Welcome Josh Oduro

[Petey Buckets]

Oduro will never be a Toppin level athlete but he doesn't necessarily need to be. Plenty of the best bigs in recent A10 history weren't athletic standouts, they were just super skilled. TJ Cline, Peyton Aldridge, Grant Golden, Tyler Cavanaugh... (yes, I realize they're all white guys, save your jokes). Bigs who get buckets are hard to come by at this level.

 

[GMUgemini]

Oduro will never be a Toppin level athlete but he doesn't necessarily need to be. Plenty of the best bigs in recent A10 history weren't athletic standouts, they were just super skilled. TJ Cline, Peyton Aldridge, Grant Golden, Tyler Cavanaugh... (yes, I realize they're all white guys, save your jokes). Bigs who get buckets are hard to come by at this level.

Yes, and hopefully Malik Henry continues the tradition of an elite level rim protector that can play alongside him on the defensive side of the ball (but my only real huge concern for Oduro defensively is getting pulled out of the paint and having to play recover defense or being asked to switch onto anybody and guarding them for even 1.5 seconds).

 

[tblack33]

With Oduros coming out party/complete domination of VCU I figured it was a good time to bump this.

Does anyone think that he can maintain that level of play moving forward? Was it more a result of game plan or is he going to be our main offensive threat next season?

Will Josh ever develop defensively into anything more than he is now? Does it even matter if he gives us 18 and 8 a game? What on earth are we going to do next year if we can’t figure out a way to play Josh and AJ together effectively. Will Malik see any real minutes next year?

So many questions.

 

[mkaufman1]

With Oduros coming out party/complete domination of VCU I figured it was a good time to bump this.

Does anyone think that he can maintain that level of play moving forward? Was it more a result of game plan or is he going to be our main offensive threat next season?

Will Josh ever develop defensively into anything more than he is now? Does it even matter if he gives us 18 and 8 a game? What on earth are we going to do next year if we can’t figure out a way to play Josh and AJ together effectively. Will Malik see any real minutes next year?

So many questions.

Great thoughts.

I didn't think he was going to ever have a game like he did on Saturday but happy to be proven wrong. Hopefully we see a few more like that.

That said, I think unless the guard defense improves, Oduro is always going to need some sort of athletic 4 next to him to help him out defensively. I am not sure if Oduro can defend 1 on 1 against some of the better bigs in the league yet (he may get there). Without an athletic 4, they may need to have some sort of quick double or help defense that I know Mason has struggled with.

In addition, I liked what I saw defensively on Saturday from him. He had a nice block that I don't think he would have gone for previously. Great stuff.

We'll see how the team responds this week and going forward.

 

[Patriotsince81]

With Oduros coming out party/complete domination of VCU I figured it was a good time to bump this.

Does anyone think that he can maintain that level of play moving forward? Was it more a result of game plan or is he going to be our main offensive threat next season?

Will Josh ever develop defensively into anything more than he is now? Does it even matter if he gives us 18 and 8 a game? What on earth are we going to do next year if we can’t figure out a way to play Josh and AJ together effectively. Will Malik see any real minutes next year?

So many questions.

I hope it was a coming out party that leads to consistent production but I also remember Goanar had 26 against the evil empire as a freshman. We all know how that worked out. I'm not ready to predict anything when it comes to player development, or lack thereof under DP. That has been one of our issues. A number of people have had a great game or two but it has just remained that, a game or two.

Offensively we are going to need Oduro to get 16 and 8 night in and night out if we're going to have a chance to be any good next year. He needs to add the dimension of passing out of the post for assists. 23 assists in 18 games this season needs to be improved upon greatly. I imagine a world in which Kolek passes down to the post and Odoru is good enough to warrant a double team. Oduro then passes out to Kolek for a wide open 3. That is my wish. Will it ever come true? Time will tell.

On the defensive side I see him becoming "adequate." Hope like hell I'm wrong. As others have said, Oduro seems like a "nice" young man as do many other guys on the team. We need our guys to be nice in life but an aggressive assh*le on the court. We'd be better served in that case.

As for AJ being around next year....... I hope he moves on with his life. I hope all of our seniors move on and start the next phase of life. Move on, after all we haven't won with them. I hope Henry can give us 5 - 10 minutes a game next year but I'm not optimistic about that. I'm not optimistic about the program in general if DP sticks around.

 

[duncanlamb]

The biggest pleasure I had out of that last game was watching the Josh Oduro coming out party.

This kid has barely 3 to 4 years of competitive bball experience starting out as a part time starter at Paul VI down the street.

I love late bloomer bigs who work their asses off to become fundamental sound contributors..


He is that and more.

There are 2 bigs in that category that I root for in the a10: Noel Brown and Josh Oduro.

Jordy Tshimanga has hands of stone.

 

[GMU_DCU]

I hope it was a coming out party that leads to consistent production but I also remember Goanar had 26 against the evil empire as a freshman. We all know how that worked out. I'm not ready to predict anything when it comes to player development, or lack thereof under DP. That has been one of our issues. A number of people have had a great game or two but it has just remained that, a game or two.

Offensively we are going to need Oduro to get 16 and 8 night in and night out if we're going to have a chance to be any good next year. He needs to add the dimension of passing out of the post for assists. 23 assists in 18 games this season needs to be improved upon greatly. I imagine a world in which Kolek passes down to the post and Odoru is good enough to warrant a double team. Oduro then passes out to Kolek for a wide open 3. That is my wish. Will it ever come true? Time will tell.

On the defensive side I see him becoming "adequate." Hope like hell I'm wrong. As others have said, Oduro seems like a "nice" young man as do many other guys on the team. We need our guys to be nice in life but an aggressive assh*le on the court. We'd be better served in that case.

As for AJ being around next year....... I hope he moves on with his life. I hope all of our seniors move on and start the next phase of life. Move on, after all we haven't won with them. I hope Henry can give us 5 - 10 minutes a game next year but I'm not optimistic about that. I'm not optimistic about the program in general if DP sticks around.

Speaking of Goanar Mar, doesn't look like a coaching change did him much good....oooof

 

[gmujim92]

Speaking of Goanar Mar, doesn't look like a coaching change did him much good....oooof

View attachment 957

Can’t remember the last time a Mason player looked so good as a freshman, then just misplaced his talent and never found it again. It’s truly baffling.

 

[gmujim92]

A-10 player of the week. Well done Josh!

 

[DJ3]

Can’t remember the last time a Mason player looked so good as a freshman, then just misplaced his talent and never found it again. It’s truly baffling.

Space Jam

 

[jessej]

A-10 player of the week. Well done Josh!

https://atlantic10.com/news/2021/2/...-hall-earn-weekly-mens-basketball-honors.aspx

 

[By George.]

With Oduros coming out party/complete domination of VCU I figured it was a good time to bump this.

Does anyone think that he can maintain that level of play moving forward? Was it more a result of game plan or is he going to be our main offensive threat next season?

Will Josh ever develop defensively into anything more than he is now? Does it even matter if he gives us 18 and 8 a game? What on earth are we going to do next year if we can’t figure out a way to play Josh and AJ together effectively. Will Malik see any real minutes next year?

So many questions.

AJ next year? Did I miss something?

 

[By George.]

Oduro has always showed flashes. He has 10 games scoring double digits. He absolutely can become a 16 and 8 a game guy with the right game plan and attention.

His defensive inabilities have been overblown by some. He gets beat some, yes, every center does. He gets caught lost between going for the block and holding his position. His defense will get better when guards and AJ aren’t leaving him on a help-side island.

 

[tblack33]

AJ next year? Did I miss something?

What I meant is it didn't seem like we could ever figure out a gameplan to utilize AJ and Josh together this year -- what are we going to do next year when AJ is gone and Malik is supposed to step into his role? Is this going to hold Malik out longer? Is this going to end up pushing Miller to the 4 full time?

 

[GMUgemini]

https://atlantic10.com/news/2021/2/...-hall-earn-weekly-mens-basketball-honors.aspx

Otis Frazier with an honor roll mention at the bottom of the announcement.

 

[gmujim92]

Otis Frazier with an honor roll mention at the bottom of the announcement.

By far the most frustrating thing about being a Mason fan, to me, is this cycle of having young players show flashes of real talent but wondering if it’s just going to fade away like a fart in the wind like it has for so many others.

If I had confidence that this young core was going to stay at Mason and keep progressing like our teams used to, I’d be leaning toward extending Dave maybe for 2 years and giving it a chance to really see what we’ve got.

I have no such confidence. For all we know, Oduro, Kolek and maybe even Frazier could transfer up even if we keep Dave.

 

[GMUgemini]

By far the most frustrating thing about being a Mason fan, to me, is this cycle of having young players show flashes of real talent but wondering if it’s just going to fade away like a fart in the wind like it has for so many others.

If I had confidence that this young core was going to stay at Mason and keep progressing like our teams used to, I’d be leaning toward extending Dave maybe for 2 years and giving it a chance to really see what we’ve got.

I have no such confidence. For all we know, Oduro, Kolek and maybe even Frazier could transfer up even if we keep Dave.

I know what you mean. The 4 around Oduro with Miller and Frazier at the 3 and 4 looked really promising...but who knows? Frazier might not even play again this season.

 

[gmubrian]

By far the most frustrating thing about being a Mason fan, to me, is this cycle of having young players show flashes of real talent but wondering if it’s just going to fade away like a fart in the wind like it has for so many others.

If I had confidence that this young core was going to stay at Mason and keep progressing like our teams used to, I’d be leaning toward extending Dave maybe for 2 years and giving it a chance to really see what we’ve got.

I have no such confidence. For all we know, Oduro, Kolek and maybe even Frazier could transfer up even if we keep Dave.

I had almost the exact same thought. I even thought about posting a hypothetical (just for discussion fun) that if we continued to look like we did in the vcu game for the rest of the year if people would be OK with Paulsen for a little while longer. But, I decided it probably wasn't worth the hate I would have received for even hypothetically suggesting something like that. Also, I'd like to see it for more than 1 game in a row, first.

 

[GSII]

1. we never put vcu in caps or really ever refer to them other than the arts school of va.

2. If Frazer doesn't play big mins in the rest of our games sans being hurt etc, then there is your 100th reason to fire DP at seasons end.

 

[KAOriginal]

I had almost the exact same thought. I even thought about posting a hypothetical (just for discussion fun) that if we continued to look like we did in the vcu game for the rest of the year if people would be OK with Paulsen for a little while longer. But, I decided it probably wasn't worth the hate I would have received for even hypothetically suggesting something like that. Also, I'd like to see it for more than 1 game in a row, first.

I had a girlfriend once that was a bit "frigid"...but once in awhile I got really great oral. It would have been stupid of me to keep her around.

Same scenario with Paulsen....

But seriously, other than the "thrill" of a few vcu wins....what has he shown that says this program is heading upward and onward since he took over? A few nice recruits...ok. But recruits mean nothing if he cant show some sort of dynamic changes in his recruiting, game planning and philosophy to actually compete in the league better than he has.

I personally have seen enough to say thanks but no thanks.