George Mason Basketball: Will George Mason play in the CBI or CIT?

Friday, March 15, 2013

Will George Mason play in the CBI or CIT?

Unlike last season, Paul Hewitt is not against playing in one of the third-tier post season tournaments. The idea makes sense, considering everyone is returning next season and a lot of the younger players would benefit from extra reps and practice time. Hosting one of these games will cost the school money though. In the past it typically costs between $30,000 - $60,000 to host a game and would be even more expensive in later rounds of the tournament. It would be interesting to see if George Mason hosted one this year considering how poor recent attendance has been.

Regardless of whether or not fans are excited to be in one of these tournaments, I'm certainly not, but I do see the merits of this year's team participating.

For starters, they actually played better in the CAA tournament, despite the meltdown against Northeastern. We saw Bryon Allen take control and assume a leadership role. And for a few stretches we did see a better defensive effort from the group. The chances for extra time together could help them in the long run in this area.

And let's not forget for the younger players. Marko Gujanicic had an impressive CAA tournament and looks like he has potential to be a star here. Both he and fellow freshman Patrick Holloway need to work on their defense and this a another chance to do that.

Remember that back in 2010 VCU won the CBI tournament and then went on to make the Final Four in 2011, food for thought. Also, we saw how important seniors are to a program with James Madison's CAA tournament success. Giving the juniors more reps in preparation for next year is something I doubt any coach would turn down.

Here are some the schools have are being talked about or already have accepted CBI or CIT bids.

What are your thoughts on Mason possibly playing in one of these tournaments?

10 Comments:

Matt Cerilli said...: For how cheap our school is I just don't see it happening. After every couple of games we kept saying "will this be the stretch that turns this team around?" I hardly think a game or two against similar mediocre teams will really benefit this team long term.; 10:14 AM
Christopher Hirsch said...: I think it would benefit us to play a few more games, but I just hope I don't find what channel they are on so I can avoid the bitter disappointment that will come with watching them.; 10:39 AM
Adam Sylvain said...: Why not? I guess money plays a part, especially since I'm not sold it would make a HUGE difference for our team, but if it keeps our guys working together a bit more I think it's worth doing. Plus, even though it's not the greatest competition, it would be nice to see us end the year with an outcome different than a 24-point blown lead in the CAA tournament. Looking at the mix of team in consideration for one of these tournaments, there's some names of historically strong programs like Purdue, Bucknell, etc....; 11:05 AM
Justin Edwards said...: seems like it may be too expensive, but as a fan I would love to see another gmu game. I mean I am just not ready to say good bye to Bryce Lewis!; 12:05 PM
Rick Jank said...: There are a ton of things you could benefit from by playing in a CBI or CIT (btw, are they basically equal in stature, or, hah, does the term “stature” not really apply?). Here are a couple of things that come to mind.

1. Play a short rotation, junior-laden, and see how far they can go, how their stamina holds up, how their rhythm develops through the tourney (hoping we advance). Many on these boards have been calling for this, and there are of course pluses and minuses to shortening the rotation. Let’s see what we get.

2. Get Holloway in there for extended minutes. He tends only to get a few minutes on the court at a time. Especially given his size, we need to see how he holds up, how his accuracy gets affected, whether he can keep defensive focus, etc. A reminder: as things stand now, in two years time our only guards with experience will be him and Edwards!

3. Try a zone. We’ve seen too much of the “man-to-man with helpside” defense – which ends with 4 or 5 of our players on the Titanic (all weighted to one side) while an opponent player gets a wide open shot from the other side of the court. If we’re indeed a speed team, then on defense we ought to protect the perimeter pretty well. And Copes may benefit in the middle of that.

4. I don’t know, maybe we can work on bringing the ball up the court.

5. Let’s rain some threes. Our 3pt percentage (middle of the pack in the CAA) outranks our avg number of 3pt shots taken (next to last). Rarely does one of our guys shoot more than 3 or 4 shots behind the arc in a game. At times we have seen Holloway, Vaughns and Edwards on the court together. During the NE game Holloway entered the game, immediately attracted coverage (“hey here comes that kid who shoots the 3") and it left VV open for the 3, which he took and made. Hmmm, said I.

6. Put Marko in the game, and watch as he gets called for traveling – which happens immediately because the zebras see him and say: “here comes that European guy who travels.” Of course, he does actually travel plenty of times, but if it’s one of those times where he gets the “anti-benefit” of the doubt, which also happens plenty, Hewitt should get up and bark at the referees about this very thing. Maybe he could even get animated and earn his first technical of the season.

Okay, that was a “couple of things.” Maybe I should switch to decaf.; 12:30 PM
StopWearingPurple said...: Yes, yes and yes. The fee is an investment in next year. Jank also has some good ideas on what they can do. The last time GMU did this they blew a big home lead an Coach L used it as away to reinforce defense. The next year they did great, got an at large bid and won an impressive game in the tourney.; 1:24 PM
Raeford Wallace said...: We should definitely accept an invite to the CBI or CIT. One tip on how to get more butts in the seats for the tournament game(s)....lower the ticket prices and maybe offer some sort of discount on concessions. $22 is wayyyy to much for a general admission ticket. Knock it down to $7 or $8 and you'll attract Mason hoops fans and people looking for something cheap to do on a Wednesday or Thursday evening.; 12:58 PM
Season Ticket Holder said...: Post season play is an award for teams that have performed
well and earned it. This team has not
performed well and has not earned that reward.

As other says it’s time to go fishing…. I hope that the coach chooses a nice
tropical location for it.; 3:43 PM
Craig Bisacre said...: Now that the NCAA Tournament brackets have come out its interesting to think about the teams that played in other tournaments last years and are now playings in the NCAA Tournament this year.... 11 teams from last years NIT made it to the NCAA Tournament this year, 2 teams that played in the CBI made it this year to the Tournament and only 1 team (Albany) who played in the CIT made it to the Big Dance this year..... is it worth it for Mason to play in the CBI or CIT when the chance of making the tournament are only 5% if they do play in either?; 9:28 PM
Rob Walters said...: Looks like we will play College of Charleston @ Charleston 7pm on Tuesday, ...

http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2013/3/17/4116346/2013-cbi-tournament-bracket

http://www.gazellegroup.com/lock/0319202013.pdf

I think it is a good idea.; 3:06 AM

Will George Mason play in the CBI or CIT?

George Mason Basketball

Friday, March 15, 2013

Will George Mason play in the CBI or CIT?

10 Comments:

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