Open practice - August 9th

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

You don't want to play top division Spanish teams.

Encouraging if Copes looks good. Actually probably the best chance we have to be solid is if he can play 11-12-type defense at a 30 mpg clip.

 

[Mason2005]

Not all is gloom and doom folks. Copes was playing with a fire during the practice, perhaps brining on Thompson has sparkled him. Hewitt mention to expect much more from him this season. He also said expect heavy minutes from PH and VG, who will be our primary 3 guys. Royal didn't have a particularly great practice but Hewitt said he's been shooting around 59% during the practices so far and he described him simply as a scorer. What impressed me the most during the practice was our length and every player had a physical toughness. If anything our defense should be improved from last year. Here's to this upcoming season, cheers (insert beer icon)

 

[GMURaider]

Not all is gloom and doom folks. Copes was playing with a fire during the practice, perhaps brining on Thompson has sparkled him. Hewitt mention to expect much more from him this season. He also said expect heavy minutes from PH and VG, who will be our primary 3 guys. Royal didn't have a particularly great practice but Hewitt said he's been shooting around 59% during the practices so far and he described him simply as a scorer. What impressed me the most during the practice was our length and every player had a physical toughness. If anything our defense should be improved from last year. Here's to this upcoming season, cheers (insert beer icon)

Thank you...

Sometimes I feel like I am the only optimist.

 

[GMUSig03]

So VG is going to get significant minutes this year? Good thing he wasn't allowed to play at all the previous 3 years, smh.

Regardless of the past, I think VG playing significant minutes is one of the biggest keys to us having any chance at a decent season, along with Moore's health and Corey and Isaiah being able to competently handle the point when Moore is out.

 

[mkaufman1]

So VG is going to get significant minutes this year? Good thing he wasn't allowed to play at all the previous 3 years, smh.

Regardless of the past, I think VG playing significant minutes is one of the biggest keys to us having any chance at a decent season, along with Moore's health and Corey and Isaiah being able to competently handle the point when Moore is out.

Personally I'll believe the whole "VG is going to get more minutes this year" when I see it. I wouldn't be shocked to see a guy like Lockett or Mayimba take a lot of his minutes if he plays at the 3. Holloway took a lot of his minutes when he was playing at the 2 after the Oklahoma game.

 

[gmutom]

I had a good time with my son at the practice and the event at Brion's afterwards, but I can't help but laugh at the over-the-top proclamations about anything positive or negative about Saturday.

Come on, people, we're talking about:

 

[Mason2005]

You have to be excited about Trey Porter. I saw him hit around 5-6 3pters in a row, very nice shooting touch. He could be the complete package. If we do have a coaching change I hope he doesn't leave.

 

[gmujim92]

You have to be excited about Trey Porter. I saw him hit around 5-6 3pters in a row, very nice shooting touch. He could be the complete package. If we do have a coaching change I hope he doesn't leave.

Porter reminds me of Byron Tucker, but with much better bounce and athleticism.

If he can put on any weight, he has the potential to give us something we've never really had: BCS-level size as a 6-10 face-up 4 man who can play on the perimeter offensively and protect the rim defensively. He's already a very good shot-blocker.

Hopefully, he and the other young pups are enjoying their time at Mason because we're gonna need reasons for them to stick around.

 

[gmutom]

I saw some good things and some bad things Saturday, but nothing that swayed me either way from believing that this is going to be a tough season. Anybody who went there expecting differently is pretty naive.

What does excite me about this season is some of the young talent and new faces we have coming in. I do disagree with some of the comments about Royal, because what I saw — even in an uneven day of practice — is a good-sized kid with the athleticism and scoring ability that we desperately need in the paint and about 12 feet from the basket. We might even be able to move Jenkins out to the 3 if Royal plays with Copes in the post.

It's tough to judge how we might look this year with Moore and Lockett both sitting out Saturday, but I do expect Mayimba to earn some PT based on how active he was on both ends of the court (especially on defense). You can tell the kid is passionate and wants to be great. I also was impressed with Porter's aggressiveness. The kid is not afraid of anybody, even Copes.

I did have a chance to talk to Brad Edwards for good bit Saturday, and I told him I don't envy his position with our coaching situation. He asked why, and I said, "Because what do you use as a barometer for a team that most likely won't be better than last year?" I don't want to reveal specifics of his response, but suffice it to say I came away confident he has a vision for what he expects to see this year and beyond.

 

[Pablo]

Is the consensus of this board that Trey Porter should not redshirt this season?

 

[gmutom]

Is the consensus of this board that Trey Porter should not redshirt this season?

Pablo, he could definitely use a year to add some more weight and work on his low-post moves, but I just don't see Hewitt red-shirting anybody that can contribute. He knows he has one season to prove himself to Brad Edwards, so my guess he will go with an all-hands-on-deck approach.

I don't mean to suggest that Hewitt would ever intentionally sacrifice a kid's future for his own betterment — especially since Porter has the talent and size to help this season — but I don't know how subconsciously that can't be a factor.

 

[Mason2005]

There was some news about another walk on coming on board this year, Omari George. Didn't notice anyone new at the practice though, perhaps it never panned out.

 

[GMUgemini]

I had a good time with my son at the practice and the event at Brion's afterwards, but I can't help but laugh at the over-the-top proclamations about anything positive or negative about Saturday.

Come on, people, we're talking about:

There's a reason the 76ers never win a championship and it starts with...

 

[GMUgemini]

There's a reason the 76ers never won a championship and it starts with...

 

[JamesMason]

with how poorly this team played defense last year I fail to see the benefit of analyzing practices

 

[Vurbel]

with how poorly this team played defense last year I fail to see the benefit of analyzing practices

Those of us who are die hard Mason fans don't have much else to talk about right now.

 

[gmutom]

with how poorly this team played defense last year I fail to see the benefit of analyzing practices

I have to admit I was happy to see us working on our zone defense and playing against a zone. I know we will be much more athletic this year, but I wouldn't mind using zone this year. It will cut down on the fouls and eliminate a lot of the issues we have with switching picks.

 

[Walter]

Hopefully vcu hasn't been working on beating the zone.

 

[Pablo]

I have to admit I was happy to see us working on our zone defense and playing against a zone. I know we will be much more athletic this year, but I wouldn't mind using zone this year. It will cut down on the fouls and eliminate a lot of the issues we have with switching picks.

See http://articles.chicagotribune.com/...1_zone-defense-jim-larranaga-leonard-hamilton.

 

[JimP]

Got a glimpse of basketball practice (from outside the door) at the RAC this afternoon. Had a brief chat with James Johnson who just dropped in to visit with the team. He encouraged Copes to be more consistent.

Pizza for the team after practice.

Consistency from Copes would be nice to see. Hopefully Johnson followed up his Copes conversation on consistency with a Hewitt consistency convo. I really don't recall GMU putting together more than 2-3 games in a row of well played basketball together under Hewitt. Even the 24-9 season was made up of ugly wins against cupcake competition. I recall the team barely escaping a 1 win Towson team at home that year, among others.