Is there anything official?

[MJDinkins]

http://nypost.com/2015/04/04/chris-mullins-early-strategy-for-bringing-top-recruits-to-st-johns/

Alkins immediately tweeted: “Finally got that St.Johns Offer I’ve been wanting!”

Interesting on a few levels.

Interesting is one possible term revolting is another.

That's only if you truly believe everything you read or being said.

True. The stuff with Arbitello is petty.

But CTK aside, MJ even you can acknowledge that the prior regime wasn't being as aggressive as they could have been on the recruiting front the last two years.

As, an overall group..... Maybe, they weren't as aggressive. But Chiles was fairly aggressive. By the way, do you believe CTK's coach was the only one with an agenda? Actually, Lavin got the second best senior in NYC a season ago in ADR. He may have been able to get the best senior (Whitehead), but chose not to go that particular route for known reasons.

Dink Lavin got ADR because there was no other school near the high D1 level who was willing to offer him guaranteed PT, and who was willing to take his brother as well. Time will tell if he can get in the kind of shape he'll need to get in to in order to be a "serviceable" big man at this level. As for your comment about Rawle's tweet, you thinking that wasn't actually Rawle? Not challenging you, just trying to get your take. This much I will tell you, there was no reason in the world why the previous staff shouldn't have offered. The kid has said all along that staying home to play ball is a strong consideration for him. And that is straight from the horse's mouth. Rawle's a real good kid, liked by everyone from his classmates, to his teachers, to his coaches. Humble and affable. Haven't heard any mention of "his people" or "his camp" as we've heard about other recruits. So I wouldn't expect much of the drama we see around other kids. Yes there is an academic concern, but hopefully he buckles down and that becomes a non-issue. He'll light up CA and MSG as both a person and as a ballplayer, if we are fortunate enough to get him.

These kids say a lot of things. Someone just recently stated Alkins talked about getting out of NYC. This was also a direct quote from Alkins. These youngsters tend to be fickle.

Norm kissed plenty of rings, and where did that get him when it was all said and done?

It sounds personal with some of y'all. I'd hope most of y'all can move on, and try to enjoy what the new staff is trying to establish, instead of continuing to harp on Lavin.

Never mind, clearly you are more concerned with trying to prove your point (that's there's some great conspiracy against Lavin-even since he's been fired) than you are with discussing the subject matter at hand.

Conspiracy? Never uttered those words. Good.... Let's move on.

 

[fun]

Some thought on the firing of Steve Lavin and the hiring of Chris Mullin:http://www.bigeastboards.com/

A nice piece there Dr. Fun.

See attached - a screensaver for your efforts.

[attachment]SJU.gif[/attachment]

If the horse had an enlarged prostate this would be perfect.

 

[TX Redman]

Some thought on the firing of Steve Lavin and the hiring of Chris Mullin:http://www.bigeastboards.com/

A nice piece there Dr. Fun.

See attached - a screensaver for your efforts.

[attachment]SJU.gif[/attachment]

If the horse had an enlarged prostate this would be perfect.

Unicorns don't have prostrates - everyone knows that. Cue GEICO commercial...

 

[Section3]

One thing I don't get is this notion that recruits don't know who Mullin is. Maybe they don't, but if they are contacted by St. Johns coach Chris Mullin, my guess is that they use this thing called the internet. On the internet there are such things as Wikipedia and Youtube. After reading and watching a couple videos I think they will know who he is

The Internets has changed everything

 

[rawdognyc]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/colle...arnesecca-have-a-strong-connection-1.10195968

Nice read

 

[ccnobz]

Keady coming on WFAN after the break.

 

[Knight]

Keady coming on WFAN after the break.

Thanks.

 

[paultzman]

@CNG_Staszewski: Flatbush's Mullin to use St. John's past to shape its futurehttp://t.co/nanyycQXAg

 

[we are sju]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

 

[ras]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be everyone understands this.

I was about to post the same thing. Also if we learned anything from last year is that we need backups, who are better than walkons. Not every recruit has to be a stud. Mullin inherited a bare cupboard. We lost Sampson but Jordan and CO are returning and he has made nice additions. He also is not done for this year. It will be interesting to see how the 16 class turns out .w this staff having time to develop relationships.

 

[Moose]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. And by no means is losing Sampson and possibly Diallo the end of the world. I am fully behind this hire as I think the President has united a fan base that has been fractured for 10-15 years.

But I think its vital that next year is NOT a throwaway year. For sure its year 1 with a great deal of turnover. But to keep the momentum going and the buzz the team needs to be above 500. Doesn't have to dance but needs to be better than Lavin's 2nd year as an example.

To do this I'd love to see more hired guns. More 5th year players who we can give PT and exposure to in a major conference, NYC, all that jazz. Would love to see 1 or even another 5th year player. I think that will give us the weapons to ensure a 500 record.

 

[we are sju]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. And by no means is losing Sampson and possibly Diallo the end of the world. I am fully behind this hire as I think the President has united a fan base that has been fractured for 10-15 years.

But I think its vital that next year is NOT a throwaway year. For sure its year 1 with a great deal of turnover. But to keep the momentum going and the buzz the team needs to be above 500. Doesn't have to dance but needs to be better than Lavin's 2nd year as an example.

To do this I'd love to see more hired guns. More 5th year players who we can give PT and exposure to in a major conference, NYC, all that jazz. Would love to see 1 or even another 5th year player. I think that will give us the weapons to ensure a 500 record.

17-20 wins would be entirely on Jordan's shoulders. If he is fully engaged I think it is possible.

 

[Marillac]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

WASJU with the post of the day! Must have had a strong breakfast.

I don't see how any reasonable fan could be upset with .500 for next season. Expecting more from a staff hired in April with only a handful of returning players isn't fair. That written, I think a few of us still hold out hope that the staff can fill out this roster in a way that can give us a potential tournament team next season. The difference is hoping vs. expecting.

You can't look at the individual guys we lost or gained...you have to look at it as a whole. Harrison, Greene, and Pointer were awesome, but the team had a severe lack of size and no depth to speak of. Obekpa had a very disappointing year and Jordan wasn't very good the first 2/3's of the season either. This team looks like it will be bigger and deeper when all is said and done. Chemistry and experience will be the issue.

 

[stjohnnie75]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. And by no means is losing Sampson and possibly Diallo the end of the world. I am fully behind this hire as I think the President has united a fan base that has been fractured for 10-15 years.

But I think its vital that next year is NOT a throwaway year. For sure its year 1 with a great deal of turnover. But to keep the momentum going and the buzz the team needs to be above 500. Doesn't have to dance but needs to be better than Lavin's 2nd year as an example.

To do this I'd love to see more hired guns. More 5th year players who we can give PT and exposure to in a major conference, NYC, all that jazz. Would love to see 1 or even another 5th year player. I think that will give us the weapons to ensure a 500 record.

I agree. Would much rather add another 5th year transfer or 2 instead of taking a 4 year kid that the staff will try to recruit over the second he signs with us. Get studs in '16 and '17 and away we go.

 

[SJU1512]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. And by no means is losing Sampson and possibly Diallo the end of the world. I am fully behind this hire as I think the President has united a fan base that has been fractured for 10-15 years.

But I think its vital that next year is NOT a throwaway year. For sure its year 1 with a great deal of turnover. But to keep the momentum going and the buzz the team needs to be above 500. Doesn't have to dance but needs to be better than Lavin's 2nd year as an example.

To do this I'd love to see more hired guns. More 5th year players who we can give PT and exposure to in a major conference, NYC, all that jazz. Would love to see 1 or even another 5th year player. I think that will give us the weapons to ensure a 500 record.

Agree with both of you. Expectations should be measured but hopefully it is still a positive, momentum continuing year. I think it will be, on the court and in the recruiting realm.

On the court, I expect Mullin to want to run, but in the half-court I expect much more pro-style offense. Nobody stands to benefit from this more than Jordan. I don't care if he's playing PG or C, the best way for Rysheed to create is to get catches in different areas, not just try to go off the dribble from the top or mundane catches on the wing. I'm confident Mullin is going to get him the ball in the mid and low posts and at the elbows with space, and work with him on his footwork - an area that Sheed really needs to improve - to be able to jab, reverse-pivot, etc. and make plays before he bounces. If he does that he will be close to unstoppable 1 on 1 at the college level net of Kentucky-type individual defenders.

Obekpa was a monster in early games last year (Syracuse was about as good an individual effort as we've had from a big in years). But you could see inevitable fatigue coming from a mile away. With more depth he has the chance to have a more complete year.

Just these two things alone could move the needle to .500. Added depth, in-game coaching, etc. and we could move to upper teens in wins. And that's without knowing what the rest of the roster is going to look like.

In that vein, we can already see recruiting is going to be more well-rounded. I don't know what happened with prior staff - perhaps spoiled by grand slam success of the first two classes - but we became way too heavily levered towards elite recruits with seemingly insufficient back-up plans. Recruiting is a numbers game as much as anything else, the more guys you are involved with the better your results are going to be and, most importantly, you have a higher floor for what a "safety" class would look like. Seems to me this diversified type approach has been put in place in less than a month, and that's impressive.

 

[Amaseinyourface]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. And by no means is losing Sampson and possibly Diallo the end of the world. I am fully behind this hire as I think the President has united a fan base that has been fractured for 10-15 years.

But I think its vital that next year is NOT a throwaway year. For sure its year 1 with a great deal of turnover. But to keep the momentum going and the buzz the team needs to be above 500. Doesn't have to dance but needs to be better than Lavin's 2nd year as an example.

To do this I'd love to see more hired guns. More 5th year players who we can give PT and exposure to in a major conference, NYC, all that jazz. Would love to see 1 or even another 5th year player. I think that will give us the weapons to ensure a 500 record.

Agree with both of you. Expectations should be measured but hopefully it is still a positive, momentum continuing year. I think it will be, on the court and in the recruiting realm.

On the court, I expect Mullin to want to run, but in the half-court I expect much more pro-style offense. Nobody stands to benefit from this more than Jordan. I don't care if he's playing PG or C, the best way for Rysheed to create is to get catches in different areas, not just try to go off the dribble from the top or mundane catches on the wing. I'm confident Mullin is going to get him the ball in the mid and low posts and at the elbows with space, and work with him on his footwork - an area that Sheed really needs to improve - to be able to jab, reverse-pivot, etc. and make plays before he bounces. If he does that he will be close to unstoppable 1 on 1 at the college level net of Kentucky-type individual defenders.

Obekpa was a monster in early games last year (Syracuse was about as good an individual effort as we've had from a big in years). But you could see inevitable fatigue coming from a mile away. With more depth he has the chance to have a more complete year.

Just these two things alone could move the needle to .500. Added depth, in-game coaching, etc. and we could move to upper teens in wins. And that's without knowing what the rest of the roster is going to look like.

In that vein, we can already see recruiting is going to be more well-rounded. I don't know what happened with prior staff - perhaps spoiled by grand slam success of the first two classes - but we became way too heavily levered towards elite recruits with seemingly insufficient back-up plans. Recruiting is a numbers game as much as anything else, the more guys you are involved with the better your results are going to be and, most importantly, you have a higher floor for what a "safety" class would look like. Seems to me this diversified type approach has been put in place in less than a month, and that's impressive.

Great post, totally agree with your paragraph on sheed. If put in the right spot he could be ultra impressive. Jordan is great from the mid range area and has shown significant promise in the post. Would love to see more of it this next year.

 

[Marillac]

I really think this bears repeating. Mullin was hired what 2 weeks ago? With all the early hoopla and getting two really good recruiters and some recruits, it can not be forgotten that in regards to 2015 the staff was really playing from behind. Like down 20 at the half. If Jordan actually is on the roster opening night, along with Obekpa and Williams the staff has done about as well as could be expected. Anything else would be gravy.
I think some of you are paying lip service to this notion, but truly Mullin and staff should not be graded on next season. Finishing over .500 next year would be a big accomplishment. I really hope everyone understands this.

But I think its vital that next year is NOT a throwaway year. For sure its year 1 with a great deal of turnover. But to keep the momentum going and the buzz the team needs to be above 500. Doesn't have to dance but needs to be better than Lavin's 2nd year as an example.

To do this I'd love to see more hired guns. More 5th year players who we can give PT and exposure to in a major conference, NYC, all that jazz.

Completely agree. It seems clear that Chris has an executive/NBA approach to this. ADR was the equivalent of a bad long term contract he got to dump to clear a spot for a player that fits his system better. Doughty appears to be another one. Bring in a 5th year guy or a juco who will have a bigger impact for the 2015-2016 season and not scare away the talent waiting for us in 2016. Then use the spot on a kid like Heron. That is better for the short and long term.

Bring in as many one-year players as you can to ensure a potential tournament team. The press around a Mullin-led St. John's team in the tournament would be incredible, and that would do away with all the negative pundits that think this is an experiment or closer to Drexler than Hoiberg.

M'Vouica was just a really, really good plug in for a year. A few more could put this team in the top 5-6 in the conference.

 

[ras]

Any Quality JUCO guards available?

 

[MJDinkins]

Any Quality JUCO guards available?

Not really. Mychal Mulder will probably end up at Kentucky after this weekend.

I'm fine with us targeting Ellison, Mussini, and LoVett. Two of the three will suffice.

 

[Russ2374]

Any Quality JUCO guards available?

Not really. Mychal Mulder will probably end up at Kentucky after this weekend.

I'm fine with us targeting Ellison, Mussini, and LoVett. Two of the three will suffice.

Agreed but I'm hoping we still have interest and a shot at Durant Johnson (grad transfer from Pitt). I think he'd be an immediate starter for us, especially if we don't get Diallo.