Game Thread - JMU Scrimmage @ RC - Sat 10/25 6pm

fan2011 said:
Looks like both JMU and Richmond had 10 players with 10+ minutes. Definitely not what we expect during the regular season, certainly a scrimmage. AJ put up decent numbers, but not terribly efficient. Other transfers did not look good offensively in the box score. 3pt shooting is a big concern. Looking forward to seeing JRob play.
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Stupid. Top coaches in the game are using these exhibitions to ready for real games. All of them! UVA. VCU. SDSU. St Mary's. But we have 10+ exhibitions in OOC so we do not.
Bryson's family should really be looking at other options. This is not the way you get better and advance your basketball career, practicing in a soft environment and sitting on the bench at Richmond. Get Out!!!!
 
On a positive note, seems like our defense much better than last preseason. And as you can see I do like to accentuate the positive!!!
 
I am basing this off the box score only as I didn't watch the game, but here are my takeaways:

Positive:
- Winning the game. James Madison is projected to be a good team this year and win the SunBelt. So beating them is a good sign
- Tyne played really well and shot the ball well from 3
- Guard play will hopefully be a strength for us. Not Johnston's best game, but Johnston, Tyne, and Lopez make a good back court
- Robinson seemed to paly really well and I like that most of his points seemed to have been in the paint
- Glad to see Argabright get a good amount of minutes even if he didn't produce much. We need to have freshmen contributing on this team if we want to have sustained success as a program. Hopefully Argabright, Robinson, and McGlothin can fill those roles.

Negatives:
- Need more than 13 poitns out of Walz, Daughry, and Beagle
- Free throws need to be better than 50% although we only shot 8, so small sample size
- 5-19 from 3 with 4 of those being from Tyne and 2 of those were bank shots, is not ideal
- Good defense holding JMU below 60 and being close in rebounding
 
I was in attendance, will give my thoughts below:

Positives:
- As others have stated, Robinson looks ready to give us solid minutes. One of the only guys we had who was interested in rebounding. Don’t think he took a jump shot all night but if he can score near the basket, that doesn’t really matter. Walz was in foul trouble all night, and Mooney gave Robinson a decent amount of minutes at the 5 (not what I would have done, but he did ok there).

- We used a full court press pretty early in the first half, and used it sporadically through the first half. Did not see it in the second half, not sure why.

- Argabright looked solid, especially for a freshman. Had some really nice passes. Decent on defense. Shot did not look great but it’s very early for him.

- Team defense overall was better than last year, although still switching more than I would like, resulting in our guards getting posted up by their bigs.

- Tyne shot well, although 2 of his threes banked in. Was ineffective in the second half.

- Daughtry was solid inside and one of our only willing rebounders outside of Robinson. Think he is still getting back into the swing of things but showed positive signs.

Negatives:

- Rebounding. Got better in the second half, but first half was awful. We gave up a ton of second chance opportunities, multiple times off of missed free throws.

- Thomas was solid on defense, but so bad on offense that I don’t think he’s playable. Argabright looked all around better.

- Johnston did nothing that impressed me and his shot didn’t look great.

- Walz was in foul trouble early and never really got into the flow of the game. When he was in, he passed well.

- I’m not sure we have anyone who can consistently create their own shot and make it. I’m worried that we don’t have a dominant scorer like we usually do in our best years.

Overall, team looks stronger than last year. Hoping everyone can improve on tonight and set us up for a good year.
 
Spider2020 said:
I did not stay for the extra ten minute period, so curious if anything noteworthy happened in that session
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I stayed. It was ugly overall more for us than for them. I am not why Robinson after such a solid game started and played for the 1st four minutes. Bryson played most if not all of the 10 minutes. Looked rough early but had a nice stretch. Kirby M scored 2 FTs and layup at the end of the 10 minutes and the bench went wild.
 
Saw more box-outs and Rb's tonight than all last yeas./s But was improved. played more uptrmpo in general, thus more misyakes. AP had lrg in compression legging and did not dress oiut
 
Spider2020 said:
I was in attendance, will give my thoughts below:

Positives:
- As others have stated, Robinson looks ready to give us solid minutes. One of the only guys we had who was interested in rebounding. Don’t think he took a jump shot all night but if he can score near the basket, that doesn’t really matter. Walz was in foul trouble all night, and Mooney gave Robinson a decent amount of minutes at the 5 (not what I would have done, but he did ok there).

- We used a full court press pretty early in the first half, and used it sporadically through the first half. Did not see it in the second half, not sure why.

- Argabright looked solid, especially for a freshman. Had some really nice passes. Decent on defense. Shot did not look great but it’s very early for him.

- Team defense overall was better than last year, although still switching more than I would like, resulting in our guards getting posted up by their bigs.

- Tyne shot well, although 2 of his threes banked in. Was ineffective in the second half.

- Daughtry was solid inside and one of our only willing rebounders outside of Robinson. Think he is still getting back into the swing of things but showed positive signs.

Negatives:

- Rebounding. Got better in the second half, but first half was awful. We gave up a ton of second chance opportunities, multiple times off of missed free throws.

- Thomas was solid on defense, but so bad on offense that I don’t think he’s playable. Argabright looked all around better.

- Johnston did nothing that impressed me and his shot didn’t look great.

- Walz was in foul trouble early and never really got into the flow of the game. When he was in, he passed well.

- I’m not sure we have anyone who can consistently create their own shot and make it. I’m worried that we don’t have a dominant scorer like we usually do in our best years.

Overall, team looks stronger than last year. Hoping everyone can improve on tonight and set us up for a good year.
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Accurate / I would agree. The 2nd chance points you mentioned is concerning. To me it looked like a typical Mooney team. It’s an area that def needs improvement. Teams can exploit us easily w/out our approach and matchups changing.

Not sure how many offensive rebounds and 2nd chance points when we were on offense but don’t recall a lot. Another area that could help us as compared to the last xx years (fill in the blank).

Thought Tyne played well for the most part, and this should quash the thoughts of some who thought he’d come off the bench. He hit a few in the first half from area code 540.

Low scoring game but did see some bright spots and athleticism. Fingers crossed for improvement over last year.
 
Mooney on the positives and negatives...lot to work on, but good results. High on Robinson, Lopez, Walz, and Beagle performances. Rest of the transfers didn't play as well as he would have liked, but confident they'll have great years. Going to emphasize depth this year and run. Impressed by our athleticism and defensive pressure. Addressed the balance between switching defenders and rebounding, second half emphasized being more physical on box outs and gang rebounding.

 
My comments after seeing the game in person:

This is only a single game and an exhibition to boot so simply initial impressions. No need to get too high or too low yet. But it is much better than wondering about faked boxed scores and listening to podcasts about practices.

1) First thing is if I was a JMU fan I would be a little concerned. The team has height, but I wasn't impressed by any player on their team. I don't know much about the Sun Belt, but it seems to me they have a ways to go if they are going to win that conference. Eight teams got a first place vote in the SB pre-season poll even though JMU got the most points, so I would bet on one of the others based on this one game. JMU got schooled on lots of the cuts to the basket that is a known feature of the Mooney offense, so I guess they either didn't prepare for it or simply aren't good defenders.

2) Based on #1, Mooney has to be happy with the offense. It is running significantly better than it ever did last year from my recollection. The Summer "focus" seems to be a success based on this single game.

3) As @Spider2020 pointed out, the defense also looked significantly better although the famous switch where Tyne is guarding the biggest player on the floor and gets exploited showed up on occasion.

4) My impressions of the transfers:
Lopez - Definitely has the scorer's mentality, which apparently is a need on this team. B+
Daughtry - Bigger in stature than I thought, but not as tall. Fast hands on D and got some nice steals and/or deflections. Can tell that he is going to need some more time getting into playing shape. B (probably too soon to grade)
Johnson - I didn't see the 3 PT threat that had been reported. Seems to be able to execute the offense well on cuts to basket for easy layups. Another smallish guard. B-
Thomas - Looks like a mature player, but did not like his game at all. Rushed wild shots at basket. Ok on D, but just because can be more physical than other guards. C

5) My impressions of returners in this game:
Walz - No change from last year. Foul issues, good passes, no change around basket, did not attempt any 3s that I recall B-
Beagle - Looked much better than last year on offense. Still a little weak on defense especially rebounding B
Tyne - Definitely the best option at the point guard position in this game. Hit some 3s although 2 were lucky. Looked better than last year. B+
Tanner - No change from last year. Still can see him thinking more than playing. C
Robinson - Easily the best player on the floor tonight. Had energy on both ends of the floor. Rebounded and strong inside play including numerous dunks. A
McGlothlin - Deja vu. Reminds me of Tanner last year. Has good length, but nervous and issues with footwork. Can see why he wasn't in the 10 man rotation. Incomplete (doesn't seem fair to grade him).

6) My impressions of freshmen (no grades for freshman) - Argabright was the only freshman who got play in the regular game and did not play in the extra 10 minute period. I could give him a grade, but since he is one of a kind I am giving him a pass. In the extra period, it was easy to see why none of the others got any run in the regulation portion of the exhibition.
Argabright - Looked like had a good handle on the offense and played well for a freshman. Will be part of the rotation. Humorous note: I think he needs to either cut his hair or wear some sort of headband.
Richardson - Expecting a redshirt
Homenick - No question a redshirt. Got in with 1:40 left in extra 10 min period
Mooney - Not expecting him to play
Harper - Only other freshman who looks like he might be able to contribute something this year. Imagine that Mooney would want to redshirt him since don't really need guard help.

7) Overall impression - This team is better than last year's team. I expect Mooney to play 10 guys for most of the OOC to see who rises to the top. The good news is there really wasn't much variation when the various player substitutions were made and all 10 looked like they had command of what was being asked of them. The main issue is that the team is on the small side and once again there doesn't seem to be a true 3 pt threat. Since the OOC is weak, I expect them to win most of their games. However, when A10 play rolls around I think the team will be challenged and would bet on a 0.500 type season. Thus, the George Washington formula is in full effect.

8) Robins Center - The crowd was what one would expect for an exhibition with maybe 40% of the non-student section seats filled. The student section was totally empty except for what appeared to be the lacrosse team. The future seems very grim if UR expects future support of its "premier team". The audio situation seems to be significantly improved. The video changes seem to be a work in progress still. The "alternate" video display (2 of the boards had the usual stats, score, time and 2 had this alternate) made no sense to me with a large game picture and then score, total fouls, time outs left on each side of the video (left and right). Why they don't put the same thing on all 4 screens?? The concession stands are now "themed" and have video displays for pricing and items.

I'll be back for the W&M game on Veteran's Day.

Go Spiders!
 
I was in attendance and am in agreement with the other posters thoughts so I'll try not to repeat what they've said. One thing that stuck out to me throughout the game was the second team seemed to run a better operation on offense than the 1st team. The lineup of Argabright, Johnson or Lopez, Daughtry, Robinson, & Beagle seemed much more fluid. It's key that either Johnson or Lopez shoot well from the outside with this lineup (which they didn't last night) but I thought the ball movement was purposeful.

Tyne - shot well in the first half. Stil dribbles way too much. Doesn't see the court very well as a facilitator.
Johnston - looked like he was trying to feel out the game and never got going. Missed a few open 3s which he has to hit.
Lopez - his shooting form is funky. He hardly attempted any jumpers, slashed to the basket all night with lots of success. Defense is a weakness.
Tanner - Looks the exact same as last season. Defensively still doesn't move laterally well. Made a 3 but otherwise not much impact.
Walz - He played OK. I wasn't impressed with the JMU big men so thought he should've taken advantage more there. 0 turnovers, huge positive.
Robinson - Will either be 6th man or starting by conference play. He looked strong, very athletic and confident. Willing rebounder and above the rim player. Defense needs work, he is kind of a tweener in defending people. Not quick enough for some wing players but too small for big men, despite playing the 5 in some lineups. I would slot him in over tanner if he continues to play like this.
Daughtry - Not sure what to make of his night. He didn't flash much nor stick out in a bad way. Need to see more.
Beagle - thought he looked really good at times. He had good activity on the boards and showed some athleticism on the offensive end. Made a really bone headed pass that resulted in a turnover (Mooney was beside himself) but overall very solid game. I worry about his defense.
Thomas - probably the most disappointing night of anyone. My expectations for him were probably too high but he was poor offensively. He might need to remove the floater from his game entirely; it was that bad. Defensively was solid though, think he could sub in to help shadow an athletic guard.
Argabright - really encouraged by his play for a true freshman. He saw the court well, was decisive with the ball in his hands and seemed to play within the offense well. Too early to declare him being an impact player this year but I think he has a bright future.
Mcglothin - not much to say, got in for 30 seconds and dribbled the ball OOB off his leg. Body type of Kevin Durant which is intriguing but not much else to say yet. Hopefully we get a better sense in the VA sourthern game.
 
*23* said:
Stupid. Top coaches in the game are using these exhibitions to ready for real games. All of them! UVA. VCU. SDSU. St Mary's. But we have 10+ exhibitions in OOC so we do not.
Bryson's family should really be looking at other options. This is not the way you get better and advance your basketball career, practicing in a soft environment and sitting on the bench at Richmond. Get Out!!!!
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There was a summer of practice, (i believe since June) 6 or 7 scrimmages w/ referees this off-season (per Mooney post game), plenty of time for anyone (such as Robinson did) to prove himself/earn minutes. We played 10 players at least 10 minutes. UVA played 10 players at least 10 minutes, Villanova 8 players at least 10 minutes and VCU and their social treated the nova game like it was the final 4. (PS also played 10 players at least 10 minutes).

Better options after a RS season and zero games played by team in regular season?
 
Excellent write up Sensible and Native, much appreciated!!!
As noted, it seems like a lot of our off-season assumptions are being confirmed. Great to hear Jrob still impressive.
Have to hope Johnston will be more assertive and provide a lot of offense. His track record indicates he will. I think Daughtry will provide offense once he ramps up fully. Would think after 4 years Walz might have two go to post moves?
 
I was very impressed with Argabright, I thought he saw the court better than anyone else on both teams. Plus he created some disruption on defense. Based on this small sample, I hope he will start or at least see plenty of playing time. Neither he nor Johnston shot the ball well, but both are supposed to be very good shooters. Hopefully they won't follow some others who came in with the reputation of great shooters but were stung by the Mooney curse and did not shoot well for UR.
 
*23* said:
Excellent write up Sensible and Native, much appreciated!!!
As noted, it seems like a lot of our off-season assumptions are being confirmed. Great to hear Jrob still impressive.
Have to hope Johnston will be more assertive and provide a lot of offense. His track record indicates he will. I think Daughtry will provide offense once he ramps up fully. Would think after 4 years Walz might have two go to post moves?
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Walz did have a nice move in the post at the beginning of the second half - ended with him making a hook shot. Soon after he picked up his third foul and sat on the bench for a while. Think he has more scoring in him but the foul trouble made it tough for him to get into a rhythm
 
Walz needs to be assertive this year. I pulled some numbers last season on his fouling. His fouls per 40 was not more than our other players, but it seems like that to me too, that he is always in foul trouble.
 
It’s only one game, but I was hoping to see an improvement on the assertiveness front from Walz and that was not the case last night. I think he is exactly the type of player that UR wants and I think he is a great young man, but I am sure he would tell you he didn’t have it last night. Yes he had some nice assists, but he had those last year also. The team needs him to step up on offense/defense and he was mostly MIA with foul trouble.

I was surprised that Mooney listed Walz as being impressive because I sure did not think so and I don’t think Walz needs to be pumped up with false praise.
 
Long Time UR Fan said:
I was very impressed with Argabright, I thought he saw the court better than anyone else on both teams. Plus he created some disruption on defense. Based on this small sample, I hope he will start or at least see plenty of playing time. Neither he nor Johnston shot the ball well, but both are supposed to be very good shooters. Hopefully they won't follow some others who came in with the reputation of great shooters but were stung by the Mooney curse and did not shoot well for UR.
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Yeah - I think Aiden A was the 2nd biggest positive surprise of the night. Loved his quickness at the end of the 1st half that set up Tyne's on the buzzer banked 3. 1st time I have felt real excited about a freshman guard after seeing him on the court since Sir Gilly.
 
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