Final Record Predictions

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

12 - 18 (<---- and that is optimistic), with a first round loss in Brooklyn.

Hewitt's contract/money record: 2-0, remains undefeated.

Another prediction: No one will hold O'Connor or Hewitt responsible and we we'll go through another year of this. Hewitt will leave this program in shambles. Recruiting will suffer, the little fan support we have will suffer. The modestly growing student support we seemed to have will all but disappear. The damage done to this program will last much longer than anyone on this board wants to believe. I will still go to games, but I won't tell anyone that I do.

Prepare for many more WTF moments the next 24 months at least.

Have a great night, everyone!

 

[Patriotsince81]

7 - 23.

 

[TweederGMU]

13-17

Oklahoma is gonna beat us by 10 or more
vcu will beat us by 15 or more
UMASS will beat us by 20

 

[GMUheckler]

Not a final prediction but we wont win a game in December.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I'm only certain of one thing: We lose big at ODU.

 

[KAOriginal]

At first I was like "no way"...but looking at the remaining schedule.....yeah I dont see us winning more tan 13 games this year.....and that includes a "sneak up on somebody's off night" win thrown in.

 

[Walter]

16 - 14.

 

[gmujim92]

I've got 15-15, thoroughly mediocre -- and then we'll spend the entire offseason hearing about how the coaches need time to add more "A-10 caliber players" to be competitive.

Barf.

 

[Patriotfan49]

I've got 15-15, thoroughly mediocre -- and then we'll spend the entire offseason hearing about how the coaches need time to add more "A-10 caliber players" to be competitive.

Barf.

Stop being negative Jim.

 

[GSII]

We are almost last in the country in assists. That's one of many factors that need fixing. Coach Skeeters said "...sign of a young team" in his post game last night in reference to blowing the lead. So even he's got excuses now.

12 -15 wins per season for as long as Hewitt is here seems about right. He just doesn't know how to command a team vs any opponent. His limited big wins at ga tech were won by his players doing it moreso than him leading the way in scheme or strategy. ie vs duke. While I believe he has tried to become a better in game coach at mason, its becoming more evident that he simply prefers to have the better athletes and make his employer wait for the wins to come. TOC should start the search for the right coach yesterday. Why wait any longer when it just doesn't feel right from top to bottom.

 

[Walter]

TOC should start the search for the right coach yesterday.

Shouldn't that read, "President Cabrera should start the search for the right AD yesterday."

 

[gmujim92]

Shouldn't that read, "President Cabrera should start the search for the right AD yesterday."

I'm not saying TOC should be fired, necessarily, but no way he gets to have the say on our next coach after this damn debacle.

He lucked into Larranaga -- a coach he didn't even want, by the way -- and then decided to replace the face of our university with a guy who was pretty much a grease fire at his previous job.

Whoever we wind up with, it had better be a true search committee identifying, interviewing and hiring the candidate.

I'll start by nominating Mike Rhoades from vcu. Yes, he would have to be placed in one of those de-contamination baths to get rid of the vcu funk, and no he has never been a D-I head coach, but the guy is an absolutely tremendous basketball coach.

Many people I know here in Richmond give Rhoades just as much credit for vcu's success as Shaka. He's the strategic genius on the bench and prefers an up-tempo system that kids want to play in.

Stealing him from vcu and weakening them in the process would just be a bonus.

 

[gmutom]

Jim, approaching this from a logistical standpoint rather than just emotionally, where are you getting the money to eat the last two years of Hewitt's contract and then the money to lure a top coach on top of it?

Even if it is 100-percent warranted to let him go, it's obvious our athletic department isn't oozing with money or isn't willing to spend it. If they were, we'd have a practice facility by now, a much better game experience and significantly better marketing strategy.

The god thing about Cabrera, though, is he is a business man. He is smart enough to look ahead a few years and weigh the pros and cons of keeping Hewitt or making a change. I do agree with you that this will be Cabrera's decision, and I'm sure he can't be happy with the current state of the program.

 

[gmujim92]

Jim, approaching this from a logistical standpoint rather than just emotionally, where are you getting the money to eat the last two years of Hewitt's contract and then the money to lure a top coach on top of it?

Even if it is 100-percent warranted to let him go, it's obvious our athletic department isn't oozing with money or isn't willing to spend it. If they were, we'd have a practice facility by now, a much better game experience and significantly better marketing strategy.

The god thing about Cabrera, though, is he is a business man. He is smart enough to look ahead a few years and weigh the pros and cons of keeping Hewitt or making a change. I do agree with you that this will be Cabrera's decision, and I'm sure he can't be happy with the current state of the program.

The great thing about hiring a guy like Rhoades is that, in exchange for being able to start off at an A-10 school and skip over the low majors, he'd probably be willing to take about half of what Hewitt's getting.

Shaka started out at $300,000 at vcu, and only got raised (and raised again and again) after going to the FF. No reason why we couldn't get Rhoades for $400,000 and incentives that could push it higher if he wins big ... which he will somewhere.

In the final analysis, it is a business decision. If we wait through 2 more years of this same mediocre crap, I think we'll wind up doing way more than $1.5 million worth of damage to the program.

Our notoriously fickle fan base is not going to keep showing up once it's clear we're a lower-middle A-10 team with a bunch of juniors and seniors. We need something to create hope, if nothing else.

 

[GSII]

Hewitt is here b/c Merten agreed that he was a nice guy vs the sometimes asshole OCM could be.....had good grad rates.....clean program. In other words, a safe bet and one from a big name conference and a finals appearance. CLEARLY they didn't look at all his years and examine how he won and lost. Maybe short on time since it was in april.

 

[gmutom]

Our notoriously fickle fan base is not going to keep showing up once it's clear we're a lower-middle A-10 team with a bunch of juniors and seniors. We need something to create hope, if nothing else.

Sadly, I think you vastly overrate how much our fan base cares. Many casual fans left last night thinking they saw a very exciting basketball game. I wish they were as passionate as the 25 people who post here, but most people will continue to come to games even if the product is average. I thought the student crowd last night was impressive, so it will be interesting to see if it remains that way after the break.

The reason I held out hope — and still kind of do — that Hewitt would make this work is because I don't want to start over again. It was one thing when we went from Westhead to Coach L and there were no expectations, but we're looking at a major overhaul with assistants, current players and incoming recruits if we axe Hewitt.

I get that it will be a necessity if we continue to play average basketball, but I don't think some people here realize what's in store if we hire a new coach after this season. Rhoades might be a very good coach, but he's not inheriting Maynor and Sanders like Shaka did when he got hired at vcu.

 

[PDGL Hoops]

Final Record: 10-20

 

[Dawgs99]

If we finish 10-20 we better not bring back hewitt. If Hewitt does return he better fire everyone besides Kreider.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Sadly, I think you vastly overrate how much our fan base cares. Many casual fans left last night thinking they saw a very exciting basketball game

This. That's why I hate that I love a team and program that virtually no one else really cares about outside of these boards. Tom O'Connor has the best job in the country. Because no matter how bad the program does, no one will really care. He'll hang his hat on a softball championship once every 10 years, brag about it and his employer and donors will not know enough about this program to get angry or hold him accountable.

We are really in O'Connor's world. He has worked for over 20 years to schmooze an entire community and fooling them into believing he is worth keeping. That is ALL O'Connor cares about, keeping his job.

No University in the country would possibly hire him if he left Mason. He is not only a bad AD, he is just a bad person overall. But don't worry, I have been playing the lottery daily and as soon as it hits, O'Connor is outta here.

 

[GSII]

I actually like Skeeters