Season Goals

It's easy to say this now, but did you really think this during February and March of 2011? If yes, then what made you think it at that time?
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Agree with (and thank you to) Boo that we don't want to hijack this into a Lavin thread, but the answer to your question is yes, and it was based on my knowledge and opinion of his "coaching" at UCLA, followed by a small sample of his "coaching" here. If you don't believe me, ask Moose. Or use the "search" utility to find my posts from 2011 if you really want to.

WRT Mullin (to sort of return to topic), my take at the time was that I would have leaned to a professional coach, but that I couldn't really blame the admin for taking a shot with him. If you were St John's and you wanted to take a shot on someone, he's the guy to do it with.

Last year was a pass, and the beginning of this season was alarming and in fact Lavin-esque. Early on it looked like the plan might be Lavin redux, which was truly upsetting. As it turns out I was dead wrong - which I am absolutely thrilled about. Now they just have to keep what they have going and add some pieces next year and there will be real reason for long term optimism. And perhaps a future where the names "Lavin," "Norm," "Jarvis," and "Mahoney" are never posted again.
 
Back in 6th after tonight. Keep fighting for that first round bye
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I'm not as concerned. The flip side is that with a 7th place finish we likely play a more winnable 1st round game. Winning ANY BET game would be a great achievement in their path to respectability. My preseason goal was 12-18 overall and it appears we will hit that or better which at this point has made this a good season. Throw in the fact that right now this is Mullin's team with him firmly in control and it's reason to be satisfied
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agree to disagree then. I think we'd look more respectable if we don't have to play the first night. Plus, as someone else said, i don't care if its impossible, the goal should always be a BET championship. One less game increases those chances just a little bit more
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Exactlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Look, the only way we're getting into the ncaa tourny is to win the B.E. tourny, give me the easier route. Three games instead of 4. Just like the NFL playoffs, you want that 1st rnd bye.
 
Thinking we'll be ready for them too.
Gotta play like they did last night and much more.
Yakwe needs to show up like he did last night.
Owens just gotta get the boards.
Ahmed needs to continue from last night.

Any giving 40minutes dreams can happen. If we win Saturday night, I think we'll role the rest of this season. It's all about confidence for a young squad.
The keyword "IF".
 
It's easy to say this now, but did you really think this during February and March of 2011? If yes, then what made you think it at that time?
Click to expand...

Agree with (and thank you to) Boo that we don't want to hijack this into a Lavin thread, but the answer to your question is yes, and it was based on my knowledge and opinion of his "coaching" at UCLA, followed by a small sample of his "coaching" here. If you don't believe me, ask Moose. Or use the "search" utility to find my posts from 2011 if you really want to.

WRT Mullin (to sort of return to topic), my take at the time was that I would have leaned to a professional coach, but that I couldn't really blame the admin for taking a shot with him. If you were St John's and you wanted to take a shot on someone, he's the guy to do it with.

Last year was a pass, and the beginning of this season was alarming and in fact Lavin-esque. Early on it looked like the plan might be Lavin redux, which was truly upsetting. As it turns out I was dead wrong - which I am absolutely thrilled about. Now they just have to keep what they have going and add some pieces next year and there will be real reason for long term optimism. And perhaps a future where the names "Lavin," "Norm," "Jarvis," and "Mahoney" are never posted again.
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Fair enough. I, too was very concerned about the criticisms from UCLA which turned out to be valid. However, during the latter part of 2011, I did allow myself to dream about what could be. Felt that the presence of Dunlap was a sign that he had "learned" from what hadn't worked. But, guess when the fatal flaw is work ethic than its tough to overcome or learn from that.

Agree, that we have seen a lot of progress with this staff. I still am concerned about what I hear about practice as it is one of the main differences between pros and college. In college you have to build up the muscle memory and develop good habits. In the pros, you either have those things or you are gone.
 
Back in 6th after tonight. Keep fighting for that first round bye
Click to expand...

I'm not as concerned. The flip side is that with a 7th place finish we likely play a more winnable 1st round game. Winning ANY BET game would be a great achievement in their path to respectability. My preseason goal was 12-18 overall and it appears we will hit that or better which at this point has made this a good season. Throw in the fact that right now this is Mullin's team with him firmly in control and it's reason to be satisfied
Click to expand...



agree to disagree then. I think we'd look more respectable if we don't have to play the first night. Plus, as someone else said, i don't care if its impossible, the goal should always be a BET championship. One less game increases those chances just a little bit more
Click to expand...

No offense, but the BET is irrelevant for us this year except to the extent it allows the players to get a taste of tournament play. It might actually be better for them to play the first night because that improves the chances that they get to play 2 games. And the more games they play, the better off they are.

This is not a one-year project.
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I'm aware we are building towards something here. But to call the BET irrelevant is a little much.

I know for a fact that the players have a goal of winning that tournament. Bashir and Shamorie were on Instagram live last night talking about getting a good seed for the BET.

As I said the first time I brought this up, you, me, and everyone else on this board may think it's impossible, but what fun is it giving up on a tournament. Maybe we have a 0.1% chance of winning it, but as a fan I will hold out and pull for it to happen.

And by the way, Nova is still Nova, but with Sumner and Watson gone, and a butler team we've already beaten, it's not like we can't make a little noise in the BET on the second day
 
Back in 6th after tonight. Keep fighting for that first round bye
Click to expand...

I'm not as concerned. The flip side is that with a 7th place finish we likely play a more winnable 1st round game. Winning ANY BET game would be a great achievement in their path to respectability. My preseason goal was 12-18 overall and it appears we will hit that or better which at this point has made this a good season. Throw in the fact that right now this is Mullin's team with him firmly in control and it's reason to be satisfied
Click to expand...



agree to disagree then. I think we'd look more respectable if we don't have to play the first night. Plus, as someone else said, i don't care if its impossible, the goal should always be a BET championship. One less game increases those chances just a little bit more
Click to expand...

No offense, but the BET is irrelevant for us this year except to the extent it allows the players to get a taste of tournament play. It might actually be better for them to play the first night because that improves the chances that they get to play 2 games. And the more games they play, the better off they are.

This is not a one-year project.
Click to expand...

I'm aware we are building towards something here. But to call the BET irrelevant is a little much.

I know for a fact that the players have a goal of winning that tournament. Bashir and Shamorie were on Instagram live last night talking about getting a good seed for the BET.

As I said the first time I brought this up, you, me, and everyone else on this board may think it's impossible, but what fun is it giving up on a tournament. Maybe we have a 0.1% chance of winning it, but as a fan I will hold out and pull for it to happen.

And by the way, Nova is still Nova, but with Sumner and Watson gone, and a butler team we've already beaten, it's not like we can't make a little noise in the BET on the second day
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Before you go betting money on this happening, invest it with Mjmaher. You have a slightly better chance of not losing it all.
 
Did somebody say "Lavin"????
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"Can't we just share the sugar Monte? Stop breaking my chops, I am 1% Italian"


[attachment]image-89.jpeg[/attachment]
 
Did somebody say "Lavin"????
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"Can't we just share the sugar Monte? Stop breaking my chops, I am 1% Italian"


[attachment]image-89.jpeg[/attachment]
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Monte hates Lavin so much he even got pissed when Tom gLAVINe got elected to the Hall of Fame
 
leave Lav alone....move on. guy wasn't anywhere close to the disasters we had here.
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That's what I've been trying to tell these guys for a while now. Nobody listens.
 
There is one slightly plausible angle for winning the BET. We've endured so many years of pathetic performances that we may be due for a miracle run.
 
The chance for a team that isn't going to make the NCAA tournament to win a major conference post season tournament is slim but it's not none. It's tough in the ACC where they decided to let almost every team in. Our chance to win the Big East Tournament seems slim because we have not played with enough consistentcy to show that we can play three games in a row as well as we did last night. There are still seven games remaining and if we start to get better there is as Jack Williams said a very very slim chance that we could do it.
 
It's more fun to be optimistic about winning than to be resigned to losing.
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thats all I'm saying. thank you
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Agreed provided you're not the type to bitch and moan when your unrealistic expectations aren't met. I'd like them to be playing Thursday night as I think I'll be in town so I'll go for 6th place and take Wed night surprise out of the equation.
 
Through 9 BE games we are 4-5 which given some of our play in December, is better than a lot of us expected. There were some wonderful wins (Butler and Providence) and some woeful shellackings (Hoyas and Nova) but here we are at the midpoint and we have five at home, four on the road left.

Our D is still a huge issue but at least last night will have given our young team a badly needed boost. I see us going 4-5 in the second half.

Xavier - L
Marquette - W
@ Nova - L
The Hall - W (payback)
@ Butler - L
@ Marquette - L
Hoyas - W (payback part deux)
@ Creighton - L
Friars - W (we win another close one)

That leaves us 8-10 in the BE. As a reminder, we won one stinking game in the BE last year... We may not be improving at the speed of light but we are improving...
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I still think we win 3 of the last 6 - basically the Home games - although I would be a little more confident if those games were at CA and not MSG.
 
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