Game 21: GMU (12-8 / 4-3) at vcu (15-5 / 6-1) on Wednesday, January 25, at 7:00 PM.

[psyclone]

Disgraceful disgusting and disappointing.

It’s really hard to watch but so expected. No Ronny and we look like we forget how to play basketball.

Pretty sure we’ve seen this type of game over and over again when we watch mason play vcu.

Makes it hard to believe that we have won 3 of the last 5 down at Siegal Center before tonight. It's hard enough to beat vcu with everyone healthy, but near impossible with being short 2 starters and having to go with our back-up freshman pg. Dinkins was ok offensively (8 pts, 2 TOs) but only had 1 assist. As uncomfortable as Cooper seemed bringing the ball upcourt, he did lead us with 5 of our 10 assists.

One number that surprised me was that Baldwin was the games leading rebounder with 9---BOX HIM OUT! Indeed, we got killed on the boards, 35-24.

Our best hope for the season is to get healthy and see if we can actually play as a team that is at least equal to the sum of its parts. Haven't shown that we're capable of that all year.

 

[GMUSSTN]

I was blessed by work with having to be on Oahu's beautiful North Shore today, watching the monster swells and listening to some amazing speakers talk about traditional Hawaiian fishponds and ancient Polynesian voyaging and navigation. It was amazing. I listened to about 4 minutes of the end of the first half in the car before the app crapped out and wouldn't reload the stream. Got home, saw we were down by like 11 in the 2nd half, turned it on and my ESPN app was woefully behind because we were down 20 by the time the stream loaded up. I watched about 2 minutes and then just took my daughter outside to toddle around. It was the best vcu gameday I've had in a while.

 

[Falco]

This is what happens when you don’t recruit/land a PG and rely on a guy who has been plagued with injuries. Sorry singleton is not a PG!

 

[GMU79]

This is what happens when you don’t recruit/land a PG and rely on a guy who has been plagued with injuries. Sorry singleton is not a PG!

CKE said PG was a priority. He failed.

 

[nchocola]

Very disappointed in the upperclassmen last night minus Oduro. They were mesmerized at what was going on. Part of that is on Kim for not having them ready for that game. But whether they were ready or not they would have lost. Those guys got dogged all night.

I’m not sure why they tried to match their pace the entire first half. That’s a losing recipe at vcu.

 

[BBride]

Disappointed at how this season has gone. I didn't expect a 20 point loss. I'm beginning to wonder if this team will win a game in the A10 tourney.

 

[gmulion]

Disappointed at how this season has gone. I didn't expect a 20 point loss. I'm beginning to wonder if this team will win a game in the A10 tourney.

I think it depends on how healthy we are. Missing Ticket and Polite is a pretty big deal. If we are at full strength we have a shot.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Very disappointed in the upperclassmen last night minus Oduro. They were mesmerized at what was going on. Part of that is on Kim for not having them ready for that game. But whether they were ready or not they would have lost. Those guys got dogged all night.

I’m not sure why they tried to match their pace the entire first half. That’s a losing recipe at vcu.

Agree 100% about the upperclassmen. I would include Oduro in with the rest. He scored 19 but only had 2 rebounds, 1 offensive and 1 defensive. He also turned it over 6 times so IMO he didn't really play that well.

 

[mkaufman1]

This is what happens when you don’t recruit/land a PG and rely on a guy who has been plagued with injuries. Sorry singleton is not a PG!

Yep- all of this. KE rolled the dice with Ronny and dont' get me wrong, hes developed Ronny and hes looked great at times. The problem is the kid has continuous injuries come up. For such an important position and role on the team, bringing in Singleton didn't help at all. I don't know if he got bad intel that he could play point or what, but nights like last night point out this deficiency and really held us back. Singleton is a nice story, plays some decent defense and can give you depth at the guard position, but he is not a PG and is limited in how he can bring the ball up and help run the offense.

That said...

I think it depends on how healthy we are. Missing Ticket and Polite is a pretty big deal. If we are at full strength we have a shot.

I think this was a big deal but I'm not one for excuses. I didn't expect a win but whenever Mason plays anyone in the league, I expect them to be competitive and look like they belong. Last night I didn't see any of that. vcu got to every loose ball, seemingly every rebound, and had us playing on our heels all night. I have seen a lot of Mason games where we looked like we didn't belong, especially against vcu and last night was another one. The fact we had Kam Johnson taking a few minutes early in the game tells you all we need to know. They have their program rolling on all cylinders like they usually do this time of year and look ready to take the league crown.

 

[Bricker]

It's time to start Fernandez and Dinkins on the regular. JF is getting more comfortable out there and I think Dinkins has a ton of potential. Might as well develop the young core at this point as I think we have zero shot at top 4.

Another year of disappointment. Sad to think how effective this team could be if we had ball handlers who could pass and facilitate an actual offense.

Side note: anyone catch the vcu pregame show? Some young reporter claimed this is the best vcu squad in his lifetime. Their fans absolutely crack me up. This kid probably wanted Rhoades fired a month ago.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Disgraceful disgusting and disappointing.

It’s really hard to watch but so expected. No Ronny and we look like we forget how to play basketball.

Pretty sure we’ve seen this type of game over and over again when we watch mason play vcu.

 

[99 Patriot]

Not a lot to add here. vcu played harder and much smarter. Disappointing result but maybe more disappointing that we didn't match their energy, especially after the Dinkins/Shriver double Tech. You'd have hoped that would have fired us up.

I hadn't been to a game down there in probably 10 years. The place is dumpier than I remember and it was sort of laughable they called it a sellout as there were literally open sections in the corners. Disappointed to see their middle-aged band director is apparently back and still doing his routine from 15 years ago, but their band sounded great and they purposely direct speakers right at our bench to try and drown the coaches out. You can decide whether that's bush league or a competitive advantage. I'm mixed on it.

Proud my kid was the only one in the gym screaming during every vcu free throw. She was proud of how many vcu fans yelled at her or provided colorful gestures.

 

[Jack Strop]

Yeah, we got smacked down while missing two of Mason's top three players. Injuries suck, but they play a role in everyone's season. Mason's bench, while deeper than in seasons past is not deep enough. Our 3rd stringers couldn't match vcu's second team. That was to be expected. To pull it out would have meant a stellar performance from a slumping Cooper, an A+ game from VBJ, big contributions from Justyn, and a healthy-happy Ronnie and Ticket. None of that showed up.

On to St. Joe's and their daft flailing chicken-hawk mascot.

 

[gmujim92]

Yeah, we got smacked down while missing two of Mason's top three players. Injuries suck, but they play a role in everyone's season. Mason's bench, while deeper than in seasons past is not deep enough. Our 3rd stringers couldn't match vcu's second team. That was to be expected. To pull it out would have meant a stellar performance from a slumping Cooper, an A+ game from VBJ, big contributions from Justyn, and a healthy-happy Ronnie and Ticket. None of that showed up.

On to St. Joe's and their daft flailing chicken-hawk mascot.

That “slumping Cooper” had 20 points the previous game against Rhody. He had a terrible game last night and is too inconsistent for my taste, but some of you people are just weird.

 

[HoopsAdmin]

I agree with Bricker. Let the young guys play more, even if it means another few L's. Figure out who to keep and who to let go for '23-'24. We've got Ball, Barron and White coming in, use a couple slots for a solid PG that can compete with Polite&Dinkins and a serviceable PF/C through the portal.

 

[mkaufman1]

I agree with Bricker. Let the young guys play more, even if it means another few L's. Figure out who to keep and who to let go for '23-'24. We've got Ball, Barron and White coming in, use a couple slots for a solid PG that can compete with Polite&Dinkins and a serviceable PF/C through the portal.

We were talking about roster construction on the bygeorge twitter spaces last night. I'm not so sure that they are going to bring in a "solid PG" with Polite and Dinkins. Now obviously I think they should, but it sounds like they will roll with Dinkins/Polite/White. We aren't sure if White can play some PG as hes a "combo" guard, but I suspect he might be able to fill in.

I still am on the side of "we need a 1a/1b" with Polite but we'll have to see who stays and who goes since all we know right now is the 3 6th year guys will be gone.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Welp here it is. Pretty much the last shot at top four. Win this and turn the top four race into a car crash at the top of the standings. Lose and we probably have little chance. I’m weirdly optimistic though.

Brb, committing seppeku in atonement for how bad this take was.

 

[GSII]

We have two coaches who coached in the SEC and we can't find a solid PG or a consistent shooter to go with an all conf center??? Our games have been trash all year. Struggle to score. Defense is generous. This isn't about last night bc you could tell KE was going thru the motions. He gotta do better in all phases.

 

[Patriotsince81]

"vcu deserves a ton of credit. College basketball rewards the harder playing team. I felt like they were that tonight," head coach Kim English said. "That's disappointing for a coach to say, no matter roster availability and injuries. That last group we put out there, they tried their best and played harder. We have to recover, bounce back and return home."

I'm not 100% sure what to make of this comment but it certainly isn't the first time he has said something along that line. KE has been talking about wanting tough guys who play hard for the past year and a half. If the seniors and grad students aren't meeting his expectations as far as toughness, effort, and competetiveness then sit them on the bench. He doesn't owe them anything. I'll take a loss if we at least fight and compete. I just hate when we look and play scared. I loved the technical Devin got. He displayed a screw you attitude that we need more of.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

Disgraceful disgusting and disappointing.

It’s really hard to watch but so expected. No Ronny and we look like we forget how to play basketball.

Pretty sure we’ve seen this type of game over and over again when we watch mason play vcu.

When I saw Polite wasn't playing, the first thing I thought of was our experience at the Paradise Jam in the Bahamas, and I threw my head back and cried out, "NO!!!!!"

It's pretty clear we can't win without him. Last year I would never of imagined, "As Polite goes, so goes Mason basketball." But it's true.