Should the Johnnies make the Dance this year, in year four of the Anderson regime? And if not, then what?

It is FAR more likely we finish 3rd or 4th than 9th. This team is better than the past versions. Deeper and more balanced. Of course, have to meld and do it on the court. But, if we don't make the dance (I think we will), there is NO way coach leaves unless it is at his own volition. Unlike the past few coaches, this group; has made steady albeit slow progress with no backsliding, and the recruiting has gotten progressively better. I think that would deserve continued support and continuity. I wish the Pitino guys would just give it a rest. That is NEVER happening. Never was.
 
L J S A said:
Pretty sure he's the only guy on the board these days who's been invited to watch closed practices every year for years, so if anyone makes this prediction, he's actually the least likely to be smoking something while doing it.
Click to expand...
I am a St Johns alumnus and fan. This is how I expect our season will go. As for what happens if it doesn't, how about we let the season plays out and revisit the situation in March. Appreciate your words LJSA.
 
Last edited:
Mean Gene said:
Johnny Rapper, I understand what you’re saying but I think that you also have to take the incoming recruiting class into account. We already have Gardener and let’s say we also get Cherenfant and Aaron Clarke, is that enough to keep him here?

Other than Creighton, Nova and UConn, I think the rest of the spots in this league are up for grabs. I do think if things break right for us we can finish 4th in the conference. If that’s happens it’s a moot point.
Click to expand...
Agreed. If the recruiting is fine headed in the following year that's the most important thing. Let's say have the teams has some key injuries this year, and we miss the tournament, Coach is still coming back. Evaulation has to be judged holistically. This program was a dumpster fire before he arrived. We are now defnitely respectable with the talent we have. I've always said Coach gets four years, minimum, and frankly it should be more like five.
 
One thing is for sure, this league is tough. Good coaches. A lot of the main talent on teach team is not typically NBA level, so players stay 3 or 4 years. It always makes for well balanced and tough to beat teams.
 
I think the season will live and die by our 3-point shooting. We are well balanced in every other regard. If we can knock down perimeter shots, we'll contend for an upper half finish and NCAA berth.
 
Correct me if I am wrong, if Anderson does not make the big dance this year it would be 4 years without even an NIT invite! If correct that’s pathetic! It’s almost as pathetic as St Johns being ranked 166 in the US News and World report rankings of national universities!
 
I don’t like projecting failure before the season begins and assigning responsibility to the coach.
What happens if 2 or 3 starters are unavailable for several games due to injury (knock wood)?
 
rcatalano said:
Correct me if I am wrong, if Anderson does not make the big dance this year it would be 4 years without even an NIT invite! If correct that’s pathetic! It’s almost as pathetic as St Johns being ranked 166 in the US News and World report rankings of national universities!
Click to expand...

US News and World Report? I thought they died out with the dinosaur. If you stop posting this, no one will know.
 
There are too many people on this board with unrealistic expectations for this program as a whole. They want to be Duke or Kentucky and bring in 5 star recruits every year despite being mostly inconsequential in the college basketball landscape for 20+ years. It is literally impossible to become Duke or Kentucky starting from where this program is now. You need a foundation, you need stability, you need to stack years of success upon each other. We'll never get there with the revolving door approach to coaches that we've been using for the past 20 years.

It is completely reasonable, given the team Coach Anderson has put together this season, to expect an NCAA Tournament berth. It was completely reasonable last year under the same circumstances. For whatever reason, bizarre things have happened to this program when we seem to be on the cusp of doing something good, so it's definitely possible that those things happen again this year and end up derailing things to some extent. If that happens, and we miss out on the post-season again through no real fault of the coaches, then I would probably vote to keep Coach Anderson, but alas, I have no vote.

If we do part ways with him however, we better have a really good plan to replace him instead of reliving the PR nightmare we had trying to replace the last coach. Miss me with the Pitino talk. I know he's a Hall of Fame coach and recruiter, that much is undeniable, but I can't imagine under any circumstances that the administration would ever be on board with bringing him in. Also, I can't imagine him actually wanting to coach here. I realize that when nobody would touch him, he threw it out there during the last replacement period that he wanted the job, but I strongly believe that was only to launder his reputation and that he would be gone to a "better" program after the first major offer he had and then we would pretty much be back in the same boat.

We need a coach that is going to be here long enough to build a program that can withstand that coach leaving and still be successful under the next guy.

Forget about being Duke or Kentucky. Why can't we be Providence? Why can't we be Xavier? Butler went to two straight championship games with mostly under-recruited guys from the midwest who fit their system and was successful through several coaching changes. I know people want national championships, but you have to at least be "good" before you can be "great". Also, the people on this board would have spontaneously combusted if our roster had been loaded with 4 and 5 star players like Kentucky yet have the same amount of NCAA wins as us in the past two seasons, and lost as a 2 seed to a team we beat last year.

Look at Gonzaga. They were essentially a nowhere school in Spokane, and then they built a program with solid players from the west coast who slipped through the cracks and guys from Australia and 20 years later they're bringing in 5 star players every year and competing for national championships. This is how you build a program, but it starts with making the right hire and bringing in the right guys to fill out your roster, regardless of where the recruiting guys have them ranked.

Is Coach A the "right hire"? How this season turns out will go a long way towards answering that question.
 
Don’t keep a coach around because of recruits anymore. That day has come and gone. You make a change and you hit the portal hard. Things can come together much quicker now for new hires.

I like Anderson. I’m hopeful this could be a NCAA team but if he misses out again I would make a change. Big East is just getting tougher and tougher. You look at the hires at Xavier and Butler. These are coaches with big time success. It’s been a while since Anderson really has had a good year anywhere.
 
redmanwest said:
It is FAR more likely we finish 3rd or 4th than 9th. This team is better than the past versions. Deeper and more balanced. Of course, have to meld and do it on the court. But, if we don't make the dance (I think we will), there is NO way coach leaves unless it is at his own volition. Unlike the past few coaches, this group; has made steady albeit slow progress with no backsliding, and the recruiting has gotten progressively better. I think that would deserve continued support and continuity. I wish the Pitino guys would just give it a rest. That is NEVER happening. Never was.
Click to expand...
I vehemently disagree with the first sentence. There are a number of things that can very easily go sideways that can derail this season. On the flip side I feel as though a bunch of things have to go right for this team to finish 3rd. Like hitting a 3 or 4 leg parlay. It’s possible, but unlikely. Hope it hits though
 
I think the system Anderson has in place is effective and has gotten better each year. We just dont execute when we need to or we sometimes came up short on talent. I don't know what direction to go if we don't make the tournament this season but I think we will have a better idea when it is over. For now I am hoping for the best.
 
I no longer make specific predictions. I do think we'll be a bubble team. Anything less will be a huge disappointment. Regardless of where we finish, including last place, unless CMA looses complete control of the team and/or there's a scandal of some sort, IMO he's not going anywhere.
 
monte said:
I no longer make specific predictions. I do think we'll be a bubble team. Anything less will be a huge disappointment. Regardless of where we finish, including last place, unless CMA looses complete control of the team and/or there's a scandal of some sort, IMO he's not going anywhere.
Click to expand...
This.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top