Tony Skinn has brought something back to George Mason that they haven't had in more than a decade: an identity
The former '06 Final Four star was far more than just a nostalgia hire
George Mason and Tony Skinn are currently having their best season since joining the Atlantic 10 season. They hold first place alone with a 10-1 conference record with seven games remaining. The Patriots haven’t had a season like this since 2010-11, when they last made the NCAA tournament as an #8 seed. That was Jim Larranaga’s last season in Fairfax and you can find plenty of similarities between that squad and this year’s team. Larranaga’s teams always played good defense but Skinn has brought that mentality to a whole new level.
Mason’s defensive efficiency ratings for this season are nothing short of stellar. As of today they currently rank #13 in the nation in defensive rating on Kenpom and #2 in opponent’s effective FG%. In short, no one has a great shooting night against them and they will force teams out of their comfortable zone pretty quick. Skinn’s brand of #PatriotPressure has seen plenty of opponents shoot under 40% from the field, and at times go into scoring droughts. While this doesn’t always result in a visibility pleasuring basketball game to watch, the wins certainly speak for themselves. The road wins have been particularly telling to this ‘defense first’ approach. Few have won in conference or at all for that matter at places like St. Bonaventure and Dayton.
Skinn’s approach to bringing in the right players into his #PatriotPressure system has been the key to the team’s success. One of his first transfers when taking over in Fairfax was Jared Billups (Siena), who has been the team’s go-to, lock-down defender. This past offseason he also brought in Auburn transfer and known SEC defensive pest, KD Johnson. Neither Johnson or Billups will produce eye-popping stats on the box score but their presence has been instrumental to the team becoming a defensive juggernaut. And while a lot of teams are chasing big men who hang out at three-point line, Skinn has brought in some hard-nosed but also very athletic bigs in Jalen Haynes and Gio Emerjuru. Both can grind it out at both ends but also possess great touch around the basket in the paint. Haynes also some of the best footwork you will ever see for a guy who weighs nearly 270 pounds. Eerily similar to Skinn’s former teammate Jai Lewis.
The offense seems to come when they need it. Overall shooting numbers and the team’s turnover rate hasn’t been stellar. But they often force opponents into a low scoring rock fights and come out on top. They definitely have the shooters but they can be streaky at times, one of the team’s few weaknesses at this point. However they have different guys who can set up each night. It was nice to see the offense really come together yesterday in the homecoming win versus Rhode Island. When Darius Maddox has the hot hand they tend to have a better offensive game overall.
In all the craziness of the current college basketball landscape that includes the transfer portal and NIL deals, Skinn has been able to bring back an attitude and identity to George Mason. They are built to handle any situation and are currently riding high on a nine game winning streak. Skinn has brought that certain type of swagger back to a program that didn’t really much to hang their hat on during the Dave Paulsen and Kim English years. Now they face uncertain waters battling to get out of the A-10 alive and certain a tournament bid. Getting to Saturday at the conference tournament would be a first for starters. Perhaps this team is getting hot at the right time and can finally end the program’s NCAA tournament drought. Fingers crossed.