Game 9: GMU (7-1) at #10/11 Tennessee (4-3) on Tuesday, December 5, at 6:30 PM.

MASONscott

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GIVING DAY 2023
Playing time tells a story. My interpretation (which is subject as hell) is we have expectations that were not met or some kids aren’t feeling well (or something else).
 

psyclone

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gmulion

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Tenn was the much stronger and the more physical team. It felt like game really turned at the end of the first half when Kelly missed the layup, Tenn hit a 3, Kelly didn't grab an offensive rebound and tried to tip it in instead, and Tenn came down and hit a shot before the buzzer.

Hopefully Hall learns from this game. It's great he lost weight, now he needs to get stronger. If he sticks around and hits the weight room he could be unstoppable.
 

EXpatriot13

All-Conference
GIVING DAY 2023
Obviously wanted to snag the upset win but the result doesn't bother me. I'm glad they have a mini break here to get back in the lab...I'm sure Tony is going to ramp things up at practice.

We have a decent sample size at this point so below are a few things I'm interested in following as we head towards the end of OOC and into A10 play.

Hall: Not concerned about the production recently, but more concerned about how he's handled the adversity. His body language has been terrible when things don't go his way early on in the game, whether that's foul trouble or the other team making things more difficult for him. It seems to mentally knock him out of the flow of the game and I haven't seen him be able to overcome that and flip the switch back on yet.

Billups: I thought we'd see him in position to get more rebounds/points by being that scrappy, clean it up type player who can drive, get to FT line, etc. that he was at Siena. He's never going to light it up or be a shooter, but he's also not this inept. Need to see him be more active on offensive end.

Woody: He's pushing for more consistent minutes with the A team. Could we see a rotation of Polite/Maddox/Woody/Hall/Kelly? Can he defend the other teams 2/3 at a high level consistently enough?

Polite/Okojie: Can Polite be consistent enough offensively to move off the ball? Okojie is so good at drawing fouls and getting to the line, and his speed and athleticism is such a huge asset at the PG position, especially when the other team has an equally quick guard...Polite struggles in these matchups.
 

Walter

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Could have used Jalen Haynes in this one. Tennessee's defense was stifling midway through the first half through the end of the game. How can you not love Malik Henry? He gives maximum effort even down 20 with 5 minutes to go. If you could channel that effort through all of our players, the sky would be the limit.
Spot on. I would start Henry.
 

EXpatriot13

All-Conference
GIVING DAY 2023
Spot on. I would start Henry.
Henry is a great spark plug off the bench - he occupies and plays that role really well. Love his energy and every team needs someone like him.

Amari Kelly has been one of our best and most consistent players so far. Not going to take that away from him because of a game against Tenn where we were clearly outmatched down low; not often going to see that combo of size + talent in A10 play.
 

GSII

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GIVING DAY 2023
Finally getting over my hangover.....The crowd was wine and cheese. Very quiet 11k.

As for the game...wish we played UT first then Toledo. Maybe go with Coach L strategy vs Uconn in 06 with 2 bigs and play em alot of mins. I feel like Kelly can score it from mid range and/or attacking the rim. Maddux (40min), Polite/Barack, Hall/ Woody/Billups/Ball.

Worth the trip to see some guys I haven't seen in 25 years. Blessing.
 

Old Man

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GIVING DAY 2023
I should have posted this earlier, but just saw it to remember it.

This is a picture of one of my favorite giveaways GMU ever did. Mason gave away a series of glass pint glasses of former coaches. Notice the bottom of the glass looks like a basketball. This was a top notch chatchki.
 

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GMUSSTN

Starter
GIVING DAY 2023
I should have posted this earlier, but just saw it to remember it.

This is a picture of one of my favorite giveaways GMU ever did. Mason gave away a series of glass pint glasses of former coaches. Notice the bottom of the glass looks like a basketball. This was a top notch chatchki.
At one point the pep band kept a lot of their stuff in a closet at the Patriot Center that was also used as storage for a lot of the old giveaways. I wound up giving my set to a friend but I had all these pint glasses at one point plus a lot of fun old t-shirts from giveaways long before my time at Mason.
 

Pablo

Hall of Famer

AP men's basketball Top 25 poll​

First-place votes in parenthesis:

TEAMRECORD
1. Purdue (48)10-1
2. Kansas (6)10-1
3. Houston (8)11-0
4. Arizona8-1
5. UConn10-1
6. Marquette9-2
7. Oklahoma10-0
8. Tennessee8-3
9. Kentucky8-2
10. Baylor9-1
11. North Carolina7-3
12. Creighton9-2
13. Illinois8-2
14. Florida Atlantic9-2
15. Gonzaga8-3
16. Colorado State10-1
17. BYU10-1
18. Clemson9-1
19. Texas8-2
20. James Madison10-0
21. Duke7-3
22. Virginia9-1
23. Memphis8-2
24. Wisconsin8-3
25. Ole Miss10-0


MOVING UP; MOVING DOWN

Kentucky's five-spot rise marked the biggest jump of the week. Oklahoma and Tennessee were next with four spots to push inside the top 10, while No. 13 Illinois rose three spots. In all, 10 teams climbed from last week's poll.
 
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