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

[Falco]

Come on man, we run sets all the time....please.

Hardly. Skinn openly discusses given the players freedom as long as they lock in on D.

 

[GMU79]

Hardly. Skinn openly discusses given the players freedom as long as they lock in on D.

Yes! I'm not seeing picks, screen and roll, backdoor cuts, pass into the paint and whip it back out....
Seems like if it happens it just sort of happened by accident, not because it was a set play.
I hate to say this but our last two coaches come to mind.
I love D, but you do have to score, and when other teams run set plays on us for an easy basket or wide open look, it drives me crazy that we don't do that.

 

[gmutom]

I love D, but you do have to score…

 

[JC_FoodcourtBandit]

Yes!
I love D

 

[Where's the party?]

I'm feeling pretty good after this game. Horribly hard place to play, what with the crowd and home cooking refs. (I just can't get over how a Duke player can shove one of ours out of play under the basket and then make an easy layup right in front of the ref who did nothing - I was right there, and the entire Mason contingent there gasped).

No sense reiterating what folks have already said about out guard play and the lack of offense. And yes, I am one to the folks admitting I was wrong when I said Gio should play over Haynes. Gio looked intimidated, Haynes rose to the challenge. And he looks poised to dominate conference play.

We are better than we were last year, and this D is something to enjoy watching. Hopefully Tony can get somebody - anybody - to start shooting the ball.

 

[p8triotfan4life]

Gio has regressed since the beginning of the season, whereas Haynes has improved 100% since the start of the season.

Gio wears heating packs and such, he is starting to lose his offensive energy and explosiveness that he had early on in the season. He seems to be slowing down a tad.

 

[Dawgs99]

Yes! I'm not seeing picks, screen and roll, backdoor cuts, pass into the paint and whip it back out....
Seems like if it happens it just sort of happened by accident, not because it was a set play.
I hate to say this but our last two coaches come to mind.
I love D, but you do have to score, and when other teams run set plays on us for an easy basket or wide open look, it drives me crazy that we don't do that.

I haven't seen the "Picket Fence" either but rest assured there is some structure to the offense.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

I'd argue that we have enough at PG to be average or above average within the A10, but beyond that its probably not going to happen. I don't mind O'connor running point, but hes going to have trouble against higher talent. Whether he can hold his own against the top of the league is TBD but I do think he can get there.

I have to imagine this is pretty common for a mid major though. I'd love for Baraka Okojie to walk back into the doors of EBA tomorrow too, but kids like that are just not going to come to Mason. And if they do come to Mason, good luck on keeping them around. Hopefully we can develop Begg and Quigley into a very good PG tandem and O'connor can also help in the event one of them doesn't pan out or is just a depth piece.

KD also holds his own at point, but hes best off the ball. I will also say I think the best is yet to come from him and O'connor in the back court together.

I'm still bullish on this team as a whole with the best basketball still ahead of them.

It's interesting. Depending on how long the current Wild West landscape holds I do think some of this can be used to our advantage. You can tell the stories of guys who have left using just the numbers. Sure, you can be the next Okojie and average 15 minutes and 1 point per game at Memphis or you can stay here and be a big contributor and get even more money in future years from someone else. At this point, it's not about keeping guys for 4 years, but at least getting 2 or 3 out of them before they jump.

I do think this will reach a breaking point, though and not because anyone cares about mid-majors. There's too many P5 teams being raided by the blue bloods for this to continue. In football, you have teams like Maryland and UVA becoming farm systems for the OSUs and Oklahomas. Some of it actually makes me laugh hearing their complaining because it was fine when it wasn't happening to them.

 

[GMU79]

I haven't seen the "Picket Fence" either but rest assured there is some structure to the offense.

I'd settle for the Flying Wedge.

 

[Pablo]

I haven't seen the "Picket Fence" either but rest assured there is some structure to the offense.

View: https://youtu.be/C2ILSuQOmEg

 

[mkaufman1]

It's interesting. Depending on how long the current Wild West landscape holds I do think some of this can be used to our advantage. You can tell the stories of guys who have left using just the numbers. Sure, you can be the next Okojie and average 15 minutes and 1 point per game at Memphis or you can stay here and be a big contributor and get even more money in future years from someone else. At this point, it's not about keeping guys for 4 years, but at least getting 2 or 3 out of them before they jump.

I do think this will reach a breaking point, though and not because anyone cares about mid-majors. There's too many P5 teams being raided by the blue bloods for this to continue. In football, you have teams like Maryland and UVA becoming farm systems for the OSUs and Oklahomas. Some of it actually makes me laugh hearing their complaining because it was fine when it wasn't happening to them.

100% with you. I have said in other posts that the A10 as a whole and Mason is in a good "league" spot because you have the opportunity to keep guys 2-3 years, and get the guys who maybe want to "go up a level" or the guys who want to "come down a level". Its actually a really good place to be, and to your other point, you absolutely can point to the guys who leave and end up doing nothing trying to go "above" Mason. I'm not sure what the absolute answer is from the wild wild west, but I do know that I think Mason is in the right position, with the right coach to take advantage. It won't always go our way, but there is definitely opportunity to use it as best we can. Pointing to what could happen when taking the bag and leaving Mason, is important to show.

The other thing I will add, and this is going off tangent a bit, there are other mid majors that are just downright struggling with this environment. We can always talk about how we need more, should have more etc, but we are fortunate we are holding steady and staying afloat. I read an article yesterday that a program in the CAA had to take a lot of buy games to raise money for NIL, and turns out it was just to keep their program afloat and its not going to NIL.

 

[Pablo]

The other thing I will add, and this is going off tangent a bit, there are other mid majors that are just downright struggling with this environment. We can always talk about how we need more, should have more etc, but we are fortunate we are holding steady and staying afloat. I read an article yesterday that a program in the CAA had to take a lot of buy games to raise money for NIL, and turns out it was just to keep their program afloat and its not going to NIL.

MSN

 

[mkaufman1]

MSN

Lol - yes. That was the article I was referencing.

 

[NewPatriot]

I love D, but you do have to score

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/WbK8P82h3ug?si=p4eopoJV1e5BjKoD

View: https://youtu.be/py2GLhsOFuI?si=16oYlkD_ylM_mxtK

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

100% with you. I have said in other posts that the A10 as a whole and Mason is in a good "league" spot because you have the opportunity to keep guys 2-3 years, and get the guys who maybe want to "go up a level" or the guys who want to "come down a level". Its actually a really good place to be, and to your other point, you absolutely can point to the guys who leave and end up doing nothing trying to go "above" Mason. I'm not sure what the absolute answer is from the wild wild west, but I do know that I think Mason is in the right position, with the right coach to take advantage. It won't always go our way, but there is definitely opportunity to use it as best we can. Pointing to what could happen when taking the bag and leaving Mason, is important to show.

The other thing I will add, and this is going off tangent a bit, there are other mid majors that are just downright struggling with this environment. We can always talk about how we need more, should have more etc, but we are fortunate we are holding steady and staying afloat. I read an article yesterday that a program in the CAA had to take a lot of buy games to raise money for NIL, and turns out it was just to keep their program afloat and its not going to NIL.

I like our staff's attitude in general. No point to complaining now. We know what the current landscape looks like and let's figure out how best to work it. I don't like "negative" recruiting, in general, but simply pointing out facts and letting people draw their own conclusions is perfectly fine.

 

[DRK331]

Full game vs Duke posted on Youtube