Fire Dave Paulsen / Hire Tony Skinn

[Pablo]

For Mason coaching rumors in the past, let's take a trip down memory lane from March 2015 - https://www.midmajormadness.com/2015/3/16/8223277/coaching-rumors:

"George Mason Patriots

Anthony Grant seems to be a theme here and his name has already been rumored for a return to the Commonwealth. Grant would instantly reinvigorate the rivalry with vcu and obviously could put together a staff that knows the area well.

He's the newest name in the mix and there are plenty of other names popping up. Boston Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga has been tossed around since January when his representatives saw the writing on the wall of his dad's former school. Other names being considered are former assistants at Mason including High Point's Scott Cherry and current Miami assistants Chris Caputo and Michael Huger."

 

[gmujim92]

English would certainly check off a lot of boxes for what many of us want in a coach:

Young (32), high energy, from the DMV, considered an excellent recruiter and teacher, played at a high level in college and briefly in the NBA.

He’s unproven as a head coach but I’m very intrigued.

 

[Patriotsince81]

https://utsports.com/staff-directory/kim-english/2868

 

[Patriot8]

sounds good. Tony started coaching in general in 2012 which is why I called a little more experience, but college coaching for 6 years is college coaching. Interested to hear more about him.

He's just very relatable to his players. You can see the personal relationship as he's coaching them. Last season before every home game he was out on the floor with Josiah Jordan-James, taking him through shooting drills. When the drill was done, they always played him one-on-one, with Kim usually winning. He'd stop the game to show JJJ different things, like if he got JJJ off-balance, he would get a step ahead of him, and then stop and show him how be got him off-balance. Once that game was over, JJJ would leave the floor, and Olivier Nkamhoua would come out for big man drills, and then Kim would play him one-on-one. Same deal. He's the only UT coach that has done this over the 4 years I've been here, and both of those players have greatly improved from Year 1 to Year 2.

Here's a quote from Lamonte Turner:
“He’s young, ambitious, just a good person. He pushes you in ways that some people can’t. Just because he’s younger, he can relate to you. He knows what you’re thinking, he knows why you just did that. He can see stuff that most coaches don’t really see. Most coaches that are maybe older or from a different era of time.”

He's high energy, intense when he needs to be, and although it was brief, he does have the NBA background that can legitimize him when he goes into a living room, along with his overseas experience. He's an offensive coach, so he would need to bring in someone who is more defensive-minded for balance, and like any first time head coach, he will need to learn how to be a CEO, but he has a couple of solid mentors to seek advice from. I'd be ecstatic to have him learn on the job at Mason, and inevitably take that experience to a P5 job.

 

[mkaufman1]

He's just very relatable to his players. You can see the personal relationship as he's coaching them. Last season before every home game he was out on the floor with Josiah Jordan-James, taking him through shooting drills. When the drill was done, they always played him one-on-one, with Kim usually winning. He'd stop the game to show JJJ different things, like if he got JJJ off-balance, he would get a step ahead of him, and then stop and show him how be got him off-balance. Once that game was over, JJJ would leave the floor, and Olivier Nkamhoua would come out for big man drills, and then Kim would play him one-on-one. Same deal. He's the only UT coach that has done this over the 4 years I've been here, and both of those players have greatly improved from Year 1 to Year 2.

Here's a quote from Lamonte Turner:
“He’s young, ambitious, just a good person. He pushes you in ways that some people can’t. Just because he’s younger, he can relate to you. He knows what you’re thinking, he knows why you just did that. He can see stuff that most coaches don’t really see. Most coaches that are maybe older or from a different era of time.”

He's high energy, intense when he needs to be, and although it was brief, he does have the NBA background that can legitimize him when he goes into a living room, along with his overseas experience. He's an offensive coach, so he would need to bring in someone who is more defensive-minded for balance, and like any first time head coach, he will need to learn how to be a CEO, but he has a couple of solid mentors to seek advice from. I'd be ecstatic to have him learn on the job at Mason, and inevitably take that experience to a P5 job.

sign me up. Appreciate you sharing the insight.

 

[gmujim92]

He's just very relatable to his players. You can see the personal relationship as he's coaching them. Last season before every home game he was out on the floor with Josiah Jordan-James, taking him through shooting drills. When the drill was done, they always played him one-on-one, with Kim usually winning. He'd stop the game to show JJJ different things, like if he got JJJ off-balance, he would get a step ahead of him, and then stop and show him how be got him off-balance. Once that game was over, JJJ would leave the floor, and Olivier Nkamhoua would come out for big man drills, and then Kim would play him one-on-one. Same deal. He's the only UT coach that has done this over the 4 years I've been here, and both of those players have greatly improved from Year 1 to Year 2.

Here's a quote from Lamonte Turner:
“He’s young, ambitious, just a good person. He pushes you in ways that some people can’t. Just because he’s younger, he can relate to you. He knows what you’re thinking, he knows why you just did that. He can see stuff that most coaches don’t really see. Most coaches that are maybe older or from a different era of time.”

He's high energy, intense when he needs to be, and although it was brief, he does have the NBA background that can legitimize him when he goes into a living room, along with his overseas experience. He's an offensive coach, so he would need to bring in someone who is more defensive-minded for balance, and like any first time head coach, he will need to learn how to be a CEO, but he has a couple of solid mentors to seek advice from. I'd be ecstatic to have him learn on the job at Mason, and inevitably take that experience to a P5 job.

You should be his agent LOL ... that was one hell of a sales pitch

 

[GMUSSTN]

I think this from an ESPN+ article...my kid brother sent it to me today. Not the most optimistic take as far as this board is concerned but definitely realistic.

 

[Pablo]

I don't know what will happen in the future. But, I know that AD Edwards has hired 2 D-1 men's basketball coaches, both of whom were current D-1 head coaches. I believe that his preference is those with successful head coaching experience.

As for Coach Rumors, he likes to throw out name(s) for a vacancy or potential vacancy when he finds a connection to the school, regardless of how tenuous.

 

[Patriot8]

You should be his agent LOL ... that was one hell of a sales pitch

Haha. It's just what I've seen. No clue if this rumor is legit or not, although it is a very "out of left field" suggestion as TBlack put it.

 

[gmujim92]

Haha. It's just what I've seen. No clue if this rumor is legit or not, although it is a very "out of left field" suggestion as TBlack put it.

More often than not, the rumors that seem to come out of left field wind up being more legit than those speculated about on message boards.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

He's just very relatable to his players. You can see the personal relationship as he's coaching them. Last season before every home game he was out on the floor with Josiah Jordan-James, taking him through shooting drills. When the drill was done, they always played him one-on-one, with Kim usually winning. He'd stop the game to show JJJ different things, like if he got JJJ off-balance, he would get a step ahead of him, and then stop and show him how be got him off-balance. Once that game was over, JJJ would leave the floor, and Olivier Nkamhoua would come out for big man drills, and then Kim would play him one-on-one. Same deal. He's the only UT coach that has done this over the 4 years I've been here, and both of those players have greatly improved from Year 1 to Year 2.

Here's a quote from Lamonte Turner:
“He’s young, ambitious, just a good person. He pushes you in ways that some people can’t. Just because he’s younger, he can relate to you. He knows what you’re thinking, he knows why you just did that. He can see stuff that most coaches don’t really see. Most coaches that are maybe older or from a different era of time.”

He's high energy, intense when he needs to be, and although it was brief, he does have the NBA background that can legitimize him when he goes into a living room, along with his overseas experience. He's an offensive coach, so he would need to bring in someone who is more defensive-minded for balance, and like any first time head coach, he will need to learn how to be a CEO, but he has a couple of solid mentors to seek advice from. I'd be ecstatic to have him learn on the job at Mason, and inevitably take that experience to a P5 job.

I don't know that there's a more disappointing team than UT this year. Started the year as a popular Final 4 pick and are now unranked in all the polls, 6-6 in their last 12 games, and still lacking an identity.

 

[Patriot8]

I don't know that there's a more disappointing team than UT this year. Started the year as a popular Final 4 pick and are now unranked in all the polls and 6-6 in their last 12 games and still lacking an identity.

Yeah, zero consistency. The team doesn't have a true point guard, and Fulkerson has been hurt most of the year, so the inside scoring presence has been mostly non-existent. Tennessee will go as far as Springer and Johnson can take them. If Vescovi and Bailey get hot from outside they could maybe make it to the Sweet 16. Not what we all expected.

 

[GMUgemini]

Wanted to respond to Tyler re: the podcast and put it in the right thread.

I’m not sure how Tyler is defining “top program” but let’s just assume we mean facilities + investment. For me, the clear top programs are Dayton, vcu, and SLU. They are in that class.

Below them is a jumbled mess of a tier of programs that are pretty close: URI, Richmond, UMass, Duquesne (has just entered).

Tier of their own (punching above their weight): Davidson, St. Bonaventure. We will leave them here because you can’t really compare their success to anyone else.

Struggling: GW (decent facilities but they are bottom tier in budget), St. Joes (probably leaning more on their history at this point).

Bottom tier: La Salle, Fordham.

I think looking at it, Mason belongs in the jumbled mess of a tier. Budget in line with a URI, Richmond, UMass. Facilities are on par with most of those teams too. But if you look, outside of Duquesne (who is a very recent entrant to that tier), every other program has had its moment in the sun since 2014. Finishing in the top 4, top 100, NIT or NCAA tournament, A10 first teamers, etc. All except Mason.

So is Paulsen meeting expectations? If he is, we need to rethink what our expectations are.

 

[Mason32]

So is Paulsen meeting expectations? If he is, we need to rethink what our expectations are.

Always the biggest question each offseason. The way the school was recently bragging about top 7 seeds over the last couple seasons makes me think they internally are meeting some expectations... Maybe a new prez changes this

 

[Pablo]

Tier of their own (punching above their weight): Davidson, St. Bonaventure. We will leave them here because you can’t really compare their success to anyone else.

Davidson built a nice basketball practice facility - https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...FECD966901B9EDD666DCFECD966901B9E&FORM=WRVORC.

 

[Patriot8]

So is Paulsen meeting expectations? If he is, we need to rethink what our expectations are.

My feelings have always been: If your (the admin) expectation of the flagship program isn't to compete for championships in your conference, then what the f*ck are we all doing here?

 

[GMUgemini]

Davidson built a nice basketball practice facility - https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=davidson college basketball practice facility&sp=-1&pq=davi&sc=0-4&qs=n&sk=&cvid=5F2E0B13054E45FE96598C2557FC03A0&ru=/search?q=davidson+college+basketball+practice+facility&form=QBLH&sp=-1&pq=davi&sc=0-4&qs=n&sk=&cvid=5F2E0B13054E45FE96598C2557FC03A0&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=DD666DCFECD966901B9EDD666DCFECD966901B9E&FORM=WRVORC.

Yes. But in the aggregate. They are a tiny academically elite school with a bottom four budget. And so you can’t compare their success to any other school in the A10.

 

[gmubrian]

I told you all that this was all part of Paulsen's master plan. He has them peaking at the right time and ready to win the A10 tournament. Renew him now before his stock price skyrockets!

Bwaaaaaaaaahhhhhh! I told you guys he is a genius. He had half of you fooled in the first half, then he unleashed Polite. He is just toying with you guys. He gets you to post ish about him so he can show it to the team at half time to get them fired up. He is a master motivator.

Hopefully Brad hasn’t listened to all your letters and has already given him a lifetime contract before he becomes too expensive for Mason to afford.

 

[mkaufman1]

Update:

Since starting 11-1 last year:

Dave was 6-14 overall and 5-13 in conference last year.
Dave is 13-8 overall and 8-6 in conference this year.

Overall: Dave is 19-22 and 13-19 in conference.

Obviously of the 8 wins this year, 6 of them are against teams that placed 10 or lower in the conference. Only 2 of those wins came against the top 5 (Umass and vcu)

 

[GSII]

So u are saying tomorrow we meet reality?