Rather than do a complete summary of last nights blow out loss to St. Bonaventure, here are some quick observations instead:
1. Moore may be the best shot blocker since Mike Morrison. Yes, there’s about 6 inches separating them in height but Moore has a knack for blocking shots. If Moore were 6′10 he’d be the second coming of Dikembe Mutombo.
2. Offensive and defensive schemes worked well for St. Bonaventure last night, although the same could not be said about their color scheme. Brown uniforms were an eye sore last night. I guarantee you that it’s a liability when recruiting kids trying to look fresh.
3. Masons most consistent play has come from the point guard position this year. We haven’t had such strength at PG since Cam Long. Otis and Moore are scoring at will sometimes and they play with as much effort as anyone on our team. The theme during the Hewitt era was lack of consistency from PG’s, well, we may have just found it.
4. Second half woes. Unclear whether it’s the lack of making adjustments, execution or a combination of the two. Last night we go into half down three, not bad, then we proceed to get blown out in the second half 40-24. What’s going on here?
5. Who wears short shorts? Otis and Abram do, and that’s awesome.
6. We were effective last night near/around the basket but man our shooting was terrible. Three point and free throw percentages especially were unexceptionable. You wont win many A10 games shooting: FT- 50%, 3FG- 11.8%, FG- 38.2%. Hell you wont win many middle school games shooting those numbers. Paulsen after the game stated, “Poor shooting, not poor shots.” (a coach would say that)
7. Welcome back Marko. “Marko is not the savior” -Coach Paulsen’s post game comments, well he did make an immediate impact. We saw Marko effectively move the ball and do the little things to position Mason for a win. Unfortunately, his 7pts 7rebs 4 asst were not enough last night but moving forward we will be a better team with Marko in the lineup.
8. Attendance: 2,807. Fenwick made more noise last night.
9. Dixon checked in late with Rudy and Tate. Interesting…
10. Last night was a must win at home versus a middle of the pack A10 team. If we can’t win these games, what hope do we have versus Dayton, VCU, Davidson. We’ve seen flashes from some players (Abram, Grayer, Shevon, Moore, Otis) at some point this season. We just haven’t had many performances where the majority of our team is “on” while one or two guys are “off.”
Next up, Davidson.
#BeatDavidson #Patience #MasonNation