Game 11: GMU (7-3) at #4 Duke (8-2) on Tuesday, December 17, at 7:00 PM.

[TweederGMU]

BENCH O'CONNOR! He's brining nothing to the game tonight besides turnovers and bricks

 

[JimP]

KD just forcing stuff...Color guy annoying, but made a good point about Mason's lack of passing. Too much dribbling.

 

[GSII]

They run sets. We don't. That simple. That 3 by Wilkins is prime example. There are many more.

 

[FlPatriot]

Think PG should be number one on the list this off season, we’ve got no ball handler that can create.

 

[TweederGMU]

Game after game our Guards perform horrible dribbling and form, general ball handling and catching the ball, and awful passes along with telepathing their passes.

Who coaches the Guards? Hinnant? There needs to be a complete overhaul in teaching fundamentals of every aspect of dribbling, passing, ball handling. Bring in a teaching consultant or something..... it's just middle school level every damn game and don't see any improvements since last year.

 

[GMU79]

Think PG should be number one on the list this off season, we’ve got no ball handler that can create.

And nobody that can shoot. Maddox excepted. And he can have awful nights himself.

 

[psyclone]

Pretty good defense, offense doesn't exist.
Nobody on this team can shoot. Don't expect any miracles in conference play either. We are a bottom four team

A bit harsh. Remember, Duke is second in the nation in defensive efficiency. Only vcu (7th) and the Bonnies (40th) have DE numbers better than Mason (42d). Half of the league is over 150.

While we played a terrible offensive game tonight, we won't be facing that level of talent very often (if ever) the rest of the regular season. ESPN had us as 19.5 underdogs, Kenpom 17. We've dropped from 80 Kenpom ranking to 82. So clearly a disappointing evening, but hardly time to completely despair.

 

[JimP]

Damn...thought maybe they'd cover the spread.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Damn...thought maybe they'd cover the spread.

Only missed it by a point moral victory

 

[FlPatriot]

And nobody that can shoot. Maddox excepted. And he can have awful nights himself.

I am surprised Anderson has not been better. I was expecting he and Maddox to be our three point aces…along with Ball.

 

[emjayar08]

What does KD Johnson provide at this point, and why does Zach Anderson have such a short leash?

 

[tblack33]

What does KD Johnson provide at this point, and why does Zach Anderson have such a short leash?

For all of KDs flaws, he was far and away our best guard tonight. Gotta run with your best players at some point. Agree Anderson has a surprisingly short leash and I couldn’t tell you why, he misses his first shot and gets yanked. Nights like tonight I’d rather him just let it fly even if they are contested.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Also, KD Johnson,given all his big game SEC experience...I predict that he's coming up big again tonight.

When has he come up big this year? LOL.

 

[FlPatriot]

For all of KDs flaws, he was far and away our best guard tonight. Gotta run with your best players at some point. Agree Anderson has a surprisingly short leash and I couldn’t tell you why, he misses his first shot and gets yanked. Nights like tonight I’d rather him just let it fly even if they are contested.

Not saying much given our guard play was quite poor.

 

[Mason2005]

Didn't expect a win tonight and what this game showed is this team has not improved at all in this non conference. Haynes did improve but it's negated by Gio's regression. PG play and def rebounding is still shit. Our Offense is terrible against good defensive pressure. We'll need to lean heavily on our defense to win in conf play. We turn it over on 21% of our possessions. It is what it is at this point. 2 more cupcake games and then Davidson. I think they are a bad matchup for us.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Well, about what the realist in me predicted. We clearly don't have enough offensively to compete with the big boys. Turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds in the first half were huge. I love Jared Billups but what the hell is he still shooting for? We remain the not ready for primetime players. On to the next one....

 

[GMU79]

Well, about what the realist in me predicted. We clearly don't have enough offensively to compete with the big boys. Turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds in the first half were huge. I love Jared Billups but what the hell is he still shooting for? We remain the not ready for primetime players. On to the next one....

Billups is my favorite player on this team. But yeah...pass the ball, Jared!!

 

[Aldousflux]

2/17 from 3 tells the story on offense...but I'll accept the moral victory of holding them to under 70.

 

[MASONscott]

Tough loss.

On the bright side, we held Duke to their least amount of points this season.

Being and ASU fan and Auburn fan I’ve watched Duke more this year than most. They do this to everyone at home. It could have been worse.

Between their superior talent, homer refs and toughest atmosphere in CBB we fared ok imo.

They expose your weaknesses well and we all clearly see (as do the coaches) what they are. For all the Haynes haters early in the season I assume that is no longer a concern.

I hope Tony uses this as a pivotal point to work on an offense focused on ball movement. As has been pointed out we need more of it - lots more. We have it at times but it evaporates against tougher competitors.

 

[Mason2005]

The formal is set for us to win games against the quality A10 teams, get to the line and defend like crazy. We need to play through Haynes and live and die from his wildness. Top 4 is still in play I think.