Game 18: GMU (13-4 / 2-2) at GW (13-3 / 2-1) on Monday, January 15, at 2:00 PM.

[Patriotsince81]

Just got home from Foggy Bottom. Waste of an afternoon. Hoping we start to play a full 40 minutes on either end. Preferably both.

 

[GSII]

Vs Richmond, in first part of 1st half, seemed good. Then King punched us in the face and we just took it. I dunno whats wrong, but it may have to do with letting players have a little too much freedom for too long.

 

[Jack Strop]

Right now, little is working well offensively. How many of Kelly's shots do we have to see rim out? How many super-silly, unforced turnovers do we have to endure (TWICE threw a pass to a fan sitting in row CC)? Three lost chances to cut the lead to one possession—travel at the semi-circle, step out of bounds, steal on the block. These are the marks of the game going too fast for players to keep up.

Hall knows he has to "pick his spots and find the open man". Sure, he gets 19 points, but how many points does he help his teammates get? Work-in-progress. Nine rebounds—GREAT JOB there. I think Hall is carrying his load, and I'm being hypercritical of him. I don't see his play as the biggest problem.

Ronnie, 1 – 5; 4 assists, 1 TO. As Ronnie goes the team's goes.

How and when does Maddox get out of his slump? 5 – 16... better today, keep shooting and straighten it all out.

Kelly, FIVE of the team's 12 turnovers—gotta plug that leak.

Okojie 3 – 9... freshman with upside and high ceiling. Keep playing hard and fast

What happened to Mason's depth? Malik, Woody, Ball, and Wood combine for only 16 minutes, and ZERO points. The starters plus Okojie are pulling ALL the weight. Gotta fix that.

I like our Patriots' future... our present, not so much. The only way out of an offensive slump is to keep shooting the ball, minimize the unforced turnovers, share the ball.

 

[EXpatriot13]

Yeah we’ve all been plenty patient.

That said we have to be patient with another brand new coach. Sadly.

So because we have a new coach that automatically means another middling season with no expectations?

After the start we had to the season we should be rightfully disappointed if this season goes off the rails, whether the coach is in Year 1, 3, or 5.

They have time to turn this thing around and sneak into top 4, but if they don’t, I’m not just going to write off another poor result and “be patient” because the coach is in Year 1. Programs can turn things around quickly, no reason it can’t be us.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Patriots Dig Early Hole, Fall at GW 75-62 - George Mason University Athletics

The George Mason University men's basketball team (13-5, 2-3) repeated a familiar pattern during a 75-62 setback at George Washington (14-3, 3-1) on Monday afternoon

gomason.com

 

[mkaufman1]

So because we have a new coach that automatically means another middling season with no expectations?

After the start we had to the season we should be rightfully disappointed if this season goes off the rails, whether the coach is in Year 1, 3, or 5.

They have time to turn this thing around and sneak into top 4, but if they don’t, I’m not just going to write off another poor result and “be patient” because the coach is in Year 1. Programs can turn things around quickly, no reason it can’t be us.

Nope - I’m not saying we shouldn’t have expectations. I built plenty of them up after our start and play on the court.

Just appears we need to see where this goes and what Tony does to correct it. It’s early for him in his career so that’s one thing I look at. I have hope we can salvage a top 4, but it’s looking less likely. Thankfully the season is long and hopefully he can figure this out.

But I definitely think it’s totally fair to have expectations and not be patient as much as I think we should be patient.

 

[Jack Strop]

So because we have a new coach that automatically means another middling season with no expectations?

After the start we had to the season we should be rightfully disappointed if this season goes off the rails, whether the coach is in Year 1, 3, or 5.

They have time to turn this thing around and sneak into top 4, but if they don’t, I’m not just going to write off another poor result and “be patient” because the coach is in Year 1. Programs can turn things around quickly, no reason it can’t be us.

Mason could easily be 4 — 1 or even 5 – 0 with more energetic starts, a couple of fewer turnovers, and two or three made baskets. I hate that we're struggling at 2 – 3, but we're still not far off the mark.

I'm gonna go bake some Nestlé® Tollhouse® chocolate chip cookies.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Everything has fallen way off.

NCAA Statistics

stats.ncaa.org

 

[DRK331]

Post game presser. Lots of really good info in here

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1747010426401931505

Post game presser. Lots of really good info in here

 

[GMU79]

Patience is probably what I have the least of when it comes to George Mason basketball.

Yes. How many years, now decades, and miscellaneous coaches can you take without pulling your hair out

I suspect much like Tony has said, the book is out on Mason. It’s league play and everyone knows what Mason is going to try to do.

Issue is we have thrown any wrinkles to throw off the other teams defense. Or if we have we’ve Blown layup after layup (at least today).

Yep. And seems like lots of blown bunnies against UR too.

 

[tblack33]

Everything has fallen way off.

NCAA Statistics

stats.ncaa.org

Good find, this is really telling.

 

[JimP]

Right now, little is working well offensively. How many of Kelly's shots do we have to see rim out? How many super-silly, unforced turnovers do we have to endure (TWICE threw a pass to a fan sitting in row CC)? Three lost chances to cut the lead to one possession—travel at the semi-circle, step out of bounds, steal on the block. These are the marks of the game going too fast for players to keep up.

Hall knows he has to "pick his spots and find the open man". Sure, he gets 19 points, but how many points does he help his teammates get? Work-in-progress. Nine rebounds—GREAT JOB there. I think Hall is carrying his load, and I'm being hypercritical of him. I don't see his play as the biggest problem.

Ronnie, 1 – 5; 4 assists, 1 TO. As Ronnie goes the team's goes.

How and when does Maddox get out of his slump? 5 – 16... better today, keep shooting and straighten it all out.

Kelly, FIVE of the team's 12 turnovers—gotta plug that leak.

Okojie 3 – 9... freshman with upside and high ceiling. Keep playing hard and fast

What happened to Mason's depth? Malik, Woody, Ball, and Wood combine for only 16 minutes, and ZERO points. The starters plus Okojie are pulling ALL the weight. Gotta fix that.

I like our Patriots' future... our present, not so much. The only way out of an offensive slump is to keep shooting the ball, minimize the unforced turnovers, share the ball.

Yes - going into conference play I wasn't too worried about teams focusing on Hall. I thought we had plenty of offensive firepower. Here's hoping it's a slump - it's gotta be tough for the team to go through.

 

[GMU79]

Yes - going into conference play I wasn't too worried about teams focusing on Hall. I thought we had plenty of offensive firepower. Here's hoping it's a slump - it's gotta be tough for the team to go through.

Seems like in OOC we had lots of guys that could nail the 3. Now, nobody can. As for Maddox, I honestly don't see what all the hype about his shooting was. Never saw him at VT, so I don't have that perspective, but imo he's okay, but nothing special.

 

[GMU79]

Post game presser. Lots of really good info in here

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1747010426401931505

Post game presser. Lots of really good info in here

5-23 today. 0-15 against vcu. That's 5-38!
No bueno!

 

[FlPatriot]

Seems like in OOC we had lots of guys that could nail the 3. Now, nobody can. As for Maddox, I honestly don't see what all the hype about his shooting was. Never saw him at VT, so I don't have that perspective, but imo he's okay, but nothing special.

Think Maddox is trying to do too much. I always thought of him as a catch and shoot 3 point specialist. I like the 18 ft jumper… but only a few times a night.

 

[mkaufman1]

Think Maddox is trying to do too much. I always thought of him as a catch and shoot 3 point specialist. I like the 18 ft jumper… but only a few times a night.

Definitely think he was trying to play hero a few times today. Love his shot and want him shooting, but sometimes his shot selection isn't the best and it causes a terrible miss.

Also love that he can create his own shot off the bounce and once he gets space, the ball is going in. Still love that we have him and to me hes a high major quality shooter.

 

[FreeGunston12]

What happened to Mason's depth? Malik, Woody, Ball, and Wood combine for only 16 minutes, and ZERO points. The starters plus Okojie are pulling ALL the weight. Gotta fix that.

Perhaps TS has shortened the rotation a bit too much? Newton's shooting has gone cold and that has seemed to carry over to the rest of his game. Henry hasn't been the same since his absence. Hard to argue for more playing time for much of the bench. Still, I remember KE running his starters into the ground in his first year. Don't want to see that play out again either.

 

[Jack Strop]

Perhaps TS has shortened the rotation a bit too much? Newton's shooting has gone cold and that has seemed to carry over to the rest of his game. Henry hasn't been the same since his absence. Hard to argue for more playing time for much of the bench. Still, I remember KE running his starters into the ground in his first year. Don't want to see that play out again either.

Exactly. I thought we did much better earlier in the season with a deeper, more diverse rotation. We'll see.

 

[Pablo]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/01/15/george-washington-george-mason-mens-bsketball/

"The Patriots were still lurking when Darius Maddox made a three with 6:22 to close within 61-54 but committed turnovers on their next five possessions, and GW scored eight consecutive points to seal the victory."

 

[GMU_DCU]

If the team can’t stop turning the ball over none of the rest matters. It’s the top thing they should be addressing.