Great interview, watching the video now. As I've said before, I've been one of the people clamoring for more content, so huge props to By George for pulling this together, and even more for flipping to a video, great production value. I'll even give the *gasps* AD and Paulsen props for doing this. I think they need to keep doing things like this if they ever want to try to increase outreach to alumni and locals. Paulsen and his assistants (and to some extent Brad, and someone should make Darrell do something to earn his 100k a year and tell him he can't just talk about his charity the whole time) should be doing more interviews, getting on with the Junks once in a blue moon, doing podcasts, Q&As, etc. I think that having things to show casual basketball fans and Mason alumni about the program might get people out a little more. At the very least, it won't reduce attendance so I hope they keep trying things like this.
Really liked his insight and inside scoop into some of the aspects of recruiting that fans don't really get to see. Interesting to hear about how they pick what type of guys they are going to go after, specifically Paulsen saying that certain stats translate better to the college game than others and sifting out kids who are already getting interests from high majors. I don't blame him for not wanting to be more forthcoming on how he sees these kids impact this season, he hasn't had a chance to see them practice against the guys we are bringing back yet which probably makes evaluating minutes tough.
I really wish he would drop the whole Reuter thing. No matter what the reason, at this point it was just a fail. If it was a congenital hip issue, how was it not caught during any type of physical? How did it suddenly manifest after a year of not playing in any games? At this point I think it would just be in his best interest to let the Reuter era become history. He tried, he missed, it happens. Continuing to say he would have been all A-10 gives people more reasons to question his talent evaluation skills.
Was interesting hearing him talk about AJs development and gradually letting him off the leash as he improved different aspects of his game. I'm really excited to see a fully unhindered AJ next season, which is what I think we finally got to see the last 4-5 games this season. He has really developed into a complete player, and hearing Paulsen talk about working on the little intangibles to get there with dribbling and passing was interesting.
Can't believe no one has mentioned Paulsen's comments on Javon yet. Idk about y'all, but there is clearly some trouble in paradise there. From the body language during the season, to Paulsen talking about how Javon didn't handle things very well at times, it doesn't seem like some of those old wounds from last season have completely healed. FWIW I see where Paulsen is coming from at least on his comments, but I didn't expect it to come up. Hope they can get back on the same wave length going into next season because when Javon is playing to his strengths, he's the best pure scorer on this team. It was honestly a little refreshing to hear some non canned statements for how Paulsen viewed that situation.
Didn't realize that XJ finished the season hurt. Liked hearing him talk about Hartwells season, ups and downs. It sounds to me like Jamal is the presumptive starter at the 1 guard going into next season, but I imagine that XJ will be pushing for that spot all year long.
I think that if you get a chance to talk to Paulsen again I'd stay away from asking him about the transfers out of the program. You don't want to put him in a position to contradict what he said this time, and I don't think you'll get much more than a canned statement about it being apart of the game and supporting whatever is best for the players. I'd be much more interesting in hearing his philosophy in going after transfers. Do they actively contact kids in the portal, does he only go after guys who can play immediately, why aren't we tied to any transfers in years when we have open scholarships, etc.
Great conent, look forward to more throughout what is going to be a painfully long offseason.
