George Mason Basketball: Patriots take down Rams

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Patriots take down Rams

The Patriots season has been one full of spurts, some really impressive victories and some very questionable losses. Last night in front of a packed house at the Patriot Center, and quite possibly one of the loudest crowds I've ever experienced there, they were able to take down their CAA nemesis VCU. The victory brings them one game behind the Rams for first place in the standings but more importantly they were able to avenge last year's loss in the CAA finals. Fanhouse says we have "built a better bubble". Larranaga used an interesting four guard lineup midway through the second half after Birdsong picked up his fourth foul and it ended up sparking a 20-4 run. Our friend Michael Litos has a great breakdown of this on his blog. Who needs another forward in there when Will Thomas is dominating the glass? Thomas had 15 rebounds and 21 points and basically stole the show late in the 2nd half when he wa

s needed most. See what happens when you get him going early? Folarin Campbell has a very impressive shooting night and helped to keep the turnovers down. Interesting how Campbell was able to go 3 for 6 from three-point land against the team that defends the best in the country. You just never know which Campbell is going to show up. John Vaughan and Dre Smith played great defense all night guarding Ram's star Eric Maynor, who was held to only 3 points in the 2nd half. Jamal Shuler had a big night but couldn't get his teammates involved late, which hurt the Rams. With this victory Mason is 10-0 at home this season, but they will need to do some work on the road in the conference and in their bracketbuster game to keep their slim at-large hopes alive. This game could very well have been a preview of the CAA tournament finals coming in March.

Sidenote: You don't rush the court when you beat a conference opponent in January, only securing 2nd place in the conference, and your team was FAVORED to win. I hope Doug Gottlieb didn't rip us too bad for that. Oh wait I care about what he thinks almost as much as I would listening to Paris Hilton's view on our foreign policy.

17 Comments:

Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; 1:52 PM
C Hirsch said...: I had a second row seat, made it on TV a few times and I stand in the middle as far as rushing the court.

VCU fans are a bunch of assholes and since I was sitting right behind their bench I made a point of taunting them and pointing to our Final Four banner, telling them that VCU will never get one of those

I called that the students would rush the court because of the atmospehere. I think the reason people think it is silly is that it makes us seem low grade. We have been to a Final Four, we are a big time program now. If we win an NIT game or we beat a major conference team at home, rush the court. If that win last night had secured us an NCAA tournament berth rush the court. We played at home, we took of business by winning. Rushing the court makes it seem like we didn't think we could beat that team.

At the end of the day we are all fans of Mason, it was a great victory, an incredible atmosphere, a great showcase for our program on national television. However, we have a lot of season to go and I know we will be seeing VCU in Richmond. We beat them there we can burn the whole damn building down for all I care.; 1:58 PM
C Hirsch said...: Oh and anyone that tries to feed me the bull that JMU is our true rival can shut it.

VCU is our one and only rival right now.; 1:59 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2:06 PM
Anonymous said...: Chris... I totally agree with you. We won. It's our house. Let's rush.

The only thing I don't like is taunting the Final Four. It was a great run that was historic, but let's not live in the past too much. It's fun to talk about, and every now and then heckle about it, but I am of the opinion that if we live in the past, we die in the past.

Last night we were living in the here and now, and we demonstrated to VCU and the country that they better watch out for the 2007-2008 GMU, because we aren't gonna be a one hit wonder.

Go Mason!; 2:08 PM
C Hirsch said...: Yeah I get what you are saying about living in the past, I am just very proud of that Final Four. People stopped asking me what I meant when I said I went to George Mason. I just think about how out of all the small schools I was fortunate enough to go the one that was able to make a Final Four.

For all that Gonzaga has done to make their program prominent they never made my leap, so basically my boasting is just my pride in what that team accomplished.; 2:27 PM
Sam said...: When you guys came to Wilmington this past weekend and lost we didn't rush the court. The student section was packed, as was the arena, because we view you guys as our biggest in conference rival (as the two schools with historically the most success, I don't see how you couldn't agree...I guess b/c geographically VCU is closer). The atmosphere was just as good as it was at the Patriot Center, and we beat the 2nd place team who went to the Final Four 2 years ago. It was a huge win for us, after the game campus was crazy, but we still didn't rush the court. LAST year when we went 7-22 we beat you the YEAR after you went to the final four and we didn't rush the court. 2 years ago when it was EXACTLY like this game (we were both 6-2, tied for first) we won at home and didn't rush the court. Did you guys rush the court when you beat us at home that year? VCU is good. Not ranked. Might not have the credentials to get into the tourney unless they win the CAA tourney (prolly will if they go to the semis b/c we're essentially a 2 bid league now). I love that you won, its a great win, but come on...you were FAVORED to win.; 2:47 PM
Farmdog said...: Gottleib and Brennan made the call for a couple of the students to rush the court earlier in the night at Fats - they told a few of their fun loving friends to get on ESPN and it happened - when some of the Class of '66 stumbles out of their seats and hits the floor -then we thinks it nuts.
We need a student section on the side of the court - the average age in Row A Sect 117 was 65 and not big into cheering; 7:28 PM
Bobnoxious said...: Farmdog speaketh the truth!

Sam, you need to chill out. VCU is a quality team this year with many of the folks back that beat Duke in the tournament last year. On a neutral court, I wouldn't bet against them playing most teams. We are still looking for the *true* quality road win but our wins against KSU and USC are looking better and better.

Me thinks if VCU and Mason play in the final of the CAA tourney, both have a good shot of getting in this year. Of course, both must win all expected games from now on...but it is very possible!

G-M-U; 12:56 PM
Sam said...: I'm chilled out, I'm just offering other examples of these types of games. You don't storm the court in a game you are favored to win.; 2:27 PM
Farmdog said...: I do whatever Gottleib and Brennan say - since they were buying the beers at Fats.; 3:50 PM
Unknown said...: We have been overshadowed by VCU all year. All the analysts picked them to be the single caa team to go to the tournament this year. They also bumped us out of the tournament last year. F-THAT! I was there and I rushed the court. We need to let the team know how proud we are of them. We are not considered a major team yet so we dont have to act like one. We should rush at every home game to show how much we care about our F*#KING basketball team. P.S. UNC Wilmington Refs Blow. You a#*holes who aren't excited about our games are the ones who bring the team down.; 6:03 PM
Sam said...: UNCW refs are the same refs that the league uses. They are CAA refs.; 11:28 AM
Unknown said...: My apologies then. Maybe it was the fact the gym was extremely dark even before the light busted. We need sideline student sections like someone previously suggested.; 11:56 AM
C Hirsch said...: B-Spot,

We were picked to win the CAA this year, I haven't ready anywhere until recently where people thought VCU was going to finish above us.; 12:42 PM
Unknown said...: Christopher,

Yeah, at the beginning they picked mason but I still feel we have been overshadowed since then. The bracket on espn has, since the first time it showed up this year, had VCU as the only team from the CAA. Its not like they beat anyone special, other than maryland, who isn't even ranked. I think they put more wieght on our losses to ECU and Georgia State (both by 3 points or less) than our wins over K-State and Dayton (both by 10 points or more). It is unfortunate that the tournament has been and will again be in Richmond, a clear homefield advantage for VCU. It sucks but should not be an excuse. I also think that mason students should continue their support of the basketball team, whether it be breaking student attendence records or rushing the court.; 2:49 PM
Sam said...: I lot of things I read had either VCU or Mason winning the CAA. I don't know if there was a real consensus pick. But I do know that VCU has been getting all the hype recently (vote(s) for the top 25, ranked higher in the midmajor top 25). It was on you guys after the K-State and USC wins, too bad Dayton wasn't anything when you beat them (they were good but it was before their big wins) or else I don't think the spotlight would have ever left you guys. So I would have to agree with b-spot in saying you guys have been overshadowed by VCU. Hopefully not anymore tho, if UNCW can pull out a win tonight at W&M the end of this season could be awesome between the three teams. However I think you guys will take the tourney, we're just not quite there, coaching really. Congrats tonight.; 8:49 PM

Patriots take down Rams

George Mason Basketball

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Patriots take down Rams

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