As Jaire Grayer came out on to the court in sweatpants and timberlands, he turned the heads of Mason nation, not because of his fashion choices, but because of his history of injury.
For those who do not remember, last year, Grayer injured his foot during the non-conference portion of the season, leading to a nagging injury throughout the rest of the season.
Over the summer, he underwent an offseason foot procedure and rehab before being cleared to play in October.
So this begs the question, does Grayer’s injury explain the slow start for the team?
In my opinion,
No.
Through the seven games in which he’s played, he recorded 70 points, going 21-51 from the field, 15-37 from three, and also recorded 25 rebounds.
However, more than a third of all his points came off of the Georgia Southern game where he scored 25 points, going 5-10 from three, and Mason still found a way to lose.
This year, Grayer has only scored more than 11 points once but has scored in double digits three times. It seems like he can contribute while on the floor, which is one of the reasons why I also do not think he is the reason for the slow start, the lack of his presence in crunch time.
Grayer was absent from the court during the final couple in minutes in multiple games this year, which lies on head coach Dave Paulsen’s shoulders.
Furthermore, there is no excuse for Mason to be losing to American in such a close fashion, or in any fashion at all. There is also no excuse for looking incapable and non-competitive in the Emerald Coast Classic during Mason’s trip to Florida.
All I want to know is when he started to feel like his foot was flaring up.
My guess?
Baylor.
In the Baylor game, Grayer scored only two points, going 0-4 from the field, both points coming from free throws. Also, Grayer did not have a single rebound, which leads me to believe he was not comfortable jumping throughout the game.
Furthermore, he only had 16 minutes of playing time. In five of the games in which he’s played, Grayer has had at least 23 minutes of playing time (he only played nine minutes in home opener), which gives the impression that DP did not want to push him too much.
Grayer has had decent production throughout the season, but the rest of the team didn’t follow suit, which leads me to believe that he isn’t the problem.
However, if you disagree, let me know what you think in the comments below.
Do you think Grayer’s injury slowed down the team?
