Game 14: GMU (7-6 / 3-4) at St. Joe’s (1-11 / 0-6) on Saturday at 12:30PM. 2nd Game of Back to Back

[GMUgemini]

I’ll take the win and they looked more competent than the other night overall.

that said I’m concerned they are headed for that grey area of mediocrity that makes you wonder things.

I mean other than Fordham this is the worst team in the conference by far. So it’s not saying much that they won by 9.

 

[GMUgemini]

Daddy played his balls off, actually. I like him as a "defend 4 positions" guy.

Good to see him actually finishing some shots and making his free throws too. If he’s going to play, he needs to make the easy plays when he’s out there.

St. Joes is one of the worst defenses in the country though so don’t read too much into it.

 

[Herndon]

Yes but we are in it with Richmond, Bonaventure, Davidson, GW, and St. Joes when it comes to facilities and revenue. Guess which team out of that group has never had a team finish in the top 4 or make the tournament (or even NIT) since we have joined?

True, but which of those teams essentially started from zero at that time? I'm not aruging that we've overperformed. We haven't. I'm arguing that we're not really underperforming.

When I see a middle of the road program with middle of the road results, that seems reasonable to me.

Excluding Paulsen's first season, our A10 results have been:

9-9
9-9
11-7
5-13
4-4 (thus far)

that's......decidedly middle of the road. One above average year, one below average year, the rest average years. If we finish middle of the road again this year, I just really don't see any reason to be upset.

If we were squandering big advantages over the rest off the conference, then sure, bitch and moan, but we're not. We're just doing about what you'd expect.

And yes, I understand that many people here apparently never learned about expected value of random variables, but our "fundamentals" say "average program". So, when our results say "average program" the constant whining and weeping mystifies me.

 

[mkaufman1]

I mean other than Fordham this is the worst team in the conference by far. So it’s not saying much that they won by 9.

yeah I mean 2 wins against st Joe’s and a win against lasalle and fluke vs umass isn’t exactly giving me so much confidence. But when you look you see 4-4. Let’s see if they can beat gw and umass again, or anyone in conference half decent.

I just want no grey area of “corner turning” or “needs more time”

 

[mkaufman1]

True, but which of those teams essentially started from zero at that time? I'm not aruging that we've overperformed. We haven't. I'm arguing that we're not really underperforming.

When I see a middle of the road program with middle of the road results, that seems reasonable to me.

Excluding Paulsen's first season, our A10 results have been:

9-9
9-9
11-7
5-13
4-4 (thus far)

that's......decidedly middle of the road. One above average year, one below average year, the rest average years. If we finish middle of the road again this year, I just really don't see any reason to be upset.

If we were squandering big advantages over the rest off the conference, then sure, bitch and moan, but we're not. We're just doing about what you'd expect.

And yes, I understand that many people here apparently never learned about expected value of random variables, but our "fundamentals" say "average program". So, when our results say "average program" the constant whining and weeping mystifies me.

you bring a fair point but you also need to bring the first year as well into the fold when doing a full evaluation. As much as it was a pass; things haven’t changed enough for me to think mediocrity is the ceiling for Dave.

when you do look at this body of work and take out the first year I still see 38-42 in league and 9-17 in the last two years. I also haven’t seen enough on the non conference side to tell me that corners have turned. We still have lost questionable games whether it’s blowing leads or just plain out sucking as well. Losing to Norfolk state and blowing a big lead to Belmont convinced me that Dave had to go. Squeezing out fluke wins in or out of conference (many against very bad teams) doesn’t do it for me either.

The point is that Dave has had plenty of time, he has an experienced roster, and it doesn’t look like he is going to get to reach a new height of improvement this year. he is what he is, and if mediocrity and less is good enough for Mason to keep him, that’s really disappointing. I get transition and time but it’s time to show your serious about the program when many things like fan interest and ticket sales have already soured.

“Average program” at this point is nice and all, but it’s time to take the next step. Simple as that.

 

[sleeperpick]

True, but which of those teams essentially started from zero at that time? I'm not aruging that we've overperformed. We haven't. I'm arguing that we're not really underperforming.

When I see a middle of the road program with middle of the road results, that seems reasonable to me.

Excluding Paulsen's first season, our A10 results have been:

9-9
9-9
11-7
5-13
4-4 (thus far)

that's......decidedly middle of the road. One above average year, one below average year, the rest average years. If we finish middle of the road again this year, I just really don't see any reason to be upset.

If we were squandering big advantages over the rest off the conference, then sure, bitch and moan, but we're not. We're just doing about what you'd expect.

And yes, I understand that many people here apparently never learned about expected value of random variables, but our "fundamentals" say "average program". So, when our results say "average program" the constant whining and weeping mystifies me.

So let’s break it down a bit for you.

Say Herndon high school is 3-0 against really really bad teams. People start to get excited. Some think they have a really talented roster and a coach that is excellent. But then they go 0-7 in league play to start the year. They are thought by the rest of the league to be a joke. Some think the coach should be sent back to YMCA ball as the janitor. Yes this scenario doesn’t apply to Mason at all but damn 0-7 in league play. No wonder you’re a fan of mediocrity because it’s where you strive to be some day with your team.

 

[GMUgemini]

True, but which of those teams essentially started from zero at that time? I'm not aruging that we've overperformed. We haven't. I'm arguing that we're not really underperforming.

When I see a middle of the road program with middle of the road results, that seems reasonable to me.

Excluding Paulsen's first season, our A10 results have been:

9-9
9-9
11-7
5-13
4-4 (thus far)

that's......decidedly middle of the road. One above average year, one below average year, the rest average years. If we finish middle of the road again this year, I just really don't see any reason to be upset.

If we were squandering big advantages over the rest off the conference, then sure, bitch and moan, but we're not. We're just doing about what you'd expect.

And yes, I understand that many people here apparently never learned about expected value of random variables, but our "fundamentals" say "average program". So, when our results say "average program" the constant whining and weeping mystifies me.

We are actually bottom 4 in the league over that timeframe, not middle of the pack.

 

[sleeperpick]

We are actually bottom 4 in the league over that timeframe, not middle of the pack.

You just don’t understand random variables

 

[gmujim92]

I like Grasso but we already tried the up and comer head coach approach.

We did? When?

 

[mkaufman1]

We did? When?

paulsen wasn’t an up and comer? I mean I know he wasn’t young but he was on his way up?

 

[JimP]

St Bonaventure with all those amazing facilities and money and program pedigree sure makes it look easy to put a competitive team on the floor year in year out. I thought we put all these myths you are talking about to bed like 35 times.

Bonnies do have a rabid fanbase. Dude looked at me with disgust when I sat next to him at Reilly Center for Mason/Bonnie game with my Mason sweatshirt on. Mason has better facilities though. Schmidt though - hell of a coach. (to your point) Bonnie fan did seem to warm up to me - probably because they won the game handily. Gave us meal advice for after the game.

 

[GMUgemini]

Bonnies do have a rabid fanbase. Dude looked at me with disgust when I sat next to him at Reilly Center for Mason/Bonnie game with my Mason sweatshirt on. Mason has better facilities though. Schmidt though - hell of a coach. Bonnie fan did seem to warm up to me - probably because they won the game handily.

We are also sitting on a gold mine of basketball talent that we can’t seem to tap into.

 

[sleeperpick]

Bonnies do have a rabid fanbase. Dude looked at me with disgust when I sat next to him at Reilly Center for Mason/Bonnie game with my Mason sweatshirt on. Mason has better facilities though. Schmidt though - hell of a coach. (to your point) Bonnie fan did seem to warm up to me - probably because they won the game handily. Gave us meal advice for after the game.

Very true but you know how hard it must be to get kids to come to play in Olean NY?!?!

 

[GMUgemini]

My biggest thing is we play very boring basketball. Now I can live with that if we were also effective (Coach L’s teams really didn’t have a lively entertaining brand of basketball but they were entertaining because they won and won a lot of games — sound, tough, fundamental basketball). But we are boring AND ineffective. Bad combination.

 

[JimP]

Very true but
you know how hard it must be to get kids to come to play in Olean NY?!?!

I know...don't know how Schmidt does it. I grew up in upstate NY and have several friends who went to Bonaventure. The passion for Bonnie basketball is something that Mason does not see out of its alumni. Has to have something to do with Schmidt's success IMO. However, SBU has obviously had many lean years themselves, and they did have a bball scandal a couple decades ago.

 

[gmujim92]

As Matt said, if being able to beat up on teams worse than us but lose to everyone else is good enough for the Mason administration, they can keep Dave and it will tell us all we need to know. It’s not gonna get any better than this once AJ and Javon are gone.

 

[JimP]

Very true but you know how hard it must be to get kids to come to play in Olean NY?!?!

Weather is awful. Had to shovel out car in hotel parking lot day after game. Spent much of the trip driving home on snow covered highway, well below the speed limit.

 

[GMUgemini]

As Matt said, if being able to beat up on teams worse than us but lose to everyone else is good enough for the Mason administration, they can keep Dave and it will tell us all we need to know. It’s not gonna get any better than this once AJ and Javon are gone.

If we think our offense looks bad now, wait until next year when the only guard on the whole team who can shoot is Tyler Kolek.

 

[Pablo]

As Matt said, if being able to beat up on teams worse than us but lose to everyone else is good enough for the Mason administration, they can keep Dave and it will tell us all we need to know. It’s not gonna get any better than this once AJ and Javon are gone.

I'm reminded of what the Missouri State president said upon firing current Mason women's basketball coach Nyla Milleson with 2 years remaining on her contract - https://sbj.net/stories/msu-fires-head-womens-basketball-coach,17585#:~:text=Missouri State University has fired,search for a new coach.:

“'Our past successes have led to high expectations,' Smart said in the release. 'The challenge for Missouri State is to continue to live up to those expectations. Sometimes, that means we have to make difficult, but necessary, decisions. Such is the case today.'”

 

[JimP]

As Matt said, if being able to beat up on teams worse than us but lose to everyone else is good enough for the Mason administration, they can keep Dave and it will tell us all we need to know. It’s not gonna get any better than this once AJ and Javon are gone.

Yeah - there is a definite upper and lower division in A-10 this year. Does anyone in the upper division really care about the Mason/St. Joe's game. Nope. Glad GMU is at .500 I guess.