Amar Has Returned

[attachment]mullin-debut.jpg[/attachment]

Is that St. Jean off to the left?

No, that is Mitch Richmond. St. Jean is the kid with the blue hat. Yelling at Johnson and Ellison is Slice. Mullin was sitting on the scorers table blocking Mike Maher's view of the dance team. ;)
 
Or Mullie was yelling at his players "I know he looks like he is 15 but he is the only coach with a clue and I want you all to listen to him damn it! Now let me go back to sitting on the scorer's table! ;) :)
 
I like that Mullin does not have an ego problem and can delegate responsibilities to his assistants. Thorough preparation by the coaches makes role execution possible. Go Johnnies.
 
Granted I haven't paid attention too much lately but did we hire Dick Harter or Rick Carslisle on the bench ?

Hey MJ,

Rather than merely repeating your observations regarding where Mullin may sit, how he dresses, and who speaks during timeouts, please provide some substantive comment regarding how your observations hurt the performance of last years team. Thanks.

There is nothing substantive in all the staff criticism other than an "expansion" team roster thrown together at the very last moment with no off-season practice didn't play cohesively, especially on the defensive end. Never mind the lack of on the ball quickness, lack of interior bulk and strength, and that these players had never played together one minute previously; obviously 90% of the board could have coached rings around this amateur staff. I mean, how could Mullin not have conjured up memories of Auerbach and Wooden with the talent he had to work with and the time he had to work with them? Not to mention that Rohressen should have recruited a Kentucky like roster already, the man is just stealing money!! Disgraceful,,,
At the risk of just being arrogant, again, REALLY?? This staff doesn't even get a YEAR to prove themselves, ONE off-season to upgrade the roster, work with a the players and mold a team?? For all the HOF arm chair coaches out there look up how long it took K and Jay Wright, two pretty good coaches, to turn around programs in infinetly better shape when they took over than SJU was. Not to mention that, oh, maybe Mullin, for all his BB credentials, realistically, has a learning curve to get comfortable doing something he has NEVER done before. I have NO IDEA if this staff will be successful but I do know the turning over of the talent on the roster is almost unprecedented at this level and that is where it all starts. And I am sure as hell willing to give Chris Mullin the same amount of time I gave Norm Roberts and Steve Lavin to see if he and co. can turn this around before I start criticizing.
See some folks are giving them time to prove they might be as good as they expected, the same group who thinks that the hire of Mullin combined with a staff devoid of coaching experience was a good idea.

Others are giving the staff time to prove they're not as bad as should be expected given the hire of Mullin combined with a staff devoid of coaching experience which seemed like a not so good idea.

I agree that they deserve more time, whichever side of the fence your're sitting on but it doesn't mean they should be free from any constructive criticism.

Different strokes for different folks.

I see nothing constructive about the criticism; people reading body language and analyzing still pictures taken out of context and where someone sits or what he wears? A brand new coach with NO experience having the intelligence to allow someone with more experience than him coach at times? Criticizing end of game plays that aren't executed because of lack of experience, practice time and talent? Looking at our roster and complaining that we didn't "improve", a roster completely devoid of legitimate ready to play D1 talent? EVERY one of our freshman would have been realistic candidates to red shirt in another situation. I wonder how many of these "constructive" criticizers would have had the seeds to attempt what Mullin did KNOWING the year last year was going to happen? The team by and large played hard and competed against teams with significantly better talent, in most cases against teams I'm which we didn't put a player on the court that would get a sniff of playing time for the opponent. How do I judge the coaching; by the late season games where we had big deficits but came back to make them competitive against far superior teams. No quit, no lay down. That showed me Mullin and staff had picked the right kids and had gotten through to them. The criticism "constructive"? Hardly. Unfair and ridiculously premature, yes, but constructive or legitimate at this point in time, no.
Some very good points save one: giving Mo credit for having the intelligence to allow someone with more coaching experience to coach at times. Sorry but not when that coach is an early twenties something coach with no coaching experience either.

St. Jean is considered to be one of the brightest young coaches in the country. Think Chris brought him on board to do his old man a favor? Or maybe because Chris recognizes his ability. Besides, what coaching geniuses that you can think of could have done better with last years' team?

He is???
 
Granted I haven't paid attention too much lately but did we hire Dick Harter or Rick Carslisle on the bench ?

Hey MJ,

Rather than merely repeating your observations regarding where Mullin may sit, how he dresses, and who speaks during timeouts, please provide some substantive comment regarding how your observations hurt the performance of last years team. Thanks.

There is nothing substantive in all the staff criticism other than an "expansion" team roster thrown together at the very last moment with no off-season practice didn't play cohesively, especially on the defensive end. Never mind the lack of on the ball quickness, lack of interior bulk and strength, and that these players had never played together one minute previously; obviously 90% of the board could have coached rings around this amateur staff. I mean, how could Mullin not have conjured up memories of Auerbach and Wooden with the talent he had to work with and the time he had to work with them? Not to mention that Rohressen should have recruited a Kentucky like roster already, the man is just stealing money!! Disgraceful,,,
At the risk of just being arrogant, again, REALLY?? This staff doesn't even get a YEAR to prove themselves, ONE off-season to upgrade the roster, work with a the players and mold a team?? For all the HOF arm chair coaches out there look up how long it took K and Jay Wright, two pretty good coaches, to turn around programs in infinetly better shape when they took over than SJU was. Not to mention that, oh, maybe Mullin, for all his BB credentials, realistically, has a learning curve to get comfortable doing something he has NEVER done before. I have NO IDEA if this staff will be successful but I do know the turning over of the talent on the roster is almost unprecedented at this level and that is where it all starts. And I am sure as hell willing to give Chris Mullin the same amount of time I gave Norm Roberts and Steve Lavin to see if he and co. can turn this around before I start criticizing.
See some folks are giving them time to prove they might be as good as they expected, the same group who thinks that the hire of Mullin combined with a staff devoid of coaching experience was a good idea.

Others are giving the staff time to prove they're not as bad as should be expected given the hire of Mullin combined with a staff devoid of coaching experience which seemed like a not so good idea.

I agree that they deserve more time, whichever side of the fence your're sitting on but it doesn't mean they should be free from any constructive criticism.

Different strokes for different folks.

I see nothing constructive about the criticism; people reading body language and analyzing still pictures taken out of context and where someone sits or what he wears? A brand new coach with NO experience having the intelligence to allow someone with more experience than him coach at times? Criticizing end of game plays that aren't executed because of lack of experience, practice time and talent? Looking at our roster and complaining that we didn't "improve", a roster completely devoid of legitimate ready to play D1 talent? EVERY one of our freshman would have been realistic candidates to red shirt in another situation. I wonder how many of these "constructive" criticizers would have had the seeds to attempt what Mullin did KNOWING the year last year was going to happen? The team by and large played hard and competed against teams with significantly better talent, in most cases against teams I'm which we didn't put a player on the court that would get a sniff of playing time for the opponent. How do I judge the coaching; by the late season games where we had big deficits but came back to make them competitive against far superior teams. No quit, no lay down. That showed me Mullin and staff had picked the right kids and had gotten through to them. The criticism "constructive"? Hardly. Unfair and ridiculously premature, yes, but constructive or legitimate at this point in time, no.
Some very good points save one: giving Mo credit for having the intelligence to allow someone with more coaching experience to coach at times. Sorry but not when that coach is an early twenties something coach with no coaching experience either.

St. Jean is considered to be one of the brightest young coaches in the country. Think Chris brought him on board to do his old man a favor? Or maybe because Chris recognizes his ability. Besides, what coaching geniuses that you can think of could have done better with last years' team?

He is???

I think it's absolutely hysterical that fans who've watched St. Jean seize control from the bench, be animated in telling out instructions and leading timeouts have therefore concluded that he has tremendous coaching accumen. I'm not saying he does or doesn't possess ability to be a HC, but I am saying that simply by leading timeouts and yelling to players on the bench means absolutely nothing other than control has been ceded to him (and Slice) during games. I know about 100 CYO and AAU coaches who would be as animated, and not many would be deemed a rising star. St. Jean has a good basketball pedigree, but based on results alone doesn't deserve a lot of credit for anything.
 
Granted I haven't paid attention too much lately but did we hire Dick Harter or Rick Carslisle on the bench ?

Hey MJ,

Rather than merely repeating your observations regarding where Mullin may sit, how he dresses, and who speaks during timeouts, please provide some substantive comment regarding how your observations hurt the performance of last years team. Thanks.

There is nothing substantive in all the staff criticism other than an "expansion" team roster thrown together at the very last moment with no off-season practice didn't play cohesively, especially on the defensive end. Never mind the lack of on the ball quickness, lack of interior bulk and strength, and that these players had never played together one minute previously; obviously 90% of the board could have coached rings around this amateur staff. I mean, how could Mullin not have conjured up memories of Auerbach and Wooden with the talent he had to work with and the time he had to work with them? Not to mention that Rohressen should have recruited a Kentucky like roster already, the man is just stealing money!! Disgraceful,,,
At the risk of just being arrogant, again, REALLY?? This staff doesn't even get a YEAR to prove themselves, ONE off-season to upgrade the roster, work with a the players and mold a team?? For all the HOF arm chair coaches out there look up how long it took K and Jay Wright, two pretty good coaches, to turn around programs in infinetly better shape when they took over than SJU was. Not to mention that, oh, maybe Mullin, for all his BB credentials, realistically, has a learning curve to get comfortable doing something he has NEVER done before. I have NO IDEA if this staff will be successful but I do know the turning over of the talent on the roster is almost unprecedented at this level and that is where it all starts. And I am sure as hell willing to give Chris Mullin the same amount of time I gave Norm Roberts and Steve Lavin to see if he and co. can turn this around before I start criticizing.
See some folks are giving them time to prove they might be as good as they expected, the same group who thinks that the hire of Mullin combined with a staff devoid of coaching experience was a good idea.

Others are giving the staff time to prove they're not as bad as should be expected given the hire of Mullin combined with a staff devoid of coaching experience which seemed like a not so good idea.

I agree that they deserve more time, whichever side of the fence your're sitting on but it doesn't mean they should be free from any constructive criticism.

Different strokes for different folks.

Way to early to pass judgment, never to early to critique....even Chris Mullin. It comes with the territory.

Funny, because I think the negativity is because it is Chris Mullin. Everyone preached patience, very few practiced it. Beating a dead horse, critique what, clothes and seats and not being able to make chicken primevera out of chicken s..t?
To a small extent you are correct. Some like myself maybe expected more because it is Chris Mullin who was one of the smartest players on the court as a player ever and not Norm Roberts or Lavin. So at least in my case yeah I didn't expect to see him letting someone else coach the team on the floor during games most of the time because it was Chris freaking Mullin and he was deferring to someone half his age with virtually no coaching experience

As far as what he wears I really don't care all that much. As far as wear he sits on the scorers table yeah that's certainly me and it definitely wasn't taken out of context in a picture or anything becaause everyone who was at the games saw the context it was in and I'd have the same criticism of any coach for our team

It's a new season. I'm not even one of the people who has overinflated expectations this year. 15 wins and to me that's something to build on and I won't be complaining too much

Mildly disagree with the Mullin is getting judged more harshly by some. I want Mullin to work out well in the worst way, and I look for every little sign that he could become a great coach, even a good coach. Even when he is mic'd up in the huddle, I'd love to hear him say something substantive, other than "Let's play hard guys" or something benign like that. I'd love to hear him say something instructive and quantitative, like "Don't go for the ball fake. He always goes left", or something that demonstrates his high basketball IQ - which may be more intuitive for him as a player that he isn't equipped to communicate to players. I'd like to see him call a player on the bench to sit next to him and have him give him instructions - anything to show he is engaged with his players and game situations, other than riding the refs.

It seems to me that those who have expressed any possible doubt about Mullin's ability to take charge of the team are overwhelmingly people who have been present at most games. Of course when a TV camera is focused on a coach it's not going to be because he is sitting there silently, or standing 40 feet from a timeout huddle. So I do understand that for some, it appears he is much more engaged than he has been.

I also don't get the thinking that the team was god awful in terms of talent, so we shouldn't make judgments on coaching ability. Sure, results are somewhat of an indicator, but on the flip side Mark Jackson coached a GS team to the most success they had in a while, got fired and was replaced by Kerr, who helped make them championship caliber in his first season as a coach. It's reasonable to observe and begin to form an opinion.

Maybe he was just overwhelmed by the lack of talent on the squad, and was waiting for next season in the worst way. That wouldn't give him a pass, but it would explain things a little I guess.

I would like nothing more to be proven dead wrong on this subject.
 
Please no more quoting posts. Scrolling down to view a response on a smartphone is arduous, and not to mention the thread is an eyesore.
 
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