Redmen.com 2011: A look back

M

Marillac

Active member
The year was 2011. Adele was topping the charts with "Rolling in the Deep" and Harry Potter was #1 in the box office. Jack Williams was roaming the halls of middle school, and if you asked MJMaher how he felt about lobster rolls, he would have simply replied that he liked them.

That was the last time we had to rely on so many first year players. Even though we had just been dealt the blow of Sampson, Garrett, and Polee being ineligble, the tone was generally positive. Win total predictions varied from 12 to 29, with most predicting 16-18 wins. Curiously, that seems higher than what people are predicting for this season, even though the 2015-2016 squad is bigger, deeper, and far more experienced as a whole. We won 13 games that year with an insanely difficult schedule.

Here is the prediction thread going into that season: http://redmen.com/forum/4-redmentalk/5611-2011-2012-final-record-prediction#5611

I wonder why the expectations are so much lower this year? I've see a # of posters predict that we'd be lucky to hit ten wins. Nobody has predicted 20 wins or more that I've seen.
 
The year was 2011. Adele was topping the charts with "Rolling in the Deep" and Harry Potter was #1 in the box office. Jack Williams was roaming the halls of middle school, and if you asked MJMaher how he felt about lobster rolls, he would have simply replied that he liked them.

That was the last time we had to rely on so many first year players. Even though we had just been dealt the blow of Sampson, Garrett, and Polee being ineligble, the tone was generally positive. Win total predictions varied from 12 to 29, with most predicting 16-18 wins. Curiously, that seems higher than what people are predicting for this season, even though the 2015-2016 squad is bigger, deeper, and far more experienced as a whole. We won 13 games that year with an insanely difficult schedule.

Here is the prediction thread going into that season: http://redmen.com/forum/4-redmentalk/5611-2011-2012-final-record-prediction#5611

I wonder why the expectations are so much lower this year? I've see a # of posters predict that we'd be lucky to hit ten wins. Nobody has predicted 20 wins or more that I've seen.
Click to expand...

Pointer, Harrison, and Lindsay, and Greene were more highly touted than the incoming group we have now. There was interest in GG as a valuable addition. If I'm not mistaken, Lindsay was supposed to be the plum of the bunch, a potential scoring machine. Even before the wheels fell off after Lavin went down, the expectations weren't high. I predicted a 7-11 conf record and a first round exit from the BET. It was actually worse than that, essentially season done when Lindsay quit after 9 games of train wreck basketball.

I see this squad as being sub .500 overall, and also a first round exit in the BET. Top to bottom, the preseason roster offers less hope than that one did. Of course, Mullin had to scramble to put together the roster, and we lost the one top recruit that Lavin had reeled in (Sampson), not to mention the retention and ultimate loss off Jordan and Obekpa.

Rough year ahead in terms of record. I think fans here at least are prepared for shaky year, and will look for bright spots in player development and recruiting wins. Predictably, when that happens, there is no doubt that some will fall off the Mullin bandwagon a lot quicker than they should.

Some of the 500 or so "fans", some of which I am certain have not been big supporters of the program through the lean years, who flocked to the NYAC with great enthusiasm to welcome Mullin are deluded to think that the program will elevate immediately. I don't have high expectations until year 3 or 4, since this is a ground zero rebuild. Mullin will be judged not so much on the coming season (and for certain there will be criticism as losses mount), but on the recruiting class he brings in for 2016-17 season. My guess is that it will take 2 solid classes (for 16-17 and 17-18) to produce an NCAA tourney team.
 
The coach is the reason, don't want to set expectations to high for him in the first year.
 
As I recall Polee was never ineligible and played the 1 year as a true freshman. Pelle was the Lavin recruit who never qualified and never played any BB at this level.

When you look back to Steve's first year, he had several non qualifiers, Garrett and Sampson. 1 No Show, Pelle and 1 malcontent, Lindsay, who lasted barely until CHRISTMAS.

But, Lavin isn't an issue anymore, except as a former, modestly successful Coach who did not get to the place he established as a Program Objective.

And, it may be, that CM'S First class may not have the allure of those in the past but, I am thinking we can likely expect more fundamentals, more team play, more hustle and less attitude .

And, in College BB you don't always have to have the best talent to be successful. Look at Lapchick's teams beating the likes of Michigan with Cazzie Russell. Louie beating Duke with Reggie Carter against Gminski and Sparnarkel with Duke. I did think, with the exception of Ewing, our 1985 team was more talented than the Hoyas but, JT1 outcoached Louie more times than not.

I have little doubt Mullin's teams will always play hard, be well coached and know how a team offense is meant to look. We never saw much of that with Steve..

And, I would not be surprised to see next year's team exceed expectations, yours and mine both.
 
The year was 2011. Adele was topping the charts with "Rolling in the Deep" and Harry Potter was #1 in the box office. Jack Williams was roaming the halls of middle school, and if you asked MJMaher how he felt about lobster rolls, he would have simply replied that he liked them.

That was the last time we had to rely on so many first year players. Even though we had just been dealt the blow of Sampson, Garrett, and Polee being ineligble, the tone was generally positive. Win total predictions varied from 12 to 29, with most predicting 16-18 wins. Curiously, that seems higher than what people are predicting for this season, even though the 2015-2016 squad is bigger, deeper, and far more experienced as a whole. We won 13 games that year with an insanely difficult schedule.

Here is the prediction thread going into that season: http://redmen.com/forum/4-redmentalk/5611-2011-2012-final-record-prediction#5611

I wonder why the expectations are so much lower this year? I've see a # of posters predict that we'd be lucky to hit ten wins. Nobody has predicted 20 wins or more that I've seen.
Click to expand...

Pointer, Harrison, and Lindsay, and Greene were more highly touted than the incoming group we have now. There was interest in GG as a valuable addition. If I'm not mistaken, Lindsay was supposed to be the plum of the bunch, a potential scoring machine. Even before the wheels fell off after Lavin went down, the expectations weren't high. I predicted a 7-11 conf record and a first round exit from the BET. It was actually worse than that, essentially season done when Lindsay quit after 9 games of train wreck basketball.

I see this squad as being sub .500 overall, and also a first round exit in the BET. Top to bottom, the preseason roster offers less hope than that one did. Of course, Mullin had to scramble to put together the roster, and we lost the one top recruit that Lavin had reeled in (Sampson), not to mention the retention and ultimate loss off Jordan and Obekpa.

Rough year ahead in terms of record. I think fans here at least are prepared for shaky year, and will look for bright spots in player development and recruiting wins. Predictably, when that happens, there is no doubt that some will fall off the Mullin bandwagon a lot quicker than they should.

Some of the 500 or so "fans", some of which I am certain have not been big supporters of the program through the lean years, who flocked to the NYAC with great enthusiasm to welcome Mullin are deluded to think that the program will elevate immediately. I don't have high expectations until year 3 or 4, since this is a ground zero rebuild. Mullin will be judged not so much on the coming season (and for certain there will be criticism as losses mount), but on the recruiting class he brings in for 2016-17 season. My guess is that it will take 2 solid classes (for 16-17 and 17-18) to produce an NCAA tourney team.
Click to expand...

We lost five of the last six games Nuri played in. He scored 5 pts, only had 1 assist and 11 turnovers his last two games, playing only 20 and 21 minutes, respectively. Greene averaged 31 mpg those two games and had 17 pts, 7 assists, and two turnovers. It was clear that Greene had passed him over. The worst of those games was when Nuri missed both FTs against Texas A&M with us down 58-57. Brutal. He was 0-30 from three in the games and pre-season exhibitions and was shooting 57% from the FT line while averaging 4.1 turnovers per game. Losing Nuri did not hurt the season, even though he was really good at driving and drawing contact. He played no defense.

As for the incoming 2011 freshmen, I predicted Harrison was going to be a two-time first team Big East performer (http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=4635.260) and that "With his jumper and versatility Moe looks like a lock for the lottery if he is in fact 6'8.5" (http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=2869.480), but I knew that a team can't only depend on freshmen and that is why I predicted only 13 wins. I wasn't a fan of GG, but I am a huge fan of Darien Williams just like I was of Justin Brownlee.

I think this freshman group is better suited for making an impact because of the high collective skill level. Lovett will be the best PG we've had since Cook from day one. Ellison already has a better handle and shot that Pointer, even though he only possesses a fraction of the physical talent. He also has a strong basketball IQ. Mussini will take a little time.
 
The year was 2011. Adele was topping the charts with "Rolling in the Deep" and Harry Potter was #1 in the box office. Jack Williams was roaming the halls of middle school, and if you asked MJMaher how he felt about lobster rolls, he would have simply replied that he liked them.

That was the last time we had to rely on so many first year players. Even though we had just been dealt the blow of Sampson, Garrett, and Polee being ineligble, the tone was generally positive. Win total predictions varied from 12 to 29, with most predicting 16-18 wins. Curiously, that seems higher than what people are predicting for this season, even though the 2015-2016 squad is bigger, deeper, and far more experienced as a whole. We won 13 games that year with an insanely difficult schedule.

Here is the prediction thread going into that season: http://redmen.com/forum/4-redmentalk/5611-2011-2012-final-record-prediction#5611

I wonder why the expectations are so much lower this year? I've see a # of posters predict that we'd be lucky to hit ten wins. Nobody has predicted 20 wins or more that I've seen.
Click to expand...

Pointer, Harrison, and Lindsay, and Greene were more highly touted than the incoming group we have now. There was interest in GG as a valuable addition. If I'm not mistaken, Lindsay was supposed to be the plum of the bunch, a potential scoring machine. Even before the wheels fell off after Lavin went down, the expectations weren't high. I predicted a 7-11 conf record and a first round exit from the BET. It was actually worse than that, essentially season done when Lindsay quit after 9 games of train wreck basketball.

I see this squad as being sub .500 overall, and also a first round exit in the BET. Top to bottom, the preseason roster offers less hope than that one did. Of course, Mullin had to scramble to put together the roster, and we lost the one top recruit that Lavin had reeled in (Sampson), not to mention the retention and ultimate loss off Jordan and Obekpa.

Rough year ahead in terms of record. I think fans here at least are prepared for shaky year, and will look for bright spots in player development and recruiting wins. Predictably, when that happens, there is no doubt that some will fall off the Mullin bandwagon a lot quicker than they should.

Some of the 500 or so "fans", some of which I am certain have not been big supporters of the program through the lean years, who flocked to the NYAC with great enthusiasm to welcome Mullin are deluded to think that the program will elevate immediately. I don't have high expectations until year 3 or 4, since this is a ground zero rebuild. Mullin will be judged not so much on the coming season (and for certain there will be criticism as losses mount), but on the recruiting class he brings in for 2016-17 season. My guess is that it will take 2 solid classes (for 16-17 and 17-18) to produce an NCAA tourney team.
Click to expand...

We lost five of the last six games Nuri played in. He scored 5 pts, only had 1 assist and 11 turnovers his last two games, playing only 20 and 21 minutes, respectively. Greene averaged 31 mpg those two games and had 17 pts, 7 assists, and two turnovers. It was clear that Greene had passed him over. The worst of those games was when Nuri missed both FTs against Texas A&M with us down 58-57. Brutal. He was 0-30 from three in the games and pre-season exhibitions and was shooting 57% from the FT line while averaging 4.1 turnovers per game. Losing Nuri did not hurt the season, even though he was really good at driving and drawing contact. He played no defense.

As for the incoming 2011 freshmen, I predicted Harrison was going to be a two-time first team Big East performer (http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=4635.260) and that "With his jumper and versatility Moe looks like a lock for the lottery if he is in fact 6'8.5" (http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=2869.480), but I knew that a team can't only depend on freshmen and that is why I predicted only 13 wins. I wasn't a fan of GG, but I am a huge fan of Darien Williams just like I was of Justin Brownlee.

I think this freshman group is better suited for making an impact because of the high collective skill level. Lovett will be the best PG we've had since Cook from day one. Ellison already has a better handle and shot that Pointer, even though he only possesses a fraction of the physical talent. He also has a strong basketball IQ. Mussini will take a little time.
Click to expand...
Oh boy
 
The year was 2011. Adele was topping the charts with "Rolling in the Deep" and Harry Potter was #1 in the box office. Jack Williams was roaming the halls of middle school, and if you asked MJMaher how he felt about lobster rolls, he would have simply replied that he liked them.

That was the last time we had to rely on so many first year players. Even though we had just been dealt the blow of Sampson, Garrett, and Polee being ineligble, the tone was generally positive. Win total predictions varied from 12 to 29, with most predicting 16-18 wins. Curiously, that seems higher than what people are predicting for this season, even though the 2015-2016 squad is bigger, deeper, and far more experienced as a whole. We won 13 games that year with an insanely difficult schedule.

Here is the prediction thread going into that season: http://redmen.com/forum/4-redmentalk/5611-2011-2012-final-record-prediction#5611

I wonder why the expectations are so much lower this year? I've see a # of posters predict that we'd be lucky to hit ten wins. Nobody has predicted 20 wins or more that I've seen.
Click to expand...

A life of only liking lobster rolls ? Wow what was I missing in 2011. :)
 
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