Heron Officially Cleared Per SJU Press release

[quote="Room112" post=297993]Is there any chance we open the season ranked in the Top 25? I doubt it, but just curious.[/quote]

I'd say there's a small chance, but most likely no. However, we will definitely receive a few votes, and as long as we don't lose we'll manage to sneak into the rankings sometime before conference play.
 
While the out-of-conference schedule is not strong (which, I agree, may provide some benefits), I think some have overstated how weak it really may be.

For example, although Rutgers is the perennial bottom dweller of its conference, it’s still from a power conference and playing at the Rac is never an easy task. Temple has legit NCAA aspirations, especially in Dunphy’s final year. Georgia Tech has some talent, and is still from another power conference. And Duke is obviously, well, Duke

It’s too bad that the schedule has been so maligned, but hopefully the pieces are now in place to moot the concerns. I would not be overly disappointed (or surprised) with 11-2 — only time will tell....
 
[quote="MBaldi" post=298003]While the out-of-conference schedule is not strong (which, I agree, may provide some benefits), I think some have overstated how weak it really may be.

For example, although Rutgers is the perennial bottom dweller of its conference, it’s still from a power conference and playing at the Rac is never an easy task. Temple has legit NCAA aspirations, especially in Dunphy’s final year. Georgia Tech has some talent, and is still from another power conference. And Duke is obviously, well, Duke

It’s too bad that the schedule has been so maligned, but hopefully the pieces are now in place to moot the concerns. I would not be overly disappointed (or surprised) with 11-2 — only time will tell....[/quote]

I don't want to derail a great thread like this, but from what I've seen we have the worst OOC for any major conference team. Several people have theorized other schedules being worse, but I did the math and ours is still the worst (based on last year's results). The problem isn't just the top, but also the bottom. Those 4/5 300+ teams we'll be playing will actually work against us even if we win. Obviously things can change once the games are played.

Now, that said, getting Heron is a HUGE relief. He should put us over the top and we should make the NCAA, period. The schedule still could affect seeding, but aside from that I do believe we make it regardless. I think we'll finish with 11+ wins in conference play, which should be enough to make it.

Point being, I'm not as concerned about the schedule as I once was. This is no bubble team.
 
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Syracuse usually has a horrible OOC schedule, but it doesn't seem to hurt their rankings year after year. The Hoyas are another team that is notorious for having poor OOC. Wins and Losses are where it is at and how you play in conference.
 
[quote="Adam" post=298004][quote="MBaldi" post=298003]While the out-of-conference schedule is not strong (which, I agree, may provide some benefits), I think some have overstated how weak it really may be.

For example, although Rutgers is the perennial bottom dweller of its conference, it’s still from a power conference and playing at the Rac is never an easy task. Temple has legit NCAA aspirations, especially in Dunphy’s final year. Georgia Tech has some talent, and is still from another power conference. And Duke is obviously, well, Duke

It’s too bad that the schedule has been so maligned, but hopefully the pieces are now in place to moot the concerns. I would not be overly disappointed (or surprised) with 11-2 — only time will tell....[/quote]

I don't want to derail a great thread like this, but from what I've seen we have the worst OOC for any major conference team. Several people have theorized other schedules being worse, but I did the math and ours is still the worst (based on last year's results). The problem isn't just the top, but also the bottom. Those 4/5 300+ teams we'll be playing will actually work against us even if we win. Obviously things can change once the games are played.

Now, that said, getting Heron is a HUGE relief. He should put us over the top and we should make the NCAA, period. The schedule still could affect seeding, but aside from that I do believe we make it regardless. I think we'll finish with 11+ wins in conference play, which should be enough to make it.

Point being, I'm not as concerned about the schedule as I once was. This is no bubble team.[/quote]

I don't think there is any denying our schedule is very weak. The one good thing that maybe is a little overlooked is that out of conference we at least have some road games and neutral site games. Those helped us last year SOS wise.
 
It would be nice and possible to sweep early out of conference schedule, including winning some hardware for a change at Barclays Legend event. That momentum would come in handy preparing for a brutal initial four games In BE including three on the road. I would gladly take a split there, realizing later in the year the schedule evens out. Let’s make some noise early and build up a lot of team confidence heading into conference play with no “gimmes”.
 
[quote="Frank61" post=298006]Syracuse usually has a horrible OOC schedule, but it doesn't seem to hurt their rankings year after year. The Hoyas are another team that is notorious for having poor OOC. Wins and Losses are where it is at and how you play in conference.[/quote]

Syracuse? No one in New York City even talks about them anymore unless they are alums. From this year forward St. John's will paint the town red!
I have a redmen fever and the only prescription is more cowbell!

 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=297979]Couldn't agree more with RMN. Success this year depends upon chemistry and sharing the ball and we can't assume that this will be a given. That is where coaching and team leadership comes in. Plus side is we have real talent and quality depth. Can't ask for more than that.[/quote]

I will say it once and then refrain. It has little to do with coaching and leadership , my point has to do with sharing the ball and team chemistry. In 1988 a MC AA by the name of Malik Sealy committed to SJU after having taken Tolentine high school to the mythical national high school championship. He was part of a great four man class together with fellow MC AA Robert Werdann of Archbishop Molloy , top 50 Chucky Sproling of Colorado and by far the least heralded member Jason Buchanan of Syracuse who committed to us the very last minute and became a key 4 year starter after midway through his freshman season.
Sealy was not just a great ball player but a fantastic leader, and that as a freshman. His teams exceeded all expectations. They won the NIT his freshman season after our fantastic starting backcourt from the prior year flunked out of school. His sophomore team was leading Puke in the round of 32 when Billy Singleton got frustrated and bounced the ball hard following a whistle and the rest is history. His junior team upset top seed Ohio State in perhaps the best game I ever witnessed and bowed out in the Final 8 to Puke. His senior year was full of optimism. However, Louie didn’t become stupid and Malik didn’t cease to be a leader, but a certain team member decided he was playing for the scouts and not the school/ team. In short we got upset in the first round to an unspectacular Tulane Green Wave team and Louie retired after the game.
Chemistry, a willingness to share the ball and put the team first. If the top 6 players, Ponds, Simon, Clark, Héron, Figueroa and Keita don’t buy into that we will have a very disappointed fan base and that has nothing to do with the Coach or leadership. It is on the players themselves.
Malik Sealy may have been the greatest on court leader we have ever had but even he in his senior season could not get his teammate to put the team ahead of his ridiculous personal aspirations as that teammate was never going to the league.
We have three very good returning starters and one returning bench player. The rest are all new and while I remain very optimistic towards this season adding 7 new pieces, especially 2 players who will want the ball in their hands , is no simple feat. There is only 1 ball but we have 5 players capable of putting up double digits every night and I am not even including Dixon and Keita in that group. The staff has its work cut out for it.
 
[quote="redmannorth" post=298018][quote="NCJohnnie" post=297979]Couldn't agree more with RMN. Success this year depends upon chemistry and sharing the ball and we can't assume that this will be a given. That is where coaching and team leadership comes in. Plus side is we have real talent and quality depth. Can't ask for more than that.[/quote]

I will say it once and then refrain. It has little to do with coaching and leadership , my point has to do with sharing the ball and team chemistry. In 1988 a MC AA by the name of Malik Sealy committed to SJU after having taken Tolentine high school to the mythical national high school championship. He was part of a great four man class together with fellow MC AA Robert Werdann of Archbishop Molloy , top 50 Chucky Sproling of Colorado and by far the least heralded member Jason Buchanan of Syracuse who committed to us the very last minute and became a key 4 year starter after midway through his freshman season.
Sealy was not just a great ball player but a fantastic leader, and that as a freshman. His teams exceeded all expectations. They won the NIT his freshman season after our fantastic starting backcourt from the prior year flunked out of school. His sophomore team was leading Puke in the round of 32 when Billy Singleton got frustrated and bounced the ball hard following a whistle and the rest is history. His junior team upset top seed Ohio State in perhaps the best game I ever witnessed and bowed out in the Final 8 to Puke. His senior year was full of optimism. However, Louie didn’t become stupid and Malik didn’t cease to be a leader, but a certain team member decided he was playing for the scouts and not the school/ team. In short we got upset in the first round to an unspectacular Tulane Green Wave team and Louie retired after the game.
Chemistry, a willingness to share the ball and put the team first. If the top 6 players, Ponds, Simon, Clark, Héron, Figueroa and Keita don’t buy into that we will have a very disappointed fan base and that has nothing to do with the Coach or leadership. It is on the players themselves.
Malik Sealy may have been the greatest on court leader we have ever had but even he in his senior season could not get his teammate to put the team ahead of his ridiculous personal aspirations as that teammate was never going to the league.
We have three very good returning starters and one returning bench player. The rest are all new and while I remain very optimistic towards this season adding 7 new pieces, especially 2 players who will want the ball in their hands , is no simple feat. There is only 1 ball but we have 5 players capable of putting up double digits every night and I am not even including Dixon and Keita in that group. The staff has its work cut out for it.[/quote]

Great post North. I am pumped for the season, but remind myself it will take some time for all these new pieces to come together. We may dump a winnable game early because players don't know one another and haven't dealt with a challenge together. But I am confident we'll play like a good team but !arch.
 
Ponds hogged the ball and took a great number of shots per game, with good reason. Unless he's gone stupid over the summer, he realizes that his future as a pro is as a point. I'm sure he heard this before he decided to return. If he ball hogs and doesn't get his teammates involved it's going to impact his future in a negative way.

Heron isn't really a ball-handler, he's a second guard/slasher who is noted for his defense. They know each other from HS and I'm sure the staff talked to Ponds about Heron transferring here beforehand.

If they each get around 18 per, with Ponds increasing his dimes and Heron D'ing up and hitting the glass we're going to be just fine.

As great as the Swiss Army Knife, aka Simon, is, he's never going to be the first or second scoring option. He's going to play a very balanced game and will have an impact as a stat sheet stuffer and disruptor on defense.

Clark brings the glue, and when he's hot from the outside he'll get the ball. I can see he and Simon averaging around 10-12 ppg, some nights more, some nights less.

LJ, Mikey, Keita will all get time. We have the non-conference schedule to get everyone on the same page before we start conference play.
 
One of CM's greatest challenges this year will to be allocate playing time. There are only so many minutes to go around and some players will probably think they deserve more time than they will get. Some players will not score as much as they think they should. Team chemistry is vital in that players will need to make personal sacrifices for the better good. If our kids stay together, play together and support each other, this can be the best season we have had in a long time. If they are primarily looking out for themselves (ie: minutes, individual stats, etc), this team could easily implode.

I choose to believe that we have a roster filled with high character guys who desperately want to win this year and will do the right thing to give us the best opportunity to do so.

Looking forward to a great season. WE ARE........................ ST JOHN'S!!!
 
[quote="Frank61" post=298006]Syracuse usually has a horrible OOC schedule, but it doesn't seem to hurt their rankings year after year. The Hoyas are another team that is notorious for having poor OOC. Wins and Losses are where it is at and how you play in conference.[/quote]

I agree conference wins and losses is usually where it matters most, but non-conference games can and are very beneficial towards bids and seedings.

JT3 overall scheduled tough non-conference games when he was with the Hoyas.
 
I always see the OOC as an opportunity to slay some cupcakes while fine-tuning the starting 5 and role players. It's also a great chance to notch a resume-building win or two before the conference season starts which can take lots of pressure off. For example, if we had been decent in conference play last year, that Duke win is an eye-popper on our resume for the dance.

I hope adding Heron and the rest of our depth will make the cupcake games less eventful. Would be nice to have several games over by halftime unlike last year when Molloy and the like stuck around way too long. I want to see more games like Fordham in 2015 I think...101-73 or something lol. Very fun to watch.
 
I am really glad that I picked this topic to be wrong about something for the first time. While I am upset that my 46 year streak of never being wrong has finally come to an end, I am absolutely happy that I will get to see ST John's name next Selection Sunday. Really looking forward to this season!

The one other negative besides my streak ending is I am not sure worrying about next season's recruiting and Mike Rice's employment opportunities will be enough ammo to sustain the chronic complainers on here. I am a little worried about them.
We are ST John's!
 
Per Goodman
Multiple coaches told @WatchStadium they have filed transfer waivers recently after seeing that NCAA has become so lenient in this regard. Many feel NCAA concerned about potential lawsuits, reverting back to when granted nearly all waiver requests

Coach response about NCAA leniency with transfer waivers again:

“Seeing Heron granted immediate eligibility we’re researching any possible precedent that might allow our transfer to be eligible to file a waiver. As of now our best path is we need him to solidify our backcourt.
 
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So, anyone think SJU has the top 2 players in the conference (pre-season expectations)?

Ponds I'm pretty sure will by pre-season POTY.

Heron was AP 2nd Team SEC last year. Big East only returns one 1st Team BE player (Ponds). Generally the BE is better than the SEC, but the SEC had a great year last year with a lot of five star players (Heron included). Also, the SEC has more teams than the BE and less space for a spot on the AP teams.

I'll say yes. :)
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=298082]Per Goodman
Multiple coaches told @WatchStadium they have filed transfer waivers recently after seeing that NCAA has become so lenient in this regard. Many feel NCAA concerned about potential lawsuits, reverting back to when granted nearly all waiver requests

Coach response about NCAA leniency with transfer waivers again:

“Seeing Heron granted immediate eligibility we’re researching any possible precedent that might allow our transfer to be eligible to file a waiver. As of now our best path is we need him to solidify our backcourt.

Goodman always takes a little dig at SJU when he can. “With a face made for radio” as they say, he should be pondering his current gig after being dumped by ESPN[/quote]

Honestly has a point. I think we all sort of know this even if we don't want to admit it.
But since we benefited from it who cares. Good for us we were due!
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=298082]Per Goodman
Multiple coaches told @WatchStadium they have filed transfer waivers recently after seeing that NCAA has become so lenient in this regard. Many feel NCAA concerned about potential lawsuits, reverting back to when granted nearly all waiver requests

Coach response about NCAA leniency with transfer waivers again:

“Seeing Heron granted immediate eligibility we’re researching any possible precedent that might allow our transfer to be eligible to file a waiver. As of now our best path is we need him to solidify our backcourt.[/quote]

I'm confused on Goodman's point here.
Is he saying other coaches are filing waivers for their players for 'immediate eligibility' 'now'?
Based on 'what'?
The Heron Family dotted all I's & crossed all T's and waited 4 1/2 months fr an NCAA Decision, based on valid reasons.
Why is it that 'this' particular waiver gets the "oh then, we can do that too", reaction, when 2 - 3 other hardship waivers (football & hoops) have been granted since the Spring--and i assume for valid reasons--but no surge in copy-catting for 'whatever reasons' immediately followed?While transfer rules across the board have been markedly eased--i think the 'hardship route' is the sole route available currently that potentially allows 'immediate eligibility'.
 
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