ESPN Q&A with Georgia Tech OL Shaq Mason

Techster

Techster

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CuseJacket said:
I agree with that sentiment 99% of the time. The difference in this case for me is the way the answer was worded. Shaq directly indicted last year as opposed to offering the ambiguous 'we grind so hard' and 'no pretenders'. The cynic in me wants someone to ask for once "why didn't the team work this hard last year?".

Also 99% chance I'm reading way too much into it and should just allow the preseason optimism to flow...
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I tend to be middle of the road in terms of optimism (or pessimism), and I'm not crapping on anything Shaq is saying. I was actually poking fun of some of the posters on here who take what our players say and make waaaay too much out of it. Happens every year and we build ourselves up on the message boards to somehow win 10+ games before the season starts. Then reality hits...

I think we can dig back into old threads and player tweets and see the same pattern every year. Nothing wrong with optimism, as I even talk myself into thinking we'll win 9+ games every year...but things haven't worked out that way.

In no way will I ever crap on a player for doing hard work or trying to drum up excitement because those guys are the ones that do the heavy work for us to enjoy on Saturdays. Like I said, my statement was more poking fun at some of the fans who overreach in their excitement in being, well, fans. But that's the nature of message boards...
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

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yellojello said:
And guys who are realists will understand that truth is always somewhere in between. Do I want to believe we'll be better this year? You bet your behind that I want to. Do I have any control over that? Nope. Nada. Zilch. So I choose to be realistic. I hope we succeed beyond my wildest dreams, but I'll have to see it on the field. Quotes ain't gonna get me excited.
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How about some facts, then? Mainly the fact that we're not sitting on 4, count 'em, 4 major injuries (or rehab) on the 2 deep at this same point in time. Two at the same position, the most important, center. (Jackson, Burden, Bailey, Joe)
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

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Techster said:
I tend to be middle of the road in terms of optimism (or pessimism), and I'm not crapping on anything Shaq is saying. I was actually poking fun of some of the posters on here who take what our players say and make waaaay too much out of it. Happens every year and we build ourselves up on the message boards to somehow win 10+ games before the season starts. Then reality hits...

I think we can dig back into old threads and player tweets and see the same pattern every year. Nothing wrong with optimism, as I even talk myself into thinking we'll win 9+ games every year...but things haven't worked out that way.

In no way will I ever crap on a player for doing hard work or trying to drum up excitement because those guys are the ones that do the heavy work for us to enjoy on Saturdays. Like I said, my statement was more poking fun at some of the fans who overreach in their excitement in being, well, fans. But that's the nature of message boards...
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I get that, but then the reality that the difference between 7 - 5 and 9 - 3 or 10 - 2 is razor thin, especially for this team. Most of our losses, even to the dreaded "big 4" have been super close and we've held leads in most of 'em. Small changes can reap big rewards. I choose to hold out hope that we can make those small changes rather than expect the opposite. We already saw promising evidence of tweaks in the offense plus better efficiency from the qb spot in spring.
 

Yaller Jacket

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TampaGT said:
Talent. The older guys knew the system but the maybe the younger guys have more talent. The younger guys didn't have the understanding of the O last year to beat out the older guys. But now with a year in the O under their belt they might be better as a group.
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Injuries and position changes no doubt were big factors. But I think this is perhaps the biggest.
 

Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau

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dressedcheeseside said:
I get that, but then the reality that the difference between 7 - 5 and 9 - 3 or 10 - 2 is razor thin, especially for this team. Most of our losses, even to the dreaded "big 4" have been super close and we've held leads in most of 'em. Small changes can reap big rewards. I choose to hold out hope that we can make those small changes rather than expect the opposite. We already saw promising evidence of tweaks in the offense plus better efficiency from the qb spot in spring.
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It is razor thin, but why "especially for this team?" I have been waiting for some incremental improvement on the defensive side of the ball really ever since 2009. The offense is going to be productive--even Tevin and a group of no name backs and a patched up offensive line were productive. Do you see us getting that "razor thin" difference supplied by better defense this year?
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

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Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau said:
It is razor thin, but why "especially for this team?" I have been waiting for some incremental improvement on the defensive side of the ball really ever since 2009. The offense is going to be productive--even Tevin and a group of no name backs and a patched up offensive line were productive. Do you see us getting that "razor thin" difference supplied by better defense this year?
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Yes, but I expect incremental improvement from offense and ST's, too.
 
JohnnyMcKnight

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dressedcheeseside said:
I disagree. I think injuries was the biggest (and a clueless qb who had checked out halfway through the season). That same group did a really good job in '12 for Tevin.
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It is amazing how quickly players fall out of favor with chosen posters like you that get to rip players with no recourse.

According to you VL goes from the savior to take the CPJ Offense to the next level, to a clueless QB that had checked out halfway through the season.

Is it possible that CPJ's offense put VL in bad situations because we don't practice passing enough?

Is it possible that the OLs that CPJ recruits are not built for pass-blocking therefore making it harder for QBs like VL to get good protection?

Instead of being fair to VL you default to the, he was clueless and quit on the team theory.
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

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JohnnyMcKnight said:
It is amazing how quickly players fall out of favor with chosen posters like you that get to rip players with no recourse.

According to you VL goes from the savior to take the CPJ Offense to the next level, to a clueless QB that had checked out halfway through the season.

Is it possible that CPJ's offense put VL in bad situations because we don't practice passing enough?

Is it possible that the OLs that CPJ recruits are not built for pass-blocking therefore making it harder for QBs like VL to get good protection?

Instead of being fair to VL you default to the, he was clueless and quit on the team theory.
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"The triple option was never my thing..." Vad Lee
 

Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau

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JohnnyMcKnight said:
It is amazing how quickly players fall out of favor with chosen posters like you that get to rip players with no recourse.

According to you VL goes from the savior to take the CPJ Offense to the next level, to a clueless QB that had checked out halfway through the season.

Is it possible that CPJ's offense put VL in bad situations because we don't practice passing enough?

Is it possible that the OLs that CPJ recruits are not built for pass-blocking therefore making it harder for QBs like VL to get good protection?

Instead of being fair to VL you default to the, he was clueless and quit on the team theory.
Click to expand...

Wrexie, is that you, Bubba?
 
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