Game Thread: Up Next... Richmond (13-4)/(3-1). How Much Do We Lose By?

[hoops10]

I expected Paulsons comments, after all he doesn't believe there is anything to gain by being negative. But as a fan I would say, what, not having Jamal? He is not the answer, after all his 3 point shooting is atrocious , and he is too small to defend anyone. Some things are not in our control. Like playing piss poor defense and watching Guilyard just glide up the middle with layup after layup. Like watching Golden get easy layups. Like Mar running in circles. Maybe better coaching would make a difference. Like the guy previously said just tell us we laid an egg and weren't prepared. Does this team have a chance to be really good? I hope so, but I doubt it.

 

[GMUgemini]

I expected Paulsons comments, after all he doesn't believe there is anything to gain by being negative. But as a fan I would say, what, not having Jamal? He is not the answer, after all his 3 point shooting is atrocious , and he is too small to defend anyone. Some things are not in our control. Like playing piss poor defense and watching Guilyard just glide up the middle with layup after layup. Like watching Golden get easy layups. Like Mar running in circles. Maybe better coaching would make a difference. Like the guy previously said just tell us we laid an egg and weren't prepared. Does this team have a chance to be really good? I hope so, but I doubt it.

Reminiscent of Potter from the game right before.

 

[GSII]

97 and did so without leading scorer Francis.

Why did we abandon the zone that seemed to get us back in the game?

 

[patriotchild]

I wish we weren’t going to play offense 3.5 on five the rest of the year. We aren’t going to get many superhuman efforts like that.

AJ played a pretty well rounded game and showed a lot of versatility. Hope that continues, he’ll make himself even more marketable if he chooses to leave.
Miller disappeared in the second half, not sure why.
XJ can get to the rim and get things moving but his jump shot is awful. MM v2, prior to his senior year. Richmond was not afraid of him from the outside at all.
Greene was great today, but not expecting that to be sustained, he’s streaky to begin with. And especially if teams start keying on him since we have no one else.

The one thing we were decent at was defense, none today.

everyone else... bleh.

glad I didn’t renew my season tickets and this will likely be the last game I go to this year. Bleh bleh bleh

 

[Masonfan3]

97 and did so without leading scorer Francis.

Why did we abandon the zone that seemed to get us back in the game?

Speaking of Francis, I spoke to his mom a little yesterday. She was a nice lady and I wished her son a speedy recovery. Said that I wish he would have transferred to Mason, she smiled and said "yea, that wasn't going to happen." Not sure what exactly she meant by it but it's sad that we aren't even being considered when a kid wants to transfer back closer to home.

 

[KAOriginal]

Coach Ls tenure was the deviation. Otherwise we have reverted to out mean historically.

Until that can be changed, no one os coming here unless we are the best option for them non hoops reasons..

 

[GMUgemini]

Coach Ls tenure was the deviation. Otherwise we have reverted to out mean historically.

Until that can be changed, no one os coming here unless we are the best option for them non hoops reasons..

I don’t like this argument because L’s tenure was long enough for us to have created a new paradigm — not only should L’s success have created new conditions, but so has our changes in school size, impact, infrastructure, and conference alignment.

Looking at Nestor or Westhead should give you no insight to what Mason should be capable of under a competent coach.

edit: To add to this idea of a "competent" coach, I think what we know from Paulsen after five years is that he is better than Hewitt (because he's obviously a much worse recruiter, but has been able to do far more with less talent than Hewitt -- if he had the chops, for instance, to keep CJ Jackson, Trey Porter, Erick Lockett, and Isaiah Jackson around, and to bring in similarly talented recruits from the start, we are probably in a much different spot; but for unknown reasons he hasn't been able to sell good recruits on non-academic pitch). But it's also obvious that we need someone who can squeeze the juice out of a turnip and Paulsen isn't a good enough in-game coach to make up for his lack of recruiting ability (I think we saw this last year, and we're definitely seeing it this year).

 

[patriot2000]

I don’t like this argument because L’s tenure was long enough for us to have created a new paradigm — not only should L’s success have created new conditions, but so has our changes in school size, impact, infrastructure, and conference alignment.

Exactly. The list of programs that were perpetually mediocre, made one lucky hire, and are now perpetually relevant is bigger than just vcu. But just taking vcu as an example, they were just like us, hired one right guy, went to a final four, and you know the rest. I know there may have been a little more to their history than Mason's, but the comparison is still valid. Coach L was here long enough, and accomplished enough, for it to be the beginning of something special. In the grand scheme, it is still very possible that this decade is a semi-minor setback and we can still get to the next level.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Exactly. The list of programs that were perpetually mediocre, made one lucky hire, and are now perpetually relevant is bigger than just vcu. But just taking vcu as an example, they were just like us, hired one right guy, went to a final four, and you know the rest. I know there may have been a little more to their history than Mason's, but the comparison is still valid. Coach L was here long enough, and accomplished enough, for it to be the beginning of something special. In the grand scheme, it is still very possible that this decade is a semi-minor setback and we can still get to the next level.

Just playing Devil's advocate:
Isn't the difference that Mason's success is still tied to only one coach?

Even before vcu's final 4 they had a couple successful coaches to lay the groundwork in Jeff Capel and Anthony Grant.

 

[patriot2000]

Yes, that's a difference. We made the wrong hire after L and and it completely changed our trajectory. But I still agree that Gemini made a valid point against the pessimistic, "Coach L was the outlier. We are mediocre and always will be" argument that comes up now and then.

 

[Mason32]

But I still agree that Gemini made a valid point against the pessimistic, "Coach L was the outlier. We are mediocre and always will be" argument that comes up now and then.

Sounds like the history of about 200 other Division I programs.... Oh but we're special right?

 

[patriot2000]

Sounds like the history of about 200 other Division I programs.... Oh but we're special right?

I will continue to believe that we can be a once-every-three-year NCAA contender with our current conference, location, and funding level. I don't think that's all that "special."

 

[Falco]

I will continue to believe that we can be a once-every-three-year NCAA contender with our current conference, location, and funding level. I don't think that's all that "special."

It’s not a crazy thought. Largest university in the state. No football. They should have the money to pony up to turn this program around.

 

[gmubrian]

I will continue to believe that we can be a once-every-three-year NCAA contender with our current conference, location, and funding level. I don't think that's all that "special."

I like your optimism and I hope that it is true, but I think the whole point of the people responding in the opposite is that, unfortunately, there is no evidence so far to back up this belief.

This goes to Herndon's (sorry if I got that wrong) point that our past two years are sort of indicative of what we should expect given the data on our investments/etc. and the evidence to date. Could we overachieve, yes, there is always that chance, but to expect it may be unrealistic, especially given our track record in its entirety.

Sorry, I am not trying to be a downer, just trying to be realistic.

 

[Mason32]

I will continue to believe that we can be a once-every-three-year NCAA contender with our current conference, location, and funding level. I don't think that's all that "special."

As I said probably 200+ other schools who want that, but if they don't achieve that doesn't necessarily mean they going to then turn around and pay a new coach 3x more next go around

 

[GMUgemini]

I like your optimism and I hope that it is true, but I think the whole point of the people responding in the opposite is that, unfortunately, there is no evidence so far to back up this belief.

This goes to Herndon's (sorry if I got that wrong) point that our past two years are sort of indicative of what we should expect given the data on our investments/etc. and the evidence to date. Could we overachieve, yes, there is always that chance, but to expect it may be unrealistic, especially given our track record in its entirety.

Sorry, I am not trying to be a downer, just trying to be realistic.

Well, interestingly enough, if you look at who has and hasn't been to a postseason tournament recently, we are in the same bucket as two teams who spend markedly more on the sport than we do, and the teams who spend less have all been more recently than we have.

 

[tblack33]

Well, interestingly enough, if you look at who has and hasn't been to a postseason tournament recently, we are in the same bucket as two teams who spend markedly more on the sport than we do, and the teams who spend less have all been more recently than we have.

^This. It should look more like a wave, where every 4ish years we overachieve comparative to our spending and make the tournament, and then have a year or two where we rebuild and fall below that average. A straight, stagnant line isn't what we should be expecting.

 

[mkaufman1]

^This. It should look more like a wave, where every 4ish years we overachieve comparative to our spending and make the tournament, and then have a year or two where we rebuild and fall below that average. A straight, stagnant line isn't what we should be expecting.

Completely in agreement. I expected a little bit of a reload this year, but not a complete nosedive (so far its a nosedive).

 

[Falco]

I like your optimism and I hope that it is true, but I think the whole point of the people responding in the opposite is that, unfortunately, there is no evidence so far to back up this belief.

This goes to Herndon's (sorry if I got that wrong) point that our past two years are sort of indicative of what we should expect given the data on our investments/etc. and the evidence to date. Could we overachieve, yes, there is always that chance, but to expect it may be unrealistic, especially given our track record in its entirety.

Sorry, I am not trying to be a downer, just trying to be realistic.

Fair but coach L was with Mason for over a decade. And Hewitt wasn’t horrible horrible his first two seasons. So that’s nearly 15 years of pretty good basketball. A solid foundation was laid and it’s reasonable to have higher expectations now.

 

[patriot2000]

^This. It should look more like a wave, where every 4ish years we overachieve comparative to our spending and make the tournament, and then have a year or two where we rebuild and fall below that average. A straight, stagnant line isn't what we should be expecting.

Yes. This is my point as well. While it would be nice to be vcu, Gonzaga, Wichita St, that is not a reasonable goal. But, being in the conversation every 3 or 4 Februarys should be the goal.