Valid point but AJ, like Javon, has been inconsistent at times and AJ still gets pushed around. There are a lot of "ifs" surrounding the entire program. I hope it gets turned around soon, I just don't see it happening that quickly.
Fire Dave Paulsen / Hire Tony Skinn
- Thread starter tblack33
- Start date
Who knows what this season would have been like if Kier and Boyd been able to play from day one? At the very least, we aren't asking a freshman PG to play more than he should be right now. We aren't asking an inconsistent Javon to be the number one scoring option. We actually have some senior leadership on the court when things aren't going well.
9th place right now is vcu at 8-10. We lost some games we have no business losing like crapping the bed against Bona at home after being up by a ton, like letting GW crap all over us in both our games, like UMass. Too many second half collapses, too many slow starts to games, too many unforced errors/turnovers, no one to just get a bucket when you need one, or to grab that rebound when the game was on the line.
That's hard to say but you're probably right. But I do want to address the "picked 9th" comment because we've heard that kind of thing a lot. This is not specifically an argument with you, in fact I know you agree with most or all of what I'm about to say. You just brought up something I've thought about.
DP supporters early on pointed to how he kept exceeding expectations, but those expectations were set by pollsters who don't respect our program. Private comments have been made about us not belonging in the league and completely botching the post-final-four opportunity. Those same people who make those comments vote us low, one or two players exceed expectations, and the program finishes a little higher. Did we exceed expectations because the coaches did a good job, or just because the bar was set too low? The first time we finished lower than projected was last year, right? Not a coincidence that it's the one year the pollsters actually gave us some respect. As you could see from this year's polls, they're not making that mistake again.
This year 9th looked like an insult and then we were even worse. But I'd like to believe our fully healthy roster (which pollsters were assuming when they made their predictions) would have actually finished higher than 9th. I don't want to rehash an argument we've already had, and that we can never prove: I know some of you feel we'd still be between 9th and 12th with those guys. If you feel that way, you're guessing. I respect your guess. But you can't prove it because we can't replay the season with Kier and Boyd.
My guess is that, all other things being equal, our healthy roster finishes either 7th or 8th this year. Right above or right below Davidson. I can't prove it either. But of my guess were right, we exceeded expectations but still suck. Supporters of the coach point to us exceeding expectations yet again. Critics still have plenty to criticize. Round and round we go.
There's no real point to all of this, except let's stop even talking about where we were "picked." It just makes everything even more confusing and/or depressing.
JPgmuswim
Starter
I believe it was you that recently said that they realize that the recruiting is not where it needs to be yet (in year F’ing 5).
Last year after our A-10 Tournament exit Paulsen very honestly said to you we do not look like the other A-10 teams, referring to athletically and talent wise. I would love for you to pose this question to him again after what will most likely be another early exit.
After that conversation our recruits so far are: Josh Oduro, Xavier Johnson, Ronald Polite, Henry Malik, and Tyler Kolek.
Would you expect BE to say anything else publicly? Especially durning the season.
And it’s possible BE gets pressure from above to move on.
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They finished 9th in the conference, so hard to disagree.
Mason should fire Paulsen, hire Shaka (assuming going to be fired), and just enjoy watching Richmond explode.
They finished 9th in the conference, so hard to disagree.
Mason should fire Paulsen, hire Shaka (assuming going to be fired), and just enjoy watching Richmond explode.
one thing about hiring Shaka is he doesn’t use a very good half-court offense either, so if we are struggling to grasp Havoc it could be gross around these parts. He’s also a great recruiter so it would be interesting to see if he can recruit to Fairfax.
DP Overall 81 - 82 (.497) Home 48 - 35 (.578) A10 Play 39 - 51 (.433) A10 Tourney 3 - 4 (.428)
"This was a gutty performance from our guys," head coach Dave Paulsen said. "I thought we buckled down defensively and answered a lot of the challenges they put before us. We were depleted with Jamal going down with an injury and Xavier struggling with his knees. We got a great boost from Jason Douglas-Stanley. I'm really proud of our guys and hopefully this give us some momentum heading into the A-10 Tournament."
I want whatever he has been smoking/drinking.
I want whatever he has been smoking/drinking.
Yeah, our defense was mostly "not good," especially on Colon and Gazi slashing to the basket. We're lucky they mostly suck at shooting.
P
PoorManProfit
Spectator
Too many of those DMDs that Frumpy Dave guzzled has shrunk his brain.
i get what he’s saying. It’s not the prettiest win but they found a way. For the way the season has gone you take what you can get.
having hartwell and XJ hurt even limits mason more now. I like that they gave JDS a shot and he held his own for not playing very much.
if they can win the pig I’ll take it. A pretty sad state of affairs but it is what it is, and all one can hope for is next year to be better.
I tend to agree with the sentiment that paulsen will be back. Many are acting as if it’s a fact that paulsen will be back, but we are all just speculating.
By George.
Starter
Great follow up question, we will definitely touch on this in Brooklyn.
I’m not saying mason looks like an a10 team or shouldn’t be bigger etc. I think they still need some athleticism and bulk to compete with the best.
that said, when I saw them compared to Fordham (yes it’s Fordham but still), I did see the guys look much bigger and thicker than years past. Now granted, Fordham isn’t exactly that high of a bar to compare against, but when I look at guys like miller, aj and even Javon, I see some length and athleticism. That’s not to say there isn’t improvement needed otherwise etc etc.
talent wise, and my friend even said this and he doesn’t watch basketball, you can tell there was some talent on mason but there wasn’t enough of it. But this goes back to recruiting etc etc.
Hard to put it it to words but hope this makes sense.
that said, when I saw them compared to Fordham (yes it’s Fordham but still), I did see the guys look much bigger and thicker than years past. Now granted, Fordham isn’t exactly that high of a bar to compare against, but when I look at guys like miller, aj and even Javon, I see some length and athleticism. That’s not to say there isn’t improvement needed otherwise etc etc.
talent wise, and my friend even said this and he doesn’t watch basketball, you can tell there was some talent on mason but there wasn’t enough of it. But this goes back to recruiting etc etc.
Hard to put it it to words but hope this makes sense.
Someone needs to teach oduro to be mean out there. He looks like a huggable nice 6’9 245 kid. He needs to just be pushy to guys in the post and aggressive at all times
that said, he’s really talented and I think once he gets more aggressive and matures we will be really happy with him.
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I can be "committed" to running and winning a marathon, but it doesn't mean I'm capable of doing it. Recruiting is pretty easy to assess when it gets down to it. Do you win with the players that you brought in? If no, it's either because your not a good enough coach or the players simply weren't good enough.
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