2200 days of Brad Edwards

[GSII]

I think we have a huge problem on our hands with replacing the assistants that have left for better jobs and/or are leaving (simpks). This might be something DP has not seen in his 25 years of coaching. Intriguing how he manages this.

 

[GSII]

The quality of facilities is one of many things that factor into recruiting.

We weren't top four in facilities in the CAA but we finished there almost every year. Some coaches can do it without the bells and whistles.

 

[Five Two]

I think we have a huge problem on our hands with replacing the assistants that have left for better jobs and/or are leaving (simpks). This might be something DP has not seen in his 25 years of coaching. Intriguing how he manages this.

Has anyone seen this? Its possible we could lose 3 assistants to head coaching jobs in one off season where we are coming off of a 5th place finish. I wonder if thats ever happened before.

 

[dr. gunnie]

Regarding facilities, this quote was from the Jan 22nd meeting notes from Brad Edwards to the Faculty Senate:

The renovation of the locker rooms for Men and Women Basketball are practically complete. The locker room are now as good as any top Division I program in the country;

http://www.gmu.edu/resources/facstaff/senate/Final Report to Faculty Senate April 2019.pdf

 

[Five Two]

http://www.gmu.edu/resources/facstaff/senate/Final Report to Faculty Senate April 2019.pdf

some interesting nuggets in here:

"* Brad shares how Debi Corbatto and her team of athletic trainers were able to help a student-athlete (SA) who was suffering from a heat stroke. The protocol was followed and the SA was kept in the cold tub until it was safe to send him with the paramedics."
After what happened at Maryland, this is certainly newsworthy to a university's leadership

"*The operational budget of all the teams, except basketball, has not seen an increase in 10 years. The AD is therefore looking at expending the budget to allow for a needed increase."
Wow. I wonder what its like at other A10 and Division I-AAA (non-football schools). I can't imagine they go 10 years without an increase in operational budgets.

 

[psyclone]

Has anyone seen this? Its possible we could lose 3 assistants to head coaching jobs in one off season where we are coming off of a 5th place finish. I wonder if thats ever happened before.

I have no factual information on losing potentially so many assistants to taking on head coaching jobs elsewhere. But it is concerning to have to find so many quality replacements in a short amount of time. Especially when the assistants had been with DP for many years. It's got to have been a while since he's had to hire anyone other than Simpkins.

Also regarding the link above about a report to the Faculty Senate---a copy editor would be useful to correct the grammar (mostly subject-verb agreement issues). Comes across as someone taking minutes of a meeting on the fly and sending it out without re-reading it.

 

[Cedric Dempsey]

some interesting nuggets in here:

"* Brad shares how Debi Corbatto and her team of athletic trainers were able to help a student-athlete (SA) who was suffering from a heat stroke. The protocol was followed and the SA was kept in the cold tub until it was safe to send him with the paramedics."
After what happened at Maryland, this is certainly newsworthy to a university's leadership

"*The operational budget of all the teams, except basketball, has not seen an increase in 10 years. The AD is therefore looking at expending the budget to allow for a needed increase."
Wow. I wonder what its like at other A10 and Division I-AAA (non-football schools). I can't imagine they go 10 years without an increase in operational budgets.

My point exactly on the budget. You can't hold BE responsible if this is how it has worked. This crosses over two administrations if true. Hard to believe, quite honestly.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Debi Corbatto and her team of athletic trainers were able to help a student-athlete (SA) who was suffering from a heat stroke. The protocol was followed and the SA was kept in the cold tub until it was safe to send him with the paramedics."
After what happened at Maryland, this is certainly newsworthy to a university's leadership

Yes, but did Debi and team get a rectal thermometer reading?! If not, then shame on them for not following best practice! . . . (A little inside joke for all the athletic trainers out there).

 

[KAOriginal]

If those budgets have been frozen for 10 years... well that takes us back 2008/2009...right at the US financial crisis.

I can see the powers saying "hold the F*** on....we'll just keep these line items right here for now"..since athletics were the "side door"....and then they milked it as long as they could.

 

[gmujim92]

If those budgets have been frozen for 10 years... well that takes us back 2008/2009...right at the US financial crisis.

I can see the powers saying "hold the F*** on....we'll just keep these line items right here for now"..since athletics were the "side door"....and then they milked it as long as they could.

I wouldn’t have as big a problem with it if a 4-year Mason education still cost the same as it did back in 2009.
But alas...

 

[GMUgemini]

We weren't top four in facilities in the CAA but we finished there almost every year. Some coaches can do it without the bells and whistles.

We were top 4 in both facilities and basketball expenditures in the CAA, I mean, outside of ODU, vcu, and Mason, the rest of the CAA's facilities were really pedestrian (granted, I haven't been to every arena in the old CAA, but I've been to ODU, W&M, Wilmington, JMU, and Drexel's arenas to see games in person). You could make an argument that Towson jumped into the top 4 with their arena, but that's really late in the game (2013), and it still doesn't hold much of a candle to the Constant Center or Patriot Center.

As for the A-10, I think we are pretty squarely in the middle of the pack, probably 6th-8th in overall basketball facilities. I don't think that's necessarily a knock, because St. Bonaventure, Davidson, Richmond, and St. Joes are all in there with us and they do pretty well for themselves, plus we'd have to flex some serious cash and either do a huge overhaul of the EBA or build a completely new building in order to compete with what SLU and Dayton are working with (and given our fan support, does that even make sense?).

As for our assistant coaches, I see it as an opportunity rather than a problem. Get some new blood in here, some new ideas, and some people who are hungry to make their mark.

 

[GSII]

With our fan base it does make sense. Build something with 5k seats.

Re Assistants, It's only an opportunity if until DP takes advantage and hires the right guys. I just dont think he can hire multiple people. Simpk should become Associate Head Coach if he doesnt leave for Howard. He has alot of leverage currently.

 

[GMUgemini]

We just swept men’s and women’s track and field again (second time since 2015). Mason tweeted that since joining the conference, Mason has more total A10 championships than any other school in the conference.

I remember Pablo asking the question, will we essentially become the W&M of the A10 (be dominant in the Olympic sports, but mediocre in the money sport)? And it looks like that’s true so far.

Edit: I could be misinterpreting that. They might be talking about track and field only (which makes sense because we seem to be pretty dominant in that sport). I don’t feel like tallying up to see if it’s true of all possible championships.

 

[Five Two]

Edit: I could be misinterpreting that. They might be talking about track and field only (which makes sense because we seem to be pretty dominant in that sport). I don’t feel like tallying up to see if it’s true of all possible championships.

They are talking about track and field only with that stat.
Congrats to both men's and women's teams.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Athletic facilities and amenities was and still is a poor excuse for lackluster performance and recruiting.

Our facilities are fine. And they weren't that relatively bad before the improvements.

 

[Petey Buckets]

Athletic facilities and amenities was and still is a poor excuse for lackluster performance and recruiting.

Our facilities are fine. And they weren't that relatively bad before the improvements.

I remember a chorus of "the recruits will get better after the practice facility and locker rooms are done." Not much to show for it at the moment.

I don't think you can have a team full of guys that only had low to mid options and be a tournament contender in the A10. Even in the CAA our best teams had guys with great pedigrees or P5 options (Sherrod, Cam, Will, Folarin, etc etc). Premium talent wins leagues. Individually I think each guy on the team is great, but overall when your best recruit has a massive sophomore regression it's cause for real concern.

I like some things Dave has done and dislike some others. I find the never-ending stream of excuses exhausting. Either he can get it done with what we have or he can't.

 

[gmujim92]

I remember a chorus of "the recruits will get better after the practice facility and locker rooms are done." Not much to show for it at the moment.

I don't think you can have a team full of guys that only had low to mid options and be a tournament contender in the A10. Even in the CAA our best teams had guys with great pedigrees or P5 options (Sherrod, Cam, Will, Folarin, etc etc). Premium talent wins leagues. Individually I think each guy on the team is great, but overall when your best recruit has a massive sophomore regression it's cause for real concern.

I like some things Dave has done and dislike some others. I find the never-ending stream of excuses exhausting. Either he can get it done with what we have or he can't.

So what you’re telling me is, after an epically failed coaching change and almost a decade of utter irrelevance, our recruiting has fallen off precipitously from where it was after we went to the Final Four?

Pardon my language, but no shit.

 

[GSII]

Agreed. We are tired of the excuses from DP etc, and the blind homers on these boards.

Coach L is the one who inherited the dumpster fire. Not Dave Paulsen. Yet one brought in what was needed while the other is still learning.

 

[GMUgemini]

Agreed. We are tired of the excuses from DP etc, and the blind homers on these boards.

Coach L is the one who I inherited the dumpster fire. Not Dave Paulsen. Yet one brought in what was needed while the other is still learning.

I don’t think DP has said he can’t recruit because of facilities or because of Hewitt or anything like that. I can’t think of one excuse he’s made about recruits.

As for L versus Paulsen, the A10 was a much more competitive and established league than the CAA ever was — deeper pockets, more established fan bases, much better top to bottom competitiveness and infrastructure. We would have been behind in 2011 with the team and infrastructure we had let alone 2016. It’s not a good point of comparison (as I have outlined in comparing L’s second season to Paulsen’s from an OOC and RPI standpoint).

We need a breakthrough, more Jordan Miller type recruits and much fewer Troy Temara type recruits.

I do wonder if his sense of humor and his offensive and defensive philosophy rubs some recruits the wrong way. Otis seemed to appreciate his jokes, but sometimes I cringe at what he’s saying. We also don’t have the most exciting brand of basketball and without a pedigree of success it might be hard for players to say he’s to playing the way he wants them to play for four years.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Maybe we just need to accept that there will never be another Coach L at Mason. Can we stop with the comparisons and just let DP be DP?

Criticize him for what he does poorly. Praise him for what he does well. Judge him on his merits. Comparing DP to L is like comparing LeBron to MJ or Wilt. It’s pointless and futile.