2 pm game on a Monday with no fans allowed ...almost like they're hiding something.
The spread is GW +6 and I just mortgaged my house for that. Should be double digits, something like
GMU 73 GW 59. Bishop with 19 on 8-of-27 shooting.

Last edited by Mentzinger (1/17/2022 6:44 am)

George Mason Patriots

Date/Time: Monday January 16, 2022 @ 2:00 PM at The Charles E. Smith Center in Washington, DC (MLK Day)
TV: CBS Sports Network
Preseason Ranks: 212th (KenPom), 167th (Bart Torvik), 166th (CBS), 107th (SI)
2020-21 Record: 13-9, 8-6 (6th in A10)
2021-22 Projected Record: 17-14, 10-8 (T-6th in A10)

Coach: Kim English, first year at George Mason. A native of Baltimore, English played collegiately at Missouri, winning 107 total games over his four year playing career (his class won more in Columbia than any other class). He averaged double figures in scoring in three of his four years playing and was a career 39% three point shooter. The Tigers were a member of the Big 12 at the time, and English made the Big 12 third team twice in his career. He was drafted in the second round by the Pistons and appeared in 41 NBA games in his lone season. English then played internationally in Italy, France, and Venezuela for three years before returning stateside as an assistant college basketball coach. Prior to landing the head job at Mason, English was an assistant at Tulsa, Colorado, and Tennessee.

Head-to-Head: 19-8, although Mason swept us in two matchups last season (the second game was during the A10 tournament which sent us packing for the season). In the regular season matchup in Fairfax, we placed four in double figures: Bishop (15 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists), Ricky (12 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks), Jamison (11 points, 6 rebounds), and Brelsford (11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals). We led by 13 points at the break, but went -18 in the second half (a recurring theme in the JC era, although we were clearly gassed coming back from an extended COVID break). 

Offensive Efficiency: 140th (KenPom), 126th (Bart Torvik)
Defensive Efficiency: 121st (KenPom), 95th (Bart Torvik)
Pace: 287th (KenPom), 266th (Bart Torvik)
Returning Minutes: 37.6% (316th in country) - so far, the new additions to the team have done well on the squad.

Key Returning Players:
Josh Oduro (Sophomore; Gainesville, VA) 10 PPG, 6 RPG, 1.2 APG; 51% FG, 20% 3-PT, 58% FT
       Last season vs. GW: 11 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks; 5-13 FG, 0-1 3-PT, 1-3 FT in 25 minutes.

Jamal Hartwell II (Junior; Inglewood, CA) 5.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 1.1 APG; 38% FG, 37% 3-PT, 89% FT
       Last season vs. GW: 3 points, 1 rebound; 1-5 FG, 1-2 3-PT in 19 minutes.

Key Losses:
Jordan Miller (Transferred to Miami (FL); Middleburg, VA) 15.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2 APG, 1 SPG; 46% FG, 33% 3-PT, 78% FT
Javon Greene (Transferred to South Florida; McDonough, GA) 11.5 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.8 SPG; 42% FG, 38% 3-PT, 78% FT
Tyler Kolek (Transferred to Marquette; Cumberland, RI) 10.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.3 SPG; 40% FG, 36% 3-PT, 79% FT
AJ Wilson (Transferred to South Carolina; Laurel, MD) 7.8 PPG, 5 RPG, 2.3 BPG; 40% FG, 24% 3-PT, 50% FT

Comments:
Despite taking a step back in the A10 during the 2019-20 season, Dave Paulsen did a solid job getting the Patriots back to the middle of the league in his sixth season at George Mason, which ended up being his final year with the program. GMU finished 8-6 in A10 play (tied for fourth, Paulsen's best finish in six seasons), although six of those wins were against the bottom of the league. Despite several canceled games due to COVID late in the season, the Patriots played their best basketball in February, which included a five game winning streak before Davidson blew them out 99-67 to end the Paulsen era.

A change seemed imminent after GMU hired a new president in July 2020, Gregory Washington (name sounds like a better fit at GW imo). In comes Kim English, a well-respected assistant at Tennessee who seemed destined to return to the mid-atlantic region as a head coach. Like any new coach, English had his work cut out for him. With the extra year given to all athletes due to COVID, KE had the ability to bring his entire team back, as none of the players opted to go pro after last season. After Jordan Miller and Javon Greene packed their bags for the Sunshine State and A10 rookie of the year Tyler Kolek left for Marquette, it seemed like it was going to take a few years for English to be able to get the guys he wants in order to truly elevate Mason. The roster he inherited had a high floor, but the ceiling was low.

Much like JC, English went to work in the transfer portal. His first big get as head coach was actually getting sophomore Josh Oduro to remove his name from the portal. Oduro broke out last season and showed the potential to be one of the best bigs in the league for years to come. Getting Oduro back was especially important given Wilson also departed after four years with the program. Oduro is a tough guard - he leads the team with 17 ppg on the season while shooting 32% from three, and has also noticeably improved on the defensive end - he's second in steals and first in blocks on the squad. Pretty much any big in this league will give us trouble, but finding a way to slow down Oduro has to be at the top of the list tomorrrow afternoon.

There aren't really any other true forwards on the team behind Oduro. Malik Henry has resumed his deeper bench role this year. Henry is a strong rebounder and can get a bucket when needed but has pretty much only been asked to give Oduro a breather thus far. English brought in Australian freshman Blake Jones who is more of a stretch big, but even he has seen under 10 minutes a game on the year so expect Oduro to get all the minutes he can handle in tomorrow's contest.

The remainder of Mason's roster is made up of guards and wings. English clearly prioritized player versatility, and landed three strong transfers in D'Shawn Schwartz (Colorado), DeVon Cooper (Morehead State), and Davonte 'Ticket' Gaines (Tennessee). It definitely didn't hurt that English coached both Schwartz and Gaines as an assistant coach and was familiar with their games. Schwartz has taken on a more active role on this Mason team as a complementary playmaker, although that hasn't hurt his efficiency to date - he paces the team shooting 85% from the line, and is shooting 37% from three. Cooper is another strong passer in the halfcourt, averaging just under 3 assists per game and has hit 40% of his tries from distance. Gaines has arguably been the most important of the trio, and has really developed his offensive game after a couple seasons as an afterthought in Knoxville. He is shooting a ridiculous 51% from three (80% from the line) and leads the team in rebounding at just over 8 a game. Gaines is the X-factor of the team, and if he aren't able to slow him down we could be in for a long game. He was fantastic in Mason's contest against Kansas a couple weeks back. The strong shooting from this trio has played a large role in Mason shooting over 36% from three on the year. Something I really wish we had.

The remainder of Mason's rotation in the backcourt are holdovers from the Paulsen era. Xavier Johnson has seen more run this season as the main point guard of the squad. He is still finding consistency with his shot, but has done a great job setting others up with a near 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. Jamal Hartwell II is always a factor shooting the three ball, although he hasn't shot the ball to his standards through 13 games this season. Ronald Polite III missed the early part of the season but has played in Mason's last three games and should play a sizable role from off the bench as he continues to get his rhythm back. Otis Frazier III and true freshman Mike Gray are likely outside the main rotation during conference play but could see action if the game's a blowout. Frazier has been efficient scoring on low volume.

Will we see the team play with any kind of chemistry tomorrow? That's all I want to see. The W-L record and margin of losses have been bad, but the more concerning thing has been the utter lack of cohesion offensively and defensively. COVID has played a role sure, but there is no understanding of passing in the halfcourt on this team, or communicating on switches defensively. It's been bad through three years under JC, and this team in particular seems to have no idea how to move the ball offensively - at least there are a few good individual defenders like Joe and Ricky that can sometimes bail us out of bad defensive possessions. Why that is I have no idea, but generating (and taking) good shots will do wonders for making shots and improving our offensive efficiency that ranks 311th in the nation. It's the lack of team play on both sides of the ball that has made me lose faith that JC can turn this around. At this point, most of the goals I was hoping the team was going to meet this season aren't likely to be met, but can we start playing as a team? That's all I really ask for at this point. Gotta start somewhere...

Projected Score: Mason 72, Washington 64. 22% chance to win (Bart Torvik). ESPN gives us a 21.4% chance at a win. Mason opens as a 6 point road favorite.
 

The long layoffs for George Mason should help GW today(at least early in the game) because I don't think it's possible for George Mason to come out clicking on all cylinders(like Dayton and VCU did against GW) with the pauses in their schedule. I'm leaning towards George Mason being a top 6 or 7 team in the A-10, meaning a lot better than GW, but they haven't played any conference games yet, so it's hard to tell how good they really are at the moment.

Great preview.  Mason doesn’t hit the offensive glass much, which either means our big vulnerability in defensive rebounding won’t hurt as much today… or a team that is strong in other areas gets extra possessions anyway thst they don’t usually get. 

They do take a ton of threes and shoot it well, so we are going to want to take that away (one of the few things we’ve usually done well this year).  I think the key, though will be to guard the arc without getting torched on drives that will lead to both easy baskets inside and open threes. 

Offensively we need to pass better and make some damn shots, though that’s every game.

Brendan Adams in street clothes as the team is warming up...

Interesting starting lineup.  JC has to be one of the more snakebitten coaches since last year when it comes to having your expected starters available.    

Last edited by GW0509 (1/17/2022 1:56 pm)

Lindo is not here (not sure how I didn't notice that before) so it's safe to assume he's out. Also in street clothes alongside Adams on the bench is Keegan Harvey.

Sounding like Oduro may be out for Mason
Daniel Frank@n1a2v3y4 
Starting lineups are posted, and Josh Oduro is not starting for the Patriots. Was said to be a game-time decision. Time will tell if he plays today or not. #RevRivalry #A10MBB

Last edited by GW0509 (1/17/2022 1:57 pm)

I haven't seen him at all. I'll make sure to ask JC about it postgame

Noel Brown also out. 

Announcer said Adams, Lindo, Brown all injured in practice.