Ryan Hammer's 26-27 George Mason Men's Basketball Preseason Preview

[NewPatriot]

View: https://youtu.be/EBDjIbu9cig?is=a-mB_M2TUYGD6-t


Fantastic!! Mason needs more coverage like this.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Repeat, already posted.

 

[Pat2028]

Can't have any slipups in a pretty weak nonconference. Still have 2-3 games to schedule but hopefully one of those is a very good P4 team. Outside of that, the best indicator of where this team is at will be the games against USF, Bradley, and High Point. I think the biggest tell of things that people aren't talking about on whether this team is going dancing is how much of a jump Elijah Jones makes.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Can't have any slipups in a pretty weak nonconference. Still have 2-3 games to schedule but hopefully one of those is a very good P4 team. Outside of that, the best indicator of where this team is at will be the games against USF, Bradley, and High Point. I think the biggest tell of things that people aren't talking about on whether this team is going dancing is how much of a jump Elijah Jones makes.

I don’t think this team is relying on any 1 player to make or break the season. If anyone is in that position, I’d say it’s Baraka. I could see 4 or 5 different guys competing for the starting 4 position, and 4 guys competing for the starting 5 spot.

 

[NewPatriot]

I don’t think this team is relying on any 1 player to make or break the season. If anyone is in that position, I’d say it’s Baraka. I could see 4 or 5 different guys competing for the starting 4 position, and 4 guys competing for the starting 5 spot.

Tony inferred that team 61 collectively could be a MUCH better defensive team than Team 59 based on what he has seen so far.

That gets me excited.

 

[gmujim92]

Barring a rash of injuries, there are going to be some competent players who get only spot minutes (or less) because of the depth on this roster. But the guys who do get on the floor will have earned it and that’s how you build a winning team, through brutal competition when nobody is watching. Iron sharpens iron.

 

[psyclone]

Barring a rash of injuries, there are going to be some competent players who get only spot minutes (or less) because of the depth on this roster. But the guys who do get on the floor will have earned it and that’s how you build a winning team, through brutal competition when nobody is watching. Iron sharpens iron.

Yeah...I fear that a frosh like Pendergrass won't get as much time as he might elsewhere and be more likely to transfer after his first year. But if he's as good as I think he may be, that might be true even if he gets starter-type minutes.

 

[GSII]

All depends on Nnaji and kid from Butler. If they arent ready then the defense will only get better.

 

[Verdad]

Yeah...I fear that a frosh like Pendergrass won't get as much time as he might elsewhere and be more likely to transfer after his first year. But if he's as good as I think he may be, that might be true even if he gets starter-type minutes.

No reason Pendergrass can't develop/have the same tragectory as Kanga.

 

[psyclone]

This is a result of a cold internet search...never heard of the site:

https://www.shootyhoops.com/conference-preview/atlantic10/2027

 

[KAOriginal]

Yeah...I fear that a frosh like Pendergrass won't get as much time as he might elsewhere and be more likely to transfer after his first year. But if he's as good as I think he may be, that might be true even if he gets starter-type minutes.

New paradigm. No more long term development concerns from a coaches perspective. Each season is a snapshot on what value you may have.

Kids who stick around for other than money....are the kids you will not win with. LOL.

 

[Verdad]

Really good to see Mason getting this kind of coverage.

There is usually plenty of attention once a team starts winning, but preseason content like this is much more interesting because you actually get some context on the roster, coaching and expectations before the games begin.

Hopefully this is not a one off. If Mason has the season people are hoping for, there should be plenty to talk about.

I don’t share the same opinion. The A10 has a ton of preseason prognostications every year from different media sources, what is different about this year? That site has us preseason 6th with zero players on all conference team and not a word about Brayden OConnor, who was preseason first team last year.

That thing screams AI to me, but I do like their format.

 

[Herndon]

New paradigm. No more long term development concerns from a coaches perspective. Each season is a snapshot on what value you may have.

Kids who stick around for other than money....are the kids you will not win with. LOL.

So true, and so awful.

 

[jkh1978]

Ryan Hammer (@ryanhammer09) on X

After going to ALL 14 A10 schools, got a lot of questions about best campus, arena, facilities, etc.... So here is a ranking of all 3 with a points system that spits out the *BEST BASKETBALL SETUP* in the A10 about the physical locations⬇️

x.com

11th best arena, 11th best overall in facilities/arena/campus

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Ryan Hammer (@ryanhammer09) on X

After going to ALL 14 A10 schools, got a lot of questions about best campus, arena, facilities, etc.... So here is a ranking of all 3 with a points system that spits out the *BEST BASKETBALL SETUP* in the A10 about the physical locations⬇️

x.com

11th best arena, 11th best overall in facilities/arena/campus

St. Joes arena better than EBA????? I’ve seen better high school arenas. WTF?

 

[Verdad]

St. Joes arena better than EBA????? I’ve seen better high school arenas. WTF?

Fordham too - that list is nuts. It did make me realize though that only us, Fordham, St Joes, Davidson and I think SBU are playing in dated arenas.

SLU, Dayton and vcu have top tier arenas (though I hate the layout of vcu's).

Richmond has a nicely remodeled arena (that should be our blueprint if we don't build new one).

Duquesne, URI, Lasalle all have new or at least modern looking arenas that are perfect sizes for them.

We are stuck in the big green turd.

 

[TweederGMU]

Ryan Hammer (@ryanhammer09) on X

After going to ALL 14 A10 schools, got a lot of questions about best campus, arena, facilities, etc.... So here is a ranking of all 3 with a points system that spits out the *BEST BASKETBALL SETUP* in the A10 about the physical locations⬇️

x.com

11th best arena, 11th best overall in facilities/arena/campus

A lot of his analysis and rankings here is so far off it's laughable.

On the Arena argument:

Agree with: Dayton and St. Louis has the top 2 arenas overall. Duquesne is fine being at #3.

Disagree: No way in hell La Salle and St. Joes should be anywhere near top 10. St. Bonny's has the worst, then I'd go La Salle and then St. Joe's.

vcu is rated way too high on their arena.... it's so ugly on the inside and the layout is awful. Hard to move around in it without bumping into people everywhere you go and hard to find section, rows, and seat numbers. Then the people who attend are mainly jerks to all other teams in general... constant dirty looks and shit talking... not a fun atmosphere.

I'd put Rhode Island #4 and #5 UR. Both are easy to get to and in and around and look good inside and well kept.


Campus argument:

UR is way underrated... one of the most beautiful campuses on the east coast and the architecture is top notch. Would put them #3 behind Davidson and Fordham. UL Chicago at #4.

GW is way overrated... their campus is nothing special... it's like every other major city based college in the US. No special qualities about it... buildings look basic and copycats of generic office buildings. Dorms are crappy. Homeless peeps everywhere. Nothing unique or beautiful about GW.

Rhode Island and Duquense's campus's are waayyyy better than GW.

La Salle is a dump, they deserve last. Followed by another dump... vcu and then I would put St. Bonny and then GW.

 

[Stoolguy]

Fordham too - that list is nuts. It did make me realize though that only us, Fordham, St Joes, Davidson and I think SBU are playing in dated arenas.

SLU, Dayton and vcu have top tier arenas (though I hate the layout of vcu's).

Richmond has a nicely remodeled arena (that should be our blueprint if we don't build new one).

Duquesne, URI, Lasalle all have new or at least modern looking arenas that are perfect sizes for them.

We are stuck in the big green turd.

I am so surprised our campus is better than our arena.

It seems like campus doesn’t really have a common theme that a lot of schools have while I don’t think EBA is anywhere close to as bad as it’s portrayed.

 

[NewPatriot]

I am so surprised our campus is better than our arena.

It seems like campus doesn’t really have a common theme that a lot of schools have while I don’t think EBA is anywhere close to as bad as it’s portrayed

My family has been associated with George Mason since 1970. The transformation of the campus has been remarkable. Its is really a beautiful campus. I don't care what anyone else says.

 

[GunstonsGhost]

It's all just rage bait to drive engagement. He would have provided evaluation criteria otherwise. Nothing wrong with it per se. But did he even walk every single campus? Doubtful. He probably walked the shortest distance from his camera van, hauled his gear in, and bounced to the next piece of content.