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

gmutom

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It's so funny that we used a pic of Hartwell to announce this. If he even attempts a shot against Kansas it's gonna get blocked into orbit.
I'm more worried about the production we get from XJ and Polite on both ends of the court. This is by far our most vulnerable position, especially going against a talented team like Kansas. It will be interesting to see if English opts to go with a bigger lineup for several stretches.
 

dr. gunnie

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Tickets just went on sale and there’s a bunch available. Looks like they are a little nervous about their sellout streak coming to an end:

 

psyclone

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Sagarin: KU favored by 18
Kenpom: KU favored by 20

Vegasinsider spread isn't out yet, but so far KU is 6-5 against the spread while Mason is 7-4
 

tblack33

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We cover anything under +17 and I would put a small ML bet on Mason.
Kansas is an incredibly good team. I don’t think they are a 20+ point Vegas spread better than us. I’d hammer those if VA didn’t have puritan online gambling laws.
 

dr. gunnie

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I just need to vent and have a pity party for myself:

I never get the chance to see Mason live. Maybe once a year in St Louis. We’ve got lucky a few times and got to travel up to Northern Iowa and Kansas St. I can’t f’ing believe that we get a last minute trip to Kansas - a 5 1/2 hour drive during the perfect time where I don’t have to worry about taking off work AND MOTHER F’ING NATURE DECIDES TO BRING A SNOW/ICE STORM RIGHT THROUGH MY TRAVEL PATTERN. We haven’t had a sniff of a snowflake or ice all November and December. The one f’ing day that I want to travel and that’s the day we get hit. F’ing unbelievable.

I’m sitting here trying to decide if I should just say f it and go anyway or just stay home. Got about an hour to decide. If I don’t go, I know I’ll hear it wasn’t bad and I’ll regret it. If I do go, I know the roads will be covered in ice and I’ll be f’ed.

This sucks.
 

mkaufman1

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I just need to vent and have a pity party for myself:

I never get the chance to see Mason live. Maybe once a year in St Louis. We’ve got lucky a few times and got to travel up to Northern Iowa and Kansas St. I can’t f’ing believe that we get a last minute trip to Kansas - a 5 1/2 hour drive during the perfect time where I don’t have to worry about taking off work AND MOTHER F’ING NATURE DECIDES TO BRING A SNOW/ICE STORM RIGHT THROUGH MY TRAVEL PATTERN. We haven’t had a sniff of a snowflake or ice all November and December. The one f’ing day that I want to travel and that’s the day we get hit. F’ing unbelievable.

I’m sitting here trying to decide if I should just say f it and go anyway or just stay home. Got about an hour to decide. If I don’t go, I know I’ll hear it wasn’t bad and I’ll regret it. If I do go, I know the roads will be covered in ice and I’ll be f’ed.

This sucks.
I'm sorry to hear this man. Its obviously up to you, but I know I risked my life in awful weather for a few Mason games in Northern VA (as others have here in various places), and I generally say never again. The last time I did it was probably Homecoming 2015 (the year of the white out) and anytime there was significant bad weather for a Mason game since I would stay at home and watch.
 

gmujim92

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I'm sorry to hear this man. Its obviously up to you, but I know I risked my life in awful weather for a few Mason games in Northern VA (as others have here in various places), and I generally say never again. The last time I did it was probably Homecoming 2015 (the year of the white out) and anytime there was significant bad weather for a Mason game since I would stay at home and watch.
I’m almost embarrassed to think about how much ridiculous winter weather I’ve driven through to watch Mason over the years. Fortunately ESPN+ makes the decision so much easier now to stay home and watch it on a big TV rather than risk death on the roads.
 

JPgmuswim

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I’ve been looking forward to this game all week. Was gonna go to the vcu game Thursday until it was postponed, fortunately it was postponed because my wife tested positive Wednesday and we’ve been in lockdown mode ever since.
 

FreeGunston12

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Kansas is an incredibly good team. I don’t think they are a 20+ point Vegas spread better than us. I’d hammer those if VA didn’t have puritan online gambling laws.
They just crushed Nevada by 28. We lost to Nevada by 19. I'd stay far away from this one and keep it a nothing to lose game.
 

HoopsAdmin

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Quick Scout: Watch this aspect closely when George Mason faces KU Jayhawks basketball

The aspect the writer is referring to seems to be how much GMU fouls their opponents.
3 STRENGTHS

• Three-point shooting: George Mason shoots the 14th-highest percentage of threes in the country, but even with that frequency, it’s still made a well-above-average 36% of those tries (coach Kim English recently talked about his emphasis on threes in Jordan Sperber’s “Solving Basketball” podcast, as in George Mason practices, corner threes are worth 4, all other threes are worth 3, layups are worth 2 and long twos are worth 1).

• Defensive rebounding: The Patriots’ clear defensive strength is keeping opponents to only one shot per possession, as they rank 13th nationally in D-board percentage (English noted in Sperber’s podcast that if a player gives up an offensive rebound in practice, his team has to run two down-and-backs).

• Post offense: George Mason is choosy but extremely lethal with its post-ups, ranking as the nation’s most efficient team with that play type.

3 WEAKNESSES

• Three-point defense: Much like KU’s previous opponent Nevada, George Mason’s defense struggles to dissuade perimeter attempts while also allowing a higher-than-average three-point percentage to opponents.

• Getting easy shots: The Patriots shoot well at the rim but don’t get there often, ranking 301st in percentage of close shots attempted.

• Depth: George Mason is 312th in KenPom’s bench minutes statistic, as English’s five starters have combined to accrue more than 75% of the team’s playing time.
 

FreeGunston12

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dr. gunnie

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When we played at Northern Iowa we were going to stay the night, but bad weather coming forced us to drive straight back. That was a pretty dicey drive back. It’s one thing to drive 20 minutes back home from Fairfax in bad weather, it’s another level when your driving hours in it.

I’m so depressed. I was so excited to see this one.

*update - reading the weather reports from Kansas fans on their message boards confirms the right decision was made. I guess roads are already starting to ice up in Lawrence.
 
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