ESPN Q&A with Georgia Tech OL Shaq Mason

[JohnnyMcKnight]

What exactly isn't true about Cheese's statement? Vad was clueless. He did check out.

Not true.

VL was our best option at QB last season and the #2 guy was not close.

 

[ATL1]

What exactly isn't true about Cheese's statement? Vad was clueless. He did check out.

Can you prove this?

 

[dressedcheeseside]

LOL at this thread. !!!!

 

[thebull35]

It's about to get locked...Whats sad is some of us know the reason why...

 

[Eric]

The problem has been dealt with.

 

[jwsavhGT]

The problem has been dealt with.

Thank you.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

Back on topic, I am of the opinion that we will not have an effective offensive line until our coaches adopt the next up mentality instead of the best five mentality at this position. We've been plagued by injuries for four or five years at this position. At some point you have to trust your backups to be able to fill the void an injury leaves. I am not a fan of moving our starters around constantly.

 

[dressedcheeseside]

Back on topic, I am of the opinion that we will not have an effective offensive line until our coaches adopt the next up mentality instead of the best five mentality at this position. We've been plagued by injuries for four or five years at this position. At some point you have to trust your backups to be able to fill the void an injury leaves. I am not a fan of moving our starters around constantly.

I don't think it's that simple. You play the unit that you think will be the most effective, period. Whether that's playing the backup or moving a guy over is up to the expertise of whomever sees them everyday.

You don't sacrifice best-chance-to-win for the sake of building depth or giving backups experience.

 

[awbuzz]

I don't think it's that simple. You play the unit that you think will be the most effective, period. Whether that's playing the backup or moving a guy over is up to the expertise of whomever sees them everyday.

You don't sacrifice best-chance-to-win for the sake of building depth or giving backups experience.

Why is this difficult for folks to understand? Do people think that coaches are going to sacrifice the best opportunity to win a game just to develop a player for the next season?
If anyone thinks so, I'm curious as to any reasoning that would justify hosing the current fans and other players.

 

[Techster]

I can't wait for the day when '"developing a player" means building robotic players from scratch. GT is totally gonna own college football...with MIT...

 

[Boomergump]

I think it is beyond dispute that football teams of today would destroy the football teams of 30 years ago. Can we all agree on that? Therefore, it stands to reason that, incrementally, pretty much all teams are getting better on a yearly basis. I don't blame Shaq for saying kids are working harder and getting better. Although it is just one guys perception, it is probably true more than not. The question isn't "are we really getting better this year and are these reports true?", but rather, "are we getting better faster than the guys we are going up against in the upcoming season?" To find that kind of stuff out, you have to line them up and play the games.

Generally speaking, no kid wants to think he isn't working hard, regardless of the actual quality level of his preparation. That is why you always hear these kind of interviews in the off season. This interview, in isolation, carries a little bit of weight with me because of the respect I have for Shaq. I don't think he is the type to spew empty comments. By and large he has worked really hard here and kept his mouth shut for 3 plus years. He is a doer and not a talker. With that said, however, we have no idea how much the future opponents on our schedule are improving, despite Shaq's optimism. One thing is for sure. We are going to have to improve, as he has intimated, or we are going to get left behind.

 

[CuseJacket]

I like this interview a lot more than ESPN's: http://columbiadailyherald.com/sports/college/yellow-jacket-shaq-mason-wants-go-out-winner

This tells me there's some pretty good self-awareness...
“I think it is going to take a whole bunch heart, a whole bunch of work because right now at this point the whole nation knows we are not there right now,” Mason said. “We have the tools and I feel we have the work ethic the way our offseason is going. We can definitely get there and win our side. We are in the mix every year to win the Coastal but it doesn’t fall our way.”

And this doesn't need an explanation...
“It’s pretty simple. They hate us, we hate them,” Mason said of the Bulldogs. “Last year it was tough because we knew we could beat them. We knew we had them. Some things didn’t fall our way and we ended up losing that game in double overtime. It was a great game, we fought and I know all my brothers left it all out there on the field. I couldn’t ask for more but this year we are not taking that loss again.”

 

[Ggee87]

Wrexie, is that you, Bubba?

I was thinking the same thing. Its way too easy to spot.

 

[brian22]

I love this quote:

"I’m an O lineman, and if I move a defender from Point A to Point B against his will, my job is done." - Shaq Mason, GT OG

You can hear the CPJ influence in this quote, can't you?