Fire Lavin!

Awesome job by Masiello & the Jaspers.
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Watching that game last night, it was interesting to think about what Masiello's style of play could do with our personnel. There's talking about playing uptempo and sometimes doing it, and then there's really playing uptempo. Masiello really gets his team to play at an elite level pace - particularly defensively - and I was particuarly impressed by how they stuck to the gameplan and their style when Louisville went on a few mini runs. Louisville gave them a couple of good punches but Manhattan always got right back up by sticking to what they do. Really impressive.
 
Awesome job by Masiello & the Jaspers.
Click to expand...

Watching that game last night, it was interesting to think about what Masiello's style of play could do with our personnel. There's talking about playing uptempo and sometimes doing it, and then there's really playing uptempo. Masiello really gets his team to play at an elite level pace - particularly defensively - and I was particuarly impressed by how they stuck to the gameplan and their style when Louisville went on a few mini runs. Louisville gave them a couple of good punches but Manhattan always got right back up by sticking to what they do. Really impressive.
Click to expand...

+100
 
Awesome job by Masiello & the Jaspers.
Click to expand...

Watching that game last night, it was interesting to think about what Masiello's style of play could do with our personnel. There's talking about playing uptempo and sometimes doing it, and then there's really playing uptempo. Masiello really gets his team to play at an elite level pace - particularly defensively - and I was particuarly impressed by how they stuck to the gameplan and their style when Louisville went on a few mini runs. Louisville gave them a couple of good punches but Manhattan always got right back up by sticking to what they do. Really impressive.
Click to expand...

+100
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I agree, I also think that manhattan had some players that would give their right leg to win that game last night. I don't see that passion from everyone on our team. You all bash Harrison for his attitude during his games, but at least the guy tries to get the team pumped up. Everyone else looks like they sleep walk through the game. You need passion, grit, and toughness to make a deep run through march, and we don't have it.

A group of babies really, and they proved that too me when they sulked around CA getting destroyed by Robert Morris because they didn't get a tourney bid that everyone thought they'd get coming into the season. Not only do I think we need a change of coach, we need a change of culture. Masiello can bring that culture of toughness. And I firmly believe he'd take the job in a heartbeat
 
Why I get disgusted with Redmen.com:

There is no question that the mid-level bar, not the low-bar and not the high-bar is to get to the NCAAs. We spent a lot of years being a one-and-done NCAA team, or at least it few lt like that back then. The older fans who call the Morris loss the worst or most painful in all their years have forgotten the wretched disgust of losing a first round NCAA game to teams called the Tree Frogs, or some similarly mid-level program. The goal is to get the tourney and survive the first weekend, at least to me. So the talk from the flamers on here that ANYONE is satisfied with the NIT is just pure attempts to incite.

Second, to somehow think that this path is a gigantic failure, namely the lack of NCAA bids in the past three years = the lack of NCAA bids in any of Norm's 6 years, is pure camel crap. In that period, if that super volcano sitting under Yellowstone erupted, and destroyed 80% of the colleges in the US, we still wouldn't have gotten an at large bid. In that scenario, most of us would have wished our program had been vaporized.

What you guys forget, is the very last minutes of our loss to Providence, we still had an at large bid hanging in the balance. A layup by Sampson, a three by Harrison, and a whole lot of guys here with forked tongues could go back to spending their days searching for porn instead of trying to piss people off here. Yea, it was frustrating. No, worse than frustrating. Like a bunch of you, I was planning on traveling wherever the team was sent if we made the tourney. Like many of you, I'm invested in the team. emotionally, and financially with tickets and donations. Having multiple chances this year to prove we were tourney worthy and failing just sucked.

I look on the other side though. We had multiple chances to secure an at large bid, not because we were lucky or unlucky. It's because we were NEARLY good enough. Blame the coach if you want. Blame the players if you want. Even with two degrees, I'm not smart enough to figure out who is more at fault. I can't separate the two as well as some of you seem to think you can. But one thing is clear based on the results - we weren't good enough, but were ALMOST good enough.

So then, you flush an almost immediate turn around of the program by Lavin, from not even being close to being close to being close to talking about being an NCAA team, to being on the cusp of it this season with his guys. You want to compare Malik Boothe at the point to Rysheed Jordan? Or Sampson or Obekpa or Harrison to what we had before? You think it's easy to try to sell our program to an elite player who can have his pick of more successful schools, with more beautiful campuses, and better overall reputations? Lavin has done a superb job in that regard, and I seriously doubt he's finished reeling in better and better talent.

There's no guarantee we are going to get there, not by a long shot. You want a guarantee, put your money in a bank account at 0.3% - the ROI won't be great, and you need a ton of principal to make some money. There are no guarantees in terms of insuring our success. But guys, seriously, we are talking about firing Lavin because we JSUT missed a bid, not because the program is in shambles.
 
Something that really stood out to me from watching Harvard and Manhattan yesterday, the disparity in talent level between the major conferences and mid-major conferences is getting closer every year. Sure, the major conferences still have the elite athletes, but the gap is not nearly as wide as it used to be even a decade ago.
 
Something that really stood out to me from watching Harvard and Manhattan yesterday, the disparity in talent level between the major conferences and mid-major conferences is getting closer every year. Sure, the major conferences still have the elite athletes, but the gap is not nearly as wide as it used to be even a decade ago.
Click to expand...

Another point that's been made by some respected analysts is that with increased emphasis on AAU and travel teams, the kids on mid major teams have been teammates and played against kids who are in big programs. They aren't intimidated one bit, and know what to expect when they play a big talent team. So, in addition to the talent gap narrowing, the mid major kids see this as an opportunity to show the world that they are every bit as good, and if not every bit as good, nearly as good.
 
Why I get disgusted with Redmen.com:

There is no question that the mid-level bar, not the low-bar and not the high-bar is to get to the NCAAs. We spent a lot of years being a one-and-done NCAA team, or at least it few lt like that back then. The older fans who call the Morris loss the worst or most painful in all their years have forgotten the wretched disgust of losing a first round NCAA game to teams called the Tree Frogs, or some similarly mid-level program. The goal is to get the tourney and survive the first weekend, at least to me. So the talk from the flamers on here that ANYONE is satisfied with the NIT is just pure attempts to incite.

Second, to somehow think that this path is a gigantic failure, namely the lack of NCAA bids in the past three years = the lack of NCAA bids in any of Norm's 6 years, is pure camel crap. In that period, if that super volcano sitting under Yellowstone erupted, and destroyed 80% of the colleges in the US, we still wouldn't have gotten an at large bid. In that scenario, most of us would have wished our program had been vaporized.

What you guys forget, is the very last minutes of our loss to Providence, we still had an at large bid hanging in the balance. A layup by Sampson, a three by Harrison, and a whole lot of guys here with forked tongues could go back to spending their days searching for porn instead of trying to piss people off here. Yea, it was frustrating. No, worse than frustrating. Like a bunch of you, I was planning on traveling wherever the team was sent if we made the tourney. Like many of you, I'm invested in the team. emotionally, and financially with tickets and donations. Having multiple chances this year to prove we were tourney worthy and failing just sucked.

I look on the other side though. We had multiple chances to secure an at large bid, not because we were lucky or unlucky. It's because we were NEARLY good enough. Blame the coach if you want. Blame the players if you want. Even with two degrees, I'm not smart enough to figure out who is more at fault. I can't separate the two as well as some of you seem to think you can. But one thing is clear based on the results - we weren't good enough, but were ALMOST good enough.

So then, you flush an almost immediate turn around of the program by Lavin, from not even being close to being close to being close to talking about being an NCAA team, to being on the cusp of it this season with his guys. You want to compare Malik Boothe at the point to Rysheed Jordan? Or Sampson or Obekpa or Harrison to what we had before? You think it's easy to try to sell our program to an elite player who can have his pick of more successful schools, with more beautiful campuses, and better overall reputations? Lavin has done a superb job in that regard, and I seriously doubt he's finished reeling in better and better talent.

There's no guarantee we are going to get there, not by a long shot. You want a guarantee, put your money in a bank account at 0.3% - the ROI won't be great, and you need a ton of principal to make some money. There are no guarantees in terms of insuring our success. But guys, seriously, we are talking about firing Lavin because we JSUT missed a bid, not because the program is in shambles.
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I can't speak for everyone, but not making the tournament is not why I want to replace this coach.
I think not making the tournament, and the embarrassing way we played against both Providence and RM, are indicative of Lavin's shortcomings as a coach. His short comings are why I want to replace him.
It's the things I see game in and game out that make me want to replace him. One win in or out of the tournament shouldn't, change anyone's opinion.
 
If Masiello pulls this off he'll be off to a big time program by the beginning of next year...
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Hopefully ours.
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He'd be another Fraschilla/Willard. Willard also has the Pitino background... but would many here be as patient as the people at Seton Hall waiting for the breakthrough. Masiello may work out great...but not for four or so years. By that time, he'd be run out of town.
 
Why I get disgusted with Redmen.com:

There is no question that the mid-level bar, not the low-bar and not the high-bar is to get to the NCAAs. We spent a lot of years being a one-and-done NCAA team, or at least it few lt like that back then. The older fans who call the Morris loss the worst or most painful in all their years have forgotten the wretched disgust of losing a first round NCAA game to teams called the Tree Frogs, or some similarly mid-level program. The goal is to get the tourney and survive the first weekend, at least to me. So the talk from the flamers on here that ANYONE is satisfied with the NIT is just pure attempts to incite.

Second, to somehow think that this path is a gigantic failure, namely the lack of NCAA bids in the past three years = the lack of NCAA bids in any of Norm's 6 years, is pure camel crap. In that period, if that super volcano sitting under Yellowstone erupted, and destroyed 80% of the colleges in the US, we still wouldn't have gotten an at large bid. In that scenario, most of us would have wished our program had been vaporized.

What you guys forget, is the very last minutes of our loss to Providence, we still had an at large bid hanging in the balance. A layup by Sampson, a three by Harrison, and a whole lot of guys here with forked tongues could go back to spending their days searching for porn instead of trying to piss people off here. Yea, it was frustrating. No, worse than frustrating. Like a bunch of you, I was planning on traveling wherever the team was sent if we made the tourney. Like many of you, I'm invested in the team. emotionally, and financially with tickets and donations. Having multiple chances this year to prove we were tourney worthy and failing just sucked.

I look on the other side though. We had multiple chances to secure an at large bid, not because we were lucky or unlucky. It's because we were NEARLY good enough. Blame the coach if you want. Blame the players if you want. Even with two degrees, I'm not smart enough to figure out who is more at fault. I can't separate the two as well as some of you seem to think you can. But one thing is clear based on the results - we weren't good enough, but were ALMOST good enough.

So then, you flush an almost immediate turn around of the program by Lavin, from not even being close to being close to being close to talking about being an NCAA team, to being on the cusp of it this season with his guys. You want to compare Malik Boothe at the point to Rysheed Jordan? Or Sampson or Obekpa or Harrison to what we had before? You think it's easy to try to sell our program to an elite player who can have his pick of more successful schools, with more beautiful campuses, and better overall reputations? Lavin has done a superb job in that regard, and I seriously doubt he's finished reeling in better and better talent.

There's no guarantee we are going to get there, not by a long shot. You want a guarantee, put your money in a bank account at 0.3% - the ROI won't be great, and you need a ton of principal to make some money. There are no guarantees in terms of insuring our success. But guys, seriously, we are talking about firing Lavin because we JSUT missed a bid, not because the program is in shambles.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for everyone, but not making the tournament is not why I want to replace this coach.
I think not making the tournament, and the embarrassing way we played against both Providence and RM, are indicative of Lavin's shortcomings as a coach. His short comings are why I want to replace him.
It's the things I see game in and game out that make me want to replace him. One win in or out of the tournament shouldn't, change anyone's opinion.
Click to expand...

I respect that opinion, and it's fair of you to say. But, I would then ask you, with what you know, had our team made the tourney, and say won two games this weekend, would you still think he should be replaced?
 
Why I get disgusted with Redmen.com:

There is no question that the mid-level bar, not the low-bar and not the high-bar is to get to the NCAAs. We spent a lot of years being a one-and-done NCAA team, or at least it few lt like that back then. The older fans who call the Morris loss the worst or most painful in all their years have forgotten the wretched disgust of losing a first round NCAA game to teams called the Tree Frogs, or some similarly mid-level program. The goal is to get the tourney and survive the first weekend, at least to me. So the talk from the flamers on here that ANYONE is satisfied with the NIT is just pure attempts to incite.

Second, to somehow think that this path is a gigantic failure, namely the lack of NCAA bids in the past three years = the lack of NCAA bids in any of Norm's 6 years, is pure camel crap. In that period, if that super volcano sitting under Yellowstone erupted, and destroyed 80% of the colleges in the US, we still wouldn't have gotten an at large bid. In that scenario, most of us would have wished our program had been vaporized.

What you guys forget, is the very last minutes of our loss to Providence, we still had an at large bid hanging in the balance. A layup by Sampson, a three by Harrison, and a whole lot of guys here with forked tongues could go back to spending their days searching for porn instead of trying to piss people off here. Yea, it was frustrating. No, worse than frustrating. Like a bunch of you, I was planning on traveling wherever the team was sent if we made the tourney. Like many of you, I'm invested in the team. emotionally, and financially with tickets and donations. Having multiple chances this year to prove we were tourney worthy and failing just sucked.

I look on the other side though. We had multiple chances to secure an at large bid, not because we were lucky or unlucky. It's because we were NEARLY good enough. Blame the coach if you want. Blame the players if you want. Even with two degrees, I'm not smart enough to figure out who is more at fault. I can't separate the two as well as some of you seem to think you can. But one thing is clear based on the results - we weren't good enough, but were ALMOST good enough.

So then, you flush an almost immediate turn around of the program by Lavin, from not even being close to being close to being close to talking about being an NCAA team, to being on the cusp of it this season with his guys. You want to compare Malik Boothe at the point to Rysheed Jordan? Or Sampson or Obekpa or Harrison to what we had before? You think it's easy to try to sell our program to an elite player who can have his pick of more successful schools, with more beautiful campuses, and better overall reputations? Lavin has done a superb job in that regard, and I seriously doubt he's finished reeling in better and better talent.

There's no guarantee we are going to get there, not by a long shot. You want a guarantee, put your money in a bank account at 0.3% - the ROI won't be great, and you need a ton of principal to make some money. There are no guarantees in terms of insuring our success. But guys, seriously, we are talking about firing Lavin because we JSUT missed a bid, not because the program is in shambles.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for everyone, but not making the tournament is not why I want to replace this coach.
I think not making the tournament, and the embarrassing way we played against both Providence and RM, are indicative of Lavin's shortcomings as a coach. His short comings are why I want to replace him.
It's the things I see game in and game out that make me want to replace him. One win in or out of the tournament shouldn't, change anyone's opinion.
Click to expand...

I respect that opinion, and it's fair of you to say. But, I would then ask you, with what you know, had our team made the tourney, and say won two games this weekend, would you still think he should be replaced?
Click to expand...

I won't lie - I would've started to rethink things if that happened. Or, alternatively, if we had finished strong - say beaten Xavier, and then won two games and looked strong in the BE tournament, then even after a first round NCAA loss I probably would've been left reconsidering things.

The truth is, as much as I want a different coach, it is very very difficult to separate what's happening on the court that is a result of the players' decisions/abilities, and what has been influenced by the coach. That's been a problem for me all year. I dislike a lot of the coaching decisions he makes, but it's not easy to pin things exactly on a coach when so much of what happens is in the players' hands.
 
Why I get disgusted with Redmen.com:

There is no question that the mid-level bar, not the low-bar and not the high-bar is to get to the NCAAs. We spent a lot of years being a one-and-done NCAA team, or at least it few lt like that back then. The older fans who call the Morris loss the worst or most painful in all their years have forgotten the wretched disgust of losing a first round NCAA game to teams called the Tree Frogs, or some similarly mid-level program. The goal is to get the tourney and survive the first weekend, at least to me. So the talk from the flamers on here that ANYONE is satisfied with the NIT is just pure attempts to incite.

Second, to somehow think that this path is a gigantic failure, namely the lack of NCAA bids in the past three years = the lack of NCAA bids in any of Norm's 6 years, is pure camel crap. In that period, if that super volcano sitting under Yellowstone erupted, and destroyed 80% of the colleges in the US, we still wouldn't have gotten an at large bid. In that scenario, most of us would have wished our program had been vaporized.

What you guys forget, is the very last minutes of our loss to Providence, we still had an at large bid hanging in the balance. A layup by Sampson, a three by Harrison, and a whole lot of guys here with forked tongues could go back to spending their days searching for porn instead of trying to piss people off here. Yea, it was frustrating. No, worse than frustrating. Like a bunch of you, I was planning on traveling wherever the team was sent if we made the tourney. Like many of you, I'm invested in the team. emotionally, and financially with tickets and donations. Having multiple chances this year to prove we were tourney worthy and failing just sucked.

I look on the other side though. We had multiple chances to secure an at large bid, not because we were lucky or unlucky. It's because we were NEARLY good enough. Blame the coach if you want. Blame the players if you want. Even with two degrees, I'm not smart enough to figure out who is more at fault. I can't separate the two as well as some of you seem to think you can. But one thing is clear based on the results - we weren't good enough, but were ALMOST good enough.

So then, you flush an almost immediate turn around of the program by Lavin, from not even being close to being close to being close to talking about being an NCAA team, to being on the cusp of it this season with his guys. You want to compare Malik Boothe at the point to Rysheed Jordan? Or Sampson or Obekpa or Harrison to what we had before? You think it's easy to try to sell our program to an elite player who can have his pick of more successful schools, with more beautiful campuses, and better overall reputations? Lavin has done a superb job in that regard, and I seriously doubt he's finished reeling in better and better talent.

There's no guarantee we are going to get there, not by a long shot. You want a guarantee, put your money in a bank account at 0.3% - the ROI won't be great, and you need a ton of principal to make some money. There are no guarantees in terms of insuring our success. But guys, seriously, we are talking about firing Lavin because we JSUT missed a bid, not because the program is in shambles.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for everyone, but not making the tournament is not why I want to replace this coach.
I think not making the tournament, and the embarrassing way we played against both Providence and RM, are indicative of Lavin's shortcomings as a coach. His short comings are why I want to replace him.
It's the things I see game in and game out that make me want to replace him. One win in or out of the tournament shouldn't, change anyone's opinion.
Click to expand...

I respect that opinion, and it's fair of you to say. But, I would then ask you, with what you know, had our team made the tourney, and say won two games this weekend, would you still think he should be replaced?
Click to expand...

I won't lie - I would've started to rethink things if that happened. Or, alternatively, if we had finished strong - say beaten Xavier, and then won two games and looked strong in the BE tournament, then even after a first round NCAA loss I probably would've been left reconsidering things.

The truth is, as much as I want a different coach, it is very very difficult to separate what's happening on the court that is a result of the players' decisions/abilities, and what has been influenced by the coach. That's been a problem for me all year. I dislike a lot of the coaching decisions he makes, but it's not easy to pin things exactly on a coach when so much of what happens is in the players' hands.
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We aren't very far apart then. The talent level has improved in each of Lavin's 3 seasons with his own guys, and I think will continue to improve. We both wanted results this year, but I can't pin Pointer's insistence on not going up strong to the basket on some game strategy or inability of Lavin to teach. I rant into a former SJU star last week, and he was perplexed as to why our guys didn't take it strong and hard to the hoop and instead went reverse, pumped, and pulled up short. When I was a kid, when we played against black kids, if you did that stuff, they'd taunt you with "He's scared!", namely you weren't man enough to take hit strong to the hoop and pay the price of hard contact.
 
Something that really stood out to me from watching Harvard and Manhattan yesterday, the disparity in talent level between the major conferences and mid-major conferences is getting closer every year. Sure, the major conferences still have the elite athletes, but the gap is not nearly as wide as it used to be even a decade ago.
Click to expand...

I agree. That trend has been developing and progressing for many years now. Where you cannot rely on your players being that much better than the opposition, then it highlights the importance of scheme and game management, otherwise known as coaching.
 
Awesome job by Masiello & the Jaspers.
Click to expand...

Watching that game last night, it was interesting to think about what Masiello's style of play could do with our personnel. There's talking about playing uptempo and sometimes doing it, and then there's really playing uptempo. Masiello really gets his team to play at an elite level pace - particularly defensively - and I was particuarly impressed by how they stuck to the gameplan and their style when Louisville went on a few mini runs. Louisville gave them a couple of good punches but Manhattan always got right back up by sticking to what they do. Really impressive.
Click to expand...

After yesterday I have no doubt at all that Masiello could have gotten more out of this group than Lavin. It still wouldn't be pretty becuase we lack skill across the board, but he is too tough to allow the divas to prance around like they do with Lavin. He also would actually press...not just kinda pressure once in a while. The traps Manhattan executed last night were some of the best I've seen all year. Very impressive, gutty performance. Jordan sits out with tonselitis and Alvarado plays with a broken nose...all you need to really know about the differnece in mentalities.
 
Awesome job by Masiello & the Jaspers.
Click to expand...

Watching that game last night, it was interesting to think about what Masiello's style of play could do with our personnel. There's talking about playing uptempo and sometimes doing it, and then there's really playing uptempo. Masiello really gets his team to play at an elite level pace - particularly defensively - and I was particuarly impressed by how they stuck to the gameplan and their style when Louisville went on a few mini runs. Louisville gave them a couple of good punches but Manhattan always got right back up by sticking to what they do. Really impressive.
Click to expand...

After yesterday I have no doubt at all that Masiello could have gotten more out of this group than Lavin. It still wouldn't be pretty becuase we lack skill across the board, but he is too tough to allow the divas to prance around like they do with Lavin. He also would actually press...not just kinda pressure once in a while. The traps Manhattan executed last night were some of the best I've seen all year. Very impressive, gutty performance. Jordan sits out with tonselitis and Alvarado plays with a broken nose...all you need to really know about the differnece in mentalities.
Click to expand...

Objectively speaking, I don't see a lot of difference in results. "Gets his team to play at an elite level" implies that it is consistent which is not true. Played a good game against a high level opponent and ultimately lost. Sound familiar? (Nova, Syracuse, Creighton) but lost to or even generally poor performances against inferior competition... The grass is always greener for some but I don't see this guys coming to St John's and being a savior. The same coach and same squad had some pretty bad losses and struggled even in wins against mediocre teams. What I'd like to see in a coach is consistent execution and a fierce commitment to defense and 50/50. Players coming out with fire and heart every game, no matter who the opponent, no matter what the score. That is my biggest gripe. Our guys have shown very little heart and that not something (with the exception of a few individual players under Mahoney and Fraschilla), that I've witnessed in decades of watching St. John's basketball.
 
Awesome job by Masiello & the Jaspers.
Click to expand...

Watching that game last night, it was interesting to think about what Masiello's style of play could do with our personnel. There's talking about playing uptempo and sometimes doing it, and then there's really playing uptempo. Masiello really gets his team to play at an elite level pace - particularly defensively - and I was particuarly impressed by how they stuck to the gameplan and their style when Louisville went on a few mini runs. Louisville gave them a couple of good punches but Manhattan always got right back up by sticking to what they do. Really impressive.
Click to expand...

After yesterday I have no doubt at all that Masiello could have gotten more out of this group than Lavin. It still wouldn't be pretty becuase we lack skill across the board, but he is too tough to allow the divas to prance around like they do with Lavin. He also would actually press...not just kinda pressure once in a while. The traps Manhattan executed last night were some of the best I've seen all year. Very impressive, gutty performance. Jordan sits out with tonselitis and Alvarado plays with a broken nose...all you need to really know about the differnece in mentalities.
Click to expand...

Objectively speaking, I don't see a lot of difference in results. "Gets his team to play at an elite level" implies that it is consistent which is not true. Played a good game against a high level opponent and ultimately lost. Sound familiar? (Nova, Syracuse, Creighton) but lost to or even generally poor performances against inferior competition... The grass is always greener for some but I don't see this guys coming to St John's and being a savior. The same coach and same squad had some pretty bad losses and struggled even in wins against mediocre teams. What I'd like to see in a coach is consistent execution and a fierce commitment to defense and 50/50. Players coming out with fire and heart every game, no matter who the opponent, no matter what the score. That is my biggest gripe. Our guys have shown very little heart and that not something (with the exception of a few individual players under Mahoney and Fraschilla), that I've witnessed in decades of watching St. John's basketball.
Click to expand...

I can't see a Masiello coached team coming out as deflated as we came out against Providence and RMU. That is where the whole Hollywood yoga b.s. hurts this quad. They have no guts. I thought Pankey and Harrell were going to kill people last night. We don't have anyone like that..they were genuinely passionate and not just doing it for show like Sir'Lisp Pointless.
 
Awesome job by Masiello & the Jaspers.
Click to expand...

Watching that game last night, it was interesting to think about what Masiello's style of play could do with our personnel. There's talking about playing uptempo and sometimes doing it, and then there's really playing uptempo. Masiello really gets his team to play at an elite level pace - particularly defensively - and I was particuarly impressed by how they stuck to the gameplan and their style when Louisville went on a few mini runs. Louisville gave them a couple of good punches but Manhattan always got right back up by sticking to what they do. Really impressive.
Click to expand...

After yesterday I have no doubt at all that Masiello could have gotten more out of this group than Lavin. It still wouldn't be pretty becuase we lack skill across the board, but he is too tough to allow the divas to prance around like they do with Lavin. He also would actually press...not just kinda pressure once in a while. The traps Manhattan executed last night were some of the best I've seen all year. Very impressive, gutty performance. Jordan sits out with tonselitis and Alvarado plays with a broken nose...all you need to really know about the differnece in mentalities.
Click to expand...

Objectively speaking, I don't see a lot of difference in results. "Gets his team to play at an elite level" implies that it is consistent which is not true. Played a good game against a high level opponent and ultimately lost. Sound familiar? (Nova, Syracuse, Creighton) but lost to or even generally poor performances against inferior competition... The grass is always greener for some but I don't see this guys coming to St John's and being a savior. The same coach and same squad had some pretty bad losses and struggled even in wins against mediocre teams. What I'd like to see in a coach is consistent execution and a fierce commitment to defense and 50/50. Players coming out with fire and heart every game, no matter who the opponent, no matter what the score. That is my biggest gripe. Our guys have shown very little heart and that not something (with the exception of a few individual players under Mahoney and Fraschilla), that I've witnessed in decades of watching St. John's basketball.
Click to expand...

I can't see a Masiello coached team coming out as deflated as we came out against Providence and RMU. That is where the whole Hollywood yoga b.s. hurts this quad. They have no guts. I thought Pankey and Harrell were going to kill people last night. We don't have anyone like that..they were genuinely passionate and not just doing it for show like Sir'Lisp Pointless.
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I can't see too many teams in Div I coming out like that -ever. One of the most pathetic things I have ever witnessed in college basketball and exactly the reason why I prefer college hoops to pro sports. It is dominated by teams and heart instead of prima donas. But that and most of this season was like watching a bunch of overpaid, whiny pro athletes with little concept of team, roles or heart.
 
I can't see a Masiello coached team coming out as deflated as we came out against Providence and RMU. That is where the whole Hollywood yoga b.s. hurts this quad. They have no guts. I thought Pankey and Harrell were going to kill people last night. We don't have anyone like that..they were genuinely passionate and not just doing it for show like Sir'Lisp Pointless.[/quote]

The fire that Manhattan played with last night was fueled in part by the circumstances of the NCAA tourney and the relation and history of the coaches. I was impressed with Masiello. Had some great strategy to take Louisville away from their strengths. He had his team prepared. They didn't close the deal, and I'm sure their fans were disappointed, but I don't think anyone who watched the game would question their passion. That's not SL's style, and we see the results quite clearly.
 
Objectively speaking, I don't see a lot of difference in results. "Gets his team to play at an elite level" implies that it is consistent which is not true. Played a good game against a high level opponent and ultimately lost. Sound familiar? (Nova, Syracuse, Creighton) but lost to or even generally poor performances against inferior competition... The grass is always greener for some but I don't see this guys coming to St John's and being a savior. The same coach and same squad had some pretty bad losses and struggled even in wins against mediocre teams.
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A friend mentioned something to me about Masiello, and I told him to be careful in those situations. I said, Masiello may be the 'goods (I hope he his for his sake),' but I've watched sports far, far too long to see where things may not exactly work out the way one may think in the long run.

He may not reach his "supposed" potential or he does reach it and tap out (hit a ceiling) without ever getting over that proverbial hump.
 
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