The Official Fire Dave Paulsen Thread

[mkaufman1]

Let's see,

0-3
Blowing 24 point lead
With a senior lead team
Returning all starters
Two Mason Greats disappear in Sr. Year
One amazing Freshmen who has disappeared
Star players playing like the Washington Generals playing the Harlem Globetrotters
Team looking like someone is forcing them to play


I don’t know what the f*ck kind of reaction you want to have, but to me any other reaction is just delusional

No no, I don’t blame you for being angry. I’m angry. It’s absurdity what’s going on. But maybe I’m being over practical too haha. Just how I am.

 

[GSII]

I'm not as upset b/c I didn't buy into the hype. Take out the delusional expectations that were falsely created by DP and others, and save years of your life. Realize that players play and Coaches coach. And when you have average recruits, average coaching staff....well your just f**king average. and that's just where we will end up this year. 6th or 7th place. 15 wins, something like that. Then in offseason, we will have to hear, what's looks to be another used car salesman, in a DIV I basketball coaches office, tell us, oh THIS is the year.

 

[TweederGMU]

Caputo is available

 

[PoorManProfit]

DJ3 and the PoorManProfit have been trying to tell most all of you guys the ‘lil fella wasn't the right guy for the job.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I'm not as upset b/c I didn't buy into the hype. Take out the delusional expectations that were falsely created by DP and others, and save years of your life. Realize that players play and Coaches coach. And when you have average recruits, average coaching staff....well your just f*cking average. and that's just where we will end up this year. 6th or 7th place. 15 wins, something like that. Then in offseason, we will have to hear, what's looks to be another used car salesman, in a DIV I basketball coaches office, tell us, oh THIS is the year.

Unlike Paulsen, I recognize when I am wrong and admit it. I was just so desperate for a decent team I guess I didn't see it.

 

[GMU1983]

Let Darrell Green go too.

Yes what has Daryl Greene done for us?

 

[VVRams!]

Kick away. We don't have that far to fall.

You sure you want me to go that route man? Lol. I’ll just say this....a lot of you do not know b-ball and are straight homers. I can’t stand that crap on our boards too, ppl thinking last years team was going to be anything decent, it’s annoying AF. I think a bunch of you guys need to take a step back and really look at what you have and don’t have. Like I said, didn’t understand the mason hype before this year. Who knows tho....still early and this league is some ish.

 

[Sons of Mason]

Yes what has Daryl Greene done for us?

Kick azz club football recruits

 

[PoorManProfit]

You sure you want me to go that route man? Lol. I’ll just say this....a lot of you do not know b-ball and are straight homers. I can’t stand that crap on our boards too, ppl thinking last years team was going to be anything decent, it’s annoying AF. I think a bunch of you guys need to take a step back and really look at what you have and don’t have. Like I said, didn’t understand the mason hype before this year.

How dare you come on these boards and spew these truths!
If there is one thing I’ve seen/heard over the years on the boards, from the homers, is how good all the players are BEFORE they actually play. This year it’s Reuter.

 

[By George.]

Interesting thread...

I'd like to say that I'm still somewhere in the middle of the Paulsen Fan Boyz and the Fire DP Club. Unfortunately, our current issues have been on display for quite some time and most of the blame falls on the coaching staff. Some things I've questioned for the last couple of years -

What is our defensive identity? Fans screamed at us telling me we're a pack line D... now we're running full-court pressure and allowing opponents to drive right down the middle of the key.

What is our offensive identity? I would LOVE for anyone to describe our offensive schemes. Currently, all we do is run the ball off high ball screens and force 3s. Sometimes our bigs run foul line extended back screens but really they're just a relocated high ball screen. This works when Otis is hitting midrange jumpers and getting to the basket/drawing fouls... it crumbles when he's not. SOMEONE, PLEASE EXPLAIN OUR HALFCOURT SETS!

Why on earth won't DP play 2 bigs? Has AJ not shown enough as a stretch 4....to play....the stretch 4 position? He can hit the 3, he can keep 4's in front of him on D and he can chase down blocks. Mar is a wing player and always has been. 4 guards out has not really worked yet, will it ever?

When will Paulsen sit up in a press conference and take responsibility? The excuse that he's seeing something different in practice is not acceptable at this point.

We don't make halftime adjustments, and if we are...they're hard to point out. We have seen DP go to zone d schemes in the past but it's only after it's the clear adjustment.

These are questions that our entire staff has had for a while, have asked DP countless times directly and will continue to try and find the answers to.

All this being said, we like DP personally...we like his recruits and recruiting style...we like the general direction of the program. We are on first name bases with the guy and he respects what we do. Many people on these boards and on twitter have suggested DP is untouchable of criticism and that mindset has led to this thread and debate. Here's our hot take - you can both be critical and appreciate someone's body of work at the same time. Being too far one way or the other is a personal issue. Does DP deserve to be fired? Absolutely not. Should he be forced to answer questions about why he sold us all on a two year season, building unnecessary expectations coming into this year? Absolutely.

Sincerely,
The Idiots

 

[mkaufman1]

I was under the assumption based on the first three teams Paulsen had, extra practice time, and a returning team, that this team would come out of the gate ready to play. I’m guessing that was my mistake, as it’s obviously not happened.

I’m going to be realistic and say at this point you hope that Mason gets two wins out of the next two home games, and goes to Florida with some momentum. I also have to think that league play will be open as several teams have struggled in the out of conference. The opportunity is still there for Mason to be a good team this year, but it may be a 18 win good team, or something like that. Not a NCAA team like we were all hoping. We’ll see, and I’m glad it’s only November.

As far as the court play, it’s probably time to change things up. AJ, Boyd, Kier, have all earned their time. Goanar and Otis haven’t. It was also nice to see Grayer heat up tonight.

Otis and Goanar are obviously struggling, but at this point I’m not sure how much value they give to playing so many minutes. Maybe some time off the ball would be beneficial for Otis. Goanar definitely shouldn’t be starting as he has been awful.

 

[Patriotsince81]

I was in court yesterday on a child custody case. An 11 year old had to choose which parent to live with. He told the judge, "Well, I don't want to live with either my mom or dad because they both beat me." The judge asked, "Well who do you want to live with?" The kid replied, "I want to live with Dave Paulsen and the Mason basketball team, they don't beat anybody."

 

[Patriotsince81]

As far as the court play, it’s probably time to change things up. AJ, Boyd, Kier, have all earned their time. Goanar and Otis haven’t. It was also nice to see Grayer heat up tonight.

To shake things up I'd go with Hartwell, Grayer, Boyd, AJ, and Calixte. Can't do any worse.

 

[GSII]

At this point, I think I'd start, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Paul, and Abe Lincoln....with Jesus as head coach.

 

[gmujim92]

A real loyal bunch, Mason basketball fans.

This thread is more embarrassing than our team’s nonexistent defense.

 

[masonjoe]

A real loyal bunch, Mason basketball fans.

This thread is more embarrassing than our team’s nonexistent defense.

Embarrassed at how dumb our fan base is, apparently the answer is Calixte and AJ playing together?

 

[Falco]

A real loyal bunch, Mason basketball fans.

This thread is more embarrassing than our team’s nonexistent defense.

Why can’t fans critise?

 

[gmubrian]

Why can’t fans critise?

I don't want to speak for Jim, but it is not that fans can't criticize. It is that we have gone from many fans on here (possibly most?) thinking this was going to be a banner year to a "fire Dave Paulsen" thread in three games. Yes, it is pretty ugly right now. I am still hopeful that it gets turned around and we look back on these early games (and this thread) and laugh.

 

[G M U]

A real loyal bunch, Mason basketball fans.

This thread is more embarrassing than our team’s nonexistent defense.

For the 1000th time, Paulsen inherited a dumpster fire and has successfully kept it lit for 4 years.

 

[Walter]

Maybe Baba "DJ3" Vanga has had it right all along. Sometimes fans want to only see the positives and overlook coaching deficiencies.

However, DP inherited a dumpster fire. We have seen improvements every year (not including this year, of course, but it is early in the season). And he did this without recruiting 4 star players or getting transfers. I still think he is a good coach.

But if we continue to play like we have in the first three games, I reserve the right to change my mind.