Anderson - is he really the guy ?

[Las Vegan]

Exactly how did Mullin become a coaching candidate at SJU?  Lavin had a decent up and down team that got an NCAA bid, and if Chris O. doesn't test positive for marijuana, would have had a decent shot at beating SD St. in that first round game.
Lavin still had a year left on his contract at, I think, around two million. I understand the arguments for and against Lavin, but how and when did Mullin come into play, and who was involved?

 

[SJU Double Alumn]

Exactly how did Mullin become a coaching candidate at SJU?  Lavin had a decent up and down team that got an NCAA bid, and if Chris O. doesn't test positive for marijuana, would have had a decent shot at beating SD St. in that first round game.
Lavin still had a year left on his contract at, I think, around two million. I understand the arguments for and against Lavin, but how and when did Mullin come into play, and who was involved?

The third-hand rumors I heard, which may be entirely off, were that Lavin very much wanted to stay, Mullin reached out and pushed for the job, and Gempesaw (and others) got caught up with making the splashy move to hire Mullin.

 

[jr49]

we were never going to beat Kansas.They got to the rim at will. They were toying with us. That game showed how soft we are. Posh some tough kid.We are asking a lot of him. Almost not fair. Anyone on the board think the bigs might step up? Season depends on that question. 

 

[mjmaherjr]

Exactly how did Mullin become a coaching candidate at SJU?  Lavin had a decent up and down team that got an NCAA bid, and if Chris O. doesn't test positive for marijuana, would have had a decent shot at beating SD St. in that first round game.
Lavin still had a year left on his contract at, I think, around two million. I understand the arguments for and against Lavin, but how and when did Mullin come into play, and who was involved?

The third-hand rumors I heard, which may be entirely off, were that Lavin very much wanted to stay, Mullin reached out and pushed for the job, and Gempesaw (and others) got caught up with making the splashy move to hire Mullin.

that's pretty damn accurate

 

[monte]

we were never going to beat Kansas.They got to the rim at will. They were toying with us. That game showed how soft we are. Posh some tough kid.We are asking a lot of him. Almost not fair. Anyone on the board think the bigs might step up? Season depends on that question. 

IMO we're good at positions 1-3. 4 and 5 are major problems that I do not see getting solved this season, in spite of all the wishful thinking. 

 

[JohnnyFan]

we were never going to beat Kansas.They got to the rim at will. They were toying with us. That game showed how soft we are. Posh some tough kid.We are asking a lot of him. Almost not fair. Anyone on the board think the bigs might step up? Season depends on that question. 

IMO we're good at positions 1-3. 4 and 5 are major problems that I do not see getting solved this season, in spite of all the wishful thinking. 

Agree.  I was thinking the same while watching SH vs. Prov last night.  They both have multiple big athletic bodies that will challenge our team (we have already struggled on the boards).  In my opinion, the approach should be to force Wheeler to get his hands dirty down low, push Soriano to be more aggressive in the paint, and hope Nywie continues to grow throughout the season.  Right now, those are things we can control.

 

[room112]

Exactly how did Mullin become a coaching candidate at SJU?  Lavin had a decent up and down team that got an NCAA bid, and if Chris O. doesn't test positive for marijuana, would have had a decent shot at beating SD St. in that first round game.
Lavin still had a year left on his contract at, I think, around two million. I understand the arguments for and against Lavin, but how and when did Mullin come into play, and who was involved?

Obekpa testing positive for marijuana just about sums up Lavin's tenure of headaches, with the lack of control he had over the team. How easily we forget that Rysheed Jordan was allowed to travel back to Philly on weekends or whenever he felt. Obekpa had plenty of other issues as well. All I used to read about on this board was about how Lavin cared more about dining in Soho than working with the team or recruiting. It's surprising to read that so many wanted to retain him, especially since had very little coming in the following year in terms of recruits.

 

[monte]

Exactly how did Mullin become a coaching candidate at SJU?  Lavin had a decent up and down team that got an NCAA bid, and if Chris O. doesn't test positive for marijuana, would have had a decent shot at beating SD St. in that first round game.
Lavin still had a year left on his contract at, I think, around two million. I understand the arguments for and against Lavin, but how and when did Mullin come into play, and who was involved?

Obekpa testing positive for marijuana just about sums up Lavin's tenure of headaches, with the lack of control he had over the team. How easily we forget that Rysheed Jordan was allowed to travel back to Philly on weekends or whenever he felt. Obekpa had plenty of other issues as well. All I used to read about on this board was about how Lavin cared more about dining in Soho than working with the team or recruiting. It's surprising to read that so many wanted to retain him, especially since had very little coming in the following year in terms of recruits.

Agreed 112. I don't want to rehash all of the issues which occurred on Lavin's watch, but he wore out his welcome at UCLA and did the same here. Much better in the booth then on the sidelines. Mullin too was never going to be the long term solution, regardless of who the AD was. IMO the only 2 coaches since Lou who had the potential to have sustained success here were Fran and Jarvis. Time will tell if CMA is the right man for the job. 

 

[Las Vegan]

My question wasn't to argue whether Lavin should be retained or not, but how did Mullin become the coach. I don't remember his name in play for other coaching jobs. Were any other candidates considered? Who at SJU made the decision to hire Mullin, and give him a six year contract. We never before had hired a coach with no previous coaching experience.





















were

 

[redstorm89]

I don't know much about the situation but many of the administration and donors thought we could do better than lavin and believed by hiring mullin they would generate excitement to the basketball program.  to a certain extent this was true because ticket sales and attendance did rise under mullin but in terms of results/wins that's a different story.  chris has been on the west coast so long but louie had a role in convincing him to move back to NY.   Chris always wanted to coach in some capacity but hated the recruiting aspect which was evident during his time here. 

 

[monte]

I will say this about Lavin, his first season success both on the court and with his recruiting, gave us a much needed shot in arm and catapulted us back to relevance. Mullin was a big name hire who also generated interest about the program, especially when Ponds joined the team. So both the Lavin and Mullin teams had periods of relevance. Unfortunately not sustained relevance, or one of them would still be here. 

 

[Ray Morgan]

Lavin had 1 great recruiting year. Sort of. Three players didn't qualify, with one of them never making it here. His PG left mid season, and another player was thrown off the team for awhile. Although he brought in a 4 and 5 star recruit after that first year, both had major personal problems.

Still, Lavin did something no other coach could do since Fran left: bring in multiple top 100 players. But to do it, he had to find some young men with academic or personal issues. Never seemed to bother John Thompson, Tark, or plenty of other coaches. CMA has not followed Lavin's methodology. Or had Lavin's recruiting successes. Not advocating anything here.

 

[room112]

I will say this about Lavin, his first season success both on the court and with his recruiting, gave us a much needed shot in arm and catapulted us back to relevance. Mullin was a big name hire who also generated interest about the program, especially when Ponds joined the team. So both the Lavin and Mullin teams had periods of relevance. Unfortunately not sustained relevance, or one of them would still be here. 

The fascinating thing to me about Mullin's tenure here is he appeared to totally delegate all duties of being a college head coach to his assistants. It's well documented he didn't handle in game coaching. It's well documented that Matt A was given freedom to pretty much pursue whoever he felt on the transfer market. I'm not even sure who was running the practices. This sort of thing must be unprecedented.

 

[monte]

Lavin had 1 great recruiting year. Sort of. Three players didn't qualify, with one of them never making it here. His PG left mid season, and another player was thrown off the team for awhile. Although he brought in a 4 and 5 star recruit after that first year, both had major personal problems.

Still, Lavin did something no other coach could do since Fran left: bring in multiple top 100 players. But to do it, he had to find some young men with academic or personal issues. Never seemed to bother John Thompson, Tark, or plenty of other coaches. CMA has not followed Lavin's methodology. Or had Lavin's recruiting successes. Not advocating anything here.

Few programs have the luxury of recruiting only high level recruits without issues. Duke and Gonzaga come to mind first. Every other program has to role the dice with certain young men. Lavin took some chances, which I had no issue with, and would have no issue with CMA doing the same with some high level recruits. Besides, if anyone can be a mentor to a young man with issues, I would think CMA can. 

 

[monte]

I will say this about Lavin, his first season success both on the court and with his recruiting, gave us a much needed shot in arm and catapulted us back to relevance. Mullin was a big name hire who also generated interest about the program, especially when Ponds joined the team. So both the Lavin and Mullin teams had periods of relevance. Unfortunately not sustained relevance, or one of them would still be here. 

The fascinating thing to me about Mullin's tenure here is he appeared to totally delegate all duties of being a college head coach to his assistants. It's well documented he didn't handle in game coaching. It's well documented that Matt A was given freedom to pretty much pursue whoever he felt on the transfer market. I'm not even sure who was running the practices. This sort of thing must be unprecedented.

I wasn't aware of that. I guess that comes from his years as a GM. But as we all know, a HC must be hands-on. I'll say this about CMA, there's no questioning his work ethic and him being hands-on. Ultimately though, nothing matters but success on the court. How a coach gets it done is irrelevant to me, so long as he gets it done. Case in point, Saban on the recruiting trail lol... [attachment=2382]FC658923-7545-46D2-9673-68224C7E20EA.jpeg[/attachment]

 

[redstorm89]

Greg st jean would be running the practices and often write up plays during timeouts.  not sure if its an NBA thing because i notice Penny Hardaway would defer to his assistants too at Memphis games.  

 

[mjmaherjr]

This sums up the Mullin years for me [attachment=2383]DD668D11-9E38-495A-AAFB-58E420380E74.jpeg[/attachment]

 

[ronm]

This sums up the Mullin years for me [attachment=2383]DD668D11-9E38-495A-AAFB-58E420380E74.jpeg[/attachment]

That and tying his shoe laces while the team was in a huddle.
 

 

[RedStormNC]

"BE SHARP !!!"

That's my favorite coaching line from Mullin.

 

[JohnnyFan]

This sums up the Mullin years for me [attachment=2383]DD668D11-9E38-495A-AAFB-58E420380E74.jpeg[/attachment]

Never draw a play when your shoe is untied.

[attachment=2384]tying shoe.jpg[/attachment]