Where has your head coach been?

Paul Hewitt has taken to Europe in the same fashion that last year's Gerge Mason men's basketball team did. Finally, Hewitt fans have gotten to see the first of his coaching since signing on with the Patriots.

Unfortunately, it didn't go too well. The US U19 team, which Hewitt coaches, lost an exhibition matchup to the Lithuania U20 team by a 101-72 margin. After the Lithuanians jumped out to a 32-8 lead after the first quarter, there wasn't much hope for a comeback. At least they only outscored the Americans by three points for the rest of the game, right?

The percentages of the players doesn't matter too much in a situation where head coaching performance is the key aspect of the situation, as it is for Mason fans. According to Hewitt, the game was won by screens. Like Mike Morrison learned last year, sometimes the European style of play is more physical with college-aged players.

Hewitt's squad plays again on Tuesday against Lithuania's U19 team at noon eastern time.

In a format similar to the World Cup in soccer, the US team is in a 4-team group with China, Egypt and Serbia. They play Egypt on June 30, Syrbia on July 1 and China on July 2. The top three teams go to the second round. The quarterfinals are on July 8, semifinals on July 9 and the finals are on the tenth.

On a brighter note, the Paul Hewitt Basketball Camps are underway. The elite camp, just for high schoolers, already happened in early June. If I recall, the players will be helping, as will Scott Lombardi. Lombardi is the director of basketball operations for the team and will probably be one of the guys in charge especially since the camp's namesake is in Europe.

Information from the Butler University Athletics Department was used in this report.