It's almost funny how bad our late game execution is. Using the entire shot clock to take a heavily contested three, missing both free throws in a key spot and then turning the ball over carelessly (not to even mention the final play). 3-for-25 from three point range and 9-for-15 from the free throw line. Not sure how you win a game with those numbers. Also why the hell are we taking 25 of our 47 shots from three when we can't make a shot from there? I recognize Mason was doing a good job keeping us out of the paint (particularly in the first half) but there comes a point when you need to stop settling for threes.

Credit to CJ for getting us back in the game but those were some brutal mistakes in crunch time. The game as a whole was a difficult watch

Last edited by GW0509 (2/05/2025 9:57 pm)

Not really much to say. Probably the worst 30 minutes of basketball I've seen from the team in my 15 years of watching them. Nice to see them fight back in the final 10 but those last two possessions are tough to look past. Need to continue putting the ball in Autry's hands and need to coach CJ up a little more, he keeps driving to the baseline and picking up his dribble causing him to get trapped down low.

I'll reiterate what others have said but I have no idea what's happened to Darren in the past month. He's a shell of his former self and looks much more passive. That's been a real killer for us.

Add this game to the other 4-5 games we should have won this season. Team could easily be in the top 3 in the conference but instead will fight to stay out of the pillow fight yet again.

Lol, "rock fight?" What the hell is that?

George Mason survives rock fight, beats GW for a rare Foggy Bottom win
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/02/05/george-mason-gw-mens-basketball/
 

Last edited by Alum '04 (2/05/2025 10:38 pm)

I've lost count of the number of times GW waits 30 minutes or so before starting to care about the game. Pretty much a repeat of OOC play. If you want a tl;dr (too long; didn't read) version of GW's season, you can just watch this game. It's tough to swallow, but the Revs find themselves on the wrong side of the end result because they are younger than the other team they're playing and it shows. When Drumgoole is your lone senior guard, this is what happens.

I do not understand why CC has suddenly started to slow things down and make the offense more halfcourt-based. Against a very fast team like UMass, URI, or La Salle slowing things down a bit makes sense because you want to limit their transition opportunities. But against Mason? They want to play slow, and I can't help but feel like the first half was a major miscalculation. Trey Autry making a three to get GW to double digits was one of the few positive plays before halftime. How was that three generated? Pushing in transition. How was GW able to come back? Running in transition and attacking the bucket.

Coming into the game, the Revs led the A10 in assists per game. Yes, GW is a good passing team but when in the halfcourt it also means that there's a lot of overthinking continuously passing the ball instead of looking for a shot. In the first half, it wasn't like the shots being passed up resulted in better looks late in the shot clock. GMU is good defensively, no doubt about that. But on GW's side I'm not sure what the end goal was tonight for much of the game. As the seconds on the shot clock ticked down, the team got more stressed out, allowing Mason to start to speed GW up and get them to make mistakes. What is this team's identity offensively? Not good at shooting threes, but not really getting to the rim/line enough either. You can rule out the midrange since it's not analytically sound.

During crunch time, it becomes the opposite problem. Next to no passing. Guys very uptight and operate solely in isolation. What's frustrating is in both the La Salle and tonight's game was there was a play or two late where a good pass was made off a cut and GW scored so it's something they can do. It's just not consistent.

gwstudent2024 wrote:

It's almost funny how bad our late game execution is. Using the entire shot clock to take a heavily contested three, missing both free throws in a key spot and then turning the ball over carelessly (not to even mention the final play). 3-for-25 from three point range and 9-for-15 from the free throw line. Not sure how you win a game with those numbers. Also why the hell are we taking 25 of our 47 shots from three when we can't make a shot from there? I recognize Mason was doing a good job keeping us out of the paint (particularly in the first half) but there comes a point when you need to stop settling for threes.

Credit to CJ for getting us back in the game but those were some brutal mistakes in crunch time. The game as a whole was a difficult watch

Pretty much sums up my thoughts. Over 20% of the team's three point makes in conference play came in the Dayton game. Let that sink in. Seven straight games under 70% from the FT line. The funny thing is probably late in the game both Gerald and CJ should have probably just taken a 3 because they ended up pump faking and turning the ball over when they got to the paint. Gerald's in particular was really inexcusable. The shot clock almost expired, but he pump faked and took a harder shot instead? He was great in the Illinois State game, but in these last two games he's doing things a player with his experience shouldn't do. For CJ, he's a freshman so it's hard to get too upset, but one play after you just barely avoided a backcourt violation you turn it over the very next play in the same fashion? You have to know better there.

Before CJ started attacking the rim, I was simply going to write again that the guards are not good enough (which is still true even after his run). Like gwstudent2024 said above, too much settling for 3. Moss would be the answer here, but he turns the ball over trying to get to the hoop. I've tried to defend him, but it's getting hard to do so (even if he's not 100% healthy). Autry can attack the basket, but is better shooting. Jacoi is a blocked layup waiting to happen. Also, many times this year he's been wide open from 3, sets himself, and still bricks the shot. The inability to draw contact from this younger perimeter unit hurts when the team can't shoot either. Autry's six FT attempts are misleading as many came on the other side of the court when he went for rebounds (which is much appreciated - he quietly pulled down eight tonight). Apart from adding shooting, an experienced guard who can create their own shot dynamically is needed badly.

Naismith wrote:

Not understanding what happened to Buchanan this year. Maybe the bully ball works against the low mid majors but he is just does not big enough to repeat that at the A-10 level? Maybe not recovered fully from the injury? Who knows, but it is pretty disappointing. Coach needs to hold on to Castro, Jones, Autry and the two freshman. If he can pick up a real power forward in the transfer portal we may have something here next season despite the recent poor play. Just not quite enough talent at this point.

Agree with others that we need Jun to be more aggressive. Gerald is just not a #1 option at this level on a consistent basis (and Rafael is not really a post up threat like Haynes - GMU sent double teams his way all night so others have to step up). Heck even on a slightly above average Delaware team last year he was the #2 option. Part of the problem is Jun (like Rafael) gets the ball along the perimeter too often and is obviously not a three point threat. DBJ's one made basket was really well executed, but he's been a no-show for very long stretches of conference play. Part of the problem? Spacing is atrocious because the guards can't help him to get the space he needs to go downhill as no one can make a 3 consistently. At the same time, this team needs someone to produce consistently from off the bench and Jun seems like the most likely bet.

Alum '04 wrote:

I know they have the best defense in the A-10, but how is GMU in first place when they also have the second worst offense? Doesn't seem sustainable.

Agreed, which is why I didn't have them winning the A10 tournament in the other betting thread. Of course, there's so much parity that anything can happen (and they have pretty good depth) but one good shooting game from the other team could spell trouble for the Patriots. I don't want to take away what Skinn has done as well as how good their defense has been though. Very impressive turnaround in a short period of time.
 

Didn't watch any postgame crap because I was still trying to figure out what I had just watched.  For me, by far, the most glaring deficiency was the no motion (13 points at half?)  half court offense.  Just look away from the ball and you see 3-4 stationary Revs and 4 Patriots also resting and not needing to move on D.  GW is so predictable its sad. This comes down to poor execution which is a reflection of coaching.  Just look at Pitino teams and watch them execute and grow with each game and take on his competitive fire. 
They say it's not the big plays you make but the mistakes you don't make that wins games.  I feel bad for the players because they haven't been given the right script in practice. Hence zero confidence and more pressure on foul shooting and threes.  This team should be further along at this juncture.  

Well, I did watch the postgame crap.  Here are some thoughts:

1) CC says "the two's were not our problem today."  Well, they kind of were, in that the the team did not attempt nearly enough of them.25 attempts from 3 (with 3 makes) and 22 attempts from 2 (with 16 makes)?  That says a lot.

2) Was Mason really taking away the two and forcing the Revs to shoot 3's?  At times, sure.  But, there were plenty of other times where a driver would have a direct path to the basket only to throw the ball back out.  It was mind-boggling how many higher percentage shots were being turned down in exchange for lower percentage shots.  The problem here is that guys are thinking too much.  What if I drive and get my shot blocked?  So what!  Same result as one of those 22 missed three pointers.

3) Nobody should rightfully expect the team to play with the same pace and energy for 40 minutes as it did over the last 8 minutes or so.  Playing in such a frenzied manner generally is not sustainable.  At the same time, where was the energy at all on offense for the first 3/4 of this game?  As others have remarked, lots of standing around, no motion, very little meaningful pick setting.  This all reverts back to the beginning of the season when we were winning games despite playing this way because we were that much better than our subpar opponents.  This team is capable of getting hot from 3 (i.e. Dayton) as well as playing a fluid, team-oriented offense (i.e. URI).  Nevertheless, against A10 competition, these have been more the exceptions than the rules.  

4) Curious minds want to know:  I'd sure like to know what Haynes could have possibly said for CCF to bark "fuck you" back at him.  The fact that CC wasn't T'd up for this leads me to believe that it had to be pretty bad.  The refs may not have heard it, or just decided to let it go.  Compounding matters is the very close history that CC has with Tony Skinn.

5) About calling timeout:  I am all over the place on this.  First, CC did call a timeout with 30 seconds left.  Then, he gets a matchup where Christian is picked up by Haynes.  As CC noted, he wants this matchup (particularly considering how well Christian was playing) and will likely lose this matchup if he calls timeout.  I agree with this.  However, GW grabs a rebound off of a missed free throw with 4 seconds left and...does not call timeout?  Let's say the rebound is passed to midcourt and a timeout is called with 3 seconds left.  Mason is up 3 and may very well foul.  On the other hand, perhaps a play can be drawn up to free a three point shooter?  Instead, GW opts not to call a timeout and instead relies upon Gerald to hoist up a 30 foot shot to end the game.  CC wanted a foul but that contact was entirely initiated by Gerald.  While I understand the value of not allowing Mason to set up their defense and perhaps take  apurposeful foul, I think there is greater value in drawing up a real play where someone sets a screen that allows a shooter to get a good look from 3.

6) CC grudgingly suggests that "I'm playing with a freshman point guard."  A few thoughts on this.  First, while Christian does have the game experience of a true freshman, he is in fact a redshirt freshman meaning he has been around this team for nearly two years.  His job as a freshman was to soak up knowledge.  This is not a kid coming right out of high school.  Second, you do have Jacoi on the bench.  I'm not going to defend his prolonged slump but I will say that he is someone who can offer a steadier influence when the game is on the line than Christian at this point.  Not that I want Christian on the bench; in fact, the five I'd like to see on the floor in crunch time will generally be Jacoi, Christian, Trey A., Rafael, and Jun if he's going to be contributing (these days, I have no idea what's going on with him and am left to assume that he's playing through an injury that's really limiting what he can do), otherwise, Gerald.  If nothing else, this team has lost enough winnable games in the late stages (every A10 loss except UMASS) that something should be done to shake things up.  Perhaps giving Jacoi more of a role in late game situations (and yes, I realize he took a late ill-advised shot at La Salle) might be just the thing to build his confidence back up.

One more thing……the way Caputo blew off Byron in the brief post-gamer was bullshit. Total sore loser material. If you’re gonna show up to do an interview and act like an ass, better not to show. At least he was so flustered and disoriented he admitted he failed to do his job by not flagging his players, his coaches or himself to alert the refs he wanted a timeout after the Mason miss. 

Regardless, really poor form and childlike

I actually think it was for the best that no time out was called. If Mason had the chance to regroup, they foul immediately and don't even give you the look at the 3. That's at least what most teams do now of days. 

I like CC, he has basketball smarts and experience that for some reason we are not
seeing translated into results. Which is of course, disappointing, to say the least. Even though as GW
fans, we eat disappointment for breakfast.
   I would also say that this could--could--be a group with a good addition or two and a healthy Garrett, that shows classic signs of potentially being on the cusp for a turnaround.  But that may well not be possible in the era of the lure of unrestricted transfer, even within the league, and NIL payments.
  And I don't know if anyone can do it at GW. We may just be cursed for 8 years now over what we did to shoot ourselves in the foot.
   Add in players are doing let's kindly say not so smart things in crunch time. Perhaps excusable
in Christian in his first playing year. C Jones giveth and taketh away last night. The others have less
of an excuse. We need to play team basketball which accounted for our few big league wins, not hero ball that kills rallies that put us in a position to win.
   When we were still somewhere between 8 and 11 points down and just starting to show
signs of life, I said to a seatmate, "We're going to come back, but blow it in the end. It's our thing." It's seems like you can start a clock on it. 
   But wherever the responsibility lies, why can Tony Skinn achieve things at George Mason that we are not?
It's obvious during the regular season we can play Mason, the current top of the league, about even or better as the clock winds down, but still find a way to give the game away.