Exclusive Interview w/Dave Paulsen! (Excerpt)

[Herndon]

I think Calixte is “good enough” but he’s a different player than what DP wants. DP wants to run his offense through the Center.

Mmmmm, this is probably a valid distinction. Not sure I agree, but it's a fair point.

 

[Herndon]

Shouldn’t be trying to go small and also conservative at the same time (like playing disciplined, position-based defense and being smaller at the same isn’t a recipe for success), but it also doesn’t help when you can’t put 4 shooters on the floor to actually exploit a small ball type style, also also doesn’t help that a lot of our players make really bad decisions in transition...Ahem Kier and Greene throwing away perfectly good fast break opportunities. We don’t have to be a full-court pressing team, but we’ve got to do something next year to throw some complications at the opposing offense besides play good position, hope for a miss, and secure the rebound.

Miller and Greene and Kier have all shown a knack for jumping passing lanes. I also think selective trapping and doubling the post has worked when we disguised it or it doesn’t become a same place, every time practice.

Fully agreed that going small probably is best paired with being aggressive on the perimeter

 

[Herndon]

Yes, where has a good solid big man been in the Paulsen era? I like Calixte, but he is not the scoring threat GMU has had in the past. I know it's tough to get a Mike Muscala or Will Thomas, but how about a Jai Lewis or Jesse Young type?

I give Paulsen credit for taking GMU from lousy to ok in the A-10, but it is hard to see that next step being taken. It's been mentioned before, but the first thing you notice when GMU is facing anyone near the top of the A-10 is the size disparity.

I'm not attacking you here, just to be clear. You're not the first person to say this and you won't be the last. I just get frustrated with the constant obsession with "taking the next step".

Like, I get it. Nobody wants to be complacent. Also, it's human nature to want more. But there's also something to be said for realism. As a program right now, we are who we are.

We are a slightly above-average a10 program. I simply fail to see any reason why we, as a fan base, should expect more. Do we have the best facilities in the a10? Do we have the best recruiting budget in the a10? Do we have the best program history in the a10? Do we have the best fanbase in the a10? ilIs there any single reason why we should expect to be any more than a slightly above-average a10 program (other than we want it)?

Bitching about being a slightly above-average a10 program, when the university and community hasn't made the commitment to be anything more than a slightly above-average a10 program, comes off as some petulant teenager B.S.

When we pack the arena every night, and have one of the top two or three budgets in conference, and see billboards out in the community, and pay assistant coaches a ton of money, THEN I'LL GIVE THE COACH A HARD TIME FOR NOT CONSISTENTLY COMPETING FOR CONFERENCE TITLES.

Until such time I'll enjoy winning the games we win, and having a coach and kids I can be proud of for who they are.

 

[JimP]

I'm not attacking you here, just to be clear. You're not the first person to say this and you won't be the last. I just get frustrated with the constant obsession with "taking the next step".

Like, I get it. Nobody wants to be complacent. Also, it's human nature to want more. But there's also something to be said for realism. As a program right now, we are who we are.

We are a slightly above-average a10 program. I simply fail to see any reason why we, as a fan base, should expect more. Do we have the best facilities in the a10? Do we have the best recruiting budget in the a10? Do we have the best program history in the a10? Do we have the best fanbase in the a10? ilIs there any single reason why we should expect to be any more than a slightly above-average a10 program (other than we want it)?

Bitching about being a slightly above-average a10 program, when the university and community hasn't made the commitment to be anything more than a slightly above-average a10 program, comes off as some petulant teenager B.S.

When we pack the arena every night, and have one of the top two or three budgets in conference, and see billboards out in the community, and pay assistant coaches a ton of money, THEN I'LL GIVE THE COACH A HARD TIME FOR NOT CONSISTENTLY COMPETING FOR CONFERENCE TITLES.

Until such time I'll enjoy winning the games we win, and having a coach and kids I can be proud of for who they are.

I hear you - the issues with the GMU bball program run deeper than coaching. I do look at the recent modest success of a school like St. Bonaventure and see no reason why Mason can not strive for something similar. It did take Schmidt some time and I do not agree with those who think Paulsen should be on some kind of hot seat.

 

[Mason32]

It did take Schmidt some time and I do not agree with those who think Paulsen should be on some kind of hot seat.

Imagine a fan base actually understanding that and not second guessing every f-ing move a coach makes in year 4

 

[Masonfan3]

I'm not attacking you here, just to be clear. You're not the first person to say this and you won't be the last. I just get frustrated with the constant obsession with "taking the next step".

Like, I get it. Nobody wants to be complacent. Also, it's human nature to want more. But there's also something to be said for realism. As a program right now, we are who we are.

We are a slightly above-average a10 program. I simply fail to see any reason why we, as a fan base, should expect more. Do we have the best facilities in the a10? Do we have the best recruiting budget in the a10? Do we have the best program history in the a10? Do we have the best fanbase in the a10? ilIs there any single reason why we should expect to be any more than a slightly above-average a10 program (other than we want it)?

Bitching about being a slightly above-average a10 program, when the university and community hasn't made the commitment to be anything more than a slightly above-average a10 program, comes off as some petulant teenager B.S.

When we pack the arena every night, and have one of the top two or three budgets in conference, and see billboards out in the community, and pay assistant coaches a ton of money, THEN I'LL GIVE THE COACH A HARD TIME FOR NOT CONSISTENTLY COMPETING FOR CONFERENCE TITLES.

Until such time I'll enjoy winning the games we win, and having a coach and kids I can be proud of for who they are.

My personal frustration isn't that we are a slightly above-average a1o program, but rather that we have struggled to compete with lower level programs over the past couple years. I agree with everything you say above but that doesn't mean we should lose to W&M or American, or struggle at home against the likes of Binghamton, Cal Stat Northridge, or Lafayette which were all 300 RPI teams. Being an above average A10 team isn't all that bad considering the lack of everything you mentioned but my fear is that we would be a slightly above average CAA team as well.

 

[NewPatriot]

This is the best thread I've read in a long time...props to @Leesburg Chankenstank III for getting DP to open up....the dan rather of the Mason Hoops forum.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

This is the best thread I've read in a long time...props to @Leesburg Chankenstank III for getting DP to open up....the dan rather of the Mason Hoops forum.

Journalism is my passion ............ oh and Legos too, they're great!

 

[GSII]

I'm not attacking you here, just to be clear. You're not the first person to say this and you won't be the last. I just get frustrated with the constant obsession with "taking the next step".

Is it really a next step? I think its more of getting back to a place we can deem was the top of the mountain. I'm not reffering to the final four. Just a top four conference finish with the occasional 5th place on a consistent basis. I don't think thats too much to ask. This will come back to recruiting so Herndon is right. Just expect less until you see a reason to get excited.

 

[Herndon]

I hear you - the issues with the GMU bball program run deeper than coaching. I do look at the recent modest success of a school like St. Bonaventure and see no reason why Mason can not strive for something similar. It did take Schmidt some time and I do not agree with those who think Paulsen should be on some kind of hot seat.

I mean, they finished 1 game better than us this year, both in conference and out. That's sort of about as similar as you can possibly get, no?

 

[sleeperpick]

I mean, they finished 1 game better than us this year, both in conference and out. That's sort of about as similar as you can possibly get, no?

top two players graduated... top two returning players were out all of non conference and first game back together was when we beat them at the Pat Dome... bit different but ok

 

[JPgmuswim]

I'm not attacking you here, just to be clear. You're not the first person to say this and you won't be the last. I just get frustrated with the constant obsession with "taking the next step".

Like, I get it. Nobody wants to be complacent. Also, it's human nature to want more. But there's also something to be said for realism. As a program right now, we are who we are.

We are a slightly above-average a10 program. I simply fail to see any reason why we, as a fan base, should expect more. Do we have the best facilities in the a10? Do we have the best recruiting budget in the a10? Do we have the best program history in the a10? Do we have the best fanbase in the a10? ilIs there any single reason why we should expect to be any more than a slightly above-average a10 program (other than we want it)?

Bitching about being a slightly above-average a10 program, when the university and community hasn't made the commitment to be anything more than a slightly above-average a10 program, comes off as some petulant teenager B.S.

When we pack the arena every night, and have one of the top two or three budgets in conference, and see billboards out in the community, and pay assistant coaches a ton of money, THEN I'LL GIVE THE COACH A HARD TIME FOR NOT CONSISTENTLY COMPETING FOR CONFERENCE TITLES.

Until such time I'll enjoy winning the games we win, and having a coach and kids I can be proud of for who they are.

I can agree with this, I don’t see us breaking to top 4 consistently anytime soon and shouldn’t expect to.
One could argue that with the players Paulsen has brought in we are a slightly above A10 team. I think Paulsen is a good coach and knows how it get a lot out of the kids he brings in.

I’d just like to see us land recruits that the other top half of the league lands, currently that is not happening and it is frustrating.

 

[By George.]

Imagine a fan base actually understanding that and not second guessing every f-ing move a coach makes in year 4

Can you imagine not holding a coach that bombed his own self proclaimed 2 year season accountable?

 

[GMUgemini]

top two players graduated... top two returning players were out all of non conference and first game back together was when we beat them at the Pat Dome... bit different but ok

We had important players missing/injured all three times we played them, too. Not saying it would have changed much in those games, but don’t make an injury excuse for them while not recognizing we dealt with some significant losses from injury too (as well as players playing at less than 100%).

 

[JimP]

I mean, they finished 1 game better than us this year, both in conference and out. That's sort of about as similar as you can possibly get, no?

I don't think it's too wild an expectation for Mason to get a sniff of the NIT or NCAA's every few years. Bonnies have done it 3 times since '11-'12. They nearly did it last season, making the A-10 title game.

Yes, when their students are there the atmosphere is better than Mason's. Facilities and location - Mason has them beat. SBU getting some quality big men recently,why not Mason?

 

[Herndon]

I can agree with this, I don’t see us breaking to top 4 consistently anytime soon and shouldn’t expect to.
One could argue that with the players Paulsen has brought in we are a slightly above A10 team. I think Paulsen is a good coach and knows how it get a lot out of the kids he brings in.

I’d just like to see us land recruits that the other top half of the league lands, currently that is not happening and it is frustrating.

THIS I get. I really do. I further get wondering "man, if he could recruit like Hewitt but coach like Paulsen we'd have something really special"

And yeah, we would, but if he could recruit like Hewitt and coach like Paulsen, he probably wouldn't be available to us because, again, we are who we are. Who we are right now isn't a program that attracts guys who can REALLY recruit and REALLY coach.

Paulsen is a guy who can coach, and hasn't shown the ability to recruit at the same level as the programs at the tippy top of the A10. Ok. There are different ways to skin a cat, and his style has produced a program that has risen to it's level.

We shall see if he can go higher, but to me a program finding it's level isn't failure. It's ok. Paulsen has done ok, and I'm unwilling to say worse about him. If the program falters in the next few years, we can re-evaluate. If the program picks up in the next few years, we can re-evaluate. Until such time, results like Paulsen's are about what we can (and IMO should) expect from our program, and that's good enough for me.

 

[GSII]

Program has already faltered ie.. 2 year seasons, and The Reuter fiasco, the early recruiting whiffs. So we are at that re-evaluation point. We are all wondering the same thing Herdon mentioned. If only DP could recruit we'd be a top 4 program.

It has been done before with Coach L and other coaches who have turned programs around much faster than DP.


I'm just trying to figure out how much more adjusting to this league does DP need. With his top lieutenants gone, it might take another 4 years. And he will be here as long as we are mediocre.

 

[Herndon]

Program has already faltered ie.. 2 year seasons, and The Reuter fiasco, the early recruiting whiffs. So we are at that re-evaluation point. We are all wondering the same thing Herdon mentioned. If only DP could recruit we'd be a top 4 program.

It has been done before with Coach L and other coaches who have turned programs around much faster than DP.


I'm just trying to figure out how much more adjusting to this league does DP need. With his top lieutenants gone, it might take another 4 years. And he will be here as long as we are mediocre.

I pretty strongly disagree with you. the team has literally improved every single season that Paulsen has been the coach.

A wise man once said that at the end of the season you are who your record says you are.

Well, at the end of the season we have never taken a backward step under Paulsen.

We may have stagnated, I'm not sure, but stagnation is not faltering.

As for larranaga, you can't count on larranaga. To steal from Rick pitino, Jim larranaga is not walking through that door. This program is likely never going to get another Jim larranaga. Most programs never get one. to continue to be disappointed in the program because they don't have Jim larranaga is an exercise in futility.

A mid-major program cycling through competent coaches, in constant search of a Hall of famer that's likely never going to arrive is a recipe for disaster. As a mid-major program, if you get a competent coach, you hold on to that competent coach and try to improve the infrastructure.

 

[MasonSAE4]

I don't think it's too wild an expectation for Mason to get a sniff of the NIT or NCAA's every few years. Bonnies have done it 3 times since '11-'12. They nearly did it last season, making the A-10 title game.

Yes, when their students are there the atmosphere is better than Mason's. Facilities and location - Mason has them beat. SBU getting some quality big men recently,why not Mason?

Location is a double edged sword. They’re the only show in town. The atmosphere is better because of it, not in spite of it.

 

[gmutom]

Location is a double edged sword. They’re the only show in town. The atmosphere is better because of it, not in spite of it.

The glass-is-half-full view is that we will now have a shorter distance to cover defensively after our misses lead to fastbreaks.