Christmas in March - My wishlist for GMU Bball 22-23

[jessej]

my list - feel free to criticize, improve and offer your own

Christmas Wish List in March – GMU BBall 22-23

Better OOC Record than 21/22

Upgrade in OOC Schedule in terms of average NET, or Kenpom or …



Better League Record than 21/22

Conference upgrade in terms of average NET, or Kenpom or … (Even with the addition of loyola-Chicago)

Overall record better than 21/22

Upgrade to a better Thanksgiving/Christmas tournament

Development of local rivalries - Georgetown, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech - leading to the DMV Invitational - our version of philly's Big Five

games against at least 2 Top 25 teams



Regular Season Finish in the Top 6

A-10 tourney finish in the top 4

Consistent media talk about being a NCAA Tourney bubble team

NIT Bid

Semis of the NIT



Oduru stays and improves

Gaines stays and improves

Gaines becomes a Co-Captain with Oduru, and improves

Cooper finds a way to return for a 6th year, and improves



all current scholarship players - if not wanted for the 22/23 season are given the option of an academic scholarship to finish their degrees at GMU - prior to entering the portal

anyone who enters the transfer portal finds the appropriate school where they can start and flourish and eventually graduate


recruit a 4 star point guard

recruit a 4 star point big man

use a combination of the transfer portal and recruiting to get a solid bench capable of proving key minutes this year and developing into starters in a year


priority of a point guard

priority of a big and/or Power forward

a mix of players with 1 year thru 4 years of eligibility remaining

consistent recruiting of 3* and Higher players



Overall fan attendance increases

student attendance increases

Enact a strategy to increase both game attendance and paid game attendance - Reach out to local alumni

Using Bball games as an activity for class reunions
Offer free tix as a way of increasing attendence - HS honor student night - local HS bbal teams, etc, etc


TV Coverage of games better than ESPN+

sponsor buses, student and adults to games within a reasonable travel distance - Richmond, vcu, Naval Academy, Lasalle, St Joes, Fordham

1 bus for student - with cheer leads and 1 bus for STH/adults

Student pep rallies prior to weekend games

Develop new student/fan traditions - standing till first score, student tunnels at the start of the game

end of season team banquet


KCE STAYS FOR AT LEAST 4 MORE YEARS

 

[gmubrian]

Please make the road games either short drives or close to decent airports.

Maybe some less crime ridden cities. We visited five of the top crime ridden cities in the country on our journey this season.

 

[mkaufman1]

Oduru Petersen and Abraham = dream team

 

[gmubrian]

my list - feel free to criticize, improve and offer your own

Christmas Wish List in March – GMU BBall 22-23

Better OOC Record than 21/22

Upgrade in OOC Schedule in terms of average NET, or Kenpom or …



Better League Record than 21/22

Conference upgrade in terms of average NET, or Kenpom or … (Even with the addition of loyola-Chicago)

Overall record better than 21/22

Upgrade to a better Thanksgiving/Christmas tournament

Development of local rivalries - Georgetown, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech - leading to the DMV Invitational - our version of philly's Big Five

games against at least 2 Top 25 teams



Regular Season Finish in the Top 6

A-10 tourney finish in the top 4

Consistent media talk about being a NCAA Tourney bubble team

NIT Bid

Semis of the NIT



Oduru stays and improves

Gaines stays and improves

Gaines becomes a Co-Captain with Oduru, and improves

Cooper finds a way to return for a 6th year, and improves



all current scholarship players - if not wanted for the 22/23 season are given the option of an academic scholarship to finish their degrees at GMU - prior to entering the portal

anyone who enters the transfer portal finds the appropriate school where they can start and flourish and eventually graduate


recruit a 4 star point guard

recruit a 4 star point big man

use a combination of the transfer portal and recruiting to get a solid bench capable of proving key minutes this year and developing into starters in a year


priority of a point guard

priority of a big and/or Power forward

a mix of players with 1 year thru 4 years of eligibility remaining

consistent recruiting of 3* and Higher players



Overall fan attendance increases

student attendance increases

Enact a strategy to increase both game attendance and paid game attendance - Reach out to local alumni

Using Bball games as an activity for class reunions
Offer free tix as a way of increasing attendence - HS honor student night - local HS bbal teams, etc, etc


TV Coverage of games better than ESPN+

sponsor buses, student and adults to games within a reasonable travel distance - Richmond, vcu, Naval Academy, Lasalle, St Joes, Fordham

1 bus for student - with cheer leads and 1 bus for STH/adults

Student pep rallies prior to weekend games

Develop new student/fan traditions - standing till first score, student tunnels at the start of the game

end of season team banquet


KCE STAYS FOR AT LEAST 4 MORE YEARS

I am about 95% confident that you will get your wish that Cooper stays, along with Oduro and Gaines.

I also expect to see multiple players enter the portal in the very near future.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Please make the road games either short drives or close to decent airports.

Yes, please. This season's road schedule was rough from a fan travel perspective.

 

[JimP]

Please make the road games either short drives or close to decent airports.

Maybe some less crime ridden cities. We visited five of the top crime ridden cities in the country on our journey this season.

Crime Ridden cities in the OOC? Not sure what can be done about avoiding A-10 conference cities...

 

[sleeperpick]

Crime Ridden cities in the OOC? Not sure what can be done about avoiding A-10 conference cities...

The thought of Lawrence Kansas and South Dakota has me shaking in my boots.

I hope the A10 keeps us permanently out of Philly, NYC, Richmond and DC. We are better off playing all of our games at Davidson and Bona to make our fans feel safest. The danger our fans endure with middle fingers and cities with murder cannot be stood for

 

[JimP]

The thought of Lawrence Kansas and South Dakota has me shaking in my boots.

I hope the A10 keeps us permanently out of Philly, NYC, Richmond and DC. We are better off playing all of our games at Davidson and Bona to make our fans feel safest. The danger our fans endure with middle fingers and cities with murder cannot be stood for

Bona won't be as tough in Olean next year, perhaps multiple road games against them would be nice. Not the most exciting town - great burger at The Burton though. Multiple trips to face McKillop and Davidson? No thanks.

I would personally like more OOC road games in the mid-atlantic or northeast, that'd be cool

 

[sleeperpick]

Bona won't be as tough in Olean next year, perhaps multiple road games against them would be nice. Not the most exciting town - great burger at The Burton though. Multiple trips to face McKillop and Davidson? No thanks.

I would personally like more OOC road games in the mid-atlantic or northeast, that'd be cool

But scary cities Jim. The crime. We gotta be staying safe on the road.

 

[mkaufman1]

The thought of Lawrence Kansas and South Dakota has me shaking in my boots.

I hope the A10 keeps us permanently out of Philly, NYC, Richmond and DC. We are better off playing all of our games at Davidson and Bona to make our fans feel safest. The danger our fans endure with middle fingers and cities with murder cannot be stood for

So basically you want me to not attend any games. I thought we were friends!!!

Bad news because the tournament in 2023 is in Brooklyn.

I really hate the off-season.

 

[sleeperpick]

So basically you want me to not attend any games. I thought we were friends!!!

Bad news because the tournament in 2023 is in Brooklyn.

I really hate the off-season.

Too scary for many of our fans to attend. I hope they move it somewhere in western Virginia

 

[gmubrian]

A certain fan on here seems to be the angriest person On the planet with absolutely no sense of humor.

Oh, and thanks for reminding me about Richmond. I hadn’t counted that one. That makes it six of the top most crime ridden cities.

 

[Falco]

all I need is a PG

 

[Patriotsince81]

all I need is a PG

A well rounded point guard who can defend like a madman, facilitate an offense, pass, make shots, and nail free throws. Not too much to ask for, right?

 

[mkaufman1]

A point guard - maybe another serviceable big body and continued growth from Oduro and Gaines and Cooper (assuming he’s back).

Just build depth and talent around what we have and it should translate better.

 

[Five Two]

My Christmas wish list:

-Move the student section next to the Green Machine

-Get the Green Machine better uniforms

-No more singers in the Green Machine

-Ditch the black uniforms for a gold alternate

-Average 5K+ attendance per game

-A conference regular season title

-A Conference post season title

 

[GSII]

Lamar Butler on staff

A PG like Colin Gillespie, Villanova.

Wisdom for KE

A rim attacker like an Eric Herring

A 6'11 big man

 

[JimP]

Please make the road games either short drives or close to decent airports.

Maybe some less crime ridden cities. We visited five of the top crime ridden cities in the country on our journey this season.

Yeah, I dunno. Been to a Saturday afternoon game at LaSalle and wasn't impressed with the neighborhood, but did not feel unsafe at that time of day.

Fordham - Arthur Avenue and the Bronx Zoo are pretty cool. Stayed at a reasonably priced hotel near Fordham right before the pandemic shut everything down. Paulsen regime, best thing about it - we won! Yeah, it made us 5-13 in conference, lol.

Road conference games require a day of our lives - the few I've attended have been enjoyable. If you're not a fan of the neighborhood, no reason to stay there after the game.

 

[nynva]

Yeah, I dunno. Been to a Saturday afternoon game at LaSalle and wasn't impressed with the neighborhood, but did not feel unsafe at that time of day.

Fordham - Arthur Avenue and the Bronx Zoo are pretty cool. Stayed at a reasonably priced hotel near Fordham right before the pandemic shut everything down. Paulsen regime, best thing about it - we won! Yeah, it made us 5-13 in conference, lol.

Road conference games require a day of our lives - the few I've attended have been enjoyable. If you're not a fan of the neighborhood, no reason to stay there after the game.

I was at that Fordham game too.

Sleeper I didn't notice any of the issues you described going to games in the BX but maybe that is because I can tawk about my dawg or my cawfee.

 

[mkaufman1]

Yeah, I dunno. Been to a Saturday afternoon game at LaSalle and wasn't impressed with the neighborhood, but did not feel unsafe at that time of day.

Fordham - Arthur Avenue and the Bronx Zoo are pretty cool. Stayed at a reasonably priced hotel near Fordham right before the pandemic shut everything down. Paulsen regime, best thing about it - we won! Yeah, it made us 5-13 in conference, lol.

Road conference games require a day of our lives - the few I've attended have been enjoyable. If you're not a fan of the neighborhood, no reason to stay there after the game.

There is absolutely nothing impressive about LaSalle. That was the worst Division 1 basketball arena I have ever seen in my life. The only positives were that the parking was 5 feet from the door and the bathroom was practically in the gym.

I absolutely hated it. And thats coming from someone who visited Richmond Coliseum where I also hate it.

Lets just say if they asked for donations to help build a new arena, I'd throw money at it.

Fordham, on the other hand, I thought was the worst experience but this past experience wasn't too bad. The worst part was trying to get back on campus and justfiying that I was a guest to security who "didn't have a list". I could tell that they are trying a little harder with having a few more food options, a socialization area before the game etc. The arena could still use some work but it was much better than Lasalle. Also to your point about nearby options, those are nice draws for those coming down for a night or making a day out of the visit.