Mason’s A-10 Finish

[Jack Strop]

Sure a top 4 finish is possible. To go further, we must find a way to avoid 10% 3pt fg%'s. Clearly, when we are sped up or harassed with traps, it flusters our shooters. Its imparative we counter that or we are finished in Brooklyn.

Be disciplined and don't allow your opponent to "speed things up." Play one's own game and be a bitch about it!

 

[dr. gunnie]

Ohhhhh, we're half way there...

7-2 is a really good start considering we played 5 road games in this stretch and the competition was probably a little tougher than the second half.

Our next three game series is at Richmond, home vs La Salle, and home vs UMass. It's probably our easiest three game stretch of the year. 2-1 keeps us in good shape, but 3-0 would be real nice.

I really don't see much advantage this year between any of the top 4 spots. There is not going to be a drastically easier team to play in the quarters or in the semi's like in some other years - you can maybe make the case that there is a drop from the 7th to the 8th spot, so the 1 seed will get a slightly easier quarterfinal game.

Just gotta get one of the top 4 spots!

 

[Jack Strop]

Ohhhhh, we're half way there...

7-2 is a really good start considering we played 5 road games in this stretch and the competition was probably a little tougher than the second half.

Our next three game series is at Richmond, home vs La Salle, and home vs UMass. It's probably our easiest three game stretch of the year. 2-1 keeps us in good shape, but 3-0 would be real nice.

I really don't see much advantage this year between any of the top 4 spots. There is not going to be a drastically easier team to play in the quarters or in the semi's like in some other years - you can maybe make the case that there is a drop from the 7th to the 8th spot, so the 1 seed will get a slightly easier quarterfinal game.

Just gotta get one of the top 4 spots!

Agreed. But the best element that a top-four, double-bye gives a team in the A10 Tourney is the avoidance of the fatigue factor of playing in the earlier rounds.

 

[GMUSig03]

Rooting guide for Tuesday and Wednesday games:

Dayton (2 losses, but we own tiebreaker) @ St. Louis (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

vcu @ GW

URI (4 losses and we own tiebreaker) @ Davidson (fingers crossed for Davidson's 2nd loss)

SBU (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided) @ Duquesne (3 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

Now that we have a one game separation between top 4 (2 losses) and 5th spot (3 losses), lets root for that separation to increase and for more top 4 teams to fall behind us.

We will also have to keep an eye on one or more of the current 4 loss teams getting hot and trying to sneak back into top 4 contention:

LaSalle - has won 3 in a row, but against the bottom 3 teams
St Louis - on a 4 game losing streak, with tough remaining schedule that includes 5 games against top 5 teams
URI - 4 of next 5 games against top 3 teams, including 2 vs Davidson
SBU - seems to be playing slightly better lately, but all conference wins are against the bottom 4

These 4 teams are more likely to play spoiler than get back into top 4 in my opinion

 

[Five Two]

Ohhhhh, we're half way there...

I see what you did there. well done

 

[psyclone]

Rooting guide for Tuesday and Wednesday games:

Dayton (2 losses, but we own tiebreaker) @ St. Louis (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

vcu @ GW

URI (4 losses and we own tiebreaker) @ Davidson (fingers crossed for Davidson's 2nd loss)

SBU (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided) @ Duquesne (3 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

Now that we have a one game separation between top 4 (2 losses) and 5th spot (3 losses), lets root for that separation to increase and for more top 4 teams to fall behind us.

We will also have to keep an eye on one or more of the current 4 loss teams getting hot and trying to sneak back into top 4 contention:

LaSalle - has won 3 in a row, but against the bottom 3 teams
St Louis - on a 4 game losing streak, with tough remaining schedule that includes 5 games against top 5 teams
URI - 4 of next 5 games against top 3 teams, including 2 vs Davidson
SBU - seems to be playing slightly better lately, but all conference wins are against the bottom 4

These 4 teams are more likely to play spoiler than get back into top 4 in my opinion

Thanks for doing these! Although I follow the team closely, these summaries of where we are in the conference provide clarity to where the other teams stand as we all compete for A10 positioning.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Thanks for doing these! Although I follow the team closely, these summaries of where we are in the conference provide clarity to where the other teams stand as we all compete for A10 positioning.

Seriously, thanks Joe!

 

[mkaufman1]

Rooting guide for Tuesday and Wednesday games:

Dayton (2 losses, but we own tiebreaker) @ St. Louis (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

vcu @ GW

URI (4 losses and we own tiebreaker) @ Davidson (fingers crossed for Davidson's 2nd loss)

SBU (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided) @ Duquesne (3 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

Now that we have a one game separation between top 4 (2 losses) and 5th spot (3 losses), lets root for that separation to increase and for more top 4 teams to fall behind us.

We will also have to keep an eye on one or more of the current 4 loss teams getting hot and trying to sneak back into top 4 contention:

LaSalle - has won 3 in a row, but against the bottom 3 teams
St Louis - on a 4 game losing streak, with tough remaining schedule that includes 5 games against top 5 teams
URI - 4 of next 5 games against top 3 teams, including 2 vs Davidson
SBU - seems to be playing slightly better lately, but all conference wins are against the bottom 4

These 4 teams are more likely to play spoiler than get back into top 4 in my opinion

Echo the same thank you sentiment. Hopefully mason can take care of their own business, but it’d be nice to get some help. I do think top 4 is well within reach with probably 4 more wins.

 

[GMU1983]

Ohhhhh, we're half way there...

7-2 is a really good start considering we played 5 road games in this stretch and the competition was probably a little tougher than the second half.

Our next three game series is at Richmond, home vs La Salle, and home vs UMass. It's probably our easiest three game stretch of the year. 2-1 keeps us in good shape, but 3-0 would be real nice.

I really don't see much advantage this year between any of the top 4 spots. There is not going to be a drastically easier team to play in the quarters or in the semi's like in some other years - you can maybe make the case that there is a drop from the 7th to the 8th spot, so the 1 seed will get a slightly easier quarterfinal game.

Just gotta get one of the top 4 spots!

The NIT!

 

[Petey Buckets]

Never know where to post this so I'm putting it here:

https://giantkiller.co/ByGeorge/2019/02/04/hey10-ep-3/

We run through each team in the conference in the first fifteen minutes, talk about some news around the A10 and games of the week until 42 minutes, then wrap up with the rookie of the year race and some twitter questions. Give it a listen!

 

[MasonSAE4]

Rooting guide for Tuesday and Wednesday games:

Dayton (2 losses, but we own tiebreaker) @ St. Louis (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

vcu @ GW

URI (4 losses and we own tiebreaker) @ Davidson (fingers crossed for Davidson's 2nd loss)

SBU (4 losses, tiebreaker undecided) @ Duquesne (3 losses, tiebreaker undecided)

Now that we have a one game separation between top 4 (2 losses) and 5th spot (3 losses), lets root for that separation to increase and for more top 4 teams to fall behind us.

We will also have to keep an eye on one or more of the current 4 loss teams getting hot and trying to sneak back into top 4 contention:

LaSalle - has won 3 in a row, but against the bottom 3 teams
St Louis - on a 4 game losing streak, with tough remaining schedule that includes 5 games against top 5 teams
URI - 4 of next 5 games against top 3 teams, including 2 vs Davidson
SBU - seems to be playing slightly better lately, but all conference wins are against the bottom 4

These 4 teams are more likely to play spoiler than get back into top 4 in my opinion

Keep doing these. They save me brainpower. Anything that makes me have to think less is good.

 

[GMUSig03]

Keep doing these. They save me brainpower. Anything that makes me have to think less is good.

Will do!

 

[Washingtonian]

St Louis beat Dayton 73-60.
LaSalle beat St. Joes 83-69.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Big chance over the next three games to really lock in a top four finish. Some other teams at the top have brutal schedules coming up but we have a pretty managable couple of games. Could be at lot of separation by the end if we come out 3-0.

 

[psyclone]

1. Time to update this:

Kenpom has us ranked as #117 in the country, based on the differential (+5.20) between our offensive efficiency (103.7) and our defensive efficiency (98.5).

Kenpom also provides efficiency ratings and rankings based on just conference play. We're currently fourth in the conference for offensive efficiency (103.5) and are first in defensive efficiency (90.4). That yields a differential of 13.1. If that was our differential for the year, we would currently be #52 in the Kenpom rankings.

The differential for all the teams in the A10 in conference play, ranked from best to worst:

• Mason +13.1
• Dayton +10.9
• vcu +9.6
• Davidson+8.9
• St Bonaventure +5.6
• St. Louis +5.6
• Duquesne +2.3
• URI +1.0
• LaSalle -3.8
• GW -6.7
• UMass -10.2
• Richmond -10.5
• Fordham -15.0
• St. Joe's -15.1

Naturally some of the variability in conference differentials is a function of differences in schedules (some teams have played better opponents than others). So we might want to be a bit wary of our high positive differential---our conference strength of schedule (another kenpom stat) is ranked 9th, while vcu's is 5th in difficulty. UMass is first, St. Louis is last).

Kenpom has us ranked #137 in the country based on the differential (+3.76) between our offensive efficiency (103.5) and our defensive efficiency (99.7).

Kenpom also provides efficiency ratings and rankings based on just conference play. These numbers are getting closer to the overall efficiency numbers as the number of conference games are an increasing % of the number of total overall games.

We are currently seventh in conference play for offensive efficiency (100.9) and third in defensive efficiency (94.9). That yield a differential of +6.0. If that were our differential for the year, we would currently be #105 in the Kenpom rankings.

The differential for all the teams in the A10 in conference play, ranked from best to worst:

1. vcu +11.7
2. Davidson +11.1
3. Dayton 8.2
4. Mason +6.0
5. St. Louis +3.8
6. St. Bonaventure +3.2
7. Duquesne +1.3
   
8. Rhode Island +0.3
9. LaSalle -2.5
10. GW -4.0
11. Richmond -5.8
12. Fordham -11.6
13. UMass -11.7
14. St. Joe's -14.1

Pretty much mirrors the conference standings, so I'm not sure I'll be doing future updates of this.

 

[psyclone]

Kenpom has us finishing 12-6 , with losses (by 1 pt) at St. Bonaventure and St. Louis, and by 3 to vcu at home. They have vcu and Davidson with 4 conference losses and Dayton with 5. Duquesne and St. Louis are behind us with both projected for 8 losses.

 

[GMUgemini]

Kenpom has us finishing 12-6 , with losses (by 1 pt) at St. Bonaventure and St. Louis, and by 3 to vcu at home. They have vcu and Davidson with 4 conference losses and Dayton with 5. Duquesne and St. Louis are behind us with both projected for 8 losses.

Can we just lose one of those and be 14-4? I’ll take that (preferably not vcu at home).

After Richmond loss I think 13-5 is still a realistic expectation. If we take an unexpected road win against the Bonnie’s or SLU, I think 14-4 is reachable.

 

[Falco]

On paper, Mason has an easier schedule ahead of them. However, every night is going to be a dogfight

@St. Bonaventure- They have a true home court advantage. (Side note, the have a really easy schedule ahead of them. Mason needs a W make sure St. Bonaventure does not slide into the 4 seed.)

Duquesne- middle of the pack A10 team. Cannot count them out. Luckily, it’s Homecoming so Mason should have a home court advantage.

Richmond- They seem to have Mason’s number

@St Louis- Preseason favorite on the road. They were the preseason favorite for a reason

vcu- well its vcu.

@GW- They always play good basketball against Mason.

Going through the remaining schedule reminds me of the old CAA days when you have a general idea of what to expect, but you know to expect the unexpected.

 

[gmubrian]

It depends ... are you studding? dated a girl in college who inherited stables and madwe between 3000-5000 per stud event

So, my thoroughbred’s grand sire is Alydar (of fame from triple crown battles with Affirmed). So, theoretically, there could have been some money in stud fees for him. Unfortunately, though, he was gelded before I took ownership.

We aren’t operating it for money, though. It is for our enjoyment, well my daughters enjoyment and my never ending work. I, essentially, have 1700 pound pets roaming the property. Imagine if your dog weighed 1700 pounds, and ate 23 hours a day how much poop you would be dealing with.

 

[GMUgemini]

So, my thoroughbred’s grand sire is Alydar (of fame from triple crown battles with Affirmed). So, theoretically, there could have been some money in stud fees for him. Unfortunately, though, he was gelded before I took ownership.

We aren’t operating it for money, though. It is for our enjoyment, well my daughters enjoyment and my never ending work. I, essentially, have 1700 pound pets roaming the property. Imagine if your dog weighed 1700 pounds, and ate 23 hours a day how much poop you would be dealing with.

You could start an Airbnb experience and make money off your horses.