Game 13: AT Kansas State University, Saturday, December 29th, 8 PM EST/7 PM CST, ESPN3/Fox Sports KC

[sleeperpick]

You don’t say?

damn other coaches can win with Paulsen's recruits yet Paulsen can't win with his own when he moves up a couple classes in conference....

 

[sleeperpick]

The last three years, Bucknell's best players were all Paulsen recruits.

Even this year, the two best players on Bucknell were Paulsen recruits.

Bucknell is 4-0 against common opponent to Mason. Mason is currently 0-1. Can you explain why Bucknell would be beating the teams that we are supposed to be beating yet we lose?!?

 

[ephoops]

Bucknell is 4-0 against common opponent to Mason. Mason is currently 0-1. Can you explain why Bucknell would be beating the teams that we are supposed to be beating yet we lose?!?

I would not get too caught up in the Bucknell comparisons. Like a lot of teams, Bucknell has been up and down this year. They lost to Fairfield and Canisius at HOME earlier this year. They also have good road/neutral court wins against Vermont, St. Bonnie (without Stockard), Rhode Island and UNLV. They were blown out at St. Mary's (CA).

 

[gmujim92]

damn other coaches can win with Paulsen's recruits yet Paulsen can't win with his own when he moves up a couple classes in conference....

If you can’t recognize the difference in these respective situations, I’m not gonna explain it to you.

 

[sleeperpick]

If you can’t recognize the difference in these respective situations, I’m not gonna explain it to you.

differences get less and less important 4 years in... we still treat Paulsen like it is his 2nd year

 

[gmujim92]

differences get less and less important 4 years in... we still treat Paulsen like it is his 2nd year

I said I wasn’t going to do this, but...

DP spent 7 years at Bucknell, which is the elite men’s basketball program in the Patriot League, winning 3 regular-season titles and recruiting the core players that won 3 more after he left.

The challenge here is just a liiiiiitle more daunting, considering Mason was one of the two worst programs in the A-10 when he took over.

Had he inherited the program Larranaga left behind and we were still struggling to break .500 in year 4, I would’ve already concluded Dave isn’t the guy. That, of course, is what happened with Hewitt.

I was hopeful that we’d be an A-10 championship contender this season and we still could be, but this remains a long-term rebuilding project. If you can’t handle that, you’re probably better off rooting for another team.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I was hopeful that we’d be an A-10 championship contender this season and we still could be, but this remains a long-term rebuilding project.

Which begs the question....How many years do you give DP? Curious.

 

[mkaufman1]

Which begs the question....How many years do you give DP? Curious.

In my view hes getting this year and next minimum. If things go south all around he’s done after next year. I think we’ll know by year 6 or 7 really what we have, and if it’s bad then a change will be necessary. I suspect he will be given every chance to get it right based on having support from Brad and Dr Cabrera. He’s already bought himself extra time with the improvements record wise in league play from beginning to now.

 

[GSII]

What does 'get it right' mean? Finishing 6th? 7th?... We gotta set a standard and live by it. What did Brad say? We are a big time university in a big time market and we should act like it. Well being mediocre isnt acting like it. Recruiting below avg players isnt acting like it. Losing to American isnt acting like it. Tell me the standard.

 

[gmujim92]

Which begs the question....How many years do you give DP? Curious.

It’s a complicated question. How many years do I give him to do what exactly? Make the NCAA tournament? Win the A-10? Earn an at-large bid?

I get that we can’t keep floundering around .500 indefinitely. We need to break through at some point. But I agree with Matt that as long as the administration generally thinks the program is moving in the right direction, they’re not gonna want to blow it up and start the rebuilding process all over again.

 

[mkaufman1]

What does 'get it right' mean? Finishing 6th? 7th?... We gotta set a standard and live by it. What did Brad say? We are a big time university in a big time market and we should act like it. Well being mediocre isnt acting like it. Recruiting below avg players isnt acting like it. Losing to American isnt acting like it. Tell me the standard.

It’s basically what Jim said, but the bar has been set at .500 in conference and continue to improve on the court (while improving other stuff.) Obviously the expectation this year is to be towards the top (and it was Dave’s expectation too).

If he doesn’t hit that bar this year, he probably needs a top finish in the next 2 seasons (if not sooner) to continue making Brad and co think the program is improving. Dave is going to get all the time he needs even if we bring out the pitchforks everytime the team loses.

 

[gmujim92]

What does 'get it right' mean? Finishing 6th? 7th?... We gotta set a standard and live by it. What did Brad say? We are a big time university in a big time market and we should act like it. Well being mediocre isnt acting like it. Recruiting below avg players isnt acting like it. Losing to American isnt acting like it. Tell me the standard.

Do you donate, travel and offer other support like a fan of a big-time basketball program? Just being honest, but I don’t. I’d like to, but can’t afford it at this point in my life.

If our program is going to be held to some arbitrary standard, we fans have to step up our game significantly. We didn’t even have a good turnout when the A-10 tournament was in DC and we were the No. 5 seed. Pitiful.

 

[GMUgemini]

Bucknell is 4-0 against common opponent to Mason. Mason is currently 0-1. Can you explain why Bucknell would be beating the teams that we are supposed to be beating yet we lose?!?

Well a few things have happened this season. One, Otis had trouble adjusting to placing expectations and on himself; two, Grayer’s foot still bothered him and affected his play on both sides of the ball, but especially defense (and has now been out something like 4 or 5 games?); three, Reuter didn’t immediately start beastinf at the beginning of the year and affected team chemistry on both sides of the ball (things are getting better as the season has gone on; four, Mar is in one of the worst sophomore slumps I’ve ever seen and I don’t think anyone could really tell you why; five, Greene is still not quite the shooter we expected him to be (although he has improved since the start of the season); six JDS hasn’t stepped in to fill the void at 3-point shooting.

So some things that may be Paulsen’s coaching/recruiting and some things completely out of his control.

 

[Patriotsince81]

It’s a complicated question. How many years do I give him to do what exactly? Make the NCAA tournament? Win the A-10? Earn an at-large bid?

I get that we can’t keep floundering around .500 indefinitely. We need to break through at some point. But I agree with Matt that as long as the administration generally thinks the program is moving in the right direction, they’re not gonna want to blow it up and start the rebuilding process all over again.

Success to me is making the NCAA tourney whether it be at-large or winning the league.

 

[gmujim92]

Success to me is making the NCAA tourney whether it be at-large or winning the league.

So we could go 18-0 in the A-10, win our first two tournament games, lose in the final and not get an at-large, and our 26-8 season wouldn’t be “successful” under that standard? That’s rough.

 

[GSII]

More I see of JDS, more I agree with DP not playing him as much as I wanted. He looks totally uncomfortable out there. Maybe a year or more before the game slows down for him. Which begs the comparison of recruiting ratings that we sometimes discount. Hartwell is a true 3 star by 24/7sports while JDS is n/a. I know, stars don't mean jack, blah blah....but look at the difference between a 1 star and 3 star.

 

[mkaufman1]

Success to me is making the NCAA tourney whether it be at-large or winning the league.

I definitely agree, but I’m also okay with steps in the right direction like having an improving overall and conference record each year and making it further in the a10 tournament. At some point sooner than later they have to make the NCAAs though or at worst the NIT.

Eventually they’ll have to make that level of success.

 

[NewPatriot]

I definitely agree, but I’m also okay with steps in the right direction like having an improving overall and conference record each year and making it further in the a10 tournament. At some point sooner than later they have to make the NCAAs though or at worst the NIT.

Eventually they’ll have to make that level of success.

Given the league's overall weakness, I think the A10 only receives an NCAA autobid.

I would be happy with GMU receiving an NIT this year.

 

[Jack Strop]

So we could go 18-0 in the A-10, win our first two tournament games, lose in the final and not get an at-large, and our 26-8 season wouldn’t be “successful” under that standard? That’s rough.

The 2006 and 2011 seasons made some of Mason's fans Final Four addicts. It's a way more destructive drug than heroine with LSD cream filling and covered in chocolately Ecstasy sprinkles. I wonder if they have ESPN+ at the Betty Ford Clinic?

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

So we could go 18-0 in the A-10, win our first two tournament games, lose in the final and not get an at-large, and our 26-8 season wouldn’t be “successful” under that standard? That’s rough.

If that happens it would be virtually impossible to not get an at large and completely impossible not to get an NIT bid.