BURG Sports Network

 

 

 

Opening Statement by George Mason head men’s Basketball coach Dave Paulsen  “Yeah, I thought it was a really good effort by our guys for the vast majority of the game a couple stretches there, you know, the first half and early the second half but we took our foot off the gas offensively. But, for the most part, I thought we really defended at a high level holding to 33%, you know, that’s back-to-back games where I feel like we saw this in practice and there was a little lag time where we have the makings of becoming a good defensive team and I think we did a good job with that. And, you know, we told our guys one of our goals is to get three consecutive stops six times and have fewer than 12 turnovers and we did that against James Madison and we did that tonight. And, you know, some teams will make it harder for you to reach those goals but if you reach those goals you’re going to win the game, so I thought that was great. I thought we had contributions from a lot of different guys, Ian Boyd off the bench and Otis was okay.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Question : “Otis after the slow start to the season do you feel like the team is starting to hit its stride as A10 play approaches what do you see for this team?”

 

Answer : “Oh yeah, for sure. I definitely think we hit our stride as a team.  We had a big win against William and Mary, lost to Vermont, and big win against James Madison. I wanted to play some more games during the break cause I felt like that James Madison game we could use that to turn into some momentum.  But we had two weeks of practice, we worked hard, coach pushed us and we worked hard and we played well today. But to answer your question, I think we hit our stride going into conference play.”

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Question : “Otis, the ball movement in the second half after you guys had that sloppy opening segment, how much was that emphasized at the timeout, and how solid did you think that was for you guys? Was that something that, especially with the last game too, something you have come a ways with over the last month?”

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Answer : “Yeah for sure. Coach definitely told us, you know, move the ball more and that is something we wanted to do. I feel like we are playing unselfish, we are all playing for each other, not worrying about ourselves really, and I think that’s showing on the court, you know, especially in practice. I think that’s leading to those types of moments and plays in the game and I think that’s good for us. If we keep playing like that we should be good. We have a lot of talented players on the team so if we bring the ball and take the shots we should be good.”

 

Question : “Otis, did tonight feel any different for you, maybe the break or did you have a good warm up?  What was different for you maybe as opposed to other games?”

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Answer : “I feel like during the break I was just studying for finals focusing on passing and working out and practicing.  We were in the gym a whole lot getting shots up so the game just felt good.  I felt I was in a good place mentally and physically for this game because, you know, just playing a lot during the break and seeing the ball cone through my hand and playing with my teammates I think definitely helped.”