Mullins Revenge
Well-known member
Whos dismissing anyone? I loved last years team.
This years team is much more talented and will be better.
Get excited fellas!!!!!!! Rick is doing what he came here to do!
25-26 Season
- Thread starter paultzman
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This years team is much more talented and will be better.
Get excited fellas!!!!!!! Rick is doing what he came here to do!
Couple of points supporting MR. (can't believe I just typed that)
First, how can you say that this year's team will get love from last year's team when there is one significant returnee? Is Zuby alone worthy of the ranking or is the ranking a present based on last year's performance? I'd believe the latter for Duke, Kansas, Mi St or similar but not for STJ.
I think the overall point is that on paper if you look at the teams potential summer vs. summer there is a lot more presumed talent for 25/26 vs 24/25. BHop was previously a top 50 recruit, on Wooden and Malone Award Watch lists last year, an All BE first team 3 years ago, claims returned full health. Jackson was 5 star top 10 recruit, ACC all frosh team, rated as 5 star transfer. Sanon was a top 25 recruit, listed as the 21st ranked player in the 2026 draft on a consensus ranking. That's presumed to be potential superstar talent at 3 positions, and Zuby will only be better with these guys around him spreading out the defense. All of that would be assumed to be better than Deivon, Aaron and Vince on paper.
Of course this is all on paper but MR's claim is not preposterous.
Damn I agree with you too
Much more offensively talented and not done yet. Worried about fit, chemistry, and defense. I'll feel better about #1 and #3 with who we bring in next.
Lot of potential talent but I think a lot of work to do to turn it into a complete team.
I suspect the approach will be the inverse of last year - That one was to be good enough on defense to survive until your offense came around; this one will be to be good enough on offense to survive until your defense gels.
I also think that most people (Marillac and I being the most vocal exceptions) do not fully appreciate how important it was last year to have a PG with zero ego. That absence will be felt next year because I suspect "selflessness" is going to be a challenge for the squad. Pitino is going to have to work very, very hard to create that without having a player who embodies it.
My point with that is this. St. John's was one of the top teams in the country last year. However, going into the season, St. John's had not broken through in a real way yet, so no one was going to actually rank us in the top 15 in preseason polls. Coming back this year, there is now a real proof of concept, there is a proven commodity at center in Zuby, and it feels like pundits now see Pitino's vision are ranking us in the top 15 consistently. That was the case before we even got Sellers and Jackson. Last years team paved the way for writers and voters to feel "safe" about ranking SJU higher in their preseason polls, and I just don't think that is a proper indicator of which team has more talent. Certainly not enough to be able to confidently declare one roster has insane level of talent upgrade over the other. Remember, MR is the same guy who declared with full confidence that 2024-25 UConn would be better than the previous huskie team. I am pumped for next season, but I also speak fluent in "offseason overhyping" as a jets fan
I see your point, but why only name the above 3 guys? Last years team also had Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis. Those are insanely big pieces that can't be left out of the discussion when comparing rosters.
Overall, I think it is more than fair to say this roster has a ton of potential, but I still maintain that declaring one roster to be vastly superior to the other talent wise, at this stage of the game, is premature.
I do see a lot of offensive talent being assembled here, but I also have real questions about what we will be defensively, if Hopkins can play our brand of D consistently, if having a combo guard be our PG will work. The 24-25 team couldn't shoot, but I still view their team defense to be part of their talent. Scott and Kadary namely were two of the most talented defenders I have seen here. It is hard for me to give next years team the green light on having more "talent" just because of recruiting rankings. So maybe overall this should just be tabled until next year when the games are played.
I've thought a lot about it and I think Mitchell jumping on board would be huge for this roster. Jackson, Sellers, Sanon, Bryce can all score/shoot, Mitchell would be a balancing piece that would be perfect for this group
Btw Gary Parrish of CBS has SJU pre-season number 4.
Every pre-season poll I have seen has had them in top 11 or so.
And if you think about it that is insane that a school whose fans a few years sgo just wanted to be a bubble team loses BE POY and also players as good as Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith, Aaron Scott off of a 31-5 team and they are projected to be as good if not better.
Every pre-season poll I have seen has had them in top 11 or so.
And if you think about it that is insane that a school whose fans a few years sgo just wanted to be a bubble team loses BE POY and also players as good as Kadary Richmond, Deivon Smith, Aaron Scott off of a 31-5 team and they are projected to be as good if not better.
(1) Who cares about Preseason rankings...Kansas was #1 overall and we weren't ranked yet they were the 7 seed in Providence and we were the 2.
(2) Preseason rankings are heavily influenced by what the team did the year before, and what we did was earn a 2 or 3 seed in the NIT. Whatever team we field will be standing on the shoulders of the 2024-2025 group. We will never miss a preseason top 25 again with Pitino coaching.
(3) We could go undefeated and win the national championship and our talent jump wouldn't be "insane" to anyone but you. We were 31-5, man.
Stop taking the bait as he's trolling.
I wanted everyone back from RJ to even Vince. Continuity is that important. With that written, Zuby was the one guy we absolutely needed to have back to keep some semblance of our 2024-25 identity. He is so freaking good it's really absurd. Not one player in the country defends all 5 positions better than he does and his offensive rebounding is ridiculous.
Tack Prey and Ayo onto that and nobody is beating our big men off the bounce...that's so annoying as an opposing player or coach. You work to get a mismatch and then your guard can't even take them off the bounce? Infuriating.
A couple of guys buy in and we are back in business. It would be great to get a Tasmanian Devil PG on the defensive side to disrupt and cause chaos.
Tack Prey and Ayo onto that and nobody is beating our big men off the bounce...that's so annoying as an opposing player or coach. You work to get a mismatch and then your guard can't even take them off the bounce? Infuriating.
A couple of guys buy in and we are back in business. It would be great to get a Tasmanian Devil PG on the defensive side to disrupt and cause chaos.
We’re a serviceable PG away from being one of the favorites to win an national title.
It's wild to look at a historic SJU team (31 wins, BE First place, BE Conference champs, undefeated at home) as a team that will easily be duplicated. I'm optimistic we will be good next year, but it will be very difficult to replicate last year's success.
Mullins Revenge
Well-known member
Last year's team also had returning players slotted into either three of the starting five, or six, depending on how one views Wilcher. And two of the returning players ended up All BE, one became BE player of the year as well as an All American.
This year it appears of the top six, maybe even seven, rotational players there will be only one who ever wore an SJU uniform before. With portal mania taking over America maybe that is fine now, but it gives me pause and seems to negate some of the tremendous player development skills I believe Pitino has.
I do also believe he can seriously coach so I'm looking forward to how it all shapes up, just not booking Indy hotels at this time.
Astoria STH
Well-known member
No less than 3 years ago preseason 4th place predictions in conference would’ve pleased us. Now one of the the most respected CBK writers in the county has us #4 nationally before we even have filled our roster. This is truly an unprecedented, historic rebuild.
Every damn one of us deserves a full Summer ahead of celebration and hype as we wear our BE Champs gear around.
I didn't book the hotel but I did put my money up for the lottery for Final 4 tickets. Indy is a not a place I am enthusiastic about going to unless St. John's is in it, though. San Antonio is terrific. New Orleans obviously terrific. Indy? Meh.
In the past pre season rankings were heavily influenced by last years performance but as portal progresses people see that their is tremendous roster turnover and I think they are basing it on talent on the roster though impossible to predict how it will jell witness last years Kansas ranking and ours.
There is still significant weight given to it. Also what a coach has achieved at his current school factors in heavily.
Be honest, did you have doubts Pitino could win like that here? I did. Not because of Pitino at all…I’ve been screaming for him since I was in college…but because of St. John’s.
I think a little more will be needed, but we’re getting there.
We need a clear answer for if Zuby gets banged up or is foul trouble.
Mitchell-Hopkins-Prey might answer that.
Re rankings I am talking pre portal. St Johns doesn't get ranked in 2025/26 based on results of 24/25 while losing KR, Scott, and Deivon. They're not getting ranked because folks trust Pitino's vision. It's still about Jerry's and Joe's before X's and O's.My point with that is this. St. John's was one of the top teams in the country last year. However, going into the season, St. John's had not broken through in a real way yet, so no one was going to actually rank us in the top 15 in preseason polls. Coming back this year, there is now a real proof of concept, there is a proven commodity at center in Zuby, and it feels like pundits now see Pitino's vision are ranking us in the top 15 consistently. That was the case before we even got Sellers and Jackson. Last years team paved the way for writers and voters to feel "safe" about ranking SJU higher in their preseason polls, and I just don't think that is a proper indicator of which team has more talent. Certainly not enough to be able to confidently declare one roster has insane level of talent upgrade over the other. Remember, MR is the same guy who declared with full confidence that 2024-25 UConn would be better than the previous huskie team. I am pumped for next season, but I also speak fluent in "offseason overhyping" as a jets fan
I see your point, but why only name the above 3 guys? Last years team also had Kadary Richmond and RJ Luis. Those are insanely big pieces that can't be left out of the discussion when comparing rosters.
Overall, I think it is more than fair to say this roster has a ton of potential, but I still maintain that declaring one roster to be vastly superior to the other talent wise, at this stage of the game, is premature.
I do see a lot of offensive talent being assembled here, but I also have real questions about what we will be defensively, if Hopkins can play our brand of D consistently, if having a combo guard be our PG will work. The 24-25 team couldn't shoot, but I still view their team defense to be part of their talent. Scott and Kadary namely were two of the most talented defenders I have seen here. It is hard for me to give next years team the green light on having more "talent" just because of recruiting rankings. So maybe overall this should just be tabled until next year when the games are played.
I've thought a lot about it and I think Mitchell jumping on board would be huge for this roster. Jackson, Sellers, Sanon, Bryce can all score/shoot, Mitchell would be a balancing piece that would be perfect for this group
Fair point on player comps as I was only comparing incoming portal classes, and I did mention KR as being on a par with the 3 guys coming in. But you are leaning towards comparing last year's finished product with this year's embryonic and not completed roster and before they ever share a court with each other. If you did the same with last year's roster after the portal acquisitions and thought they were going to reach the heights they did more power to you.
Regarding RJ, while we were all hopeful that RJ could become what he did become, that was definitely not guaranteed at the same point in the process last year given how bad his first season on STJ was. So at this point in the season the expecations for the top 3, at least in my mind, are leaps and bounds above what my expectations were for RJ and the non KR portalers, especially with RJ coming off double shin surgery. So I'm talking about what I see as potential for this roster now vs. what I though the potential of the roster was last spring.
It's all opinions anyway. But I am of the school you can teach or at least manage D so I'm happy with the significant upgrade in offense. And agree Mitchell would bring something missing but I don't see it. Hope I'm wrong. And hope they find a servicesable PG even if it's just for 20 mins per game if Jackson/committee approach is really what they want to try first.