PREDICTIONS

[Patriotsince81]

The loss of Marquise and Jalen will be felt. Close to .500 overall. Too many question marks. Next year, NCAA or bust. As always, I hope like heck that I am wrong.

 

[MasonSAE4]

The loss of Marquise and Jalen will be felt. Close to .500 overall. Too many question marks. Next year, NCAA or bust. As always, I hope like heck that I am wrong.

We seem to be the only ones on the same page here. We'll win the games we should and lose the ones we aren't favored in (except Richmond who could be favored by triple digits and we'd still win).

 

[GMUSig03]

I'm hopeful we are slightly improved over last year. Best case scenario - 20 wins, top 6 in conference.

Expecting a lot from Otis and Grayer to lead the team and be our 2 headed monster. Increased roles for Kier and Boyd will help them with confidence and experience and will hopefully result in better/more production out of them.

I think we are deeper in the front court, 3rd year/healthy Relvao, Calixte, AJ and Mar > Jalen, 2nd year/hobbled Relvao, Tamara and Danny (basically just Jalen).

Similar to last 2 years, some surprise losses and surprise wins as new players settle into their roles, team picks up steam as season rolls on and we are all optimistic by end of season of chances in A10 tournament.

Otis and Grayer finish in contention for 2nd team, AJ all rookie.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

17-18 wins and between 8th-10th place in a10, so a step backwards, ever so slightly. But seeing lots of reasons for optimism in the upcoming 2-3 years

 

[Mason2005]

Not sure what this tweet means from AJ. Hopefully it's not a injury.

https://mobile.twitter.com/Justdewit12/status/925813421106442240

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[gmujim92]

The loss of Marquise and Jalen will be felt. Close to .500 overall. Too many question marks. Next year, NCAA or bust. As always, I hope like heck that I am wrong.

Close to .500 overall with our soft non-conference schedule means you think we're gonna be 3-4 games under .500 in conference.

Did we secretly get moved to the ACC or Big Ten and nobody told me?

 

[Patriotsince81]

Did we secretly get moved to the ACC or Big Ten and nobody told me?

Nope, just a feeling based on youth and lack of a proven big. Not down on the team at all.

 

[gmujim92]

Nope, just a feeling based on youth and lack of a proven big. Not down on the team at all.

Other than Rhody and Bona, the rest of the A-10 has many of the same questions we have. Not sure why we don't even get benefit of the doubt from our own fans.

 

[gmutom]

Our frontcourt is our biggest question mark this year, but I'm intrigued to see how quickly Otis will adjust to not having Marquise by his side. We all know that Otis is a special player, but he has had the huge luxury of having almost every team focus on Moore and his dribble penetration.

Otis has cleared every hurdle and defied every odd so far, so I will never doubt his talent or resilience; but I do think he will be at the top of every scouting report we face this year, and that will be a pretty big adjustment for him to make. As long as he maintains his pass-first PG mentality, I think the scoring will take care of itself.

 

[Mason2005]

I guess we should expect big things from Kier and Boyd.

http://gomason.com/news/2017/11/1/m...-look-to-maximize-development-in-2017-18.aspx

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[FreeGunston12]

Other than Rhody and Bona, the rest of the A-10 has many of the same questions we have. Not sure why we don't even get benefit of the doubt from our own fans.

I'm thinking that because we have so many question marks and inexperience, we will be inconsistent. Which goes both ways: not consistently winning, but not consistently losing either based on our talent and competent staff. Therefore, around .500 in conference with 0 seniors seems reasonable and not really pessimistic. Sets us up nicely for when other teams lose pieces next year, and we just keep adding them.

I also don't see our out of conference schedule as weak as you do. Yes, we certainly play some nobodies. We also play Louisville, Auburn, Penn State, two tough games in Cancun, and a couple of old CAA rivals that might be motivated to prove something.

 

[Falco]

I think we are deeper in the front court, 3rd year/healthy Relvao, Calixte, AJ and Mar > Jalen, 2nd year/hobbled Relvao, Tamara and Danny (basically just Jalen). {QUOTE]

The success of this year's front court is the X Factor. Obviously losing Jenkins is a big blow. Jalen was a heck of a player. He even played well under Hewitt. But like you said, we have more depth this year. Each player offers a different skill, and Paulsen has proven his ability to find the right match ups.

You are only as strong as your weakest link and I have a hard time believing our weakest link is not improved from last year

 

[Falco]

I think we are deeper in the front court, 3rd year/healthy Relvao, Calixte, AJ and Mar > Jalen, 2nd year/hobbled Relvao, Tamara and Danny (basically just Jalen).
.

I'm glad I read your post, it gives me more confidence going into the season. You are only as strong as your weakest link and I have a hard time believing our weakest link is not improved from last year

The X Factor is the success of the Front Court. Obviously losing Jenkins is a big blow. Jalen was a heck of a player. He even played well under Hewitt. But like you said, we have more depth this year. Each player offers a different skill, and Paulsen has proven his ability to find the right match ups.

 

[Falco]

I'm thinking that because we have so many question marks and inexperience, we will be inconsistent. Which goes both ways: not consistently winning, but not consistently losing either based on our talent and competent staff. Therefore, around .500 in conference with 0 seniors seems reasonable and not really pessimistic. Sets us up nicely for when other teams lose pieces next year, and we just keep adding them.

I also don't see our out of conference schedule as weak as you do. Yes, we certainly play some nobodies. We also play Louisville, Auburn, Penn State, two tough games in Cancun, and a couple of old CAA rivals that might be motivated to prove something.

I tend to agree with this, I think we should be favored in every game, but the administration did a good job at scheduling this year. almost every team we played had an above average season last year. I didn't go into rosters but if they are returning players they wont be an easy win.

Records of Mason's OOC opponets
Lafayette- (9-21) Must win
Louisville - winning reccord
Binghampton- (12-20) Must win
CSUN- (11-19) must win
Louisiana Tech (23-10) will be a tough game
Frenso State (20-13) will be a tough game if matched up
Evansville (16-17) they had a tough schedule last year, dont count them out.
JMU (10-23) must win
Georgia Southern (18-15) CBI participant- guessing they are returning their players
Auburn (18-14) tough night
William and Mary (17-14) tough night
North Carolina Central- (25-8) tough night
Georgia Southern (18-15) CBI participant- guessing they are returning their players
Auburn (18-14) tough night
Penn State- (15-18) dont count them out though
Mordan State (14-16)

 

[Falco]

I only really see 4 guaranteed wins. The other nights will be a battle. That said, If we end up doing well and spilt a10 games, I think an NIT appearance is possible.

Not saying that's my expectation. Just saying our strength of schedule is competitive enough that if we do well we could be in the NIT discussion.

 

[gmujim92]

We won 11 games in DP's first season with the best big man in the A-10 in Shevon. Along with Marko and Jalen, we were very strong up front and had games where we could just throw the ball at the rim and go get it.

We won 20 games with a 7-man rotation that included a 6-7 center playing alongside four guards.

Point is, college basketball is a guards game. Our guards are a perfect fit for how DP wants to play and will do the lion's share of the scoring, rebounding and assisting.

They're the reason we're going to be better than many people think.

 

[Falco]

We won 11 games in DP's first season with the best big man in the A-10 in Shevon. Along with Marko and Jalen, we were very strong up front and had games where we could just throw the ball at the rim and go get it.

We won 20 games with a 7-man rotation that included a 6-7 center playing alongside four guards.

Point is, college basketball is a guards game. Our guards are a perfect fit for how DP wants to play and will do the lion's share of the scoring, rebounding and assisting.

They're the reason we're going to be better than many people think.

Love it! I need people to make really good points to get me even more excited!

 

[MASONscott]

I predict my season tickets arrive soon! Pumped!

Mason ain't winning the A10 this year. But will continue the competitive march getting better with a reasonable shot at the NIT this year and and expectation for the NCAAT next year with age and rotor Rueter in the lineup. Looking forward to seeing some of the new guys play and Kier, Grayer, Wilson, and Boyd maturing.

 

[Patriot8]

I think it's pretty reasonable for some to expect us to potentially take a step back this season. The team lost one of the best players in program history, a big man that was tough/reliable on both ends of the floor, and a spark off the bench/great on-ball defender in Newman. They are being replaced by unproven players. This roster only has 5 (eligible) players that have college basketball game experience.

All that said, I am hopeful, as I always am. I think 20 wins is absolutely achievable.

 

[GMUgemini]

We won 11 games in DP's first season with the best big man in the A-10 in Shevon. Along with Marko and Jalen, we were very strong up front and had games where we could just throw the ball at the rim and go get it.

We won 20 games with a 7-man rotation that included a 6-7 center playing alongside four guards.

Point is, college basketball is a guards game. Our guards are a perfect fit for how DP wants to play and will do the lion's share of the scoring, rebounding and assisting.

They're the reason we're going to be better than many people think.

And if Wilson and/or Mar aren't ready to defend the 4, we rolled with Boyd, Grayer, and Kier guarding that position almost all of last season and still won a lot of games.

So long as Relvao and Calixte aren't turnstiles on defense and can rebound the easy ones, we should be just fine. I'm pretty confident in our four returning guards.