Congrats to Bashir

[DrexPhanatic]

Bashir Mason was named the CAA Rookie of the Week.

http://www.drexel.edu/sports/releases.asp?mbb1214

The first of what will hopefully be a long line of such awards for our PG this year.

[Halftime Hero]

its a shame we have such a horrible recruiting class...

bashir is alright, but he's no grammy! woops, i mean nana...

[TJ Reaper]

haha! i called mason as the ROW and Gibson as the POW. Everyone thought I was stupid or something....I guess because I said it :roll:

Congrats to Bashir. He deserved it!

[DUfunnyman]

Jainez, you change your predictions on everything on a daily basis....

[TJ Reaper]

Oh, whatever. I picked them mid-last week. I repost my predictions a lot, but they don't really change at all. So I don't know why that is said so much. BS.

[hardcoredon]

The first of many awards for Mr Mason. He's going to be fun to watch this year. Cut down on the turnovers and this kid is going to be special.

[hustle]

Atleast two of his turnovers were actually fouls

[Halftime Hero]

He needs to work on his deep-ball though, or just not through it at all, he gets a full court pass picked off at least once a game.

[hustle]

Thats true he will learn as the season goes on. I was just happy to see how well he played against nelson your gonna have a few turnovers vs. a team like that. He wont face a guard of that caliber for the rest of the year so I think his numbers can only get better from here.

[hardcoredon]

Very true Hustle. If he school Nelson once or twice, imagine what he will to the trash that playes PG in this conference such as Eminem???

[Mr. Jablomi]

I told you he'd be good. Does he start yet?

[Halftime Hero]

yes he does, we've been starting him, Goss and King - all no taller than 6'2" - and its actually working for the most part.

But i'm afraid Barbosa of JMU is gonna win ROY - he dropped 33 last night against Virginia, he's gone over 20 at least 4 times now. He's going to be up and down but his avg's will be good enough for ROY i think.

[DUfunnyman]

Damn, how is that guy scoring so many points? Is he a great jump shooter?

I wish we would just go with Mason, Goss, Sanchez, Whitworth, and Brooks. Those are the 5 best players on our team, and thus, that should be the starting lineup IMO.

[Halftime Hero]

I've only seen Barbosa play once, in the District 11 finals his junior year of high school but he had like 35 pts or something. He's like AI i guess, not very tall but creates his own shot, sometimes he's hitting, sometimes he's not. Actually reminds me a lot of Fanning - when he was good (pre-senior year).

[jmu98]

hh,

Barbosa is really nothing like Fanning. He is much more in control, takes shots when they are given, and actually knows how to move without the ball. He is shooting 50% from the floor and has taken many more 2 pointers than three's, something Fanning never did. Ray might be a better player right now than Fanning was as a Junior and Senior. In addition, if he is not shooting well he does not force like Fanning did, he just tries to get better shots like layups to get him going.

You guys are lucky to have Mason as he has really impressed me and with the guys you already have Barbosa would probably not be getting the minutes he is down here.

[DUfunnyman]

hwith the guys you already have Barbosa would probably not be getting the minutes he is down here.

I dont know, sounds like the kinda guy I'd rather have in there than say, a Danny Hinds, or even a Jeremiah King.

[Halftime Hero]

JMU98 is right, Ray probably wouldn't see that much court time for us, he's more of an off-guard and the only reason Bashir plays so much is b/c he is a true point guard - something we are severely lacking.

[jmu98]

I don't know how much time he would be getting, but right now the way he is playing for JMU he would be your best player along with Brooks.

[jmu98]

Oh and another thing, Ray was apparently not feeling well and was puking in a bucket on the bench right before halftime and then came out and scored 23 in the 2nd half.

PS I'll see you guys at the game on the 7th in Philly and you will get to see Ray, hopefully he has a good game.

[Halftime Hero]

Our best player should be Sanchez but he's been a total disappointment. He hasn't been doing anything that got him All-Tourney honors last season. He's not cutting to the basket, he's not tearing down rebounds, he's settling for 15-18' jumpers (although he has improved his shooting). Going by what we saw in Richmond last year I thought Kenell was going to have a shot at All-CAA this season, but not if he continues to play like he has been.

[DrexPhanatic]

Harsh. Very harsh.

Looking at his performance, it hasn't be that outstanding. But his numbers are not terrible:

- 13.0 PPG ---------------- 2nd on team (behind Brooks at 13.9)
- 55.1 FG%---------------- 2nd on team (behind Brooks)
- 3.00 Assists/Game----- As many as Goldsberry, so that has to be good :wink:
- 1.64 Assists/TO ratio-- 1st on team, 6th in conference

His rebounds are down but he is doing a solid job.

[Halftime Hero]

you're right, he's not playing that bad, but he should be playing a lot better.

Post-season last year (4 games): 24 min/g, 12 ppg, 7 rpg

This year so far: 32 min/g, 13 ppg, 5 rpg

He's a better player this year but he's not doing the right things on the court to prove that. We need him to crash the glass and get those easy put-backs, his minutes are up i would expect his avg's to go up too. He's capable of a double-double every night and thats what i want to see out of him. Also, through 6 games he's 23-31 from the free throw line, about 5 FTA's per game, i'd like to see that go up a bit too.

[DUfunnyman]

I'd say he's been a little bit of a disappointment, but he's still playing well, and he has gotten better from his first two games (Temple, Penn). I think he'll be right there come conference play. Its nowhere near the disappointment Timmy was last year, although by the looks of it this year, he is finally coming out of that funk..

[Mr. Jablomi]

Sanchez is a really nice player, but he does not have the luxury of having Battle and Schmeider drawing all the attention away from him.
He's still among the top 20 or so players in the league, IMO. He's a tough kid, which I like. You can't teach that.

[hardcoredon]

Good pt MJ. Sometimes I think we forget just how much attention Battle and Eric commanded. Our struggles so far are adjusting to them not being there. Come conference play, I'll think we'll have figured out what we need to do to be successful. We'll be alright. Just gotta be patient.

[DrexPhanatic]

Just gotta be patient.

Screw patience. I wanna win now! :x

[Fan of the Year]

Good point J, but he did some of that tournament scoring with Battle in foul trouble (I think Schmieder might've been too). I'm not sure which game it was, either against ODU or VCU, Battle was in foul trouble and Sanchez picked his game up and the team up. That was really where I became most impressed with him. The team was struggling and he filled in and really seemed to carry us through the game. That's why I really expected him to step up this year, because he did it without Battle in the tournament and looked like a real leader.

[Mr. Jablomi]

He had a big game against ODU, like 15 boards or something.
Still, he was not the focus of defenses a year ago, teams prepared to play against the two seniors, he was an afterthought.
Now, teams prepare for him and Brooks, which makes it tougher to do some of the things he did late last year.
He'll be an All CAA level performer before he's done at DU, I would think. Is he playing outside mostly? I like that he can hit the boards at his size. That speaks volumes about his hustle.

[Fan of the Year]

Yeah, I agree with you that teams can prepare more for him now. Just pointing out that he was successful without Battle last year. As for this year, he's improved his jump shot and seemed to be settling more for it earlier in the year. One thing he was able to do with Battle and Schmieder on the court last year was drive all the way to the hoop for a layup. This year he's been able to beat his man, but then the help defense shuts him down. Lately I've noticed he's gone to the mid range jumper more instead of a long range jumper or trying to go all the way to the basket. The ball movement against St. Joe's was probably the best all year and he was a big part of it. I also think that because of the way he played at the end of the year and loss of Battle and Schmieder, Sanchez has tried to put too much of it on his shoulders earlier in the season. He's now playing more within the team and system. I know he'll be a very good player in this league because he has an incredible work ethic.

[DUfunnyman]

Sanchez has yet to hit the boards with the same tenacity that he showed at the end of last year. Maybe he needs to get warmed up or something. Jablomi brings up a good point about Battle taking away some attention. Hopefully at some point, Brooks can do the same, since he is about as talented offensively as Battle, IMO.
Battle set himself apart from Brooks and the rest of the centers in the league with his dominating defensive presense. On the offensive side of the ball, Brooks is just as good, and should open up opportunites for Sanchez...