Game 9: GMU (4-4) vs ODU (3-5) on Saturday, December 4, at 7 PM.

[GMU79]

One of the ugliest games I’ve watched in a long, long time.

Buchanan coming in over a handful of scholarship Paulsen guys speaks volumes to me. This roster is not what KE wants and it looks like it’s going to take some time to get his players in here. Good thing is he’s an excellent recruiter and the transfer portal will speed that up.

One thing that we’ve had that last few years that we just don’t have right now is a guy who can create off the dribble - especially without XJ.

They took Oduro completely out of the game. As soon as he touched the ball every ODU player was ready to slide and double him. We couldn’t adjust.

KE’s weakness seems to be in game adjustments. I didn’t see many last night. He’s not Superman, but he will get better and deserves some time to learn/grow as a head coach.

Officials also don’t seem to like a young coach who is vocal and energetic - I can see a more technicals in his future.

I almost wish we didn’t play so well out of the gate. It changed my expectations and now I’m a lot more disappointed when we have outings like last night.

Yeah, I loved the start, but it did probably raise our/my expectations too high.

 

[GMU79]

There was no reason to not be excited. Everyone should have been. It’s the now questioning CKE and saying they would rather have DP coaching in game that is absolutely ridiculous. Being absolutely bipolar about a coach 9 games into his career with a Patriot Lwague group of returnees is “doochy”. Roster deficiencies are super clear and I hope for your love of him that Polite does end up hitting the rim at least once this year and he will automatically be better than what we currently have to watch at that position each game.

And I said 4 good players this season Jollay. Not in general. I think Blake and Henry could develop. Just like Kam Murrell and every big sans Oduro that DP ever recruited it’s pretty clear most of his progeny still on the roster don’t belong in the a10. Maybe not to you.

I was dead wrong about Oduro but have been right about a lot more than wrong over my time arguing with the sunshine’s and rainbows and now apparently bipolar GMU fans

But that's what fans do. We get overly excited about wins, and overly down about losses...especially 5 losses in a row. Yes, we try to be even keeled, but most of us are not as able to do it as you seem to be. Sorry!

 

[gmutom]

I don't think English would dispute that this loss was on him. He simply got out-coached by a guy who has been doing this a very long time. Jeff Jones wanted that game in the 50s or 60s; we wanted it in the 70s or 80s. Jones won that battle with ease.

Like Gunnie said, I don't see a lot of in-game adjustments so far from Kim, especially when it was obvious early on that their strategy was to swarm Oduro every time he touched the ball. The next thing we knew, Josh had five turnovers and we had gone the first 7 minutes of the game without a field goal.

I'd also like to see more plays draw up to get Schwartz, Cooper and Gaines involved earlier and more often. We looked lost offensively last night, which led to turnovers and low-percentage shots. Having Jamal with the ball with five seconds on the shot clock at least four times is not a winning strategy.

I chalk some of yesterday's issues to rust and not having XJ, but I think we will all have to acknowledge that this will be a rollercoaster-type season. Echoing tblack's comment about the A10 this year, the race for a top 4 spot is wide open. Let's bounce back Tuesday against Navy and start to make the run to securing one of those spots.

 

[Patriot Lawdog]

So last night was awful…You shoot as bad as we did and it makes things even worse…I kept saying throughout the game “Push, push.” and guys would just walk it up…Definitely need to play faster even if a few more turnovers happen…When is GS starting the “Fire CKE” thread?

 

[Jack Strop]

First four games, opponents didn't know who we were or what we could do. Last five games the game-plans against us we're spot-on. Mason's difficiencies are now being exploited as badly as one would expect. This trend, sadly, will continue for a while.

Keep in mind... new coach + new system + previous coach's players = incongruence. It's going to be a slow boat to triumph with plenty of heartbreak in between. CKE wasn't given the same opening contingent as vcu's Anthony Grant and later Shaka Smart—each came in on a strong foundation and instantly excelled. That's not going to happen here. Let's all exercise a bit more patience.

 

[Patriotsince81]

What do we want? Patience! When do we want it? Right now dammit!!!

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

There was no reason to not be excited. Everyone should have been. It’s the now questioning CKE and saying they would rather have DP coaching in game that is absolutely ridiculous. Being absolutely bipolar about a coach 9 games into his career with a Patriot Lwague group of returnees is “doochy”. Roster deficiencies are super clear and I hope for your love of him that Polite does end up hitting the rim at least once this year and he will automatically be better than what we currently have to watch at that position each game.

And I said 4 good players this season Jollay. Not in general. I think Blake and Henry could develop. Just like Kam Murrell and every big sans Oduro that DP ever recruited it’s pretty clear most of his progeny still on the roster don’t belong in the a10. Maybe not to you.

I was dead wrong about Oduro but have been right about a lot more than wrong over my time arguing with the sunshine’s and rainbows and now apparently bipolar GMU fans

The situation with Polite has changed remarkably since I've last weighed in on it, last year.

No one doubts his ability, this coaching staff or last. Lots more issues now though. Lots.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

And I said 4 good players this season Jollay.

News flash also....young players can develop as the season progresses as well...see Polite last year.

I do agree with you people were way too high on Frazier after one game, but, same thing, I wouldn't write him or a lot of the guys off yet. Early December now, guys can't be a lot better by March?

The general feelings are correct...obviously we need some gradual roster turnover to get KE's guys in here and obviously one reason he's here is to bring in a higher pedigree of recruit.

 

[FreeGunston12]

But that's what fans do. We get overly excited about wins, and overly down about losses...especially 5 losses in a row. Yes, we try to be even keeled, but most of us are not as able to do it as you seem to be. Sorry!

Yup. Only as bipolar as the season has been. I mean we beat Penn by 21 and looked great doing it. They beat ODU by 8. We lose to ODU by 10 after 10 days to prepare.

I'm all behind KE. 100% ecstatic that he is our coach. But I'll still criticize him. Yes, he is working with a limited roster. But he should've been able to get more out of our guys last night.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I'm all behind KE. 100% ecstatic that he is our coach. But I'll still criticize him. Yes, he is working with a limited roster. But he should've been able to get more out of our guys last night.

Excellent perspective and completely reasonable in my mind.

 

[GMU1983]

I noticed this as well with the students. I have no idea how students can come to a basketball game and barely cheer. No standing no chanting nothing. I do think they liked the light stick thing which was cool with the lights off. But other than the 30 seconds for the dancing and maybe one other time they were sitting like it was a play. I’m pretty sure the fan in 115 who kept screaming how bad the refs were, was louder than all of them.

You are right how hard is it for them to get a crowd leader? 2011 was the last time we had a super crowd. I have said this over and over again...at one point CKE waved his arms to get them fired up!

 

[tblack33]

Yup. Only as bipolar as the season has been. I mean we beat Penn by 21 and looked great doing it. They beat ODU by 8. We lose to ODU by 10 after 10 days to prepare.

I'm all behind KE. 100% ecstatic that he is our coach. But I'll still criticize him. Yes, he is working with a limited roster. But he should've been able to get more out of our guys last night.

I think if you asked him, he’d say he deserves some criticism for last night too. One thing that kinda flies under the radar that I appreciate is the feeling that they are developing a sense of accountability on the team. English took a lot of responsibility for last night in that presser, but he also didn’t hold back and mentioned Oduros 5 straight turnovers to start the game. I think it’s fair to criticize individual game performances while still recognizing we are absolutely still trending in the right direction as a program overall. Big picture matters here, and I hope too many people don’t fall off the bandwagon before we get there in the next couple seasons.

 

[GMUgemini]

You are right how hard is it for them to get a crowd leader? 2011 was the last time we had a super crowd. I have said this over and over again...at one point CKE waved his arms to get them fired up!

Need to have a cohesive unit for there to be a crowd leader in amongst them.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I think if you asked him, he’d say he deserves some criticism for last night too. One thing that kinda flies under the radar that I appreciate is the feeling that they are developing a sense of accountability on the team. English took a lot of responsibility for last night in that presser, but he also didn’t hold back and mentioned Oduros 5 straight turnovers to start the game. I think it’s fair to criticize individual game performances while still recognizing we are absolutely still trending in the right direction as a program overall. Big picture matters here, and I hope too many people don’t fall off the bandwagon before we get there in the next couple seasons.

In the post game presser I really liked KE's comment about wanting to get kids with "innate" toughness into the program. I've said for years that we've been just too damn nice on the court. Agree about the bandwagon comment 100% and fear that the fallout has already begun.

 

[tblack33]

Need to have a cohesive unit for there to be a crowd leader in amongst them.

Need to give them something to be excited about, for non basketball fans, last nights game was incredibly boring. Hard to tell a bunch of kids to get stoked to watch a defensive rebounding battle. Style of play goes a long way into getting the crowd into it and getting energy.

 

[GMUgemini]

I think if you asked him, he’d say he deserves some criticism for last night too. One thing that kinda flies under the radar that I appreciate is the feeling that they are developing a sense of accountability on the team. English took a lot of responsibility for last night in that presser, but he also didn’t hold back and mentioned Oduros 5 straight turnovers to start the game. I think it’s fair to criticize individual game performances while still recognizing we are absolutely still trending in the right direction as a program overall. Big picture matters here, and I hope too many people don’t fall off the bandwagon before we get there in the next couple seasons.

Or allowing Hartwell to get switched onto players. This has been happening since game 1, by the way (I remember yelling at Blake switching and letting Hartwell try to guard a 6'9 guy in the paint while he tried to chase a guard around the perimeter), it's just that some of the teams we played early didn't get those players the ball enough to make us pay.

Oduro has never been good at passing out of the double team. It's something he should be working on every day. But some of that also has to be automatic -- he needs to know exactly where the double came from and where his teammates are going to be so he can pass it out as soon as the double comes. This is what made Will Thomas so deadly. He'd kill you one-on-one, and when the double came he knew exactly where the open man was and would get it to him before the defense could rotate.

 

[Patriotsince81]

The situation with Polite has changed remarkably since I've last weighed in on it, last year.

No one doubts his ability, this coaching staff or last. Lots more issues now though. Lots.

Any insight you can share?

 

[Patriotsince81]

Looking at the stats again from last night. Gaines and Schwartz had off nights (3-14 combined). Many here refer to the "Big 4" and have said that if one or two of them have an off night when we'll struggle. Well, they did and we did. You can't win many games shooting 32.7% overall, 21.4% from 3, and just 52.6% from the charity stripe.

 

[FreeGunston12]

News flash also....young players can develop as the season progresses as well...see Polite last year.

I do agree with you people were way too high on Frazier after one game, but, same thing, I wouldn't write him or a lot of the guys off yet. Early December now, guys can't be a lot better by March?

The general feelings are correct...obviously we need some gradual roster turnover to get KE's guys in here and obviously one reason he's here is to bring in a higher pedigree of recruit.

I'll die on the hill that Frazier should be the first guy off the bench. He's still got three years of eligibility after this one, the athleticism that so many of our players lack, and the flexibility to play multiple positions. I haven't seen anything yet so egregious that he should be buried on the roster, health withstanding.

If he doesn't turn into a solid contributor, that's a failure in player development.

 

[tblack33]

I'll die on the hill that Frazier should be the first guy off the bench. He's still got three years of eligibility after this one, the athleticism that so many of our players lack, and the flexibility to play multiple positions. I haven't seen anything yet so egregious that he should be buried on the roster, health withstanding.

If he doesn't turn into a solid contributor, that's a failure in player development.

I was a bit surprised that we went with the walkon in that situation last night. I’ll disagree that he should be first off the bench, but something’s gotta be going given the substitution bringing in a walkon before him.