Game 19: GMU (17-1 / 5-0) vs GW (12-6 / 3-2) on Monday, January 19, at 5:00 PM.

[Old Man]

This is a legit criticism. The announcers a couple
of games back mentioned that Mason “scares me when Allenspach and Kanga are in the game at the same time”.

Kanga needs to be on Castro Monday. Period

I'm not sure. I mean, it's not that I disagree conceptually, but if Kanga is on Castro from the beginning, does Kanga even make it to the under 8 time out before fouling out? And when he fouls out, what then?

 

[gmutom]

Hes a connector and Mason won with him in the lineup. Its not always stats..he meshes with the rest of the lineup and does the dirty work and Mason wins
..end of story

Assuming it's ok to respond after you deemed the story as ended, I'm not disputing he offers some intangibles that might not show up in a box score. It just doesn't make sense why he's only averaging 12 minutes a game in conference play if those intangibles are making a significant difference.

If he was starting and we were racing out to big first-half leads, I would whole-heartedly buy into your "meshes with the rest of the team" argument. But even Tony is giving him sporadic minutes for a reason, and he's rarely if ever on the floor at the end of games.

I think we all agree the slow starts have become a troubling issue, so I think it's fair to wonder if there are better solutions with the starting lineup than a guy averaging 1 point, .8 rebounds and .2 assists in five A10 games. It certainly makes more sense than the people here who suggested last night that Riley should be benched before he scored the final 11 points of the game.

 

[Verdad]

Keep in mind also that Riley was the reason that Rubin fouled out - he really took it to him in the last 5 minutes or so.

Best way to defend the other team's best player is force them to the bench.

 

[GMU1983]

Yes, better way to look at it with Riley. Without his clutch play at the end, we don't win!!

 

[MasonFanatic]

Stas and Kanga don't play the same position so I'm not sure why we're comparing their minutes. Stas has been getting minutes because we needed size at the 4 and Troutman was getting beaten on defense and rebounds.

 

[GMU79]

Yes, better way to look at it with Riley. Without his clutch play at the end, we don't win!!

Yes, but aside from the block, on defense he is brutal...meaning he gave up some of those 11 points too.

 

[FreeGunston12]

For all the grief Allenspach takes around here, I'm curious why Presley is held to a different standard. He started both halves yesterday, and his only stat in the box score was three fouls in 7 minutes. If people claim his lack of offense is offset by his defense, why is Riley not given the same free pass? Could our slow starts be attributed to starting a player who has scored 5 total points in the last 5 games?

My point here isn't to criticize Presley or defend Riley but more to show the hypocrisy that we hold defense-first players to a different standard than offensive-first players. There's no question Allenspach is a liability in the post, so I'm baffled as to why we didn't help him out more last night. It will be coaching malpractice if we leave him alone against Castro.

As for the slow starts, maybe it's time to try something new like playing Mincy, Long and Fatt together and then bringing Booker, Adebayo and Presley off the bench as needed. Some will say if it's not broke don't fix it, but sooner or later these slow starts are going to create a deficit we can't overcome.

Presley doesn’t get a pass. He just gets benched, so people don’t harp on him on here because he’s sitting. He has had a bad 4 or 5 games. Seems he lost a bit of his defensive identity recently. Maybe he is feeling the pressure to defend his minutes with Hill and Troutman healthy? Whatever it is, I hope he does get back to form soon.

 

[psyclone]

-Presley doesn’t get a pass. He just gets benched, so people don’t harp on him on here because he’s sitting. He has had a bad 4 or 5 games. Seems he lost a bit of his defensive identity recently. Maybe he is feeling the pressure to defend his minutes with Hill and Troutman healthy? Whatever it is, I hope he does get back to form soon.

Realizing that they don't necessarily play the same positions and have different strengths, I looked at their +/- for the 5 conference games (from LaSalle, URI, Fordham, vcu, to Loyola, left to right--[sorry, I need someone to teach me how to do columns in these posts!):
Malik: -2,-5,-5,-3,-1
Stas: 14,17,7,7,0
Kanga: 1,12,-2,-5,-1

 

[gmutom]

Presley doesn’t get a pass. He just gets benched, so people don’t harp on him on here because he’s sitting. He has had a bad 4 or 5 games. Seems he lost a bit of his defensive identity recently. Maybe he is feeling the pressure to defend his minutes with Hill and Troutman healthy? Whatever it is, I hope he does get back to form soon.

Just to be clear, I have no issue at all with Malik playing. The subject of us always starting games slowly came up, and I wondered if there is something Tony could do to tweak the lineup to avoid us digging a hole. I completely agree we are a better team when Malik is playing well, so maybe coming off the bench will help him acclimate better and give us a boost of energy.

The million dollar question is do you start Fatt, Mincy, Long and Troutman together with Riley, do we go back to starting Adebayo like we did before he got hurt, or do we go bigger by starting Kanga or Ellington with Riley, Mincy, Troutman and Long?

 

[jkh1978]

Federal Employee Ticket Offer - George Mason University Athletics

George Mason Athletics will offer up to four complimentary tickets to the MLK Day Men's Basketball match up versus George Washington on Monday, Jan 19th at 5:00pm Tickets

gomason.com

Free tickets for federal employees. Tell your Mason friends

 

[hoops10]

Stas and Kanga don't play the same position so I'm not sure why we're comparing their minutes. Stas has been getting minutes because we needed size at the 4 and Troutman was getting beaten on defense and rebounds.

got your point but why doesn't Ellington come in before Stas. I mean at least Ellington bring girth and rebounding and some scoring underneath the basket. However, not sure why he didnt't play against Loyola.

 

[GMUgemini]

For all the grief Allenspach takes around here, I'm curious why Presley is held to a different standard. He started both halves yesterday, and his only stat in the box score was three fouls in 7 minutes. If people claim his lack of offense is offset by his defense, why is Riley not given the same free pass? Could our slow starts be attributed to starting a player who has scored 5 total points in the last 5 games?

My point here isn't to criticize Presley or defend Riley but more to show the hypocrisy that we hold defense-first players to a different standard than offensive-first players. There's no question Allenspach is a liability in the post, so I'm baffled as to why we didn't help him out more last night. It will be coaching malpractice if we leave him alone against Castro.

As for the slow starts, maybe it's time to try something new like playing Mincy, Long and Fatt together and then bringing Booker, Adebayo and Presley off the bench as needed. Some will say if it's not broke don't fix it, but sooner or later these slow starts are going to create a deficit we can't overcome.

Ideally Adebayo would step up and take that spot from Presley but he hasn’t.

My ideal lineup if everyone was at their best:

Mincy
Long
Troutman
Adebayo
Allenspach

But Adebayo has to come take that spot from Malik.

 

[JimP]

As I posted in last nights game thread, Riley defending Castro scares tf out of me.

A Loyola fan online wonder why we weren't doubling

got your point but why doesn't Ellington come in before Stas. I mean at least Ellington bring girth and rebounding and some scoring underneath the basket. However, not sure why he didnt't play against Loyola.

I think Ellington was on the injured list posted prior to the game.

In regard to Castro, will GMU double up on him on occasion? A Loyola Chicago fan online questioned why Mason allowed Rubin to play against just one defender. Though some other Loyola guy's played well last night, it seems like a fair question,

 

[GunstonsGhost]

Lookin forward to watchin Caputo talk to ghosts and do the robot mid-court.

 

[TheStringer]

A Loyola fan online wonder why we weren't doubling


I think Ellington was on the injured list posted prior to the game.

In regard to Castro, will GMU double up on him on occasion? A Loyola Chicago fan online questioned why Mason allowed Rubin to play against just one defender. Though some other Loyola guy's played well last night, it seems like a fair question,

I would agree but I don’t think we can do that with GW. They have enough guys that can make us pay for leaving them open. I’d take that chance with most other teams but idk bout this one

 

[GMU1983]

Losing to Davidson 2nd half!

 

[GM Logo Guy]

Caputo might have the roster, but he can’t coach.

 

[jruby]

Caputo is not a good coach. Dodged a bullet there.

 

[Patriotsince81]

Men’s Basketball Outshot By Davidson, 84-79 - George Washington University Athletics

The Davidson Wildcats visited Foggy Bottom Wednesday night and escaped with an 84-79 win after outshooting George Washington in an A-10 nail-biter.

gwsports.com