Season Goals

The team has achieved the goal of a much improved Big East season, including 2 road wins. Would be nice to avoid the bottom 2 of the conference, so a few more wins is important. Bigger goal is to be leading with some big time recruits for 2018. Maybe I'm missing something, bur aren't the tea leaves pointing to our main targets leaning elsewhere?
 
Our conference record is 5 and 7 and we are currently in sixth place in the conference with six games to go. There are three home games left and three road games left.

On the cup half full side we can win any of these six remaining games. Four of our seven conference losses came against first place Villanova and second place Xavier and we are done with playing them for now. Our home games are against three teams that are currently behind us in the standings Seton Hall, Georgetown and Providence. Our three road games are against Marquette and Butler who we have already beaten and a Creighton team who is greatly diminished since losing star point guard Maurice Watson for the season with a devastating knee injury.

On the cup half empty side we could lose any or all of the six remaining games. Seton Hall and Georgetown hammered us in our first match up with them and while we beat Providence the game was in doubt right to the end. They are totally capable of beating us if we do't play at our very best. As for our road opponents we are going against three teams who, all, will more than likely make the NCAA tournament. Creighton and Butler are top twenty five type teams who would be extremely tough to beat in their building and Marquette at home has already beaten Villanova and is a one point loss away from being 5 and 0 in conference play at home. Currently while we are in sixth place in the conference, we are just a half a game ahead of the teams tied for eighth and ninth place and could easily wind up ninth, ahead of just DePaul by season's end.

This all being said we have an opportunity to finish strong and make this regular season memorable. I think if we go 0 and 6 in the remaining games it would be a setback, 1 and 5 would be a disappointment, 2 and 4 would be an acceptable ending and signify good improvement for the program, 3 and 3 would be really good and exceed all reasonable expectations at the start of the year, 4 and 2 would be fantastic and make the year a huge success and 5 and 1 or 6 and 0 would be beyond anything I could have dreamed of happening during the course of this season.

The team has definitely been improving and the players have been keeping their intensity up better for a full forty minutes. However we are still very challenged on the interior and have to really play all out just to come out even on the boards. Additionally we are small at the guards and can have trouble matching up defensively at times with bigger and stronger guards. That said Ponds and Lovett are very talented and truly a quickness nightmare for most opponents. Additionally Ahmed and Owens are highly athletic and have unique skill sets that other teams can't easily match either.

To me the most important thing to see for the rest of the year is effort and consistency, mixed in with some smart team play. Games like the first Georgetown game are unacceptable for the program. This team has proven it can be competitive in this league with maximum effort and intensity. If they bring their A game for the next six games and into the Big East tournament some good results will follow and leave me very optimistic for the future of our program.

I say let it all start by coming out hard and beating Seton Hall!
To me that will send the ship sailing in the right direction.
 
We won 1 league game last year. One. Did you think we were going to win a dozen games in conference, finish in the top 3, and go to the NCAA tournament as a 4 seed this year? If so, that was not a reasonable expectation.

The group is on pace to win 7 or perhaps 8 league games if they can hold serve with the Hall and Providence and maybe pick up another game some place. If you don't think that going from 1 league win to 7 or 8, with a couple of road wins and a few competitive losses to top-15 teams isn't good enough, then you get credit for having really high standards.

The pity this year is that there were a few games lost early that will almost certainly prevent a post-season appearance. That would have been good for the team and the program on many levels, but it is what it is. Can't go back and replay those games now. But had we picked those up and made the NIT, I think most would have counted this a successful season.

Obviously the key for next season is to keep the group together and add some size. Some of the pieces are already in the house. But that's next year, and this thread is about goals for this season, which IMO the team is meeting.
 
Our conference record is 5 and 7 and we are currently in sixth place in the conference with six games to go. There are three home games left and three road games left.

On the cup half full side we can win any of these six remaining games. Four of our seven conference losses came against first place Villanova and second place Xavier and we are done with playing them for now. Our home games are against three teams that are currently behind us in the standings Seton Hall, Georgetown and Providence. Our three road games are against Marquette and Butler who we have already beaten and a Creighton team who is greatly diminished since losing star point guard Maurice Watson for the season with a devastating knee injury.

On the cup half empty side we could lose any or all of the six remaining games. Seton Hall and Georgetown hammered us in our first match up with them and while we beat Providence the game was in doubt right to the end. They are totally capable of beating us if we do't play at our very best. As for our road opponents we are going against three teams who, all, will more than likely make the NCAA tournament. Creighton and Butler are top twenty five type teams who would be extremely tough to beat in their building and Marquette at home has already beaten Villanova and is a one point loss away from being 5 and 0 in conference play at home. Currently while we are in sixth place in the conference, we are just a half a game ahead of the teams tied for eighth and ninth place and could easily wind up ninth ahead of just DePaul by season's end.

This all being said we have an opportunity to finish strong and make this regular season memorable. I think if we go 0 and 6 in the remaining games it would be a setback, 1 and 5 would be a disappointment, 2 and 4 would be an acceptable ending and signify good improvement for the program, 3 and 3 would be really good and exceed all reasonable expectations at the start of the year, 4 and 2 would be fantastic and make the year a huge success and 5 and 1 or 6 and 0 would be beyond anything I could have dreamed of happening during the course of this season.

The team has definitely been improving and the players have been keeping their intensity up better for a full forty minutes. However we are still very challenged on the interior and have to really play all out just to come out even on the boards. Additionally we are small at the guards and can have trouble matching up defensively at times with bigger and stronger guards. That said Ponds and Lovett are very talented and truly a quickness nightmare for most opponents. Additionally Ahmed and Owens are highly athletic and have unique skill sets that other teams can't easily match either.

To me the most important thing to see for the rest of the year is effort and consistency, mixed in with some smart team play. Games like the first Georgetown game are unacceptable for the program. This team has proven it can be competitive in this league with maximum effort and intensity. If they bring their A game for the next six games and into the Big East tournament some good results will follow and leave me very optimistic for the future of our program.

I say let it all start by coming out hard and beating Seton Hall!
To me that will send the ship sailing in the right direction.
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Plus 1,000
 
Right now we are 8-8, 2-1. At this point I've seen enough to say that this how I'd like to see the season play out (reasonably):

1. We lose the road games to Creighton, Butler, Nova, Xavier. That's 4 losses.
2. Play .500 in the 8 games left with Providence, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall = 4 wins and also 4 losses.
3. Win the DePaul rematch = 1 win.
4. Steal a win someplace else (an extra win in the bottom-half-of-the-league bracket, beat Xavier at the Garden, upset Nova at the Garden, something like that) = 1 win and also 1 loss.

If my math is right, that would get us to 14-17, 8-10 in the league. If the team gets hot and shots fall, it could win a game or maybe even 2 in the Big East Tournament.

I would count that as a successful season. It really points up how unfortunate the LIU and Delaware State losses were, though. If you flip those to wins then the record would be 16-15 and the team would probably get an NIT bid. Throw in Penn State and 17-14 would have been a really nice season for Year 2.

If everyone comes back and you add the incoming players to the mix, it looks like St. Johns has both feet on the road to success. Just have to keep it going.
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Bump.
Right on schedule. Just gotta win 2 out of 3 among Georgetown, Providence, at Marquette.
And at this point with Watson and Sumner both out, we actually have a punchers chance of making some noise in the Big East Tournament. When the stars line up, team has a shot against anyone in the conference. Don't sleep on the fact that Lovett LOVES playing at the Garden.
 
Pretty simple, what needs to happen from here on out, considering all of what's gone down so far, for you to consider this season a success?
 
Beat Georgetown and Providence at home
Stay within 10 points for Butler, Marquette & Creighton away games
 
As I post this message, our beloved St. John's stands 6 wins and 7 losses with 5 remaining regular season conference games.

According to Kenpom St. john's chances are as follows:
@ Butler........... 13%
@ Marquette .... 21%
Georgetown .... 50%
@ Creighton .... 11%
Providence ...... 54%

Assuming St. John's wins against Georgetown and Providence then they will finish 8 wins and 10 losses which in my opinion is encouraging for the upcoming season.

Yeah, as St. John's fans it seems we always seem to talk about "next season" or a season that finished a generation ago, but seemingly Coach Mullin has developed his "coaching legs" feeling more comfortable in his position and the St. John's players are getting use to his up and down fast pace system.

IMO Coach Mullin, or any incoming coach for that matter, deserves a grade of "Incomplete" until at least after the conclusion of their 3rd season but the second half of the season finishing with 6, 7, or 8 conference wins after just 1 Big East wins last season is a material improvement which makes me optimistic of next season.
 
if we win 2 more considering how bad the early part of the season went I will be ecstatic
 
As I post this message, our beloved St. John's stands 6 wins and 7 losses with 5 remaining regular season conference games.

According to Kenpom St. john's chances are as follows:
@ Butler........... 13%
@ Marquette .... 21%
Georgetown .... 50%
@ Creighton .... 11%
Providence ...... 54%

Assuming St. John's wins against Georgetown and Providence then they will finish 8 wins and 10 losses which in my opinion is encouraging for the upcoming season.

Yeah, as St. John's fans it seems we always seem to talk about "next season" or a season that finished a generation ago, but seemingly Coach Mullin has developed his "coaching legs" feeling more comfortable in his position and the St. John's players are getting use to his up and down fast pace system.

IMO Coach Mullin, or any incoming coach for that matter, deserves a grade of "Incomplete" until at least after the conclusion of their 3rd season but the second half of the season finishing with 6, 7, or 8 conference wins after just 1 Big East wins last season is a material improvement which makes me optimistic of next season.
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Hate to say it, but I think any chance of success next year (i.e., a tournament birth) hinges on both Lovett and Ponds coming back. Without that, it will be very tough.
 
This season is already a success. There has been a great deal of improvement from the beginning until now. The young guards, Lovett and Ponds have exceeded expectations and continue to get better. Tariq Owens has proven himself to be a valuable member of the team, contributing in many ways. Bashir is playing within himself more and buying into the team concept. Mussini has adapted to his role, come off the bench and make shots. Darien Williams for someone who has not played in over two years has been a revelation. Amar gave us some good minutes yesterday when we needed them. Malik Ellison has yet to understand his role on this team is not to try to be the Man but to play good defense and be a facilitator.
I saved Kassoum for last because of difficulty he has been having this season. However, the past few games it seems as if he is making strides. His play this year has been disappointing but I am not giving up on him. There have been flashes where he shows the type of player I hope he can be on a consistent basis during his last two years here. Let's remember that he reclassified so that he could come here early when we desperately needed players.
To me, the season is already a success and everything that happens during the remainder of the season is just icing on the cake.
 
Hold serve at home, win a game in BE tournament & that is a very successful season and momentum builder for recruiting and really contending next season.

Even if they only win one more game, I would call that a success in view of the challenging start. That said, I'm confident they can grab two more.

"Keep LoVett" B) B) B)
 
Beat Georgetown!! Maybe steal a road win & win a BE tourney game. Keeping Lovett & and everyone else. It would be nice to have a team going into next season that's has experience playing/growing together. At 6-7 In conference has been a nice surprise.
 
This season is already a success. There has been a great deal of improvement from the beginning until now. The young guards, Lovett and Ponds have exceeded expectations and continue to get better. Tariq Owens hasproven himself to be a valuable member of the team, contributing in many ways. Bashir is plaaaying within himself more and buying into the team concept. Mussini has adapted to his role, come off the bench and make shots. Darien Williams for someone who has not played in over two years has been a revelation. Amar gave us some good minutes yesterday when we needed them. Malik Ellison has yet to understand his role on this team is not to try to be the Man but to play hard defense and be a facilitator.
I saved Kassoum for last because of difficulty he has been having this season. However, the past few games it seems as if he is making strides. His play this year has been disappointing but I am not giving up on him. There have been flashes where he shows the type of player I hope he can be on a consistent basis during his last two years here. Let's remember that he reclassified so that he could come here early when we desperately needed players.
To me, the season is already a success and everything that happens during the remainder of the season is just icing on the cake.
Click to expand...

Agree with all, but if the team cannot pick up at least one win vs Providence, Georgetown, at Marquette and at Butler that would be disappointing. We are better than Providence and should win that game at home, despite the Friars having the revenge factor going for them. Georgetown may not be a good matchup for us, but it's at home and it would be very nice to win that game. Butler and Marquette are both better than us, and both are on the road, but neither is an impossible matchup. One win is baseline, two is the hope.

However I agree that the important thing this year was to do the things in your post and to build towards next year, and on that front we have met our goal.

Just a terrible shame the team dropped a few wins early in the year, that may well cost them an NIT bid which would be valuable experience. Playing 2 games in the BET and making the NIT and getting a game or two there would be hugely helpful for both program rep and for team development, IMO. They're in position to do that now, just gotta close the deal.
 
LMF said: "We are better than Providence and should win that game at home, despite the Friars having the revenge factor going for them."

I agree. However, we also have a revenge factor, in that Cooley supposedly had a dust-up with Coach Mullin in the hallways after the game. The players should remember that. "Nobody messes with our coach."
 
This season is already a success. There has been a great deal of improvement from the beginning until now. The young guards, Lovett and Ponds have exceeded expectations and continue to get better. Tariq Owens hasproven himself to be a valuable member of the team, contributing in many ways. Bashir is plaaaying within himself more and buying into the team concept. Mussini has adapted to his role, come off the bench and make shots. Darien Williams for someone who has not played in over two years has been a revelation. Amar gave us some good minutes yesterday when we needed them. Malik Ellison has yet to understand his role on this team is not to try to be the Man but to play hard defense and be a facilitator.
I saved Kassoum for last because of difficulty he has been having this season. However, the past few games it seems as if he is making strides. His play this year has been disappointing but I am not giving up on him. There have been flashes where he shows the type of player I hope he can be on a consistent basis during his last two years here. Let's remember that he reclassified so that he could come here early when we desperately needed players.
To me, the season is already a success and everything that happens during the remainder of the season is just icing on the cake.
Click to expand...

Agree with all, but if the team cannot pick up at least one win vs Providence, Georgetown, at Marquette and at Butler that would be disappointing. We are better than Providence and should win that game at home, despite the Friars having the revenge factor going for them. Georgetown may not be a good matchup for us, but it's at home and it would be very nice to win that game. Butler and Marquette are both better than us, and both are on the road, but neither is an impossible matchup. One win is baseline, two is the hope.

However I agree that the important thing this year was to do the things in your post and to build towards next year, and on that front we have met our goal.

Just a terrible shame the team dropped a few wins early in the year, that may well cost them an NIT bid which would be valuable experience. Playing 2 games in the BET and making the NIT and getting a game or two there would be hugely helpful for both program rep and for team development, IMO. They're in position to do that now, just gotta close the deal.
Click to expand...

7 wins in conference would be an amazing turnaround , and be just 2 wins off .500. It would teally show we are a team on the move. 6-12 was my low water mark for this squad so anything above that represents really great prospects for next season

By the way, i didnt think anything over 7 wins was possible, and now it is, so kudos to you
 
This season is already a success. There has been a great deal of improvement from the beginning until now. The young guards, Lovett and Ponds have exceeded expectations and continue to get better. Tariq Owens hasproven himself to be a valuable member of the team, contributing in many ways. Bashir is plaaaying within himself more and buying into the team concept. Mussini has adapted to his role, come off the bench and make shots. Darien Williams for someone who has not played in over two years has been a revelation. Amar gave us some good minutes yesterday when we needed them. Malik Ellison has yet to understand his role on this team is not to try to be the Man but to play hard defense and be a facilitator.
I saved Kassoum for last because of difficulty he has been having this season. However, the past few games it seems as if he is making strides. His play this year has been disappointing but I am not giving up on him. There have been flashes where he shows the type of player I hope he can be on a consistent basis during his last two years here. Let's remember that he reclassified so that he could come here early when we desperately needed players.
To me, the season is already a success and everything that happens during the remainder of the season is just icing on the cake.
Click to expand...

Agree with all, but if the team cannot pick up at least one win vs Providence, Georgetown, at Marquette and at Butler that would be disappointing. We are better than Providence and should win that game at home, despite the Friars having the revenge factor going for them. Georgetown may not be a good matchup for us, but it's at home and it would be very nice to win that game. Butler and Marquette are both better than us, and both are on the road, but neither is an impossible matchup. One win is baseline, two is the hope.

However I agree that the important thing this year was to do the things in your post and to build towards next year, and on that front we have met our goal.

Just a terrible shame the team dropped a few wins early in the year, that may well cost them an NIT bid which would be valuable experience. Playing 2 games in the BET and making the NIT and getting a game or two there would be hugely helpful for both program rep and for team development, IMO. They're in position to do that now, just gotta close the deal.
Click to expand...

7 wins in conference would be an amazing turnaround , and be just 2 wins off .500. It would teally show we are a team on the move. 6-12 was my low water mark for this squad so anything above that represents really great prospects for next season

By the way, i didnt think anything over 7 wins was possible, and now it is, so kudos to you
Click to expand...
Guess you weren't a math major, huh? 7 BE wins means 11 losses and 4 games under five-hundred. ;) :)
 
This season is already a success. There has been a great deal of improvement from the beginning until now. The young guards, Lovett and Ponds have exceeded expectations and continue to get better. Tariq Owens hasproven himself to be a valuable member of the team, contributing in many ways. Bashir is plaaaying within himself more and buying into the team concept. Mussini has adapted to his role, come off the bench and make shots. Darien Williams for someone who has not played in over two years has been a revelation. Amar gave us some good minutes yesterday when we needed them. Malik Ellison has yet to understand his role on this team is not to try to be the Man but to play hard defense and be a facilitator.
I saved Kassoum for last because of difficulty he has been having this season. However, the past few games it seems as if he is making strides. His play this year has been disappointing but I am not giving up on him. There have been flashes where he shows the type of player I hope he can be on a consistent basis during his last two years here. Let's remember that he reclassified so that he could come here early when we desperately needed players.
To me, the season is already a success and everything that happens during the remainder of the season is just icing on the cake.
Click to expand...

Agree with all, but if the team cannot pick up at least one win vs Providence, Georgetown, at Marquette and at Butler that would be disappointing. We are better than Providence and should win that game at home, despite the Friars having the revenge factor going for them. Georgetown may not be a good matchup for us, but it's at home and it would be very nice to win that game. Butler and Marquette are both better than us, and both are on the road, but neither is an impossible matchup. One win is baseline, two is the hope.

However I agree that the important thing this year was to do the things in your post and to build towards next year, and on that front we have met our goal.

Just a terrible shame the team dropped a few wins early in the year, that may well cost them an NIT bid which would be valuable experience. Playing 2 games in the BET and making the NIT and getting a game or two there would be hugely helpful for both program rep and for team development, IMO. They're in position to do that now, just gotta close the deal.
Click to expand...

7 wins in conference would be an amazing turnaround , and be just 2 wins off .500. It would teally show we are a team on the move. 6-12 was my low water mark for this squad so anything above that represents really great prospects for next season

By the way, i didnt think anything over 7 wins was possible, and now it is, so kudos to you
Click to expand...
Guess you weren't a math major, huh? 7 BE wins means 11 losses and 4 games under five-hundred. ;) :)
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2 more wins above 7 would put us at 9-9 :)
 
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