A different perspective

[Anthony Mattia]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

I agree, best post I've read in a while.

 

[Class of 72]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Excellent YTD summary!
You also closed with the only true logic by saying " Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative." There is no alternative. As Lawmanfan said, we will bitch and moan but will always cheer. I thought we could finish higher than 9th because I thought Bashir would adapt quicker than he has and that Sima, who played all summer with a very good Spanish National Team, would be as good as last year. Yakwe's stats do not surprise me as he is a project imo. From what I hear Clark is schooling him in practices and that may be playing in his head. He needs to focus more on the present and not worry about his minutes next year.

 

[ras]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Excellent YTD summary!
You also closed with the only true logic by saying " Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative." There is no alternative. As Lawmanfan said, we will bitch and moan but will always cheer. I thought we could finish higher than 9th because I thought Bashir would adapt quicker than he has and that Sima, who played all summer with a very good Spanish National Team, would be as good as last year. Yakwe's stats do not surprise me as he is a project imo. From what I hear Clark is schooling him in practices and that may be playing in his head. He needs to focus more on the present and not worry about his minutes next year.

Everything I read about Clark seems to be positive. He sounds like the answer at the 4 based on our personnel.

 

[bamafan]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

 

[Class of 72]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

agree with everything you say except the LIU game since they were expected to finish 3rd or 4th in their might conference

Other than that I think you hit the head on everything and hope you post more

 

[we are sju]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

Alcohol

 

[Class of 72]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

Alcohol

Before and after games makes for a great evening on Utopia Parkway.

 

[we are sju]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

Alcohol

Before and after games makes for a great evening on Utopia Parkway.

Unfortunately during is when it is most needed.

 

[mjmaherjr]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

Alcohol

Before and after games makes for a great evening on Utopia Parkway.

haven't been to a game on campus since slyfox closed and I was there for every Norm shitshow

 

[Class of 72]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

Alcohol

Before and after games makes for a great evening on Utopia Parkway.

haven't been to a game on campus since slyfox closed and I was there for every Norm shitshow

Damn I miss that place! My chiropractor's Dad was the weekend bartender. I was hoping for a similar place not a Japanese steak house.

 

[Andrew]

I have a wonderful view of the game from my seats at CA. Problem is that they are on a crowded bench that hurts my a...

 

[weathermannyc]

I have a wonderful view of the game from my seats at CA. Problem is that they are on a crowded bench that hurts my a...

My back and knees would really like and enjoy real seats too!

 

[Knight]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

U
How about giving away 500 tickets per game to area high schools?

 

[Class of 72]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

U
How about giving away 500 tickets per game to area high schools?

I would prefer getting 500 more students out of the dorms. There are over 3,000 undergrads on and around campus in dorms and hundreds more in apartments. Would love to hear from students here.
As a point of reference St. Bonaventure in the wilderness of western NY has fewer than 1800 undergrads yet they regularly get 4 to 5,000 fans into Reilly Arena. Most of the students go to games.

 

[beast of the east]

I have a wonderful view of the game from my seats at CA. Problem is that they are on a crowded bench that hurts my a...

I have pretty good CA seats on the bleacher side close to the court. I've been checking the seatback openings every years for the past 4 or 5 seasons. However, I'm seated next to a large family group from Belle Harbor in the Rockaways, of mostly fathers and sons - very young kids to teenagers. They are such a nice group - all family from what I understand, that given the chance, I might just stay put. The way I look at it, the side who sit on bleachers are the real fans who show up every game, while many on the seatback side are rarely if ever in attendance. Kind of like the difference between those with season tickets behind home plate at CitiField or Yankee Stadium, and the 7 Line Army.

In terms of bitching about the drive to CA or the crummy seats, I'm pretty sure this group from Belle Harbor has a 45 minute drive to and from CA, and likely make their kids do homework before or after games. Still they are always out in force, and I'd be surprised if within that group of kids there aren't a few future SJU students.

 

[Section9]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

U
How about giving away 500 tickets per game to area high schools?

I would prefer getting 500 more students out of the dorms. There are over 3,000 undergrads on and around campus in dorms and hundreds more in apartments. Would love to hear from students here.
As a point of reference St. Bonaventure in the wilderness of western NY has fewer than 1800 undergrads yet they regularly get 4 to 5,000 fans into Reilly Arena. Most of the students go to games.

Aside from measuring lake effect snow, what else is there to do up there?

 

[Class of 72]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

U
How about giving away 500 tickets per game to area high schools?

I would prefer getting 500 more students out of the dorms. There are over 3,000 undergrads on and around campus in dorms and hundreds more in apartments. Would love to hear from students here.
As a point of reference St. Bonaventure in the wilderness of western NY has fewer than 1800 undergrads yet they regularly get 4 to 5,000 fans into Reilly Arena. Most of the students go to games.

Aside from measuring lake effect snow, what else is there to do up there?

We are a school full of excuses for underperforming.
"Crazy crowded, chaotic, everything you could think of for a major college town. From shopping to Pubs and restaurants. Even just for walking around and people watching. The people watching alone is great."
That quote is not about Utopia Parkway. It is about Main Street in Ann Arbor.
That doesn't stop Michigan from packing it's arena.
Guadalupe off the the University of Texas campus is even more attractive a student destination in winter in warm Austin but it doesn't stop students from going to basketball games.
If your impression is that 3,000 dorm students in Jamaica are inundated with entertainment options on Hillside Avenue you are being delusional.
No matter how bad your team is there is no excuse for a 5,500 seat arena to be half empty.
Perhaps Jack can fill us in?
Jack! Oh Jaacckk!
Kid must be in the library with the other 3,000. :dry:

 

[beast of the east]

Some quick thoughts based on attending all the "home" (including Barclays) games and watching the rest on the tube. This thread seemed as good a spot as any.

- Delaware State was a disaster, and I'm fine with putting that on the coaches. The team was not ready to play at all, and the first half substitution pattern showed an over confidence that is not warranted with this roster. In general, I am of the belief that you blow a team out first and then experiment, and Delaware State was given way too much time to hang around.

- The line for LIU was out of whack and I expected a tight game. Sure, we have more talent than them, but most fans think our talent level is much higher than it is, and the talent is young. I wasn't blown away by the loss, this team can lose to anyone when our guards are not having good games and we had no Lovett and Ponds was only OK on Sunday.

- Mullin is much more engaged this year, but the optics of the in-game coaching are still difficult to watch. I joked with my wife about our new coach, "Coach Lovett", during the last three games as the staff spent most timeouts leaving the huddle to him while they talked to themselves. I check this out every home game and have not found one team we play yet where it takes as long for the coaches to walk over and engage the players. However the whiteboard stuff is way overrated and I find our coaches timeout "style" more weird than alarming.

-People pick on Richmond, but I see him spending a lot of time counseling players on the bench when they come out of games, and those players seem very interested in what he has to say. I don't see him as a problem, and for everyone pining for some has-been on the bench, the team is playing one coach short. Slice buy out or not the school needs to pony up a few more bucks at the end of the year to add that guy. It would not be an extravagant cost and worrying about that money is like buying a new car and worrying about the cost of tires on the car.

-When I look at our league the teams that are doing well are not nabbing higher rated players than the type we brought in this year (Ponds, Freud, Bash) or will next year (the two transfers and Brown.) Perhaps Villanova is recruiting at a higher level, but not Creighton, Providence, Xavier, or Butler. What they have that we do not is upperclassmen.

-I am going to respect not bashing on any kids, as has been mentioned here before. But the idea that none of our kids are improving is a weird one to me. Mussini looks better, and so does Ellison. Improvement is incremental. And it doesn't take a wild imagination to figure that Owens and Lovett improved their games during their time with the program last year.

-The defense is bad, but the biggest problem is rebounding. The team statistics don't tell the full story on how bad it is as the only way for the team to survive is for all five players to hang around and rebound which eliminates any chance for easy fast break buckets. Speed is not the key to transition baskets, rebounding is, as you need the ball to score. The rebounding issue also creates second and third chance baskets making the shaky defense appear even worse. By the way, Freudenberg understands the angles needed to find the basketball and has rebounding ability. I'm not predicting a superstar, but anyone writing him off as a wasted scholarship will be proven wrong.

-The offense looks good to me, and sure we will see what happens in conference. But this team can shoot and score and the style is fun to watch. I will take this over a boring walk it up team any time.

Overall the coaches picked us ninth this year which looks about right. I had hoped the team was slightly better than that but it was nothing more than hope as I hasn't seen many of this years group ever play - with a happy exception being the wonderful Ponds. So far, other than Delaware State Day, I have seen some positives every game to keep the hope alive. Hiring Mullin was a swing for the fences move by a school that has been trying to work out walks for 25 years. For every home run power guys strike out a lot, so I'm aware this might go very awry. But I'm willing to watch it unfold, and understand why the move was made. College basketball is a business, and a SJU team that wins is better for business, but a SJU team that wins with Mullin at the helm would be the best possible scenario for business. As for if he can succeed, I have no idea, it's too soon for me to say. Waiting it out might be frustrating, but I don't see any other viable alternative.

Helluva post number 8.

This is what happens when someone actually watches the games as opposed to just reading the box score which I suspect many do considering the constant question "what channel is it on again?"

I agree newspaper or ESPN generally will tell you what channel game is on. But in fairness to some we were on some weird channel for the Atlantis tourney.
As far as going to games no one should go to Queens unless they have to. (Met games, Wedding for close family member or friend. Funeral / wake for same or someone you hate to confirm they are dead.)
Going to 4 or 5 MSG games a year drinking $12 beers to watch us lose more than satisfies the appropriate quota for being a fan as far as I am concerned.

Hello, the school IS IN QUEENS. If I didn't go to Queens for something other than your restriction list I wouldn't have gotten my undergraduate degree which allowed me to go to law school and consequently earn a living to buy my house and provide for my family. Other than that your advice is rock solid.

I enjoy our campus arena because I sit so close to the action. I would love for more students to be motivated to walk a few hundred feet to support their classmates. Good or bad record there should be more done to get them to games. We and DePaul have pitiful student support.
Paging Jack Williams for suggestions.

U
How about giving away 500 tickets per game to area high schools?

I would prefer getting 500 more students out of the dorms. There are over 3,000 undergrads on and around campus in dorms and hundreds more in apartments. Would love to hear from students here.
As a point of reference St. Bonaventure in the wilderness of western NY has fewer than 1800 undergrads yet they regularly get 4 to 5,000 fans into Reilly Arena. Most of the students go to games.

Aside from measuring lake effect snow, what else is there to do up there?

I've spent a lot of time in Olean NY, and it's even worse than that. It's a very isolated place - a very hard 60 miles from Buffalo and about the same to Erie. Locals have told me that most of their residents have never even been to Buffalo, which may or may not be an exaggeration. The population of Olean is 14,000, and nearby Jamestown NY (home of Lucille Ball) is 30,000. Any way you slice it, drawing 4-5K to their basketball games is pretty good

 

[bamafan]

I have a wonderful view of the game from my seats at CA. Problem is that they are on a crowded bench that hurts my a...

I have pretty good CA seats on the bleacher side close to the court. I've been checking the seatback openings every years for the past 4 or 5 seasons. However, I'm seated next to a large family group from Belle Harbor in the Rockaways, of mostly fathers and sons - very young kids to teenagers. They are such a nice group - all family from what I understand, that given the chance, I might just stay put. The way I look at it, the side who sit on bleachers are the real fans who show up every game, while many on the seatback side are rarely if ever in attendance. Kind of like the difference between those with season tickets behind home plate at CitiField or Yankee Stadium, and the 7 Line Army.

In terms of bitching about the drive to CA or the crummy seats, I'm pretty sure this group from Belle Harbor has a 45 minute drive to and from CA, and likely make their kids do homework before or after games. Still they are always out in force, and I'd be surprised if within that group of kids there aren't a few future SJU students.

A few dummies in that group, huh?