Game 15: GMU (13-1 / 1-0) vs Rhode Island (9-5 / 0-1) on Saturday, January 3, at 4:00 PM.

[DRK331]

Post game presser with Tony Skinn, Stas Sivka, and Kory Mincy

 

[tblack33]

Best game of Stas Sivka’s life. Really glad to see it. Team has looked better when he got minutes but his stats didn’t really back it up, glad to see him take care of business today. Hopefully he earned some minutes, because god knows they should be available at the 4.

 

[Where's the party?]

If we can get play like this from Stas and Kanga to go along with RIley, we should be much stronger in the front court than usual. Couple that with us having the deepest roster of guards I remember, and I'm thinking the team could be in the top 4. Feeling good, baby!

 

[Sport31]

Just back from game, very good win and an enthusiastic crowd. I'm guessing 4500-5000. Stas was outstanding on O and fairly decent on D. Give the man more minutes. Kory delivering dimes to guys unfortunately a couple times they weren't ready for them. One of the better defensive efforts , except for 3 pt close outs in the first half. Overall much improved D and we get a new guy leading the scoring.

 

[tblack33]

Just back from game, very good win and an enthusiastic crowd. I'm guessing 4500-5000. Stas was outstanding on O and fairly decent on D. Give the man more minutes. Kory delivering dimes to guys unfortunately a couple times they weren't ready for them. One of the better defensive efforts , except for 3 pt close outs in the first half. Overall much improved D and we get a new guy leading the scoring.

Announced attendance: 4086

 

[mshin5]

A rotation of Stas and Kanga will do wonders for us at the 4. Maybe the injury was bothering Dola and that was what was holding him back. Hoping for Dola to come back and contribute to that rotation as well

 

[daveshac]

Post game presser with Tony Skinn, Stas Sivka, and Kory Mincy

Does anyone know who the typical journos are that ask questions at these pressers, and where they publish?

I can recognize Rohland’s voice - he usually asks the last question. But don’t know who else is in there.

 

[nchocola]

Stas and Kanga are the ticket.

The most noticeable difference from last season to this season for Stas is his athleticism. He could always shoot and had good fundamentals on both sides of the ball but was missing that athleticism.

The last couple of games you can tell he has a better rebounding instinct and is quicker on his feet defensively. He is building confidence as well.

Kanga had another great game in limited minutes. He is an outstanding defender on ball screens and can protect the rim well. Great athleticism and rebounder too. I still think Tony needs to find him more minutes.

Riley is an outstanding offensive player but he got picked on defensively by Rhode Island quite often on screens. His rebounding effort just isn’t there either. I just can’t understand how a guy who is 6’11” can’t get more than one rebound in a game. If you are going to play Riley, I think you need Kanga or Stas in the game as well, otherwise the defense and rebounding suffers immensely.

Good win and much better team defense today overall.

 

[DRK331]

Highlights from the 61-50 home win over Rhode Island

 

[GunstonsGhost]

Surprised no one asked how Fatt was doing in the presser. Anyone have any info? Hoping he just got the wind knocked out of him, but he did go straight to the locker room.

 

[jkh1978]

crowd energy was good, unless they tried to get crowd to sing then the energy vanished

 

[99 Patriot]

Surprised no one asked how Fatt was doing in the presser. Anyone have any info? Hoping he just got the wind knocked out of him, but he did go straight to the locker room.

He was first in line to high five fans after the game. I asked if he was good and he said yes.

 

[GunstonsGhost]

crowd energy was good, unless they tried to get crowd to sing then the energy vanished

I liked how today's hype man talked about the 9 point lead we had and got the crowd hype at the last tv timeout. More of that and less of the awkward making people sing type stuff.

 

[GMU79]

Funny how a few days ago this team was a pillow fight team and now they are potentially top 4.

 

[psyclone]

GoMason.com coverage:

Patriots Stifle Rhode Island in 61-50 Victory - George Mason University Athletics

The George Mason University men's basketball team (14-1, 2-0) put together one of its best defensive performances of the season during a 61-50 triumph over Rhode

gomason.com

One question: the summary includes Stas' +/- numbers for the last 2 games but I don't see any of our box scores with those numbers. Am I missing something? Or is that "super-secret" information?

 

[jkh1978]

One more thing on Stas - I noticed when the swat hit the ball into the camera/cameraman, Stas ran over to make sure he was ok.

 

[NewPatriot]

Tony made an interesting point about Stas vs Troutman at the four. Stats knows the entire offensive playbook so he reads the defense and makes the correct play more quickly so offense executes at a high level when he is in the game.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

Stas and Kanga are the ticket.

The most noticeable difference from last season to this season for Stas is his athleticism. He could always shoot and had good fundamentals on both sides of the ball but was missing that athleticism.

The last couple of games you can tell he has a better rebounding instinct and is quicker on his feet defensively. He is building confidence as well.

Kanga had another great game in limited minutes. He is an outstanding defender on ball screens and can protect the rim well. Great athleticism and rebounder too. I still think Tony needs to find him more minutes.

Riley is an outstanding offensive player but he got picked on defensively by Rhode Island quite often on screens. His rebounding effort just isn’t there either. I just can’t understand how a guy who is 6’11” can’t get more than one rebound in a game. If you are going to play Riley, I think you need Kanga or Stas in the game as well, otherwise the defense and rebounding suffers immensely.

Good win and much better team defense today overall.

I too liked the Sivka and Kanga pairing. As for Stas, I'm not surprised with his performance and posted last year that he had the potential to break out. All you had to do was watch him during warmups before the game and at the half. Dude can flat out shoot and I was thrilled he re-upped.

I was calling for him to get 15-20 mins per game this year, but this is clearly a deep team and minutes are limited. He now appears more capable of putting the ball on the floor and going to the rack. I think he's earning Tony's trust. 6'11" guys who can shoot are a rare commodity.

He made the most of his minutes and was decent on the defensive end, tipping a few rebounds to teammates in the last 5-8 minutes.

The free throw problem today is a one-off. This should have been a 15-20 point blowout. When we get O'Conner back we will have a team with 7 players capable of posting 17+ in a game.

Mincy
Long
Allensbach
Troutman
Sivka
O'Conner
Kanga

In all my years following this team I do not think there's ever been a team with this kind of depth.

It is an embarrassment of riches. Kudos to Tony and staff.

 

[DRK331]

Game summary by MTC Media

 

[psyclone]

Does anyone know who the typical journos are that ask questions at these pressers, and where they publish?

I can recognize Rohland’s voice - he usually asks the last question. But don’t know who else is in there.

Marcus Washington--MTC Media is one of them.
See this:

View: https://youtu.be/4sWMMMXw8mM
which is also posted on this thread.