Who on our bench do you want to be a scorer right now? We were supposed to have Tyler, Goose, and Crabtree. Then, when Nick went down, we still had Crabtree and Goose for scoring. So, yes, maybe our bench depth isn't quite there for scoring right now. When Sal and Grace are in, are you saying we should run designed plays for them when we have 3 or 4 other scorers on the floor? Those guys don't need to score for us to be successful. We need the other stuff from them, and they were both great today.
@ George Mason Patriots - Noon Saturday
- Thread starter SFspidur
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Their .000 winning percentage, however, means they are in last place, or next to last with St. Joe's (0-3).No we aren’t. SLU has fewer conference losses.
EVERYONE on the board is happy we won...resoundingly. An occasional post on how that particular poster thought we could have played even better doesn't change that. Nothing to require a squadron of team defenders. No one is attacking them.
+1. I don’t know why everyone is so amped up about this topic. Great we won by 20. Could we have won by 10 and gotten a little more run for the bench, yes.
Now get off of my lawn.
Congrats to the Spiders on their largest margin of victory of the year.
However, the scholarship bench players should have gotten into the game no later than the 3 min mark in my opinion. If Mooney can't play the scholarship players in that situation, he has a bunch of work to do. The announcers figured the "walk-ons" were being given game time, which IS typical with around a minute to go in a blow out. Go back and listen to the call of the game.
It seemed obvious from the tip that Mason was over matched; however Mason was still able to get within 4 points in both halves after the Spiders got double digit leads and it wasn't because the normal rotation wasn't in the game. I didn't see any major improvements. I saw an inferior opponent. Kudos to the team however for getting the act back together and playing as expected at the end of the game.
I hope the team isn't overly satisfied with the outcome going into a bye week. If anyone thinks the Broad St boys aren't going to be ready to go next Saturday, those folks are going to be sadly mistaken. Should the Spiders win? Of course, but they should have beaten Hofstra too.
Last, I am getting really concerned about the state of the A10. The conference is going to be lucky to get 2 teams in the NCAA tournament the way things are currently trending. I hope the Spiders are one of them.
However, the scholarship bench players should have gotten into the game no later than the 3 min mark in my opinion. If Mooney can't play the scholarship players in that situation, he has a bunch of work to do. The announcers figured the "walk-ons" were being given game time, which IS typical with around a minute to go in a blow out. Go back and listen to the call of the game.
It seemed obvious from the tip that Mason was over matched; however Mason was still able to get within 4 points in both halves after the Spiders got double digit leads and it wasn't because the normal rotation wasn't in the game. I didn't see any major improvements. I saw an inferior opponent. Kudos to the team however for getting the act back together and playing as expected at the end of the game.
I hope the team isn't overly satisfied with the outcome going into a bye week. If anyone thinks the Broad St boys aren't going to be ready to go next Saturday, those folks are going to be sadly mistaken. Should the Spiders win? Of course, but they should have beaten Hofstra too.
Last, I am getting really concerned about the state of the A10. The conference is going to be lucky to get 2 teams in the NCAA tournament the way things are currently trending. I hope the Spiders are one of them.
I am just saying that more minutes are needed. we need to build depth. Without Sherod, Crabtree and Goose yes that's some pieces. But I haven't seen much production from anyone else from the bench.
Walk ons do not typically get into a 20 point game. Not even close to that. And, the lead was 16 with 3 minutes to go. I'm not sure if you watch other teams, but I don't know too many, if any, that would play non-rotation guys and walk ons in that situation.
Sorry, VT, but I'm calling BS on this. Not interested in a verbal ping pong match though. You are entitled to your mistaken opinion.
Why? Who coaches like that? You act like we are the exception by not playing everyone. How many coaches make sure they get all of their freshmen into every game? A lot of you are asking for something that just does not make sense from a coaching standpoint. You have to coach to win that game. Play young, non rotation guys if you can and when you can but, but not at the risk of possibly losing. So, who should play less? Jacob, Blake, or Tyler? Do you really want any of them off the floor for extended minutes?
Okay, but when was that today? We were up 14 inside of 5 minutes, it got to 18 on Blake's four point play, but right back to 16 with more than 3 minutes left. Are you saying take out the starters then? I think VCU was just up 13 with 4 minutes left against jmu, and won by one. Good thing for them they didn't play all of their young guys and walk-ons. Plenty of teams have made up 10 point deficits in the final minute something. Can't a team make a 16-point game with 3 minutes left a 10 or less ( a lot less if you empty your bench) point game with about 1 minute left? Forcing you to make free throws? Why risk putting yourself in that situation? We were down 10 to Saint Francis with 1:30 left last year and won. If you can come back from 10 down with 1:30 left, can't you come back from 16 down with 3 minutes left?
If we’re worried that putting two freshman in for the final 3 minutes will mean we blow a 20 point lead then I am horrified for what will happen next season.
20 point win and Wilson got 5 minutes. Dji got one. Wilson played more minutes in a 7 point win against URI than this one, so I don’t think 2 more minutes (or 3) of him in there would be enough for us to lose a 20 point lead. Just my two cents. The only way to get game experience is by being in the game
20 point win and Wilson got 5 minutes. Dji got one. Wilson played more minutes in a 7 point win against URI than this one, so I don’t think 2 more minutes (or 3) of him in there would be enough for us to lose a 20 point lead. Just my two cents. The only way to get game experience is by being in the game
Yeah, if we can’t hold a 16 point lead with three minutes left then we don’t deserve to win no matter who’s playing.
The only point I am trying to make is. We need to develop other players. After this year the overall talent drops drastically. That's why developing players when games are over. If you don't have confidence from bench players to finish games when up by 15+ with 4 minutes left to play. You really don't have much of a bench. Keep some of the starters in but getting valuable game experience is important.
06, you are arguing with yourself here. 4700 would say that playing everyone and the walkons equal time is the only way to do it, if Mooney did that. If Mooney played 4 players, then that would be the right way. There is a distinct pattern to Johnny come lately. Next year he will slither to the Texas a&m board to continue attacks.
At this point if I am wrong so be it. Just wait till next year everyone will jump ship.
Today I really didn't have a problem with it because we needed to lay a good ass-kicking for our own motivation. He did play Wilson a few different spurts, too. And we've all been getting upset by blowing big leads earlier this year. So today we didn't blow it -- we extended it.
Besides all that, let's just wait till Saturday to get our young guys a lot of time the last five minutes. I promise it'll feel much better then.
Besides all that, let's just wait till Saturday to get our young guys a lot of time the last five minutes. I promise it'll feel much better then.
Wilson should be getting more meaningful minutes when the game is still on the line (like Grace has been getting). In my opinion, late game mop-up minutes aren't much better than practices.
Straw man. UVA isn’t graduating 80% of their starting roster at the end of this season.
I still think it’s ok to play to win but it’s largely nonsense to state that no coaches would mix in “non-rotation” players. Plenty of coaches would give a little run to backups if they’re up 12-20 points with under 5.
I hear a lot on here that Wilson should get more minutes to get him ready for next year. So, if we still had Nick, Crabtree, and Andre right now, would you still think it was wise to play our 11th guy in the rotation? Are teams always supposed to play all of their freshmen? I'm really trying to better understand the argument for playing our freshmen more, but I just can't see it. And, why not ask to cut the starters minutes even more and ask for more Bailey minutes as well if we are worried about next year?
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Sure, why not be the only tourney hopeful team in the country worried about giving a freshman meaningful minutes with the game on the line. Sorry, Tyler, Jacob, or Blake, one of you needs to sit down the stretch every game.
There goes VT again. No one said one of those guys (starters) needs to sit down the stretch every game except for VT. We are simply saying CM should find as many minutes as possible for Wilson. He should certainly play in every game. Yea, it should help him next year, but getting him more minutes also helps this year's team by resting the starters and keeping them fresh down the stretch. I think Wilson can contribut to this year's team as he plays a little more.
I can't understand all the calls for more minutes from the bench this year or the complaints that our freshmen came in at 1:40 instead of 3:00. but whatever. we can each have our opinions.
Grace gets early time because Grant is at his best with breaks. it's not to get Grace early time. Gilyard and Francis flat out don't need the same breaks. and the fear of wearing them out? I don't believe a couple of minutes makes a difference there. we have a week before our next game. and it's a short season. there's only 13 games left before the postseason.
get me Goose back and let's build this so we're playing our best ball in March.
Grace gets early time because Grant is at his best with breaks. it's not to get Grace early time. Gilyard and Francis flat out don't need the same breaks. and the fear of wearing them out? I don't believe a couple of minutes makes a difference there. we have a week before our next game. and it's a short season. there's only 13 games left before the postseason.
get me Goose back and let's build this so we're playing our best ball in March.
Also because we crapped the bed with a couple losses, primarily Hofstra, we're on the margins here for our metrics. And it's been said that efficiency is one of those metrics, so a blowout with good efficiency numbers helps us on the margins here. It does play a small role imo. But primarily our bench is not very strong, minus Goose when he's back. We have a huge gap btw starters and bench, while that is pretty normal, but b/c our starters are so good that difference is much larger than most.
Pretty simple. In game experience can only be received by playing in an actual game. Putting Dji and Isaiah into the game with just over a minute left to play was pointless. It basically just got Dji into the box score. Such substitutions are typically done for walk-ons, who put in a bunch of time and effort hoping to get into the box score one day. The announcers thought that was what was happening and said here come the walk-ons, when it was actually scholarship players.
Mooney keeps talking about getting more opportunities for guys and that it is really hard because the schedule has been tough. George Mason is 210 in the NET. It was an opportunity for true playing time.
Mooney keeps talking about getting more opportunities for guys and that it is really hard because the schedule has been tough. George Mason is 210 in the NET. It was an opportunity for true playing time.
yet Jacob and Nick and others manage to be ready for quality starters minutes as true freshmen without getting college minutes the year before.
it is pretty simple. they were good enough. they were fast-tracked in the offseason practices and when they got the opportunity, they played well.
if Isaiah and Dji are good enough next year, they'll be ready too. if not, someone else will be. I want to win this year. I'll worry more about next year next year. but I don't think an extra 50 minutes of playing time this season will make or break these freshmen. they'll either be good enough next year or they won't.
understood. I want that too. but the current roster is built for success this year. nothing we do with bench minutes this season will change the prognosis for year year.
haven't we had enough of planning for next season every season by now? next year I'll be more interested in seeing a lot of bodies to see what we have. this year my lineup is set when Goose is back.
haven't we had enough of planning for next season every season by now? next year I'll be more interested in seeing a lot of bodies to see what we have. this year my lineup is set when Goose is back.
It's not just about planning for next season though. What if Blake or Gilly goes down with an injury for an extended period this year and we need Wilson to step into a more prominent role?
Obviously things will be better with Andre back, but even just for one game...what if Blake or Gilly had gone down in any of our last four games? Wilson would have been the guy, with Dji potentially able to give him a bit of rest here and there.
Obviously things will be better with Andre back, but even just for one game...what if Blake or Gilly had gone down in any of our last four games? Wilson would have been the guy, with Dji potentially able to give him a bit of rest here and there.
But, no team out there plays guys just because they are worried someone in front of them might get hurt. No one does that.
Perfectly said sman. A few extra minutes for our freshmen this year does nothing for next year. Next year, if they are good enough, they will be prepared to go game one. And, if they need a little game experience, a few games into out of conference play is all they would need. I continue to be amazed at how some on this board expect us to coach and be like pretty much no other team out there. What other tourney hopeful team out there does what some of you are are asking?
What a joke. Smart coaches develop depth. You can point to Sherod and Crabtree injuries, but these guys are wings, they are never bringing the ball up - that is Gilly and Blake 90%+. We have no depth at those positions. Wilson looked promising, then he got benched and has looked a little shaky since. Dji has not had opportunity. We have Nelson, good recruit, too bad not here until next year.
??? Ones that aren't part of the rotation? How's Henry Coleman doing at Duke?
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