Game 17: GMU (10-6 / 2-1) at St. Louis (10-6 / 2-1) on Wednesday, January 11, at 8:00 PM.

MasonSAE4

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I agree with everything you said, except of course that reference to me. But that's okay. At least you said it. Kudos.
Ok it wasn't even a reference to you. There are multiple members on this board (although to be fair the guy I had in mind has been conspicuously absent). Enough with the protagonist syndrome.
 

MasonSAE4

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We had an 8-point lead with 2 minutes and change left on the road against what is still probably the second-best team in the A-10. I get the frustration over choking the game away, we’re all pissed, but a team that’s not good doesn’t even get in position to win in the first place. We’re honestly pretty damn close to breaking through …
Be honest with yourself and think if that was really a performance that warranted an eight point lead with two minutes left. We had a lead because St. Louis had a really off night and their coach got tossed and gifted us points and possessions (the fact that they also aren't very good from the line also kind of masks some stuff). I'm not saying we're a terrible team or anything but we aren't good. We're perfectly meh. You can't say "would a good team be in the position to have an eight point lead with two mins to go?" and then ignore the question of "would a good team blow an eight point lead with two mins to go?". That's some serious cherry picking.
 

GSII

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Be honest with yourself and think if that was really a performance that warranted an eight point lead with two minutes left. We had a lead because St. Louis had a really off night and their coach got tossed and gifted us points and possessions (the fact that they also aren't very good from the line also kind of masks some stuff). I'm not saying we're a terrible team or anything but we aren't good. We're perfectly meh. You can't say "would a good team be in the position to have an eight point lead with two mins to go?" and then ignore the question of "would a good team blow an eight point lead with two mins to go?". That's some serious cherry picking.
Par for a cowboys fan
 

GMUSSTN

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Be honest with yourself and think if that was really a performance that warranted an eight point lead with two minutes left. We had a lead because St. Louis had a really off night and their coach got tossed and gifted us points and possessions (the fact that they also aren't very good from the line also kind of masks some stuff). I'm not saying we're a terrible team or anything but we aren't good. We're perfectly meh. You can't say "would a good team be in the position to have an eight point lead with two mins to go?" and then ignore the question of "would a good team blow an eight point lead with two mins to go?". That's some serious cherry picking.
Good teams CAN do both but we lost that game when they went zone and we had no answer offensively. The fact that we still had a lead near the end was lucky, the fact that we lost was not. If we had hit shots and broken the zone then we would have won easy. If we were a GOOD team we would have hit shots and broken the zone.

I think we COULD be a good team...def playing better now than we were in November. If we continue to improve maybe we'll look like a good team in Brooklyn.
 

MasonSAE4

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Good teams CAN do both but we lost that game when they went zone and we had no answer offensively. The fact that we still had a lead near the end was lucky, the fact that we lost was not. If we had hit shots and broken the zone then we would have won easy. If we were a GOOD team we would have hit shots and broken the zone.

I think we COULD be a good team...def playing better now than we were in November. If we continue to improve maybe we'll look like a good team in Brooklyn.
My observation is simply in the here and now. Did I say we couldn't turn a corner and play like the '96 Bulls? No. But the observable facts are that we are a team that dropped three straight brutal losses on a neutral court, blew an 8 point lead with 2:00 to go in a game in which every advantage was handed to us, and are not top-100 in any sort of ratings system. A gut assumption that we're "close" is not exactly counter-evidence to any of that.
 

gmubrian

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Oh no, we aren't going to talk about practice are we.

Not a game but practice? :p
LOL. I was addressing those suggesting they don’t do enough free throw shooting. Couldn’t finish my point since the plane was going down the runway and the flight attendant sitting next to me was giving me the stink eye..

I saw a team that played really good for 38 minutes. Yes, free throws are really bad, but they are practiced over and over again and they light them up. Game time free throws will come around. My point is that we will eventually shed this curse. Kentucky is just one slot ahead of us in free throw percentage as of yesterday. So, it happens to the best of coaches (or worst depending on your view of Calipari).

When we do work them out, with rest of our game coming around, I think we are looking good.

Obviously, I choose to be optimistic and look for the improvements, but I have confidence we are heading in the right direction and going to get there.
 

GMUSSTN

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My observation is simply in the here and now. Did I say we couldn't turn a corner and play like the '96 Bulls? No. But the observable facts are that we are a team that dropped three straight brutal losses on a neutral court, blew an 8 point lead with 2:00 to go in a game in which every advantage was handed to us, and are not top-100 in any sort of ratings system. A gut assumption that we're "close" is not exactly counter-evidence to any of that.
Mostly was just trying to point out that we lost the game when they went zone, not in the last couple minutes.
 

GSII

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LOL. I was addressing those suggesting they don’t do enough free throw shooting. Couldn’t finish my point since the plane was going down the runway and the flight attendant sitting next to me was giving me the stink eye..

I saw a team that played really good for 38 minutes. Yes, free throws are really bad, but they are practiced over and over again and they light them up. Game time free throws will come around. My point is that we will eventually shed this curse. Kentucky is just one slot ahead of us in free throw percentage as of yesterday. So, it happens to the best of coaches (or worst depending on your view of Calipari).

When we do work them out, with rest of our game coming around, I think we are looking good.

Obviously, I choose to be optimistic and look for the improvements, but I have confidence we are heading in the right direction and going to get there.

Agreed, but it seems like we are trying to fire up a vintage Ferrari. It shouldn't take this long for this veteran team to know how to play. We are an old team. I'm not sure if its scheme or direct coaching or what, but if you look at LSU and Charleston, they started clicking with all new players ALOT faster than us. Its a bit of a concern that maybe Kim is trying to run a system thats too pro level and our players think they can, but really they can't.
 

smccart5

Starter
Coach said on the By George pod over the summer that if someone has a very high shooting %, "then they aren't taking enough shots". VBJ is shooting damn near 50% from 3--that is TOO HIGH. He needs to shoot more. We need to start running plays for him so we can have a formidable 2nd option besides Oduro.

Besides the %, VBJs shot is smooth and just looks good/professional. We don't get that too often in a Mason uniform.
 

GSII

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An example of dumb.....
There was no vbj, oduro or polite in the last 2 min. Cooper took and missed two 3 pointers and fouled Yuri to seal the game. Pretty sure they were in man. Why not give it to Oduro one more time? He only destroyed their bigs all game. But no, we let Cooper jack threes. It's crunch time, feed Oduro and let him eat. Always a better 3pt shot when it comes from a kick out. Ugh
 

GMU79

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You know you don't have to do that, right? You can just not post.
True, and folks don't have to respond to me either. Everybody could just post, and leave it at that.

Thank you hoops admin!
I appreciate you!
 

gmulion

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An example of dumb.....
There was no vbj, oduro or polite in the last 2 min. Cooper took and missed two 3 pointers and fouled Yuri to seal the game. Pretty sure they were in man. Why not give it to Oduro one more time? He only destroyed their bigs all game. But no, we let Cooper jack threes. It's crunch time, feed Oduro and let him eat. Always a better 3pt shot when it comes from a kick out. Ugh

I thought the first Cooper 3 was an out of bounds play with the shot clock running down.

Then the second one, I thought Oduro passed it out to Cooper for an open shot.
 

GSII

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Yeah Josh wasn't shooting late because he had three guys on him on the catch. Needed some damn help.
If that's the case, give VJ that shot. He is the one shooting over 50% from 3. Cooper played decent defense which means he isn't gonna have a great shooting night. When he plays zero defense, he makes shots.
 

Patriot Lawdog

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Whether we are "close" or not is TBD. It will be shown in the next few games whether this was simply a combination of SLU playing bad and some beneficial refereeing or true improvement. I'm on the fence. Playing good defense for 38 minutes doesn't cut it unless you want a lot of close losses because it's not like we're gonna be up 15 with 2 minutes left in a lot of games.
 
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