Dave Paulsen

[Pablo]

GMU Giant Killer ‏@GMUGiantKiller 8h8 hours ago
Coach Paulsen is so involved on campus and he hasn't coached his 1st game yet. I never saw he who shall not be named on campus ever.

 

[BandWagon18]

GMU Giant Killer ‏@GMUGiantKiller 8h8 hours ago
Coach Paulsen is so involved on campus and he hasn't coached his 1st game yet. I never saw he who shall not be named on campus ever.

That's the truth. One would maybe run across the previous coach once in a while in the dining halls or whatnot, but nobody would ever notice

 

[Pikapppatri8]

GMU Giant Killer ‏@GMUGiantKiller 8h8 hours ago
Coach Paulsen is so involved on campus and he hasn't coached his 1st game yet. I never saw he who shall not be named on campus ever.

Difference between a leader and a chair warmer.

God I love Paulsen.

 

[GSII]

makes me wonder how truly blind TOC was in hiring that loser. may we never forget the importance of community involvement when hiring any coach.

 

[Pablo]

http://www.atlantic10.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=210427195&DB_OEM_ID=31600:

"The interviews can be seen live on the A-10 Network by clicking here. Chris DiSano will once again host the event, which begins at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday."

• 2:00 - 2:15 pm: Dave Paulsen, George Mason

 

[GreenLantern]

Paulsen has impressed me with his desire to get involved with the community. Building goodwill with the students and alumni goes a long way in my book!

 

[GMU92]

I now recall that I was at the Final Four where Coach Paulsen won his national championship. (2003 with Williams). Went to cheer for Hampden-Sydney that weekend (father, uncles, and cousins attended HSC).
Some other takeaways:
- Was impressed by Williams College and glad they won after HSC was defeated. Seemed like a classy outfit and a well run program, what we're hoping to build upon here.
- Wooster fans were a$$hole$ (think the Division III version of vcu)
- Gustavus-Adolphus College (yes, there actually is such a school) fans were, well, weird and kinda combative. Think helmets with horns and hockey jerseys everywhere. Must be an upper Midwest Viking thing (and I have family on the UP, eh?)
- Had the chance to visit the wonderful Salem VA area. Had to stay several miles away from the arena, and got a suite the size of a luxury 2 bedroom condo for like $65. Laughed out loud when my Dad asked the front desk clerk "what is wrong with it". I said nothing, its just in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Pablo]

http://boards.basketball-u.com/showtopic.php?tid/18216/:

Bison137
ProfessorPosts: 10828

Reg: 01-23-06

10-19-15 04:25 PM - Post#193475

"It is going to be interesting to see how DP's new players at GMU work out. He and his staff haven't been successful in landing any three star players or anyone with offers from stronger programs, so they have acquired a bunch of guys who they hope have upside. They brought in six new recruits from May through August for their current freshman class - players who hadn't signed with anyone in the fall or the spring signing period. And they have now landed four Class of 2016 players who seem to have some upside but are questionable whether they are A-10 difference-makers."

"Right now the GMU fans generally seem to think every guy DP lands is an unbelievably good acquisition - never mind the offers. Only time will tell, but I think the fact that they despise Paul Hewitt has taken away a bit of their objectivity.

BTW, one of their comments about their recruits is: 'I was a little worried we would only be getting soft white dudes that would have normally gone to Bucknell.' . . . I would bet that DP's first recruiting class at GMU will not be as good as his first class at Bucknell. And he'll be very happy if he can land players as good as Cameron Ayers, Chris Hass, or Nana Foulland in his first five classes - not to mention Muscala, Willman, and Bryson. But would any of those players have wanted to go to GMU?"

 

[Walter]

I have to admit that analysis from Bison137 is spot on.

 

[GSII]

I have to admit that analysis from Bison137 is spot on.

I disagree. 'Despise' is being too nice.

 

[gmujim92]

I have to admit that analysis from Bison137 is spot on.

I don't know for sure, and I don't care enough to check, but I'm fairly confident that the program DP inherited at Bucknell wasn't coming off back-to-back 20-loss seasons in which it finished next-to-last both times.

I'm thinking that -- plus the fact that he had to fill a lot of spots quickly and didn't bring any players from Bucknell -- has had a lot to do with the under-the-radar nature of his first two Mason recruiting classes.

It's difficult to recruit kids to a school that is rebuilding when they have options to go somewhere else and win right away. It's also exceedingly difficult to basically overhaul your entire roster in two recruiting classes.

Quite frankly, I'm surprised DP has done as well as he has, given that he's had to recalibrate his sights from Patriot League-level players to find guys capable of succeeding in the A-10.

Oh, and just in case the Bucknell guy reads this thread, Luke Hancock was a 0-star coming out of HS who went on to become Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four.

Let's wait and see how our new players and recruits perform on the court before we conclude whether DP's first two classes are better or worse than what he signed at Bucknell.

 

[GSII]

I will add that Mike Muscala was a 2 star recruit. Who wants Bison for dinner?

 

[gmutom]

I will add that Mike Muscala was a 2 star recruit. Who wants Bison for dinner?

I'll pass. I hear it's kinda bitter.

 

[Dawgs99]

Seems pretty critical of coach Paulsen to judge his recruits before they even play a meaningful game here. If people expected him to come right in and start signing highly regarded kids your just living in a dream world. To be honest we've never won the recruiting rankings game, but we have won a lot of ball games with guys who were perhaps under appreciated/recruited coming out of HS. If DP and staff can turn this shit show around we might begin to win more of these recruiting battles. A new practice facility and updated locker rooms would help too!

 

[GSII]

I thought lockers rooms were renovated this summer?

 

[Walter]

I was so critical of Hewitt from the day he was announced. I do not want to be that fan that is always critical of the coach. I am choosing to see the glass as half full. DP's recruits aren't 4 star guys. But I don't expect 4 star guys. A few 3s and a few P5 schools sniffing around the gyms watching these guys would help to reassure me that DP is getting the right guys. But, like I said, I choose to be optimistic. And like I have said before, if DP had been a failed HC or a assistant that got the call-up, then I might be more critical. But DP has won everywhere he has been. He gets the benefit of the doubt from me. He knows a whole lot more about college basketball than I will ever know. And he gets a few years to fix Tom O'Connor's mess.

 

[Pablo]

Dave Paulsen ‏@PaulsenDave 1h1 hour ago
On train to NYC and Barclays for A-10 media day. Watching film of league teams. Incredible group of coaches



Mason Basketball ‏@MasonMBB 1h1 hour ago
Catch @PaulsenDave on A-10 Live! from @atlantic10 media day at @barclayscenter this afternoon at approx. 2 p.m. http://bit.ly/1PDLOXL


Ryan Kish ‏@gmuhoops 6m6 minutes ago
Ryan Kish Retweeted CityofBasketballLove

A-10 media day preseason poll, George Mason #13

Ryan Kish added,

CityofBasketballLove @hooplove215
Here's the 2015-16 preseason Atlantic 10 poll. St. Joe's 7th, La Salle 9th.

 

[A.-Siegfried]

Otis Livingston is going to make a lot of people who didn't recruit him look foolish by the time he is done at Mason....

 

[JBiggs]

In our defense (regarding the excitement over seemingly un-impressive recruits), most if not all of them were praised by several very knowledgeable recruiting folks. I, for one, was not immediately giddy that we were pulling in 2-star kids with offers from low- and mid-major schools, but after looking beneath the surface of the rankings for these young guys and seeing some of the praise heaped on them, and on George Mason for pulling them in, I changed my mind considerably. I'm still very optimistic about the direction of the program and what Coach Paulsen can do with overlooked guys like these.

 

[G M U]

In our defense (regarding the excitement over seemingly un-impressive recruits), most if not all of them were praised by several very knowledgeable recruiting folks. I, for one, was not immediately giddy that we were pulling in 2-star kids with offers from low- and mid-major schools, but after looking beneath the surface of the rankings for these young guys and seeing some of the praise heaped on them, and on George Mason for pulling them in, I changed my mind considerably. I'm still very optimistic about the direction of the program and what Coach Paulsen can do with overlooked guys like these.

I feel as if I could find praise from local/knowledgeable folks on any recruit. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for a few our new recruits but I feel as if the "diamond in the rough" argument should be applied to one or two recruits per year but to apply it to all of our recruits is a bit of a stretch. I get that the stars or ranking applied to the recruit is fairly subjective but what was concerning for me was the lack of mid-high major interest. Lets hope Paulsen can coach these kids up and they end up playing like 4 star recruits or make other programs regret they overlooked our players.