Harrison suspended rest of the year

One wonders if anonymous public shots from the electronic grandstand at a kid who may be in trouble are more a measure of character than shooting percentage or "body language."
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Guys with the experience of a Lavin and his top notch staff doesn't bounce a troubled kid who has crossed the line once. LEt's be certain - today's coaches have to be much more tolerant of bad behavior than coaches 25 years ago. Remember how PJ Carlesimo was blamed by some for getting choked by Latrell Sprewell - for trying to bring old school college discipline to the pros. I'm confident that if Harrison was suspended, it was for good reason and not by a staff throwing him under the bus or abandoning him because he's played like garbage.,
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My comments were not about the coach or his staff but about all those forum participants who get afflicted with sudden insight about people's characters from their years of training about "body language" and the relationship of shooting percentage to the Ten Commandments. The most fascinating "body language" I ever saw was by Jim Plunkett, the old NFL QB who I believe won a Super Bowl. He seemed to have odd facial expressions until I saw a report that he was raised by blind parents.
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Plunkett = a Stanford grad I believe and a Native American.
We can give Harrison compassion and respect all he's been through and still suspend him. Not mutually exclusive etc.Harrison has to grow up and Lavin is doing a marvelous job taking us to where we want to be (again) after two decades of mediocrity.

all the best
 
What's done is done. We need to move on. As for a new Captain of this ship I look to SirDominic. He has taken the reigns and been the quiet leader we need. I predict that he will lead this team to a deep tourney run next year. Anyone else?
 
... As long as we are on the staff, Harrison is just the latest entry in a line of players who they took risks on and didn't work out. Lindsey, Pelle, Polee among others. Sampson, Garrett, Sanchez ended up playing but only after long delays. Hopefully now that there is a base of talent in the program they will start to make more careful recruiting decisions.
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How was Polee a risk? He was academically qualified, was one of highest ranked seniors -- if not the highest -- available when Lavin took over the program, kept his nose clean while he was here, and played hard. Was he overrated? Yes (he's actually averaging fewer ppg at San Diego State than he did with us and seeing less PT as well), but that's a risk you take with just about any kid coming out of high school.

Did Harrison have a bad-boy reputation coming out of high school. If he did, I don't remember hearing about it. So it didn't seem like a risk at the time. And Sampson and Garrett are both wearing St. John's uniforms, and Sanchez happily will be here next year ... and all three have their heads screwed on right. So whatever risk Lavin took with them, it's ultimately paid off. We're not Kentucky, Duke, or Kansas, or another elite program. They don't have to take risks; they simply get the best of the best each year. We're a program struggling to get back to being a top 25 program, and we're not going get there without taking some risks.
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Polee may have played hard in games but practice was another story and that's why he isn't here.
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Was that the reason, or was it that his father thought he was better off back on the West Coast and getting more playing time? And if, in fact, it was Lavin -- and not Polee's father -- who was behind his transferring out because of his lack of effort in practice, then kudos to Lavin. Point is: Unlike elite programs, we have to take some risks to be at the level of competitiveness that we all want to be at, yet, unless I'm mistaken, none of Lavin's signings have been kids with a history of run-ins with the law like so many other coaches' have been, from John Thompson bringing on Allen Iverson to Kevin Willard, who was hired to clean up the mess Bobby Gonzales left behind, courting Acquille Carr, who, among other things, recently clocked the mother of his kid. Frankly, I'm tired of hearing people knock Lavin. He's the best thing to happen to this program -- one that's been hapless for more than a decade -- in ages. I'm thrilled we have him, and I support him 100 percent. Yes, he's taken risks -- and will be forced to take more -- but, as I see it, they've been reasonable ones. (And regarding Harrison's suspension: Not one of us knows the details of what went down, so why don't we wait until we know the facts before passing judgment?)
 
Harrison was a very talented player, highly recruited out of HS by many schools.. Not the top echelon of Schools like UCLA, Duke, IU, Kentucky, NC, etc. Numerically sure he got a lot of offers but, it was Lavin who took a shot and got him to come here. Let's acknowledge this, Steve is very charismatic, engaging, entertaining and sold St John's extremely well.

And,in Big time college BB recruiting, offers are made to a lot of players, even if the school has no real chance of enrolling the player..

Many Schools know a lot of kids who can play BB have issues, family, environment, etc..Still, because of their talent will take a chance on a player, even knowing it's a crapshoot.. I truly believe Lavin was trying to build SJU as quickly as possible and, would take a chance on a player. He must have felt Harrison was worth the risk at the time. And, I do believe Steve felt he could manage Harrison and motivate him to become a better player and person. It didn't work out.

Calhoun, was well known to "overlook," a kid's past, either with the legal system or just because there were other issues, Academics, etc. We all know Calhoun would basically, do anything to get the talented players he wanted and UCONN has become a tainted program as a result..I firmly believe Lavin is not cut from that cloth but, was willing to take some risks in his recruiting. Harrison was a risk and went from that to becoming a problem. A problem, even Lavin could not fix.

Sure, Steve has fired some blanks in his recruiting, Polee, Pelle, Lindsay to name a few.. And, clearly the Sanchez ineligibility was a mistake, since he's reinstated but, not for the year we needed him. Red Shirting GG? Strategically, has been a awful mistake and hopefully even Steve would admit that.

Sampson, Harkless, Pointer, CO,Garrett, Greene, Bourgault, Balamou, Branch are pluses, even if we see some of them are not as good as players as their press clippings led us to believe they were. Many did not believe Harkless would grow so fast as a player in his 1 year and likely Steve thought he would have Moe for 2 years, not one.Tough Luck.

Speaking of Branch, I think his injury is substantial enough not to expect much from him the remainder of the year. He's seems like a gamer but, he doesn't appear to be at 100%..
 
Harrison plays D and hoists up just as many bad shots as any other player on this team. The difference is the chances are better going in when it leaves his hand. But he doesn't look or act like the boy you want your daughter or sister to date and therefore he's a bad boy.

I am not commenting on his suspension. I don't know what happened. The only thing I will say with certainty and gladly eat crow on is that the 18 ppg we are losing will not be easy to replace regardless of how many people fill the void. If we miraculously play better without him I'd be shocked.
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He's 8th on the team in field goal percentage.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/teams/stats/STJOHN/st-johns-red-storm?&_1:col_1=7
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Skewed stat. I sure as hell don't want people who dunk and shoot layups down there.
Who is last? :)
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I also believe that someone else posted that he shot under 25% in his last 8 games. Not exactly a AARP shooter. Since I enjoy watching a TEAM game, win or lose, I will enjoy watching te team better without his antics and selfish play. The Syracuse game did it for me.
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Did you mean NRA shooter, as opposed to AARP? I don't get the connection, otherwise.
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No, I meant to say sharp shooter. Don't know how AARP came out?
 
Lenn Robbins tweeting it as well. Says conduct detrimental to the team, and that Harrison is meeting with family to decide whether or not to return next year.
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Don't let the door hit u on the way out son... what a dope.
 
One wonders if anonymous public shots from the electronic grandstand at a kid who may be in trouble are more a measure of character than shooting percentage or "body language."
Click to expand...

Guys with the experience of a Lavin and his top notch staff doesn't bounce a troubled kid who has crossed the line once. LEt's be certain - today's coaches have to be much more tolerant of bad behavior than coaches 25 years ago. Remember how PJ Carlesimo was blamed by some for getting choked by Latrell Sprewell - for trying to bring old school college discipline to the pros. I'm confident that if Harrison was suspended, it was for good reason and not by a staff throwing him under the bus or abandoning him because he's played like garbage.,
Click to expand...

My comments were not about the coach or his staff but about all those forum participants who get afflicted with sudden insight about people's characters from their years of training about "body language" and the relationship of shooting percentage to the Ten Commandments. The most fascinating "body language" I ever saw was by Jim Plunkett, the old NFL QB who I believe won a Super Bowl. He seemed to have odd facial expressions until I saw a report that he was raised by blind parents.
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In another thread, I'm losing kharma for defending an alumni whose name comes up every few days here. He gets ripped by posters who never met him, and don't know a thing about him except by what's been written, rewritten, and rewritten again about him. In that case, even the details have changed dramatically. It's bothersome to read garbage that just isn't true, but I guess that's the nature of these blogs.

I know you're a good guy, and I respect the heck out of you. I hear what you are saying, but in this case, Harrison DID display a little more than body language and fiery bravado. He has been seen screaming at coaches and teammates, and those close enough to the court to hear the words were in awe that the profanity laced tirades were tolerated without an immediate reaction from coaches. I've heard whispers from the Athletic department that this kid's behavior was abysmal.

It's completely natureal for all of us fans to react to this and infuse his statistics and value to the team. His contirbution to the team on the court is almost irrelevant, but i'm sure the coaching staff tried to tolerate as much as they could. Would we care at all if the suspended player had hardly played this year? PRobably not.

Even among his harshest critics here, there has been a lot of sympathy and hope that Harrison turns it all around and has success on and off the court. Although we spend a lot of time disagreeing with each other here, that alone speaks volumes of the character of you all.
 
Is this Costanza dragging the World Series trophy around the parking lot ?
 
... As long as we are on the staff, Harrison is just the latest entry in a line of players who they took risks on and didn't work out. Lindsey, Pelle, Polee among others. Sampson, Garrett, Sanchez ended up playing but only after long delays. Hopefully now that there is a base of talent in the program they will start to make more careful recruiting decisions.
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This is one of the worst posts I have ever read. Every "risk" you mentioned ended up playing here except Pelle, a five star big man
Lavin recruited when he needed to fill one of the biggest recruiting voids ever left. Harrison wasn't a risk. His high school tapes were ridiculous. He has skill you rarely see these days, and he's the kind of kid that never chose St. John's before Lavin. He works his arse off and he wants to win bad...too bad for his own good right now. He needs to grow up and he needs to learn to use that competitive edge in a controlled manner like Kobe does.

This season is over. What is the absolute best we could have hoped for, a first round loss in the NCAA tournament? Next year is the first of many years that we can reasonably expect a lot of success in the tournament. Getting suspended now shows Harrison he is not above the team and will hopefully set up a great ending to his career at STJ. We need this kid more than anyone on the roster, and I trust Coach Lavin completely.

Those of you that want to harp shooting %s, have to realize the difference between a kid like Harrison who HAS to create a lot of his looks and play as the focal point of every defense vs. kids that get open looks and layups/dunks because of the work of others. Producers and consumers. Any shot Harrison takes without a hand in his face is a good shot.
 
Despite all the posted value judgements about Lavin and Harrison, most without facts, the newpaper story seems to indicate that the decision point was between the administration and the coach. It certainly reads as though Harrison's aloofness from the team time-out huddle at Syracuse triggered a disciplinary action from above. Lavin may have agreed or argued or negotiated but in the end everyone reports to somebody with more authority.
As noted in posts above, Harrison told Lavin he wants to come back. So, this is a tough way to end the season for him and the team. If he remains committed, he also may be the biggest beneficiary of this act. With a fresh start and the poise of more maturity, then next year he is on a team with rebounding, at least two potential NBA big men, who can score, and a decent point guard, with experienced bench depth. He can showcase himself as a team player well into the NCAAs because he won't have to do the impossible all the time. This entire episode has the ingredients of taking Harrison and SJU to our next elevated level.
And If he's decides to leave, which seems self-defeating to most of us, we will adjust the point distribution but we will miss his intensity and passion even more.
 
http://m.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/lavin_prepared_to_take_the_heat_bXQc2pfcN32oejen0NH8AN
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Thanks for the link. With all the nonsense we dealt with in the late 90's and early 00's with undisciplined players and coaches with questionable motives and tactics, I'll take a Coach like Lav who's willing to take a bold stand for the right way to do things.

I love Harrison and am as disappointed as anyone that he's not playing, but he needs to change. Besides his poor play these last few weeks, he lacked his usual passion and intensity, which is what sets him apart. He also has forgotten how to take the ball to the hoop and draw fouls. Watching him at the Pitt game, he just wasn't himself. And whoever said his defense was good in that game should go back and watch Pitt's guards blow by him off the dribble and Woodall shoot open 3 after open 3 with Dee in the area, but not rushing to close out. His head was not in that game, which appeared to be the case in a few games recently.

I hope he realizes that this suspension is a good thing for him and he fights his way back for next year. We need him and I think he needs the discipline that Lavin is trying to instill in him.
 
... As long as we are on the staff, Harrison is just the latest entry in a line of players who they took risks on and didn't work out. Lindsey, Pelle, Polee among others. Sampson, Garrett, Sanchez ended up playing but only after long delays. Hopefully now that there is a base of talent in the program they will start to make more careful recruiting decisions.
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This season is over. What is the absolute best we could have hoped for, a first round loss in the NCAA tournament? Next year is the first of many years that we can reasonably expect a lot of success in the tournament. Getting suspended now shows Harrison he is not above the team and will hopefully set up a great ending to his career at STJ. We need this kid more than anyone on the roster, and I trust Coach Lavin completely.

Those of you that want to harp shooting %s, have to realize the difference between a kid like Harrison who HAS to create a lot of his looks and play as the focal point of every defense vs. kids that get open looks and layups/dunks because of the work of others. Producers and consumers. Any shot Harrison takes without a hand in his face is a good shot.
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Want the truth? The truth is our season was over before suspending Harrison, and our staff knew it. Had we beaten Pitt, there would have been reason to believe we could beat Providence away and then Marquette at home. With our without Harrison, our chances of a bid are somewhere between astronimical and incalculable.

You must be related to Harrison to think his shot selection was anything but horrible. Even if he was in the schoolyard, less talented teammates would be yelling at him for hositing up shots from far beyond the arc, often without any hope of offensive rebounds. Harrison didn't HAVE to create his own looks, but he basically hung around the perimeter waiting for the ball to come to him, rather than cut hard, flash, and try to receive the ball in position to shoot.

I've been to almost all games, and I don't remember defenses keying on him, or constructing schemes that had him doubled, tailed, or anything like that. You didn't have to do that in the Big East. Just let Harrison hoist up shots, and he'll miss 2 out of 3 on average, and do much worse than that in the Big East.
 
... As long as we are on the staff, Harrison is just the latest entry in a line of players who they took risks on and didn't work out. Lindsey, Pelle, Polee among others. Sampson, Garrett, Sanchez ended up playing but only after long delays. Hopefully now that there is a base of talent in the program they will start to make more careful recruiting decisions.
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This is one of the worst posts I have ever read. Every "risk" you mentioned ended up playing here except Pelle, a five star big man
Lavin recruited when he needed to fill one of the biggest recruiting voids ever left. Harrison wasn't a risk. His high school tapes were ridiculous. He has skill you rarely see these days, and he's the kind of kid that never chose St. John's before Lavin. He works his arse off and he wants to win bad...too bad for his own good right now. He needs to grow up and he needs to learn to use that competitive edge in a controlled manner like Kobe does.

This season is over. What is the absolute best we could have hoped for, a first round loss in the NCAA tournament? Next year is the first of many years that we can reasonably expect a lot of success in the tournament. Getting suspended now shows Harrison he is not above the team and will hopefully set up a great ending to his career at STJ. We need this kid more than anyone on the roster, and I trust Coach Lavin completely.

Those of you that want to harp shooting %s, have to realize the difference between a kid like Harrison who HAS to create a lot of his looks and play as the focal point of every defense vs. kids that get open looks and layups/dunks because of the work of others. Producers and consumers. Any shot Harrison takes without a hand in his face is a good shot.
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Agreed on all fronts. We haven't really seen him as a true shooting guard because he's having to handle the ball so much. Hopefully he comes back and gets a full season next to Branch. Time will tell.
 
I do not agree, why would we want him back , he can score (but not in the bigger games against better teams) he has a bad attitude and a bad role model for the younger players. he has a I attitude instead of a team attitude. Coach will build a program and you have to weed out the players who do not buy into the program. Wish the young man well hope for the best for him and move on and recruit a kid who wants to win with sju instead of thinking I am above the team. good luck rest of the year for the boys and lets stay postive we are moving in theright direction ......
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Best post on this thread.

Good to see you back, minister of hope.
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I agree, couldn't be said any clearer.
 
The only problem is that there are no recruits coming in.......
 
http://m.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/lavin_prepared_to_take_the_heat_bXQc2pfcN32oejen0NH8AN
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I'm completely embarrassed to have to read something like this.

And all of you harping because all you care about is winning a damn game. Go back to the Jarvis days then.

If you're not embarrassed or ashamed, then you're just delusional or so numb to all the nonsense that's gone on here over the past decade.

If a coach is forced (which the article is clearly inferring) to suspend his leading scorer when the team still has an outside chance of making the NCAA tournament (which is the benchmark for what the coach is hired and fired for), then it must be a very serious situation.

I'm tired of all the NCAA scrutiny. Tired of partial qualifiers. Tired of broadcasters talking about our players' attitudes on national TV.

The best coach we've had in years is telling the media that he's willing to put his job on the line to make a statement. A statement that comes nowhere close to what the knuckleheads under Jarvis were getting away with.

And some of you have the nerve to defend D'Angelo?

Absolutely ridiculous.

D'Angelo embarrassed this university on a day when the head coach was flying across the country to bury his father. On national TV.

This is our university, last I checked.

As much as I don't want some punk kid (yeah I said it and the same goes for Nuri) representing MY university, the same can be said for some punk lady who abused people and took the coward's way out and hung herself.

If we miss the tourney, life will still go on. But the constant embarrassments, headlines and shame on our program need to stop once and for all.

You want to make a post season tourney every year by any means necessary, please give up your red & white, bleach your skin in orange and go root for Syracuse. You will not be missed.
 
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