Upon Further Review...

[Pablo]

I hope you're right, Pablo, because we can't afford to lose Arledge and Copes this season. The difference between the two players, though, is that Arledge came in as a project with a ton of upside while Copes came in as the highest rated recruit in our program's history.

Sadly, and this might be due to his injuries, Eric seems to be regressing rapidly. He went from being a rebounding and shot-blocking machine to being a foul magnet who bites on pump fakes and gets constantly boxed out. I don't think he'll ever be a great scorer, but he can potentially become a defensive force if he gets his head straight and works on his fundamentals.

I thought that Copes played well vs. Iowa State, and this has given me hope for his future. And, while he may never be a skilled offensive player, he can be invaluable in rebounding & defending the paint.

 

[Bricker]

Copes is the worst scholarship player on the team.

but...but... 4 stars!

On a related note, is everyone enjoying their holiday presents from GW fans? This XBox One they sent me really is something. Came with a nice note, too --

"Thanks for all your program has done for GW bastketball. Say 'hi' to Copes and Uncle Rol for us. Or don't. See you soon! Love, GW."

 

[psyclone]

Not sure where to put this. I was looking at the kenpom offense and defense efficiency rankings; actually Mason's defense is ranked 43 nationally and 5th in the A-10 (between Richmond and GW). Unfortunately, we're 263 offensively and dead last in the A10.

To make this relevant to the Penn game, they are 137 and 309 respectively.

I'm not sure if our rather good defensive efficiency is mainly because our games tend to be low scoring or if it's really a strength of the team. Supposedly the efficiency numbers are adjusted for tempo of the game.

Maybe Pablo can educate me about this.

 

[MasonFanatic]

We're 8th in the country in 3pt defense, and we were even higher before the SMC game. We also tend to play ugly games (which are inefficient for both teams)

 

[GSII]

There is good reason to be happy about the little progress we see on D. But the lineup changes are troubling even though they are needed. To me it seems guys are starting to checkout for the season. this team needs a serious enema.

 

[gmutom]

But the lineup changes are troubling even though they are needed. To me it seems guys are starting to checkout for the season.

You've been calling for benchings and lineup changes, and now you say it is troubling that it happened? You can't have it both ways. The players who are seeing their minutes reduced have two options: check out as you claim; or bust their asses to earn their minutes back.

My main issue with Hewitt in the past was that not everybody was accountable. It just seemed like some players got a free pass while others were held to a higher standard. Now that we've seen Sherrod benched and Copes spending more time on the bench with his uncle, I feel like everybody is being treated equally. Heck, even Hewitt's pet project Okoloji only played three minutes in our last game due to committing two dumb fouls.

One thing I was happy to see in the latest gomason.com video from Hawaii was Vaughn Gray laughing. He, Patrick, Marko and one of the walk-ons were trying to pronounce Hawaiian words and kept breaking up when they bungled them. Gray looked like he was having fun out there despite not playing much, so hopefully he's not one of the guys who has supposedly checked out.

 

[Dawgs99]

I'd really like to see VG break out for us. We could really use some extra scoring. I'd also like to see VG take the ball to the rim some, seems like the kid is too athletic to just settle for jumpers all the time.

 

[gmutom]

I'd really like to see VG break out for us. We could really use some extra scoring. I'd also like to see VG take the ball to the rim some, seems like the kid is too athletic to just settle for jumpers all the time.

Dawgs, I completely agree with you here with the one provision that we can't sacrifice a lot of defense for the sake of a little more offense. If VG is going to commit himself to the defensive end like Holloway has, he should absolutely get more minutes. What we don't want is a guy who is going to provide us with an additional 5 points on one end while giving up 6 on the other end.

 

[EXpatriot13]

What we don't want is a guy who is going to provide us with an additional 5 points on one end while giving up 6 on the other end.

I don't think Gray is THAT big of a liability on defense. I mean Okoloji comes in for "defense and rebounds" yet continues to run people over and pick up unnecessary fouls. I know they don't play the same position, but going with a smaller lineup and throwing some more offense into the equation with Gray could help. He has a pretty nice shot from the outside and if truly given the opportunity to get into the flow of the game I think we could see him drive the lane more.

 

[GSII]

You've been calling for benchings and lineup changes, and now you say it is troubling that it happened? You can't have it both ways. The players who are seeing their minutes reduced have two options: check out as you claim; or bust their asses to earn their minutes back.

I meant benchings during the game for mistakes. More importantly, I was calling for equal accountability and responsibility for all, as you stated also. However, since that was not the case from the start, and team isn't on the same page mentally, yes, some might check out now. Or temporarily. Who knows. The problem was consistency from Hewitt. Do it right, treat everyone equally from the start, and you won't have the undercurrent later dragging down the team.

It's pretty sad the amount of problems that are coming to light with Hewitt. The main one for me is why not coach the game instead of your system. Players are what they are and the mis managed roster is what it is. So use what you do have to the max. Even if you have to scrap that silly NBA style offense and revert back to a inside outside game. Who cares. The point is life is short, we all want to win and Hewitt's system is driving everyone crazy. These kids are not this bad. I refuse to believe that. They didn't play this bad at their previous schools. Only one guy coached as bad at his.

 

[gmu05]

These kids are not this bad.

Well....

 

[GSII]

Well....

Well ...if they practice like poo....they probably will play like poo on game day. Or Hewitt has multiple personalities and the players gets confused as to which one will show up. Again, no consistency.

 

[gmu05]

Well ...if they practice like poo....they probably will play like poo on game day. Or Hewitt has multiple personalities and the players gets confused as to which one will show up. Again, no consistency.

I'm not a Hewitt fan either but these kids just aren't all that good either. The team's two leading scorers from beginning of the season didn't score double figures in any of that tournament games.

 

[gmutom]

I'm not a Hewitt fan either but these kids just aren't all that good either.

This is the reality that GSII doesn't want to accept, so he resorts to the easy out of blaming the coach (wash, rinse, repeat). Hewitt has done several things that have had me shaking my head this season, but I like that he's finally shaking things up to find the right combinations on offense and defense. Some obviously work better than others, but at least we are trying every option possible (with the exception of Gray).

Our offense should be tailor-made for guys like Sherrod and Marko, yet both as you pointed out were essentially no-shows in Hawaii. I laugh at the notion that we need to switch to an inside-out game when we have no frontcourt players who are suited to that style or are good enough to command double-teams. Can we get the ball more to J2 in the post? Absolutely, but it's also contingent on which J2 we are going to get on a given night. I would love to consistently see the assertive player we saw in the win Wednesday, but that's on him to make sure that happens.

It's admittedly taken longer than some of us would have liked, but I'm encouraged by some of the adjustments we saw in Hawaii with the new rotations and defensive intensity. Our offense obviously still needs a lot of work, but that should come with Moore, Jenkins and Holloway getting acclimated to increased playing time and Sherrod and Marko hopefully returning to form sooner rather than later.

 

[Pablo]

Points in the Paint:

Iowa State (79) - 40
Mason (67) - 28

Oregon State (58) - 28
Mason (54) - 18

Mason (65) - 32
St. Mary's (63) - 22

 

[Patriotfan49]

I dont think its exclusively one or the other between who is worse, the players or Hewitt. But I do think that his system apparently emphasizes alot of the guys either deficiencies or laziness.

If I had to choose, Id say Hewitt is the bigger flop of the two. Becuase I cant envision that an entire roster of guys who came pretty highly regarded from highschool just simply cant play basketball anymore (not saying they are all world). But also, that by no means absolves them of all fault eiter. Its just like a perfect storm of events that equals the product that we have seen in the past seasons.

I think there was some positives from Hawaii to build on, but also alot of silver lining finding as well from a fanbase desperate for any good news. Some of said "positives"are also things that should be givens imo, but due to not doing them for a while they have now turned to positives. For example like Skins fans would be familiar with, how its a positive that you are not giving 10 bazillion dollar contracts to the biggest name player in the offseason anymore means your front office is now "good". But at this point, baby steps are widely accepted and provide some hope.

Though it was a 3 game sample, hopefully they did stumble upon something that they can carry forward. Hopefully Sherrod finds his game that he apparently left in his dorm in Fairfax.

 

[gmujim92]

Its just like a perfect storm of events that equals the product that we have seen in the past seasons.

49, I was talking to a buddy about this the other day and it dawned on me that we still haven't had a team in Hewitt's three years that fits what he needs to have big-time success.

In his first season, we had self-motivated guys (Pearson, Morrison) to lead the team and cover for Hewitt's lack of fire. But because of Luke's transfer, we lacked a PG to make sense of what he wanted to do from an X's and O's perspective.

Last season, we didn't really have either -- and it showed as we limped to a fifth-place finish in a horrible CAA and didn't get anything going until a meaningless pay-for-play tournament.

Now we seem to have a possible PG of the future in Moore, but this team is so devoid of senior leadership, it's crazy.

With Hewitt's laid-back attitude, we can't afford to have a senior class that also tends to put it on cruise control mentally from time to time. I think it's the biggest reason we're so inconsistent -- there's simply not enough talent on the roster to overcome the reality that our leaders aren't always locked in.

Hopefully as Hewitt turns over the roster, he fills it with guys who don't require external motivation to play hard. They're certainly not getting it from the coach.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I agree, Jim. I've been coming to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, I don't see a leader among our junior class, either. Maybe Corey or Anali, but they most likely won't be starters next year. It should be Erik -- he has, or at least had, the passion.

 

[GMUSSTN]

I agree, Jim. I've been coming to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, I don't see a leader among our junior class, either. Maybe Corey or Anali, but they most likely won't be starters next year. It should be Erik -- he has, or at least had, the passion.

Maybe he lost the passion when he realized you had to go to class if you wanted to play in the games.

 

[gmujim92]

I agree, Jim. I've been coming to the same conclusion. Unfortunately, I don't see a leader among our junior class, either. Maybe Corey or Anali, but they most likely won't be starters next year. It should be Erik -- he has, or at least had, the passion.

Honestly, I think our leader next year will be a current sophomore (Holloway) -- both because he's the right man for the job and because none of our rising seniors are leadership material.

Even playing on a stacked team at PVI, Holloway was an incredible leader and set the tone for his senior-year team to win both the WCAC and state titles. He made a bunch of clutch shots and gave everyone on that team the sense that no matter what he had to do, he simply wouldn't let them lose.

Look at what UMass is doing this year with Chaz Williams. The comparison isn't perfect b/c Patrick isn't a PG, but it's amazing what one highly motivated kid can do to lift the spirits and performance of his teammates.