Poll Vote of Confidence: Paul Hewitt (1/25)

[Dawgs99]

The talent these players have as individuals if harnessed and exploited is better than 7-13. At a minimum Hewitt's failure to coach late game situations with poor set calls, bizarre rotations and bad defensive schemes have cost us a minimum of 6 games this season. 13-7 and 4-2 would be entirely possible if we had a coach who knew how to use these parts properly.[/quote]

Agree with this....while we won't over match many teams with our talent, we do have more talent than our over all and league record would indicate. Hewitt has not gotten these guys to play as a team and use offensive and defensive sets that fit our personnel. For example, I'm fairly certain we have significantly more talent than American or Penn, yet we played like shit and probably should/could have lost both of those games.

 

[gmutom]

gemini and dawgs99, I don't disagree with anything you said. Hewitt is getting paid a lot of money to win games, and he simply hasn't held up his end of the bargain. We should definitely be better than we are, and he needs to own that failure.

We have shown that we can play with anybody when we get solid production from many players in the same game. In fact, we are only a few possessions away from many of our losses being victories. Some of that is coaching, and some of it is our experienced seniors not stepping up to close out games (also known as "Tony Romo Syndrome").

What Hewitt also needs to own if he stays is getting better players, so we can better compete in the A10. Several of his recruits have yet to pan out, and that was supposed to be his strength. Time will tell if next year's class will be more successful, or if he is capable of getting the most out of them. I'd be lying if I said I have faith he can do that.

This current roster even with a very good coach would still be middle of the pack in this league. We're just way too soft mentally and physically to finish teams off. And once again I am in agreement with the majority that it starts and ends with the guy wearing the expensive suit on the bench.

 

[GMUgemini]

gemini and dawgs99, I don't disagree with anything you said. Hewitt is getting paid a lot of money to win games, and he simply hasn't held up his end of the bargain. We should definitely be better than we are, and he needs to own that failure.

We have shown that we can play with anybody when we get solid production from many players in the same game. In fact, we are only a few possessions away from many of our losses being victories. Some of that is coaching, and some of it is our experienced seniors not stepping up to close out games (also known as "Tony Romo Syndrome").

What Hewitt also needs to own if he stays is getting better players, so we can better compete in the A10. Several of his recruits have yet to pan out, and that was supposed to be his strength. Time will tell if next year's class will be more successful, or if he is capable of getting the most out of them. I'd be lying if I said I have faith he can do that.

This current roster even with a very good coach would still be middle of the pack in this league. We're just way too soft mentally and physically to finish teams off. And once again I am in agreement with the majority that it starts and ends with the guy wearing the expensive suit on the bench.

I don't think the talent gap is that pronounced. I mean we saw Chaz Williams throw the ball away twice late against us and miss FT that gave us a chance to win. I was just watching Juvonte Reddic doing the same things our bigs do -- miss bunnies and easy layups and lose the ball out of bounds agains Richmond etc. Etc.

I think the A-10 overall is very balanced with very evenly matched teams for the most part.

Unfortunately for Hewitt our roster isn't going to look like Miami Heat's and so coaching will matter a lot and will be the difference between languishing towards the bottom and battling for the top.

And I disagree we would be middle of the pack with a great coach. I didn't give the vcu and GW games as ones we could have won , but the only reason why we lost to vcu is because we let the shoot something like 100 FT and there's no reason why we couldn't have hung with GW in the second half. A better coaches team doesn't even let GW cut our lead to 1 at the half.

We could very easily be sitting at 5-1 or 6-0 in the A-10 with this exact same roster. I just don't buy our guys not measuring up physically (and mentality comes directly from the coach).

 

[gmutom]

I was just watching Juvonte Reddic doing the same things our bigs do -- miss bunnies and easy layups and lose the ball out of bounds agains Richmond etc. Etc.

Reddic is vastly overrated, but he did put up a double-double despite missing those few shots you mentioned.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

I think Gemini makes a good point in that if you say our team is mentally soft, a good portion of that blame has to go on the coach. I've never seen a coach not get lavished with praise for having a mentally "strong" team. Mental errors are on the coach.

 

[gmutom]

I think Gemini makes a good point in that if you say our team is mentally soft, a good portion of that blame has to go on the coach. I've never seen a coach not get lavished with praise for having a mentally "strong" team. Mental errors are on the coach.

I think that's a valid criticism about Hewitt, lawdog. He's a low-key guy, and several of our players seem follow that lead. The flip side is that some guys like Sherrod just don't seem to have that fire in their belly, and I don't think many coaches could find that spark.

I like that Sherrod owned that he and his teammates are not closing games out, though. It's good to know they realize they too are not holding up their end of the bargain.

 

[Raider_SPE]

Note: They have us at 1-6 in conference, so I guess they are giving us the win today. Or, their software doesn't handle zeros very well.

They are probably counting the RI win that was not a conference game.

 

[gmubrian]

Tom, still think we have a talent issue on the court even though we had another game won up to the last minute against a top 20 team?

We keep proving over and over that it is not a lack of good enough athletes. It's about a coach that can't seem to inspire guys to perform for an entire game.

 

[gmutom]

Tom, still think we have a talent issue on the court even though we had another game won up to the last minute against a top 20 team?

Ugh, not this argument again. How many times do I have to say we have talent? All of our players have talent. The key is consistency on a given night. It's no coincidence we hung with St. Louis on a day when Allen, Copes and Holloway all played one of their best games of the year today.

What hurts in a loss like this is when you see that Jenkins and J2 went a combined 4-16 from the floor. Both players are obviously talented, but we need more production in the post if we were going to put good teams like St. Louis away.

Like I said in the other thread, I'm proud of the effort our players gave today. It sucks to lose another close game, but I have no complaints. As has been the case with this team all year, I'm sure Jenkins, Sherrod and J2 will all score in double figures next game while Allen, Copes and Holloway have an off night.

 

[GMUgemini]

Ugh, not this argument again. How many times do I have to say we have talent? All of our players have talent. The key is consistency on a given night. It's no coincidence we hung with St. Louis on a day when Allen, Copes and Holloway all played one of their best games of the year today.

What hurts in a loss like this is when you see that Jenkins and J2 went a combined 4-16 from the floor. Both players are obviously talented, but we need more production in the post if we were going to put good teams like St. Louis away.

Like I said in the other thread, I'm proud of the effort our players gave today. It sucks to lose another close game, but I have no complaints. As has been the case with this team all year, I'm sure Jenkins, Sherrod and J2 will all score in double figures next game while Allen, Copes and Holloway have an off night.

Defensive fundamentals bit this team at the end if the game -- not boxing out and giving up the second chance points or putting them on the line too often, or leaving a 3 point shooter way too open , gambling on steals etc. Had we played a more disciplined defense we might have taken this game (although oddly being a more disciplined half court team might have hurt us on the other end).

There's no shame in losing to St. Louis on the road, but the collective pain from this season (how many of these losses are we going to have to go through?) compounds it, and knowing that you led for 19:25 seconds or so of the second half just makes it that much harder to swallow.

 

[KAOriginal]

As of today:

George Mason 2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
Offense | Defense
POINTS PER GAME
68.1 265thOVERALL
REBOUNDS PER GAME
34.1 224thOVERALL
ASSISTS PER GAME
10.1 337thOVERALL
FIELD GOAL PCT
.436 221stOVERALL

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Tom, still think we have a talent issue on the court even though we had another game won up to the last minute against a top 20 team?

We keep proving over and over that it is not a lack of good enough athletes. It's about a coach that can't seem to inspire guys to perform for an entire game.

I agree with almost all of that - but think it's less "inspire" as they're obviously playing hard as it is teaching to play as a unit.

The addition of 2 Freshman to the starting five does make that harder as they don't have the benefit of hundreds of game minutes and scenarios of playing w/one another and having already made the mistakes to correct. You have to counter that with the regression of Wright and Williams.

 

[gmutom]

I agree with almost all of that - but think it's less "inspire" as they're obviously playing hard as it is teaching to play as a unit.

Hugh, I think this is a good point, and I think we saw some signs that the players are starting to show more chemistry and, as you said, play as a unit. With Moore playing 36 minutes yesterday, we now have a true PG running the show and getting everybody involved.

I haven't checked the overall stats from the year, but I believe yesterday's 14 assists is close to our highest all year. On at least three of Patrick's 3s, he was freed by a high screen behind the arc. We also saw several nifty passes to guys open in the paint, one or two of which Copes was the recipient.

The toughest part about next year will be replacing a player like Allen. The kid just never quits and — as Bill Rohland point out recently — he has kept us in a lot of these close games. I hope the young players learn from his never-quit mentality, because that's the kind of emotionally-tough kids we are going to need bring in if we are going to turn these close losses into wins.

 

[GMUgemini]

Hugh, I think this is a good point, and I think we saw some signs that the players are starting to show more chemistry and, as you said, play as a unit. With Moore playing 36 minutes yesterday, we now have a true PG running the show and getting everybody involved.

I haven't checked the overall stats from the year, but I believe yesterday's 14 assists is close to our highest all year. On at least three of Patrick's 3s, he was freed by a high screen behind the arc. We also saw several nifty passes to guys open in the paint, one or two of which Copes was the recipient.

The toughest part about next year will be replacing a player like Allen. The kid just never quits and — as Bill Rohland point out recently — he has kept us in a lot of these close games. I hope the young players learn from his never-quit mentality, because that's the kind of emotionally-tough kids we are going to need bring in if we are going to turn these close losses into wins.

My hope for next year is that Jenkins can play the 3 in a zone scheme and that Royal's offense is as good as advertised. That would help us immensely. Jenkins can move back to the 4 his junior and senior year after Mayimba and Lockett develop into their roles.

That's one possibility. The other is Mayimba is as big of a beast his freshman year as Jenkins has been and he can come in and start right away.

The third is that Hewitt gets over whatever he's got against Gray and that Gray really shines his senior season.

The fourth is no one can replace Allen and our offense really, really suffers next year because of it.

 

[Harry]

If we could harness what we did against St. Louis, we can beat a lot of teams on the schedule. They had been allowing 58 points/game on defense yet we put up 68 points in regulation, including 42 in the second half. Copes played like we all at one time believed he could and enough said about BA's brilliance. Though we lost, if either of the two shots at the end of regulation had gone in...anyway, I was proud of the team and their effort.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Ugh, not this argument again. How many times do I have to say we have talent? All of our players have talent.

Wait...what???

That said, and this is a big disclaimer, I've played, watched and covered enough basketball to know that there are severe limitations on this roster. And anybody who keeps saying we are loaded with talent is lying through their teeth or is in serious denial. Allen and Wright may combine for 20-some points a game, but I bet they give him more than that with their defensive deficiencies.

Admittedly, we are doing worse than predicted, but we were never expected to be middle-of the-pack by reasonable talent evaluators.

I just think most of our fans overestimate our talent level in terms of competing consistently in the A10.

But until you, Hugh and GS start realizing the talent's not as great as you so desperately want it to be, you'll continue to delude yourself into thinking our coach is the ONLY problem.

 

[gmubrian]

QD, you beat me to it, but you missed a couple:

I'm not sure how to help you if you think our current roster is loaded with talent that's ready to consistently compete against the best teams in the A10.

I have to laugh any anybody who acts like we are oozing with a roster full of studs when it simply isn't true.

Tom, don't pretend you were not part of the "we don't have talent" brigade. If you are now admitting that we do have sufficient talent to compete in the A10, then I am glad you have come to your senses.

I don't know how to help you if you can't understand the statistics about experience and that it points to a coaching issue. Most teams that are experienced, perform well. We are the outlier, so it points to a problem. If we have the talent, and experience, guys are obviously still giving it 100% and we still are not winning, the options for where the problem is are getting pretty limited.

The sad thought is this: will the new talent we have coming in really help if we already have good talent...

 

[gmubrian]

Hugh, I think this is a good point, and I think we saw some signs that the players are starting to show more chemistry and, as you said, play as a unit.

Didn't this happen late in the year last year as well? I hope this is not a trend we are seeing where our teams don't start to show chemistry until 2/3 of the way through every season...

 

[gmujim92]

Didn't this happen late in the year last year as well? I hope this is not a trend we are saying where our teams don't start to show chemistry until 2/3 of the way through every season...

This is exactly what I was thinking.

I think Hewitt gets a bit of a pass this season because of unexpected developments that have impacted chemistry -- losing our best big after 1 game, the emergence of 2 freshmen as starters, etc. -- but I have a sinking feeling that we're going to be saying the exact same thing next February.

 

[Patriotfan49]

Wait...what???

Thank you......

Ill wait for the "setting us straight" part when Tom explains and wiggles through those posts and says I never meant we dont "have talent" but somehow meant that through all those "oozing'' or "loaded" comments, yet we didnt decipher that. Or just pulls the, "I was kidding, being sarcastic card" I need to insert a smileyyyy?? jeesh you guys cant take a joke.

Im with Brian, Tom youve been on the talent deficiency bit for a while....dont change now or act like it didnt happen. Maybe now you can see the talent deficiency is on the sidelines, but the culprit isnt wearing a uniform....they are wearing a thousand dollar suit.