Welcome Coach Tony Skinn!

[GMUgemini]

What are the expectations for Year 2 of the Tony Skinn era? How does Mason compare to the rest of the A10?

22+ regular season wins, winning A10 record (10-8 or better—would love for us to do better than Paulsen’s best 11-7 finish).

It’s hard to know how we stack up, because of so much roster turnover. Top 6 would be a good step forward (A10 should be pretty strong again next year). Finally breaking into the top 4 would be fantastic. Finishing as a Q1 road game (NET 75 or better) would also be good, top 50 would be again fantastic.

 

[Verdad]

For me it's really just getting over the hump that we, have been stuck below - top 4, quality net rating, making it to the semi's of the A10 tournament. Expectations for 2nd year may be a little unfair as a result of what Tony accomplished last year with a thrown together roster.

 

[gmujim92]

What are the expectations for Year 2 of the Tony Skinn era? How does Mason compare to the rest of the A10?

NCAA bid. Bottom line, we have a bunch of seniors — if not now, when?

 

[Falco]

What are the expectations for Year 2 of the Tony Skinn era? How does Mason compare to the rest of the A10?

Make the NCAA tournament.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Pretty sure Tony, the staff, and the team would say the Dance is the goal, anything less is unacceptable.

 

[mkaufman1]

I have resumed high expectations on the Mason Men's basketball program since Paulsen was shown the door. I give one year of "transition" to new staff, but generally my expectation every year is:

20 wins
Double bye
Semis of A10 tournament
NCAA at large bid

This year, I expect us to check the box on at least 2 of those. There is no reason to expect anything different. Preseason we should be top 5 and I would be surprised if we weren't top 5 in projections.

All areas of a team that is expected to be competitive have been addressed. We have (expected) seasoned point guard play (more on that in a second) with depth. We have shooters and scorers, we have bigs. We have athleticism and we have experience. The roster fits together like a puzzle with some guys who are coming up a level, and some guys who are coming down a level. That already adds to an existing talented core.

I will say, we're gambling a bit on having KD Johnson be our starting point guard considering he has not played that position at the D1 level. However, considering how talented he is, I dont expect to have an issue with him running the show. In addition, having Quigley right behind him should provide a quality 1/2 punch at the point guard spot. Having a guy who scored 1000 points in the SEC, will only benefit our team.

Considering what I saw out of Tony and staff last year in what was a very successful year 1, there is no reason to not expect big things in year 2.

 

[The Great PATSby]

With the given talent and size of our roster, I think the NCAAT is very feasible. My biggest concern is depth at the PG position. My guess is Quigley will be our floor general and I have full confidence in him. It looks like he adjusted to college competition pretty quick. If you look at his Freshman stats in February and March, he looks like he's the real deal. Knock on wood he can stay healthy. Other than him, I think Justin Begg might be the only other true PG but will only be a Freshman. I suppose Maddox is capable of bringing the ball up if needed and I think someone mentioned they might try to develop KD into a PG. So maybe my concern is a non-issue. I would just feel a little more comfortable if we had more experience at a true PG poistion.

 

[Verdad]

With the given talent and size of our roster, I think the NCAAT is very feasible. My biggest concern is depth at the PG position. My guess is Quigley will be our floor general and I have full confidence in him. It looks like he adjusted to college competition pretty quick. If you look at his Freshman stats in February and March, he looks like he's the real deal. Knock on wood he can stay healthy. Other than him, I think Justin Begg might be the only other true PG but will only be a Freshman. I suppose Maddox is capable of bringing the ball up if needed and I think someone mentioned they might try to develop KD into a PG. So maybe my concern is a non-issue. I would just feel a little more comfortable if we had more experience at a true PG poistion.

KD was brought here to be the starting PG - whether it works out is certainly an open question, but I don't think there is any doubt internally that the plan is for KD at the point (and was part of our pitch to land him).

 

[jessej]

I have resumed high expectations on the Mason Men's basketball program since Paulsen was shown the door. I give one year of "transition" to new staff, but generally my expectation every year is:

20 wins
Double bye
Semis of A10 tournament
NCAA at large bid

This year, I expect us to check the box on at least 2 of those. There is no reason to expect anything different. Preseason we should be top 5 and I would be surprised if we weren't top 5 in projections.

All areas of a team that is expected to be competitive have been addressed. We have (expected) seasoned point guard play (more on that in a second) with depth. We have shooters and scorers, we have bigs. We have athleticism and we have experience. The roster fits together like a puzzle with some guys who are coming up a level, and some guys who are coming down a level. That already adds to an existing talented core.

I will say, we're gambling a bit on having KD Johnson be our starting point guard considering he has not played that position at the D1 level. However, considering how talented he is, I dont expect to have an issue with him running the show. In addition, having Quigley right behind him should provide a quality 1/2 punch at the point guard spot. Having a guy who scored 1000 points in the SEC, will only benefit our team.

Considering what I saw out of Tony and staff last year in what was a very successful year 1, there is no reason to not expect big things in year 2.

Agree 100% with everything here

From a fan perspective would add
1) increasing SoS of OOC opponents - better quality opponents or even better selected local /regional opponents would yield better fan attendance - Maryland, Georgetown, JMU, UVA, VaTech, ODU, Liberty, ...
2) one "good" home doubleheader with the Women's Bball team
3) Balanced A-10 schedule which would aid our Top 4 claim
4) Quality MTE hosted at EagleBank with such large attendance that the tarps must come down
e.g. A-10 (GMU/ vcu(?)) vs Big 5 (Temple/Villanova) or vs Big10 (PSU/Rutgers or Seton Hall) or ...
5) No D-2 schools on the schedule
6) Limit scheduling to one game vs an opponent ranked 300 or above
7) Limit scheduling to two games vs an opponent ranked 200-300

 

[Mason2006Patriot]

It's NCAA Tournament or bust for me

 

[The Great PATSby]

KD was brought here to be the starting PG - whether it works out is certainly an open question, but I don't think there is any doubt internally that the plan is for KD at the point (and was part of our pitch to land him).

This further supports my concern at the PG position. I’m trusting the process and believe KD is talented and athletic enough to be capable of being a great PG. But the fact that he hasn’t been a PG in his 4 years of college doesn’t exactly give me 100% complete confidence in success for this season.

 

[gmujim92]

This further supports my concern at the PG position. I’m trusting the process and believe KD is talented and athletic enough to be capable of being a great PG. But the fact that he hasn’t been a PG in his 4 years of college doesn’t exactly give me 100% complete confidence in success for this season.

I would be more concerned but Tony’s system doesn’t rely on a traditional pass-first PG to initiate the offense. It works best when all 5 players are moving freely and sharing the ball.

With Haynes, Maddox and Anderson on the floor, KD should have plenty of opportunities to get downhill off the dribble, which is what he does best. Gotta believe a 1,000-point scorer in the SEC, with his experience, will be just fine in the A-10.

 

[mkaufman1]

This further supports my concern at the PG position. I’m trusting the process and believe KD is talented and athletic enough to be capable of being a great PG. But the fact that he hasn’t been a PG in his 4 years of college doesn’t exactly give me 100% complete confidence in success for this season.

I have no proof or evidence, but I would be willing (at this point) to be confident in the fact that KD will be as good or better than Ronny running point guard. I'm more talking about Ronny's good days, not his bad ones.

You're right that he hasnt' been a PG in 4 years, but I have to think his talent and ability as a basketball player, as well as his success in the SEC will let him be just fine.

Now if he was coming from the MAAC like Quigley was (not picking on Quigley but just an example here), I'd be more concerned, but when you get a guy who had success at the SEC its just a different animal.

And if somehow it doesn't work or he has bad games, you could always 50/50 with him and Quigley. Him playing PG is probably going to be the biggest question this year - but I don't think it is going to be an hindrance to success.

 

[Masonfan3]

I have no proof or evidence, but I would be willing (at this point) to be confident in the fact that KD will be as good or better than Ronny running point guard. I'm more talking about Ronny's good days, not his bad ones.

You're right that he hasnt' been a PG in 4 years, but I have to think his talent and ability as a basketball player, as well as his success in the SEC will let him be just fine.

Now if he was coming from the MAAC like Quigley was (not picking on Quigley but just an example here), I'd be more concerned, but when you get a guy who had success at the SEC its just a different animal.

And if somehow it doesn't work or he has bad games, you could always 50/50 with him and Quigley. Him playing PG is probably going to be the biggest question this year - but I don't think it is going to be an hindrance to success.

I am just as excited to have KD as everyone, but what is your definition of "success at the SEC". His numbers have been consistently going down, he averaged less than 1.5 assists, barely 2 rebounds, and shot the ball under 40% and barely 30% from 3...

 

[HoopsAdmin]

I am just as excited to have KD as everyone, but what is your definition of "success at the SEC". His numbers have been consistently going down, he averaged less than 1.5 assists, barely 2 rebounds, and shot the ball under 40% and barely 30% from 3...

To be fair, KD was a starter in his sophomore year before getting recruited over - which is why his numbers have been dropping since then. If you watch some of the highlights from the 21-22 season, he was often the one that started each offensive possession with the ball in his hands at the top of the key.

If you have a chance, watch the end of this Auburn vs UConn game:

View: https://youtu.be/RLWRQY981c8?si=A_1pyq2sgXFgP2H5&t=305

 

[Masonfan3]

To be fair, KD was a starter in his sophomore year before getting recruited over - which is why his numbers have been dropping since then. If you watch some of the highlights from the 21-22 season, he was often the one that started each offensive possession with the ball in his hands at the top of the key.

If you have a chance, watch the end of this Auburn vs UConn game:

View: https://youtu.be/RLWRQY981c8?si=A_1pyq2sgXFgP2H5&t=305

I don't disagree with that and I am excited because I think he will bring a lot to this team that doesn't show up on the stats. However, I am not sure if I would classify his time in the SEC as having success. Maybe he was successful in the role he needed to play, but we are going to expect more out of him and I hope he is up to it.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I'm not sleeping on Quigley or Begg to play the point either. One of the reasons I'm optimistic about the coming year is because we have depth at every position. If someone isn't playing well, next man up.

 

[mkaufman1]

I am just as excited to have KD as everyone, but what is your definition of "success at the SEC". His numbers have been consistently going down, he averaged less than 1.5 assists, barely 2 rebounds, and shot the ball under 40% and barely 30% from 3...

Scored almost 1200 points, continued to play solid minutes in all 4 years- 3 at auburn and 1 at Georgia.

Yeah the numbers go down over the 4 years - but I’m willing to say that a guy who contributed and played a solid amount of minutes had success. Yeah maybe it dwindled as time went on, but it’s not like he played 5 minutes a game either.

Considering he’s coming down a level, I expect him to have success at the a10 level as well. I expect his numbers to uptick a bit across the board.

 

[Falco]

Considering he’s coming down a level, I expect him to have success at the a10 level as well. I expect his numbers to uptick a bit across the board.

I tend to agree with this assessment. However, I believe that the top four teams in the A10 are comparable in quality to the middle to lower-tier teams in the SEC.

George Mason has consistently shown itself to be a middle-of-the-pack A10 team. They need additional support to rise above their current standing.

 

[Old Man]

Considering he’s coming down a level, I expect him to have success at the a10 level as well. I expect his numbers to uptick a bit across the board.

Here's the way I see it and the comparison I would make. And I'm not comparing these players other than that they both came from SEC schools.

When Tickets came in, iirc, he was on the bench more than not at TN, but when he got to Funfax, he did phenomenal. My hope for KD is similar. Though he got recruited over, or lost minutes for a multitude of (good or bad) reasons, he will come to Mason, pardon me - George Mason(TM), with a desire to prove the old coach wrong and the new coach right.

I trust in CTS and the plan he has for the team.

Go George Mason(TM)!