They aren't always pretty, but the wins continue to pile up for the men's basketball team.  After the road game against Hofstra, Mason sits alone atop the CAA standings at 9-1, a game ahead of ODU, Drexel and VCU who all sit at 8-2.  It is setting up to be another wild finish in the CAA as it seems to be every year, and the Patriots are doing what we always say needs to be done to avoid the Friday round of the CAA tournament.  Defend the home court (5-0 so far in CAA play) and get to .500 or better on the road (4-1 so far in CAA play).  With eight games to go, the Patriots are in great shape to end up with a top four seed in Richmond.

As we did in this space last week, I wanted to continue to look back at the questions I had about this team and see if there have been any answers.  Last week we tackled the "love for this team" question.  This week I want to look at banner question #3, about who might help out Ryan Pearson in the post. 

I think it is pretty obvious senior Mike Morrison stepped up to play Jesse Young to Ryan's George Evans.  Morrison is averaging just under 10 points and exactly seven rebounds a game, a shade better than the eight points and six rebounds Young provided on the '00-'01 title team.  Toss in the improved play of Jonathan Arledge (8.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in last five games) and the front line rotation is giving headaches to opposing coaches all around the CAA.  Add back in a healthy Erik Copes into the front court rotation and this might not be the best front court in Mason history, but it could certainly be the deepest front court in recent memory. 

All of these factors make some tough choices for head coach Paul Hewitt and his staff.  Arledge has been playing solid minutes since the Copes injury; but how do you limit the minutes you give Copes when in his last game played he blocked seven shots, all in the first 20 minutes?  How can you reduce the minutes from Arledge when his play in the last five games has been the best in his (young) career?

Hewitt still has to lean on the senior tandem of Morrison and Pearson because they've been there for all the CAA battles and understand what the next month is going to be like in conference play.  But he can't ignore the young and blossoming talent he has coming off his bench in Arledge and Copes.