The NEW/Game 13 Thread: GMU at #6 Kansas on Saturday, January 1, at 5PM

[sleeperpick]

Yep. Moral victories are ABSOLUTELY a thing.

This year they are. Not in year 5 with a shitty coach

 

[sleeperpick]

Proud of the boys. Polite and Hartwell can stay for one of the many community colleges right in Kansas.

 

[jessej]

All starters go for double figures
Only 3 points from our bench
Kansas' leading scorers come off the bench with 20 & 14

 

[gmutom]

Proud of our guys! I’m not into moral victories, but we held our own in a hostile environment against a top 10 team with five guys out. Bring on conference play!

 

[GreenLantern]

KU wife is happy, I am happy.

 

[mkaufman1]

Yeah, a game thrown together last minute. Half the team has covid, and they play pretty decent? I’ll gladly take that as a fan. Take the check and learn. For now perfectly fine.

 

[gmujim92]

Proud of the boys. Polite and Hartwell can stay for one of the many community colleges right in Kansas.

Portal gonna be busy AF after the season with all the Mason transfers coming and going

 

[mkaufman1]

Portal gonna be busy AF after the season with all the Mason transfers coming and going

I hate dogging guys on our team by any stretch but that’s one area that could definitely use a transfer upgrade to help Dinkins.

 

[Earl the Squirrel]

Proud of our guys! I’m not into moral victories, but we held our own in a hostile environment against a top 10 team with five guys out. Bring on conference play!

Agreed! A few more offensive rebounds go our way, 4-5 fewer turnovers, and we are right there at the end. Real pleased with our defensive effort in the 2nd half. There was one stretch where we absolutely locked down KU and held them to 4 out of 20 from the field. KU went scoreless for nearly 5 mins, as well. This same effort against Rhodie at home and I expect a W.

I am really hoping we have contained the Covid spread within our program, but we will not know for another 2-3 days.

 

[gmujim92]

I hate dogging guys on our team by any stretch but that’s one area that could definitely use a transfer upgrade to help Dinkins.

The aggressive XJ we got today is good enough for a starting PG in the A-10, but I absolutely would not be surprised if Kim went and snagged a high-level transfer at that spot.

 

[gmujim92]

It sounds harsh but the reality is many of the guys on the current roster cannot play at the level KE envisions for our program. It’s not their fault. They just need to find the appropriate level where they can thrive and be successful.

 

[HoopsAdmin]

Half the team has covid, and they play pretty decent?

Wonder what this may mean for the whole team moving forward this week.

 

[gmutom]

Anybody know the NCAA policy on whether those who tested positive or were deemed close contacts have to stay in Kansas to quarantine?

 

[GMUgemini]

Xj looks hurt..

He's been that way all season. I imagine there's a lot of ice on that knee after every practice/game.

 

[GMUgemini]

It sounds harsh but the reality is many of the guys on the current roster cannot play at the level KE envisions for our program. It’s not their fault. They just need to find the appropriate level where they can thrive and be successful.

Was just thinking can't wait to see an English team that has a legit 8 to 9-man rotation...right now we have exactly 5 players (and XJ is right on the cusp of that line) who can play.

The fact they held Kansas to 28 second half points was huge. That 4 point swing to end the half really hurt our chances to take this one (go into the half down 7 or 6 and who knows).

 

[gmujim92]

Was just thinking can't wait to see an English team that has a legit 8 to 9-man rotation...right now we have exactly 5 players (and XJ is right on the cusp of that line) who can play.

The fact they held Kansas to 28 second half points was huge. That 4 point swing to end the half really hurt our chances to take this one (go into the half down 7 or 6 and who knows).

Just from a confidence perspective it’s huge going into conference play after going toe to toe with the No. 6 team on their home floor. We’re not gonna see anyone in the A-10 near Kansas’ level (the Dayton fluke notwithstanding) so the guys should be ready to go wreck some stuff.

 

[JPgmuswim]

It sounds harsh but the reality is many of the guys on the current roster cannot play at the level KE envisions for our program. It’s not their fault. They just need to find the appropriate level where they can thrive and be successful.

It’ll be interesting to see how aggressive KE is this off-season in upgrading the roster, I’d imagine he hits the transfer portal hard. He has some pieces like Josh, Ticket and Devon for next year, with Dinkins and Fernandez coming in. Kim isn’t here for a long-term rebuild he wants to win now.

 

[gmujim92]

It’ll be interesting to see how aggressive KE is this off-season in upgrading the roster, I’d imagine he hits the transfer portal hard. He has some pieces like Josh, Ticket and Devon for next year, with Dinkins and Fernandez coming in. Kim isn’t here for a long-term rebuild he wants to win now.

Everything he has done so far says “very aggressive.” We’re 2-3 high-quality transfers away from having an A-10 title contender next season, just gotta get deeper so the dropoff isn’t so massive when one of the starters goes out.

 

[psyclone]

From Kenpom as a result of the game:

KU goes from #4 to #5; Mason from #129 to #122

 

[GMUgemini]

Everything he has done so far says “very aggressive.” We’re 2-3 high-quality transfers away from having an A-10 title contender next season, just gotta get deeper so the dropoff isn’t so massive when one of the starters goes out.

I'm just hoping Cooper stays for that extra COVID year and Hartwell decides to graduate and move on...

I can't imagine there's much of a pathway for Gadsden going forward.

Gray and Polite are in that meh area right now. English was high on Polite when he started practicing, so maybe he just needs to get back into game shape? But I can't imagine both will be staying with Dinkins coming in.

Maybe Frazier has a shot, but we haven't seen enough of him (wouldn't mind him as a 9th man defensive specialist who just does the dirty work -- get steals, rebounds, makes life difficult for the opposing team etc.).