Game 28: Dayton (14-0) on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at 7:00 PM.

[GMUgemini]

My argument to that is AJ will without question play 32+ minutes a game next year, and share the primary scoring responsibility with Greene. What decent P5 program can guarantee that? Let's not act like the A10 is the MEAC or something. If you can play at the pro level, they will find you.

Plenty of NBA scouts at the game last night got a good look at him.

 

[mkaufman1]

I is glad I only lost 300...good effort from Mason.

Independent of your opinion of Paulsen/how talented they are/the general apathy it's hard not to root for these kids. Like their moxie.

That is what has made this season so difficult, I’m frustrated AF with how this season has gone in conference play amongst other things, but at the same rate when the kids play like they did last night, thats a program I can fully get behind and support. A program that I can be proud of on the court against the nations best is what I will always enjoy watching.

The kids looked ready to play, I liked the defensive wrinkles Paulsen threw down the stretch and offensively things adjusted in the second half to make things a bit more smooth.

Just wish they played like that most of the time. If they did, the wins would come naturally.

 

[Masonfan3]

My argument to that is AJ will without question play 32+ minutes a game next year, and share the primary scoring responsibility with Greene. What decent P5 program can guarantee that? Let's not act like the A10 is the MEAC or something. If you can play at the pro level, they will find you.

You are correct, and I hope that will keep him around. However, kids want to play in front of large crowds/national tv and want to play in the big dance. Mason cannot offer that right now. I mean, we had a top 5 team come to Fairfax and we couldn't even put 5,000 people in the stands. I hear a lot of people talk about how that atmosphere was good last night, but that's because the bar has been set so low. I believe that AJ could/would get significant minutes on a lot of programs right now. He may not get 32 minutes a game, but 20-25 minutes a game in front of passionate fans and a chance to play in March, most kids would take that risk. Just look down the road with Justin Pierce who gave up significant minutes to leave W&M for the chance to play at UNC...even though they suck this year

I would love to see AJ back next season but trust me..his phone will be blowing up if it hasn't already

 

[Jack Strop]

I can handle a loss when the team plays well and still gets beat, especially by a far superior team. I can't handle a loss that comes at the heels of bad play and focus against a rotten team. I don't revel in wins that were the result of sloppiness — I simply accept the result as a win. I go to every home game to support the team that I WANT to win — Mason. If they don't win then I'll return to try again.

 

[By George.]

The end of this video shows why people get frustrated with Oduro, but I’d caution you to be a little more patient on his foot work.

https://twitter.com/davidpjablonski/status/1232478936015106048?s=21

 

[psyclone]

The end of this video shows why people get frustrated with Oduro, but I’d caution you to be a little more patient on his foot work.

https://twitter.com/davidpjablonski/status/1232478936015106048?s=21

I think that was the play that Dr. Giannini said that Josh needs to cover the shooter but was afraid to leave Toppin, his defensive assignment. Freshman mistake. But overall, a rather good performance by Josh --Goff's Wash Post article reaffirms this assessment.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I think that was the play that Dr. Giannini said that Josh needs to cover the shooter but was afraid to leave Toppin, his defensive assignment. Freshman mistake. But overall, a rather good performance by Josh --Goff's Wash Post article reaffirms this assessment.

Do you have a link to the Post article?

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

The more I think about it, the more I am frustrated by last night. We just grinded out a top 5 team in the country with a legit NBA lottery pick and almost hung an L on them. Why? Because we defended our asses off. We shot like crap (not out of the norm), but still could have pulled the game because we were so locked in defensively. Where the hell has this defensive mentality been all year? I can remember multiple games with layup lines occurring against us. If we played with that defensive intensity all year, there is no way wouldn't be battling for a double bye right now even with our clogged toilet offense.

 

[Bricker]

The more I think about it, the more I am frustrated by last night. We just grinded out a top 5 team in the country with a legit NBA lottery pick and almost hung an L on them. Why? Because we defended our asses off. We shot like crap (not out of the norm), but still could have pulled the game because we were so locked in defensively. Where the hell has this defensive mentality been all year? I can remember multiple games with layup lines occurring against us. If we played with that defensive intensity all year, there is no way wouldn't be battling for a double bye right now even with our clogged toilet offense.

Yeah, I feel this. The feeling on inconsistent effort is frustrating as hell.

 

[Patriotsince81]

The more I think about it, the more I am frustrated by last night. We just grinded out a top 5 team in the country with a legit NBA lottery pick and almost hung an L on them. Why? Because we defended our asses off. We shot like crap (not out of the norm), but still could have pulled the game because we were so locked in defensively. Where the hell has this defensive mentality been all year? I can remember multiple games with layup lines occurring against us. If we played with that defensive intensity all year, there is no way wouldn't be battling for a double bye right now even with our clogged toilet offense.

In the post game presser Jamal owned just that. Too late to the party for this year? Maybe. I hope that is our identity from day 1 next year. Nice to see Jordan back with a double double. His rebounding has not been what it was last year.

 

[psyclone]

Do you have a link to the Post article?

I put it up last night--it's on p 9 of this thread.

But to make it even easier:

Goff's article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...-no-4-dayton-cant-seal-deal-takes-62-55-loss/

 

[psyclone]

Also, I'm considering renaming it the Hibbert/Wilson Rule, because by the same logic you don't give up on ultra athletic guys.

I had given up on Wilson, but ignored my own logic. He improved enough of his basketball skills to suddenly bring his extreme athleticism to bear and went from entirely ineffective to wildly effective seemingly overnight.

he did not improve overnight, of course, I was just not privy to seeing his basketball skills slowly improve through hard work until he reached that critical mass.

I will take a lesson from his career.

Someone asked DP in the post game about AJ's improvement over previous years and his response was something like---he was always capable of the spectacular but now he is able to be more consistent in doing the simpler things more routinely.

Another note from watching the game on the DVR after coming home from EBA: again from Giannini talking about AJ being the most improved player in the A10 this year after Kier was named most improved last year. "Player development"-- (paraphrasing here)-- one of the things that speaks to evaluating the coach.

 

[psyclone]

The crowd: this is the most engaged crowd I’ve seen since when we beat vcu at home in Paulsens first year. I just wish more mason fans were there because it honestly felt close to 50/50. I sit in a predominately season ticket section and outside of the 4 in my row I was completely surrounded by Dayton fans. Part of that is Dayton travels well especially as a top 5 team, part is there just aren’t a ton of mason fans left.

Yeah...I was at Brion's before the game and the Dayton fans packed the place. Even a few "let's go flyers" chants. Not terribly surprised...with the year Dayton is having, who with UD connections that lived in the area, would miss an opportunity to cheer them on in person?

And when I got to my season ticket seats in the section behind the visitor's bench, there seemed to be more Red than Green. In observing my own behavior, I think I was more vocal than usual, perhaps driven by the Dayton fans cheering for their team, perhaps because we were hanging in there against one of the best teams in the nation.

My theory is that the Dayton fans brought energy to the game and that was contagious, enough so even "old" fans like me made more noise in support of the team than usual. Made for a very "electric" crowd that seemed much bigger than the 4700 attendance.

 

[Mason32]

Yeah...I was at Brion's before the game and the Dayton fans packed the place. Even a few "let's go flyers" chants. Not terribly surprised...with the year Dayton is having, who with UD connections that lived in the area, would miss an opportunity to cheer them on in person?

This was true even when Mason played them while in the CAA during the Coach L years. Strong fan base, has been for years

 

[patriot2000]

AJ being the most improved player in the A10 this year after Kier was named most improved last year. "Player development"-- (paraphrasing here)-- one of the things that speaks to evaluating the coach.

This is the big head scratcher for me. I've probably been too hard on DP this year, especially after being (mostly) a supporter, but his player development is another huge concern of mine.

You get several MIPs in a few year span, and then so many more stinkers than you would expect from any halfway decent program.

Every coach swings and misses. Everyone recruits a kid that they thought they could squeeze into the system and then they can't. Every team has kids you thought had the BBIQ or the work ethic, and you were wrong. But SO MUCH REGRESSION on one team. And so much stagnation, all mixed with 3 of the league's best success stories of the past several years. I'm including Moore in this because his development into the monster he turned out to be belongs to DP, not the guy who recruited him.

Player development seems inconsistent. We've complained our team doesn't seem to have an identity. Maybe inconsistency is, sadly, our identity

 

[jessej]

The crowd: this is the most engaged crowd I’ve seen since when we beat vcu at home in Paulsens first year. I just wish more mason fans were there because it honestly felt close to 50/50. I sit in a predominately season ticket section and outside of the 4 in my row I was completely surrounded by Dayton fans. Part of that is Dayton travels well especially as a top 5 team, part is there just aren’t a ton of mason fans left.

i sit in Sec 115 - i counted the dayton vs GMU fans sitting in row E or lower - GMU by 1

 

[jessej]

This was true even when Mason played them while in the CAA during the Coach L years. Strong fan base, has been for years

not much else in Dayton - they even pack the First Four NCAA Tournament Games

 

[GMUgemini]

not much else in Dayton - they even pack the First Four NCAA Tournament Games

They’ve got the funk hall of fame there now don’t they?

 

[jessej]

You are correct, and I hope that will keep him around. However, kids want to play in front of large crowds/national tv and want to play in the big dance. Mason cannot offer that right now. I mean, we had a top 5 team come to Fairfax and we couldn't even put 5,000 people in the stands. I hear a lot of people talk about how that atmosphere was good last night, but that's because the bar has been set so low. I believe that AJ could/would get significant minutes on a lot of programs right now. He may not get 32 minutes a game, but 20-25 minutes a game in front of passionate fans and a chance to play in March, most kids would take that risk. Just look down the road with Justin Pierce who gave up significant minutes to leave W&M for the chance to play at UNC...even though they suck this year

I would love to see AJ back next season but trust me..his phone will be blowing up if it hasn't already

attendance - 4703
don't know if that is paid or butts in seats
part of the lower bowl was empty
i assume some season ticket holders didnt try to sell their seats and left them empty
02/25/2020 Dayton L 55-62 4703

 

[jessej]

They’ve got the funk hall of fame there now don’t they?

i need to go back to the First four
and catch this on the afternoon
https://www.thefunkcenter.org/