PREDICTIONS

[FreeGunston12]

Lafayette - W
@ Louisville - L
Binghamton - W
CSUN - W
La Tech - L
Evansville - W
@ JMU - L
@ Auburn - L
W&M - W
NCCU - W
GA S - W
PSU - L
Morgan St - W

@URI - L
@UMASS - L
Davidson - L
St Joe's- W
Saint Louis - W
@GW - W
@Duquesne - W
vcu - L
Bona - L
@Richmond - L
@ Fordham - W
GW-W
Dayton-L
@La Salle-L
@St Joe's-L
UMASS-W
@vcu-L
Richmond-W

16-15 overall -- 8-10 in A10

Pretty much the same as my prediction. I have Mason losing both games in Cancun. Then I don’t know if it’ll be JMU, W&M, or NCCU, but I think we lose one of those three. I think we win at La Salle, beat Davidson, and lose at GW though. Finishing 16-15 (9-9).

 

[gmujim92]

Y'all do realize UMass is gonna suck this year, right?

And JMU was picked to finish LAST in the CAA.

We're gonna smack both of them bums.

 

[dr. gunnie]

Y'all do realize UMass is gonna suck this year, right?

And JMU was picked to finish LAST in the CAA.

We're gonna smack both of them bums.

And y’all realize every year we drop a game or two against a team we should probably win, right?

 

[GMUgemini]

And y’all realize every year we drop a game or two against a team we should probably win, right?

I had us at 10-8 in conference, but I'm thinking more 8-10 now that our backup to Calixte is going to be a freshmen wing player. I also don't see Calixte surviving the grind of 35 minutes a game at the 5 and will probably wear down at the end of the season and we end on a rather long losing streak.

 

[JimP]

I had us at 10-8 in conference, but I'm thinking more 8-10 now that our backup to Calixte is going to be a freshmen wing player. I also don't see Calixte surviving the grind of 35 minutes a game at the 5 and will probably wear down at the end of the season and we end on a rather long losing streak.

I imagine they're going to have to resort using somebody like Boyd as a "forward" - just like last year.

 

[masonjoe]

I imagine they're going to have to resort using somebody like Boyd as a "forward" - just like last year.

Boyd was going to be on the court a ton anyway, this doesn't change that. Don't know why some have to label him a forward because other guards out there at same time; college hoops is essentially position-less now anyway

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Down to 8 scholarship players. 3 legitimate freshmen. 1 redshirt freshman. NO seniors. 3 walk-ons. Damn, how much worse can it get?

I mean if that doesn't concern anyone and doesn't think it will effect our win/loss total significantly, then I have two questions for you:

What are you smoking, and why are you not sharing it with me?

 

[Petey Buckets]

My season preview is up on GK now. Some nice lunchtime reading if I do say so myself:

http://giantkiller.co/2017/11/05/season-preview-george-mason-mens-basketball/

 

[GMUgemini]

Boyd was going to be on the court a ton anyway, this doesn't change that. Don't know why some have to label him
a forward because other guards out there at same time; college hoops is essentially position-less now anyway

I get that, and if Boyd were a legit 6'5 we'd have much fewer problems.

Last year, our biggest point of weakness was at defending the 4 due to size mismatches, and a lot of teams used that to their advantages. This season, when Calixte isn't on the floor, we're going to have that problem at the 4 and the 5 (because AJ and/or Mar will have to shift over and defend the 5) and that will be exploited. Paulsen is going to have to be really creative with his approach this year in managing minutes and matchups.

 

[FreeGunston12]

I get that, and if Boyd were a legit 6'5 we'd have much fewer problems.

Last year, our biggest point of weakness was at defending the 4 due to size mismatches, and a lot of teams used that to their advantages. This season, when Calixte isn't on the floor, we're going to have that problem at the 4 and the 5 (because AJ and/or Mar will have to shift over and defend the 5) and that will be exploited. Paulsen is going to have to be really creative with his approach this year in managing minutes and matchups.

Trust me, Paulsen can do it. He’s used to it. And although he was a great player for us, Jalen was an average help defender and had only 9 blocks last year. Shevon was in the same boat too, very slow to slide over and challenge a shot. I think collectively, we can defend the 4 and 5 just as well as the last couple of years.

 

[gmujim92]

I mean if that doesn't concern anyone and doesn't think it will effect our win/loss total significantly, then I have two questions for you:

What are you smoking, and why are you not sharing it with me?

It doesn't concern me because the 8 players who are left are the ones we couldn't afford to lose and plenty of teams play with 7-8 man rotations.

It also doesn't concern me because with our schedule we can still win 20 games again as long as we don't have a crushing injury or two.

Finally it doesn't concern me because I never thought we were going to the NCAA tournament this season either way. May as well put these freshmen on the court and get them ready to contribute to a run at the 2018-19 Atlantic 10 title.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

It doesn't concern me because the 8 players who are left are the ones we couldn't afford to lose and plenty of teams play with 7-8 man rotations.

It also doesn't concern me because with our schedule we can still win 20 games again as long as we don't have a crushing injury or two.

Finally it doesn't concern me because I never thought we were going to the NCAA tournament this season either way. May as well put these freshmen on the court and get them ready to contribute to a run at the 2018-19 Atlantic 10 title.

What about the good weed you're refusing to share. You didn't address that issue. LOL!

The make up of our 8 man roster just cannot be dismissed. If we had 4 seniors and 4 juniors, no worries. But 3 freshmen and no seniors is tough to overcome.

No one is saying we should pack it up and give up. No one. We're just expressing our opinion that it will keep us from winning as many games as you may think.

Just don't see why you think it is an attack on the team. If we end up 20+ wins, I will gladly sit here and take full abuse from you and say "Jim was right, I was wrong. I am an idiot and should never prognosticate on Mason Hoops ever again"

 

[G M U]

What concerns me will be the fatigue by the A10 Tourney. I saw Quise and to an extent Otis just flat out look gassed by halftime vs vcu in Pittsburgh.

 

[mkaufman1]

What concerns me will be the fatigue by the A10 Tourney. I saw Quise and to an extent Otis just flat out look gassed by halftime vs vcu in Pittsburgh.

Obviously those guys were leaned on and Otis will be probably asked to play at least 30 minutes a game.

But what team doesn’t have a tired team by March? It’s a full season grind. The freshmen will probably be impacted the most but it’s nothing unique in my opinion.

This team doesn’t have depth or experience, but the last two teams didn’t either. The program probably won’t be out of rebuild mode until next year.

 

[gmujim92]

This team doesn’t have depth or experience, but the last two teams didn’t either. The program probably won’t be out of rebuild mode until next year.

Considering the crap sandwich DP inherited from Hewitt, it's pretty amazing the program has rebounded to this extent by the start of year 3.

Georgia Tech is on its second coach post-Hewitt and is just now positioned to make a run at the NCAAs under Josh Pastner.

The time involved in building a program is the primary reason why new coaches get at least 5-year deals. It takes that long to weed out kids who don't fit your style or personality or simply aren't good enough, recruit replacements and coach them up to do things the way you want them done.

Regardless of what happens this season, the fact that we are legit thinking NCAA in what would be Dave's fourth year is testament to the incredible job our staff has done. It's not easy, especially in a league as tough as the A-10.

 

[gmujim92]

Put a little differently, hiring Hewitt could have set our program back a decade or more.

Fortunately Edwards and Cabrera chose the right guy to replace his sorry a**.

 

[GMUSig03]

Georgia Tech is on its second coach post-Hewitt and is just now positioned to make a run at the NCAAs under Josh Pastner.

Not so fast, my friend: https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...-of-underplaying-violations-by-jilted-friend/

 

[Falco]

Put a little differently, hiring Hewitt could have set our program back a decade or more.

Fortunately Edwards and Cabrera chose the right guy to replace his sorry a**.

It has been a decade of set backs. Last time we made the tourney was 2007. A Decade ago.....

 

[GMUgemini]

It has been a decade of set backs. Last time we made the tourney was 2007. A Decade ago.....

2011 you mean?

 

[Falco]

I legit hate Tom O Connor. I actually had a meeting with him when he hired Hewitt. I knew he would suck. He didn't have a winning ACC record in his last 7 years with GT. And he only had one ACC winning season, and that is when he had Bosh.. Who couldn't win with a player like Bosh..