The State of Mason Basketball

[p8triotfan4life]

I would say is pretty darn poor right now. I blame a ton of people for this.

#1 Steven Goff of the Washington Post is the only beat reporter we have and he isn't tough enough on our program. He prefers writing soccer articles. I want a beat reporter like Grant Paulson on 106.7 who is constantly criticizing the Redskins decision making
#2 TOC. anyone else see him court side last night? He never does it unless someone important is visiting. he needs to retire, 3 years ago.
#3 our Assistant coaches. I'm convinced all 3 of them are worthless. I'd fire all of them yesterday if I could.
#4 our program's resistance to take the next step. In year 3 of Hewitt's tenure, this team is failing miserably at learning from last years' dismal performances, and surpassing those performances with even worse lackluster play all season.
#5 The lack of energy out of the opening tip for our starters. It seems like every single game we are having to climb out of huge deficits.
#6 Hewitt's inability to capture the fan base'senthusiasm
#7 our roster has not improved in 3 years. I believe that our recruits are all solid players, but getting them to play together as a unit has been deplorable. Erik copes has been the biggest disappointment that I've ever remembered. He has zero shooting touch.
#8 most games we've won we probably should've lost. Our record isn't indicative of how poorly this team has played as a unit.
#9 Facebook posts from Jollay lastly night were comical.
#10 our atmosphere at games suck because every single game we play are ugly games.

 

[Bricker]

I agree with all but #6. If I were Hewitt, I wouldn't want people coming out to see this team play, either.

 

[Patriotsince81]

#4 - I don't know if it is resistance or ignorance about how to take the program to the next level. I was very hopeful that we could/would become a regular in the NCAA tournament with successes along the line of a sweet 16 run. That obviously is not going to be the case. That is the source of my anger/frustration which I am slowly coming to terms with. The ugly play last year, and again this year, has forced the realization. I have also adjusted my expectations for conference play. At the beginning of the year I had hopes for .500 play. Gone! Now I fully expect a 3 win campaign in conference.

We are the college version of the Redskins. Snyder = GMU Admin. Shanny = Hewitt. Special teams coach = Mason assistants. Players = players.

 

[azgmu]

We are the college version of the Redskins.

Meaning that the team is run by money instead of principle?

 

[Patriotsince81]

3 - 13 predicted record with poor management.

 

[PoorManProfit]

Apathy

 

[smccart5]

The sloppy play is really rough. Even when we win (like against penn) you still leave with a sour taste in your mouth.

I live in NJ so the only game I've seen in person this year was the URI game. People keep referring to this as a good game, but to be honest the team did not look that good.

It takes a lot for me to lose faith and I am getting close

 

[psyclone]

How much of our disenchantment is due to the move to the A-10 which was strongly lobbied for by most of those on this board? We're now looking at being underdogs in all but 2 of our remaining games.

If we had stayed in the CAA, according to Sagarin ratings we currently would be the 3d best team, roughly 4 points below Drexel and Delaware and 1-2 points above Towson & Charleston. So we'd figure to be favored in 10 more games if we were still in the CAA.

 

[Pablo]

How much of our disenchantment is due to the move to the A-10 which was strongly lobbied for by most of those on this board?

I would be even more disenchanted if Mason had not moved to the A10.

 

[gmujim92]

How much of our disenchantment is due to the move to the A-10 which was strongly lobbied for by most of those on this board? We're now looking at being underdogs in all but 2 of our remaining games.

If we had stayed in the CAA, according to Sagarin ratings we currently would be the 3d best team, roughly 4 points below Drexel and Delaware and 1-2 points above Towson & Charleston. So we'd figure to be favored in 10 more games if we were still in the CAA.

I'll answer for myself, it has absolutely zero to do with the A-10.

We sucked in a crappy CAA last season -- and this is obviously just my opinion, but being the third-best team in an irrelevant league is no better than finishing last in the A-10. You're not dancing either way.

My discontent has everything to do with the fact that our program was heading in the wrong direction the second Hewitt was hired.

 

[GSII]

How much of our disenchantment is due to the move to the A-10 which was strongly lobbied for by most of those on this board? We're now looking at being underdogs in all but 2 of our remaining games.

If we had stayed in the CAA, according to Sagarin ratings we currently would be the 3d best team, roughly 4 points below Drexel and Delaware and 1-2 points above Towson & Charleston. So we'd figure to be favored in 10 more games if we were still in the CAA.

This is meaningless. What does the A10 have to do with anything. The first game of the A10 is Thurs. The out of conf games where scheduled before the move sans a few. It's not like we just joined the ACC. From where we stood in the CAA, it's close to a lateral move (then, god knows not now) in terms of talent level. We have to keep up in this league thats for sure, but it wouldn't of been hard to do had we paid the OCM.

 

[MasonFanatic]

I'd rather lose by 20 to UMass than beat UNCW by 3.

 

[GMURaider]

1. Declining Attendance - We used to draw between 7-9K per game during our KRAM golden years. Now we average about 3,000 or so. Correct me if I am wrong on the exact number but it has gone down and I think it's visible on TV.
2. A rough year in 2012-2013 and a brutal start so far in 2013-2014 - I would argue this is related to point #1. It's been a regression from our big moment in March 2011.
3. Paul Hewitt has polarized the fan base into pessimists versus optimists.

Positives

1. The Green Machine - the best pep band in the country.
2. helping the program - The big donors like gmubrian and the mysterious insiders group who support the program financially.
3. Patriot Center - We have a decent arena.
4. great fans - We have strong fan support even if it doesn't always show up in attendance figures. Our fans travel on the road to support our team. I know some of you have traveled to our recent island tournaments. That's phenomenal! Keep up the great fan support. People at Iona were impressed with how many Mason fans there were.
5. Our incoming recruits - They won't immediately take the place of our Seniors. However, they look pretty solid and over time I like our chances.
6. Atlantic 10 - Yes we aren't playing like how an Atlantic 10 team should be playing. However, the potential is there now that we are in a great conference for a bright future.

 

[GMUgemini]

The most we ever averaged was 6,800, the year after the Final Four. The last year of Coach L, 2011, it was 5,800 (which I think is what we about averaged in Hewitt's first season). Last year it was 5,100.

I can't tell you what our average this year is going to be. It's not like we had any big interest teams come in yet, although, the home opener was well over 6,000 which surprised me.

Let's wait until after UMass (which will be a top 25 team), George Washington (local rival and also a very good team this year), Richmond (semi-local which might generate buzz based on recent success), and St. Louis (another very good team casual fans might be interested in seeing. My guess is attendance will remain flat or slightly increase (just due to the uptick in competition). No ODU, JMU or vcu home games (we will at least get two out of the three next season), those probably would have pushed us up closer to 5,800.

 

[Harry]

The most we ever averaged was 6,800, the year after the Final Four. The last year of Coach L, 2011, it was 5,800 (which I think is what we about averaged in Hewitt's first season). Last year it was 5,100.

I can't tell you what our average this year is going to be. It's not like we had any big interest teams come in yet, although, the home opener was well over 6,000 which surprised me.

Let's wait until after UMass (which will be a top 25 team), George Washington (local rival and also a very good team this year), Richmond (semi-local which might generate buzz based on recent success), and St. Louis (another very good team casual fans might be interested in seeing. My guess is attendance will remain flat or slightly increase (just due to the uptick in competition). No ODU, JMU or vcu home games (we will at least get two out of the three next season), those probably would have pushed us up closer to 5,800.

The Richmond fans supported their team fairly well when the Spiders were in the CAA...at least when they were winning under Coach Tarrant. Once Mason started beating them regularly, their fans quit showing up. They were the most obnoxious of fans, IMO.

 

[azgmu]

3. Paul Hewitt has polarized the fan base into pessimists versus optimists.

It seems to me like everyone's a bit of a pessimist who's trying not to be a total pessimist.

 

[gmubrian]

They were the most obnoxious of fans, IMO.

They seem to not have gotten any better. At our game against them last year I had two different, unprovoked, instances of completely obnoxious behaviour. One was a future spider alum (grandad alum had brought) who sat next to me and made the most condescending remarks about Mason all game. I bit my tongue the entire game. When it ended, he said "They only lead at the end of the game". To which I replied "That is the only time that matters" and walked away to the bathroom, at which point I was accosted by two Richmond fans who proceeded to tell me how much we suck. I just asked them what that said about their team since we had just defeated them.

 

[psyclone]

1. Declining Attendance - We used to draw between 7-9K per game during our KRAM golden years. Now we average about 3,000 or so. Correct me if I am wrong on the exact number but it has gone down and I think it's visible on TV.

We currently average 4500 for our home games.

 

[gmubrian]

2. helping the program - The big donors like gmubrian and the mysterious insiders group who support the program financially.

I appreciate the kind words directed towards me, but there are plenty of people on here who give a lot of money and I suspect most of us give to Mason the point it hurts. What makes this site great is that we all love Mason basketball, if we are not all happy with where it heading at the moment.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

5. Our incoming recruits - They won't immediately take the place of our Seniors. However, they look pretty solid and over time I like our chances.

What's the last incoming class you can remember that didn't look pretty solid?