The Official Season Prediction Thread

[phoenix-arizona]

Don't care about the win and loss record. Just give me reason for optimism for the next few years.

 

[Five Two]

Season preview from GoMason's Dick Patrick:
http://gomason.com/news/2016/11/11/mens-basketball-season-preview.aspx

 

[psyclone]

Season preview from GoMason's Dick Patrick:
http://gomason.com/news/2016/11/11/mens-basketball-season-preview.aspx

Thanks! I forgot to look for his column--even fans need preseason practice!

 

[GMUSig03]

Love me some Dick!

 

[GSII]

Lasalle looking much better than last year.

 

[gmujim92]

Towson -- W
Lebanon Valley -- W
Mt. St. Mary's -- W
Houston (Gulf Coast Showcase) -- L
Kent St./S. Dakota (Gulf Coast Showcase) -- W
TBD (Gulf Coast Showcase) -- W
James Madison -- W
at Northern Iowa -- L
Mercer -- W
at Penn State -- L
at Penn -- W
Longwood -- W
Prairie View A&M -- W

vcu -- L
UMass -- W
at St Bona -- L
at Saint Joe's -- L
Saint Louis -- W
at Richmond -- L
GW -- W
at UMass -- L
at Saint Louis -- W
LaSalle -- W
at Davidson -- L
Fordham -- W
Richmond -- W
Rhode Island -- L
at Dayton -- L
at GW -- L
Duquesne -- W
at vcu -- L

Non-conference: 10-3
Conference: 8-10
Overall: 18-13

Could be a couple games better or a couple games worse, but our OOC schedule is soft and I see only three OOC games in which we will be decided underdogs: Houston, at UNI and at Penn St.

The back 9 of our A-10 schedule could be brutal if LaSalle and Fordham are any good.

Overall, I expect to keep moving along gradually in the right direction. We have terrific coaches and a number of very promising young players. Just gonna take some time.

I don't often quote myself, but when I do, it's because I have correctly predicted the Mason basketball non-conference record.

Let's hope I was right about Longwood and PV, and maybe our guys can do a couple games better than I projected in the A-10.

Win the next two games and a 20-win season is within reach. I don't think anybody predicted that.

Stay hungry, Mason basketball.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I don't often quote myself, but when I do, it's because I have correctly predicted the Mason basketball non-conference record.

This is worth quoting yourself. Big props to you. Yous stayed true when some of us were ready to jump off the bridge!

Crow never tasted so delicious.

 

[psyclone]

Before we get too carried away with our current streak, just as a reminder, Fordham last year was 9-2 prior to the start if the conference schedule. Although to be fair, all of the wins were against opponents ranked 200-or-worse and were home games.

 

[Mason2005]

Before we get too carried away with our current streak, just as a reminder, Fordham last year was 9-2 prior to the start if the conference schedule. Although to be fair, all of the wins were against opponents ranked 200-or-worse and were home games.

Fordham is a loser team. Mason is just in a slump but we shall return.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

[gmujim92]

Before we get too carried away with our current streak, just as a reminder, Fordham last year was 9-2 prior to the start if the conference schedule. Although to be fair, all of the wins were against opponents ranked 200-or-worse and were home games.

I was one of the people who thought Fordham's OOC success was the product of a terrible schedule, but they did pretty well in the A-10 last season.

Between Houston, UNI, Penn State and Towson, we've already played four teams tougher than any of Fordham's non-conference wins and gone 2-2.

It doesn't mean the wheels won't completely fall off for us at some point this season -- our young guys could conceivably hit a wall mentally and physically -- but I do think it's time to acknowledge this team is no fluke.

 

[KAOriginal]

It will be interesting how this team finishes. Could they have a better than expected year, then drop off next year with the loss of Moore and Jenkins, then pick back up the next year when Otis et al are seniors backed by better underclassmen?

Very much the path from the 03-04 (Deep NIT) to 04-05 (yuck) to the 05-06 (FF) season.

And no, not predicting NIT or FF, just hypothesis on the ebb and flow based on team and class make up.....

 

[sleeperpick]

I don't often quote myself, but when I do, it's because I have correctly predicted the Mason basketball non-conference record.

Let's hope I was right about Longwood and PV, and maybe our guys can do a couple games better than I projected in the A-10.

Win the next two games and a 20-win season is within reach. I don't think anybody predicted that.

Stay hungry, Mason basketball.

So you've predicted the record but got all the losses wrong lol.

 

[undertherock]

It will be interesting how this team finishes. Could they have a better than expected year, then drop off next year with the loss of Moore and Jenkins, then pick back up the next year when Otis et al are seniors backed by better underclassmen?

Very much the path from the 03-04 (Deep NIT) to 04-05 (yuck) to the 05-06 (FF) season.

And no, not predicting NIT or FF, just hypothesis on the ebb and flow based on team and class make up.....

Definitely agree the team will drop off some next year. Enjoying this season of Moore out muscling opponents and Jenkins dominance in the paint. Hard to see who can reproduce next season.

 

[gmujim92]

Definitely agree the team will drop off some next year. Enjoying this season of Moore out muscling opponents and Jenkins dominance in the paint. Hard to see who can reproduce next season.

Ideally Boyd will become Marquise, with allowances for less driving but a much more reliable 3-point shot. He's already strong as a horse, a terrific rebounder and a willing defender. Just needs more experience and playing time.

No single player on our roster will be able to replace Jalen. But I hope Troy and Relvao spend the entire offseason working on nothing but screening and finishing layups because that is mostly what the 5 man in this offense is asked to do.

It will definitely be different having no seniors, but we're still gonna have a great group of guards and that gives you a chance to win in the A-10.

 

[ephoops]

No single player on our roster will be able to replace Jalen. But I hope Troy and Relvao spend the entire offseason working on nothing but screening and finishing layups because that is mostly what the 5 man in this offense is asked to do.

I have watched Paulsen coach for almost 20 years.

One of his strengths (which often gets overlooked) is his ability to develop big men. At Williams, he took a somewhat gawky 6'8" kid who had trouble finishing and developed him into a 1st team All American by his junior year. At Bucknell, Muscala was a lightly- recruited kid from a Minneapolis suburb who developed into an NBA player under Paulsen's tutelage. Currently, the team is seeing the benefits of Paulsen working with Jenkins. There are several other examples of Paulsen developing big men during his coaching career.

If Troy and Relvao are willing to put in the time and effort (and I assume they will), I believe that they will be more than adequate playing the "5" in Paulsen's system.

 

[GMUgemini]

It will be interesting how this team finishes. Could they have a better than expected year, then drop off next year with the loss of Moore and Jenkins, then pick back up the next year when Otis et al are seniors backed by better underclassmen?

Very much the path from the 03-04 (Deep NIT) to 04-05 (yuck) to the 05-06 (FF) season.

And no, not predicting NIT or FF, just hypothesis on the ebb and flow based on team and class make up.....

I suspect next season will look a lot like this one...a few knocks early as the team learns to play a differently again with Moore and Jenkins gone, but a steady improvement as they forge a new identity.

Remember, losing Shevon Thompson and Marko completely changed the dynamics of the team -- how they played on both sides of the ball (couldn't just rely on Shevon going on all on his own and grabbing every rebound in sight), but we got some really good players ready to contribute right away this year (Newman, Boyd, Kier) and some promising projects for the future (Temara, Relvao).

Next season, we've got Greene, Wilson, and Mar ready to step in. Wilson and Mar have the length to step in at the 4 and we won't have play quite as small, which should help with our post defense.

 

[Pablo]

A10Talk.com‏@A10Talk
Nice to see George Mason on an upward trajectory with A-10 tourney in DC next season. Between Mason & vcu fans, tourney attendance should

How about GW fans?

 

[MasonSAE4]

Well, the Post bumped us up in their "A-11" poll but still referred to us as the Colonials. Moral victory I guess?

 

[EXpatriot13]

Well, the Post bumped us up in their "A-11" poll but still referred to us as the Colonials. Moral victory I guess?

Haha I saw that and couldn't tell if the writer was being serious or sarcastic. All of those little blurbs have a comedic tone to them, so could be the latter.

 

[MasonSAE4]

Haha I saw that and couldn't tell if the writer was being serious or sarcastic. All of those little blurbs have a comedic tone to them, so could be the latter.

True, I read that one as serious but you could be right. The one about UVA was gold though. "UVA fans were unconcerned with their loss to WVU. They're just happy football season is over."