make adjustments in the locker room. Hewitt and Friends stand there saying, "Wait... what? This worked in the first half. Why isn't it working now? Well, let's keep it up. It will start to work again." The players know from watching Gray and possibly Edwards that this regime has a fortuitous dog house that is almost impossible to escape. So, even if they had the brains to come up with something better (most of them don't), they're just going to run Hewitt's system even if it means winning no games in our inaugural A10 season. They are tired of playing for a loser coach, so they blow late-game plays based on frustration and exhaustion. Because of a long history of no team-building skills, and players knowing that they're not likely to win anyway, certain individual players have become increasingly selfish. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, they're not athletic enough to do it alone against good defenses. But due to the coaching frustrations, they're gonna try anyway.

I've always been a "blame the athletes first" kind of fan because they're the ones on the court getting it done (or not). But these guys are doing the best they can with the "teaching" and "leadership" they are experiencing.

Yes, GW beats us 7 or 8 times out of 10 even if we swap coaches because their team is better. But what if we swap coaches last April? Could be a little different. Hewitt's problem is not just his failure to adjust when the other coach adjusts to us. His problem compounds day after day, week after week, season after season.

Give Lonergan the team that almost won the CBI and see what he does with it this season. Better yet, give him the team was probably a pre-season Top 25 and had the nation's best win streak. Let Hancock still transfer. See what happens then. My prediciton: First season wouldn't have been quite as good as Hewitt's because Lonergan wouldn't have done the warm and fuzzy "Let's not piss off Coach L's players too much... The first 10 seconds of the shot clock are yours. Then run my system that lets you all feel like a star." But last year would have been better, and especially this year. Yeah, I'll put Jenkins, BA, Sherrod, and company against GW's talent. Especially with one of their top scorers sidelined with an ankle injury.

 

[patriot2000]

And before anyone nit-picks my post, I am aware that we wouldn't have recruited the same players under Lonergan, but I am making a hypothetical point and hypothetically it still stands!

 

[gmutom]

How much of that being better is due to coaching? Seems to me alot of their superiority has to do with things that are coachable.

I don't disagree at all. Like I said, my comment wasn't meant as a slight to Lonegran. He's 10x the coach Hewitt is, and that's probably being generous to Hewitt. I just think most of our fans overestimate our talent level in terms of competing consistently in the A10.

Before anybody responds, I'm not talking about players who can have a good game occasionally. Most of our guys are more than capable of scoring 12 points on a given night. Our biggest problem is — with the exception of Jenkins — we have no clue where our production will come from game to game.

We know Sherrod and Allen can score, but it makes it tough for a team to compete when the two seniors we rely on the most are shooting shooting 41% and 43% from the floor, respectively.

J2 and Copes are about as inconsistent as it gets, as evidenced by Copes scoring 12 points against Fordham and 0 points yesterday, while J2 had no points vs. Fordham and 18 yesterday. Holloway is my favorite player outside of Jenkins, but even he is up and down from game to game.

I don't disagree that Lonegran could have hypothetically squeezed a few more wins out of our team if he were our coach, but I'm also in the Dennis Green camp that we are what our record says it is. And whether Hewitt is retained our not, turning that record upside down has to start with bringing in more talent.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

You forgot two very important ones, especially if we're talking about athletes versus basketball players:

Foster
Pearson

Ummm...... is everyone forgetting Peterson? Peterson was unstoppable. He still holds the Mason all time record for Rim touches. I miss Peterson