On the road again...

The Patriots hit the road again tomorrow to face ODU in Norfolk; where they have not been victorious in about five years. We will see the return of John Vaughan, but in what capacity? I wouldn't expect to see him be much of a factor in this one as he will have to knock off some rust. Two games missing action can seem like a lifetime once conference play kicks into full gear. Vaughan had been averaging over 30 minutes of play before the injury; he most likely won't be on the court for more than 25 in this one. Isaiah Tate and Andre Cornelius have shown some promise filling in for him but on the road they have struggled. Facing ODU though, play in the front court will be more of an issue than the backcourt. The Monarch's streaky play has...

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Reserves shine, Mason routs Delaware

Mason bounced back last night at home against Delaware. The Patriots continued their unbeaten streak at home and ended their two-game skid. Reserve players had a huge role last night as Isaiah Tate had career highs and Michael Morrison ignited the Patriots early with 14 points. Dre Smith had a couple of great steals that he converted into layups and Cam Long had his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Mason came out flat to start the game and was down by as much as nine while Delaware's offense looked very much on point. After half-time though Mason's defense looked a to have a lot more fire and they basically didn't get the Hen's any looks. Darryl Monroe's rebounding on both ends helped the Patriots take control...

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Mason to play in Ireland?

Ever dreamed of visiting Ireland and watching the Patriots play there? Well it might just happen. Per The Irish Times:"Basketball Ireland are in discussions with US sports network ESPN to host an in-season US college’s tournament in Ireland in 2010, writes Gavin Cummisky. The coach of George Mason Patriots, Jim Larranaga, father of Ireland head coach Jay, stated an interest in bringing his university over to play in such a competition or take part in the Emerald Hoops competition. “ESPN were very interested,” said Jay Larranaga. “If that were the case I think my Dad would really want to do one or the other; either play in the Emerald Hoops or an in-season tournament if ESPN get the backing to televise it in the US, which is what they want to do.” The move requires a change in NCAA rules, for...

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Mason going Green Tuesday Night

Get ready for some "Green night basketball", according to GMU athletics, for this Tuesday night as Mason hosts Delaware. Mason is looking to bounce back after suffering two straight CAA losses. The two losses hurt but you can't knock the fight the Patriots have shown this past week. John Vaughan won't be playing as Coach L stated in the post game after the VCU game Saturday. I feel much better about Andre Cornelius and Isaiah Tate's extended minutes if it's at the Patriot Center. This Delaware team on paper doesn't look stellar but you can't overlook the talent on that roster with guys like Brian Johnson and Marc Egerson (former Georgetown player) and let's not forget they did take VCU by surprise early this year. They have three guys...

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Without Vaughan, Mason can't handle VCU

First off, an exciting game to watch. Some great basketball on display Saturday afternoon, but it became obivous early on that Mason would have it's struggles while missing their leader John Vaughan. Cornelius started in Vaughan's absence and made way too many mistakes handling the ball. Luckily Cam Long had another stellar performance leading Mason with 24 points, the most by a Patriot this season. Long was making shots and driving to the basket left and right to keep the Patriots in this one, and even had a dunk that was on Sportscenter's highlights top plays last night.He got help from Dre Smith, who connected on 4-of-4 shooting from three-point territory but was literally taken out of the game by the Rams defense in the second half. ...

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Previewing VCU...

Things don't get any easier for the Patriots as they face the VCU Rams on ESPN 2 this Saturday in Richmond. John Vaughan is out, but would sure like to play if it was up to him. The Patriots almost escaped Boston with a win at Northeastern but now find themselves in a three-way tie for 1st in the CAA. Forget the at-large talk, I just want to see this squad beat a solid team on the road. Beating VCU on the road would really give this team confidence heading into the end of their CAA slate and into the conference tourney in March. Mason had trouble keeping Matt Janning from scoring and now they have the task of taking on the CAA's leading scorer in Eric Maynor and without one of their best defenders. It will be interesting to see what Larranaga...

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Vaughan Collaspes, Patriots lose

UPDATE 12:45 pm: ESPN is reporting that Vaughan will be out at least a week:"Vaughan was released from Beth Israel Hospital in Boston early Thursday morning after a CT scan came back negative. Larranaga and Vaughan were scheduled to fly back to Virginia later in the day; George Mason's staff and players flew home earlier in the morning for the first day of classes."It seems John Vaughan will be fine. Andy Katz has an update on him here. For those we didn't see the game here is the official word from GoMason.com:"Vaughan, who had 19 points to lead Mason on Wednesday night, took a blow to the head with 2:16 to play as the teams fought for a rebound. On the play, Northeastern's Nkem Ojougboh was fouled. Vaughan was on the floor briefly before...

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Tuesday links...

Some links for you today if your like me and stuck at work watching the inauguration while pretending to do actual work.Listen to Coach L's weekly teleconference callEarly "bubble watch" from SI.comMason's RPI is currently at #48Get your hands on a George Mason "Bulldogs" media guide from the '97-'98 season!Mason mentioned in ESPN's weekly watchBreakdown of possible Bracketbuster match-upsChris Fleming is apparently the only Republican on the t...

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Previewing Northeastern...

The Patriots travel to Boston on Wednesday to face a gritty Northeastern squad battling for CAA supremacy. The Huskies are not scoring juggernaunts and have rallied off strong defensive play in their success this season. They have the best turnover margin in the conference and have two players averaging nearly two steals a contest. Matt Janning is one of them and he leads the Huskies again this year a junior. There is no shortage of size on this squad as no starters are under 6-4. Unlike most other mid-major teams they sport a more tradition lineup; a center, two forwards, and two guards, as opposed to most of the three-guard lineups you will see in the CAA. Forward Manny Adako is a legit post player, who recently dropped 24 on Towson...

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View from the top

The Patriots keep their winning streak alive in the CAA and now currently sit alone at the top of the standings with a victory over JMU. Mason never trailed in this one and used strong runs at the beginning of each half to take control. They held the Dukes to an unimpressive shooting day without their starting PG Devon Moore. Their offense seemed to be very out of sync with his absence and they even struggled from the free-throw line. Louis Birdsong ended his scoring rut by scoring 15 and Ryan Pearson added 13, many off offensive rebounds. I had stated in my preview that these two guys would be the x-factors and they definitely seemed to a problem for the Dukes to contain. Darryl Monroe drew a lot of double-teams but was able to capitalize...

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Previewing JMU...

The Patriots are rolling so far but can they keep the pace against a very confident James Madison squad? The Mason-Madison rivalry is old and while the Patriots have been dominating lately let me say that this isn't your father's Dukes squad. Their young talent is finally starting to mature and they have already put up some impressive road wins so far. Kathy Orton of the WaPo seems to think this is a "trap" game. But if you think Coach L's players are looking past any team in the CAA, then you don't know Coach L's style. Especially after the battle W&M gave the Patriots on Wednesday night it would be hard to think that they would look past any opponent from here on out.JMU has had no trouble putting up points this year and has the second...

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W&M post game media

pictures from Daily PressQuotes:From Washington Post:Coach L: "The Tribe really move without the ball so well,". They read the defender. I know there were times our guys thought they had them covered and, boom, they got a layup."Cam Long: "That's one team that uses the shot clock completely. As soon as you rest, that's the time they're going to get the ball to that person and he's going to score."From Daily Press:Coach L: In Tuesday's practice, Larranaga had his scout team, the Green squad, simulate the Tribe's offense, a blend of motion and backdoor cuts that drains time from the shot clock and requires disciplined help defense."They did such a good job that they actually won the game. I think that made our Gold team, the starters, realize,...

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Patriots keep on rolling

The Patriots keep their winning streak alive in the CAA last night with a close win at Kaplan Arena. They matched the team's best start in school history that dates back to 1983, but it didn't come easy. W&M's complex offense and zone defense gave Mason problems all night, especially the front court. Ryan Pearson (playing ill) and Louis Birdsong struggled to contribute much on the offensive end. Darryl Monroe missed another double-double by one rebound but still managed 12 points despite many double teams. The first couple of minutes of play was some ugly basketball but the Patriots eventually snapped out of it in the second half. The Tribe out rebounded the Patriots and were able to force a lot of turnovers, something many other opponents...

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Tuesday links...

Mason heads back to the road for a rematch of last year's CAA championship game at W&M. Is it still weird to anyone else that we played W&M in that game? They definitely don't look like they have built much off last year's tourney run this season. But no road game in the CAA can ever be overlooked as we saw Delaware knock off VCU already.Darryl Monroe is the CAA Player of the Week! (with three others)Listen to Coach Larranaga's weekly teleconference here.Mason's RPI is currently at #562 votes in the latest AP poll#6 in the Mid-Major Top 25 Mason is leading the CAA in scoring defense (59.9)Storming the Floor visits the Patriot CenterDC Sports Bog's take on Virginia's best college hoops prog...

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Vlad officially an Eagle

Well Vlad is officially enrolled at American University and will eligible to play for them starting in the spring '10 semester of next season."Vlad Moldoveanu, a 6-foot-10 224-pound forward, has been admitted to American and will start classes on Monday. Moldoveanu played in seven games for George Mason this season, averaging 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds for the Patriots. He will be eligible to play for the Eagles after sitting out this semester as well as the fall semester under NCAA transfer rules. The Romanian native was a first-team All-Met at St. John's College High School in Northwest D.C. He gives American its third 6-10 player on its roste...

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Post Game Interviews: ODU

Post game interviews from players and coaches:Videos from YouT...

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Home Stand

Mason beat the Monarchs Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten in CAA play and continued one of the school best starts in school history. Darryl Monore had his third straight double-double (14 and 14) to lead the Patriots who collectively shot 50% for the game. Mason capitalized early off the Monarchs flat start and went up by as much as 12 in the early minutes with the freshmen lineup providing the spark. Dre Smith's early three-point air-ball may have made some Mason fans feeling uneasy but he finished with 10 points and played some exceptional defense. Long, Smith, and Vaughan all hit big three-pointers in the 2nd half when the Patriots needed them after the Monarchs started to crawl back into the game. Some questionable fouls and late...

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Previewing ODU...

Old Dominion visits the Patriot Center this Saturday fresh off a disappointing home loss to James Madison. Although JMU is an improving team on the rise, it's still going to leave the Monarchs hungry in their next CAA match-up. The experience of head coach Blaine Taylor always keeps the Monarchs fighting but this year he is definitely lacking the team unity of which his past teams used to thrive on. Blogger Rich Radford seems to think this year's squad is lacking a killer instinct. I think it's lack of toughness on defense. Against JMU they allowed the Dukes to shoot over 60% from the field despite creating many turnovers. Another area the team is lacking is guard play and outside shooting. They really don't have a do it all point guard...

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Mason takes down Towson

The Patriots improved to 4-0 in CAA play after beating Towson on the road last night and are victorious in six of their last seven games. Mason's offense was in rhythmn right from the start in this one. Dre Smith quickly knocked down two three-pointers in the opening minutes and they never really were challenged after that. Darryl Monroe dominated down low picking up his fourth double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds (8 offensive). Mason's defense again was the real difference maker late in the game as they held another team under 40% FG shooting. Michael Morrison had another authoritative shot block and Isaiah Tate somehow managed two points, three assists, and a steal in five minutes off the bench. The team would really...

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Georgia State post game media

Photos taken by Allen Clark (offwing.com)Video from caazone....

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Mason holds on against GSU

Mason rallied late in the 2nd half last night to defeat Georgia State and remain at the top of the CAA standings. Cam Long had a stellar game scoring 18 points and grabbing 9 rebounds while Darryl Monroe picked up his third double-double of the season. The game was a defensive battle and forwards Louis Birdsong and Ryan Pearson had trouble creating any kind of scoring opportunities. The Patriots limited their turnovers and seniors Dre Smith and J0hn Vaughan made some key baskets down the stretch to keep the Patriots unbeaten at home. Larranaga used a four-guard line up which sparked a 13-2 run late in the second, after which the Patriots never looked back. I think we will see more four-guard lineups as the CAA schedule continues, especially...

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