Will the Patriots turn up the tempo this season?

For most of Patriot fans recent memories Mason basketball has not been a high flying up-tempo act to watch. Fans remember big guys like Jai Lewis, Darryl Monroe, and Will Thomas and their muscling moves in the paint. Not to say there was a shortage of athletic guards on the squad but with these big slow forwards the Patriots were never able to really run Larranaga's patented scramble defense. The Washington Post's Steven Goff points this out in an article this morning and quotes Larranaga about how this season could be a roller-coaster ride for fans:

"They're going to be saying: 'Whoa, this is terrible! Whoa, this is great! No, it's terrible! No, it's great! What's going on here? Wow!' All in a matter of 10 minutes."

That's probably a good way to sum up what we all might be thinking at certain moments during this season. Goff states that Larranaga is adapting to his team's new talent influx this season and that we will see more up-tempo play, something that will fun and miserable to watch all at the same time. It was evident in the exhibition Thursday night, we saw guys flying around getting steals in the back court but we also saw guys wildly out of position and yielding easy baskets to Virginia State. The key to the season could be how quickly these guys pick up on Larranaga's teachings.