PVAMU recap
By: Petey Buckets
We knew Mason would have a big advantage on the boards coming into the game, but a 59-29 advantage is not reasonable. The fact that Mason successfully runs a four-guard lineup that doesn’t shoot threes, doesn’t force turnovers, and doesn’t run in transition makes me think that we’re still underrating Marquise Moore. Let me explain:
– Mason is one of the best rebounding teams in the country despite being undersized at every position. Total rebound rate is 56.1%, good for 14th in the nation, and is sure to go up after yesterday’s game.
– Opponents are taking less than 30% of their shots at the rim, despite the fact that four starters have an average height of 6’2” and the fifth is only 6’7”.
– Marquise takes 54% of his shots at the rim and hits 68% of them, both astoundingly high percentages for a guard.
– Opponents have hit less than 30% from three over Mason’s last nine games.
Mason’s formula for winning the past nine games has been a dramatic rebounding advantage, keeping opponents out of the paint on defense, attacking the rim on offense, and playing great perimeter defense. None of this works without Marquise. None of the other guards rebound as well as he does. None of them can defend at his level, and none of them are even remotely as capable of getting into the paint. In all my years of watching Mason basketball, there’s never been a player that’s so clearly the lynchpin of the team. During the win streak it has become easy to forget that the talent on Mason’s roster is limited because Marquise has been so absurdly good it hasn’t mattered. Happy birthday, Marquise.
Some more stuff:
– Even though it didn’t really feel like it, Mason was totally dominant in the first half. Prairie View was 7/29 shooting, with five of the made shots threes, and only three players scored from the field. All of the Prairie View players not named Zachary Hamilton combined for nine total points. Mason went down 5-0 to start and then took total control until Danny and the Dixons came in to shut it down with about four minutes left in the second half.
– Prairie View had a solid defensive game plan that flustered Mason in the opening minutes. When the ball went into the post, Jalen was swarmed with double and sometimes triple teams that he didn’t seem prepared for. It was clear that Prairie View wanted to swarm the paint and force the ball outside – it worked, as by my unofficial count we didn’t get a shot in the paint in the first five minutes. When the rust came off and the ball started moving around better, driving lanes opened up and Mason got back to its bread and butter – attacking the basket relentlessly.
– Jaire, Marquise, and Ian all took turns checking Zachary Hamilton, who was Prairie View’s only real threat, and they all had mixed results. Jaire couldn’t keep up with him running through screens and Hamilton got himself some open shots that way. Ian did a better job of staying with him, but Hamilton used his length advantage to hit at least one three when Ian was in good position. Marquise did the best job, but Paulsen also had him guarding other players when they were both on the court. It looks like we might struggle with long, lanky shooters, of which there are several in the A-10.
– Otis had a fantastic showing once again. He showed excellent touch in the mid-range, hit two of three from deep, and was even feeling so good about himself he tried to dunk (tried). His improvement this season has been great, both in terms of his ability to command the offense, and the development of his own mid-range game. The thing that consistently concerns me is his decision-making in transition – he likes to put his head down and go hard to the basket even if he doesn’t have numbers, and he ends up throwing up wild shots and hoping for foul calls. He also doesn’t see trailing shooters because he’s not looking for them.
– Temara can’t come back soon enough. They’ve been getting away with Relvao minutes against weaker competition, but given Relvao’s propensity to foul (over 10 fouls per 40 minute pace once again), his slow feet, and his lack of skill on offense, Temara will be needed against A-10 competition or the non-Jalen minutes will get ugly.
– Outside of Otis and Marquise, the rest of the team looked quite rusty on offense. Otis and Marquise were 17/29 from the field for 43 points. The rest of the team was 10/32 for 32 points, with no one scoring more than six. It will be a long night against VCU if we only have two players scoring.
Some closing thoughts at the end of non-conference play: the most dangerous thing about this team is that they’ve found an identity. As recently as the James Madison game I was despondent that Mason would suck yet again. I’ve seen people say that we were overreacting to the slow start at the beginning of the season, and I don’t think I agree with that. There wasn’t a reason to believe an undersized team that couldn’t shoot threes and runs a four-guard lineup would magically figure it out, but that’s what happened. Dave Paulsen knows what he’s doing. Sure, he needed Marquise to turn into Russell Westbrook before things fell into place, but there aren’t many coaches who would be able to take this roster and make them competitive. There’s a lot of season left, but the job that the coaching staff and the individual players have done to turn it around has been tremendous.
WE WANT VCU!! WE WANT VCU!!
