(POST-GAME) @Butler, Sat. Jan. 19, 4:30pm, FOX / 570AM

[quote="Enright" post=316451]When Mullin took over the program was on life support and no one can argue the recruiting of transfers Clark and Simon. The absence of any big man on the roster justifies the transfer of Kieta. I'll assume the potential of Wright and the thinking that Dixon would be here for the season can justify Wright's recruitment but the recruitment of Caraher is a head scratcher.
Is his talents worth going this season with such a short bench? SJU has a solid starting five but a major drop off when substituting. SJU seems to have a problem getting up for every game and playing hard for forty minutes. Some of this attitude can be attributed to the lack of competition for minutes. It is very difficult for Mullin to sit a starter for lack of effort with Trimble being sixth man.
I don't know what the staff expects out of Wright and Caraher but they certainly could have used a more talented bench this year. Keep hoping for no sprained ankles or bad backs.[/quote]

Mullin took over a program on life support? OK...I've heard it all now.

If that's the case Norm Robert's took over a program on the verge of the death penalty....
 
[quote="Ray Morgan" post=316448]I understand that you have to take the good with the bad with Ponds' shot selection. He makes an "oh no" shot most games. But deep into his third season under the same staff, I'm not sure why those 30 foot shots early in the shot clock with no one under the basket still fly here.Another one or 2 last night. In a game that came down to a few possessions.[/quote]

Rarely do we have anyone under the basket when we take a 3 point shot. I suppose this is partly due to positionless basketball which I hate!
 
[quote="MarkRedman" post=316435]A few random thoughts:

1. The T on LJ was the pivotal play of the game. Despite our poor play for much of the game, we had momentum clearly going our way and had a legitimate chance to pull it out. LJ was a major contributor in the 2nd half. Losing him for the rest of the game killed us and our chances to complete the comeback.
2. We were lethargic for most of the game. Butler played with a lot more energy and purpose. Everyone knew about our lack of success at Hinkle in recent years. We should have been sky high for this game. There are no excuses for the poor effort. I put that on the players and coaches.
3. We have no bench. Keita doesn't have a lot of experience, he hardly played during his freshman year at SC and is probably playing hurt right now. Trimble tries hard but is a very limited player at this level. He is a guard who we are expecting to guard and rebound against bigger forwards. Good luck with that. Williams has potential but isn't ready for the big stage right now. So we are basically five deep.
4. The switching on every pass is a lazy and often ineffective way to play defense. We often end up with one of our little guys on a huge guy and get killed when the opponent throws the ball inside. Or we get hurt when one of our bigs ends up trying to guard a little guy who blows right by him. It either makes for easy baskets for our opponent or forces us to foul a lot.
5. The excuse that we are Transfer U is bogus IMO. It has worked out extremely well for other programs in the past. Iowa State and New Mexico State are two that immediately come to mind. They both depend heavily on transfers and make the NCAA tournament on a regular basis. It's just a lame (and convenient) excuse when we lose.
6. The season is far from over. .We played very well against Creighton a few days ago and the general consensus on this site was that things were great. It's one loss. It's not easy to win on the road in the Big East. Yes, this team has flaws But every other team in this league was flaws as well. Get behind these kids. If we can hold serve at home and pull a few out on the road, we'll be just fine.Please don't jump off the ledge because of one poor effort.There is still a lot of basketball left and a lot to play for.

WE ARE...............ST JOHN'S!!![/quote]

I agree about the switching on every pass on defense. It creates to many mismatches for us on defense and we don’t have the bench to compensate for the fouls that switching causes.
 
[quote="Enright" post=316451]When Mullin took over the program was on life support and no one can argue the recruiting of transfers Clark and Simon. The absence of any big man on the roster justifies the transfer of Kieta. I'll assume the potential of Wright and the thinking that Dixon would be here for the season can justify Wright's recruitment but the recruitment of Caraher is a head scratcher.
Is his talents worth going this season with such a short bench? SJU has a solid starting five but a major drop off when substituting. SJU seems to have a problem getting up for every game and playing hard for forty minutes. Some of this attitude can be attributed to the lack of competition for minutes. It is very difficult for Mullin to sit a starter for lack of effort with Trimble being sixth man.
I don't know what the staff expects out of Wright and Caraher but they certainly could have used a more talented bench this year. Keep hoping for no sprained ankles or bad backs.[/quote]

Considering this is year 4, the depth on this team is pathetic. Let's put aside Dixon for a second, who pulled a perplexing and selfish move in my opinion. You lose 2 spots bringing in Caraher and Wright. Already, we are down to 10 scholarship players. Putting it nicely, Roberts and Earlington are both major prospects. My personal opinion? Neither of them should be on the St. John's roster. So we are down to 8. I don't go to practices, so I assume there's a reason Mullin doesn't feel confident going with Williams yet. But I think most would agree the talent is there and I'm looking forward to how he progresses. Trimble? My assumption is he will transfer after this season cause there is no way he is a Big East player. I get it, he plays hard on defense. But talk about no offensive ability whatsoever. As for Keita, he's just there for his height. I had much higher expectations for him, but based on what I've seen he's a backup PF/C on most teams.

Again, if this was year 1 or year 2, I'd be more understanding. But this is way, way too late in his tenure to just overlook the fact the team has no depth every season. Either learn to put a roster together or get the hell out.
 
[quote="SLYFOXX1968" post=316453]We all like what Simon brings to this team, EXCEPT , he misses 4 or 5 shots rolling off the Rim every game . These are shots that can be the difference between winning and losing . Opponents in the BE know he has little outside game and force him to drive , nearly all the time . He can get to the Rim on anybody but, doesn’t finish nearly enough . It’s costly . And ,late in game , he should never have the ball outside the key . He isn’t a good foul shooter either . When Ponds doesn’t score close to 30 , no one has really stepped up . Maybe the Game Plan
Should be , let Ponds shoot first and pass second and forget trying to get other guys into the game early . Let’s put the Season on the line with Ponds at the controls . His scoring is what drives the Tesm , let the others follow his misss and get themselves in a space where they can score . Simon can’t shoot ,,Clark is streaky . Heron need to limit his drives to the rim. His handle causes turnovers way too much . He needs to pull up and shoot the 6 footer . Figgy doesn’t get anything run for him and that needs to change . He did not have a good game yesterday but, he never gives up . His Floater was off yesterday , usually he never misses . The loss yesterday , in my opinion , was not the Coaches . Our Core 5 did not play well .[/quote]

Have to disagree. Our 2 worst efforts were against Butler and Depaul. Also our 2 lowest assist totals of the season. Ball movement is essential. That's what gets open looks. One problem I see is that we get punched in the mouth, and we revert to the bad habits of one on one basketball. We have multiple scoring threats, and that's our strength. Have to play team ball.
 
[quote="MarkRedman" post=316443][quote="RedStormNC" post=316438]Very good teams find ways to win on the road. We are 19 games in and are not a very good team. Our OOC record is misleading. Our Big East record tells us who we are.

Talented but under achieving starting 5
Only one of them plays consistently hard & heady (LJ)
No bench which is on Mullin

I can't see how we do better than 9-9 and that will be a stretch, including more draining and head scratching losses like yesterday.

If Mullin cannot get this team to NCAA, we are screwed, as his future will be in jeopardy and he'll be lame duck coach that will make recruiting non existent. Cragg may not want that so who knows about year 5 or 6.

This game killed what should be an enjoyable weekend.

Step up boys....[/quote]


If Mullin can't get this group to the NCAA's, I sincerely doubt that he ever will[/quote]

If he fails with this team, he should be fired immediately after the season. Not impressed with what I'm seeing from him.
 
[quote="Jack Williams" post=316249][quote="Paultzman" post=316247]Kamar Baldwin had 30 on 18 shots. Ponds went for 20 on 19 shots.[/quote]

Was disappointed with how it seemed like we didn’t even know Baldwin is their guy. It’s the one thing everyone knows about Butler. We’ve done great jobs on Howard, Powell this year cause you could tell stopping them was a huge part of the gameplan. We didn’t really seem ready for Baldwin[/quote]


It's called MISMATCH. How long do we continue to allow our guards to switch and have to guard a McDermott and Brunk underneath thus leaving Keita and or Clark outside with the likes of Baldwin. Just watch the Virginia Cavaliers. Their guards are able to go in front of the picks and stay with their man. We always switch and our big men don't get back to guarding their man.
 
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Thought we were once again lackadaisical in the first half.
Where were the fast breaks?
Did we scout Butler? Did we not see Tucker shoot the three in his previous game? Did we not know Baldwin is their best player? What we all do know is we continue to have a porous three point defense as evidenced by Butler's 44%.
How did Simon leave Tucker alone in the corner while he sloughed into the middle?
Butler had 6 fouls with 7 plus minutes left in first half and 6 fouls with 9 plus minutes remaining in the second half yet we failed to take advantage by driving to the basket.
Ponds has to get started earlier in the game.
 
20-10 (8-10) is what I expect at this point. Not good enough for tourney. I would be hopeful for the BET, but this team just cannot get any consistency and we have a long history of bowing out early in the BET. Really got fooled again and thought this year would be different. I'm going to have to start treating SJ like the Mets. Don't ever buy the hype, just assume the worst and hope for best. This way it's not as disappointing. This is not the ACC, these are beatable teams we consistently lose to. Down year for conference and we still can't break through even with this roster speaks volumes.
 
[quote="JackofVirginia" post=316465][quote="Jack Williams" post=316249][quote="Paultzman" post=316247]Kamar Baldwin had 30 on 18 shots. Ponds went for 20 on 19 shots.[/quote]

Was disappointed with how it seemed like we didn’t even know Baldwin is their guy. It’s the one thing everyone knows about Butler. We’ve done great jobs on Howard, Powell this year cause you could tell stopping them was a huge part of the gameplan. We didn’t really seem ready for Baldwin[/quote]


It's called MISMATCH. How long do we continue to allow our guards to switch and have to guard a McDermott and Brunk underneath thus leaving Keita and or Clark outside with the likes of Baldwin. Just watch the Virginia Cavaliers. Their guards are able to go in front of the picks and stay with their man. We always switch and our big men don't get back to guarding their man.[/quote]

If this team was well coached, we very well could be looking at a 19-0 record. This team has the talent where losing should not be accepted. Need to pick it up immediately.
 
[quote="DoodyNY33" post=316462][quote="Enright" post=316451]When Mullin took over the program was on life support and no one can argue the recruiting of transfers Clark and Simon. The absence of any big man on the roster justifies the transfer of Kieta. I'll assume the potential of Wright and the thinking that Dixon would be here for the season can justify Wright's recruitment but the recruitment of Caraher is a head scratcher.
Is his talents worth going this season with such a short bench? SJU has a solid starting five but a major drop off when substituting. SJU seems to have a problem getting up for every game and playing hard for forty minutes. Some of this attitude can be attributed to the lack of competition for minutes. It is very difficult for Mullin to sit a starter for lack of effort with Trimble being sixth man.
I don't know what the staff expects out of Wright and Caraher but they certainly could have used a more talented bench this year. Keep hoping for no sprained ankles or bad backs.[/quote]

Considering this is year 4, the depth on this team is pathetic. Let's put aside Dixon for a second, who pulled a perplexing and selfish move in my opinion. You lose 2 spots bringing in Caraher and Wright. Already, we are down to 10 scholarship players. Putting it nicely, Roberts and Earlington are both major prospects. My personal opinion? Neither of them should be on the St. John's roster. So we are down to 8. I don't go to practices, so I assume there's a reason Mullin doesn't feel confident going with Williams yet. But I think most would agree the talent is there and I'm looking forward to how he progresses. Trimble? My assumption is he will transfer after this season cause there is no way he is a Big East player. I get it, he plays hard on defense. But talk about no offensive ability whatsoever. As for Keita, he's just there for his height. I had much higher expectations for him, but based on what I've seen he's a backup PF/C on most teams.

Again, if this was year 1 or year 2, I'd be more understanding. But this is way, way too late in his tenure to just overlook the fact the team has no depth every season. Either learn to put a roster together or get the hell out.[/quote]

For me it all goes back to the Seton Hall game and being robbed of a road win. If this team is 16-3 , 4-3 right now with also being on the right side of potential sweeps of Georgetown and Seton Hall this is a much different situation even with the loss to DePaul. Our chances of going 11-7 in conference with that Seton Hall game go up exponentially. Also, 23-8 gets us in the NCAA’s regardless of what happens in the Big East Tournament. I know it’s only one game but it was huge.
 
I hear you Mike.

Ponds is shooting 69% from the free throw line in BE play. That's not our overriding issue, but sure isn't helpful.
 
It’s clear that the Mullin experiment will turn out to be another failure. Sorry but as far as coaching goes and staff Lavin was light years ahead of Mullin and so was Jarvis. Being a loyal fan for this product is insanity.
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=316471]20-10 (8-10) is what I expect at this point. Not good enough for tourney. I would be hopeful for the BET, but this team just cannot get any consistency and we have a long history of bowing out early in the BET. Really got fooled again and thought this year would be different. I'm going to have to start treating SJ like the Mets. Don't ever buy the hype, just assume the worst and hope for best. This way it's not as disappointing. This is not the ACC, these are beatable teams we consistently lose to. Down year for conference and we still can't break through even with this roster speaks volumes.[/quote]

There were plenty of warning signs for those who don't wear rose colored glasses, even before the season started. No size was number one, although the lack of bench strength was a little unexpected. Then there were last minute victories against so-so VCU and Georgia Tech, and closer than expected wins against mid majors. All at home or on neutral courts. We all hoped that the close games were us playing down to our competition. As for a down year, perhaps at the top, yes. Only 2 ranked teams at the moment., and no one near the top 10. But Depaul is surprisingly good, and the teams at the bottom, including us at the moment, all have talented rosters that can beat you on any given night. Forget the hype machine. Look at the roster, see the lack of size and depth, and not making the dance could never be unimaginable. I still believe that it's more likely we go on a big losing streak than a nice win streak. That's what happens to teams with exploitable deficiencies. Season not over, but margin for error gone, and back up plan for Big East tournament run looking unlikely.
 
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This is gnashing teeth time on this Board and for good reasons.
The season is in jeopardy. We've been dealt a bad hand in 2 of our 4 BEC losses. Yesterday was on us as was the Nova game, although we should've won it, and we should've beaten DePaul at home even without Ponds.
The Hall game was stolen but, hey. it is what it is and we must move on.
Problem is, none of know what to expect.
This team is up one game / down the next and totally dependent on its starters with very minimal bench depth.
Looking at the balance of the BEC schedule, we must win 8 of the next 11 conference games to dance in March, with several booby traps on the road ahead.
Trouble is, I've got no clue if we will.
 
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This team is not going to the dance. Next year will be worse without Ponds. This program will never have consistency. Once in a blue moon we will make a run and then go back to being mediocre. We have become the laughing stock of the Big East every time we try to “rebuild”.
 
[quote="Roamer" post=316487]It’s clear that the Mullin experiment will turn out to be another failure. Sorry but as far as coaching goes and staff Lavin was light years ahead of Mullin and so was Jarvis. Being a loyal fan for this product is insanity.[/quote]

In Lavin's case, it was Dunlop who made the difference in most of his tenure.
 
[quote="Chicago Days" post=316491]This is gnashing teeth time on this Board and for good reasons.
The season is in jeopardy. We've been dealt a bad hand in 2 of our 4 BEC losses. Yesterday was on us as was the Nova game, although we should've won it, and we should've beaten DePaul at home even without Ponds.
The Hall game was stolen but, hey. it is what it is and we must move on.
Problem is, none of know what to expect.
This team is up one game / down the next and totally dependent on it starters with very minimal bench depth.
Looking at the balance of the BEC schedule, we must win 8 of the next 11 conference games to dance in March, with several booby traps on the road ahead.
Trouble is, I've got no clue if we will.[/quote] I think the statement about totally dependent on our starters is important. Any injury ,fatigue, or foul trouble and we have no BE level player to put in. Even in Lavin last year where depth was a problem, we had Branch as our 6 th man. Factor in that Ponds is not a 100% .
 
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