It ain't pretty but it'll do

Sorry for the delay in posts, it's been a busy couple of weeks for me. Larranaga is off to a 2-0 start for the first time in his 11 seasons at GMU, although the wins have been less than stellar. Cleveland State and Vermont will not be going to the big dance this year without pulling off some miracles within their respected conferences, and yet Mason struggled at certain points in both games in Fairfax. Will Thomas and John Vaughan have been impressive but in both games the team looked a lot like last years squad and I'm not talking about the same squad that ran through the CAA tournament. Also, Darryl Monroe's absence might have more of an impact that I once thought. Let's look deeper into these games.

Vermont:

In a night that was filled with terrible shooting and Mason line-ups that were smaller than some area high school squads, we saw this squad come from behind in a late run that was help fueled by a freshman. Will Thomas saved the day with his career high 17 rebounds while Folarin Campbell's shooting woes, which we saw from time to time last season capped off a terrible shooting night from both the foul line and three point line. 1-17 from the three point line, are you serious? Does anyone else think Jordan Carter should shoot more, check the numbers, he has been the most consistent long range shooter but rarely takes enough shots. Although I did say the same thing about Dre Smith last season and he ends up with 2 points on 1 for 8 shooting. Where is the killer instinct he had last March? One can only hope to chalk this up to early season jitters but at least we saw that Vlad Moldoveanu can rebound and play some defense to go along with that scoring touch.

Cleveland State:

Another ugly game in which the Patriots were able to grind out a victory despite not putting up good numbers. Thomas and Vaughan again led the way in scoring while Campbell managed only 1 field goal for the 2nd straight game and committed 5 turnovers. No other Patriot managed more than one basket besides Thomas or Vaughan, wow. A better defensive team would have locked down the Patriots in the 2nd half with play like that. I would have thought to see some improvement in this game but hey a win is a win, right? The three point shooting did improve, but when are we going to see Isaiah Tate launching up some shots from behind the arch? Isn't this what he was brought in for? There were times in both this game and the Vermont game in which he services could have been used to provide a spark off the bench. Look for it soon if poor shooting from the field continues.