Game 1: Colgate University, Friday, Nov 13th, 7 PM, MASN

[GMUgemini]

Lost because we can't make FTs. No lack of effort and we look so much better, but we're limited offensively and need all the free points we can get.

Exactly. Only semi-3-point threat we've got is Murrell right now. So, if they can't hit their FTs it's going to get ugly fast.

 

[Walter]

On the bright side I didn't have to see The Virus on the sideline and be told that he is an elite coach

 

[gmujim92]

Well obviously a game we could've won, if we had even played decent.

Way too many missed shots around the basket and obviously horrendous from the FT line. Left about 20 points on the floor.

We have nobody who can guard a stretch 4. Colgate spread us out and exposed our bigs. Think about what Davidson is gonna do.

I think the three freshmen guards are all going to be very good players, but that's the only good thing i took away from this game.

Gonna be a very long year.

 

[JimP]

Wow...my teams are terrible. The Jets last night and Mason tonight.

It appears Pablo was justified to be concerned about Thompson. Guy had no confidence out there, especially on the FT line. Never thought I'd ask it, but when does Mason get it's first win?

The prognosticators had Colgate finishing last or second to last.

Don't even want to look at the Bucknell boards tonight. Hewitt must have ordered some expensive shit to celebrate Mason's ineptitude.

 

[JimP]

So..Royal didn't play tonight? WTF?

 

[gmutom]

I expected a long season, but self-inflicted losses are tough to swallow. Like gmujim92 said, rebuilding teams can't miss that many FTs and chip shots and expect to win.

Anyway, nice to see a great crowd, and the freshmen guards showed some promise. They just need some time to grow and get acclimated to the college game. Onward and upward.

 

[JimP]

Honestly...I surprised more people aren't freaking out right now. We lost at home to Colgate.......Colgate!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shitty upstate NY teams that begin with the letter C dominate Mason. Syracuse ok, but Cornell and Colgate in consecutive seasons? The Cornell game was closer to boot. Glad I didn't make the trip down.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Takeaways from tonight:

- Marquise kinda kills the offense. He's such a bad shooter his man plays ten feet off him and helps clog the paint. This happens with a lot of college guards but it's particularly bad with Marquise.

- One game sample but it looks like we don't have much in the way of shooting. Offense created some nice looks that didn't go down.

- Defense was solid but not spectacular. Barring a few hiccups guys mostly stuck to their assignments. Defense played tough but didn't force many turnovers. Turnovers will be vital if the halfcourt offense is gonna be that ineffective.

- I generally think the importance of free-throw shooting is overstated but holy hell it felt like we missed ten in a row in the second half when we were down between 4-6 points. They kept fouling Shevon off the ball and putting him on the line. I don't know if they did that on purpose but it killed us.

- I think the refs called about 25 fouls in the first 15 minutes of the second half, most of them off the ball. Probably not the best thing for a team playing a bunch of freshmen trying to find a rhythm.

- Does not look like we have a prayer of being competitive in the A-10 this year. But, the guys played hard and looked like they had a plan. We have a real coach who runs a real offense and knows how to coach defense. I'll take it for now.

 

[gmujim92]

Honestly...I surprised more people aren't freaking out right now. We lost at home to Colgate.......Colgate!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you gonna do? We got the ball in deep and got fouled a ton, but you can't beat a D-I team missing layups and half of your free throws. Looked like an intramural team in that regard.

I'm surprised we lost, but I'm more surprised that our bigs were so terrible against a team that shouldn't have been able to stop them.

Shevon looked like he had never seen a basketball before. Jalen was no better. And Marko was OK on offense but still terrible on D.

If those 3 aren't gonna play any better than they did tonight, we're not winning many even against our squeezable soft schedule.

 

[Patriotsince81]

We're really bad. I thought I would see a difference in effort. As Paulsen has been promising I thought I would at least be proud of the effort. Nope. Same old tired song. It's going to be several years, if ever, before we will be competitive in the A10. Hard to be encouraged after tonight. I had my hopes dashed this evening. Reality is sinking in, many more home loses to come.

 

[Washingtonian]

For those that were there, what the hell was the protest/chant after the game on the concourse? It sounded like a protest of some sort, and the only one I could figure out was "black students matter".

 

[Raider_SPE]

So..Royal didn't play tonight? WTF?

Heard he bunked his head at practice, concussion symptoms.

 

[mkaufman1]

For those that were there, what the hell was the protest/chant after the game on the concourse? It sounded like a protest of some sort, and the only one I could figure out was "black students matter".

They were protesting about the racist picture posted in Eisenhower in Presidents Park.

http://gmufourthestate.com/2015/11/13/mason-investigating-racist-drawing-found-on-campus/

 

[JimP]

I understand one of Hewitt's fatal flaws was thinking his team's at Mason could somehow "out-athlete" opponents. Tonight though, I don't see why that philosophy would not have worked. Our big guys seemed to be thinking way too much out there.

I think Paulsen will get the job done at Mason, but wasn't expecting a loss to Colgate.

 

[JimP]

Heard he bunked his head at practice, concussion symptoms.

Thanks for the info.

 

[GMUgemini]

Takeaways from tonight:

- Marquise kinda kills the offense. He's such a bad shooter his man plays ten feet off him and helps clog the paint. This happens with a lot of college guards but it's particularly bad with Marquise.

He better watch out for Murrell, because if he can't shoot (or defend without fouling) he'll find himself backup up two freshmen at the 1 and 2.

 

[Five Two]

Shitty upstate NY teams that begin with the letter C dominate Mason. Syracuse ok, but Cornell and Colgate in consecutive seasons? The Cornell game was closer to boot. Glad I didn't make the trip down.

Lets not open the season next year with Canisius

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Could've used Holloway's scoring tonight. Just sayin'

#dissapointmentLikeAMuthaf**ka

What wins does anyone honestly see on the Horizon?

I thought I saw one but it was a cactus in the shape of Hewitt

 

[GMU_DCU]

The good:
-Livingston is poised for a freshman.
-Paulsen coaching every player on and off the floor. Saw more coaching from him tonight than in Hewitt's whole time here.
- Murrel and Grayer look the part.
- Nice turnout in the student sections.

The Bad:
- Marquise could get into the paint any time he wanted to but couldn't finish at the rim.
- Free throw shooting
- Shevon, wow what happened to
You?
- Dixon should have been red shirted, Royal can't be that bad can he?
- If this team falls behind early will be very hard to win many games with this style of play.
-protest blocking the exit trying to leave the stadium.

 

[Vurbel]

Honestly...I surprised more people aren't freaking out right now. We lost at home to Colgate.......Colgate!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shitty upstate NY teams that begin with the letter C dominate Mason. Syracuse ok, but Cornell and Colgate in consecutive seasons? The Cornell game was closer to boot. Glad I didn't make the trip down.

If it was a year ago then we would be freaking out. But we know it is a marathon, not a sprint. In the micro our issues are foul shooting and finishing around the basket. But we are focused on the macro like teamwork, playing hard, helping teammates up after they dove for a loose ball, etc. While we are dissapointed in the final score tonight, we know we are focused on how much we win in two years, not just the next two games.