Fire Lavin!
- Thread starter Ilzion
- Start date
How embarrassing it is that St. John's doesn't even have a management structure to deal with this mess of a situation. With no president and a tremendously ineffective AD, the fans have to hope that donors are the ones to get involved.
I'm personally hoping that this relationship comes to an end, but isn't it ridiculous that nobody really has the power to step in and fix this mess?
I'm personally hoping that this relationship comes to an end, but isn't it ridiculous that nobody really has the power to step in and fix this mess?
And meanwhile, there's a helluva great NIT championship game going on right now at the Garden. We should have been there tonight.
redstorm89
Active member
nah we should have been in the tourney. something must be done. i wonder if mike repole has any opinion on this lavin matter.
It really is sad to see the program crumbling. I hate it.
However, I also think this was necessary. I have been long afraid that Lavin would successfully position himself for an extension. It's clear, he was only going to bring us heartache, head-scratch, and repetitive disappointment.
Let's change the coach now and start the climb.
However, I also think this was necessary. I have been long afraid that Lavin would successfully position himself for an extension. It's clear, he was only going to bring us heartache, head-scratch, and repetitive disappointment.
Let's change the coach now and start the climb.
westchesterjoe
Active member
Thank you, Whopper. It does need to end soon...Who's next for us? The Wake job is still open and arguably, right now, a better job than ours? Marquette got a good one in Wojo..
Would Collins leave N'WESTERN FOR US? There's limit to how far he, or anyone, can take that Program in the Big 10 or, 12 or 13.. Could we afford Mark Jackson at this point? Would he come?
A lot of questions will need to be answered soon, I think..
westchesterjoe
Active member
Could we get PITINO JR?
Mark Jackson would NEVER EVER come back. Is Mullin's son still playing Lax here ? Hummmm, just saying. If Lav goes, and thats an IF at this point I still like Frannie and Seth Greenberg. Both are local guys who can recruit and coach! Im sure there are a bunch of guys that could replace Lav IF he leaves, but those would be my choices.
From the New York Post:
Note to St. John’s: Lavin hasn’t earned an extension yet
By Mike Vaccaro
This is a vital time for the St. John’s basketball team. There was another defection on Thursday, shot-swatter Chris Obekpa announcing he was transferring out of Jamaica, leaving an odd salutation on Twitter — “I just want to be prosperous to help others … no other reason” — on his way out the door.
That leaves the Johnnies with seven players returning for next year and exactly zero recruits as yet signed to make up for any of the roster gaps. That’s a dangerous way to live for anyone, but especially for a program that only has flirted with prosperity for 15 years.
And it leaves the school with one burning question:
Is this program heading in the right direction?
There have been stolen moments in the Steve Lavin Era when it seemed that query was destined for a satisfying conclusion. He did well with Norm Roberts’ players in Year One, guiding the Johnnies back to the NCAA Tournament. He cobbled together what looked like a terrific first recruiting class, led by Maurice Harkless, D’Angelo Harrison and Sir’Dominic Pointer.
And there were moments this past year when it seemed the Johnnies might actually overcome an awful 0-5 start in the Big East, sneak their way into the NCAA Tournament … until they collapsed like a flimsy pyramid scam.
A taste here, a nibble there.
Dabbling with prosperity.
Intoxicated, St. John’s revealed it was trying to lock Lavin up to a six-year extension. It was a puzzling decision, even before the avalanche of awful news that has come cascading down Utopia Parkway the past few weeks. There was an inexplicably flat do-or-die game with Providence in the Big East Tournament, an inexcusable no-show in the NIT opener against Robert Morris and JaKarr Sampson defying just about every credible draft prognosticator by foregoing his final two years of eligibility.
It is an especially absurd decision now. Lavin still has two years on his initial deal. Nobody is clamoring for his exile — especially when you consider he was ill for almost all of his second year. But neither is he anybody’s idea of a hot commodity, either. Committing to Lavin for eight years is the sort of thing short-sighted baseball teams do during Hot Stove — bid against themselves, now, suffer buyer’s remorse for years to come.
Why the rush? Why the largesse?
Honestly, it’s still difficult to define what St. John’s has in Lavin, whose reputation at UCLA as an ace recruiter and less-than-dazzling coach remains intact, though St. John’s certainly would sign up tomorrow for Lavin’s UCLA dossier — six trips in seven years to the NCAA, four Sweet 16s, one Elite Eight.
He has delivered significantly less than that here. Now, he has seven players, and now he has to hustle on a spring circuit he had all but conceded before all the defections came, and he has somehow done the impossible: become an invisible man in his own city, his rosters barren of New York City kids who, at the least, might make Madison Square Garden sound like something other than study hall.
All coaches lose players, and if they were all like Harkless it would be easier to take. What’s happening at St. John’s smacks of abandoning a sinking ship.
Is that fair? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Lavin’s first four years certainly have earned him two more, to see if he has the goods to get this straightened out. But eight? Based on a smile and a promise? That’s absurd, and terrible business. Lavin has won the right to disassemble the disarray. Nothing else.
Note to St. John’s: Lavin hasn’t earned an extension yet
By Mike Vaccaro
This is a vital time for the St. John’s basketball team. There was another defection on Thursday, shot-swatter Chris Obekpa announcing he was transferring out of Jamaica, leaving an odd salutation on Twitter — “I just want to be prosperous to help others … no other reason” — on his way out the door.
That leaves the Johnnies with seven players returning for next year and exactly zero recruits as yet signed to make up for any of the roster gaps. That’s a dangerous way to live for anyone, but especially for a program that only has flirted with prosperity for 15 years.
And it leaves the school with one burning question:
Is this program heading in the right direction?
There have been stolen moments in the Steve Lavin Era when it seemed that query was destined for a satisfying conclusion. He did well with Norm Roberts’ players in Year One, guiding the Johnnies back to the NCAA Tournament. He cobbled together what looked like a terrific first recruiting class, led by Maurice Harkless, D’Angelo Harrison and Sir’Dominic Pointer.
And there were moments this past year when it seemed the Johnnies might actually overcome an awful 0-5 start in the Big East, sneak their way into the NCAA Tournament … until they collapsed like a flimsy pyramid scam.
A taste here, a nibble there.
Dabbling with prosperity.
Intoxicated, St. John’s revealed it was trying to lock Lavin up to a six-year extension. It was a puzzling decision, even before the avalanche of awful news that has come cascading down Utopia Parkway the past few weeks. There was an inexplicably flat do-or-die game with Providence in the Big East Tournament, an inexcusable no-show in the NIT opener against Robert Morris and JaKarr Sampson defying just about every credible draft prognosticator by foregoing his final two years of eligibility.
It is an especially absurd decision now. Lavin still has two years on his initial deal. Nobody is clamoring for his exile — especially when you consider he was ill for almost all of his second year. But neither is he anybody’s idea of a hot commodity, either. Committing to Lavin for eight years is the sort of thing short-sighted baseball teams do during Hot Stove — bid against themselves, now, suffer buyer’s remorse for years to come.
Why the rush? Why the largesse?
Honestly, it’s still difficult to define what St. John’s has in Lavin, whose reputation at UCLA as an ace recruiter and less-than-dazzling coach remains intact, though St. John’s certainly would sign up tomorrow for Lavin’s UCLA dossier — six trips in seven years to the NCAA, four Sweet 16s, one Elite Eight.
He has delivered significantly less than that here. Now, he has seven players, and now he has to hustle on a spring circuit he had all but conceded before all the defections came, and he has somehow done the impossible: become an invisible man in his own city, his rosters barren of New York City kids who, at the least, might make Madison Square Garden sound like something other than study hall.
All coaches lose players, and if they were all like Harkless it would be easier to take. What’s happening at St. John’s smacks of abandoning a sinking ship.
Is that fair? Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. Lavin’s first four years certainly have earned him two more, to see if he has the goods to get this straightened out. But eight? Based on a smile and a promise? That’s absurd, and terrible business. Lavin has won the right to disassemble the disarray. Nothing else.
As much as it may be time to move on, what I'm worried about is us going through this a month after we could have gotten the process started. I know there are premium jobs open so the domino effect has not completely taken place yet, but even just missing out on the opportunities we have already in terms of potential hires puts us at a disadvantage. We are not a good enough job to enter the market whenever we want and get our guy.
Our hand may be forced if Lavin leaves. But if it's SJU's move, again even if it seems like it is time to move on, I think our prospects of making a really quality replacement hire now vs. this time next year (right after the season ends) has to be a huge consideration. We need to find a sustainable winner!
Vaccaro is and always will be my favorite columnist. He has a pulse of the fan while not coming across as an arse (unlike Mighty Mouse Mike Lupica).
He has always written with a certain passion about SJU that makes you conclude he believes this program is worth saving because it does have a special place in the NYC sports scene.
He has always written with a certain passion about SJU that makes you conclude he believes this program is worth saving because it does have a special place in the NYC sports scene.