Game 1: GMU (0-0) at #15 Auburn (0-0) on Monday, November 7, at 8:00 PM.

GMU79

Hall of Famer
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GIVING DAY 2023
Thumbs down? I don't get it. You said it was a quality post. CKE has us exactly where we were under DP, which we all said was unsatisfactory. Yes, he has done lots of good things, but so far, on the court, the W-L record hasn't proven that we are any better off than we were before. I expect that things will improve, but so far, it's status quo.
 

mkaufman1

Administrator
Staff member
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GIVING DAY 2023
This bad game is gonna show up again vs good teams. We can't handle pressure. Our off the ball movement was trash tonight. Too much standing. Not one back door to make their pressure pay. Smh.
Auburn made sure we had no space and couldn’t pass the ball. That’s probably the most talented team mason will play, but the style will be there. Have lots to improve on.
 

Falco

Hall of Famer
GIVING DAY 2023
On vacation, in different time zone. I wasn’t able to catch this game. What were the positives?

Just looked at the box score. Surprised with Fernandez minutes. Also surprised the leading scorer was Polite off the bench.
 

HoopsAdmin

Administrator
Staff member
Positives. Hmmm.

- I thought our bench of Polite, Dinkins, Henry and Ojiako were serviceable and showed some grit and effort.
- I do like what VBJ brings to the lineup. He had to try way too hard to overcompensate for everyone else disappearing, which hurt his game tonight.
- While Dinkins isn't ready to start yet - the role is his when he earns it. His ceiling is higher than Polite's. (he did get hung up in the air a couple times for turnovers, which is one of the criticisms we had heard)

That's pretty much it.
 

TweederGMU

All-Conference
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
Had softball games tonight. Glad I got to enjoy this 70 degree weather then watch this train wreck.

No one has simply brought up the fact that they had ALL year to prepare for this game. All Summer and Fall. Would like to hear the prep in behind this game..... what the coaches did and what players did and for how long. Did KE do any team building exercises or Navy Seal trainings this summer or fall to help with unifying the team and putting out their goals and team goals?

Even Bruce Pearl did his homework and mentioned this was a veteran team coming in and can play all around.

On a serious note.... what is or isn't the coaching staff doing to prepare this team mentally and team building. Can we get Coach L's sports psychologist he used before the 2006 season to come in.... shoot I'd even pay for it.

Sports is 90% mental.... its how you prep and set you and your team up for success is everything. I don't hear anyone ask him their routine or what they discuss. Curious how they all prep.
 

TweederGMU

All-Conference
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
Positives. Hmmm.

- I thought our bench of Polite, Dinkins, Henry and Ojiako were serviceable and showed some grit and effort.
- I do like what VBJ brings to the lineup. He had to try way too hard to overcompensate for everyone else disappearing, which hurt his game tonight.
- While Dinkins isn't ready to start yet - the role is his when he earns it. His ceiling is higher than Polite's. (he did get hung up in the air a couple times for turnovers, which is one of the criticisms we had heard)

That's pretty much it.

What happened with Oduro? Did he just seem timid and not attacking his man offense? Shots off/just not falling tonight? Did he look like he wanted to get inside or did he pass out to guards a lot?
 

Earl the Squirrel

Sixth Man
⭐️ Donor ⭐️
This bad game is gonna show up again vs good teams. We can't handle pressure. Our off the ball movement was trash tonight. Too much standing. Not one back door to make their pressure pay. Smh.
Oduro was really tentative tonight. He's never faced a front line of shot blockers like this and when he didn't have success early on he pulled back. There were a couple of possessions where he got an entry pass and if he was aggressive could have had a couple of easy dunks. But he hesitated....just enough for the bigs to rotate and he paid a price as a result. Other times he shied away from contact and opted for reverse layups to no effect.

Josh struggled against Luka and had a hard time against Fordham's twin towers. I recall he had a rough go of it against the Mitchell twins (URI) too last year.

Obviously, he was in foul trouble tonight but the results may not have been much different had this not been the case. Josh really needs a signature game against a big and talented front line. e.g., against Dayton's Holmes.

The one thing I have noticed about Josh - even tonight - is how quick he is when he attacks from the top of the key/free throw line. He has good handles and can blow by guys his size so why not get him the ball on the high post/elbow and clear out? Once he's by you and on the baseline, he'll kill you with pump fakes. But feeding him entry passes against an athletic and robust front line when they have the opportunity to settle does not play to his strengths IMO (though you can get away with it against mediocre A10 teams). Cough.cough....Saint Joes, GW, etc.
 

GMUgemini

Hall of Famer
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Thumbs down? I don't get it. You said it was a quality post. CKE has us exactly where we were under DP, which we all said was unsatisfactory. Yes, he has done lots of good things, but so far, on the court, the W-L record hasn't proven that we are any better off than we were before. I expect that things will improve, but so far, it's status quo.

Talk yourself off the ledge a little bit. First game of the season, on the road, in a packed house, fired up home team that is likely at minimum top 20. Don’t read too much into it.

A couple of concerning trends carried over from last season (defensive rebounding is a big one). But a lot of it can be cleaned up with practice.

The good news is the bench isn’t a pile of driftwood this season.

I think we all need to hope Dinkins can take over by the mid season mark. He has the highest ceiling and we need help at the PG spot.
 

gmujim92

Hall of Famer
GIVING DAY 2023
Other than getting absolutely destroyed on the glass, what concerned me most was the lack of ball and player movement.

Against a team that pressures the ball so far away from the basket, you have to either hit them with back cuts or drive it into the paint and force the defense to compress.

Instead there was zero off-ball movement, way too much standing around, and way too much driving to shoot instead of drawing the defense and finding the open man (after you get your shot blocked 10 times, you’d think guys would get the message and pass the damn ball).

The few times we made the extra pass toward the end of the first half, we got wide-open 3s and went on a 13-2 run. I know it’s Game 1 on the road against a good team, but some of this stuff isn’t that complicated and I’m surprised/disappointed we looked so unprepared for it.
 
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