New Zach B. Article

Perceptive article by a keen sports journalist, sympathetic to SJUs future. Zach raises key issues that should be addressed and acted on after this season. I’m hoping Mullin has it in him to recognize he has to make adjustments to how he deals with his players. These kids need ‘some’ structure and much guidance. It would benefit both them and St. John’s.
 
Agree with what has been posted. Will add that it reads like a Redmen.compilation. I like Braziller and Vaccaro, they care about the program.
 
Chris is our coach . He is not dumb .he will learn from his mistakes . Get behind him , we will not get another coach who loves STJ more. I am tired of the revolving door. We only had success when we had coaches that were not afraid of their jobs such as Lou and Joe.
 
Agreed, legitimate observations and issues. And, a correct mention of optimism for next year. Hopefully, the addition of and Xs and Os guy, and the fresh troops and depth next year will make a big difference. Fingers crossed.
 
This is a "fair and balanced" article
Despite our record, the kids play hard every night and are generally very competitive
Several of the losses were due to foul problems and a lack of depth when starters get tired
Losing Lovett was a killer. We would have won several more games with him in the lineup
However, we all know that the makeup of the staff is badly flawed
Swap St Jean for a Mike Rice type, a guy with college experience
On the plus side, we have recruited fairly well and will have a decent crop of new players next season
Give Mullin a couple of years with a full roster and see what happens
If he can't turn things around in a couple of years, I would support a change in coaches
 
Staff change needs to take place quickly after season ends; bring on a strong Xs and Os guy who can also help Matt & Chris close on key 2019 recruits which are crucial to programs success going forward. Looking to get a win tonight at home and give the players some encouragement they richly deserve.
 
Honest article. If one did not actively follow redmen.com, that was the cliff notes version of what's been happening this season...
 
Not exactly what I want to wake up to in the morning but it was a solid accurate and balanced article
 
Pretty much what I've been saying for months this is all on Gempesaw and Oliva because they both think they know basketball.

Happy to see larger donors are holding back money until things are corrected.

Hopefully they both let Anton do his job this summer and do not interfere.
 
Everything comes down to next year. We have a big roster and a lot of guys who can play. We will be able to play the uptempo style we want to play without guys getting too tired, because we actually have reserves who can step in.

If we do not make the tournament next season I will jump ship on the whole Mullin experiment. That is just how I personally feel
 
At best, if everything went right this year, this was a bubble year - 9 or 10 wins at most in conference - low seed at large bid in the 9-12 range. 7 or 8 conference wins and an NIT bid, again if all went right and we didn't meet the higher expectations. With a razor thin bench, we had to avoid injuries. We lost our second best player, and after Lovett, there is a dropoff in talent. There is absolutely no one who was going to pick up the slack.

Our fans have got to calm it down... Zach is just stirring the pot and reading crap on redmen.com. His inside information is partially garbage. Williams wasn't meant to feel wanted enough? I spoke to Matt about Wiliams last year - he couldn't have been more expressive about how happy he was that Williams worked so hard to get through all the surgeries and was getting meaningful playing time. You would have thought the kid was his brother.

You can look at losing a million ways, and as fans we all want a quick fix and we want to place blame. Blame Lovett for not coming back. No, wait, blame his dad, who is pulling the strings. Blame Mullin for not recruiting a 10 deep team, with talented big men to rebound. Blame him for the three guys fouling out. Blame him for Yakwe trying to alter a three and fouling, and for Amar guarding too closely and fouling another three. Blame him for giving too much room on the game tying three.

I have this measure in sports. In crunch time, it's call the the Neil O'donnell litmus test. Remember Joe Montana in the Super Bowl, just before the drive culminating with a Dwight Clark come from behind game winning TD? In the huddle as the drive began, Montana was smiling, and slowly clapping his hands - telling his guys, come on boys, this is what we are here for. A leader. A winner. Neil O'Donnell on the other hand got to the Super Bowl, and unraveled. It was written all over his face - the enormity of the moment got to him. If you recall Saturdays game, there was one very late time out by St. John's as our lead dissipated, and as the kids approached Mullin in the huddle, he cracked a huge confident smile. "This is what we are here for boys." A leader. A winner. The Xs and Os stuff will improve. Taking the reigns of the team has already happened. Mullin will be here for year 4, and definitely year 5. Beyond that I don't know. I guess if you disagree, you can choose to follow another sport. I'll stick around though, because believe it or not, with these guys, this year, I like what I see, even if the results suck.
 
Paultzman and others , while some of the fandom on here have inexplicably gone to the Dark Side and abandoned Mullin and his Coaches , others of your opinion have remained faithful , to a large extent . Zach’s column addresses the poor results , which pains and frustrates us all, because our B.B. program has fallen so deeply in less than 20 Years. Let me make a few comments . First , absent the PC and DePaul games , our outmanned and outgunned team has been very competitive in every game . Some right down to the wire . So , those who want to put this Program into the Norm or , even Lavin category , are way off . Next ,a relatively amateur group of posters began the Mullin never Coaching chorus , even before Muliin’s Press Conference was over ! While the negativers have trumped this as a material fact for Under Achiviment , it has limited validity . Mullin and Richmond are HOF Players . Mullin has been a GM and Team Executive in the NBA for many years . He knows the game , if you dispute that , you are denying many credentials he has that are facts ! Mullin has played for and been around , Lou C, Don Nelson, Larry Bird, Mike Montgomery , Chuck Daley, and , numerous others . All with impeccable pedigrees . Even , if he was fast asleep , he would have absorbed some of the experience of those great Coaches as part of his resume . The CYO or Little League B.B. gurus on here are making way too much of Mullin not Coaching before . It’s ridiculous ! Would they have been happier if he had Coached as someone’s Assistant before he got this job , like Norm ? Norm worked for Self at Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas , did it help him ? Hah . Larry Bird , never Coached a game before taking the Pacers to the NBA finals . Neither did Mark Jackson before taking the Warriors job . Third, what is this site obsession with Mike Rice as the necessary x and o piece missing? Do we really want someone on our Staff Fired for abusive behavior against his players ? I think not ! Lastly , as Zach rightly mentions and quotes from a BE Opponent Coach , Mullin built this Year’s team around a 3 Guard Offense that featured Ponds , Simon and LoVett. All capable of bringing explosive offensive fire power to the game . Lovett’s injury and leaving the team and school , was a dagger of insurmountable adversity . Even with him , we were projected as a .500 team and a 9-9 Record . Owing to the Team’s weakness in not getting a bona fide Post Player as a Recruit or 5 th year Player . Maybe Mullin takes heat for that or , was it Matt A failing ? Team defections ? Freudenberg was a Lavin recruit , held onto by Mullin . He did not have any BE caliber skills . He would have never played . Willams helped last year as a sub , a role he might have played this year but, we had Clark coming in and besides , Williams was often injured and not able to complete a full season . His dismissal from Nevada, for whatever reasons , indicate maybe we were well rid of him ? Many of our naysayers hated Mussini and for reasons only they harbored , wanted him gone . Despite Mussini doing Yeoman service in Mullin’s first year , while playing out of position at PG . Last year with Ponds and LoVett here , he got major minutes as a off the bench catalyst and shot 42 percent from 3 Pt land . 51 for 156 or close to that . And, he was a major catalyst in several games , scoring double figures in more than a few games . Yes , it was likely he would have had his role shortened with Simon here but, impugning his heart and shooting ability is another amateur observation . Many liked to get on Mussini for the lack of his one on one defense . But, isn’t Ponds equally weak as a on ball defender ? I think Mussini ‘s shooting made up for a lot of his weaknesses . We sure could have used him after LoVett went down . I do believe , both Mullin and Richmond likely do a great job in practice as they coach these players . But, none of our players remotely has the full game skills of these 2 guys . Slice ? Does anyone really know the full story of his leaving so unceremoniously ? Was it his failure to get the 5 Star Recruit ? Was it a personality conflict ? And , was he really a x and o guy himself ? Was he that successful at Manhattan ? I don’t recall . So , despite all the losses , by all standards this team is not a joke but, more a team with dome roster weaknesses and a player injury that could not be overcome !
 
Player turnover is a big concern. Who else leaves after this season? Ahmed and AA are gone. Lovett? Who else? Agree that help is needed with new assistant coach(es). A real college coach would help.
 
Paultzman and others , while some of the fandom on here have inexplicably gone to the Dark Side and abandoned Mullin and his Coaches , others of your opinion have remained faithful , to a large extent . Zach’s column addresses the poor results , which pains and frustrates us all, because our B.B. program has fallen so deeply in less than 20 Years. Let me make a few comments . First , absent the PC and DePaul games , our outmanned and outgunned team has been very competitive in every game . Some right down to the wire . So , those who want to put this Program into the Norm or , even Lavin category , are way off . Next ,a relatively amateur group of posters began the Mullin never Coaching chorus , even before Muliin’s Press Conference was over ! While the negativers have trumped this as a material fact for Under Achiviment , it has limited validity . Mullin and Richmond are HOF Players . Mullin has been a GM and Team Executive in the NBA for many years . He knows the game , if you dispute that , you are denying many credentials he has that are facts ! Mullin has played for and been around , Lou C, Don Nelson, Larry Bird, Mike Montgomery , Chuck Daley, and , numerous others . All with impeccable pedigrees . Even , if he was fast asleep , he would have absorbed some of the experience of those great Coaches as part of his resume . The CYO or Little League B.B. gurus on here are making way too much of Mullin not Coaching before . It’s ridiculous ! Would they have been happier if he had Coached as someone’s Assistant before he got this job , like Norm ? Norm worked for Self at Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas , did it help him ? Hah . Larry Bird , never Coached a game before taking the Pacers to the NBA finals . Neither did Mark Jackson before taking the Warriors job . Third, what is this site obsession with Mike Rice as the necessary x and o piece missing? Do we really want someone on our Staff Fired for abusive behavior against his players ? I think not ! Lastly , as Zach rightly mentions and quotes from a BE Opponent Coach , Mullin built this Year’s team around a 3 Guard Offense that featured Ponds , Simon and LoVett. All capable of bringing explosive offensive fire power to the game . Lovett’s injury and leaving the team and school , was a dagger of insurmountable adversity . Even with him , we were projected as a .500 team and a 9-9 Record . Owing to the Team’s weakness in not getting a bona fide Post Player as a Recruit or 5 th year Player . Maybe Mullin takes heat for that or , was it Matt A failing ? Team defections ? Freudenberg was a Lavin recruit , held onto by Mullin . He did not have any BE caliber skills . He would have never played . Willams helped last year as a sub , a role he might have played this year but, we had Clark coming in and besides , Williams was often injured and not able to complete a full season . His dismissal from Nevada, for whatever reasons , indicate maybe we were well rid of him ? Many of our naysayers hated Mussini and for reasons only they harbored , wanted him gone . Despite Mussini doing Yeoman service in Mullin’s first year , while playing out of position at PG . Last year with Ponds and LoVett here , he got major minutes as a off the bench catalyst and shot 42 percent from 3 Pt land . 51 for 156 or close to that . And, he was a major catalyst in several games , scoring double figures in more than a few games . Yes , it was likely he would have had his role shortened with Simon here but, impugning his heart and shooting ability is another amateur observation . Many liked to get on Mussini for the lack of his one on one defense . But, isn’t Ponds equally weak as a on ball defender ? I think Mussini ‘s shooting made up for a lot of his weaknesses . We sure could have used him after LoVett went down . I do believe , both Mullin and Richmond likely do a great job in practice as they coach these players . But, none of our players remotely has the full game skills of these 2 guys . Slice ? Does anyone really know the full story of his leaving so unceremoniously ? Was it his failure to get the 5 Star Recruit ? Was it a personality conflict ? And , was he really a x and o guy himself ? Was he that successful at Manhattan ? I don’t recall . So , despite all the losses , by all standards this team is not a joke but, more a team with dome roster weaknesses and a player injury that could not be overcome !
Click to expand...
and the 2018 redmen.com award for longest non use of paragraphs goes to Slyfoxx1968 ?
 
A couple of yrs is too long. After next yr if he does not produce a winning season and goes to the NCAA he should be finished
 
Paultzman and others , while some of the fandom on here have inexplicably gone to the Dark Side and abandoned Mullin and his Coaches , others of your opinion have remained faithful , to a large extent . Zach’s column addresses the poor results , which pains and frustrates us all, because our B.B. program has fallen so deeply in less than 20 Years. Let me make a few comments . First , absent the PC and DePaul games , our outmanned and outgunned team has been very competitive in every game . Some right down to the wire . So , those who want to put this Program into the Norm or , even Lavin category , are way off . Next ,a relatively amateur group of posters began the Mullin never Coaching chorus , even before Muliin’s Press Conference was over ! While the negativers have trumped this as a material fact for Under Achiviment , it has limited validity . Mullin and Richmond are HOF Players . Mullin has been a GM and Team Executive in the NBA for many years . He knows the game , if you dispute that , you are denying many credentials he has that are facts ! Mullin has played for and been around , Lou C, Don Nelson, Larry Bird, Mike Montgomery , Chuck Daley, and , numerous others . All with impeccable pedigrees . Even , if he was fast asleep , he would have absorbed some of the experience of those great Coaches as part of his resume . The CYO or Little League B.B. gurus on here are making way too much of Mullin not Coaching before . It’s ridiculous ! Would they have been happier if he had Coached as someone’s Assistant before he got this job , like Norm ? Norm worked for Self at Tulsa, Illinois and Kansas , did it help him ? Hah . Larry Bird , never Coached a game before taking the Pacers to the NBA finals . Neither did Mark Jackson before taking the Warriors job . Third, what is this site obsession with Mike Rice as the necessary x and o piece missing? Do we really want someone on our Staff Fired for abusive behavior against his players ? I think not ! Lastly , as Zach rightly mentions and quotes from a BE Opponent Coach , Mullin built this Year’s team around a 3 Guard Offense that featured Ponds , Simon and LoVett. All capable of bringing explosive offensive fire power to the game . Lovett’s injury and leaving the team and school , was a dagger of insurmountable adversity . Even with him , we were projected as a .500 team and a 9-9 Record . Owing to the Team’s weakness in not getting a bona fide Post Player as a Recruit or 5 th year Player . Maybe Mullin takes heat for that or , was it Matt A failing ? Team defections ? Freudenberg was a Lavin recruit , held onto by Mullin . He did not have any BE caliber skills . He would have never played . Willams helped last year as a sub , a role he might have played this year but, we had Clark coming in and besides , Williams was often injured and not able to complete a full season . His dismissal from Nevada, for whatever reasons , indicate maybe we were well rid of him ? Many of our naysayers hated Mussini and for reasons only they harbored , wanted him gone . Despite Mussini doing Yeoman service in Mullin’s first year , while playing out of position at PG . Last year with Ponds and LoVett here , he got major minutes as a off the bench catalyst and shot 42 percent from 3 Pt land . 51 for 156 or close to that . And, he was a major catalyst in several games , scoring double figures in more than a few games . Yes , it was likely he would have had his role shortened with Simon here but, impugning his heart and shooting ability is another amateur observation . Many liked to get on Mussini for the lack of his one on one defense . But, isn’t Ponds equally weak as a on ball defender ? I think Mussini ‘s shooting made up for a lot of his weaknesses . We sure could have used him after LoVett went down . I do believe , both Mullin and Richmond likely do a great job in practice as they coach these players . But, none of our players remotely has the full game skills of these 2 guys . Slice ? Does anyone really know the full story of his leaving so unceremoniously ? Was it his failure to get the 5 Star Recruit ? Was it a personality conflict ? And , was he really a x and o guy himself ? Was he that successful at Manhattan ? I don’t recall . So , despite all the losses , by all standards this team is not a joke but, more a team with dome roster weaknesses and a player injury that could not be overcome !
Click to expand...

For me, I never liked the idea of hiring a legend like Chris with no coaching experience. I preferred a seasoned "gym rat", but who knows how that would have worked out. I also did not want to see a bad outcome on this hire, since Chris is the greatest player in our history.

I now worry obviously that CM may not get it done, but losing LoVett was a dagger this year. That said, Matt & Chris deserve some heat for entering the season with such a short roster. Maybe I am getting more patient in my old age, but to me the rubber meets the road next year. The thought of canning Mullin now is not happening and would only support a notion that the program is a perpetual mess not worth saving.

No magic bullet here, but I hope he does hire an assistant with some college coaching experience, keeps key players and recruits, adds a few pieces and gives it a go in 18-19. If SJU flops next year, I am sure CM will see the big picture. Regrettably, I have little confidence the "powers to be" could come up with a good hire. Perhaps Goff would surprise us, but for now let's beat Creighton.
 
Freudenberg was not a Lavin recruit.
Mussini and Lovett were.

I think fans who are not in love with Mullin since the start have noticed how many times this has failed - Clyde Drexler and Eddie Jordan.

Also, the school did not do a solid search. In the beginning of Lavin's final year Mullin was already rumored to be taking over the final year. That was a reason Lavin had trouble recruiting because a lot of people knew this was happening.
 
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