George Mason Basketball: George Mason gets sloppy win over Towson

Sunday, January 22, 2012

George Mason gets sloppy win over Towson

Towson's record-breaking losing streak didn't come to an end Saturday at the Patriot Center, but the Tigers certainly came close. Three things you don't see often at the Patriot Center, Towson nearly erasing a 17 point deficit, actor Bill Murray courtside, and Sherrod Wright scoring 22 points. It was eerily similar to the game between the two teams earlier in the season where Mason seemed disinterested and played down to Towson's level. Mason needed Wright's heroics late in the game when Towson kept chipping away at their lead because of turnovers and sloppy possessions. This game had the ingredients for what processed the Patriots' worst games this season: numerous turnovers, yielding a ton of offensive rebounds, and poor shot selection down the stretch. No one in Mason's starting line-up reached double-figures, while Mike Morrison and Ryan Pearson combined for only six defensive rebounds. But despite this less than stellar performance, the Patriots have sole possession of first place in the CAA after VCU took down ODU last night.

Sherrod Wright looked like the guy we all envisioned at the beginning of this season. It was a lot to ask from a guy who missed all of last season but he definitely showed us again why he still has untapped potential. This team has proved a couple times this season that they can win without their seniors having a big night but they are not their best when that's the situation. The bench is playing more a role in the team's wins but the inconsistent play from some of the starters is something troubling to see when we are more than midway through the season.

The rebounding issue is starting to become a real problem for this team. Without Erik Copes, who doesn't play all that many minutes anyway, the Patriots lacked toughness and were just outworked by the Tigers on the glass. Towson had as many offensive rebounds as Mason had total in this game, truly an alarming stat. VCU, Drexel, and ODU can all rebound and that is who the Patriots are going to have to go through for the CAA autobid. This problem needs to be remedied soon or it will most likely be a short weekend in Richmond this March.

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Labels: Post Game Recaps

9 Comments:

Laurie Mcelveen said...: Very troubling game. Offensive rebounding is so important, but these young men watch NBA and see no offensive rebounding there. Coach, have one practice on just offensive rebounding and the point will be made.; 10:22 AM
Charlie T said...: Very well said again. Turnovers,Rebounding and simple mistakes make for great flim study. What concerns me is how they will react to the type of defense VCU plays or the physical nature of Drexel,ODU and right now everyone else. We seem to our own worst enemy since most of our current problems are unforced and mental. Having said all that we are Seven and One and in first place plus we have a coaching staff who are well aware of just who and what we are and the players who really are together in team spirit. New week and as usual and even more we are a target but I still feel the best is yet to come.; 10:22 AM
Brentrg said...: What a lousy lousy game. Hard to take any positive from this game except Sherrod and maybe seeing a litle bit of the potential of Corey Edwards. Pearson was on camera numerous times shaking his head in disbelief it seemed at his teams play, but he never did anything about it. I counted at least 2 times and I'm sure there were more when Towson would miss their second foul shot, GET the rebound, and put it right back in for 2 points?? Really? Offensive rebounding to me is a bigger concern than turnovers. You would think it is coachable, but our guys never learn. We shoot well enough to overcome turnovers, but when another team is taking almost twice as many shots as you because of your poor defensive rebounding? I hope Copes really makes a difference when he comes back. I do think this was just an abberation as we often play poor when we are expected to roll over a team, but not at all what I wanted to see.
It was nice to see Edwards continue some of his nice passing and be a floor general. He still pushes too hard to make things happen at times, but his potential grows in my mind every game - take away his mistakes!; 12:40 PM
Taylormade703 said...: I was at the game, but I didn't see it - those neon yellow shoes Towson wore temporarily blinded me.; 1:19 PM
Jphubba said...: You could say this about almost any game and I try to limit myself to only one such comment a season but...

The officials were truly awful. Basketball officiating at the college level is just about the only profession I know where incompetence is the norm. The officials are wildly inconsistent, often just plain wrong, and always arrogant. The NCAA tweaks the rules each year and announces points of emphasis (for example, charges/blocks under the basket), but the officials ignore all of it and continue to impose their own version of the rules. Coaches and players have learned to hope for, at best, even-handed incompetence.

Having said all that, yesterday afternoon's game was way worse than normal. None of the officials seem to understand the block/charge rule. They repeatedly ignored the new circle under the basket. They don't grasp the concept of verticality on defense. And so on...

Since there is not real accountability for officials, there's not much to hope for, but every once in a while we all ought to acknowledge that the officiating we see has nothing to do with what's in the rulebook.; 3:09 PM
couch coach said...: Last night I saw nothing that i liked. As for wright padding his stats, well... i'd like to see him make other people around him better. 33 minutes and not one assist? We're not a team out there. We're loaded with guys waiting for their minutes to heave up shots. Last night made me sick. The hardest i saw wright work for a rebound last night was the last 90 seconds of the game. Padding your stats with foul shots at the end of a game should not turn you into a reboudning machine and more than doubling your rebounds for the game. Last night, last night is what's wrong with this team. I'm gonna get mine, that should be the motto of this team. Sorry front court, you guys deserve much better than what i saw last night.; 3:57 PM
overrated14 said...: When you have a team loaded with lots of talent and egos to match, it is very difficult to balance the two. Wright is selfish and sophs and freshmen think: I must score in order to get minutes. That type of mentality creates team dysfunction and discontent. We saw that two seasons ago. And we are seeing it now with the "ugly" wins("bigs" are not an integral part of the offense). I hope Hewitt will address this issue sooner rather than later. Otherwise, this could be a season of unrest. Mason is fortunate to be 7-1. Many of the CAA teams seem to be finding themselves because they lost the many of their starters to grauduation. Mason should be 7-1 and need to keep winning. ODU, VCU, and Drexel are working out the kinks and will be running on all cylinders Feb/Mar.; 4:36 PM
Moses said...: Lighten up, Psychos.

This was a no win game- even with a win. We win by 40, well, Towson sucks, that's why. If we just get a win then we stink. The fact is, Towson is 0 for forever and Mason took the opportunity to play Arledge and Edwards and Wright- different combos. It was ugly, no doubt, but I don't take that as an indicator of anything. Does anyone think that if this were a first round tourney game Mason wouldn't have beat them by 30?

As with the Delaware walkover, I don't glean much of anything from this game. I do see it as a positive that once again a lot of guys are getting extended minutes. Can't hurt long term.; 7:25 AM
Rmjank said...: I agree partly. There have always been teams that play down to the competition and do it successfully. But I'm not sure college basketball, where confidence and momentum are strong factors, is a sport where you can get away with that very well. And I am doubly not so sure that Mason can do that -- as our early season travesty losses would attest. But it is what it is: as a team we simply don't top the charts in the gritty, scrappy, ruthless and determined categories. Hopefully we can make up for that in the poise, gamesmanship categories, and the most important category of them all: Ice Water in the Veins.; 10:18 AM

George Mason gets sloppy win over Towson

George Mason Basketball

Sunday, January 22, 2012

George Mason gets sloppy win over Towson

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