Who Will Be the Timi Mulgrew of Mason Basketball?

[gmu05]

Wrong again, how many teams in the CAA would love to have Corey Edwards as their back up PG? My guess is all of them. How many teams in the CAA would love to have VG as their back up SG? My guess is all of them. Talent on this team is not the issue.

You're joking right? As if either dominated or even were a decent role player while playing in the CAA.

 

[Son-of-a-Gunston]

Because at the end of the day, how Mason performs has little to no bearing on my life, and I love college basketball, and the Mason Patriots. I do not expect a good season, but I also have no idea how this team will perform, and that excites me...

Refreshing to see something positive written here. 99% who read/write on this board on a regular basis loves Mason Patriots Basketball. That's why there are so many "opinions" voiced. However, some worry too much about things that they have no control over or just like to be vociferous fantasy coaches/ADs. It's all good as long as the "love" is there.

 

[gmu05]

Because at the end of the day, how Mason performs has little to no bearing on my life, and I love college basketball, and the Mason Patriots. I do not expect a good season, but I also have no idea how this team will perform, and that excites me. As someone who played a sport in college (albeit a small unfunded club), I know how much work the boys are putting into getting better. Even as just a club sport, our crew team practiced 4 days a week on water, and spent the rest of the week in the gym. We knew we were not the best (although we did win club nationals my senior year), but we put literally everything we had physically into being the best we could be. Athletes at the collegiate level are some of the most competitive people you will ever meet, and for that the team has my respect until they prove otherwise.

Sigh. How pathetic has the fan base become?

Yay! I'm just glad we have a basketball team at that place I spent four years at!

 

[MasonCrew]

Sigh. How pathetic has the fan base become?

Yay! I'm just glad we have a basketball team at that place I spent four years at!

I disagree. I think if you look back to the CAAzone you'll find that I've been against Hewitt fairly strongly early into his tenure. I do not think he is a good coach, and both my brother and friends from GT predicted the situation we find ourselves in. That said, P8 asked why people are excited for a team that's predicted to finish 13th, and I gave some of the reasons why I was. It just gets annoying to see every thread devolve into f--- Hewitt threads, or this is why we'll suck threads. If the season is so assuredly doomed, let me at least have the offseason to hope otherwise.

 

[GMUgemini]

Sigh. How fair weather has the fan base become?

I often ask myself that question...

Seriously, though, I don't think there's a single person on this board (or who decided to leave this board and stop posting here) who is content with where we have been under the Hewitt tenure. But there's really nothing informative or entertaining about regurgitating the same Hewitt sucks thread over and over and over again.

 

[gmutom]

For the sake of making these boards tolerable this season, maybe everybody can just agree Hewitt has been a major disappointment and operate under that premise the rest of the season. Let's use that as a starting point with the hope that it leads to a few more discussions about college basketball.

By no means does that mean we can't be critical or have constructive conversations. I loved the question GS of all people posed about the offense we run, and I loved Tweeder's explanation even more. It was a great example of criticizing the coach within the context of a basketball conversation without going off on a rant that nobody wants to respond to.

God knows there are many more topics we could delve into — including the makeup of the roster, substitutions, use of timeouts — without the endless speeches about how bad he was at Georgia Tech and how he never should have been hired and how we were stupid to let Coach L get away and how the handrails at the Patriot Center were a Band Aid to bigger problems, etc.

I was originally a fan of the Hewitt hire, and I admittedly am experiencing buyer's remorse like most of you; but as a fan of the program, I will attend all of the home games I can to support the team through this difficult time. As much as it pains me to fork over the money and sit through some of these losses, I figure I owe it to my alma mater and the players to ride out the storm with them. May God have mercy on our souls.

 

[Dawgs99]

Tom I agree with everything you just said, and I hope this helps out to some respect. Lets hope the few folks on here who are not interested in a constructive basketball discussion, who seem to really hate everything associated with Mason basketball take their ball and go home.

 

[gmutom]

Dawgs, just to be clear, my intention is not to stifle the Hewitt critics. This is an open forum, and everybody has the right to vent as they seem fit. I'm only requesting that we try as much as possible to do it within the confines of conversation. Easier said than done, I know.

I certainly get the need for people to go off, and I acknowledge how therapeutic it can be sometimes to vent. It certainly beats the alternative of banging one's head against a wall like many of us (including me) have wanted to do after watching the Hewitt regime up to this point.

Anyway, here's to hoping the team is at least entertaining this year. I invest a lot of money in Mason basketball, so I hope Hewitt and Brad Edwards find a way to right the ship sooner rather than later. I can tolerate some bumpy waters if I feel like we are navigating toward calmer seas, but it's not lost of me that we are teetering on what could be a ship wreck that ultimately leads to a search-and-rescue mission.

 

[Dawgs99]

Its totaly fair game to criticize everyone and everything associated with the program. Like I think you're saying, just try and keep it within the confines of that particaular thread. It would be nice to talk about the schedule in the schedule thread!

 

[Son-of-a-Gunston]

We've read so much about how everyone hates Hewitt as Mason's coach. There's nothing left to say that hasn't already been said. How many times do we have to see the same ol' hating?

All I am saying, however, is that all the negativity is not helping our team win games. It's not going to end the Hewitt era any sooner either.

And let me ask you this: If Mason was to make the NCAA's this season, does a lot of the hating go away?

 

[Pablo]

And let me ask you this: If Mason was to make the NCAA's this season, does a lot of the hating go away?

Absolutely!

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Dawgs, just to be clear, my intention is not to stifle the Hewitt critics.

Ohhhhh-Kay.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

We've read so much about how everyone hates Hewitt as Mason's coach. There's nothing left to say that hasn't already been said. How many times do we have to see the same ol' hating?

All I am saying, however, is that all the negativity is not helping our team win games. It's not going to end the Hewitt era any sooner either.

And let me ask you this: If Mason was to make the NCAA's this season, does a lot of the hating go away?

Actually the negativity will end the Hewitt era/error sooner. If the fan base is satisfied and not vocal, there's much less pressure on the administration to make a change.

Is your NCAA question really serious or are you trying to make some point? For one, it's not "hating" as nobody is really criticizing him as a human being. It's dissatisfaction with an absolute dismantling of what was one of the most respected mid-major programs in college basketball and ending a 17 year streak of winning seasons and finishing with a 4-12 conference record and a loss to Fordham, the Washington Generals of the Atlantic 10.

 

[GMUgemini]

Actually the negativity will end the Hewitt era/error sooner. If the fan base is satisfied and not vocal, there's much less pressure on the administration to make a change.

I question your first statement being that we were a fairly negative bunch before Hewitt and unless we build an NBA quality arena and a practice facility with a 5 star strip club in the lobby, I suspect a lot of us here will continue to be negative after he is gone.

I also question the efficacy of complaining on this board as a means to pressure the administration to make a coaching change.

That being said, Hewitt's tenure has been underwhelming with the culmination of perhaps one of the crappiest seasons of basketball I've witnessed as a Mason alum.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

I question your first statement being that we were a fairly negative bunch before Hewitt and unless we build an NBA quality arena and a practice facility with a 5 star strip club in the lobby, I suspect a lot of us here will continue to be negative after he is gone.

I also question the efficacy of complaining on this board as a means to pressure the administration to make a coaching change.

That being said, Hewitt's tenure has been underwhelming with the culmination of perhaps one of the crappiest seasons of basketball I've witnessed as a Mason alum.

We'll have to agree to disagree, I don't the level of negativity ever rose beyond that of any other fan base w/the possible exception of the year before the FF season. I certainly don't recall a "Fire Larranaga" presence on nearly every thread.

In fact, I think if you're looking for a constant theme, it was "the future is bright" based on a steady influx of talent and the knowledge we had a proven, consistent winner on the bench.

 

[GMUgemini]

We'll have to agree to disagree, I don't the level of negativity ever rose beyond that of any other fan base w/the possible exception of the year before the FF season. I certainly don't recall a "Fire Larranaga" presence on nearly every thread.

In fact, I think if you're looking for a constant theme, it was "the future is bright" based on a steady influx of talent and the knowledge we had a proven, consistent winner on the bench.

There were camps forming before 2011. There was definitely a faction who were growingly frustrated with Larranaga's offense and his inconsistency season-to-season -- his inability to sustain success. I'm not quite sure where you get the future is bring stuff unless you mean the few months right before Larranaga ditched us.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

There were camps forming before 2011. There was definitely a faction who were growingly frustrated with Larranaga's offense and his inconsistency season-to-season -- his inability to sustain success. I'm not quite sure where you get the future is bring stuff unless you mean the few months right before Larranaga ditched us.

The future is bright was based on every recruiting class we've signed in the past decade. Granted the best player on the team is always the backup quarterback, but that never stops the fan base from buying in.

Also, "camps of dissatisfaction" not quite the same as what we're seeing today now is it? But feel free to continue to argue merely for the sake of arguing.

 

[GMUgemini]

The future is bright was based on every recruiting class we've signed in the past decade. Granted the best player on the team is always the backup quarterback, but that never stops the fan base from buying in.

Also, "camps of dissatisfaction" not quite the same as what we're seeing today now is it? But feel free to continue to argue merely for the sake of arguing.

You're arguing specifics. I was merely pointing out that we have a large contingent of perpetually dissatisfied fans on this board. Am I wrong?

 

[Son-of-a-Gunston]

Actually the negativity will end the Hewitt era/error sooner. If the fan base is satisfied and not vocal, there's much less pressure on the administration to make a change

Be serious, most posters on this forum form a fringe element of the fan base. Far too much groupthink here for anyone within the University to oblige. You're not going to hasten Hewitt's departure.

That said, I am not happy with losing and I know everyone involved with the team in any or all capacity is not happy with losing. But until there is a coaching improvement we need to support the players. They are the ones who need us most.

 

[wijg]

. Far too much groupthink here for anyone within the University to oblige.

. 99% who read/write on this board on a regular basis loves Mason Patriots Basketball. That's why there are so many "opinions" voiced.

Wait, are we voicing so many opinions or are we group-thinking?