JohnnyFever
Active member
[quote="MJDinkins" post=275863][quote="Mike Zaun" post=275845][quote="MJDinkins" post=275761][quote="NCJohnnie" post=275758]Last two sentences of Zach Post article on today's game: If everything falls into place, next year could be the breakthrough St. John’s has waited years for. Of course, Red Storm fans have been hearing that for a long time.[/b
Truer words have never been spoken. As true Johnnie fans, we will wait and hope.[/quote]
Yep! It all depends on who returns, who we bring in with the remaining scholarships, and who we bring in as assistant replacement(s).
Don't get me wrong.... I enjoyed the Duke and Villanova wins; the improbable late rally versus Butler and winning in double-OT (without Ponds); and, last night's win against Georgetown. I'll also applaud the team for playing with grit for the most part. Otherwise, it was a disappointing season. Some other posters may have different views on the season, but it was disappointing for me. It's gonna end without a tournament berth of any kind and a losing record. Several know how I felt about this season and I'm not mincing words about it.
Lastly, if you continue to lower expectations, then you're always gonna meet 'em or come close to meeting 'em. The bar should be significantly raised next season.[/quote]
Agree with the last paragraph. There is a weird thing about our fanbase IMO at least, maybe it's just on here, but where fans continuously move the goalposts. Look at Giants fans...they expected a Super Bowl appearance at least with how stacked they were and they were among the worst in the NFL. I didn't hear many fans going on about the OBJ injury or other excuses...they were almost all furious at how bad the team as a whole was. I feel like it's a defense mechanism of sorts that acts as a painkiller. We didn't do well this year because ___________. Next year will be our year because _________. This perpetually keeps many fans satisfied with failure and avoids direct confrontation with it.[/quote]
I do consider it to be a defense mechanism for a few posters. The ones who continue to bring up Lavin are using deflection and mental gymnastics, and in many ways are indirectly admitting things isn't going so smoothly. I can see right through the BS.
I'm also cautiously optimistic for next season, but I have to see the things I presented in my initial post above. Continuity is key, which is another reason I'd love for this to work. Not to mention, he's coaching "my" team. So, that's always a reason to hope for the best. Unfortunately, I'm having my doubts. Prove my doubts wrong, and I'll gladly eat a helping of crow.
Before I depart on this post.... There's a longtime fan of the program who I occasionally converse with, and last season he started saying, "We are now DePaul." I laughed about it when he said it last season, and was like "Nah, man.... No way." He's reiterated it several times this season. It makes you wonder, though.[/quote]
I do think there's a danger in some being somewhat comfortable with where the program is at for the past 3 years. As you said, if you keep moving the goalpost or changing the criteria for "success" then you will always be satisfied with whatever happens. Now, obviously LoVett leaving was a big blow, there's no doubt. But Mizzou had Michael Porter get hurt missing most of the season and they rolled to 20 wins and quite possibly more now. Michael Porter is leaps and bounds better than LoVett. So you can't blame everything on 1 player leaving unless the name was Michael Jordan or Stephen Curry. I would've been understanding of a 4-7 stretch or similar without him but certainly not 0-11. This is why I think we 100% need a veteran assistant for next year. If we don't have one by next season it will be alarming IMO that they may not realize one of the glaring issues. Of course the other issue is depth and Matt is solid at getting transfers, so let's hope he can pull a rabbit out of his hat. He can sell that we are tourney ready next year to a grad transfer which should help. The team has shown flashes of potential but there are glaring problems. Retention, depth, lack of experienced coaches, etc. We need all to be addressed immediately. Close will not be good enough next year, especially knowing Ponds is likely gone after next year assuming he stays for 1 more season. We need to get some continuity recruiting 4 star players rather than a few every 4 year cycle then filling in holes with transfers. Let's hope they come through so we can feel confident about the tournament hopes next year.
Truer words have never been spoken. As true Johnnie fans, we will wait and hope.[/quote]
Yep! It all depends on who returns, who we bring in with the remaining scholarships, and who we bring in as assistant replacement(s).
Don't get me wrong.... I enjoyed the Duke and Villanova wins; the improbable late rally versus Butler and winning in double-OT (without Ponds); and, last night's win against Georgetown. I'll also applaud the team for playing with grit for the most part. Otherwise, it was a disappointing season. Some other posters may have different views on the season, but it was disappointing for me. It's gonna end without a tournament berth of any kind and a losing record. Several know how I felt about this season and I'm not mincing words about it.
Lastly, if you continue to lower expectations, then you're always gonna meet 'em or come close to meeting 'em. The bar should be significantly raised next season.[/quote]
Agree with the last paragraph. There is a weird thing about our fanbase IMO at least, maybe it's just on here, but where fans continuously move the goalposts. Look at Giants fans...they expected a Super Bowl appearance at least with how stacked they were and they were among the worst in the NFL. I didn't hear many fans going on about the OBJ injury or other excuses...they were almost all furious at how bad the team as a whole was. I feel like it's a defense mechanism of sorts that acts as a painkiller. We didn't do well this year because ___________. Next year will be our year because _________. This perpetually keeps many fans satisfied with failure and avoids direct confrontation with it.[/quote]
I do consider it to be a defense mechanism for a few posters. The ones who continue to bring up Lavin are using deflection and mental gymnastics, and in many ways are indirectly admitting things isn't going so smoothly. I can see right through the BS.
I'm also cautiously optimistic for next season, but I have to see the things I presented in my initial post above. Continuity is key, which is another reason I'd love for this to work. Not to mention, he's coaching "my" team. So, that's always a reason to hope for the best. Unfortunately, I'm having my doubts. Prove my doubts wrong, and I'll gladly eat a helping of crow.
Before I depart on this post.... There's a longtime fan of the program who I occasionally converse with, and last season he started saying, "We are now DePaul." I laughed about it when he said it last season, and was like "Nah, man.... No way." He's reiterated it several times this season. It makes you wonder, though.[/quote]
I do think there's a danger in some being somewhat comfortable with where the program is at for the past 3 years. As you said, if you keep moving the goalpost or changing the criteria for "success" then you will always be satisfied with whatever happens. Now, obviously LoVett leaving was a big blow, there's no doubt. But Mizzou had Michael Porter get hurt missing most of the season and they rolled to 20 wins and quite possibly more now. Michael Porter is leaps and bounds better than LoVett. So you can't blame everything on 1 player leaving unless the name was Michael Jordan or Stephen Curry. I would've been understanding of a 4-7 stretch or similar without him but certainly not 0-11. This is why I think we 100% need a veteran assistant for next year. If we don't have one by next season it will be alarming IMO that they may not realize one of the glaring issues. Of course the other issue is depth and Matt is solid at getting transfers, so let's hope he can pull a rabbit out of his hat. He can sell that we are tourney ready next year to a grad transfer which should help. The team has shown flashes of potential but there are glaring problems. Retention, depth, lack of experienced coaches, etc. We need all to be addressed immediately. Close will not be good enough next year, especially knowing Ponds is likely gone after next year assuming he stays for 1 more season. We need to get some continuity recruiting 4 star players rather than a few every 4 year cycle then filling in holes with transfers. Let's hope they come through so we can feel confident about the tournament hopes next year.
