GEORGE MASON: DECIDEDLY UNPATRIOTIC

Remember when I said there wasn't much to take away from GMU's 40 point drubbing of AU? The same is mostly true of their beating of Holy Cross last night in Fairfax.

HC seemed to do nothing well, whether it be passing the ball (16 turnovers), using full court pressure (14 fast break points allowed), defending the perimeter (62% shooting for GMU in the 2nd half), shooting free throws (38%, including an impressive 0-4 mark from freshman Lawrence Dixon during one 30 second span), setting screens (see: Hyland, Kevin), or using any kind of depth (2 bench points). It was that kind of night.

There were few highlights for HC. Kevin Hamilton, who was open maybe twice all night, hit a couple of nice buckets early, but was non-existant in the second half. Keith Simmons was terrible, dribbling into nowhere and causing turnovers as well as shooting and missing everything a few times.

GMU's team was simply quicker, stronger, and smarter. This was not all HC being awful, part of it was that GMU is simply a very, very good basketball team that would probably run over most anyone in the PL. Think Villanova Lite. They have a ton of depth, and Jai Lewis, their 450 or so pound center, compliments their guard based offense with a great passing touch.

GMU's excellence aside, HC sucked in this game, and it was hard to think that this team could actually compete for a league title at this point. That isn't to say they won't be competitive in league play-- it just means that they are still in the group of teams looking up at BU.

Their main problem seems to be a complete lack of depth, as beyond Simmons and Hamilton I'm not sure there is a real scoring option on the team (no, Torey Thomas and his 38% FG percentage from 2005 doesn't count). Kevin Hyland turned in maybe the worst game of basketball I have watched this year, as he couldn't score, couldn't pass, couldn't defend, and set paper-thin screens that rarely had any actual contact with a defender. He got muscled around for most of the night by the 400 pound monster Lewis, but even when he wasn't being pushed around, he looked clueless. For those of you HC fans who may take exception to such aspersions on Mr. Hyland, ask yourself this: how many minutes would he have played on the 2002-03 or 01-02 HC teams? Moreover, how could anyone be satisfied with a starting center that gets ONE lousy rebound in 28 minutes of action?

Tim Clifford was also a disapointment, as your PL blogger tapped him to represent the PL Blog Breakout Team, but he's not covering his side of the bargain, averaging 5 and 4 a night. Part of that is his lack of minutes, but like all players, you'd imagine if he was playing better, the coach might give him more minutes.

The HC freshmen were too overwhelmed by GMU's quickness to judge them by their performance here. Vander Baan didn't really do anything, but he was serviceable, at least more so than Hyland. Colin Cunningham looked good, especially on defense, but couldn't buy a bucket. Lawrence Dixon looked flat out lousy, with a couple of airballs and four straight clanks at the free throw line.

In short, HC fans shouldn't panic as GMU is a very good team that caught HC on an off night. I doubt Northeastern is going to wax them by 40. But there should be concerned about the lack of depth all around, and without Hamilton, Simmons, and Thomas playing 35+ minutes a night with whatever platoon of big guys they can put out there, I think HC struggles will continue in league play.  @ 8:45 AM