Coaching Staff
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we are sju
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True Porn Prime started with 1 thing and 1 thing only. Waxing. Go back and watch behind the green door and compare to nowadays post waxing and you won't get nostalgic anymore
In the last 20 years Communication and Porn have clearly made the greatest advances over everything else
Ray Morgan
Well-known member
True Porn Prime started with 1 thing and 1 thing only. Waxing. Go back and watch behind the green door and compare to nowadays post waxing and you won't get nostalgic anymore
In the last 20 years Communication and Porn have clearly made the greatest advances over everything else
Movie theater porn and SJU basketball have something in common. They both had their finest moments in the 80s. Porn on film was destroyed by the internet, and SJU basketball was never the same after losing the stipend.
beast of the east
Active member
True Porn Prime started with 1 thing and 1 thing only. Waxing. Go back and watch behind the green door and compare to nowadays post waxing and you won't get nostalgic anymore
In the last 20 years Communication and Porn have clearly made the greatest advances over everything else
Movie theater porn and SJU basketball have something in common. They both had their finest moments in the 80s. Porn on film was destroyed by the internet, and SJU basketball was never the same after losing the stipend.
Plus no one is really comfortable sitting in the seats.
The upside to the Mullin hire was that he would leverage his pedigree, commitment to the school, and competitiveness to build a program. Quasi-GM role at first, where perhaps he grows into running things like a true D1 HC, or maybe he doesn’t and just runs the program like a GM. But I didn’t think he would come here and be a strong in-game coach from day 1. The key was going to be surrounding himself with talent (1) on his staff, and (2) on his team, and I thought he had the pedigree and competitiveness to do that.
Things were off to a great start regarding (1). Slice who had been around the college game and a lot of successful programs for a long time, most recently one of the most successful programs which he left to come here. Even if not known as a strong in-game guy himself, hard to imagine a much better hire in terms of program management, operations, and recruiting. And then Matt, an alum and a rising star in the recruiting ranks. Two home runs frankly. St. Jean was a curious hire at the time, especially given the glaring need on the staff for an experienced game coach. HOF Richmond as a special adviser, great. At a minimum we seemed well-poised from a recruiting and player development standpoint, huge pieces of it.
The real problem is, with the exception of Matt who is the only one who has distinguished himself in terms of results, everything has gotten more curious since. Slice leaving UK to come here, only for it not to work out here after one year, is beyond bizarre on so many fronts, but especially as he probably had more experience at the college level than the rest of the staff combined. Then the two guys who were clearly Mullin guys got even more expanded roles without having proven much at all. That’s concerning.
Great leaders of most any organization need to have the ego to operate their expertise in a very public sphere and under intense scrutiny. They also have to have the ability to set that ego aside and identify areas where they aren’t experts and hire people who are. Both difficult, and thus far I sense Mullin is a natural in the former (not surprising given the level he achieved as a player), but has shown little if not nothing with respect to the latter. Doing so was a critical part of his success here, still is, and that we’ve seemingly gone backwards is not comforting. Needs to change.
The good news is (2) continues to be a positive. Lovett, Ponds, and Ahmed are the best players on the roster be a wide, wide margin. Seems like we have at least 3 more players more on that level coming next year. Things are rarely as extremely good or extremely bad as they seem in this game, and crazy as it sounds after Tuesday night we are probably one really experienced hire and one 5th year senior type up front away from being pretty good next year. Whether either of those happens obviously remains to be seen, but it isn’t that complicated.
Things were off to a great start regarding (1). Slice who had been around the college game and a lot of successful programs for a long time, most recently one of the most successful programs which he left to come here. Even if not known as a strong in-game guy himself, hard to imagine a much better hire in terms of program management, operations, and recruiting. And then Matt, an alum and a rising star in the recruiting ranks. Two home runs frankly. St. Jean was a curious hire at the time, especially given the glaring need on the staff for an experienced game coach. HOF Richmond as a special adviser, great. At a minimum we seemed well-poised from a recruiting and player development standpoint, huge pieces of it.
The real problem is, with the exception of Matt who is the only one who has distinguished himself in terms of results, everything has gotten more curious since. Slice leaving UK to come here, only for it not to work out here after one year, is beyond bizarre on so many fronts, but especially as he probably had more experience at the college level than the rest of the staff combined. Then the two guys who were clearly Mullin guys got even more expanded roles without having proven much at all. That’s concerning.
Great leaders of most any organization need to have the ego to operate their expertise in a very public sphere and under intense scrutiny. They also have to have the ability to set that ego aside and identify areas where they aren’t experts and hire people who are. Both difficult, and thus far I sense Mullin is a natural in the former (not surprising given the level he achieved as a player), but has shown little if not nothing with respect to the latter. Doing so was a critical part of his success here, still is, and that we’ve seemingly gone backwards is not comforting. Needs to change.
The good news is (2) continues to be a positive. Lovett, Ponds, and Ahmed are the best players on the roster be a wide, wide margin. Seems like we have at least 3 more players more on that level coming next year. Things are rarely as extremely good or extremely bad as they seem in this game, and crazy as it sounds after Tuesday night we are probably one really experienced hire and one 5th year senior type up front away from being pretty good next year. Whether either of those happens obviously remains to be seen, but it isn’t that complicated.
Class of 72
Active member
Excellent post! I agree with everything you have said. The drama surrounding the staff changes has been surreal. The drama surrounding the hiring of an athletic director has been surreal. The hiring of an inexperienced Filipino president because he goes to church on Sundays has been surreal. You literally can't make this chit up! Sadly, it is what we have come to expect at St. John's. Hopefully Mullin gets his act together. It was a big gamble for him to leave the west coast after spending most of his life there as did his family. Things have not gone as planned on so many different levels in only 18 months that everyone from the president to the coaches need to retreat to a quiet place for a day and reaffirm their cooperative commitment to quality at St. John's because donors worked long and hard for those donation dollars and anything short of 100% cannot be tolerated by very well compensated leaders in the St. John's community both academically and athletically speaking.
Hopefully, the situation with the staff can be solved by tweaking the staff and clearly defining roles of each coach and holding them responsible for delivering the needed results. Need to focus on defense, in game management, ball movement, etc.
These coaches are not guys that were grabbed out of the stands. Hold them responsible.
These coaches are not guys that were grabbed out of the stands. Hold them responsible.
we are sju
Active member
To me the only alarming thing that has happened so far is Yakwe regression and lack of improvement from Sima.
At end of the year we will still win 13 or so games which is around what was expected.
At end of the year we will still win 13 or so games which is around what was expected.
Ray Morgan
Well-known member
For comparison's sake, look at Yakwe vs. Harkless. Similar size and body types at 18. Harkless was able to finish against older, often stronger players. Yakwe has trouble finishing, despite being the better jumper, and I don't think it's that close. It's the difference between being a polished player with good basketball instincts, and a raw athlete with poor instincts and a limited understanding of the game. Meanwhile, Harkless is about 23 and still improving. I have hope for Yakwe because he is an elite level athlete, and very young in age and in basketball experience.