Fire Dave Paulsen / Hire Tony Skinn

[KAOriginal]

“We bring back the same team that beat up on the bottom rung of the A10, and got dogged by anyone with a winning record”

Exactly. I kept hearing how they improved and got in a hot streak.

Then I look at the results and see we snuck one from vcu late...and just beat the bottom teams.

Add in the numb skull losses and near losses early and the the story deflates completely that this year was of any consequence.

 

[gmujim92]

Exactly. I kept hearing how they improved and got in a hot streak.

Then I look at the results and see we snuck one from vcu late...and just beat the bottom teams.

Add in the numb skull losses and near losses early and the the story deflates completely that this year was of any consequence.

As @mkaufman1 pointed out, this is a completely different discussion if our program is finishing 5-6 every year in an
A-10 that is so deep and competitive that our top 5-6 teams are legitimately in the conversation for at-large bids.

For better or worse, Division I basketball is all about making the NCAA tournament. Winning regular-season titles is nice, but we upgraded leagues so our NCAA hopes don’t usually come down to 3-4 days in early March.

We’re not scheduling like we are serious about trying to get an at-large bid and even then we’re not doing well enough against those schedules to crack the top 100 nationally in any of the advanced metrics.

In other words, we’ve finished in the top half of the A-10 four of the past five years, but at the same time we’re not even close to where we need to be. No administration that cares at all about basketball would think that’s good enough.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Me personally, I'm really excited for next years team, Paulsen or no

Hopefully the freshmen make that big sophomore leap, because of Greene stays, we bring back basically the entire core of a team that was hot down the stretch.

We lose AJ, but realistically, he was not a guy we were leaning on during our best ball of the season.

If Greene comes back, I'm excited to see what Dave can do with the team.

Herndon in a category by himself, using words like "excited" and Mason basketball in the same sentence.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

I appreciate his excitement; win or lose GMU basketball is still enjoyable to follow.

 

[gmujim92]

I appreciate his excitement; win or lose GMU basketball is still enjoyable to follow.

Did you enjoy the game yesterday? To me it felt like 40 minutes of getting kicked in the nuts

 

[Mason32]

I appreciate his excitement; win or lose GMU basketball is still enjoyable to follow.

Just curious are you a fan of any other sports team and do you feel the same way about whether they win or lose?

 

[FreeGunston12]

I appreciate his excitement; win or lose GMU basketball is still enjoyable to follow.

I'm glad there are fans like him. I'm not one of them.

 

[Pablo]

https://www.oddsshark.com/ncaab/next-coach-fired-odds:

"Next NCAAB Coach To Be Fired Odds

Coach Odds
Dave Leitao +275
Donyell Marshall+280
Bruce Weber +280
Mike Brey +1200
Tim Jankovich +1200
Archie Miller +1200
Josh Pastner +1200
Dave Paulsen +1200
Steve Prohm +1200
Paul Weir +1200
Mark Turgeon +1200

Odds as of February 26 at Bovada"

Note: Marshall resigned and Weir was fired.

 

[GMUgemini]

https://www.oddsshark.com/ncaab/next-coach-fired-odds:

"Next NCAAB Coach To Be Fired Odds

Coach Odds
Dave Leitao +275
Donyell Marshall+280
Bruce Weber +280
Mike Brey +1200
Tim Jankovich +1200
Archie Miller +1200
Josh Pastner +1200
Dave Paulsen +1200
Steve Prohm +1200
Paul Weir +1200
Mark Turgeon +1200

Odds as of February 26 at Bovada"

Note: Marshall has been fired.

Wasnt Paul Weir also fired?

 

[Pablo]

Wasnt Paul Weir also fired?

Yes

 

[gmujim92]

Georgia Tech is making the dance so Pastner is safe

 

[By George.]

Part of what they exposed is how crappy our defensive schemes are. We’ve been leaving shooters open on the perimeter for 6 years. The last time we kept it close against Davidson, it was due to a poor shooting night for them. Kellen Grady was still not fully back from his injury and we kicked up the game enough against them to keep it close, but we largely failed to score that day and lost the game.

Remember when people compared us to UVA’s pack line D to suggest why we shouldn’t be more aggressive on D? Then we tried to go full court Otis’ senior year after never running it. What an absolute nightmare. Fans have made excuses for DP because DP makes excuses.

Now it’s...but the freshman class is promising. We’ve been saying that every year as freshman take minutes from seniors yet again.

 

[mkaufman1]

Remember when people compared us to UVA’s pack line D as to why we shouldn’t be more aggressive on D? What an absolute nightmare. Fans have made excuses for DP because DP does nothing but make excuses.

Now it’s...but the freshman class is promising. We’ve been saying that every year as freshman take minutes from seniors yet again.

guilty right here.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Remember when people compared us to UVA’s pack line D to suggest why we shouldn’t be more aggressive on D? Then we tried to go full court Otis’ senior year after never running it. What an absolute nightmare. Fans have made excuses for DP because DP does nothing but make excuses.

Now it’s...but the freshman class is promising. We’ve been saying that every year as freshman take minutes from seniors yet again.

Exactly. Josh and XJ looked promising last year. Jordan and Jamal (to a lot of you) the year before. Goanar, AJ, and Javon prior.

And I wouldn't put this freshman class above those past 3. Kolek is solid. Polite and Frazier were improving, but didn't show that much. (And just because I wanted to try and ride a hot hand in the tournament doesn't mean I'm sold on Polite)

So I just think whoever makes that argument to keep Paulsen is letting their optimism and fanaticism get the better of their logic.

And looking forward, we have two in the next class that haven't created much buzz.

 

[tblack33]

Remember when people compared us to UVA’s pack line D to suggest why we shouldn’t be more aggressive on D? Then we tried to go full court Otis’ senior year after never running it. What an absolute nightmare. Fans have made excuses for DP because DP makes excuses.

Now it’s...but the freshman class is promising. We’ve been saying that every year as freshman take minutes from seniors yet again.

Nail on the head. We came into this year one of the most experienced teams in the conference, and ended it with 3 freshman playing significant minutes and saying “well these freshman will certainly develop and be studs”. We used to say the same exact thing about Greg, and he didn’t play a meaningful minute in the second half of the season. We used to say the same thing about Ian, he didn’t even make the roster. I personally hyped AJ to the moon and I think we can count the number of games he impacted offensively on one hand this season.

DP will never accept any responsibilities for the teams shortcomings, he hasn’t done it a single time in 6 years, it’s just not in his DNA. That right there is enough to tell me he is a failure of a leader.

 

[FreeGunston12]

And I have to ask you guys- if Jackson, Porter, Lockett (am I forgetting someone? Count Mayimba if you want) with Gilbert coming in couldn't save Hewitt, is Kolek, Polite, Frazier enough to save DP?

 

[GMUgemini]

Remember when people compared us to UVA’s pack line D to suggest why we shouldn’t be more aggressive on D? Then we tried to go full court Otis’ senior year after never running it. What an absolute nightmare. Fans have made excuses for DP because DP makes excuses.

Now it’s...but the freshman class is promising. We’ve been saying that every year as freshman take minutes from seniors yet again.

They way he wants his teams to play defense is probably the biggest holdover failing from Bucknell. In the Patriot league you could probably get away with coming off of shooters to double the paint because, a, the opposing big is probably not skilled enough with the ball to get it back out to the shooter and, b, if he does the shooter might not be quick enough to get the ball out of their hands before the team closes out. And if they do maybe it goes in or maybe it doesn’t. In other words, the gamble pays out more often than not and you secure the rebound and move on.

His full-court defense (well, three-quarter court) was mostly toothless and didn’t try to turn the other team over enough, especially after the ball went over half court. And yeah just like his base sets works against teams with lesser athletes and ball handlers but did zero against smarter more athletic teams.

In other words, he hasn’t figured out a way to defend effectively at this level. And let’s not even get into our offense.

 

[mkaufman1]

Exactly. Josh and XJ looked promising last year. Jordan and Jamal (to a lot of you) the year before. Goanar, AJ, and Javon prior.

And I wouldn't put this freshman class above those past 3. Kolek is solid. Polite and Frazier were improving, but didn't show that much. (And just because I wanted to try and ride a hot hand in the tournament doesn't mean I'm sold on Polite)

So I just think whoever makes that argument to keep Paulsen is letting their optimism and fanaticism get the better of their logic.

And looking forward, we have two in the next class that haven't created much buzz.

Definitely agree with where you were coming from with this post. XJ was hurt this year and I think that impacted his ability a lot. Josh showed tremendous improvement mostly towards the end of the season.

It is absolutely a problem that freshmen keep outplaying the seniors or juniors for minutes. Somehow Kolek was ready for D1 ball off the bat which was tremendous, but Frazier and Polite needed some time to adjust. I know the freshmen also didn't have a regular summer and Polite and Frazier had injuries. I'm glad they came on towards the end. Unfortunately the "not a full summer" and "injuries" read as more excuses. Malik Henry just didn't play anything other than some garbage minutes. So much for "forgetting about AJ".

Also, for having such a deep and experienced team, these freshmen should have not been needed to make an impact. Instead, they were heavily leaned on once again. Craziness.

The transfer portal is going to be such a wild event as it is even if we keep Dave. Cut the cord, see who wants to stick around and fill the gaps with talent from transfers as needed.

 

[mkaufman1]

And I have to ask you guys- if Jackson, Porter, Lockett (am I forgetting someone? Count Mayimba if you want) with Gilbert coming in couldn't save Hewitt, is Kolek, Polite, Frazier enough to save DP?

I say no, and that class on paper was probably better. Jackson Lockett and Porter went on to have good D1 careers too.

 

[FreeGunston12]

Definitely agree with where you were coming from with this post. XJ was hurt this year and I think that impacted his ability a lot. Josh showed tremendous improvement mostly towards the end of the season.

It is absolutely a problem that freshmen keep outplaying the seniors or juniors for minutes. Somehow Kolek was ready for D1 ball off the bat which was tremendous, but Frazier and Polite needed some time to adjust. I know the freshmen also didn't have a regular summer and Polite and Frazier had injuries. I'm glad they came on towards the end. Unfortunately the "not a full summer" and "injuries" read as more excuses. Malik Henry just didn't play anything other than some garbage minutes. So much for "forgetting about AJ".

Also, for having such a deep and experienced team, these freshmen should have not been needed to make an impact. Instead, they were heavily leaned on once again. Craziness.

The transfer portal is going to be such a wild event as it is even if we keep Dave. Cut the cord, see who wants to stick around and fill the gaps with talent from transfers as needed.

Yup. More eligible players out there than ever before or will ever be again. Perfect time to make a coaching change.