Dave Paulsen

[gmujim92]

not really but thanks chief

No, whether you meant to or not, you really did.

 

[gmubrian]

I have been thinking about posting a report card on DPs performance in the near future, but, in the meantime, I wanted to comment on something I have seen on here a lot lately. I have seen several people say that DP sucks as a coach or some derivation of that. I am no DP apologist, but, I think that is intellectually dishonest, at least in part.

I think a large majority, if not all on here, would agree that DP has struggled with recruiting so far. His own words at the end of the season seem to hint to the fact that he can see this as well. If we stipulate that as fact, I don't see how you can say he sucks in the rest of his coaching abilities. Using what is arguably one of the bottom teams from a pure athleticism standpoint, he took us from 3 seasons of 12th or 13th place seasons to a 7th and two 5th place finishes. Those last three seasons are in the top half of the league and the two 5th place finishes are just barely shy of the top 3rd of the league.

That is not where we want to be end state, obviously, and this post is not meant as defense of everything Paulsen (when I get to posting my report card you will see that), but you can't argue that we have had ponies playing against horses (that was for you GSII) at the same time you say he sucks as a coach. It just doesn't seem make sense unless you also contend that the rest of the league recruits better than Paulsen but gets their proverbial pants coached off by him.

 

[GSII]

No question DP has milked what he has recruited to the bone. It's just he needed a little bit better athlete and he admitted as much. We solve the recruiting problem and we are top 4 EVERY season. Why DP et al didnt see this is the bigger issue.

 

[GMUgemini]

No question DP has milked what he has recruited to the bone. It's just he needed a little bit better athlete and he admitted as much. We solve the recruiting problem and we are top 4 EVERY season. Why DP et al didnt see this is the bigger issue.

Not sure why you don’t think he saw it from the beginning. He tried to recruit Jeff Dowtin, Tre Wood, Brendan Adams, Qudus Wahab, and we currently have an offer for Darius Maddox in 2020.

 

[GSII]

Key word is tried. Did not get a commitment. We can credit him for trying all day long. But what what does that get you?

 

[FreeGunston12]

I have been thinking about posting a report card on DPs performance in the near future, but, in the meantime, I wanted to comment on something I have seen on here a lot lately. I have seen several people say that DP sucks as a coach or some derivation of that. I am no DP apologist, but, I think that is intellectually dishonest, at least in part.

I think a large majority, if not all on here, would agree that DP has struggled with recruiting so far. His own words at the end of the season seem to hint to the fact that he can see this as well. If we stipulate that as fact, I don't see how you can say he sucks in the rest of his coaching abilities. Using what is arguably one of the bottom teams from a pure athleticism standpoint, he took us from 3 seasons of 12th or 13th place seasons to a 7th and two 5th place finishes. Those last three seasons are in the top half of the league and the two 5th place finishes are just barely shy of the top 3rd of the league.

That is not where we want to be end state, obviously, and this post is not meant as defense of everything Paulsen (when I get to posting my report card you will see that), but you can't argue that we have had ponies playing against horses (that was for you GSII) at the same time you say he sucks as a coach. It just doesn't seem make sense unless you also contend that the rest of the league recruits better than Paulsen but gets their proverbial pants coached off by him.

Agree. But I do have bones to pick with his offensive scheme. Maybe it would work with more athleticism, but I don’t think DP did a good job of designing a scheme that fit his player’s strengths this past year.

And I don’t necessarily think the blame for recruiting can be placed solely at his feet. We have to face it, Mason is just not as desireable a destination right now as many of the schools with which we would like to compete for recruits.

 

[Falco]

I have been thinking about posting a report card on DPs performance in the near future, but, in the meantime, I wanted to comment on something I have seen on here a lot lately. I have seen several people say that DP sucks as a coach or some derivation of that. I am no DP apologist, but, I think that is intellectually dishonest, at least in part.

I think a large majority, if not all on here, would agree that DP has struggled with recruiting so far. His own words at the end of the season seem to hint to the fact that he can see this as well. If we stipulate that as fact, I don't see how you can say he sucks in the rest of his coaching abilities. Using what is arguably one of the bottom teams from a pure athleticism standpoint, he took us from 3 seasons of 12th or 13th place seasons to a 7th and two 5th place finishes. Those last three seasons are in the top half of the league and the two 5th place finishes are just barely shy of the top 3rd of the league.

That is not where we want to be end state, obviously, and this post is not meant as defense of everything Paulsen (when I get to posting my report card you will see that), but you can't argue that we have had ponies playing against horses (that was for you GSII) at the same time you say he sucks as a coach. It just doesn't seem make sense unless you also contend that the rest of the league recruits better than Paulsen but gets their proverbial pants coached off by him.

All fair but he still had an underwhelming season with Moore, Jenkins Otis and Grayer. Grayer and Otis we’re not your typical sophomores either. They had plenty of experience in their freshman year.

 

[gmujim92]

All fair but he still had an underwhelming season with Moore, Jenkins Otis and Grayer. Grayer and Otis Wernt you’re typical sophomores either. They had plenty of experience in their freshman year.

Only in your feeble little mind is winning 9 more games than the previous season — and 20 total — considered “underwhelming.”

 

[Falco]

Only in your feeble little mind is winning 9 more games than the previous season — and 20 total — considered “underwhelming.”

What post season tournament did they play in? And how far did they get?

DP hasn’t even come close to recruiting players like Moore and Jenkins. The 2016-2017 season is DP’s ceiling.

 

[gmujim92]

The 2016-2017 season is DP’s ceiling.

Did his two NCAA appearances at Bucknell get vacated when I wasn’t watching? Those Patriot League schools are notorious cheaters.

 

[GMUgemini]

Did his two NCAA appearances at Bucknell get vacated when I wasn’t watching? Those Patriot League schools are notorious cheaters.

Also, the 2016-2017 season compares favorably to Mason's 1999 CAA winning season in terms of RPI, total wins, and OOC record. It's just that we were playing in a much, much stronger conference (A10 finished ranked 8th in overall conference RPI that year). We couldn't just ride one really special player to a championship, because there were guys like T.J. Cline, Jaylen Adams, E.C. Matthews, Kendall Pollard, Peyton Aldridge, and JeQuan Lewis on the other side of the ball every single night.

And to further think about this, as good as Marquise Moore and Jalen Jenkins were, Moore made second team all-conference that year and Jenkins didn't even make third team.

And let's keep in mind that, yeah, we had Otis, Grayer, Jenkins, and Moore on that team, but we had zero depth behind them (had to start a freshman, Kier, at the 4 because we didn't have anyone else on the team who could play). Was some of that Paulsen's fault for not signing some forwards who could actually play? Yes. Does it mean he will never be able to? No.

 

[Falco]

Did his two NCAA appearances at Bucknell get vacated when I wasn’t watching? Those Patriot League schools are notorious cheaters.

I’m only judging DP for his time with mason. Bucknell has a lot of advantages Mason does not.

 

[masonjoe]

I’m only judging DP for his time with mason. Bucknell has a lot of advantages Mason does not.

Name one

 

[sleeperpick]

Name one

They don’t have to play St. Louis, Bonnie’s vcu, Dayton etc each year. Would love a schedule of American and Navy. I mean we would still lose with paulsen but at least we wouldn’t be straight up dominated by better talent

 

[GMUgemini]

They don’t have to play St. Louis, Bonnie’s vcu, Dayton etc each year. Would love a schedule of American and Navy. I mean we would still lose with paulsen but at least we wouldn’t be straight up dominated by better talent

We’ve beaten all of the above teams in the last two years, URI this year...

 

[sleeperpick]

We’ve beaten all of the above teams in the last two years, URI this year...

What’s the overall record against the upper echelon teams since paulsen came to town... we aren’t on the same level or even close

We beat up on umass.... can’t even say we consistently beat GW Richmond or Fordham. Don’t start this argument because it’s not winnable.

I’m so happy we can beat the good teams one or two times out of 5 or 6 chances.... loser mentality

 

[GMUgemini]

What’s the overall record against the upper echelon teams since paulsen came to town... we aren’t on the same level or even close

We beat up on umass.... can’t even say we consistently beat GW Richmond or Fordham. Don’t start this argument because it’s not winnable.

I’m so happy we can beat the good teams one or two times out of 5 or 6 chances.... loser mentality

The point is, we have beaten upper echelon teams in the last two years, we have 20 conference wins in those same two years, if Paulsen is a trash coach and our players just get straight dominated by everybody, our record would look more like Fordham’s but it doesn’t.

Who has the loser mentality here?

 

[Quentin Daniels]

They don’t have to play St. Louis, Bonnie’s vcu, Dayton etc each year. Would love a schedule of American and Navy. I mean we would still lose with paulsen but at least we wouldn’t be straight up dominated by better talent

Leave the stupidest comments for SizedForSize please.

If playing the Patriots League is advantage over playing in the A10 as it relates to recruiting, then playing in the A10 is an advantage over playing in the SEC.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

All fair but he still had an underwhelming season with Moore, Jenkins Otis and Grayer. Grayer and Otis Wernt you’re typical sophomores either. They had plenty of experience in their freshman year.

All fair but he still had an underwhelming season with Moore, Jenkins Otis and Grayer. Grayer and Otis weren't your typical sophomores either. They had plenty of experience in their freshman year.

(Also has been debunked a dozen times if it's been done once.)

 

[sleeperpick]

Leave the stupidest comments for SizedForSize please.

If playing the Patriots League is advantage over playing in the A10 as it relates to recruiting, then playing in the A10 is an advantage over playing in the SEC.

I’m not quite sure how you got to that conclusion of my post. I’ve re read it three times and can’t figure out what you are interpreting wrong