Coaching Staff

Would be great if we got mention of Matt Doherty, Paul Hewitt, Seth Greenberg, Bob Mckillop, and Tim Welch before the fourth page of this thread. Already got one down with Pete Gillen. :)

As with most every coach there have been areas for justified critique. That's only amplified in certain respects when you have someone new to coaching. The decision not to have a more experienced game coach at this level on the staff is beyond curious. But Mullin's relative inexperience also means there is more room for growth and I notice improvement from last year to this and expect that to continue given his knowledge of the game.

The reality though is that there is more than one way to win especially at the college level. Mullin is elevating the overall profile of the program and he and the staff are increasing the talent level on the roster at an astonishing rate. If you were to take snapshot of what the active roster looked like in April 2015 and did so again in October 2017 it's just incredible. More importantly I think you'll be able to put the 2017-2018 roster up against pretty much any roster we've had in the last 20ish years, probably right behind the 98-00 teams.

Far from a guarantee obviously but I think we make the Tourney next year. Failing to do so doesn't mean we aren't on the right track, but if we do make it, it renders a lot of things moot.
 
Mullin has brought in perhaps the best back court the school has ever had.
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Ray ... let's hope that the current back court of Messrs. Lovett and Ponds proves to be winning combination before overhyping them to be "perhaps the best back court the school has ever had".

I doubt that the Lovett/ Ponds combination would start on a majority of current Big East teams much less exceed (in no particular order) the following former StJ's backcourts:
Boots Thornton & Eric Barkley
Reggie Carter & Bernard Rencher
Mark Jackson & Mullin
 
Would be great if we got mention of Matt Doherty, Paul Hewitt, Seth Greenberg, Bob Mckillop, and Tim Welch before the fourth page of this thread. Already got one down with Pete Gillen. :)

As with most every coach there have been areas for justified critique. That's only amplified in certain respects when you have someone new to coaching. The decision not to have a more experienced game coach at this level on the staff is beyond curious. But Mullin's relative inexperience also means there is more room for growth and I notice improvement from last year to this and expect that to continue given his knowledge of the game.

The reality though is that there is more than one way to win especially at the college level. Mullin is elevating the overall profile of the program and he and the staff are increasing the talent level on the roster at an astonishing rate. If you were to take snapshot of what the active roster looked like in April 2015 and did so again in October 2017 it's just incredible.

Far from a guarantee obviously but I think we make the Tourney next year. Failing to do so doesn't mean we aren't on the right track, but if we do make it, it renders a lot of things moot.
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Good points!

Winning reasonably next year may also be important on recruiting front. Matt has done super job and kids are attracted to programs with immediate opportunities to play. His transfer expertise also had .added value. That said, in my opinion, by next year we should be showing results to at least contend for the Dance, or it will be difficult for Matt to sustain such success. Yes kids want time, but being a winning program is a critical component of recruiting after a three year period or so.
 
So far I have been very underwhelmed by Mullin's in game coaching. My feeling is his style is more suited for the NBA. However in college, coaches need to coach and manage the game. Still early and he did start from scratch with this roster but I'm not sure the college game is for him.
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YES his style is NBA the adj will be recruiting nba tape players,then things will progress rapidly . Now we have but a few next yr will be better perhaps a trip to the ncaa beyond that I see a steady surge to the top of the division
 
Would be great if we got mention of Matt Doherty, Paul Hewitt, Seth Greenberg, Bob Mckillop, and Tim Welch before the fourth page of this thread. Already got one down with Pete Gillen. :)

As with most every coach there have been areas for justified critique. That's only amplified in certain respects when you have someone new to coaching. The decision not to have a more experienced game coach at this level on the staff is beyond curious. But Mullin's relative inexperience also means there is more room for growth and I notice improvement from last year to this and expect that to continue given his knowledge of the game.

The reality though is that there is more than one way to win especially at the college level. Mullin is elevating the overall profile of the program and he and the staff are increasing the talent level on the roster at an astonishing rate. If you were to take snapshot of what the active roster looked like in April 2015 and did so again in October 2017 it's just incredible. More importantly I think you'll be able to put the 2017-2018 roster up against pretty much any roster we've had in the last 20ish years, probably right behind the 98-00 teams.

Far from a guarantee obviously but I think we make the Tourney next year. Failing to do so doesn't mean we aren't on the right track, but if we do make it, it renders a lot of things moot.
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Clyde Drexler "elevated the overall profile of the program" at Houston, too. For two years. Then the results caught up with him. Having sizzle is good, but if there's no steak people get hungry pretty fast.

With the players on the roster and some solid college coaching, this should have been about a 17 win season. Maybe it still will be if the fundamentals get fixed. That would be a reasonable stepping stone to 21 or 22 next year and a tournament bid. If it turns out to be 13 wins then it's a much bigger jump to NCAA contention next year.
 
The team is tied for #39 in the country in 3 pt. field goal % at 41%
Last year, the team was #275 in the country at 33%

That's a massive improvement. College B-Ball is a three-point game. The team has addressed the (probably) most important factor in winning in college b-ball - all in one off-season.

All the team needs to do now is tighten up on defense (may have to wait a year until the muscle arrives), and this is a good, solid program.

Free throw shooting, also improved:
This year: #207 @ 68%, from last year's 340th @ 64%. There is still room for improvement there, but the improvement is notable, particularly with Sima; at to some extent with Yakwe.

I too have reservations with the NBA style offense. I'm unsure if their play on the court is what the players are told to do, or if the players free-lance more than they are taught. Very hard to say.

It's still too early to judge anything at this point. Have to give it until the later part of next year before any judgement can be passed. It's a long time to be patient. Everyone knows, we've all be way too patient over the years, but that's what we have to do unfortunately.
 
The team is tied for #39 in the country in 3 pt. field goal % at 41%
Last year, the team was #275 in the country at 33%

That's a massive improvement. College B-Ball is a three-point game. The team has addressed the (probably) most important factor in winning in college b-ball - all in one off-season.

All the team needs to do now is tighten up on defense (may have to wait a year until the muscle arrives), and this is a good, solid program.

Free throw shooting, also improved:
This year: #207 @ 68%, from last year's 340th @ 64%. There is still room for improvement there, but the improvement is notable, particularly with Sima; at to some extent with Yakwe.

I too have reservations with the NBA style offense. I'm unsure if their play what the players are told to do, or if the players free-lance more than they are taught. Very hard to say.

It's still too early to judge anything at this point. Have to give it until the later part of next year before any judgement can be passed. It's a long time to be patient. Everyone knows, we've all be way too patient over the years, but that's what we have to do unfortunately.
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Excellent points
 
Coaching staff clearly has some defensive deficiencies. Minn, MSU and VCU are all very average teams. With the talent we have we should have beaten every one of them.

Minn and VCU in particular would finish near the bottom of he Big East this season and are NOT the sort of teams they should be losing to a month from now. If they lose to Penn St in MSG then its time to perhaps worry a bit.

I think the team and coaching staff are behind where they should be at this point. However its still very early and they have plenty of time to figure it out.
This thread might be just a bit premature.......... just a bit.
 
Would be great if we got mention of Matt Doherty, Paul Hewitt, Seth Greenberg, Bob Mckillop, and Tim Welch before the fourth page of this thread. Already got one down with Pete Gillen. :)

As with most every coach there have been areas for justified critique. That's only amplified in certain respects when you have someone new to coaching. The decision not to have a more experienced game coach at this level on the staff is beyond curious. But Mullin's relative inexperience also means there is more room for growth and I notice improvement from last year to this and expect that to continue given his knowledge of the game.

The reality though is that there is more than one way to win especially at the college level. Mullin is elevating the overall profile of the program and he and the staff are increasing the talent level on the roster at an astonishing rate. If you were to take snapshot of what the active roster looked like in April 2015 and did so again in October 2017 it's just incredible. More importantly I think you'll be able to put the 2017-2018 roster up against pretty much any roster we've had in the last 20ish years, probably right behind the 98-00 teams.

Far from a guarantee obviously but I think we make the Tourney next year. Failing to do so doesn't mean we aren't on the right track, but if we do make it, it renders a lot of things moot.
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Clyde Drexler "elevated the overall profile of the program" at Houston, too. For two years. Then the results caught up with him. Having sizzle is good, but if there's no steak people get hungry pretty fast.

With the players on the roster and some solid college coaching, this should have been about a 17 win season. Maybe it still will be if the fundamentals get fixed. That would be a reasonable stepping stone to 21 or 22 next year and a tournament bid. If it turns out to be 13 wins then it's a much bigger jump to NCAA contention next year.
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Agree. Eventually you have to win with no qualifiers, and as Paultz noted years 3 and 4 typically start to tell the story. When Lavin didn't get that Year 4 team (mostly upperclassmen and loaded with talent) to the NCAA it was really telling in my view.

I'm optimistic here because of the talent and (from an outsider's observation) character of the kids we've brought in. Know very little about Clyde Drexler's two years in Houston but looking at the records they won 9 games the year before he got there, 10 and 9 the two years he was there, and 9 the year after he left. At least from a talent perspective, seems like we are on a different trajectory but time will tell.

I've definitely been underwhelmed by the in-game coaching to date, and don't understand not having experienced college coach on staff, but I have noticed some improvement. That aside I guess most important for me is that there are multiple ways to win, and one is to load up with talent and we appear to be doing that. All the better if that talent gets coached up and hoping that happens to, and think we'll have better sense of what the talent level really is and how much it is getting coached up next year.
 
Mullin is going to teach what he knows best, which is the NBA game especially the way Golden state played it. He is on record in saying that he will keep things simple as far as teaching offensive sets, and focus instead on getting players ready for the pro game, especially the NBA. College coaching is about recruiting first, and coaching second. If we get our primary targets, then all the pressure falls on him. That pressure will build quickly. Mullin surrounded himself with close allies and familiar faces. One is gone already. Would like to see a better mix on the sidelines, with an emphasis on college coaching experience. Since we don't call the shots, we will have to hope Mullin's plan works.
 
When was the last time an all frosh backcourt played defense?

Or a JUCO transfer whose name is not Mitch Foster?

Or two big guys whose forte is blocking shots, which ALWAYS leaves them out of position?

My point is simple. We're doomed.
 
Perhaps part of the frustration is not only seeing Johnnies lose, but inflated expectations for an inexperienced roster still missing a few pieces. Paul's analogy is spot on. As good as LoVett and Ponds can be, the idea of two freshmen leading SJU to a winning, impressive season is crazy. The competition we faced this week is just better than us at this point. If they progress in second half of BE schedule & knock off a few solid teams, giving kids confidence for next year, I'm ok.

Preferred an up & coming coach with some experience post Lavin, but In fairness, the results of next season should give us much more to evaluate re staff.
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Especially 2 under '6, 150 lbs guards. These kids are going to get banged around big time against high D1 comp. As an aside, any post which includes the words "Post Lavin" gets and automatic "thank you" from me. ;)
 
To be clear Pete Gillin as an assistant coach. The others you quoted were flirted around as head coach. I am not saying that.
Would be great if we got mention of Matt Doherty, Paul Hewitt, Seth Greenberg, Bob Mckillop, and Tim Welch before the fourth page of this thread. Already got one down with Pete Gillen. :)

As with most every coach there have been areas for justified critique. That's only amplified in certain respects when you have someone new to coaching. The decision not to have a more experienced game coach at this level on the staff is beyond curious. But Mullin's relative inexperience also means there is more room for growth and I notice improvement from last year to this and expect that to continue given his knowledge of the game.

The reality though is that there is more than one way to win especially at the college level. Mullin is elevating the overall profile of the program and he and the staff are increasing the talent level on the roster at an astonishing rate. If you were to take snapshot of what the active roster looked like in April 2015 and did so again in October 2017 it's just incredible. More importantly I think you'll be able to put the 2017-2018 roster up against pretty much any roster we've had in the last 20ish years, probably right behind the 98-00 teams.

Far from a guarantee obviously but I think we make the Tourney next year. Failing to do so doesn't mean we aren't on the right track, but if we do make it, it renders a lot of things moot.
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Also, our President thought Mullin would bring fans to the seats and $$ into the school.

That has not happened as of yet.

All I care about is wins and losses and seeing improvement from game to game on the court. I don't care about chris Mullin 1985. I hope he was hired for the right reasons.
 
Also, our President thought Mullin would bring fans to the seats and $$ into the school.

That has not happened as of yet.

All I care about is wins and losses and seeing improvement from game to game on the court. I don't care about chris Mullin 1985. I hope he was hired for the right reasons.
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Such a short term thinker.
 
To be clear Pete Gillin as an assistant coach. The others you quoted were flirted around as head coach. I am not saying that.
Would be great if we got mention of Matt Doherty, Paul Hewitt, Seth Greenberg, Bob Mckillop, and Tim Welch before the fourth page of this thread. Already got one down with Pete Gillen. :)

As with most every coach there have been areas for justified critique. That's only amplified in certain respects when you have someone new to coaching. The decision not to have a more experienced game coach at this level on the staff is beyond curious. But Mullin's relative inexperience also means there is more room for growth and I notice improvement from last year to this and expect that to continue given his knowledge of the game.

The reality though is that there is more than one way to win especially at the college level. Mullin is elevating the overall profile of the program and he and the staff are increasing the talent level on the roster at an astonishing rate. If you were to take snapshot of what the active roster looked like in April 2015 and did so again in October 2017 it's just incredible. More importantly I think you'll be able to put the 2017-2018 roster up against pretty much any roster we've had in the last 20ish years, probably right behind the 98-00 teams.

Far from a guarantee obviously but I think we make the Tourney next year. Failing to do so doesn't mean we aren't on the right track, but if we do make it, it renders a lot of things moot.
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Totally understood, was only kidding. To be honest would be a fan if we had brought in experienced coach at college level, strong in-game tactically, to act in advisory capacity and help run program operationally.
 
To paraphrase a sage old man of St. John's basketball, the best thing about freshman coaches is they become sophomores. And next year, they'll be juniors...

We hired a guy with a strong connection to the school and city and a remarkable basketball pedigree, but he's going to make some mistakes while he learns the art of coaching.

From the outset, we knew it would take a few years to build the talent pool and reshape the program. Fingers crossed, our young talent and our coaching staff mature on the same timeline and we look pretty good a year or two from now.
 
Would be great if we got mention of Matt Doherty, Paul Hewitt, Seth Greenberg, Bob Mckillop, and Tim Welch before the fourth page of this thread. Already got one down with Pete Gillen. :)

As with most every coach there have been areas for justified critique. That's only amplified in certain respects when you have someone new to coaching. The decision not to have a more experienced game coach at this level on the staff is beyond curious. But Mullin's relative inexperience also means there is more room for growth and I notice improvement from last year to this and expect that to continue given his knowledge of the game.

The reality though is that there is more than one way to win especially at the college level. Mullin is elevating the overall profile of the program and he and the staff are increasing the talent level on the roster at an astonishing rate. If you were to take snapshot of what the active roster looked like in April 2015 and did so again in October 2017 it's just incredible. More importantly I think you'll be able to put the 2017-2018 roster up against pretty much any roster we've had in the last 20ish years, probably right behind the 98-00 teams.

Far from a guarantee obviously but I think we make the Tourney next year. Failing to do so doesn't mean we aren't on the right track, but if we do make it, it renders a lot of things moot.
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Clyde Drexler "elevated the overall profile of the program" at Houston, too. For two years. Then the results caught up with him. Having sizzle is good, but if there's no steak people get hungry pretty fast.

With the players on the roster and some solid college coaching, this should have been about a 17 win season. Maybe it still will be if the fundamentals get fixed. That would be a reasonable stepping stone to 21 or 22 next year and a tournament bid. If it turns out to be 13 wins then it's a much bigger jump to NCAA contention next year.
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Has any coach improved win totals from 8 to 17? The problem we have is unrealistic expectations. 13-15 wins is significant improvement at this level. Let's first see if this team improves in its weak areas and plays more consistent. We all see progress over this point in last seasons schedule.

I think too many of us jumped to 18 to 22 win seasons off the first two wins. That does not happen at this level.
 
Yes, but to see improvement game to game and fixing mistakes? I expect to see that! The same mistakes are happening over and over again. Take the player out of the game and TEACH! You have enough depth now to teach during the game.
None of that occurs.
 
We can all debate until we're blue in the face. The fact is that this is Mullin's second year and the cupboard was bare when he was hired. I think he and Matt A. have done a very good job in the past 2 years in terms of stocking the team with quality, Big East talent. That being said, you can't teach experience and these kids have very little of it. There are very few players who dominate their first year of college basketball and if they do, they won't be in college long. So we have to be patient with them. LoVett, Ponds, Ahmed (yes, I know he's a juco), RF ... it's very hard to just throw them up against an MSU or VCU and say, hey go win. And Mussini, Ellison, Yakwe, and Sima have precisely 1 year of basketball under their belts.

You all bring up great points about his NBA coaching style, the questionable hiring of Mitch over more qualified college candidates, etc. But talking in circles about this is a moot point at this point in time. Contrary to what a lot of posters thought, this is not a 17 or 18 win team. You just can't fast forward through the growing pains of adjusting to the college game (unless of course you're KD, but I don't foresee a player like him coming to SJU anytime soon). Let's continue to root for them and the coaches and hope by Big East play they start to figure out how to win, which let's be honest is probably the toughest thing to teach.
 
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