Game 5: GMU (2-2) at East Carolina (3-0) on Saturday, November 16, at 4:00 PM.

[Mason2006Patriot]

The next Coach's Show will be very interesting.

 

[NewPatriot]

This is the Kanye Clary/Ace Baldwin Penn State situation all over again.

You can't have two alpha dogs splitting time at PG while fighting for the roster identity and soul of the team.

One guard, O'Connor, looks to get teammates involved and facilitates the offense while the other, Johnson, hunts for his shot and offense stagnates..very much like Clary at Penn state

Penn state, at one point, was starting Ace and Clary together. Michigan State blew the doors off Penn state in their first meeting.

During post game presser, a reporter asked Tom Izzo how they drubbed Penn State. Izzo replied "Easy, I told my players to have 5 pairs of eyes on Clary".

It's easy to defend a team with a ball hog because the balls does not move and defense only has to focus on one player.

KD is ball hog..he needs to stay on the pine.

 

[Patriot8]

This is the Kanye Clary/Ace Baldwin Penn State situation all over again.

You can't have two alpha dogs splitting time at PG while fighting for the roster identity and soul of the team.

One guard, O'Connor, looks to get teammates involved and facilitates the offense while the other, Johnson, hunts for his shot and offense stagnates..very much like Clary at Penn state

Penn state, at one point, was starting Ace and Clary together. Michigan State blew the doors off Penn state in their first meeting.

During post game presser, a reporter asked Tom Izzo how they drubbed Penn State. Izzo replied "Easy, I told my players to have 5 pairs of eyes on Clary".

It's easy to defend a team with a ball hog because the balls does not move and defense only has to focus on one player.

KD is ball hog..he needs to stay on the pine.

In the (4) games where KD has gotten significant minutes, he has (1) game with 10 FGA, (1) game with 5 FGA, and (2) games with 1 FGA. If he's hunting his own shot, he's doing a really bad job.

O'Connor is not an alpha. He's also not a point guard. He's a very effective secondary ballhandler who is currently playing out of position. I want him getting more spot up looks from 3 to take the load off of Maddox, and I love him having the opportunity to pick his spots to drive.

The best-case scenario for this team is the staff getting through to KD and harnessing his crazy by conference play. A KD/O'Connor backcourt is by far the best mix of playmaking and defense this roster can produce, and it's up to the coach who recruited KD to make it work.

 

[GMUgemini]

I love Maddox, but he’s more of a shooter than a playmaker. He would be so much better with a true point guard.

I wonder if Okojie is second-guessing his decision to go to Memphis. He had the keys to run the show, but now he’s coming off the bench, averaging 2 points per game.

That’s what I was thinking. I’m tired of seeing shooting guards trying to be used as point guards. We have two natural point guards on the team and they should be taking almost all the minutes there, mistakes, lumps and all.

But the main problem with this roster is if we try to go with our best offensive lineup we are going to sacrifice rebounding since most of it comes from Billups and Newton right now. O’Connor also isn’t as good of a defender as Billups and Quigley and Begg can be easily exploited without help from a better defender.

There aren’t any real answer because Anderson and Johnson haven’t been able to take over the 1 and 4 spots.

Our only hope for salvaging the season are 1 Austin Ball really has been sick and can come back and bring much needed shooting and the savvy he began to show last season and 2 Quigley or Begg can adjust and take the majority of the minutes at point guard. Otherwise this is going to be a get through and reset kind of season.

 

[gmutom]

One guard, O'Connor, looks to get teammates involved and facilitates the offense while the other, Johnson, hunts for his shot and offense stagnates..very much like Clary at Penn state

I agree with some of the stuff you are saying, but O'Connor is not a facilitator as evidenced by his 3 assists in 37 minutes yesterday and how stagnant our offense was when he ran the point at the end of regulation and both OTs. Mr. Headcase, meanwhile, had one beautiful drive-and-dish assist in the four minutes he played before getting yanked for committing two turnovers (which O'Connor, Begg and Haynes also committed early on).

I'm not here to defend KD's childish behavior once he got prematurely pulled or argue which of the two should play over the other, because I think they should be playing together. Some of KD's turnovers and circus shots are infuriating — Andre Cornelius is a good comp for those who remember him — but I also think he gives our offense the best chance to push the ball while giving O'Connor the opportunity to thrive off the ball.

 

[Patriotsince81]

We are currently 303rd in turnovers, 320th in turnover margin, and 301st is assist to turnover ratio. Ball security was an issue last season as well. Johnson and Haynes are our two biggest offenders. Both have 15 turnovers in 92 and 91 minutes respectively. O'Connor, while far from the prototypical point guard, has 10 turnovers in 130 minutes. Begg has 7 in 61 minutes which is better than KD.

 

[GMU1983]

Mike Schwartz, RJ Felton break down ECU's 2OT victory over George Mason - 247Sports

ECU coach Mike Schwartz and guard RJ Felton break down the team's hard-fought 78-77 victory over George Mason in double overtime.

247sports.com

 

[gmujim92]

That’s what I was thinking. I’m tired of seeing shooting guards trying to be used as point guards. We have two natural point guards on the team and they should be taking almost all the minutes there, mistakes, lumps and all.

But the main problem with this roster is if we try to go with our best offensive lineup we are going to sacrifice rebounding since most of it comes from Billups and Newton right now. O’Connor also isn’t as good of a defender as Billups and Quigley and Begg can be easily exploited without help from a better defender.

There aren’t any real answer because Anderson and Johnson haven’t been able to take over the 1 and 4 spots.

Our only hope for salvaging the season are 1 Austin Ball really has been sick and can come back and bring much needed shooting and the savvy he began to show last season and 2 Quigley or Begg can adjust and take the majority of the minutes at point guard. Otherwise this is going to be a get through and reset kind of season.

@Petey Buckets made this point on Twitter before the first game and it has certainly been borne out. Not surprised — he’s a smart guy.

Our best offensive and defensive lineups largely involve different players and changing from one to the other involves sacrificing a lot at one end.

Not sure how you fix that because there are only five spots on the floor at one time.

 

[EXpatriot13]

I think a lot of this falls squarely at the feet of Tony and the staff, they built this team and are either already back tracking on certain guys or can’t figure out how to manage them.

Has Anderson really been given an opportunity to find consistency? He’ll play a couple 2-3 minute stretches and then ride the bench for 15 minutes. I still can’t believe he wasn’t on the floor in either end of game situation.

Newton is a fine defensive/rebounding role player, but in no world should he be 3rd on the team in FGA and 2nd in 3PA, he’s shooting 27% from the field. We are over-using and giving way too many opportunities to a limited player.

KD scored 1,000 points over 4 years in the SEC and played on 3 tournament teams and was always the player we’ve seen this season. He was never going to change who he is for Tony Skinn and George Mason, laughable to think otherwise. You brought him in knowing this, so deal with it and do your job as a staff to define his role and put him in the best position to succeed and help the team on the court (not PG).

 

[hoopsjunkie75]

Did I miss a post-game presser or was there not one since the game was away?

 

[FreeGunston12]

I think a lot of this falls squarely at the feet of Tony and the staff, they built this team and are either already back tracking on certain guys or can’t figure out how to manage them.

Has Anderson really been given an opportunity to find consistency? He’ll play a couple 2-3 minute stretches and then ride the bench for 15 minutes. I still can’t believe he wasn’t on the floor in either end of game situation.

Newton is a fine defensive/rebounding role player, but in no world should he be 3rd on the team in FGA and 2nd in 3PA, he’s shooting 27% from the field. We are over-using and giving way too many opportunities to a limited player.

KD scored 1,000 points over 4 years in the SEC and played on 3 tournament teams and was always the player we’ve seen this season. He was never going to change who he is for Tony Skinn and George Mason, laughable to think otherwise. You brought him in knowing this, so deal with it and do your job as a staff to define his role and put him in the best position to succeed and help the team on the court (not PG).

Agree. In my opinion, the highest ceiling lineup includes Anderson and Johnson. It’s time to commit to those guys as starters (as well as Emejuru right now). It pains me to say that a bit, but we can only go so far with our current rotation.

 

[psyclone]

In the (4) games where KD has gotten significant minutes, he has (1) game with 10 FGA, (1) game with 5 FGA, and (2) games with 1 FGA. If he's hunting his own shot, he's doing a really bad job.

O'Connor is not an alpha. He's also not a point guard. He's a very effective secondary ballhandler who is currently playing out of position. I want him getting more spot up looks from 3 to take the load off of Maddox, and I love him having the opportunity to pick his spots to drive.

The best-case scenario for this team is the staff getting through to KD and harnessing his crazy by conference play. A KD/O'Connor backcourt is by far the best mix of playmaking and defense this roster can produce, and it's up to the coach who recruited KD to make it work.

Also, kd's assist rate is best on the team and 80th in Div 1, according to Kenpom. Alas, he also has a very high turnover rate. My sense is if he could cut down on the turnovers, he'd get more playing time.

 

[gmujim92]

JQ’s assist-to-turnover ratio (admittedly in limited minutes) is 7:2, by far the best on the team. The only other player significantly better than 1:1 is Billups at 12:6.

KD is 16:15. He’s not a point guard and no amount of wishing, hoping and praying will change the fact that the best one on the roster is Quigley.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

Can’t say the Auburn fans didn’t warn us….

 

[GMUgemini]

JQ’s assist-to-turnover ratio (admittedly in limited minutes) is 7:2, by far the best on the team. The only other player significantly better than 1:1 is Billups at 12:6.

KD is 16:15. He’s not a point guard and no amount of wishing, hoping and praying will change the fact that the best one on the roster is Quigley.

If we are going to make a change in the starting lineup and rotation, the next two games are a chance to do it. I’m hoping to not see the same starting 5 trotted out against Coppin St.

 

[mkaufman1]

If we are going to make a change in the starting lineup and rotation, the next two games are a chance to do it. I’m hoping to not see the same starting 5 trotted out against Coppin St.

I completely agree with you but I don't see it happening. We all wanted Baraka to start last year and he didn't start until February if I recall.

Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Verdad]

If we are going to make a change in the starting lineup and rotation, the next two games are a chance to do it. I’m hoping to not see the same starting 5 trotted out against Coppin St.

Same, but I'm guessing we are both going to be disappointed.

 

[gmutom]

Same, but I'm guessing we are both going to be disappointed.

Make that three of us. I'd even be on board with Jim's suggestion to start Quigley at PG just to see some sign that Tony is open to changing things up. To quote coaching legend Albert "Touching Rim" Einstein, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

 

[psyclone]

Make that three of us. I'd even be on board with Jim's suggestion to start Quigley at PG just to see some sign that Tony is open to changing things up. To quote coaching legend Albert "Touching Rim" Einstein, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

I'm not disagreeing with the general idea of it being a time to change the starting lineup, but one thing the announcers noted during the ECU game was that it was our 4th game in 8 days, with 2 of them on the road. They indicated that Tony was complaining that they hadn't much time to practice.

Hence, it has limited the opportunities to try different lineups and/or get the same lineup to get better at learning new roles. Not making excuses, but it does seem to explain some of the continued issues that we've been seeing in the last few games.

 

[TweederGMU]

I think a lot of this falls squarely at the feet of Tony and the staff, they built this team and are either already back tracking on certain guys or can’t figure out how to manage them.

Has Anderson really been given an opportunity to find consistency? He’ll play a couple 2-3 minute stretches and then ride the bench for 15 minutes. I still can’t believe he wasn’t on the floor in either end of game situation.

Newton is a fine defensive/rebounding role player, but in no world should he be 3rd on the team in FGA and 2nd in 3PA, he’s shooting 27% from the field. We are over-using and giving way too many opportunities to a limited player.

KD scored 1,000 points over 4 years in the SEC and played on 3 tournament teams and was always the player we’ve seen this season. He was never going to change who he is for Tony Skinn and George Mason, laughable to think otherwise. You brought him in knowing this, so deal with it and do your job as a staff to define his role and put him in the best position to succeed and help the team on the court (not PG).

Yea, exactly. Think Tony and staff were thinking they'd bring in couple more shooters and playmakers (Anderson and KD) to assist Maddox, Ball and Woody (I think they thought Woody would be more consistent shooting with a year under his belt in this system) and try and outshoot teams and develop more of an offensive shooting identity around the Guards. I believe the coaches thought they were getting more of these qualities and attributes just from looking at tape, talking to past coaches, etc. before being able to get them in to their system.

After 5 games it's looking like this is just not working out with A. These players skills or having above average all-around Guard skills and B. Not being placed in the right system/position to properly use their skills. As of now....these Guard pieces are vastly underperforming as originally we all thought we would be getting based off past performances and their resumes.

Besides some of the Guards being young, the pieces we brought in are performing under expectations. Pair that with an Average, to Below Average, Front-court and we are where we are at performance and record wise. Can't have your big men turning the ball over, missing FT's consistently and flopping all over the court.

It is the Coaches jobs to figure this out and get them playing together.... maybe this will develop after more games or just maybe this year isn't meant to be with these types of players that were brought in. Hoping it's not the latter but time will tell.

But the head scratchers are... you brought in KD and Anderson to do exactly this....pair them along with the returners and have them score...so might as well give them 30 mins a game to see what we can do at this point.