George Mason Still Searching for Glass Slipper

[Masonman]

If this is already posted/linked please let me know and I will delete. I did not see it anywhere.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...eorge-mason-still-searching-for-glass-slipper

 

[Pablo]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...eorge-mason-still-searching-for-glass-slipper

HIS NAME IS DAVID PAULSEN
JBiggs, Wednesday at 12:31 PM

 

[GMU92]

If I'm not mistaken, Davidson was an Elite 8 team, not Final Four.
Otherwise it is a good article. Factual and optimistic for the future, while outlining how badly we squandered the Final Four momentum.

 

[GMUgemini]

If I'm not mistaken, Davidson was an Elite 8 team, not Final Four.
Otherwise it is a good article. Factual and optimistic for the future, while outlining how badly we squandered the Final Four momentum.

I do think it's important to note that Butler, vcu and Wichita State all had stacked teams during the final four and all had incredibly successful seasons immediately following (Butler went back to back, Wichita State was undefeated and a no 1 seed and vcu won the CAA the very next season). Whereas our team barely made it to .500.


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[gmujim92]

What makes me happiest about that story is the positive quotes from Larranaga.

I hadn't seen him quoted very often about Mason since his departure, but the tenor of his comments seems to suggest that whatever ugliness accompanied his departure went out the door with Tom the Stupid.

That is a good thing for so many reasons -- notably, it's difficult to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of your university's crowning athletic accomplishment if you're on the outs with its architect.

My only complaint with the story is that it doesn't go far enough in examining how thoroughly Blewitt effed up the quality program he inherited.

Could've noted that Larranaga left behind a team that had compiled a nation-best winning streak and won a game in the NCAAs the previous season, but it's a minor detail I guess.

 

[GMU92]

What makes me happiest about that story is the positive quotes from Larranaga.

I hadn't seen him quoted very often about Mason since his departure, but the tenor of his comments seems to suggest that whatever ugliness accompanied his departure went out the door with Tom the Stupid.

That is a good thing for so many reasons -- notably, it's difficult to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of your university's crowning athletic accomplishment if you're on the outs with its architect.

My only complaint with the story is that it doesn't go far enough in examining how thoroughly Blewitt effed up the quality program he inherited.

Could've noted that Larranaga left behind a team that had compiled a nation-best winning streak and won a game in the NCAAs the previous season, but it's a minor detail I guess.

Coach L is a class act and I think he will always have fond memories of Mason. Coaches usually remain fond of the school where they accomplish the career-defining moment. Jimmy Johnson often clashed with the administration at Miami, but in the 30 for 30 special The U, he says that while he won a national title at Arkansas as a player, his school will always be the University of Miami. From what I understand, Coach L also had a career goal of head coaching in the ACC and winning a conference championship (he has done both), so once that door opened, he was bound to go eventually. I wish we just could have avoided the train wreck that followed him.