Game 10: GMU (5-4) vs UMES (3-5) on Tuesday, December 6, at 7:00 PM.

[Five Two]

I was thinking the same thing. While defense was our brand, I remember many complaints about never pressing and he seemingly stopped using his patented scramble D many years before he left.

That would be me. I HATED the fact that we'd travel to Radford and not come out early and impose our will on them. Instead, we'd get stuck in rock fights and barely hang on to win.

 

[GMUSSTN]

That would be me. I HATED the fact that we'd travel to Radford and not come out early and impose our will on them. Instead, we'd get stuck in rock fights and barely hang on to win.

Or we'd lose...cough cough cough richmond coliseum cough cough cough

 

[mkaufman1]

Or we'd lose...cough cough cough richmond coliseum cough cough cough

What is the deal with all the spam on this board today. First random guys in suits on our sidelines and now mentioning some place that resembled a turd.

COME ON PEOPLE

 

[gmutom]

Agreed, but I would go even further. Most of us on here were expecting/calling for him to load up from the transfer portal. I think he has done a good job balancing the transfers while also bringing in some great recruits with the hopes of winning now as well as building for the long run.

All fair points, and just to be clear I hope he continues to rely on the portal to fill glaring needs. I thought bringing in Ticket, Schwartz and Cooper last year were all great moves. The jury is still out on Singleton and Bailey this season, but I really like the addition of Ojiako.

I'm still all in on English and hope he finds the right balance. Assuming all of our seniors leave and there are no underclassmen defections (by their choice or the staff's), it looks like we will still need to use the portal to fill several voids (like a big man and a legitimate 2-guard). Let's hope the staff finds some Day 1 starters, because it's going to be a very young team with only two seniors (Polite and Henry) and one junior (Jones).

 

[gmubrian]

That would be me. I HATED the fact that we'd travel to Radford and not come out early and impose our will on them. Instead, we'd get stuck in rock fights and barely hang on to win.

Or actually lose to them like we did in 09-10, 80-53. Ouch!

 

[jessej]

All fair points, and just to be clear I hope he continues to rely on the portal to fill glaring needs. I thought bringing in Ticket, Schwartz and Cooper last year were all great moves. The jury is still out on Singletary and Bailey this season, but I really like the addition of Ojiako.

I'm still all in on English and hope he finds the right balance. Assuming all of our seniors leave and there are no underclassmen defections (by their choice or the staff's), it looks like we will still need to use the portal to fill several voids (like a big man and a legitimate 2-guard). Let's hope the staff finds some Day 1 starters, because it's going to be a very young team with only two seniors (Polite and Henry) and one junior (Jones).

seems like we have filled the spots of the leaving Grad Students - Cooper, Bailey, Singleton
there may be 0, 1, or 2 slots depending upon what Josh and Ticket do

I dont know if any of the current underclassmen will leave via the transfer portal
but that will open up additional slots

Side Questions:
how much does playing pro ball in Europe, South America, or Asia pay?
Under what conditions do Ticket and/or Josh return for their Covid year?

 

[Old Man]

All fair points, and just to be clear I hope he continues to rely on the portal to fill glaring needs. I thought bringing in Ticket, Schwartz and Cooper last year were all great moves. The jury is still out on Singleton and Bailey this season, but I really like the addition of Ojiako.

I'm still all in on English and hope he finds the right balance. Assuming all of our seniors leave and there are no underclassmen defections (by their choice or the staff's), it looks like we will still need to use the portal to fill several voids (like a big man and a legitimate 2-guard). Let's hope the staff finds some Day 1 starters, because it's going to be a very young team with only two seniors (Polite and Henry) and one junior (Jones).

Keep in mind that along with the portal opening, all NCAA athletes were granted an additional year of eligibility. With that comes more opportunity to move. Those additional year players will dry up and, while the portal will be open and players will still move a bit, I don't believe it will resemble the wild west like it has over the last two years

 

[TweederGMU]

seems like we have filled the spots of the leaving Grad Students - Cooper, Bailey, Singleton
there may be 0, 1, or 2 slots depending upon what Josh and Ticket do

I dont know if any of the current underclassmen will leave via the transfer portal
but that will open up additional slots

Side Questions:
how much does playing pro ball in Europe, South America, or Asia pay?
Under what conditions do Ticket and/or Josh return for their Covid year?

I'd say Josh is 99% gone after this year. He's going to go Pro somewhere.

Ticket is 50/50.

3 spots for sure, I'd see one other guy leaving based on what I've seen so far this year.

 

[GMUSSTN]

All fair points, and just to be clear I hope he continues to rely on the portal to fill glaring needs. I thought bringing in Ticket, Schwartz and Cooper last year were all great moves. The jury is still out on Singleton and Bailey this season, but I really like the addition of Ojiako.

I feel like Bailey was billed (maybe this was just in my own head) as a step in replacement at the 3 for Schwartz, but he really is more suited to shooting guard. Schwartz was a better all around player. I think that if we didn't have him we'd be a lot worse off. He has the ability to go off but it'll be a random occurance...probably some combination of VB/Ticket/Cooper will need to be hot on any given night for us to win (plus Josh returning to last season's consistency).

Ojiako was a good add but he's still really raw. Not that that is a bad thing...my brothers are big VT fans and they both said "he's big and fast and athletic, but not very skilled" and I'm inclined to agree. Still, he's filling a depth void we needed desperately last year.

Singleton is the one I can't figure out. It's like he ONLY makes a statement in clutch situations and is invisible the rest of the time.

 

[mkaufman1]

I feel like Bailey was billed (maybe this was just in my own head) as a step in replacement at the 3 for Schwartz, but he really is more suited to shooting guard. Schwartz was a better all around player. I think that if we didn't have him we'd be a lot worse off. He has the ability to go off but it'll be a random occurance...probably some combination of VB/Ticket/Cooper will need to be hot on any given night for us to win (plus Josh returning to last season's consistency).

Ojiako was a good add but he's still really raw. Not that that is a bad thing...my brothers are big VT fans and they both said "he's big and fast and athletic, but not very skilled" and I'm inclined to agree. Still, he's filling a depth void we needed desperately last year.

Singleton is the one I can't figure out. It's like he ONLY makes a statement in clutch situations and is invisible the rest of the time.

Agree with all this. I checked stats and VBJ still averages about 10 a game. Doesn't seem like it, but he contributes that much. Schwartz was a much better all around player, created his own shot and seemed to always be in the right place. While I have to watch more carefully, I feel like Bailey camps out ready to shoot 3s (much like Cooper does). Maybe that changes.

Also, if Ojiako is still really raw at this point, but this productive, I'd gladly take that. Hes provided plenty already and I thought he wasn't even going to be ready to play this much.

Agreed about Singleton. Some depth on the wing who provides solid defense, can help with ball handling. Seems like that is his role at this juncture.

 

[gmujim92]

I know everybody gets hung up on scoring averages, but VJ is a much better defender than Schwartz. He’s not nearly as consistent shooting the ball, particularly from 3, but he provides elite athleticism that hopefully he’ll tap into more as the season goes along. He’s one of the few guys on this team that can create and get his own shot against physical defense.

They’re just completely different players, apples to oranges.

 

[GMU79]

I feel like Bailey was billed (maybe this was just in my own head) as a step in replacement at the 3 for Schwartz, but he really is more suited to shooting guard. Schwartz was a better all around player. I think that if we didn't have him we'd be a lot worse off. He has the ability to go off but it'll be a random occurance...probably some combination of VB/Ticket/Cooper will need to be hot on any given night for us to win (plus Josh returning to last season's consistency).

Ojiako was a good add but he's still really raw. Not that that is a bad thing...my brothers are big VT fans and they both said "he's big and fast and athletic, but not very skilled" and I'm inclined to agree. Still, he's filling a depth void we needed desperately last year.

Singleton is the one I can't figure out. It's like he ONLY makes a statement in clutch situations and is invisible the rest of the time.

All he does is catch touchdowns.

 

[Old Man]

Agree with all this. I checked stats and VBJ still averages about 10 a game. Doesn't seem like it, but he contributes that much. Schwartz was a much better all around player, created his own shot and seemed to always be in the right place. While I have to watch more carefully, I feel like Bailey camps out ready to shoot 3s (much like Cooper does). Maybe that changes.

Also, if Ojiako is still really raw at this point, but this productive, I'd gladly take that. Hes provided plenty already and I thought he wasn't even going to be ready to play this much.

Agreed about Singleton. Some depth on the wing who provides solid defense, can help with ball handling. Seems like that is his role at this juncture.

I believe I heard Ojiako only started playing ball his senior year in high school. So he couldn't be much more raw than that.

 

[GMUSSTN]

I believe I heard Ojiako only started playing ball his senior year in high school. So he couldn't be much more raw than that.

Makes sense. My brothers (VT fans) told me that he was kind of a "well this dude is super athletic and fast, let's throw him out there and see how he does" kinda guy. Didn't fit in their system so he wasn't getting much playing time.

Oddly enough we needed a guy like that...a little more skill than Henry but faster/stronger. I think combined with Josh (all skill no thrill) it fills a definite need on our roster that Henry can't quite do 100% of the time yet.

If we can get Josh a little more used to having a big guy like that on the court we might have something going. I don't think Josh is quite used to playing in a 2-big lineup, as we've never had another true big who complements his skill set. We've seen flashes...a little more chemistry and running an Oduro/Ojiako 4/5 combo could be a lot of fun.

 

[GSII]

Makes sense. My brothers (VT fans) told me that he was kind of a "well this dude is super athletic and fast, let's throw him out there and see how he does" kinda guy. Didn't fit in their system so he wasn't getting much playing time.

Oddly enough we needed a guy like that...a little more skill than Henry but faster/stronger. I think combined with Josh (all skill no thrill) it fills a definite need on our roster that Henry can't quite do 100% of the time yet.

If we can get Josh a little more used to having a big guy like that on the court we might have something going. I don't think Josh is quite used to playing in a 2-big lineup, as we've never had another true big who complements his skill set. We've seen flashes...a little more chemistry and running an Oduro/Ojiako 4/5 combo could be a lot of fun.

Hey, we got pretty far in 2006 by running 2 bigs. What about in 2011? Was Morrison and Pearson in together?

 

[GMUSSTN]

Hey, we got pretty far in 2006 by running 2 bigs. What about in 2011? Was Morrison and Pearson in together?

Yeah Pearson/Morrison probably tied with Lewis/Thomas for most effective 1-2 punch at the 4/5. I'm sure some of the old timers will challenge me on that. Also pretty sure Pearson was a lefty...Thomas definitely was.

L's system was great if we had 2 bigs that knew how to play off one another.

 

[GSII]

Yeah Pearson/Morrison probably tied with Lewis/Thomas for most effective 1-2 punch at the 4/5. I'm sure some of the old timers will challenge me on that. Also pretty sure Pearson was a lefty...Thomas definitely was.

L's system was great if we had 2 bigs that knew how to play off one another.

Will/Jai could score and defend. Same for Morrison/Pearson. Not sure josh/Ojiako are in the same class as those 4. There's still time though.

 

[gmulion]

Yeah Pearson/Morrison probably tied with Lewis/Thomas for most effective 1-2 punch at the 4/5. I'm sure some of the old timers will challenge me on that. Also pretty sure Pearson was a lefty...Thomas definitely was.

L's system was great if we had 2 bigs that knew how to play off one another.

George Evans and Jesse Young were a pretty combo as well.

 

[GMU79]

George Evans and Jesse Young were a pretty combo as well.

Mr. Evans was a combo all by himself. One of the best to ever play for Mason and in the CAA.

 

[KAOriginal]

Byron Tucker (6'10") and Craig Hodges (7'0").......

Talk about "fire" in the locker room with twin towers.....