This is the argument I don't get. We are (AGAIN) a middle of the road A-10 program.
I know everybody here is all doom and gloom, but at this point in the season, you are what your record says you are.
We're a middle of the road A10 program, like we have been for the past few years. That's just what we are. We have finished in the middle of the pack consistently under Paulsen, and we will, again, this year.
The eye test is great, except for when it is overruled by half a decade of on-court black and white results.
Say it with me: "George Mason is a middle of the road A10 program".
So, if we're a middle of the road A10 program, then he can't be one of the worst coaches and recruiters in the conference. He HAS to be somewhere in the middle of the conference, because if he's among the worst coaches, than he's a MFER of a recruiter to get middle of the road results, and if he's among the worst recruiters, than he's a MFER of a coach for the same reason.
More likely? He's somewhere in the middle of the pack, or he's been like FREAKY DEAKY lucky for a half a decade.
Moving this discussion to the Paulsen thread to stop polluting the GW win thread.
Herndon, I agree with about 95-99% of your whole "He is Average, thus we are getting average" argument, but I don't think that is the end of the story.
As a tangent, I had argued many years ago that he can't be a horrible coach and have the worst recruits at the same time. If he has the worst recruits, then he is doing a hell of a job coaching them up. I think that is likely the situation. I suspect he is a good teacher/practice coach. He just doesn't seem to be a good game coach. He doesn't seem to be able to plan for most games and his adjustments and rotations are mind boggling at times.
Back to the "He is average" argument. Areas where I
don't disagree, but think you are not nuanced enough (many of these have been addressed by others already):
- Expectations. You argue that since Mason is only average in the support of the program, we should only expect him to be average. That is logical, but, Brad and Dave have set the expectations higher. They say we have resources to succeed and have told us we will compete for championships. We should hold them to that. We shouldn't make excuses for them. If they want to come out and make this argument themselves, that is on them. If they think funding is not there, they can ask the community for money to do X,Y, and Z, otherwise we will just be average. They have not done that.
- His results should peak a little higher. He seems to peak at average but his lows are low. So I think the argument can be made that he is trending slightly below average. Additionally, his peaks have been in weak years, as well. I would expect there to be a peak near the top of the conference in his best years if his low is near the bottom. Also, I think your evaluation of average is a little too narrow. It should include other measures like NCAA tournament appearances. Even if he is truly average overall record-wise, he should get an NCAA tournament appearance occasionally, what ever the average is for A10 teams.
- Results compared to retained coaches-I haven't looked at the numbers, but, someone else made this point. Comparing him top to bottom of the A10 is not necessarily how you compare average. If most of the people finishing around him or below are getting replaced for that level of achievement (or lack thereof). He may be one of the worst performing coaches in the A10 of those that are being retained (especially if he were retained this year).
Possibly the only area where I disagree with you is your conclusion arguing that he should be extended for finishing average again this year. I think he could make that argument in his discussions with Brad (we only have average facilities and funding), but that is not our job to make the excuses for him. When you look at his recruiting issues, his in game issues, his lack of even sniffing an NCAA berth or even progressing in the A10 tournament, for that matter. Then, there are the expectations that he himself has set on top of that (A10 player of the year, two year season, best team ever, etc.), that he has not come even close to meeting. When you put it all together, I don't believe has met expectations and thus does not warrant an extension.
