Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

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69MG
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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by 69MG » Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:40 pm

Losing sucks, but there were a lot of good things coming out of this game. 2 of our freshmen look like they can develop into quality A10 players. Clergeot isn't phased by his increased responsibility and has his moments. We hung tough playing 5 on 8 (I hope I don;t get fined for publicly criticizing the officiating) and our shooting seems to be coming around.

It looks like McCall has more or less figured out his rotation; today's starting 5 + Holloway, Wood and LP when he gets back. Chatman, Laurent and KTM seem to be buried. Cobb may be out for the rest of the year. The prognosis is 2-3 weeks and he won't be able to run during that time frame. Not sure about Hayward. He'll probably play when we need a shooter but it won't be much.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by harbo » Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:46 am

My first live game in about three years. Discouraged with the outcome. Encouraged with the team's vibe.

My old-guy rants will show up here, but I'm doing my best to catch on with how the game is played these days.

Sadly, only a handful of UMass voices in the crowd, so I sat alone in the A-10-ish 35% attendance. Bamford was there - I didn't see him hitting himself with the palm of his hand, so that is a good thing. Looked like some high school players behind the bench, maybe recruits, maybe Tre Wood teammates.

Longtime critic of the refs, but this was as brutal as it gets. I was shocked that the foul differential was only 27-14 (in my head, I had it something like 33-15 - with four of those end-game clock stoppers). Thank goodness for replay when they had no choice but to overturn (both late-game) a called shot-clock violation where the ball clearly had hit the rim and a reversed (again clearly missed) call of who the ball last touched.

Funny/irritating moment early first half. Ball goes out of bounds off UMass. McCall tries to get Baptiste into the game. Baptiste hustles to the scorer's table, points at the scorer, scorer points at Baptiste (no horn sounds) and (I assume) Baptiste took that as a signal to go in. Unfortunately, the refs did not see eye-to-eye with our 6-on-5 defensive scheme, and we were assessed a technical as the Mason guy was dribbling the ball up court. They make one of two technical free throws and my first thought was this game better not go to overtime. :evil:

Talk of getting rid of McCall should end. The players never quit, McCall never quit. We had the last possession of regulation and couldn't finish it off. And could have had the final shot in OT, but Mason rebounded their missed FT, up 2. Such is life.

Pierre is taller than I expected and is a pleasure to watch shooting the ball. Tre Wood needs to hang around for four years, I see a good feel for the game and some nice speed. Holloway can dominate, hopefully the platooning in and out can be refined in time for the A-10 tourney.

I love Unique for the outlandish jumping ability. We need many more set plays for him, much like we used Will Herndon.

I believe Berkman noted the excessive dribbling in the half-court sets. Gotta agree with him. We dribble (and pass) around the perimeter for 15-20 seconds at a time and the defenses realize that there are no set plays in that time frame, so they can relax until we make some move. There needs to be some quick-hit shot early in the sequence, or, better yet a lob to McLean to rattle the rim and get the crowd (and the team) a jump-start.

Fun time tonight. Color me hopeful for the near- and long-term.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by vanmeter » Thu Feb 14, 2019 7:47 am

Encouraged by tonight's game. While we lost another close game, the fact that Pierre had another great game and you see freshman Diallo and Tre Wood play very well gives one some optimism going forward.
Hopefully we play well against GW next week in a 'should win' game.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by UMassHoops » Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:56 am

I never like losing but the guys seem to be playing hard and for each other. I like the way our offense has taken better care of the ball, and there is a noticeable difference when Tre Wood is in the game, he really does a great job delivering passes to the right person as they come open. Noticed several crisp passes to Pierre where he could catch and shoot cleanly. RH did a great job recognizing the doubles also on a couple passes to Pierre. THIS IS NOT A KNOCK ON PIP but I think there is a lesson learned in how well the ball has been moving and our ability to limit turnovers and stay in contention and control all game while he's been out. Yes sometimes we ran the shot clock down annoyingly far before getting a shot up, but some of that looked like a deliberate attempt to make multiple passes every possession and look for good shots (vs. a more individual hero ball). I hope Pip comes back, and I hope he adopts the approach we've been using because it will lead to better shots for him too, and a return to his high percentages.

All in all gut wrenching to lose, but this is the UMass team I expected to see -- competitive and with some very bright signs from the younger guys. Love Tre Wood, I can only hope he stays four years because he's just scratching the surface.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by LS71 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:09 am

Josh's article hits the nail on the head.

I love the quotes from Carl Pierre he has in the article. He seems to be emerging as the team's leader.
Josh Walfish wrote:“Just get stops, that’s all we’ve been focusing on for so long and we’ve been emphasizing it,” Pierre said. “Down the stretch we didn’t do a great job of that. If we would have gotten stops, it would have changed the whole outcome of the game.”

“It’s just being disciplined,” Pierre said. “All the fouls we pick up are ticky-tack reaching or bumping, we’ve just got to be disciplined and do our job.”
Last edited by LS71 on Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by MJatUM » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:19 am

As others have said, it looks like this team is finally starting to find an identity.. We really need Pip to get back as it looked like several times down the stretch the only offensive play was "run Pierre off a million screens until he finally breaks through and can get a three off." A couple additional thoughts:

- The officiating was atrocious. I'm not sure that a single charge/block went UMass' way and there were SEVERAL that were clear charges. Tre Wood got absolutely trampled (great job stepping in by him) on a no-call that may have been the worst of the bunch. HOWEVAH, we were up 4 with a minute to go. We had the game in our hands and let it slip away despite the clear disparity in foul calls.

- The Tre Wood breakout game many thought would be coming tonight. Game changing speed - and most importantly he is CLEARLY a true PG. MANY times last night he was dribbling up top while yelling at guys that were out of position (usually Hayward - probably why he has been buried all year). True PG knows where all 5 guys are supposed to be at all times. Made a really nice pass to Sy Chatman at one point down low but Sy was sooooo slow going up with it that it spoiled what would have been a sweet assist. Really hope he sticks around - removing all signs of UMass affiliation from his Twitter a couple weeks ago still has me shook.

- I don't know what to make of Djery Baptiste. 22 minutes played - ONE (ONE ONE ONE I REPEAT ONE) rebound. Including being a total no-show on the final rebound that Mason got to seal it off their missed free throw. I think we are seeing why he played sparingly at Vanderbilt. If you could combine Unique McLean's motor with Djery's body he would be an NBA player. Not sure if it is because he hasn't played basketball his whole life but man is he tentative.

- Unique McLean may not be the best offensive player on this team but he has earned every single minute he gets. He finds ways to impact the game and his energy is a clear difference maker. 2nd on the team in rebounds with 9, including a hell of highlight put back offensive rebound. He has earned minutes off the bench when Pip returns.

- Jonathan Laurent has fallen off the face of the earth since his injury. I was pumped because he was looking like a home run out of the gate and now he is buried and deservedly so. Not sure what's going on with him.

Rotation once Pip is back:

Keon/Tre at the 1
Pip/Unique at the 2
Carl + any of the above at the 3, maybe a little bit of Samba if we need to go big.
Samba/limited JL/Sy at the 4
RH/Baptiste at the 5

I would assign minutes to the positions above but I know that irks some people here. Let's just say Pip, Carl and Samba should be 30+ mpg the rest of the way.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by 69MG » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:21 am

I'll stick this here just for laughs. I guess we have a change in our schedule.
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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by MJatUM » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:25 am

69MG wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:21 am I'll stick this here just for laughs. I guess we have a change in our schedule.
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BC is playing Miami on Sunday. If Pip transfers to BC it might kill me.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by LS71 » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:29 am

^...Especially if he does so mid-season. :shock:
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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Thu Feb 14, 2019 11:34 am

I thought they played hard last night but there were a few mental mistakes that are almost unforgivable. Tough one to lose when it was within our grasp.
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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by DoctorJ » Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:52 pm

The technical foul in first half was a big screw up.

Where was Cobb?

What is wrong with Laurent?

At the beginning of the year I thought Diallo would have been better as a redshirt. I was probably wrong. He sure came around and I look forward to his sophomore year.
Refuse To Lose!!!

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by InnervisionsUMASS » Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:58 pm

DoctorJ wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:52 pm The technical foul in first half was a big screw up.

Where was Cobb?

What is wrong with Laurent?

At the beginning of the year I thought Diallo would have been better as a redshirt. I was probably wrong. He sure came around and I look forward to his sophomore year.

Cobb was in a walking boot. Laurent, no idea.
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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by 69MG » Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:00 pm

DoctorJ wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:52 pm The technical foul in first half was a big screw up.

Where was Cobb?

What is wrong with Laurent?

At the beginning of the year I thought Diallo would have been better as a redshirt. I was probably wrong. He sure came around and I look forward to his sophomore year.
Cobb got hurt at practice on Monday and is in a boot. It looks like 2 or 3 weeks for him, which could turn into season ending. Laurent has not been the same since he hurt his leg (knee?) He appears to be in MM's doghouse, but that is just my speculation based on playing time. I really hope Laurent comes around. He is good when he plays all out.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by bobolink » Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:50 pm

69MG wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 2:00 pm
DoctorJ wrote: Thu Feb 14, 2019 1:52 pm The technical foul in first half was a big screw up.

Where was Cobb?

What is wrong with Laurent?

At the beginning of the year I thought Diallo would have been better as a redshirt. I was probably wrong. He sure came around and I look forward to his sophomore year.
Cobb got hurt at practice on Monday and is in a boot. It looks like 2 or 3 weeks for him, which could turn into season ending. Laurent has not been the same since he hurt his leg (knee?) He appears to be in MM's doghouse, but that is just my speculation based on playing time. I really hope Laurent comes around. He is good when he plays all out.
we need a guy who plays like Diallo and shoots FTs like Laurent. and maybe 3-point % like Laurent (especially early this season) too.

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Re: Game 25, 2018-19: at George Mason (2/13)

Post by uz2b-len » Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:24 pm

In terms of the disappointing outcome of the game, I'm taking solace from the fact that everyone in positions 1-4 was a freshman or sophomore. They'll handle it better in the coming years.
"All credit to my teammates, all glory to God."-- Chaz Williams

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