Road Dogs

Mason basketball suffered another disappointing road loss most likely ending all the at large bid talk for the time being. Oh and by the way John Vaughan's knee is messed up again, that's right, the one he had surgery on two years ago. What was most disappointing about this loss to ODU was the fact that Folarin Campbell probably had one of his best performances since 2006, scoring a career-high 28. Campbell and Thomas seemed to be the only players that showed yesterday. Cam Long played 30 minutes and only mustered 3 points shooting 1 for 8 from the field. John Vaughan did not look himself at all and later we learned that he injured his bad knee late in the Drexel game. Dre Smith's wild shot selection continued and Jordan Carter was again a non-factor. Rebounding and defense was really the difference in the game as the Monarchs first half was basically a shooting clinic. I never seen a team get such easy shots over and over again. The rebounding numbers appear even on the score sheet but ODU was able to get offensive at will when it counted. Will Thomas IS rebounding for the Patriots, as no other forward seems to know how to box out.

There have been two Mason teams this season, the well oiled machine we see dominate at the Patriot Center and then the team we saw play yesterday in Norfolk. Why does Mason play so different on the road? Every team has occasion struggles on the road but for the Patriots it's almost like they forget how to play together. Some of the blame needs to fall on the coach because it has been a problem all season long. I really don't know what else to say, I thought Mason was past these struggles.