Fire Dave Paulsen / Hire Tony Skinn

[phoenix-arizona]

Given the hatred for vcu around here I am surprised a former vcu coach would be considered.

 

[gmujim92]

Given the hatred for vcu around here I am surprised a former vcu coach would be considered.

Shaka is a great coach. The fact that him working at Mason would drive vcu fans crazy is icing on the cake.

 

[KAOriginal]

Why do I believe he would quickly end up at another p5 before he would end up "dropping down"...much all the way down to a Mason.....

Hell he might have a shot at Miami if the timing is right....

 

[Walter]

The only reason Grant got a shot at Dayton was because he was an alumnus. Otherwise, he likely would have ended up at the SoCon or CAA level.

Why is Shaka any different? He failed. P5 fans would say, if he couldn't win at Texas, how is he going to win here?

I might say that.

 

[GMUgemini]

The only reason Grant got a shot at Dayton was because he was an alumnus. Otherwise, he likely would have ended up at the SoCon or CAA level.

Why is Shaka any different? He failed. P5 fans would say, if he couldn't win at Texas, how is he going to win here?

I might say that.

Tubby Smith got a few shots before having to go to High Point though.

 

[GMUgemini]

I am teaching artistic proofs today and realizing we are mostly using an argument of degree about Paulsen in that he’s less of a bad thing than Hewitt.

 

[tblack33]

I am teaching artistic proofs today and realizing we are mostly using an argument of degree about Paulsen in that he’s less of a bad thing than Hewitt.

Exactly. People can’t get over the fact that they are both allowed to be bad. Also overlook the fact that our administration is completely different than before.

 

[Walter]

A more likely scenario . . . vcu finally wins a game in the tournament, Rhoades gets a P5 job, Smart returns to vcu.

 

[gmujim92]

Exactly. People can’t get over the fact that they are both allowed to be bad. Also overlook the fact that our administration is completely different than before.

So you honestly think Paulsen has done a bad job at Mason?

 

[tblack33]

So you honestly think Paulsen has done a bad job at Mason?

I think he did a good job in a very difficult first two years, but I think it’s been slipping since then. I no longer watch games and question our teams effort/heart like I did under Hewitt.

However, I think at his best Dave is a bad recruiter and evaluator, struggles to consistently develop talent, and is a stubborn, below average in game coach. I don’t see a Paulsen team ever being anything better than what we’ve seen already. I think his most talented team to date was his first or second season, with only Jaire and Otis being his guys.

I think 5 seasons was more than enough to prove he was the long term solution to our problem, and he just isn’t getting us there.

 

[tblack33]

So you honestly think Paulsen has done a bad job at Mason?

Just to add on this, I’d expected and hoped when Paulsen got his guys in we would see his system succeed. In my opinion we’ve never run the optimal system for the guys we had on the court. He’s only had 1 guy graduate, we lost pretty much entire recruiting classes from his first 3 years and everyone gave him a pass because the guys he was bringing in to replace them were supposed to be better but they never panned out. I don’t think outside of his first season we have ever had a full roster of scholarship athletes?

 

[patriot2000]

Yeah, "bad job" is pretty broad and I guess depends a lot on your expectations of what his job was. I think we could have done a hell of a lot worse and I don't agree with comparisons to Hewitt. By my estimation, DP has not done a "bad job" here. I don't think he's doing a very good job, though. About good enough to get another year and, barring a massive improvement, not renewed.

 

[Junkees9]

I can't say whether or not he is the right guy for Mason or not, but given the guy who was supposed to be our best player (Kier) has been out all year (not counting the small number of minutes he played earlier), as has been our first guy off the bench (Boyd), if not a starter, can we really expect to be any better than we are right now? Having lost Kier in particular really changes our whole squad. Who knows what our record would have been with Kier and Boyd healthy, but it is certainly fair to say it would be noticeably better than our current record. As long as the guys play with effort, there is no way Paulsen is getting fired after this season.

 

[patriotchild]

Sorry, but I’m just not buying the Kier injury line anymore. He was out practically all of out of nonconference play and the team went 11-2. No one seemed to say it impacted them then and they should have learned to play without him.

the difference is that now you’re playing better competition and the soft ooc didn’t prepare the team for reality.

 

[GSII]

GS-You seem to be conflating the reality of a situation with your (or anyone else's) desires. I don't think there is anything that indicates it will be fixed going forward (other than a slight uptick in the quality of our recruits). I am just pointing out that the facts of the situation don't seem to be conducive to DP being fired at the end of the season. It isn't just up to Brad. He has to convince the President and BOV, which, at this point I suspect is just the BOV. I would be surprised if the acting president would get involved in such a decision. And if she did, I would expect an acting president to take the non-controversial route (don't fire him with two years left on his contract).

I already gave you a scenario where if Brad had big balls, he might try to pull the trigger before the new president arrives, but I see that scenario as a very low probability. Now, if Chank's rich friend and Mason Lawyer pony up some money to make it happen, that would change the situation. Again, I still see it as a low probability.

I was pointing out that if the outcome is inevitable, why not fire him now? The fact that recruiting is below avg with no end in sight, is a clear indication we are stuck in bottom half of A10. I do agree with you that its low probability they move on, but this is what should happen imo.

 

[GSII]

Also, proclaiming a kid “average at best” before they get here isn’t smart.

Going with the consistent trend.

 

[patriot2000]

I was pointing out that if the outcome is inevitable, why not fire him now? The fact that recruiting is below avg with no end in sight, is a clear indication we are stuck in bottom half of A10. I do agree with you that its low probability they move on, but this is what should happen imo.

Not to be too emotion-driven, but I think for what he HAS done at Mason, DP deserves another year. But I do feel it needs to be a very strict and unforgiving show-me year.

 

[KAOriginal]

I commend DP for coming in and dealing with the aftermath of Hewitt.

But despite the injury gods not being kind...5 years is plent of time to judge what has happened and more importantly to consider whete things can go.

Sometimes people are not "good fits"...it doesnt mean he is horrible. Doesnt mean he cam never succeed. Just right now...he's not a good fit for us and the A-10.

 

[gmujim92]

I appreciate everyone’s responses. People make good points and it’s reasonable to be skeptical that we’re just gonna turn things around and compete for an NCAA bid next season.

I guess I just want to see what this group and the incoming recruits can do if we can ever have a season that’s not completely effed up by injuries.

Over the past 3 weeks AJ has shown he’s ready to make the leap and be an all-A10 player next season. If we can get Kier back at 100% and surround those two with Greene, Miller, XJ and Oduro, plus the incoming freshmen and Daddy providing depth off the bench, it would be an easy call to buy out Dave’s final year if he doesn’t at least sniff a bid.

 

[GMUgemini]

I appreciate everyone’s responses. People make good points and it’s reasonable to be skeptical that we’re just gonna turn things around and compete for an NCAA bid next season.

I guess I just want to see what this group and the incoming recruits can do if we can ever have a season that’s not completely effed up by injuries.

Over the past 3 weeks AJ has shown he’s ready to make the leap and be an all-A10 player next season. If we can get Kier back at 100% and surround those two with Greene, Miller, XJ and Oduro, plus the incoming freshmen and Daddy providing depth off the bench, it would be an easy call to buy out Dave’s final year if he doesn’t at least sniff a bid.

Giant Killers had an issue with his answer to "what's our offensive identity?" But I don't think it's that nebulous or hard to understand where he's coming from. He said, "we want to be an inside-out team." It's pretty clear he wants to play through his big and seems to want to run a 4-out (did it sound like that to anyone else?) and spread the floor. To do that, he's going to need a lot more shooters and Oduro is going to have to mature really fast.

I pretty much think this is what's going to happen, but my caution with that is you're going to have a massive recruiting class coming in if AJ and Kier both come back (assuming JDS or some other underclassman transfers) You'll have AJ, Mar, Calixte, Kier, and Greene all graduating. My concern is, with a massive recruiting class like that (8 freshmen and sophomores), and if Paulsen flames out and is fired, you're putting a potential new coach in a pickle of roster formation.

That's my biggest worry.

Granted, there's no really good time to have to rebuild a roster, but it'll be a big project deciding on whether or not you are going to recruit 5 commits or release some of them and go after your own players.