Game 25: Homecoming Game, Davidson College, Saturday, February 13th, 4 PM, MASN

[Washingtonian]

Article is up:
http://www.gomason.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=25200&ATCLID=210712205

 

[MasonFanatic]

Buzzer beater video:
https://twitter.com/MasonMBB/status/698644292093550594

And another angle from the student section:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBvs2r0GSOg/

 

[psyclone]

A great win for the team and also the fans. We all needed a game like that. Good to see the players get rewarded for their dedication. We are so undermanned, yet they hung in there, gave it their best effort, and pulled it out. Something to build on.

 

[Walter]

A couple observations -

Good to see the "George" back on the unis.

The Homecoming Queen is really cute. And apparently very talented. She is the lead singer in band called Cinema Hearts.

 

[Washingtonian]

I get the print edition of The Washington Post on Sunday's.

The box score is not in it, and the article is an AP article. The women's box score is not in the print edition either.

 

[Washingtonian]

Article rom the Charlotte observer: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/mens-basketball/article60275176.html

 

[GMU_Polevaulter]

Few homecoming comments:

1. I liked what was happening in K-Lot - despite the cold quite a few students and alumni - enjoying themselves with loud music and beer and more beer. Seemed like the University/Campus police were good with the fenced in Open container/tailgating area and let people have a good time. One tent had a live band jamming and packed with students - reminded me of the old Mason days when they could sell beer in the quad.

2. Alumni reception that was moved to Johnson center bottom floor due to the wind was awesome. Worth the price - buffet meal, alcohol beverage and scarf included in the price (and open cash bar after) - lots of fun.

3. Fireworks - What a great show!

4. The Fans - the last two games I have been to at Eagle Bank (the GW game and Davidson) - crowd really getting into the game - loud and supportive.

5. Doc Nix and Green Machine - Band gets better and better, good singers as well - the one that sang respect was outstanding.

6. The Team - Really good to see a team want to win a homecoming game and doing all they could to make it happen - great on court celebration after which was well deserved.

 

[Bricker]

I get the print edition of The Washington Post on Sunday's.

What does that mean? You print out a copy of the post from your iPad? Why?

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

What does that mean? You print out a copy of the post from your iPad? Why?

Because we're old (I'm 40). I realize there is no practical reason to get the print edition, but that's not the point. Its not just getting the information, it's

1. The smell of a fresh newspaper (yes, newspapers have a distinct smell).
2. The sound of the newspaper when you open it as you go through the paper looking for the sports section.
3. Reminds of a more innocent time of my life when we drove foot propelled cars and slid down a dinosaurs back when we got off of work yelling "Yaba Daba Dooooo!"

All of these stimuli put me in the mood to tune the world out, have a cup of coffee and read the paper in my reading slippers and Mr. Rogers sweater, yell like a madman at editorials I disagree with and nod my head at editorials I agree with.

Quite simply, newspaper time is Chank time.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Davidson shot 3-19 from three yesterday. There's your ballgame folks!

We got away with a lot yesterday, including a backcourt of Tate and Murrell for about 3 minutes in the first half. That might be the worst guard combo in D1. Big sigh of relief when Tate checked out and we still had an eight-point lead.

Jalen put the team on his back last night. 17 points on 12 shots, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, great defense, and the juevos to convert with the game on the line. Davidson's frontcourt had no answer for him. Hopefully he'll keep building on performances like this. He's so bouncy that these bigger, slower forward types can't hang with him. Related: Davidson's forwards shot 6-18.

Refs were awful. Marko got shoved in the back on his tip-in attempt on the game winning play. I didn't realize it until watching the replays after, but it's blatant and goes uncalled.

That jump ball call where the Davidson player swiped at the ball and maybe didn't even touch it was probably the worst call I've seen all season. It's kind of Kameron's fault too though because he always looks like he's being attacked by a swarm of bees when he gets a rebound in traffic.

I've given Kam a lot of grief on these boards so I'll say that he did a pretty good job on Gibbs when he was assigned to him. It's clear he was instructed to stay in front of him, not gamble, and make Gibbs shoot over him. He did that very well for the most part, but Gibbs was hitting his jumpers, so Kam's efforts don't really show up in the box score. Kam needs to contribute on defense, because he's giving us nothing on offense.

Deandre is evolving as a scorer. He had three buckets where he got the ball outside the three-point line, blew past a defender that was closing hard, and hit a runner or floater in the lane. He will be very dangerous if he keeps improving as a shooter since he's already getting comfortable going hard to the paint.

Love this team, and love seeing them rewarded for the effort they've been giving all year. It was pretty cool to see the pure jubilation on the bench and on the court after the buzzer sounded.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Davidson shot 3-19 from three yesterday. There's your ballgame folks!

We got away with a lot yesterday, including a backcourt of Tate and Murrell for about 3 minutes in the first half. That might be the worst guard combo in D1. Big sigh of relief when Tate checked out and we still had an eight-point lead.

Jalen put the team on his back last night. 17 points on 12 shots, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, great defense, and the juevos to convert with the game on the line. Davidson's frontcourt had no answer for him. Hopefully he'll keep building on performances like this. He's so bouncy that these bigger, slower forward types can't hang with him. Related: Davidson's forwards shot 6-18.

Refs were awful. Marko got shoved in the back on his tip-in attempt on the game winning play. I didn't realize it until watching the replays after, but it's blatant and goes uncalled.

That jump ball call where the Davidson player swiped at the ball and maybe didn't even touch it was probably the worst call I've seen all season. It's kind of Kameron's fault too though because he always looks like he's being attacked by a swarm of bees when he gets a rebound in traffic.

I've given Kam a lot of grief on these boards so I'll say that he did a pretty good job on Gibbs when he was assigned to him. It's clear he was instructed to stay in front of him, not gamble, and make Gibbs shoot over him. He did that very well for the most part, but Gibbs was hitting his jumpers, so Kam's efforts don't really show up in the box score. Kam needs to contribute on defense, because he's giving us nothing on offense.

Deandre is evolving as a scorer. He had three buckets where he got the ball outside the three-point line, blew past a defender that was closing hard, and hit a runner or floater in the lane. He will be very dangerous if he keeps improving as a shooter since he's already getting comfortable going hard to the paint.

Love this team, and love seeing them rewarded for the effort they've been giving all year. It was pretty cool to see the pure jubilation on the bench and on the court after the buzzer sounded.

Petey,

Can you please write the official editorial wrap up after every game, please? Best post game write up of a Mason game EVER!

 

[GMUgemini]

I agree with the foul on Marko at the end, it's pretty obvious he was shoved from behind, but I will say it's probably much better in hindsight the refs allowed play continue rather than Marko going to the line to win it at the free throw line. It worked out for us in the end.

Like I said, a lot of A-10 teams are pretty soft up front. Marko, Shevon, and Jalen all were in double digits last night -- Shevon with a double-double in only 17 minutes.

 

[gmutom]

Petey,

Can you please write the official editorial wrap up after every game, please? Best post game write up of a Mason game EVER!

Good recap by Petey. I would add that Otis was only 1-9 from the floor with 3 assists in 36 minutes, but his lone basket was arguably the biggest of the game outside of Jalen's game-winner. It takes a giant set of of cajones for a freshman who is struggling for the first 38 minutes to set that aside and not only take but hit a huge 3.

Another stat that jumps out: Marko and Jalen were each two rebounds away from giving us three players with a double-double in the same game. I imagine that would have set some kind of school record had that happened.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

Good recap by Petey. I would add that Otis was only 1-9 from the floor with 3 assists in 36 minutes, but his lone basket was arguably the biggest of the game outside of Jalen's game-winner. It takes a giant set of of cajones for a freshman who is struggling for the first 38 minutes to set that aside and not only take but hit a huge 3.

Great point! The mental fortitude of this kid is remarkable. I remember when he signed and the people who know him personally said we are getting a diamond in the rough not only because of his physical skills but his fearless mindset.

Wasn't really sold on him, but wow, to take that shot with such confidence even after struggling all day is something kids learn to do in their Junior or Senior seasons. Otis came to us ready to just Plug and Play. GREAT pick up by Paulsen.

 

[psyclone]

Great point! The mental fortitude of this kid is remarkable. I remember when he signed and the people who know him personally said we are getting a diamond in the rough not only because of his physical skills but his fearless mindset.

Wasn't really sold on him, but wow, to take that shot with such confidence even after struggling all day is something kids learn to do in their Junior or Senior seasons. Otis came to us ready to just Plug and Play. GREAT pick up by Paulsen.

When they were interviewing Brad Edwards at halftime on TV, he said as much. Wanted to take Otis' "psychological DNA" and insert it in all our student athletes. He said Otis loves the process and takes correction in a positive way.

 

[gmutom]

Great point! The mental fortitude of this kid is remarkable. I remember when he signed and the people who know him personally said we are getting a diamond in the rough not only because of his physical skills but his fearless mindset.

I would add that Otis' importance — especially with Moore out — goes beyond the boxscore. The stats might show him as having only 3 assists, but he gets the ball up the court quickly, gets us into our offensive sets and keeps the ball flowing. Not all of his passes lead to buckets, but it's the constant rotation that frees us up for open looks.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I would add that Otis' importance — especially with Moore out — goes beyond the boxscore. The stats might show him as having only 3 assists, but he gets the ball up the court quickly, gets us into our offensive sets and keeps the ball flowing. Not all of his passes lead to buckets, but it's the constant rotation that frees us up for open looks.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the two 3 pointers Marko sank were from Otis.

 

[Washingtonian]

I was not that surprised Jenkins played well yesterday, he played well at their place last month as well.
Sometimes the matchup's are just that good, and it takes one thing to get things to go your way.

What's ironic is when we got up 11 or more, it was around the same time at their place the same thing happened, except we blew the lead and ended up losing.

 

[gmutom]

Correct me if I'm wrong but the two 3 pointers Marko sank were from Otis.

You could be right. It should also be noted that Otis and Marquis are both hindered statistically by the fact that we are a terrible shooting team. We are 13th in the A10 in FG percentage and 12th in points per game. Show me a team with a lot of good shooters, and I'll show you a PG with a ton of assists. It's the most padded and misleading stat in basketball.

 

[TweederGMU]

So refreshing to get the W on Homecoming. That is a good Davidson team and we beat them without Moore... let that sink in for a minute.

Gibbs single-handedly almost beat us. The refs were awful and almost gave the game away to Davidson.

Marko hitting those 3's last night was so crucial. Glad to see him get his stroke back. Need more consistent scoring from him in order to collect more W's.

Shevon looked more confident, he was going strong to the rim against the double team. He needs to just shoot like 100 layups in practice each day. Whatever assistant has been working on his foul shots deserves a raise.... Shevon is night and day better from the free throw line.

I noticed that Otis had 0 points at the 4 minute mark and right after I mentioned that he drilled a 3. We need Otis to get his scoring going early in the games..... need him to score period. He opens up the floor so much more when he is scoring.

The Director of Scouting for the KC Royals was in attendance (GMU Alum) and was videotaping the ending of the gaming and celebrations when we won. Lets hope he posts that to his Twitter account or shares that video in the KC organization. Great exposure for the program!

Days like these are proud we have a good Coach again! Something to build-on!