Game 5: AT Iona, November 23rd, 2 PM, NO TV

Patriotfan49

Starter
We have some very talented guys now, but unfortunately due to flaws in their personality/game it severely limits them. To be honest, look no further than Sherrod Wright. His first year when he was coming off the bench, he was sick and looked like a future stud. I was pumped for this guy to become "the guy" once Cam moved on......unfortunately he has really shriveled in that spot.
 

MASONscott

Starter
GIVING DAY 2023
Listening to the radio and watching the stats on ESPN's game flow yesterday was almost comical. Marko has become a top 3 player for this team. Yet, he and Sherrod got off to the roughest of starts. If two of our top three start as badly as they both did, I think we will struggle in any game.

We are 4-1 and it is November. Not sure we can make any definitive decisions that we are a good/bad team.

Personally, I think we are a much better team than we exhibited. Every team lays an egg at some point. Hopefully we don't lay too many more this year.

(p.s. I do miss the defense first mindset of the Old Cuban at times like yesterday)
 

GMUgemini

Hall of Famer
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We have some very talented guys now, but unfortunately due to flaws in their personality/game it severely limits them. To be honest, look no further than Sherrod Wright. His first year when he was coming off the bench, he was sick and looked like a future stud. I was pumped for this guy to become "the guy" once Cam moved on......unfortunately he has really shriveled in that spot.

These are the types of players we always get. We never had all-around fantastic players.

Cam Long is a great example of someone who had a flaw in his game (a very loose handle -- he'd kill fast breaks by losing his handle and he'd turn the ball over in traffic if he was under pressure), but was smart enough in most instances to limit his exposure to that weakness, except when he got overwhelmed (like the unfortunate Ohio State game).

Pearson was another one -- he struggled against athletic bigs, if they were able to stay in front of him he was in trouble (how often were you scratching your head after a Georgia State game wondering why Pearson had such a hard time?). He had no hook shot to speak of, no way to get the separation he needed to succeeded if he was forced to play a more traditional low post game.

Will Thomas couldn't run the floor, like, at all. There was no playing fast with him on the team.

DJ and Campbell played out of control half the time.

Morrison had a very limited offensive skillset and was horrifyingly bad at FTs.

If Dre Smith and Vertail Vaughans 3s went cold, you could forget about them contributing much.

And do I even need to mention guys like Jordan Carter, Gabe Norword, Chris Fleming, et al?

But given that, I loved them all. They came out and played with fire and passion and anger almost every single game. And when they became seniors, they were disciplined and played smart basketball, which is what I think this team lacks the most. The collective talent on this team might be the highest its ever been at Mason from 1-12, but the collective basketball IQ is relatively low.
 

Patriot Lawdog

Starter
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
Gemini, I agree and I refuse to believe they have a low basketball IQ because they are all lazy, dumb, unmotivated or some combination thereof. A coach's job is to get the most out of his players and put them in the best situation for them to succeed. Period. I just see none of this occurring.
 

GSII

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GIVING DAY 2023
I just want the team to play hard. If this becomes a one time thing this season, fine. But many are keeping tabs on the aloofness.
 

gmutom

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GIVING DAY 2023
I do miss the defense first mindset of the Old Cuban at times like yesterday.

This is my main concern. Other than Allen on occasion, I would consider all four of our seniors to be a liability on that end of the floor. Hewitt is foolish for always playing man-to-man with this group, because a majority of them give up more points than they score. We should never lose a game in which we score 73 points.

I'm not too worried about the offense, because I thought we were actually very proactive in terms of attacking the basket and getting shots in the paint yesterday. We just missed too many layups. Much better than in past seasons when we just settled for jumper after jumper.

Regarding some of the comments about individual players, coaches can only help players who want to get better (like Sherrod last year and Pearson and Morrison their senior year). For all of Hewitt's faults, one of them is not player development (team development is another discussion). Vaughn Gray has the talent to be as good as Sherrod, but he'd rather camp out on the perimeter and be Holloway. J2 has the size and talent to be a dominant big man, but he shies away from contact and prefers to take turnarounds and fadeaways.

We will be much less talented offensively next season, but I do think we'll see a much bigger commitment to defense with our seniors moving on.
 

Patriotfan49

Starter
I just want the team to play hard. If this becomes a one time thing this season, fine. But many are keeping tabs on the aloofness.

Thats the thing, it may be the first or second time this season. But in the past 3, its a recurring trend.
 

Patriotfan49

Starter
Gemini, I agree and I refuse to believe they have a low basketball IQ because they are all lazy, dumb, unmotivated or some combination thereof. A coach's job is to get the most out of his players and put them in the best situation for them to succeed. Period. I just see none of this occurring.

Thats kind of my thinking too. I cant buy that all of them are just stupid all of the sudden and have no desire to do anything. In all of our guys, I just see a complete reflection of the personality of our coach. Aloof, non chalant, no sense of urgency or fire.

You breed that in practice everyday, thats what you get. Its like teachers you had.....in one class one is laid back and you act different than the class where you know the teacher doesnt let you get away with anything.
 

GSII

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GIVING DAY 2023
I think ka's remarks were full a sarcasim. just ooozing.
 

Haxormax

Starter
we went to the game yesterday. Our team was timid, scored poorly, and looked insanely lazy. I was embarrassed to be a patriot at Iona. Iona playing extremely well didn't help us either.

that said, they have the creepiest / laziest mascot ever.
 

JBiggs

Starter
We know our guards stank it up and got beat off the dribble nonstop, and we missed layups all game, but how much do we think this beatdown was attributable to a lack of post defense? Would it have been this ugly if Copes was manning the paint? I'm wondering how much of an impact it is playing against a big, athletic team with skilled big men, without our only true center. I've been extremely underwhelmed by Johnny's defense, and while Gujanicic is playing much better defensively, he's not the kind of presence that is going to make guards think twice about driving the lane.
 

MasonFanatic

Moderator
Staff member
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
GIVING DAY 2023
We miss Copes a lot, because without him, our guards feel compelled to double the post, and then even when they remember to reset (instead of floating in the paint), they can't get back to their man in time to stop a jumpshot or dribble drive. If Erik was playing, our guards could be more aggressive on the perimeter, and even if our guards got beat, guys like David Laury wouldn't just get an easy layup every time they penetrate.

We miss Arledge too. Our post defense is a joke right now, except for Jenkins and sometimes Marko.
 

Five Two

All-American
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Since we can't stop anyone off the dribble and our interior defense is lacking, did we try going zone? I didn't see any of the game; thus the question. Somebody said it elsewhere- lets take our chances of the opponent missing from 20 feet than missing a layup.
 

Walter

Hall of Famer
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Plus we need some practice with playing zone before we play vcu.
 

JimP

All-American
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we went to the game yesterday. Our team was timid, scored poorly, and looked insanely lazy. I was embarrassed to be a patriot at Iona. Iona playing extremely well didn't help us either.

that said, they have the creepiest / laziest mascot ever.

It was nice meeting you and your friends. Unfortunately, the highlight of my trip was the delicious Buffalo Chicken Wrap I had at The Beechmont. Hopefully Princeton goes better.
 
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