George Mason Basketball: Chalk up another ugly win for George Mason

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Chalk up another ugly win for George Mason

Broken record folks. This year's George Mason team is the turning into the king of ugly affairs in the CAA. The latest win yesterday in this style against ODU was foul heavy, with numerous early turnovers, and bad shooting. Mason got another heroic or lucky performance from the bench and this time it was freshman Corey Edwards. The Patriots were leading by three with about three and half minutes to go in the game when Edwards threw up a three-pointer that banked in off the glass. It was Mason's only made three-pointer in the game and it gave them the cushion they needed to keep their lead. Neither team shot over 33% from the field, with Mason having a dreadful night from the there (27.7%). In the end the Patriots took more advantage at the foul line, especially late in the game. Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison went a combined 17-for-20 from the line, which proved to be the difference in this sloppy game. ODU's strong half court defense kept them in the game and it was difficult for Mason to get any kind of rhythm going on offense.

Another broken record is the number of turnovers this team constantly commits. They continue to be a troubling stat as they coughed it up 21 times yesterday compared to ODU's 17. Some of that is just how this game some was just the Patriots being sloppy. An even scarier statistic is that VCU is currently 15-1 when their opponents turn over the ball 15 times or more. The Patriots have to clean this up somehow with the Rams still on the schedule twice.

New scoreboard was up but not fully complete

You have to take away from this that Mason is still winning these types of games because this is what we can expect the CAA tournament to be like this year. This game proved that offensive numbers mean nothing in a good old fashion rock fight between conference heavy weights. Mason has the conference's best offense entering into this game but you wouldn't have thought that after watching this one. At this point of the year stats mean less and less, wins are what matters.

Guard Jordan Baird sang the national anthem

NCAA Basketball

College Basketball Stats

[Photos by John Powell]

41 Comments:

AndyMinor said...: Our grind 'em out, rock fight style, black-and-blue games started being a consistent thing when we won at the TED. Hopefully that's the last of them and this team will finally figure out how to put an opponent away. Either way you can say we out-defended ODU, and--more importantly--out-rebounded them. That ain't ugly but that's Blaine Taylor's favorite kind of game and we won...twice. We just need our offense to catch up to our defense, and right now that means one (or more) of our guards getting hot. If we're not making threes there's no way to spread the defense to open up driving lanes to the basket. That's a cornerstone to Hewitt's offense, and with ice-cold guards there's not much you can do save keep giving them open looks and NEVER lose focus on defense. Something's gotta give, though, and soon--Dre and VV are way better shooters than this.; 10:28 AM
Bdgg said...: Win or not, this team is not enjoyable to watch. 13-47? Just mind boggling. I can't ever remember watching a team with so many out of control shots from the crazy angels. It's basically like watching a pick up game on the playground. If the CAA wasn't having such a down year this team would be down around 8th place.

However, the CAA is bad this year, so the tournament is wide open to win. Blows me away that after watching some of the ugliest basketball in recent Mason history, this team has a legit chance to win the CAA tourney. Although the winner of the autobid this year will only be getting a 15 seed, 16 or play in game if it isn't one of the top 4 teams. Hopefully the conference will be a bit stronger next year.; 10:43 AM
Moses said...: What I saw:

1. A big ODU squad that played a very active 3-2 zone most of the time that kept Mason from making a lot of entry passes.
2. The same zone against which Mason could not get an open 3 point look.
3. Eric Copes brought energy and rebounds and defended well. He is tough for teams to account for and we lose little subbing him in for Mo or P. Very excited to see him develop. He is a beast.
4. Edwards. Allen looked out of sorts and got sat down for most of the second half (all?) and Edwards did a decent job withe the ball. That 3 was a gift. He didn't call back board.
5. It was Mason's mano a mano D against their big zone and we got the win because our bigs- Mo, RP, Copes out played their bigs. Our guards got run by time and again. This is an issue.
6. Pearson WILLED this win. Offensive bounds, loose balls. He had a great "leader" game. And Mike Mo had a nice game- AGAIN. They look unorthodox but they get it done and hit their foul shots. Senior leaders.

This team is fine against a man defense but our smallish guards do not run a half court O against a good zone. They looked lost. Give ODU credit for that D and for Blaine losing the cheezy mustache.

I'd love to see plays run for V Gray against a zone to get him some shots.

I thought the game was great. Intense D both ends of the floor. Lots of turnover both ways so, yeah, that's ugly, but they brought the intensity. A good sign.; 11:08 AM
Matt said...: I think I have just resigned myself to seeing similar mistakes and will just have to enjoy the win.
Positives: We out rebounded them and it wasn't until late that they got many second change points-I know that doesn't sound good but it beats having it happen all game. We are hitting free throws-Mike Mo TWO clutch hits late!!
Growth:
Turnovers-the VCU stat is scary, we have kept to 8 before!
Guards are freezing cold, maybe less substitutions would get Andre going, Wright has played well late in games but Arledge only got 3 min of play, maybe he should see more time than Wright?
Penetrating a zone-don't see enough attempt to penetrate and kick between the 2 in 2-3 not picks to get in 2-3. Not rocket science!

Like that we can hang on-Del game was the first game since UVA that we were way behind, when we keep it close I think these guys always believe they can win (better to keep big leads but at least they don't fold when it's tight.; 11:19 AM
Charlie T said...: All things considered we are very consitent In such a bizarre way. Its been covered on this site by you and most of the comments. The only thing left is for them to put it all together however not every team they play over the next 5 will always match their turnovers,shooting and rebounding when they do not and I don't care if it is VCU or the others. Thanks ODU for the bricks thrown around the building. No matter what we are 11-2 and the best is yet to come if not this year but in the future.; 11:27 AM
gmubball said...: Wright is getting max minutes (35 last night) for his defense. He shut Bazemore down. Pretty sure most of Bazemore's points on the floor can during the 5 minutes Wright was not on the court. Late in the game when Bazemore beat Wright left and Wright realized he did not have help, he fouled to prevent easy points (Bazemore stuggled on the line - note Wright did not give up a foul until well into the second half). Cannot wait to see what Wright can do if he learns to be more unselfish and make better decisions
on offense.; 2:51 PM
gmubball said...: Kudos to your pregame analysis. Always good, but spot on this time!; 2:54 PM
Moses said...: True. He frustrated Bazemore. Did a nice job defensively; 3:08 PM
Brentrg said...: All I can say is I am sure glad I didn't watch the Delaware game! Yesterday's game was almost impossible to watch. Let me get my frustrations out first. Yesterday's game was about as big as we've had all year. Coming off a loss, looking bad the last few games, and going against possibly our biggest rival in a game with first place on the line. Yes, our defense has certainly gotten better as the year has wore on, but where has our offense gone? Is it me or is Edwards and Allen regressing these last 3 or 4 games?? I am most dissapointed in our guard play. And not so much their lack of scoring, but their decision making. BOTH of them look lost, force the ball NEARLY every time, and have no where to go with the ball. I've seen Edwards called for more traveling calls than I can EVER remember a player having. Why doesn't he learn? His stat line yesterday was 6 TO's and ZERO assists. Allen didn't have many TO's, but he forced himself into the lane, then had no where to go with it! I am so down on these guys right now. They should be improving, but they are going back to bad tendencies. I guess it has to do with the entire offense as a whole pressing too much lately and everyone thinking they need to load the burden.

Copes for me was the ONLY bright spot from last night, except for the win! haha He just gets better and better on both sides of the ball. 2 for 3 from the charity strike isn't bad either!

I hope these guys can listen to the coaches, move the ball around more (how many times did the announcers last night say guys were just standing around on offense?), and stop forcing things, but make smart passes. It really is ugly ball to watch right now. VCU is going to clean us up if we don't get a better flow on offense going.; 3:19 PM
CommonLink87 said...: At half time I believe our FG% line was 20/0/45... It's nice to see Copes have the best FG% in the game, good to see a flash of his future. The problem I see for the future is our freshman, the whole squad is like Icy Hot, Red Hot at points and Ice Cold at others. I will be biting my nails this off season wondering which one of them will step up to fill the offensive voids to be left by Pearson and Morrison. I think Wright has the best chance at being that guy and Copes could easily be an average double double type as early as next season, I think Allen could do it also and Gray can get there also. But one thing's for certain they all need to get more consistent.; 3:46 PM
mooky_l3d said...: A couple of quick notes on us and VCU: Our FT shooting has been very good the past few games even though they shoot below 40% for a game. Also even with a lot of turnovers and stupid decisions we are still in the games. VCU leads the the nation in steals they also turn the ball over and are horrible at FT's. They are streaky at best from 3's with usually only one player hitting a game.(against Mason he will probably have 6 or 7 threes: i.e. Anderson and Hitchens) They are not the same team as VCU teams in the past. Yes they still press, hustle and play tough they are also young. Young=mistakes i.e. our point guards.

Nice win and still in the top 4!

GO MASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!; 5:33 PM
Moses said...: Brent,
Patience, mon frere. Edwards was playing high school this time last year. He looked scared shirtless last night at times but hung in there well. Hell, if playing the point were easy, Acorn would bring it up. Give ODU credit. Both teams played some D last night.; 5:43 PM
Taylormade703 said...: Considering his work on Bazemore, you could argue that Wright was the MVP of the game.; 6:13 PM
Good said...: Do not forget the player transferred from big East.; 9:43 PM
Brentrg said...: True... ODU is one of the best defensive teams in our league and even in the nation. I think Edwards has better vision than Allen and also looks for the pass first. Once he lets things come to him and doesn't try to press things so much, I think he can be a great PG for us in the future. I am sure the coaches are calling plays for these guys, but they must not be executing them. How many awful shot decisions did we see last night? Let's hope these guys get wise soon cause we are coming down the stretch! I think we are a lock for a top 4 seed. Let's just see how the CAA tourney goes!!!; 10:28 PM
Rmjank said...: I wouldn't be surprised to learn Allen was battling an illness or something -- I hope so. He seemed a good step slower, no energy in his step. Of course Edwards is faster, but his body is faster than his brain is -- or his inability to scope what the defense is doing fast enough. That'll come for the freshman.; 12:09 AM
overrated14 said...: Fortunately for Mason, teams are just playing worse; it is not that Mason is better.

Go Mason!; 12:34 AM
Occupy_Mason said...: Did anyone not get the Jersey giveaway against ODU this weekend?
I have a few up on ebay right now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150752744381; 1:23 AM
GMURULES said...: Overrated, maybe Mason is the reason teams are playing worse. Let's take the wins as ODU has a very physical team and we were able to hang. A sweep of ODU is huge for our program. Kids are learning in some tough games and last I checked, an ugly win is better than a pretty loss.; 8:52 AM
Matt said...: Thanks for these points, I had to listen to most of the game and not a ton of attention was given to his D on the broadcast. Was thinking of who may score more but I'll take lock down D over scoring gambles!; 9:30 AM
Matt said...: I was thinking about this too. Huge void with no Pearson, who knew Mike would be as prolific as he has been. Copes will have to develop into a scoring force in the post, Anali should bring fire power, current guard will find a groove. But I'm sure early we will be more erratic than this year.; 9:43 AM
Rmjank said...: I still think a 16 seed for the CAA champ is unfathomable. I know it's a down year for the conference, but that's largely owing to the fact that all the teams are trying to fill holes in their lineups with young players. By season's end, the team that emerges will be battle-tested and ready for march madness, and I would think it would be with great reluctance that the committee would put that team in the 16 slot, unless of course they are interested in the first ever 16 over 1 upset. I don't even think a 15 seed is likely. I do know this, whichever 1 or 2 seed that had to face the CAA team would be ticked because they would feel they deserved a first round cupcake instead.; 9:50 AM
CAARules said...: Miami 78 - Duke 74. Sure glad we let him go. Let's give O'Connor a raise!!; 10:05 AM
Moses said...: there's Coach L, now in the ACC, not developing players again.......; 11:01 AM
gmuhoops said...: He inherited Reggie Johnson, big reason why they won.; 11:04 AM
Taylormade703 said...: I've wondered this for a while. Why does it seem that there is animosity towards Coach L. He's having success at another school- how dare he! Good for Coach L.; 11:26 AM
GMURULES said...: God Bless Coach L. I only wish him the best. We want him to have success. It shows well for GMU also. also, he is great man and did very well for GMU and the CAA as a whole. He did a whole lot more for CAA than Shaka Kahn.; 12:39 PM
Neeker90 said...: Good now GMU can defeat Duke in the NCAA tourney!; 12:46 PM
Neeker90 said...: Back to the future again and why not live in the present! I trust in coach PH and our first place CAA team. (Sweeping ODU can't remember when that happened last! May want to get on couch coaches couch to figure things out in order to move forward.; 12:56 PM
Neeker90 said...: J. Williams will be back and also score!; 12:59 PM
Moses said...: i hope you guys know I was kidding. Still a big fan a of L and love seeing him win and wish him the best.; 1:12 PM
Dale Van Wagner said...: Games likes this (and about 10 others this season) really makes you miss Luke Hancock. Sure handed, confident, smart player.

Amazing that people are praising C Edwards - he was our PG for 20 minutes and had 5 points, 0 assists and 6 (SIX!!!!) turnovers! Wow. It was like watching a worse version of Jordan Carter. Unreal. Unfortunately our other PG (B Allen) also had 0 assists in his 20 minutes (and 2 points on 0/7 shooting).

I'm literally afraid to play VCU right now. Our two PGs had 0 Assists and 8 TOs against ODU... one can only imgane what VCU will do to them in Richmond. Ugh.; 1:51 PM
CAARules said...: Couldn't agree with you more on the assessment of our PGs. Why was Acorn benched for majority of 2nd half? Oh, that's right....he's not playground boy from NY like C Edwards and Hewitt.; 2:25 PM
Matt said...: Agree Edwards travels and turnovers are too high but he's a freshman, sharing time, he will come through over time. Don't knock Jordan Carter too hard in 2007 if he hadn't gone out hurt Dre wouldn't have had to go to the point, rush things, let Maynor pick his pocket twice and we might not have lost that lead! Lot of mights, I know, but Carter was steady. Luke was good and aggressive, he defense was not great. I'm not missing guys I'm waiting for the talent that is there to exert it's self consistently!

I fear no one. No time for that. We need to limit our self-inflected mistakes and pack the house to take care of VCU at home!. Hofstra to beat first.; 2:30 PM
overrated14 said...: ugh Miss Luke? are you kidding me? The only reason Luke was successful is due to the fact that many of the plays were set up for him to succeed- go one-on-one or get an assist. The iso(s) are pretty much nonexistent under Hewitt. No wonder Luke transferred. He would actually have to work for playing time, assists, and points. Not missing Luke or Larranaga. Nice win for Miami.; 3:44 PM
Matt said...: Our Coach favors players from a certain state over playing the best mix based on height match ups, ball handling, etc ???; 4:07 PM
Matt said...: Having plays set up for certain players, especially if they result in a bucket or assist is not a bad strategy it's called coaching! Isos to exploit a certain match up are good. If Wright or next year Anli can score on a feed while cutting would you prefer Mason not do that?; 4:10 PM
Gumby69467 said...: Real classy...selling 4 give aways kids would have liked.; 7:22 PM
mooky_l3d said...: Are those Replica Rob Anderson jerseys?; 10:25 PM
overrated14 said...: Sorry, I'm just not jumping on the Hancock/Larranaga train that left the station months ago. I am just happy to see different offensive sets, ball movement, a ten player rotation, and player development at the point guard position. Yet Mason continues to win(hmmm). By the way, Luke was not cutting to get to the basket. He would get a pick, drive to the basket and when there was nothing for him, he would try to draw a foul, and then dish out with seconds left on the clock. Fortunately, he had viable options(Tate, Long, Cornelius). The only thing he did consistently was alley oop to Morrison because a screen was set on Morrison's man.
Putting this baby to bed: Larranaga put Mason on the map. He is now coaching ACC-deservedly, so. Hancock had his moment to shine. Now he is on the roster of Louisville. Time will only tell.; 10:43 AM
Occupy_Mason said...: Hey just trying to get extra beer money anyway I can my friend. School and beer are expensive. But anyways I'll stay classy for ya with a beer in my hand while you go and ride Pokey Mr. Gumby.; 12:24 PM

Chalk up another ugly win for George Mason

George Mason Basketball

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Chalk up another ugly win for George Mason

41 Comments:

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