Next Coach?

[Class of 72]

To me the big question is what do you do if we don't make the tourney but Diallo commits?
To me not enough to warrant any kind of extension, but would complicate things

we are the third team in line....not looking good there

Keeping Obekpa is much more important than getting an offensively challenged player whose camp thinks he is a one and done. Adonis will be qualified and getting a Euro big would be huge.

'72 you've been a pleasure to read as of late.
Prozac?

You just never appreciated my sense of humor before but I have matured since retiring and I have tried to keep it objective where misinformation is promulgated. After all, I received enough warnings from mods, you included, to write a how to get banned handbook. My wife thinks I should be on some Psychotic drugs when she reads this forum and has encouraged me to be nicer. I can't guarantee that I will not have a mental break with this program but so far I am doing a better job of relaxing after a loss and even Lavin's dress code doesn't bother me any more.

 

[mjmaherjr]

To me the big question is what do you do if we don't make the tourney but Diallo commits?
To me not enough to warrant any kind of extension, but would complicate things

we are the third team in line....not looking good there

Keeping Obekpa is much more important than getting an offensively challenged player whose camp thinks he is a one and done. Adonis will be qualified and getting a Euro big would be huge.

'72 you've been a pleasure to read as of late.
Prozac?

+1111111111111111 actually I think 72 has been pretty insightful lately too even though some of the pics he has put up have scarred me for life

 

[Class of 72]

To me the big question is what do you do if we don't make the tourney but Diallo commits?
To me not enough to warrant any kind of extension, but would complicate things

we are the third team in line....not looking good there

Keeping Obekpa is much more important than getting an offensively challenged player whose camp thinks he is a one and done. Adonis will be qualified and getting a Euro big would be huge.

'72 you've been a pleasure to read as of late.
Prozac?

+1111111111111111 actually I think 72 has been pretty insightful lately too even though some of the pics he has put up have scarred me for life

I am a changed man! I was ordered by my doctor to ride a bike for exercise and always wear my redmen colors when I do!!!


 

[/quote]l

 

[JacStorm]

There ought to be a button for specifically thanking someone for making me laugh.

Thank you Tom & 72!!

…although I think seeing that pic has ruined the enjoyment i'm about to have in a fine dinner….

 

[frank61]

This board has been wild lately. Much better than any of the late night talk shows. We have some very funny people on here. Sometimes I catch myself laughing loudly. Keep up the good work guys!

 

[panther2]

I am confused, we are 19-9, 8-7 in the Big East, and some people spend more time worrying about the next coach and not complimenting the team or the current staff on how well they have been playing recently. We have won 5 out of out last 6 games.
Some posters seem fixated on getting rid of Lavin regardless of how the team performs. It is funny reading posts about how players on the team have improved but not wanting to credit Lavin and his staff for that improvement. It is almost as if it is personal with some posters. I wish we had done better the last couple of years, but I can be objective as I watch this year's team play. Some poster even said that getting to the NCAA tourney is not enough because Lavin has not made made the tourney since 2011.
I also have a hard time believing those who say they root hard for the team to win but want Lavin gone. That is totally nonsensical because if the team wins, Lavin is not going anywhere. It is amazing that some of these so called fans have nothing to say after a good win, but let us lose and all hell breaks loose.
Personally, I am going to root as hard as I can and support the staff and players. "Let's Go Redmen !!!!

 

[TonyinFairfield]

Those who want Lavin fired and find this discussion with some for and some against, drop it now. If we lose to Gtown and Nova, all the haters will log on and overwhelm the board - bet on it.

Beast,

How do you think the team will be next year?

Avon,
I will seriously let the dust settle and see who is coming in, see who is eligible, so who isn't leaving, etc. Honestly I've never once worried about next season until we get the balls out for practice. I can appreciate you looking ahead, but all the speculation of Obekpa/Jordan being gone, blah, blah , blah - I just don't care at this point. You never ever fire a guy based on what next year will look like IMO. Who knows, Keady might have a year of eligibility left and play center.

I think this is where a lot of posters get lost - this isnt pro sports where its a GM who makes the personnel decisions and the coach who coaches the team and each is responsible for their part.

And when the GM fails like, say Mike Tannenbaum did, you can fire him but keep Rex Ryan to coach.

In college, the coach is responsible for the whole show.

1. Coaching it is very, very debatable that he has underachieved with the talent on the team. NCAAs likely this year- GREAT! how about last year when there was arguably more talent in a worse league? or two years ago when you lost the last 6 BE games to lose an NCAA birth? Even this year, its very arguable that this team should be better off than they currently are.

2. Constructing the team- whats next years roster looking like? What recruits are coming in to replace the enormous losses of Harrison and Pointer as star players and Branch as an important role player?

These are things that should be evaluated, not just a 5/6 win streak where we have beaten Creighton Depaul and the Hall amongst our opponents....

Sorry Avon, but I get lost when posters focus on the past and commiserate over what should have been. Or worse, focus on the future, for which we have no control over what will happen.

I prefer to focus on the here and now; specifically Saturday's game. After our last game of the season, I will assess the kind of season we have had and which recruits are coming in, then, and only then, will I have a better opinion of Lavin's tenure here.

 

[tom in salem]

To me the big question is what do you do if we don't make the tourney but Diallo commits?
To me not enough to warrant any kind of extension, but would complicate things

we are the third team in line....not looking good there

Keeping Obekpa is much more important than getting an offensively challenged player whose camp thinks he is a one and done. Adonis will be qualified and getting a Euro big would be huge.

'72 you've been a pleasure to read as of late.
Prozac?

+1111111111111111 actually I think 72 has been pretty insightful lately too even though some of the pics he has put up have scarred me for life

Thanks for the positive karma Mike, but albano is to me as otis was to paultzman.
It's down a ton, but it's been fun watching it.

 

[austour]

Never really looked but I bet my karma is just fine . . . . hey, who's been messing with my karma.

 

[redken]

Never really looked but I bet my karma is just fine . . . . hey, who's been messing with my karma.

Geez, austor, minus 515! How the hell did you amass a negative number like that? You're, like, toxic.

 

[mjmaherjr]

To me the big question is what do you do if we don't make the tourney but Diallo commits?
To me not enough to warrant any kind of extension, but would complicate things

we are the third team in line....not looking good there

Keeping Obekpa is much more important than getting an offensively challenged player whose camp thinks he is a one and done. Adonis will be qualified and getting a Euro big would be huge.

'72 you've been a pleasure to read as of late.
Prozac?

+1111111111111111 actually I think 72 has been pretty insightful lately too even though some of the pics he has put up have scarred me for life

Thanks for the positive karma Mike, but albano is to me as otis was to paultzman.
.

Who is this Paultzman you speak of ?

You mean

?

 

[Amaseinyourface]

Buffalo's rpi is 40 right behind STJ at 39.

and.....are you suggesting that UB is just as good as us and that Bobby Hurley is a better coach then Lav? I think its all ridiculous and again, lets wait until the season is over before anyone fires the guy. One question though, if anyone asked you if you'd be happy with the Johnnies at 19-9 with 3 games remaining before the BE tourney at the start of the season, I bet MOST of us would say sure. Anything can happen in the Dance and we will be there! These kids are right there, lets support the team and LAV now, you have all off season to tear down any walls.
Go Johnnies!!!!!

At the start of the season, the only thing any fan was willing to accept was at least a win or two in the NCAA's. One bid and 0 wins every four years is not acceptable. There is a very strong chance that next year's class will be underwhelming. Unless Lav performs an 11th hour miracle (and why he only has two commits so far is mind-boggling), there is a very good chance SJU will miss the NCAA's the next couple of years.

Dom's game has grown beautifully, and I wish the seniors all the best. But don't confuse this recent streak for anything close to a sustainable program.

Well put. I don't want to take away anything from the players on the court...I love the energy we've been seeing, and the emergence of Dom and Jordan. I would love to see this team not only make the tournament, but win at least one game. They deserve that feeling of accomplishment. Lav's body of work has not assured him of anything. His top accomplishments are a few scattered win streaks like the one we are in now. Our current win streak includes Xavier, Depaul, Seton Hall and Creighton. Last years Feb win streak included similar teams, but with one marquee win against #12 Creighton. One Big East Tournament Win, One NIT win, in four years. That's his 2 million a year resume. That's simply not good enough.

Dont chalk him up as nothing either. 1 tourney, 2 nits in 4 years at school who hasnt done anything worth mention for 10+years.

In the five years Lavin has been here we have won 11 games against this group of schools;
Cuse, Duke, nova, gtown, uconn, marquette

In the five years previous to lavin we had 5 combined wins.

Trust me im far from a lavin lover but he hasn't failed here imo. Due to his instant success, the expectations just rose too high. This group he has had now has improved their record every year. Maybe the volatile feel of the program was more a function of starting from scratch and maybe this next cycle will improve.

Gets to the tourney this year then no way he gets canned.

 

[Russ2374]

Last year there were 2 threads titled something like "Dom or no Dom" and "pack your bags Pointer." In retrospect those threads and some of the replies look absolutely absurd today. I'd be embarrassed had I made some of those comments with the way Dom has performed this year. He's proven all of you wrong and really made you look quite foolish.

I hope this thread is looked at in a similar way next month. I hope people will realize how absurd it was to waste time talking about the next coach in the middle of an NCAA race with one of the best St John's teams we've had in years.

 

[Knight]

Any chance we can bring this group back for an oncore? By heart does not skip a beat with thoughts of next year's team. Who will we have?

 

[monte]

Buffalo's rpi is 40 right behind STJ at 39.

and.....are you suggesting that UB is just as good as us and that Bobby Hurley is a better coach then Lav? I think its all ridiculous and again, lets wait until the season is over before anyone fires the guy. One question though, if anyone asked you if you'd be happy with the Johnnies at 19-9 with 3 games remaining before the BE tourney at the start of the season, I bet MOST of us would say sure. Anything can happen in the Dance and we will be there! These kids are right there, lets support the team and LAV now, you have all off season to tear down any walls.
Go Johnnies!!!!!

At the start of the season, the only thing any fan was willing to accept was at least a win or two in the NCAA's. One bid and 0 wins every four years is not acceptable. There is a very strong chance that next year's class will be underwhelming. Unless Lav performs an 11th hour miracle (and why he only has two commits so far is mind-boggling), there is a very good chance SJU will miss the NCAA's the next couple of years.

Dom's game has grown beautifully, and I wish the seniors all the best. But don't confuse this recent streak for anything close to a sustainable program.

Well put. I don't want to take away anything from the players on the court...I love the energy we've been seeing, and the emergence of Dom and Jordan. I would love to see this team not only make the tournament, but win at least one game. They deserve that feeling of accomplishment. Lav's body of work has not assured him of anything. His top accomplishments are a few scattered win streaks like the one we are in now. Our current win streak includes Xavier, Depaul, Seton Hall and Creighton. Last years Feb win streak included similar teams, but with one marquee win against #12 Creighton. One Big East Tournament Win, One NIT win, in four years. That's his 2 million a year resume. That's simply not good enough.

Dont chalk him up as nothing either. 1 tourney, 2 nits in 4 years at school who hasnt done anything worth mention for 10+years.

In the five years Lavin has been here we have won 11 games against this group of schools;
Cuse, Duke, nova, gtown, uconn, marquette

In the five years previous to lavin we had 5 combined wins.

Trust me im far from a lavin lover but he hasn't failed here imo. Due to his instant success, the expectations just rose too high. This group he has had now has improved their record every year. Maybe the volatile feel of the program was more a function of starting from scratch and maybe this next cycle will improve.

Gets to the tourney this year then no way he gets canned.

At the end of the day, the people who are paying him are the ultimately the ones who decide if he has succeeded or failed here. I have said all along, and I continue to say, that he should neither be fired nor extended this year, regardless of what happens. Lets see how we finish out the year and what kind of team he puts on the floor next year. There's really no need to rush that decision at this point. But for cryin out loud can we please stop comparing Lavin's tenure here to that of his predecessor? Norm is not the gage by which most reasonable SJU fans wish to judge Lavin. Only the apologists wish to do that.

 

[TonyinFairfield]

Buffalo's rpi is 40 right behind STJ at 39.

and.....are you suggesting that UB is just as good as us and that Bobby Hurley is a better coach then Lav? I think its all ridiculous and again, lets wait until the season is over before anyone fires the guy. One question though, if anyone asked you if you'd be happy with the Johnnies at 19-9 with 3 games remaining before the BE tourney at the start of the season, I bet MOST of us would say sure. Anything can happen in the Dance and we will be there! These kids are right there, lets support the team and LAV now, you have all off season to tear down any walls.
Go Johnnies!!!!!

At the start of the season, the only thing any fan was willing to accept was at least a win or two in the NCAA's. One bid and 0 wins every four years is not acceptable. There is a very strong chance that next year's class will be underwhelming. Unless Lav performs an 11th hour miracle (and why he only has two commits so far is mind-boggling), there is a very good chance SJU will miss the NCAA's the next couple of years.

Dom's game has grown beautifully, and I wish the seniors all the best. But don't confuse this recent streak for anything close to a sustainable program.

Well put. I don't want to take away anything from the players on the court...I love the energy we've been seeing, and the emergence of Dom and Jordan. I would love to see this team not only make the tournament, but win at least one game. They deserve that feeling of accomplishment. Lav's body of work has not assured him of anything. His top accomplishments are a few scattered win streaks like the one we are in now. Our current win streak includes Xavier, Depaul, Seton Hall and Creighton. Last years Feb win streak included similar teams, but with one marquee win against #12 Creighton. One Big East Tournament Win, One NIT win, in four years. That's his 2 million a year resume. That's simply not good enough.

Dont chalk him up as nothing either. 1 tourney, 2 nits in 4 years at school who hasnt done anything worth mention for 10+years.

In the five years Lavin has been here we have won 11 games against this group of schools;
Cuse, Duke, nova, gtown, uconn, marquette

In the five years previous to lavin we had 5 combined wins.

Trust me im far from a lavin lover but he hasn't failed here imo. Due to his instant success, the expectations just rose too high. This group he has had now has improved their record every year. Maybe the volatile feel of the program was more a function of starting from scratch and maybe this next cycle will improve.

Gets to the tourney this year then no way he gets canned.

At the end of the day, the people who are paying him are the ultimately the ones who decide if he has succeeded or failed here. I have said all along, and I continue to say, that he should neither be fired nor extended this year, regardless of what happens. Lets see how we finish out the year and what kind of team he puts on the floor next year. There's really no need to rush that decision at this point. But for cryin out loud can we please stop comparing Lavin's tenure here to that of his predecessor? Norm is not the gage by which most reasonable SJU fans wish to judge Lavin. Only the apologists wish to do that.

I have to say that saying that we should not compare Lavin's tenure to Norm's is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Who do you want to compare Lavin's tenure to? Coach K? Jim Calhoun? Jimmy Boeheim? Of course it's fair to compare Lavin's tenure to Norm's! For all the obvious reasons. They both coached here is the most blatant one. It's only the Lavin haters who do not want to do that, because when you do compare Lavin's tenure to Norm's the differences are glaring. And in Lavin's favor.

 

[ADORAZ]

If we make the tournament that would mean...

5 years
2 NCAA
2 NIT

That really isn't bad and something to build off. The issue too is we really need recruits for next year and he would probably bring in the best at this point.

If we make the tournament, resign him for another 4 year cycle.

It's absolutely vital to make it this year though. If we don't I think his recruiting will take a hit and the fan support will be awful. He's the team leader and he needs to prove they can win.

 

[beast of the east]

Loved Chaney.
He knew calipari was a scum bag 20 years ago.

the same way some would here compare Villanova to ISIS (LOL) - because just like Nova does to SJU, UMass did to Temple - it was the men against the boys...so i suppose we can just name call when we realize we arent on that level, right? :cheer:

We play nova tough everytime, hardly men amongst boys, just haven't been able to get over the hump. Hope we do next Saturday and if not in the BET

we are 1-14 last 15 vs Nova....we are their bitch

Well since I've become a fan we've smacked them at the Wells Fargo center, lost in 3OT DLos freshmen year, lost in OT his sophmore year, lost two close games last year, and this year was a close game until late. So I guess from my perspective it hasn't been as bad as you see it

By your count then they are 1-5 since you have been a fan. And they lost first game by 20 this year, not sure how that would be classified as close. I do admire your rose covered glasses though

You guys don't give up. We are on the verge of an NCAA bid and you want to point out everything wrong, as if you have some special gifted insight. Yes, Villanova is a better program than ours right now. Yes, they have one of the most highly regarded coaches in the country.

For your edification, I kind of know Jay Wright, at least I've met him and chatted with him on multiple occasions. I have a friend who is good friends with Jay. During Jay's 5th season, in a phone conversation he told Wright, "You'd better get your program in gear or you will be looking for a job." Too bad you weren't a Nova fan then so you could have bashed Wright and their program continually.

 

[paultzman]

Have not been a Lavin fan for a long time, but am enjoying this year immensely. I think we have exhausted the list of his foibles, made a million or so comparisons to other coaches & developed every conspiracy theory available to man. Can we just enjoy the season rather than have a "redundancy fest"? If he flops going down the stretch, so be it. If team dances & perhaps wins a game, appreciate it. Then just let the powers to be determine his fate. It may be cathartic for some to rail about SL incessantly, but such expressions don't move the needle one way or the other.

 

[beast of the east]

Have not been a Lavin fan for a long time, but am enjoying this year immensely. I think we have exhausted the list of his foibles, made a million or so comparisons to other coaches & developed every conspiracy theory available to man. Can we just enjoy the season rather than have a "redundancy fest"? If he flops going down the stretch, so be it. If team dances & perhaps wins a game, appreciate it. Then just let the powers to be determine his fate. It may be cathartic for some to rail about SL incessantly, but such expressions don't move the needle one way or the other.

Exactly my sentiment from game 1.