Previewing ODU...

Old Dominion visits the Patriot Center this Saturday fresh off a disappointing home loss to James Madison. Although JMU is an improving team on the rise, it's still going to leave the Monarchs hungry in their next CAA match-up. The experience of head coach Blaine Taylor always keeps the Monarchs fighting but this year he is definitely lacking the team unity of which his past teams used to thrive on. Blogger Rich Radford seems to think this year's squad is lacking a killer instinct. I think it's lack of toughness on defense. Against JMU they allowed the Dukes to shoot over 60% from the field despite creating many turnovers. Another area the team is lacking is guard play and outside shooting. They really don't have a do it all point guard running the show despite leading the conference in assists per game as a team. Mason has this with Cam Long and it's been hurting the Monarchs this season to be without it. Despite that, ODU's strength remains in the front court with their size and leader Gerald Lee shooting over 60% on the season. Lee is capable of going 20 and 10 on any given night but his inconsistency keeps him from being a go-to guy late in the game. Monroe will have his hands full with Lee in this game but I think Mason's balanced attack and guard play will be the major difference in this one. The Monarchs won't have an answer for the Patriots if they can hit outside shots early.

Sidenote: Did you know Mason is off to it's best start in 25 seasons?