Game 29: University of Massachusetts, Saturday, February 24th, 6 PM, MASN

[Washingtonian]

Post game extra: http://www.atlantic10.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?mid=80313&db_oem_id=31600

 

[Washingtonian]

Mason has always been a commuter school, but I heard many of the dining facilities Are closing on the weekends now. Students just aren't sticking around campus now.

Southside is open, there is a 24 hour Starbucks, the JC has food options, so I don't think that is it. There were a lot of cars in Lot A yesterday well before the game (I went to the women's game) that were not near the arena. The Southside dining hours are here: https://dining.gmu.edu/dining-choices/resident-dining/southsideblackstone/

Your point is valid about being a commuter school, but even the weeknight attendance has been bad. Maybe more on campus students attend night classes than I thought.

 

[Falco]

Southside is open, there is a 24 hour Starbucks, the JC has food options, so I don't think that is it. There were a lot of cars in Lot A yesterday well before the game (I went to the women's game) that were not near the arena. The Southside dining hours are here: https://dining.gmu.edu/dining-choices/resident-dining/southsideblackstone/

Your point is valid about being a commuter school, but even the weeknight attendance has been bad. Maybe more on campus students attend night classes than I thought.

My bad, I checked the dinning site and saw South Side closes at 2. But it closes at 2am not 2pm.

That's actually pretty cool.

 

[mkaufman1]

This team reminds me so much of 09-10, when we had Luke as a freshman, Pearson-Morrison-Cornelius as sophomores and Long as a junior.

That young team was up and down all season. They had some great wins but also some befuddling losses, including blowing a 28-point lead to Fairfield in the CIT.

The next season that same team had the nation’s longest winning streak, earned a spot in the top 25, won the CAA regular-season title and earned an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament, where they beat Villanova in the round of 64.

All it takes is a little more experience, leadership and consistency to turn a lot of these close games into comfortable wins. We’re going to have all that and add a quality big man next season. Hopefully we can get Otis and Jaire to the dance because they deserve it.

I agree completely, and hope that these guys have as much ability as that team did. Don't forget Cam Long got suspended for the Fairfield debacle in the midst of all of it. We'll have to see if this team gels like they did. Having senior guards and experience up front usually bodes well.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Southside is open, there is a 24 hour Starbucks, the JC has food options, so I don't think that is it. There were a lot of cars in Lot A yesterday well before the game (I went to the women's game) that were not near the arena. The Southside dining hours are here: https://dining.gmu.edu/dining-choices/resident-dining/southsideblackstone/

Your point is valid about being a commuter school, but even the weeknight attendance has been bad. Maybe more on campus students attend night classes than I thought.

Pretty much everyone I knew at Mason took at least one night class. We also all had internships or jobs more semesters than not.

I also think interest in sports in general society is way down. You hear about the decrease in ratings in the NFL. Kids these days have so many different options for entertainment: Netflix, video games, iPhones , etc. The lead in the school play is pretty much just as popular as the starting quarterback these days (think 21 jump street). Most students would rather go to a party and get hammered if they have free time than go to a game. Not to mention the atmosphere still caters more to little kids or aging alumni than students.

 

[smccart5]

Attendance has everything to do with how well the team is performing. We’ve been a sub par program for the better part of a decade now, so a few wins and a team with some promise is not enough to drive attendance up.

In my opinion there’s no excuse not to go. I went to every single game. Back at the dorms I’d ask people what they did instead of going to the game and they said something along the lines of “sat around”. Always frustrated me.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Attendance has everything to do with how well the team is performing. We’ve been a sub par program for the better part of a decade now, so a few wins and a team with some promise is not enough to drive attendance up.

In my opinion there’s no excuse not to go. I went to every single game. Back at the dorms I’d ask people what they did instead of going to the game and they said something along the lines of “sat around”. Always frustrated me.

Maybe you’re right, but I tend to think our regression as a program has just happened to coincide with the decrease in sports interest in society. We won’t know until we are competing for conference titles consistently again I guess. Even when we return to prominence, I don’t think we will be removing the advertising banners from over the corner seats anytime soon. Certainly not without some creative initiatives put in place for the student sections.

 

[GMUgemini]

Pretty much everyone I knew at Mason took at least one night class. We also all had internships or jobs more semesters than not.

I also think interest in sports in general society is way down. You hear about the decrease in ratings in the NFL. Kids these days have so many different options for entertainment: Netflix, video games, iPhones , etc. The lead in the school play is pretty much just as popular as the starting quarterback these days (think 21 jump street). Most students would rather go to a party and get hammered if they have free time than go to a game. Not to mention the atmosphere still caters more to little kids or aging alumni than students.

If you live on campus, there really is no reason why you wouldn't, say, get drunk, go to game, walk to party afterward...I mean, that's what I did. It's not like, a, these games are really late at night, and, b, students don't stay up until 2:00 a.m. already anyway.

 

[gmujim92]

Even if you have zero school pride and don’t like basketball, games are an opportunity to have a few pops and go act like a rowdy idiot in public for a couple hours without getting in trouble.

If you are a college student, what’s not to like?

 

[sleeperpick]

Can't believe people aren't a little ticked at that performance lol. I thought the boards would be a bit more hostile after one of the ugliest second halves I have ever seen. We looked like we were playing against Iva's defense when we were actually playing against two walk ons and 5 weak starters. If Paulsen can please tell them the game doesn't stop once we make a basket they could get back and not allow an automatic layup like they do almost every time late in games.

Are our walk ons as good as there's ? The big man football player was fun to watch. You could tell he hasn't played at this level but he looked pretty darn good. Better than 0 who had to be about 2-8 on shots within 4 feet

 

[mkaufman1]

Even if you have zero school pride and don’t like basketball, games are an opportunity to have a few pops and go act like a rowdy idiot in public for a couple hours without getting in trouble.

If you are a college student, what’s not to like?

You'd be surprised, and if it was hard when I went to school 10+ years ago, I could only imagine what its like now when there are smartphones and netflix and everything else instead.

Winning will fix so much when it comes to people showing up. I do have to say that a lot of people do follow the program on social media, and more than I thought.

 

[FreeGunston12]

If you live on campus, there really is no reason why you wouldn't, say, get drunk, go to game, walk to party afterward...I mean, that's what I did. It's not like, a, these games are really late at night, and, b, students don't stay up until 2:00 a.m. already anyway.

Well there obviously is a reason because students aren’t showing up in large numbers. The reason is the students don’t view the experience as being worth their time. So they either a) don’t have the time or b) don’t have enough fun at the games. Either way, they are spending their time somewhere else.

The games should be a fun, social event for students regardless of standings. Winning consistently will enhance that experience. The base experience, while improved, is still not good enough. Yeah, we’ve added new lights and video screens, but what have we done to address the student social experience?

I’m not saying that I have the solution. The university clearly needs to get creative. Some ideas/goals to target: get Greek life more involved (mostly so that they are not throwing parties during games), promote further segmentation of the student section to increase social interaction (separate by major/class/dorm/etc. on certain promotional nights), really reward the most frequent attenders (season tickets for the first season after graduation?), assign devout members of the platoon a certain part of the student section to lead cheers/facilitate some more unique cheers/chants.

(Sorry- this really belongs in the gameday experience thread.)

 

[PoorManProfit]

Can't believe people aren't a little ticked at that performance lol. I thought the boards would be a bit more hostile after one of the ugliest second halves I have ever seen. We looked like we were playing against Iva's defense when we were actually playing against two walk ons and 5 weak starters. If Paulsen can please tell them the game doesn't stop once we make a basket they could get back and not allow an automatic layup like they do almost every time late in games.

Are our walk ons as good as there's ? The big man football player was fun to watch. You could tell he hasn't played at this level but he looked pretty darn good. Better than 0 who had to be about 2-8 on shots within 4 feet

I agree. That team was awful and minus their best player.

 

[GMUgemini]

Can't believe people aren't a little ticked at that performance lol. I thought the boards would be a bit more hostile after one of the ugliest second halves I have ever seen. We looked like we were playing against Iva's defense when we were actually playing against two walk ons and 5 weak starters. If Paulsen can please tell them the game doesn't stop once we make a basket they could get back and not allow an automatic layup like they do almost every time late in games.

Are our walk ons as good as there's ? The big man football player was fun to watch. You could tell he hasn't played at this level but he looked pretty darn good. Better than 0 who had to be about 2-8 on shots within 4 feet

Not sure why we had such a problem with West.... At least with Miller, he has played in all 29 games for UMass and is averaging 25 mpg, so there's some excuse there.

There weirdest thing to me, though, is that Pierre spent most of the second half sitting on the bench or saddled with 4 fouls and didn't score a single point, and yet we still gave up 44 points to what was essentially a two-man team.

 

[gmujim92]

Like most young teams, when we are going good we go very, very good. But as soon as things start going bad, they go very bad and stay that way.

I’m not a shrink so I have no idea how you break out of such a pattern, but I’m confident the problem is about 95 percent mental.

Hopefully with more experience, there won’t be such vicious mood swings within each game.

 

[GMUgemini]

Like most young teams, when we are going good we go very, very good. But as soon as things start going bad, they go very bad and stay that way.

I’m not a shrink so I have no idea how you break out of such a pattern, but I’m confident the problem is about 95 percent mental.

Hopefully with more experience, there won’t be such vicious mood swings within each game.

The issue right now is that our defense seems to be energize by our offense and not vice versa. Until the team realizes that defense is the priority, nothing is going to change.

In addition to that, there are some unique limitations to whatever roster we put out there, which are only going to get better by bringing in more bodies, gaining more experience, and working on weaknesses (including at least three players who need to put on some bulk) this offseason.

 

[PoorManProfit]

UMass only turned it over 6 times in a 45:00 game? Where is the f**king defense?

 

[By George.]

Super glad that right as Hurley’s obnoxious a** is on the way out the door I now have to watch McCall clap incessantly at everything instead.

So true, the man never stopped clapping. We sat right behind him, DP must have slipped him some Mountain Dew before the game.

 

[Cedric Dempsey]

Maybe I saw a different scenario. UMass coach wisely decided in 2nd half to attack the rim and get physical because they were awful from perimeter in 1st and it worked. He simplified the defense because they couldn’t defend you in man. Packed it in completely and we quit moving the ball. Stood and stared at it. Rhythm completely changed and so went momentum. You’re a consistent perimeter player away and if JR is what he appears to be these types of games will disappear. A bad win still counts and I have also become a huge Mar fan.

 

[Washingtonian]

https://www.sbnation.com/college-ba.../george-mason-basketball-buzzer-beater-videos