[quote="Mike Zaun" post=343021]I just hope if it's Cluess he realizes that you need to play defense in the Big East and that he can't always give players the green light to shoot. Hope he also realizes you need big men...with actual talent and that you need to be able to develop well to have any real chance in this conference. It would be nice to see an emphasis on rebounding too.[/quote]
Mike, not focusing on you at all because many have said this about Cluess. His teams push the ball up the court, and play games in the 80s. All that matters is you outscore your opponent, which on a career basis, he has done 70% of the time in college. When games are tight his teams get the key stop, and make the big plays, especially in the MAAc tournament. Unlike SJU, his teams haven't embarrassed themselves as the 13-16 seed.
This is a false narrative. Our squad in 2018 seemed to emphasize man defense, especially in the halfcourt, and honestly they never looked better to me defensively. Still they lost 11 in a row. This year, they got a bid, but weren't a great defensive team. I'm sure Owens gone was a big part of that, but the effort just didn't seem there.
Trust me on this: Cluess will figure out what he has to do to win here, and he will get it done.
St. John's biggest problem that they will have if that they offered $2 million plus over 8 years (if reports are accurate) for a guy who had one Cinderella season, and who didn't make the dance this year. Our fans would have been blaming him for failing to secure his conference's automatic bid, and concluded program is heading back to earth. It was an obscene offer to a career middler. Cluess should raise his expectation should they turn back to him now.
If I were Cluess, I'd want a 6 year deal, with an opt out on his part in year 3 and 4. By then the success he will likely have should trigger an automatic renegotiation into the $2.5 million range.
