Game 24: GMU (12-11 / 5-5) at St. Joe’s (10-13 / 4-8) on February 16 at 7PM.

[GMUgemini]

Can we pause and shoutout to the St. Joes announcers who keep having to sit through Mason rallying to beat their team? They were begging for St. Joes to step up and get this game over the line.

I’m pretty sure it was the same crew that called the “Oh noooooo!” game.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

With the light of day I was too strident and "dumb" was not the right word. I find myself oscillating between celebrating guys like Frazier, Buchanon, Henry, etc. when they play well, and pulling my hair out when they do not...and wondering if we should play the starters for 40 minutes.

I looked around and there have been some academic studies that explore this very question.

Can't access the full article because it's behind a pay wall but here's the abstract from a study in 2017:

Player Rotation, On-court Performance and Game Outcomes in NCAA Men’s Basketball​

C. Daniel Clay & E. Kylie Clay
Pages 606-619 | Published online: 03 Apr 2017

"Coaches differ in in how they use the talents of their players and player rotation is among their most strategically important game management levers; some substitute sparingly while others routinely go to a deep bench. This research examines the impact of size of rotation on team performance and success among 7,154 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball team performances collected over multiple seasons. Study findings demonstrate that depth of player rotation has a significant positive effect on game outcomes and that the relationship is conditioned by number of personal fouls, overall team strength and home court advantage. The pathways through which a larger rotation results in greater odds of winning include offensive rebounding, steals and overall defensive efficiency, all areas where the fresh legs, quick hands and sustained energy levels characteristic of a deeper bench can make a measurable difference. Advantages of a smaller core rotation are manifested at the offensive end of the court, notably in shooting percentages, ball control and overall offensive ratings."

In light of this, KE executed to a tee last night. Used the bench to try and buy the starters some rest, with the hope that fresh legs could keep SJU at bay. And if I recall it worked. I think our bench - while they couldn't score - didn't give up more than 2-4 points during their time on the court. Then, in the 2nd half when we needed to score, English did what the research suggested and played a tight rotation.

I was so panicked by the bench's inability to score I missed the forest for the trees.

For this I must offer up a mea culpa to KE and the board for a bad take.

 

[Pablo]

I don't know if this was mentioned, but the Patriots broke the school record last night for 3-point field goals made in a season. The Patriots currently have made 233 this season. The previous record of 230 3-pt. FGM was set during the 2017-18 season.

 

[psyclone]

Can we pause and shoutout to the St. Joes announcers who keep having to sit through Mason rallying to beat their team? They were begging for St. Joes to step up and get this game over the line.u

I’m pretty sure it was the same crew that called the “Oh noooooo!” game.

I think you are correct. They even made reference to the "Oh nooooo!" game comment and even threw in Ian Boyd's name and his last second heroics in multiple games. They were clearly St. Joe''s "homers" but not in an obnoxious way. Clearly commented on how SJU has failed to close in multiple games this year.

I think Lunardi has been on SJU's payroll since I first heard of him in reference to his ESPN's Bracketology column.

 

[sleeperpick]

I think you are correct. They even made reference to the "Oh nooooo!" game comment and even threw in Ian Boyd's name and his last second heroics in multiple games. They were clearly St. Joe''s "homers" but not in an obnoxious way. Clearly commented on how SJU has failed to close in multiple games this year.

I think Lunardi has been on SJU's payroll since I first heard of him in reference to his ESPN's Bracketology column.

“Homers” you must not watch the rest of the league including ours. They were about as objective as humanly possible. They were super negative about Lange end of game coaching and play calling and I would take Lunardi over Bill in a second

 

[GSII]

“Homers” you must not watch the rest of the league including ours. They were about as objective as humanly possible. They were super negative about Lange end of game coaching and play calling and I would take Lunardi over Bill in a second

Of coarse only you, The Douchey Jinx, would find a way to trash our beloved Bill Roland.

 

[Five Two]

Can we pause and shoutout to the St. Joes announcers who keep having to sit through Mason rallying to beat their team? They were begging for St. Joes to step up and get this game over the line.

I’m pretty sure it was the same crew that called the “Oh noooooo!” game.

Lunardi was there for the "Oh noooooo" game, but the PxP guy was different.
Lunardi even commented how one of their starters should really be a 6th man.
And both of them would be in agreement that refs calls against SJU were justified.

 

[JimP]

Can we pause and shoutout to the St. Joes announcers who keep having to sit through Mason rallying to beat their team? They were begging for St. Joes to step up and get this game over the line.

I’m pretty sure it was the same crew that called the “Oh noooooo!” game.

They also talked positively about the emotion of English and Simpkins on the sideline. I wondered if they had heard about the commentary by the bozos at LaSalle and sought to counter that. There could be a P5 rivalry among broadcasters too. Last nights broadcasters made LaSalle guys look like the kids who do the announcements at elementary schools.

 

[mkaufman1]

Yeah I too thought the announcers were not too bad last night. They actually knew something about Mason and also would call out when St Joes actually made a mistake foul wise. You can tell they are agitated with Lange especially at the end. It just sorta made me laugh that those guys ran away from Schwartz leaving him wide open. They were miffed as well.

But not a chance I would take them over Bill.

 

[GMUgemini]

Yeah I too thought the announcers were not too bad last night. They actually knew something about Mason and also would call out when St Joes actually made a mistake foul wise. You can tell they are agitated with Lange especially at the end. It just sorta made me laugh that those guys ran away from Schwartz leaving him wide open. They were miffed as well.

But not a chance I would take them over Bill.

Rohland could use a color guy. I always thought he and Ric Wilson made a good team.

 

[MasonSAE4]

I think you are correct. They even made reference to the "Oh nooooo!" game comment and even threw in Ian Boyd's name and his last second heroics in multiple games. They were clearly St. Joe''s "homers" but not in an obnoxious way. Clearly commented on how SJU has failed to close in multiple games this year.

I think Lunardi has been on SJU's payroll since I first heard of him in reference to his ESPN's Bracketology column.

They were good. Yeah they were the local guys but they weren't annoyingly unprofessional like Lasalle's guys. I think at one point of them was just openly shitting on the other for something he said lol.

 

[dr. gunnie]

I don't know if this was mentioned, but the Patriots broke the school record last night for 3-point field goals made in a season. The Patriots currently have made 233 this season. The previous record of 230 3-pt. FGM was set during the 2017-18 season.

Pretty remarkable considering we had Paul Westhead as a coach.

 

[gmujim92]

Pretty remarkable considering we had Paul Westhead as a coach.

Paul’s teams shot a lot of 3s … and missed a lot of 3s

 

[gmujim92]

Rohland could use a color guy. I always thought he and Ric Wilson made a good team.

@CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY is the man for the job

 

[GSII]

Our defense has been a point of emphasis recently. We run various traps but rarely with the intensity needed to create steals. With our decent length, do we Amp this up late in the year? Or stick with help side defense overly sagging to create wide-open shots?? SJU makes a few of the open threes we gave, and that come back falls just short. Maybe a match up zone?? Teams get tight in tourney play and that's when a zone can help save legs...just ask Syracuse.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

Paul’s teams shot a lot of 3s … and missed a lot of 3s

I once watched Riley Trone miss 20 straight threes from the right corner in ONE game. Westhead just couldn't get the right guys to run his system.