Photo courtesy of George Mason Athletics
November 26, 2015
Peter Solari Follow @4PeteSakeNY
There was a lot of optimism among George Mason fans heading into the 2015-16 season, and for good reason. The Paul Hewitt era saw the program gradually decline into irrelevancy, and a new coach, any new coach, was a welcome addition to the suburban Virginia campus. The Patriots may have hit a home run with their hiring of Dave Paulsen to be the 10th head coach in the program's history.
Paulsen wasn't the biggest name out there among the coaching ranks. In fact, he was comfortably settled in at Bucknell, where he had tremendous success leading that program. In seven years at the helm, Paulsen led the Bison to 134 victories, which averages out to about 19 wins per season. He also took them to the postseason four times. His teams won the Patriot League in the 2011 and 2013 seasons, and appeared in the NCAA tournament those years. Bucknell was invited to the NIT in 2012 and 2015. The Bison subsequently won their conference's regular season titles, and Paulsen was named Patriot League Coach of the Year, in all four of those seasons. And Paulsen's success isn't limited to Bucknell. He's been successful everywhere he's been along the way.
Before Bucknell, Paulsen coached at his alma mater, Division III Williams College, where he led the Ephs to the NCAA Division III tournament four times in seven seasons, winning the national championship in 2003, and falling just short of repeating that feat in 2004. Paulsen has truly risen through the ranks of college basketball and he's met that challenge at every step. Who can blame Mason fans for being enthusiastic?
Paulsen's tenure as Mason coach got off to a slow start. The team dropped their home opener to Colgate, before going on the road and losing at Mercer. After that, they went to the Charleston Classic in South Carolina, and rolled off back to back wins against major conference teams, Ole Miss from the SEC, and the Big XII's Oklahoma State. They ultimately lost the championship game of the Charleston Classic to #6 Virginia, out of the ACC, 83-66. However, even in that one-sided affair, you saw some good things from the Patriots. Considering that Mason is in complete rebuild mode, and Virginia is #6 in the country, it's pretty amazing that the Patriots were able to hang in there with the Cavaliers for as long as they did (well into the second half).
Mason Nation was feeling pretty good after Charleston, but last night's contest with Manhattan was a stark reminder of how much work is left to be done. Mason was in complete control of the first half and took an 11-point lead into the break. This marked the fifth time in six games that the Patriots led at halftime. Mason pushed their lead to 16 points early in the second half, but a 20-4 Manhattan run over six-plus minutes, tied the game. It stayed close for the rest of the way. Mason held a one-point advantage in the final seconds, but Manhattan's Shane Richards was fouled on a converted layup, and the Jaspers had the lead, 69-67, with just one second left on the clock. Shevon Thompson's buzzer-beating attempt fell off the back rim, and the Patriots had once again, lost a game in which they held a second half lead.
Blowing big leads in the second half is nothing new with Paulsen. It was a staple of Hewitt's teams, and obviously still haunts this team. Turnovers are the main catalyst behind this. Mason committed 25 turnovers against Manhattan, including a number of offensive fouls. Again, turnovers are nothing new with this program. They've plagued the Patriots for years now, but something's gotta give if the team ever hopes to get better.
Here's the good news: Dave Paulsen is the man for the job. Even though his Patriots have had the lead at halftime in five of their six contests, and only have two wins to show for it, there's a bright side. The two games they have won, never would have went in their favor last year. And the game against Virginia, would have been a blowout from start to finish. This team makes too many mistakes, no doubt about it. But they're correctable mistakes.
This team is exciting, however. When they're hitting on all cylinders, they're very impressive. They've also show the ability to come back when they fall behind early, which is something they haven't shown since Larranaga.
There are miles and miles to go before George Mason can sleep, but let's give them credit where credit is due. They're better now, than they were a year ago, and the team that's dwelled in the basement of the Atlantic 10 since their arrival in 2013, is primed to make a jump in the conference this season.
The Patriots were picked to finish 13th in the 14-team Atlantic 10, but don't be the least bit surprised if Dave Paulsen gets them to somewhere in the middle of the pack, like sixth or seventh, which would mark monumental improvement over the last year.
While 'middle of the pack' isn't where Mason ultimately hopes to be, it will be another indication that this program is on the right track. It's not going to happen overnight. The program dug themselves a really deep hole over the past five seasons. But if we give Paulsen a few years to right the ship and recruit his own players, he has the capability to return George Mason to it's past glory, when they competed for their conference's championship, every season.
