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Patriots Bounce Back

George Mason Basketball: Patriots Bounce Back

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Sunday, January 06, 2008

Patriots Bounce Back

After a perplexing loss to Georgia State, the Patriots were able to stay undefeated at home and grind out a win against Towson. A win is a win, right? Jordan Carter returned and only played 19 minutes, but it was good to see him running the point again. Will Thomas led the way with 20 points and 14 rebounds and JV added 19. The flow of the game was similar to that against GSU, where we saw Mason take control early and then allow the opponent to get back into the game during the second half. In fact, Mason held the Tigers without a field goal for over 8 minutes in the first half while on a 21-6 run. Without the aggressive offensive rebounding late in the game by Thomas and Vaughan, the Patriots could have easily dropped this one. Which begs the question, why does JV average more rebounds a game than Birdsong? Another scary fact is that Towson entered the game last in the CAA in three-point shooting and were able to go 12 for 26 to keep the game close in the 2nd half. Mason did respond late in the game with decent free throw shooting to close things out, but I still feel that the game should not have been this close in the first place. I was really hoping that at this point in the season would be seeing some meaningful minutes from Cam Long and Big Vlad, especially with the loss of Monroe for the season and the injury to Carter. Cam played one minute and Vlad and Tate didn't touch the court, how long can Coach L play multiple guys 35+ minutes with so many games left in the season? At times I feel as if the team is moving backwards progression wise then where they were in November. Despite the team's play they are still 2-1 in the conference and face Delaware on Wednesday in a battle for first place believe it or not.

4 Comments:

Blogger Brann...it's good for you. said...

I totally agree on Vlad and Cam. I don't know why they were on the bench so much on Saturday. That UD game worries me...this team isn't playing as well as it was in Nov. It's hard to fathom.

6:52 AM  
Blogger C Hirsch said...

Completely agree that we have taken a step backwards.

Deleware is a very scary game, they are only 6-7 but 3-0 in confernece and we have been very shaky on the road.

Vlad must be in the dog house or something and Birdsong really needs to step it up.

I think our play in November might have created some unrealistic expectations for this team, or maybe it's just a the once a year swoon that just about every team, whether good or bad goes through.

1:10 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

In Nov. - Until Orlando -
the team was not shooting well. Vermont and Cleveland State -
we played uninspired. The freshman came off the bench and made
some key plays to spark some of those early wins. Dayton good win - but
play was spotty but we hit 100% of our free throws - what would this
team’s record be if we hit close to 80% each game??

Last 3 or 4 games, we have become a good 3 pt shooting team and have
done a good job against the zone compared to Nov.. I thought the team
played focused during the Towson game.

Freshmen - problem seems to be on Defense - Vlad against Liberty struggled
defensively - Long - against Towson - had the 2 quick TO's but also
in that minute let his man get wide open for an easy 3.

Towson, Delaware - how good or bad are these teams with early season
impact transfer players - like Thornton for Towson?? The RPI's are bad for both - but since
their transfers became eligible - I think both schools have winning records. Losing
to either at this point and time is bad for anyone's RPI.

Towson - getting back into the game seemed to be because of good shooting and
ball movement in the second half - instead of poor play or defense by Mason -

Mason - answered in the end with some critical 3's, rebounds and FT's.

My 2 cents.

4:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with this for the most part, and I've noticed a continual trend. We seem to have offensive dry-spells after the half, and we can't seem to recover from.

I have huge expectations for Cam and Vlad, which I'm still waiting on coming true. Cam comes in and does a few good things, but for him to really accel, he needs more playing time. Vlad is a tall guy, and he needs a lot of defensive work. Also, his [supposed] 3 point ability has yet to be seen under pressure, or at least on the mark.

We're so low on able-bodied players, we can't afford another player to be out. Let alone, we're running some of our players almost the entire game, which is definitely obvious come the second half.

Anyway...I'll be quiet now. There's a lot of issues currently, and they need to be resolved.

7:10 PM  

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