As the 2015-2016 NCAA basketball season comes to a close, lets look ahead to the off season and what to look for this summer/fall.
-Bye Bye Bigs, we stand to lose 20 feet 3 inches of length this coming season after Thompson, Marko and Royal all graduate this spring. Keep an eye on Relvao and his progression this off season. We’d love to see Relvao play in a summer league in hopes of shaking off some rust. Meanwhile, we’d like to see Dixon at South Side, preferably eating as much protein as possible in order to gain another 20 lbs of muscle. Unless Temara is starting out the gate, we may actually end up playing Jenkins (6′7) as our starting center.
-Freshmen 15, no not fat but 15 lbs of lean muscle for all freshmen. We hope our freshmen are training/lifting this off season so that they can have A10 bodies by fall. Freshmen are naturally always skinnier due to their age but in order to compete in A10, Mason athletics should assist in bulking up our existing freshmen class so we can fight for positioning and rebounds this fall. See Jalen Jenkins freshman vs. sophomore year.
-Pressure To Add Pressure, perhaps Paulsen is watching the tournament and seeing the benefit of a pressure defense scheme (Syracuse on UVA). It can give any team a valuable momentum shift in certain game scenarios. Mason finished as the worst team in all D1 basketball in forcing turnovers this last season. Is there a direct correlation between turnovers and success? Well, its hard to say but no tournament team finished anywhere close to the bottom of the country in turnovers. Historically, Paulsen rarely has a high turnover rate for his teams but at some point a coach needs to adjust to the modern game.
-Going Away to College, Mason fans are salivating over the recent recruiting class Paulsen is bringing in this fall. Ian Boyd and Karmari Newman have already received all-state honors in both North Carolina and Michigan respectively. Additionally, Kier and Temara are coming to Mason with just as much hype as Paulsen brings more of “his guys” to the team. Last year coach Paulsen was rushed into recruiting a very talented yet underrated crop of freshmen. Look at the success coach had with his late signings last year, and think what he can do with this group of higher rated recruits coming in.
-Kenner League of Legends. The days of GMU and Kenner League (Nike Pro Am) may have come to an end in recent years but I want my Kenner League back! Yes, it’s glorified street ball and will most likely teach players bad habits (see Bryon Allen) but it’s still an opportunity to play against some local talent and get some brand recognition in the Maryland/Georgetown heavy market. Players from Mason’s past collide with players of Masons future. Where else could you have a team named “Higher Level” that starts Will Thomas with an incoming Mason freshman. How cool is that? We loved watching freshmen from AU, GW, Georgetown and Mason all play on teams where they could be paired with an NBA player. Granted the start times, lineups and playing time are all very random from weekend to weekend but it’s hard to pass up an opportunity to see our incoming freshmen for the first time in person. So, please Mason, please bring back Kenner League, if not for the sole reason that I actually enjoy the $1 hot dogs and watching 4 hours of games consisting of randomized Mason rosters. I miss watching a “Tombs” game to see 2 Mason freshmen, then waiting 2 hours to watch “DCX” play with 1 other Mason freshman.
-How’s That Practice Facility Coming? Please break ground this summer on the practice facility. The last thing any Mason fan wants to see are delays or scaling the project down. Please don’t mess this up.