Game 5: GMU (4-0) vs Jacksonville (2-2) on Tuesday, November 18, at 7:00 PM.

[Patriotsince81]

Question for those who watched on TV last night. How did Will Thomas do as an announcer? One of my top 5 Mason players of all-time.

 

[NewPatriot]

Question for those who watched on TV last night. How did Will Thomas do as an announcer? One of my top 5 Mason players of all-time.

Jai Lewis

 

[mkaufman1]

Question for those who watched on TV last night. How did Will Thomas do as an announcer? One of my top 5 Mason players of all-time.

I didnt' watch on tv last night but I have heard several games that Will has called with Bill.

Will naturally is a quiet personality, but when he does commentary he usually adds a lot of value to what is going on and explaining things that he sees. He isn't a chit chatter and doesn't go off on tangents like many broadcasters and is just more to the point.

 

[GMUMiked]

Somewhat surprised that Troutman wasn't part of the post-game. 20 pts, tied for leading rebounder with 5. Looked really good.

I believe I saw him get pulled over to do the post game with Bill Rohland for the TV broadcast. Maybe someone who watched on TV can verify?

 

[GSII]

Trout did post game with Bill and Will.

 

[GMU1983]

I luv Will but he is no Debbie... seems a little nervous in the beginning and sometimes reads his notes...but he will improve. A Mason legend!

 

[GMUgemini]

Question for those who watched on TV last night. How did Will Thomas do as an announcer? One of my top 5 Mason players of all-time.

He’s getting better as a color guy. Not amazing but he’s chiming in more often and he’s interacting with Rohland more naturally now. He was pretty rough last season.

 

[GSII]

WAit until Hill comes back and shakes off the rust.

How close is he?

 

[psyclone]

Is there an over/under number on Tuesday's attendance?! I'm taking the under if 3000 is the number. Be glad to be wrong, but we're typically running below that.

2578.....ta-da! Although there did appear to be more students. Not just because of the many pink pom-poms. Hard to get many non-retirees to mid-week games.

 

[psyclone]

A10 game article:

George Mason men handle Jacksonville, earn first 5-0 start in six years

Masai Troutman scored 20 points off the bench, Nick Ellington had 7 blocks, and the George Mason men’s basketball team forced 19 turnovers en route to beating Jacksonville 79-57. The George Mason Patriots were back at home on Tuesday night, looking to improve to 5-0 for the first time since the...

www.a10talk.com

 

[mbush]

I luv Will but he is no Debbie... seems a little nervous in the beginning and sometimes reads his notes...but he will improve. A Mason legend!

I thought the game with Bill and Jen Surlas was the best of the year, as far as broadcast content.

 

[GMU1983]

Roger - she is better than Will.

 

[thebiasedannouncer]

How close is he?

Could be back for Daytona, should be back by JMU

 

[psyclone]

https://x.com/gmugiantkiller/status/1991009382931575148?s=46

Good point! That is a high FT rate for a team. So I did go back into Kenpom to see the individual player numbers to see how they stack up:

Kanga 250%--makes sense as he one of our poorer FT% shooters, so other teams aren't punished very much putting him on the line.
Troutman 110%
Presley 87%
Allenspach 73%
Long 61%

 

[GM Logo Guy]

Why?

It feels like he is trying to get fans to manage expectations.

 

[psyclone]

It feels like he is trying to get fans to manage expectations.

Hmmm...maybe. But my memory of his comments of this year's team, was that it was potentially more offensively "connected" than last year's team.

We were exceptional defensively last year. This year our main defensive metrics (via Kenpom) is "green"-shaded (a good thing!). We're in the top 50 in 7 of 11 defensive categories listed (only bad one is the 81% FT% that other teams are shooting against us--can't do much about that unless we only foul poor FT shooters!) .

We'll see if we can keep that up against better competition.

 

[GunstonsGhost]

Mincy with +23 last night over nearly 35 minutes. He was giving their leading scorer, Jones a tough time. It was a noticeable shift of tone on defense across the board. Like Tony said in the post game, "it felt right". Hope we can keep up this level of intensity on the road.

 

[NewPatriot]

It feels like he is trying to get fans to manage expectations.

Yes. He is. This is entirely new squad. It takes at least 3/4 of a season for a new squad to acclimated to a new system and the coaching staff to figure the best lineup combinations.

That being said. This squad, from top to bottom has more talent, versatillity, experience at every position except center.

The point guard and wing positions are light years better offensively than last year.

Mason is a double bye threat and contender for regular season title.

Saddle up. Its going to be a fun ride this season.

 

[Old Man]

Yes. He is. This is entirely new squad. It takes at least 3/4 of a season for a new squad to acclimated to a new system and the coaching staff to figure the best lineup combinations.

That being said. This squad, from top to bottom has more talent, versatillity, experience at every position except center.

The point guard and wing positions are light years better offensively than last year.

Mason is a double bye threat and contender for regular season title.

Saddle up. Its going to be a fun ride this season.

I agree wholeheartedly! This team is different. Under any of the previous 3 administrations, maybe anyone since Larrañaga, we lose at least 2 or maybe even 3 of those games. We couldn't hit a 3 against UNH, no problem, lock-down defense at your service. Winthrop wanted to go old-school and play a little Paul-ball, again no problem, saddle up and let's run!

CTS has got this team ready no matter the opponent or what happens in-game. For years, we've let an inferior opponent hang around, and we collapse in the end. No more! Now, we toy with an opponent (not really a good strategy, btw) in the first half, then blow their doors off in the second. This team is a breath of fresh air from previous regimes.

 

[gmujim92]

A 5-0 start without two of our top six players is encouraging, even against mostly suspect competition. Smart scheduling by Tony to give a new group some runway and build confidence while they get used to playing together.

We’ll know more about the team starting next week. It will be interesting to see what they do against better opponents, but also as they hopefully get healthy heading into A-10 play.

I’m cautiously optimistic.