Mike Anderson - Recruiting, Coaching, Etc.

[paultzman]

Extremely well said Paultz!

Marcus, this was Zach's piece, as link indicated. Sorry for not being clearer & added his name on top

 

[monte]

Zach B piece today 

It’s funny how this works. During difficult times, it’s always the coach’s fault. When the wins pile up, the focus turns to the players.When St. John’s was 1-5 in the Big East, Mike Anderson was getting criticized. But now that his team has picked itself off the mat, has won three straight games and four of its last five to stabilize its season, I’m hearing all about Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander, but not Anderson.The reality is, Anderson and his staff should be first in line. I always say a true judge of a coach is how he handles adverse situations.The Johnnies were coming off a blowout loss at Creighton.

Optimism was only a rumor. Instead of this season cratering as so many have over the last two decades in Queens, he kept his team believing in itself. Now it is just a game out of sixth place in the 11-team league, looking like an NIT team with a realistic chance to extend Anderson’s streak of winning seasons as a head coach to 19.

He suspended mercurial forward Isiah Moore one game for his inability to meet team standards, and Moore has responded, scoring 28 points in the last two games. He remained confident in Vince Cole despite his struggles and Cole is repaying that faith, producing a team-high 18 points in Wednesday night’s win at DePaul. He stayed on Alexander, believing the freshman had more to give offensively, and Alexander has been the team’s best player during this run. Second-leading scorer Greg Williams Jr. has missed the better part of the last three games with a back injury, and other players have emerged, in part due to Anderson’s affinity for going so deep into his bench.

That’s not to say Anderson is without blame. I felt he waited too long to go to big man Josh Roberts, who has keyed the team’s defensive improvements. His substitution patterns have at times been curious. I would still like to see freshman Dylan Addae-Wusu get more minutes.But at a time everything was pointed in the wrong direction, Anderson was able to navigate this ship to steadier waters. Players clearly respond to him. Right now, this team feels a lot like it did at the end of last year. It’s out-working opponents and finding ways to win. The coach has a lot to do with that.

Below are a few other takeaways from St. John’s recent hot stretch:St. John’s fans have made a lot of noise about this coaching staff’s recruiting, the inability up to this point to land a top-100 recruit. I think some of it is warranted. Recruiting does need to improve. But by the same token, Champagnie was clearly undervalued. So was Alexander. Both clearly should’ve been top-100 kids. Think about this: in Anderson’s first two classes, he landed the Big East’s current leading scorer in Champagnie and potentially this year’s Freshman of the Year in Alexander. Alexander’s unheralded high school teammate, Addae-Wusu, has been impressive, too. And next year’s class included another potential underrated prospect in Long Island Lutheran guard Rafael Pinzon, a three-star recruit. Rankings don’t always tell the entire story.
Posh AlexanderRobert SaboThere are so many things Alexander does that impresses you on a game-by-game basis. His motor never stops. He’s always looking to make the extra pass. His jumpshot has improved, having hit three-pointers in three straight games now and four of five. But what stands out the most to me is his ability to mix it up in the paint. At a listed 6-foot — he’s really 5-foot-11 or 5-foot-10 — Alexander has an uncanny ability to finish among the trees. He’s also an adept offensive rebounder. His 26 offensive boards are tied for the second most on the team, and he has 10 in the last four games. Just ask Seton Hall junior Jared Rhoden, Alexander’s high school teammate, who recently tweeted: “DIDNT know what passion was until I met this man when I was 15!”

Alexander’s exceptional play has overshadowed the strides Rasheem Dunn has made, but they shouldn’t go unnoticed. He’s playing under control, smart and selfless. With Alexander scoring at a much higher rate, Dunn has maturely taken a back seat, but his production has not been forgotten. The senior has 13 assists and just two turnovers in the last two games. He was a team-high plus-12 against DePaul. In this five-game stretch, Dunn is averaging 8.6 points, 4.8 assists and 2.0 turnovers, and has improved at the free-throw line, making 18-of-19. Also, as Anderson has pointed out, Alexander’s progression doesn’t happen without the tutelage and leadership Dunn has provided.

Here is some cold water for this improved stretch. Three of the wins have come over an underwhelming non-conference opponent (Utah Valley) and two of the weaker teams in the league in DePaul and Butler. UConn was without star James Bouknight. Shot selection was at times poor against DePaul, with the Johnnies attempting 26 three-pointers and making just seven. They were killed on the glass, allowing 20 offensive rebounds, and DePaul did cut a 15-point lead in half. Of course, the Blue Demons were able to win at Marquette and have nearly stolen games from Providence and UConn. Still, the schedule gets tougher, with a trip to Marquette on Sunday followed by Villanova and Providence on the docket next week. St. John’s has to play better if it intends to continue winning.
https://nypost.com/2021/01/28/mike-anderson-the-positive-force-behind-st-johns-turnaround/


Champagnie should have been top 100???? Hell, he should have been a Top 25/MCAA based on what he's doing now. Look, I've knocked CMA plenty, but I also give credit where credit is due. At the end of the day, the buck stops with the HC. When we play well he rightfully deserves a huge amount of credit. At the same time, when we play poorly he must shoulder a chunk of the blame. I'm not saying when our shots aren't falling and we loose, that happens to every team. I mean when we look lost and/or when the effort isn't there. Right now we are operating on most, if not all cylinders, kudos to CMA and the kids. I am thrilled with how they're playing and am cautiously optimistic that we can keep it up, and maybe even improve the rest of the way. 
 

 

[room112]

Extremely well said Paultz!

Marcus, this was Zach's piece, as link indicated. Sorry for not being clearer & added his name on top

That piece was clearly written by someone who reads this board lol. 

 

[DaTiger]

SJU is lucky to have Mike Anderson.  Shame on you fans who were down on him earlier this season.

Are there better freshmen than Posh?  That freshman controls both sides of the game.  By his senior year, he will own MSG. 

SJU is so fortunate to have CMA and Posh.

 

[Section3]

SJU is lucky to have Mike Anderson.  Shame on you fans who were down on him earlier this season.

Are there better freshmen than Posh?  That freshman controls both sides of the game.  By his senior year, he will own MSG. 

SJU is so fortunate to have CMA and Posh.

If no pandemic, Posh would be taking NYC by storm

 

[Sherman Sheridan & Grant]

SJU is lucky to have Mike Anderson.  Shame on you fans who were down on him earlier this season.

Are there better freshmen than Posh?  That freshman controls both sides of the game.  By his senior year, he will own MSG. 

SJU is so fortunate to have CMA and Posh.

yes! thank you SK
And some folks by nature are naysayers and can critique but not solve - who would be a better coach for us now?
and with the new pro sports President, an AD from Duke and CMA - AND the fact we improved as a team
last season and this season:
good times ahead and at hand.
blessings 
 

 

[SJU61982]

SJU is lucky to have Mike Anderson.  Shame on you fans who were down on him earlier this season.

Are there better freshmen than Posh?  That freshman controls both sides of the game.  By his senior year, he will own MSG. 

SJU is so fortunate to have CMA and Posh.

I have had my complaints about Anderson (and some of them reared it's ugly head today, specifically late game offense), but on the whole, he's done a nice job.

That's part of the problem, though.  His seasons and performances have to be evaluated on the whole.  What we see in December and January won't be the same as in March.  That's most every team, obviously, but it seems to apply extra in Anderson's case, and I personally lost my paitence for bad losses a long time ago.

Also, because it takes his team's awhile to learn his defense, I don't think we'll ever be dominant (maybe a season or two, but not consistant).  We'll drop games early, which leads to underseeding come NCAA Tournament time, and tougher matches in the tournament.  Rightly or wrongly (I personally believe wrongly), coaches make their reputations in the NCAA Tournament these days, nowhere else.  Most people, when they think of Bill Self, think NCAA Tournament choke jobs, not his .818 winning percentage in 17 years at Kansas (of course, with that winning percentage, all he can do is choke in the NCAAs, which is why that shouldn't be the be all, end all, but that seems to be the case nowadays).

In the end, I think our ceilieng under Anderson is similar to what Providence has accomplished under Cooley.  They seem to be happy with the performance in Rhode Island, and that's certainly better then what we've had here the last 15+ years.  

The perfect fit, coaching wise, does not exist for our program.  Well, maybe it does, but I don't see it out there, right now (I wanted Cluess, but that obviously would not have worked out).  So, Anderson was probably the best we could do, but that does not mean that we will be a great program under him.  We should be a consistantly good one, though, once the team is totally populated by players who fit his style.

 

 

[TheArtest15]

I hate when some fans are so self righteous when the team starts playing well, saying "shame on the fans who were outspoken against CMA!" Does this make you feel like more of a fan because you were loyal when most of us wanted to punch a hole through the tv while watching this team at the beginning of the year? The answer is no. Some of us were way more outspoken againt CMA and his shortocming at the beginning of this year and sharing our opinions does not make any of us less of a fan. I think most of us are going to have to get used to some frustrating play to start the seaosn while the team figures everytihng out defensively and offensively in this system. It takes a little while for them to gel every year. 

This tram went from unwatchable to having me very pumped up for Villanova. I will say, I was wrong and happy to admit that I was about where I saw this team by the end of the year. They are reslly playing well and growing as a team. As we know they are not the team at the highest of highs or the team at their lowest of lows.....if they just find that consistent middle ground I think they can make anice late season push and hopefully get into the NIT if there is one. I still think to get this team to a perennial top 5-6 big east team CMA needs to recruit a little better, but I have a lot more confidence now than I did at the beginning of the year.

Lets hope they can carry this play and grow as a team heading into march for some very exciting basketball!

 

[Amaseinyourface]

I hate when some fans are so self righteous when the team starts playing well, saying "shame on the fans who were outspoken against CMA!" Does this make you feel like more of a fan because you were loyal when most of us wanted to punch a hole through the tv while watching this team at the beginning of the year? The answer is no. Some of us were way more outspoken againt CMA and his shortocming at the beginning of this year and sharing our opinions does not make any of us less of a fan. I think most of us are going to have to get used to some frustrating play to start the seaosn while the team figures everytihng out defensively and offensively in this system. It takes a little while for them to gel every year. 

This tram went from unwatchable to having me very pumped up for Villanova. I will say, I was wrong and happy to admit that I was about where I saw this team by the end of the year. They are reslly playing well and growing as a team. As we know they are not the team at the highest of highs or the team at their lowest of lows.....if they just find that consistent middle ground I think they can make anice late season push and hopefully get into the NIT if there is one. I still think to get this team to a perennial top 5-6 big east team CMA needs to recruit a little better, but I have a lot more confidence now than I did at the beginning of the year.

Lets hope they can carry this play and grow as a team heading into march for some very exciting basketball!

Guys weren’t wrong for saying we were playing bad. They were wrong for thinking it was anything more than just that.

 

[lawmanfan]

I hate when some fans are so self righteous when the team starts playing well, saying "shame on the fans who were outspoken against CMA!" Does this make you feel like more of a fan because you were loyal when most of us wanted to punch a hole through the tv while watching this team at the beginning of the year? The answer is no. Some of us were way more outspoken againt CMA and his shortocming at the beginning of this year and sharing our opinions does not make any of us less of a fan. I think most of us are going to have to get used to some frustrating play to start the seaosn while the team figures everytihng out defensively and offensively in this system. It takes a little while for them to gel every year. 


 

What tells you that they aren't fans is when they disappear when the team does well.  You don't have to think very hard to come up with some frequent posters who have been MIA for the last week or so. 

I have no problem with fans who are frustrated or fans who think we can do better or fans who have legitimate concerns or criticisms of the coach/team/program. 

But the ones who only show up when things aren't going well and who disappear when the team wins aren't fans, they're just trolls.  And it's a shame that they can only get joy in life by being trolls.

 

[logen]

I hate when some fans are so self righteous when the team starts playing well, saying "shame on the fans who were outspoken against CMA!" Does this make you feel like more of a fan because you were loyal when most of us wanted to punch a hole through the tv while watching this team at the beginning of the year? The answer is no. Some of us were way more outspoken againt CMA and his shortocming at the beginning of this year and sharing our opinions does not make any of us less of a fan. I think most of us are going to have to get used to some frustrating play to start the seaosn while the team figures everytihng out defensively and offensively in this system. It takes a little while for them to gel every year. 

This tram went from unwatchable to having me very pumped up for Villanova. I will say, I was wrong and happy to admit that I was about where I saw this team by the end of the year. They are reslly playing well and growing as a team. As we know they are not the team at the highest of highs or the team at their lowest of lows.....if they just find that consistent middle ground I think they can make anice late season push and hopefully get into the NIT if there is one. I still think to get this team to a perennial top 5-6 big east team CMA needs to recruit a little better, but I have a lot more confidence now than I did at the beginning of the year.

Lets hope they can carry this play and grow as a team heading into march for some very exciting basketball!


We all have our crosses to bear; me, I hate fans who profess to be coaches and then can't wait to bury another coach without giving him a fair amount of time to prove yea or nay but then are quick to jump on the bandwagon when it appears things are looking up; which I might add, still very much remains to be seen. I am optimistic and hopeful but also realistic, 5 or 6 games do not a program make. Anyway,  like I said, we all have our unique picadillos.
 

 

[Ray Morgan]

One thing I have learned is to not get too down after some losses and too high during a win streak. For teams in the middle or bottom of the league, many games will be decided by a few points. The ability to avoid mistakes and execute the plan decides these games. Or sometime it's just a bad bounce of the ball.

 

[lawmanfan]

 We all have our crosses to bear; me, I hate fans who profess to be coaches and then can't wait to bury another coach without giving him a fair amount of time to prove yea or nay but then are quick to jump on the bandwagon when it appears things are looking up; which I might add, still very much remains to be seen. I am optimistic and hopeful but also realistic, 5 or 6 games do not a program make. Anyway,  like I said, we all have our unique picadillos.
 

Definitely correct not to make too much of a couple of bad losses or a couple of good wins, and to look at the overall body of work. There are certainly some valid reasons for concern about Coach Anderson's tactical approach and perhaps about his recruiting. 

I am much less concerned about the latter than some here.  Partly because after all these years I figure it won't kill me to have a little more patience to let the man develop players over time and partly because I expect (or at least hope) that building a foundation of quality players can be a springboard to landing an exceptional recruit or two.  Though in fairness both Champagnie and Alexander are already either there or on the border of that.

As for the tactical approach, it's going to be awhile before we know how far that can take us in the Big East or how satisfied we are with that.  I'm an optimist on it, but I suppose that depends on your expectations.

But while 5-6 games do not a program make, you're too astute of a basketball man not to recognize the building of the program from last year to this year and the likely continuation to next year.  The arrow is pointing up.  Maybe not as fast or as high as some of us would prefer, but the progress is fairly undeniable, IMHO.

 

[JohnnyFan]

CMA High School Recruiting
2019:  Julian Champagnie
2020:  Posh Alexander
2021:  Rafeal Pinzon

Juian and Posh were not Top 100 recruits, but does anyone care now?  If CMA lands one impact player per year and brings in supporting casts like Wusu, Cole and Moore, it is a recipe for succeess. 

 

 

[billthetruth]

And the first two guys, along with 2-star Wusu outplayed McD All-American Garcia and 5-star Carton. The NBA is littered with former 3-star kids playing great basketball. It would shock a lot on this stite just how many 3-star kids are major contributors on NBA rosters 

 

[beast of the east]

CMA High School Recruiting
2019:  Julian Champagnie
2020:  Posh Alexander
2021:  Rafeal Pinzon

Juian and Posh were not Top 100 recruits, but does anyone care now?  If CMA lands one impact player per year and brings in supporting casts like Wusu, Cole and Moore, it is a recipe for succeess. 


 

I know that a little more work goes into ranking high school boys than the girls.   It's really just a subjective rating that is a guideline at best.   In baseball today, kids are evaluatied based on quantitative measurements that are unquestionable - bat speed, exit velocity on throws from the outfied, velocity off a mound, etc.   It's a lot easier to predict success at the college level based on those objective measures.   In basketball, it's more qualitative - how well guys performed at elite camps, on the AAU circuit, and in high school games.    Some highly regarded players will not perform well at a higher level, for any number of reasons.  Some overlooked players will become stars.    Some will improve with a lot of hard work, others will not.   There are certainly objective, non-measurable things things that a good eye can detect when recruiting a kid.

Both Julian and Posh by their play this season, have raised the ceiling on their own potential.   Wherever they land we are looking at two very good players who will hopefully be 4 year players for us.   For now, very enjoyable to watch both.

 

[usguard]

I am glad we are playing better,cudos to our players and staff. Hope that our season turns out better than we thought 
But let's be practical we have a long way to go.it's seems we have the right staff and are getting better players.but we have yet to accomplish being a top tier team in the BE . If we CAN GRAB afew top 50 players that sure would put us up there
Good luck to the team against nova,with some good shooting etc we could win
 

 

[QueensBall]

Is there a duo of underclassmen in the Big East you would prefer right now to Champagnie and Posh? Non-biased fans may prefer the sophmore duo of Moore and Robinson-Earl from Villanova but outside of those two...

The guys who make up the young core of this roster should serve as a reminder going forward that recruiting needs to be judged after we get to see the guys play for awhile not after the guys commit. Turns out Anderson has in fact recruited at least one stud in every class so far...

There are certainly valid criticisms about this and almost any staffs recruiting ability (we still appear to have been unable to land a Big East level force inside) but while I enjoy sharing analysis, doubts, excitment and concern about incoming recruits we should be careful about sweeping indictments of a coach's recruiting ability before we've gotten to see the team develop. This will also apply in the future when Anderson brings in a freshman who is lighting it up against his first 3 non-con cupcake opponents and some of the more positive posters here (hand raised) are ready to build Coach Anderson a statue.

 

[Knight]

I think it takes any Coach a while to learn the strengths and weaknesses of his players.  It appears that the players are closer to being on the same page as CMA, and thus are performing closer to his game plan.  We are now a quality opponent for any BE team and have a good chance of some postseason dancing.

 

[Sherman Sheridan & Grant]

I think it takes any Coach a while to learn the strengths and weaknesses of his players.  It appears that the players are closer to being on the same page as CMA, and thus are performing closer to his game plan.  We are now a quality opponent for any BE team and have a good chance of some postseason dancing.

Thank you Knight, Queens Ball and others
Anything worthwhile takes time.



 

[attachment=1874]5BAF8E76-B32D-4C9D-B534-4A3658C392CA_4_5005_c.jpeg[/attachment]