WP: What Happened to George Mason Basketball?

[Walter]

So far, I'm very satisfied with President Cabrera & AD Edwards. And, I trust that they will terminate Hewitt's contract no later than this March.

Why are you satisfied with them? They haven't done anything yet. Or have I missed something?

 

[Pablo]

Why are you satisfied with them? They haven't done anything yet. Or have I missed something?

How about giving Cabrera some credit for joining the A10? And, how about giving them credit for the "resignations" of a few other head coaches with mediocre records recently?

 

[A.-Siegfried]

I don't think TOC was looking to stick it to Larranaga as much as other people think he was. I think he knew that the team coming back was extremely talented, and to be able to get a coach who had a lot of experience at a high level of basketball coaching (the ACC), AND some success (5 NCAAs in 11 years or something like that although underachieving considering talent level), was what he was looking for. I think he also was duped (as was Merten although I'm sure he didnt care that much) in that Hewitt said he learned from his mistakes. With Hewitt saying he learned from his mistakes, and his personable personality, it made it an easy decision to hire him over other candidates.

With that said, I think someone needed to (or may have) said "Do you know the risk you are taking?" "He just got paid 7 million dollars to go away" Even if was said, it would clearly didnt matter.

As far as the article goes, I'm very pleased to see that the WaPo wrote up a lengthy piece about the program, and Edwards shared some of the work he plans on doing. I think he knows that his first big step is hiring a Men's basketball coach.

I disagree with SOME things here. I don't think there was any doubt they were looking to doing something to maybe not "stick it" to Larranaga publicly but behind closed doors I bet there was some of that going on. The most successful coach in school history and not a single assistant of his (current in 2011 or former from before) gets even a SNIFF of an interview? To me that said a ton about what they thought of Coach L at that point.

 

[MasonFanatic]

Really? We were an 8 seed and they were a 9 seed so from that perspective it wasn't an upset.
I forget what the line on the game was.

Other than that, I thought it was the kind of article needed and thrilled to read some of the things Edwards is looking to do.

All time, the 9 seeds have a winning record against the 8 seeds, and I believe Villanova was favored by Vegas as well. So it was a slight upset by those terms.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

Nova was favored by one! Jollay remembers!

 

[Dawgs99]

“Certainly wins and losses are important at a place like George Mason, and we have to decide whether we are heading in the right direction.”

Brad Edwards = Dick in a box if he can't already see that we are NOT headed in the right direction. Figures, former Redskin. Losing is contagious.

Have no doubt that Edwards knows that we are headed in the wrong direction, but he's also smart and not going to say that in an article that runs in Jan. After reading this article any doubt I had about not firing PH is gone, just like he will be in early March. How would people feel about Jeff Capel?

 

[KAOriginal]

How about giving Cabrera some credit for joining the A10? And, how about giving them credit for the "resignations" of a few other head coaches with mediocre records recently?

Amen. He wasted no time getting that done. Thank god we could still get in after Merten didn't grow a pair and get it done the first time.

The "I dont want to make a major decision for the next President" was complete and utter BS.

 

[Pablo]

Have no doubt that Edwards knows that we are headed in the wrong direction, but he's also smart and not going to say that in an article that runs in Jan. After reading this article any doubt I had about not firing PH is gone, just like he will be in early March.?

I agree! Edwards has to appear fair to Hewitt, while expressing to prospective coaches that:

(1) He will accord the next coach sufficient time and support to turn the program around; and

(2) The school is committed to provide the requisite resources to succeed in the A10.

 

[Walter]

Have no doubt that Edwards knows that we are headed in the wrong direction, but he's also smart and not going to say that in an article that runs in Jan. After reading this article any doubt I had about not firing PH is gone, just like he will be in early March. How would people feel about Jeff Capel?

F**k no to Capel! Haven't we learned our lesson on failed retread coaches?

 

[patriot2000]

TOC's comment about not going back anytime soon is not appropriate given his position. The defenders of the comment are missing the point by saying things like, "I would have said the same thing" and "let's be honest, it's true." There is nothing wro with what TOC said -in private. The problem is that the AD should never say that in public. The public face of the athletic program needs to be, "yeah, we did it. And I'm not surprised. Our athletes worked hard and we have a great coaching staff. Can we do it again? Abso f**king lutely. I don't know if we will because there are a lot of other factors involved, but sure we can."

And Quentin, I like your avatar.

 

[Washingtonian]

Lamar Butler ‏@Butler2two
That article hurts my soul...everything we built is gone.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

TOC's comment about not going back anytime soon is not appropriate given his position. The defenders of the comment are missing the point by saying things like, "I would have said the same thing" and "let's be honest, it's true." There is nothing wro with what TOC said -in private. The problem is that the AD should never say that in public. The public face of the athletic program needs to be, "yeah, we did it. And I'm not surprised. Our athletes worked hard and we have a great coaching staff. Can we do it again? Abso f*cking lutely. I don't know if we will because there are a lot of other factors involved, but sure we can."

And Quentin, I like your avatar.

I think that's a fair criticism, I just don't think it's a huge deal.

 

[Pablo]

Lamar Butler ‏@Butler2two
That article hurts my soul...everything we built is gone.

IMO, Lamar has also been holding the players accountable which I appreciate.

 

[mkaufman1]

I disagree with SOME things here. I don't think there was any doubt they were looking to doing something to maybe not "stick it" to Larranaga publicly but behind closed doors I bet there was some of that going on. The most successful coach in school history and not a single assistant of his (current in 2011 or former from before) gets even a SNIFF of an interview? To me that said a ton about what they thought of Coach L at that point.

I can see where you are coming from. With that said, I think TOC wanted someone with experience as a head coach, which is why we heard names like Jeff Jones and Jim Baron rumored. Obviously he needed to weigh all options and not just go for "experience".

 

[Herndon]

We could have had Jeff Jones for a song, and everybody in Virginia/DC knows he can coach.

 

[Dawgs99]

F**k no to Capel! Haven't we learned our lesson on failed retread coaches?

Yea I pretty much agree. You could make the argument that Capel has a similar track as PH.....success at a mid major then struck out at Oklahoma after the Griffin brothers moved on. I'm not totally against a guy with previous D1 head coaching experience but it definitely needs to be the right one. I'd like us to take a swing at someone off the Tony Bennett coaching tree....Ritchie Mckay or Jason Williford. Like any sport you can win with great defense and average offense.

 

[psyclone]

Long overdue article. In the past I would have been embarrassed by this type of publicity, but I want this to run on the front page of tomorrow's print edition (as in A1, not the Sports section). The more heat Cabrera and Edwards feel, the more likely they will be to make changes on and off the court.

Sorry Tom--it's not A1. But it is D1 and dominates the page--biggest headline, biggest picture. For those of you who don't subscribe to the print edition of the Post, here's what it looks like:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/tablet/v1.1/20150124/D01_M2_EZ_DAILY_20150124.pdf_300.jpg

 

[Pablo]

We could have had Jeff Jones for a song, and everybody in Virginia/DC knows he can coach.

How about another trip down memory lane - see http://www.caazone.com/boards/threads/if-larranaga-goes-go-get-amaker.106702/?

 

[GSII]

Amen. He wasted no time getting that done. Thank god we could still get in after Merten didn't grow a pair and get it done the first time.

The "I dont want to make a major decision for the next President" was complete and utter BS.

We did get to keep that last 900k check. But we incurred a million dollar exit fee. Unless the A10 helped pay that im gonna guess keeping the 900k ncaa check was worth more than dealing with the million dollar exit fee over a few years.

 

[CHRISTOPHER JAMES JOLLAY]

No to Jason Wiliford. He dunked on me three times in a pick up game 25 years ago and frankly I'm still bitter over it.