Game 4: GMU (2-1) at Paradise Jam vs Boston College (2-1) on Friday, November 18, at 8:00 PM.

[sleeperpick]

Next year we are going to be youuuuuunnngg. Unless he gets more transfers that is. But adding more transfers isn’t necessarily going to make the team more cohesive, just more experienced.

Year 4 is make or break for English. This season’s OOC was never going to get us at-large worthy. It was always about finishing high enough and giving themselves a chance in the tournament. There’s still a chance for that, but some things have to drastically get better in the next few weeks for that to be possible.

you flip flop more than my wife about this OOC schedule. In May it was CKE needs to schedule more P5 games for a good OOC,in August it was "this schedule is just as good if not better than most of the A-10 especially vcu)" and now it is back to thinking the OOC is not good. What do you actually think about the OOC schedule now that we play Belmont (who is REALLY BAD) and probably Buffalo (also really bad) left?

 

[mkaufman1]

Hey folks, step away from the ledge- it was only one game. It‘s a long season and there will be good days and bad days.

Let’s get through the rest of the tournament before showing CKE the door. It’s just the beginning of his second year. Building this program into a NCAA tournament participant is going to take time.

Normally I would say "yeah you are right, we are all overreacting over one game". You are seeing many of our "calmer" posters be very pissed off (yours truly included) and it takes a lot for us to get riled.

Based off how CKE has built the roster for THIS year, there is an expectation across the fanbase for the program to be an NCAA contender THIS year. We have many pieces, depth, and experience. The one question mark was point guard, and while the first few games were good, last night was mostly awful. The inconsistency at that position is just one of the many things that can hold this program back. Maybe it stabilzes but I'm skeptical at this juncture.

When we see Mason get run out of the gym against an Auburn team on opening night, many of us said "yikes" but didn't decide to panic. Auburn is really good and that's a tough opening night task. Fine.

Boston College however, on a NEUTRAL court, when they just lost to MAINE (Kenpom 329 which is lower than American who Mason crushed at home), should not have been a tall order. If Mason loses by a few but showed up, yeah thats disappointing. But the fact that Mason was down 26 at the half, looked disinterested, disengaged, and confused at playing the game of basketball is what many of us here and across the fanbase are so angry about. That is what I am angry about. Too many games like last night are what get coaches fired. The team wasn't prepared and that is inexcusable.

CKE wasn't brought in for a long rebuild and a long process. He was brought into to recruit legit talent on top of what was left (which he has) and take Mason higher in the A10 than they have in 10 years including back to the NCAAs. This is the team to do that with. If he can't do it with the amount of talent on this team, I'm not sure he will be able to do it at all. He sped up the expectations with the ability to recruit, but if you can't coach and win, eventually that ability will start to dwindle too.

Nobody is chasing CKE out the door (I'm not), but have too many games last night and unfortunately he will chase himself out.

 

[GMUSSTN]

Last season ended on a downward trajectory and I mostly chalked it up to us being gassed from not having enough guys on the roster who could compete. They added depth we appear to be on the same trajectory as last year.

The FT% is just mind boggling to me. That's literally just being in the gym and getting shots up and being focused and game-ready. Same with rebounding...we added size and are somehow worse. That's hustle, that's commitment, and I'm not seeing it. Entirely a CKE problem.

I like CKE and I think it's awesome to have a young, energetic coach in charge of the program. I am really, seriously rooting for him to figure this out. I don't think I've said anything here or in my other posts that isn't obvious to him as a professional who understands this game more than I ever could.

 

[gmujim92]

Normally I would say "yeah you are right, we are all overreacting over one game". You are seeing many of our "calmer" posters be very pissed off (yours truly included) and it takes a lot for us to get riled.

Based off how CKE has built the roster for THIS year, there is an expectation across the fanbase for the program to be an NCAA contender THIS year. We have many pieces, depth, and experience. The one question mark was point guard, and while the first few games were good, last night was mostly awful. The inconsistency at that position is just one of the many things that can hold this program back. Maybe it stabilzes but I'm skeptical at this juncture.

When we see Mason get run out of the gym against an Auburn team on opening night, many of us said "yikes" but didn't decide to panic. Auburn is really good and that's a tough opening night task. Fine.

Boston College however, on a NEUTRAL court, when they just lost to MAINE (Kenpom 329 which is lower than American who Mason crushed at home), should not have been a tall order. If Mason loses by a few but showed up, yeah thats disappointing. But the fact that Mason was down 26 at the half, looked disinterested, disengaged, and confused at playing the game of basketball is what many of us here and across the fanbase are so angry about. That is what I am angry about. Too many games like last night are what get coaches fired. The team wasn't prepared and that is inexcusable.

CKE wasn't brought in for a long rebuild and a long process. He was brought into to recruit legit talent on top of what was left (which he has) and take Mason higher in the A10 than they have in 10 years including back to the NCAAs. This is the team to do that with. If he can't do it with the amount of talent on this team, I'm not sure he will be able to do it at all. He sped up the expectations with the ability to recruit, but if you can't coach and win, eventually that ability will start to dwindle too.

Nobody is chasing CKE out the door (I'm not), but have too many games last night and unfortunately he will chase himself out.

Agree with every word of this post. We all want Kim to succeed and nobody is rushing to push him out the door, but if you’re not concerned with what you’re seeing from a team that was put together to win now, you’re in deep, deep denial.

Also if we’re not in win-now mode, play the young guys and live with their mistakes. If we’re gonna get humiliated by every decent (or worse) team we play, at least accelerate their development curve.

 

[GMUgemini]

you flip flop more than my wife about this OOC schedule. In May it was CKE needs to schedule more P5 games for a good OOC,in August it was "this schedule is just as good if not better than most of the A-10 especially vcu)" and now it is back to thinking the OOC is not good. What do you actually think about the OOC schedule now that we play Belmont (who is REALLY BAD) and probably Buffalo (also really bad) left?

I never said it was as good as the other A10 teams. Might have been Jim or someone else (someone did some analysis and then there was some counter analysis from someone else)? I think it’s not an at-large worthy resume building OOC same as I did in the summer.

Edit: want to circle back to this because this is what I remember saying over the summer: 1) a lot of other A10 teams also have underwhelming home OOC opponents, 2) the difference between our schedule and a, say, vcu largely comes down to the quality of the MTE and I also advocated for scheduling more quality mid-majors as home-and-homes and 3) out OOC isn’t necessarily make or break because if we were good enough there were plenty of potential Q1 opportunities during conference play (this might not pan out, but was at least a good educated guess).

You and I agreed: we need a better MTE, schedule one more P5 away team (if possible), and probably 2 stronger mid-majors going forward.

English has hinted that he’s trying to get Tennessee and Miami (honor Barnes and Larranaga) to come to EBA, but we can’t be a potential “bad loss.” So unfortunately until we are a top 75/100 team consistently I don’t think our OOC is going to get much better unless they’re willing to just take more buy games from P5s.

 

[Junkees9]

On one positive note, I have been very happy with the play of Ojiako, even last night. He was the lone bit of sunshine in an otherwise sea of darkness.

 

[patriotchild]

Another alarming stat, Ticket, who is by far our best FT shooter has taken a total of 4 FT so far this year, which means two things. The first is he’s just not being aggressive enough when he gets the ball in the half court (of his 22 shot attempts so far, 16 are from 3), and two we aren’t getting him the ball in positions where he might get fouled and go to the line (if the opponent is on 7+ fouls we should be getting him the ball a lot more often and telling him to attack).

this is a great nugget. I haven't been a fan of VBJ, Cooper and Ticket being on the floor at the same time, let a lone starting every game. They all do basically the same thing, stand at the 3pt line. VBJ is really the only one who showed a desire or competency to attack the rim.

With no one attacking the rim or having another inside presence, that leaves josh on an island and its easy to game plan for him. our scheme and lack of consistent PG play, hasn't made it easy for him to get the ball. Josh also hasn't done himself any favors getting into good position.

The trio of VBJ, Ticket, and Coop needs to get broken up.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Hey folks, step away from the ledge- it was only one game. It‘s a long season and there will be good days and bad days.

Let’s get through the rest of the tournament before showing CKE the door. It’s just the beginning of his second year. Building this program into a NCAA tournament participant is going to take time.

Patience is a virtue. Give it to me now damnit! I am trying, and it's not easy, to give KE the benefit of the doubt because he says the right things. All I can do is hope that he's a late bloomer. After all, Coach K was 38-47 in his first 3 years at Duke. I really need a blowout win tonight.

 

[patriotchild]

On one positive note, I have been very happy with the play of Ojiako, even last night. He was the lone bit of sunshine in an otherwise sea of darkness.

but then he barely played in the second half. found that odd. i'm assuming it was because of the scored, but he was more effective than josh last night.

 

[GSII]

Ya know how Vegas always knows. Well they got it wrong as hell last night. Probably tonight too.

 

[GMU79]

Normally I would say "yeah you are right, we are all overreacting over one game". You are seeing many of our "calmer" posters be very pissed off (yours truly included) and it takes a lot for us to get riled.

Based off how CKE has built the roster for THIS year, there is an expectation across the fanbase for the program to be an NCAA contender THIS year. We have many pieces, depth, and experience. The one question mark was point guard, and while the first few games were good, last night was mostly awful. The inconsistency at that position is just one of the many things that can hold this program back. Maybe it stabilzes but I'm skeptical at this juncture.

When we see Mason get run out of the gym against an Auburn team on opening night, many of us said "yikes" but didn't decide to panic. Auburn is really good and that's a tough opening night task. Fine.

Boston College however, on a NEUTRAL court, when they just lost to MAINE (Kenpom 329 which is lower than American who Mason crushed at home), should not have been a tall order. If Mason loses by a few but showed up, yeah thats disappointing. But the fact that Mason was down 26 at the half, looked disinterested, disengaged, and confused at playing the game of basketball is what many of us here and across the fanbase are so angry about. That is what I am angry about. Too many games like last night are what get coaches fired. The team wasn't prepared and that is inexcusable.

CKE wasn't brought in for a long rebuild and a long process. He was brought into to recruit legit talent on top of what was left (which he has) and take Mason higher in the A10 than they have in 10 years including back to the NCAAs. This is the team to do that with. If he can't do it with the amount of talent on this team, I'm not sure he will be able to do it at all. He sped up the expectations with the ability to recruit, but if you can't coach and win, eventually that ability will start to dwindle too.

Nobody is chasing CKE out the door (I'm not), but have too many games last night and unfortunately he will chase himself out.

Very well said. And as somebody posted, I'm beginning to wonder if the talent KE brought in is as good as we all thought.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Very well said. And as somebody posted, I'm beginning to wonder if the talent KE brought in is as good as we all thought.

I'm beginning to question whether he can really judge talent or if he's settling for guys and saying the right things because he can't land who he knows we really need. In the next year or two, when his Colorado and Tennessee connections dry up, will he be able to bring anyone to GMU given our record?

 

[gmulion]

I'm more concerned that he can't develop talent. What returning player has shown improvement so far? Also, a top 75 recruit gets to campus early and the coaching staff can't get him ready to play...

 

[GSII]

What are we doing on offense? Bring ball up, use screen or pass. If a pass, we jack it. If use screen we can't drive it well. I say CKE go watch how Coach L beat UCONN, and do that every f**king game. Enough of this players get first 7 seconds bs. And where is the " shared cognition" he has referred to in the past. Look, Kim is not an idiot. He has to see the issues. If you gotta bench Cooper, then start there. Or even Bailey.

 

[gmulion]

What are we doing on offense? Bring ball up, use screen or pass. If a pass, we jack it. If use screen we can't drive it well. I say CKE go watch how Coach L beat UCONN, and do that every f**king game. Enough of this players get first 7 seconds bs. And where is the " shared cognition" he has referred to in the past. Look, Kim is not an idiot. He has to see the issues. If you gotta bench Cooper, then start there. Or even Bailey.

Right now the team is playing soft. The screens they set are weak and they look like they are trying to avoid contact when setting the screen. They aren't boxing out properly. They aren't digging in on defense. All of that is lack of effort and toughness and is very frustrating to watch.

 

[mkaufman1]

I'm beginning to question whether he can really judge talent or if he's settling for guys and saying the right things because he can't land who he knows we really need. In the next year or two, when his Colorado and Tennessee connections dry up, will he be able to bring anyone to GMU given our record?

Well outside of those connections he’s already brought in Ojiako and Singleton. Singleton is tbd but did look ok at times last night. Ojiako looks like a nice backup.

That said I do agree. He’s recruiting well for now, but will that eventually dry up if this season goes south. Going into a 3rd year without a winning record will only make recruiting tougher.

 

[Masonfan3]

Next year? No, this was the year we had the best chance to make the dance and losing to BC has made it very tough.

Agree with you. I’m just saying that if we aren’t in the tourney next year I am jumping off the ledge and will be in the “it’s time to find another coach” camp.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Normally I would say "yeah you are right, we are all overreacting over one game". You are seeing many of our "calmer" posters be very pissed off (yours truly included) and it takes a lot for us to get riled.

Based off how CKE has built the roster for THIS year, there is an expectation across the fanbase for the program to be an NCAA contender THIS year. We have many pieces, depth, and experience. The one question mark was point guard, and while the first few games were good, last night was mostly awful. The inconsistency at that position is just one of the many things that can hold this program back. Maybe it stabilzes but I'm skeptical at this juncture.

When we see Mason get run out of the gym against an Auburn team on opening night, many of us said "yikes" but didn't decide to panic. Auburn is really good and that's a tough opening night task. Fine.

Boston College however, on a NEUTRAL court, when they just lost to MAINE (Kenpom 329 which is lower than American who Mason crushed at home), should not have been a tall order. If Mason loses by a few but showed up, yeah thats disappointing. But the fact that Mason was down 26 at the half, looked disinterested, disengaged, and confused at playing the game of basketball is what many of us here and across the fanbase are so angry about. That is what I am angry about. Too many games like last night are what get coaches fired. The team wasn't prepared and that is inexcusable.

CKE wasn't brought in for a long rebuild and a long process. He was brought into to recruit legit talent on top of what was left (which he has) and take Mason higher in the A10 than they have in 10 years including back to the NCAAs. This is the team to do that with. If he can't do it with the amount of talent on this team, I'm not sure he will be able to do it at all. He sped up the expectations with the ability to recruit, but if you can't coach and win, eventually that ability will start to dwindle too.

Nobody is chasing CKE out the door (I'm not), but have too many games last night and unfortunately he will chase himself out.

Exactly. He's the 2nd coach in a two-step rebuild according to Brad Edwards. Paulsen was supposed to stabilize the program and KE is supposed to take it to the next level. That's not looking good right now.

 

[tblack33]

I’m pissed about the game last night and think it probably sunk any aspirations some of us may have had for this squad, but I’m far from being ready to chase off English. This may not age well, but I’m still believing he is the dude right now to turn us around. There’s some things im worried about from this team (effort, fundamentals, defense, roster construction). I’m not sounding the alarm bells quite yet.

 

[GMU79]

I'm beginning to question whether he can really judge talent or if he's settling for guys and saying the right things because he can't land who he knows we really need. In the next year or two, when his Colorado and Tennessee connections dry up, will he be able to bring anyone to GMU given our record?

Yep, no top flight player is going to want to come to a second tier program. KE better start winning VERY soon.