Game 2: GMU (1-0) at #18 Marquette (1-0) on Friday, November 8, at 9:00 PM.

[Sport31]

Much the same comments as everyone, turnovers, big guys lack of performance, offense spacing at times and not be.ing able to cover KAM Jones was the story tonite. But this is a top twenty team and we stayed with them for 36 minutes, I think we'll be fine, Tony has a lot to work with and a lot to cover on film. Just keep improving and all will be well.

 

[gmutom]

Interesting comments from Tony because IIRC we ended the game with two TOs in our pocket. He could have used those to help with our pace towards the end there. Oh well not the straw that broke the camels back

I had the same thought. There are some things you can play through, but that stretch wasn’t one of them. I also hate when coaches try to survive until the next TV out when a player (Gio in this case) was obviously gassed and in desperate need of a break.

 

[mkaufman1]

I don't have much different to add compared to everyone else but I want to make a couple points

I still don't get the rotations. O'connor was not brought in to be a PG, don't start him at Point Guard. KD came in about 90 seconds into the game to run point and should just start. O'connor at the 2 guard is what we need and I want him shooting as much as he can.

I also have other questions on this topic like why Newton gets so much run (yes I know defense and rebounding, but hes an offensive liability). He should be no more than a 5 minute defense and sparkplug type guy. He can't shoot and had some really bizarre moments. I'm waiting for Anderson to be able to step in (yes he can be a liability defensively and had a bad turnover), because I think he would provide more value than Newton at this juncture. Hopefully Austin Ball can crack the rotation in this role too. I'll add that Newton getting frustrated at the end of the game and showing he was ready to fight Marquette wasn't good at all. Will he come back from the rough game and be solid the rest of the season? That would show toughness. Perhaps it can be like how Amari Kelly was solid after his incident last year.

Why is Justin Begg getting minutes off the bench ahead of Quigley or at times KD? He should be on the bench learning at this juncture. I like the kid, but hes not ready for anything beyond garbage minutes or a minute or two here and there.

Haynes/Emejuru- last night wasn't the best matchup defensively for those guys considering the 5 out offense Marquette was running. They both will be fine but at times Haynes was very goofy with the ball or in general. Whether its rust or getting used to game speed again I don't know. Emejuru had some decent moments but I can tell he needs some adjustment time. We needed to call timeout when Emejuru was gassed.

I thought we weren't ready to start the game at all, our passes were slow, we made mental mistakes (going under a screen) etc. Whether that was because of who we started, gameplan or something else, I'm not sure. That said when we locked in for the last 15 minutes of half 1 and for 15 minutes of half 2 we saw that this group was very capable defensively and was able to do the right things offensively. The play we drew up at the end of the first half with the drive and dish with ball reversal to Maddox was great.

Overall I think we have a special group and the score like many have said does not really show what transpired last night. Mason settled in defensively and held a top 20 school to 5/30 in the first half and had them struggling until the run at the end. I expect really big things out of them in league play.

 

[DRK331]

Full game and post game presser from Shaka Smart here on Youtube

Full game and post game presser from Shaka Smart here on Youtube

 

[mkaufman1]

I think Woody Newton helped solidify our chances to be invited for a buy game next year too

 

[tblack33]

I don't have much different to add compared to everyone else but I want to make a couple points

I still don't get the rotations. O'connor was not brought in to be a PG, don't start him at Point Guard. KD came in about 90 seconds into the game to run point and should just start. O'connor at the 2 guard is what we need and I want him shooting as much as he can.

I also have other questions on this topic like why Newton gets so much run (yes I know defense and rebounding, but hes an offensive liability). He should be no more than a 5 minute defense and sparkplug type guy. He can't shoot and had some really bizarre moments. I'm waiting for Anderson to be able to step in (yes he can be a liability defensively and had a bad turnover), because I think he would provide more value than Newton at this juncture. Hopefully Austin Ball can crack the rotation in this role too. I'll add that Newton getting frustrated at the end of the game and showing he was ready to fight Marquette wasn't good at all. Will he come back from the rough game and be solid the rest of the season? That would show toughness. Perhaps it can be like how Amari Kelly was solid after his incident last year.

Why is Justin Begg getting minutes off the bench ahead of Quigley or at times KD? He should be on the bench learning at this juncture. I like the kid, but hes not ready for anything beyond garbage minutes or a minute or two here and there.

Haynes/Emejuru- last night wasn't the best matchup defensively for those guys considering the 5 out offense Marquette was running. They both will be fine but at times Haynes was very goofy with the ball or in general. Whether its rust or getting used to game speed again I don't know. Emejuru had some decent moments but I can tell he needs some adjustment time. We needed to call timeout when Emejuru was gassed.

I thought we weren't ready to start the game at all, our passes were slow, we made mental mistakes (going under a screen) etc. Whether that was because of who we started, gameplan or something else, I'm not sure. That said when we locked in for the last 15 minutes of half 1 and for 15 minutes of half 2 we saw that this group was very capable defensively and was able to do the right things offensively. The play we drew up at the end of the first half with the drive and dish with ball reversal to Maddox was great.

Overall I think we have a special group and the score like many have said does not really show what transpired last night. Mason settled in defensively and held a top 20 school to 5/30 in the first half and had them struggling until the run at the end. I expect really big things out of them in league play.

Agree with all, if Tony doesn’t make changes to the starting lineup and first rotations off the bench then these sloppy starts are on him.

I’d like to see Quigley get the backup PG minutes, I thought he handled the ball very well last night and showed himself capable of running the offense. He held his own against one of the best backcourts we’ll see all season.

I won’t beat the dead horse but KD has to start and play 28+ a game. I truly don’t understand why this isn’t happening yet.

Anderson needs to get more aggressive and take the starting 4 spot. Love Woody but he is largely the same player as last season, I’m not seeing a ton of growth there. A lot of energy, great defensively at the top of a 1-3-1, but his offensive confidence and capability don’t matchup which makes him a liability.

I’m not sounding any warning bells yet, but damn Haynes needs to stay on his feet. There were a couple plays they got a quick 5 on 4 because he took half the shot clock to get up and run back after going down on the other end. I think he’s crafty with the ball and will play a big part in our offense, but he struggled on both ends against stretch 5s last night. Gio looked solid, I’d like to see him be more active on the defensive end and crash the boards harder.

O’Connor surprised me and really showed his shooting ability — but completely agree he is NOT a PG. Play him off the ball and let him do his thing. Him and Billups should be competing for that starting 2 spot, love Billups defensively but he needs to show he is a threat offensively because we can’t play 5 on 4 down there.

 

[mkaufman1]

I’ll also caveat that Anderson didn’t play much in the 2nd half and Newton got a lot of the time. Anderson played 19 mins and Newton played 17 mins. I’d like to see Anderson play closer to 25 as long as he’s not a liability. Newton should be closer to 10-12 minutes or less. Just .02.

 

[Falco]

To play devil’s advocate, while I do believe KD should get the start, O’Connor improved as the game progressed. He’s a true 3pt threat, and he is shifty with the ball in his hands.

 

[GMU79]

19 turnovers. Tough environment, but GMU is averaging 18 a game.

Yes. TOs seem to be a problem for us,year in and year out.

 

[GMU79]

We saw some positives tonight, and overall I thought we played a really good game other than the first and last four minutes.

Tony knows his players better than we do, but Woody (1-9 from the floor) does not deserve the minutes he’s getting and O’Connor needs to be playing off the ball. I’m not sure if KD is still in the doghouse, but he has to be our starting PG.

I’m not sure what is going on with Haynes, but 2 points, 5 rebounds, 4 turnovers and a handful of tumbles to the floor isn’t going to cut it. With he and Gio both struggling, we would have been better served going small.

Hope we build on the positives, learn from the negatives (19 turnovers!), and bounce back with a win against Stony Brook.

At least in Haynes' case, the bigger they are, the more often they fall.

 

[gmujim92]

Also keep in mind that Marquette has no transfers on the team, so except for incoming freshman, they have played together for a few years. Shaka has a very cohesive team to work with.

This is the best point of the thread. One team got the ball consistently to its best players and the other is still figuring out who its best players are.

A huge advantage for Marquette, and we were still right there with 4 minutes left. Lots of things to feel good about this Mason group going forward.

 

[Falco]

This game is pissing me off. I can’t even read twitter. So frustrating knowing Mason had them on the ropes. Mason could have stole a win on the road against a ranked team, instead it’s a blowout loss.

 

[Ray1234]

Sorry, but that game was awful. Straight from the Paulsen years where Mason was more interested in starting conflicts than winning. Our coach did nothing to discourage it by the way.

Congratulations to Marquette for their amazing student section. And to Shaka Smart, who I never liked, for outclassing GMU in every way tonight.

 

[Mason2006Patriot]

Sorry, but that game was awful. Straight from the Paulsen years where Mason was more interested in starting conflicts than winning. Our coach did nothing to discourage it by the way.

Congratulations to Marquette for their amazing student section. And to Shaka Smart, who I never liked, for outclassing GMU in every way tonight.

??

 

[jruby]

Shaka teams play like thugs and then cry. Always have, I also have a feeling his team really isn’t that good this year. Feel like fringe tournament team but that’s ok, road game vs big east will always be hard. Shaka is and will always be a cry baby.

Love the fight and not being the fragile teams of the past. Had a fight really gone down last night, Shaka and his players would have got straight up owned.

Mason has a lot to figure out. Think #3-5 in A10 if they can ever win on the road, if not #5-8 range. Nothing really changed for me, still have no clue what’s going on at pg and it may actually be a massive problem. This is pretty much what is to be expected, doesn’t feel that much different than last year.

Remain with same thought as the last 15 years you need a pg to win in college.

 

[mkaufman1]

Sorry, but that game was awful. Straight from the Paulsen years where Mason was more interested in starting conflicts than winning. Our coach did nothing to discourage it by the way.

Congratulations to Marquette for their amazing student section. And to Shaka Smart, who I never liked, for outclassing GMU in every way tonight.

I’d like you to name one game where a paulsen team tried to start a conflict. Generally his teams looked to sing koombaya on the court.

 

[DRK331]

Darius Maddox's Mom on the game:

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[DRK331]

Shaka Smart said something to the Mason bench here:

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x.com

 

[GunstonsGhost]

Getting to the point where Woody is about to throw down may turn out to be a team bonding experience that brings some team cohesion. KD was right there with him. Tony about to lead the charge at half court. Gotta admire that, regardless of the situation. We're in this together.

 

[mkaufman1]

Getting to the point where Woody is about to throw down may turn out to be a team bonding experience that brings some team cohesion. KD was right there with him. Tony about to lead the charge at half court. Gotta admire that, regardless of the situation. We're in this together.

I don’t condone our guys hard fouling and looking to start fights, but I do agree that it’s nice the guys had each others backs.

Hopefully he learns like Amari Kelly did.

I also like that Tony was barking right back at Shaka at halftime. His teams play the same way he would play on the court. Not taking shit from anyone.