[quote="Mean Gene" post=331019][quote="redken" post=331014][quote="Mean Gene" post=330960]I’m not so sure that next years team will be worse. This years team to me has no balls and as others have said has looked disinterested at times and played like they thought they were better than they were. If our new guys have some fire in their bellies and a real will to win then why can’t we be better. I know they have to improve and develop but I think from a small sample that Williams, Roberts and Earlington have that. If Mack, Steere, Wright , Caraher and Manual have it then I think we can be better. Especially if Heron and Simon come back along with Figgy maybe we have a different type of team. Maybe there’s another Figgy out there that we can pick up. All I know is that sometimes that determination and shear will to win makes all the difference. That’s what I’m hoping our new guys bring and what our Freshman develop into. If that happens we can be better.[/quote]
Gene, first you state that "this team to me has no balls." Then you say that if three of those "ball-less" starters -- Heron, Figueroa, and Simon -- return, we should be a lot better. So, given that we had no bench to speak of, was your "has no balls" comment directed at Ponds and Clark(!), or do you expect the other three to miraculously grow a pair in the off-season?[/quote]
I think that this team has given up at times and I’m not the only one on this board who thinks that. I think for some reason this team has mailed it in at times and I don’t know exactly who what the problem is but it’s the personality that this team has taken on. Ponds has checked out and Clark has tanked. Just look at Mullin’s comments after yesterday’s game. He said that this team needs a break mentally, physically and emotionally. Then he says he thought they needed a break from each other. There’s a problem and unless any of us are in the locker room we will not be able to pinpoint it. But, whatever it is , this team lacks something. To me they have no guts, they don’t have that determination and guile that’s needed to be a consistent winner against better competition. Call it what you will.
As far as the three guys coming back, just as bad habits and attitudes rub off so do good habits and attitudes. If the new guys we have coming in have that will and determination to win at all costs and to leave it out there on the floor every game that will rub off on everyone else on the team. The freshman seem to get after it , I know they are raw and have to develop but It seems that they might have what it takes if they can be properly developed in the offseason. If that happens and the newcomers have a different mindset we can have a different team, a better team because they’ll have all the intangibles that this team for whatever reason is lacking. I don’t know why this team is like this. I will root like hell for them if they make it even to Dayton. But, something is not right somewhere. Hoping the new guys next season whoever they are and the maturation of the freshman can change the personality of this team. Hopefully, one of them has the fire to be a real vocal leader on the floor because our coach is laid back and the rest of the staff seems like that also so it’s going to have to come from the players themselves. So hopefully a few of these new guys can bring that. Just my opinion if that makes sense.[/quote]
For starters, Gene, I know you're a longtime poster and a passionate SJU fan, which I naturally respect. But I think you may have gotten a little carried away with your name-calling, especially with regard to Clark (and Simon, too). But if he and others have "tanked" at times, maybe -- and note I'm not a Mullin basher, although I am disappointed in what he's done or failed to do in his time here --it's because of the ridiculously thin bench Coach has recruited. But "tanking" and "not having balls" are two very different things. And maybe when Mullin says his team needs a break physically and emotionally (more than other teams it would seem), he should take a good, hard look in the mirror and ask: "Where's my bench?" Bottom line: I think we're all frustrated with how things have turned out as poorly as they have. But in this case, "not having balls" needn't enter the equation, certainly not with regard to Clark and (and again, Simon, who played his ass of defensively all season), and unless we have a "new" Mullin next season with a much deeper squad, I don't see why Heron's, Simon's and Figueroa's games will change dramatically.
Gene, first you state that "this team to me has no balls." Then you say that if three of those "ball-less" starters -- Heron, Figueroa, and Simon -- return, we should be a lot better. So, given that we had no bench to speak of, was your "has no balls" comment directed at Ponds and Clark(!), or do you expect the other three to miraculously grow a pair in the off-season?[/quote]
I think that this team has given up at times and I’m not the only one on this board who thinks that. I think for some reason this team has mailed it in at times and I don’t know exactly who what the problem is but it’s the personality that this team has taken on. Ponds has checked out and Clark has tanked. Just look at Mullin’s comments after yesterday’s game. He said that this team needs a break mentally, physically and emotionally. Then he says he thought they needed a break from each other. There’s a problem and unless any of us are in the locker room we will not be able to pinpoint it. But, whatever it is , this team lacks something. To me they have no guts, they don’t have that determination and guile that’s needed to be a consistent winner against better competition. Call it what you will.
As far as the three guys coming back, just as bad habits and attitudes rub off so do good habits and attitudes. If the new guys we have coming in have that will and determination to win at all costs and to leave it out there on the floor every game that will rub off on everyone else on the team. The freshman seem to get after it , I know they are raw and have to develop but It seems that they might have what it takes if they can be properly developed in the offseason. If that happens and the newcomers have a different mindset we can have a different team, a better team because they’ll have all the intangibles that this team for whatever reason is lacking. I don’t know why this team is like this. I will root like hell for them if they make it even to Dayton. But, something is not right somewhere. Hoping the new guys next season whoever they are and the maturation of the freshman can change the personality of this team. Hopefully, one of them has the fire to be a real vocal leader on the floor because our coach is laid back and the rest of the staff seems like that also so it’s going to have to come from the players themselves. So hopefully a few of these new guys can bring that. Just my opinion if that makes sense.[/quote]
For starters, Gene, I know you're a longtime poster and a passionate SJU fan, which I naturally respect. But I think you may have gotten a little carried away with your name-calling, especially with regard to Clark (and Simon, too). But if he and others have "tanked" at times, maybe -- and note I'm not a Mullin basher, although I am disappointed in what he's done or failed to do in his time here --it's because of the ridiculously thin bench Coach has recruited. But "tanking" and "not having balls" are two very different things. And maybe when Mullin says his team needs a break physically and emotionally (more than other teams it would seem), he should take a good, hard look in the mirror and ask: "Where's my bench?" Bottom line: I think we're all frustrated with how things have turned out as poorly as they have. But in this case, "not having balls" needn't enter the equation, certainly not with regard to Clark and (and again, Simon, who played his ass of defensively all season), and unless we have a "new" Mullin next season with a much deeper squad, I don't see why Heron's, Simon's and Figueroa's games will change dramatically.
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