Skills for Life

Twenty-two-year-old Rysheed Jordan, who attended Edward W. Bok Technical High School, is charged with attempted murder, robbery and other offenses.

http://6abc.com/news/former-philadelphia-basketball-standout-arrested-in-shooting-/1366993/

Rest assured Steve Lavin will visit him in prison. Or invite him to dinner at Rao's. Something.
Click to expand...

Come on Fun, Louie recruited Jayson Williams should we "kill him" for that
Click to expand...

Jordan shooting someone during an armed robbery a year removed from two years of learning that there are more important things than winning at the feet of educator first Steve Lavin is analogous to Jay Williams accidentally shooting someone 20 years after graduating? I think not.
Click to expand...

My only point was if you are trying to win basketball games you are not always going to be able to recruit the best human beings.
As far as Jordan goes, I can't criticize him for his handling of Jordan because he needed him and If he would have treated Jordan with more discipline, kid would have just left and that would not have made me happy at the time and people would have just criticized Lavin anyway.
You can justifiably bash Lavin for a lot of things. I just don't blame him for Jordan being a jerk. Heck if he would attempted to do the work Mullin would have taken him too.
 
With a Jordan thread already created, I immediately thought this was a Jarvis thread. Maybe a way to compare a couple of our recent coaches who overlooked character flaws.

But when I saw it was another Jordan and Lavin related thread, I figured it was just as well.

Personally, no matter how much Lavin deserved to be fired, he still won't reach the level of pure disdain as Jarvis.

Heck, I sided with team Captain America simply because the name of Ironman's talking computer/assistant is Jarvis.
Click to expand...

Actually this is the original Jordan thread, not "another" Jordan thread. The other Jordan thread is the "another" Jordan thread, this thread being the "original" Jordan thread. What happened was that I reported this important story (or "scoop") first, which BEB exclusive was then copied (or "stolen") by another[strike] Redman come lately[/strike] Johnnie come lately looking to cover himself in my glory. Sort of a Stephen Glass situation except the facts aren't made up and nobody got a Pulitzer. The time stamp tells the story. If I were the litigious sort I'd sue for violation of my patent rights ® but will take to my grave the satisfaction of winning the race to bring this important story to public purview.

It is true though that I sought to draw an analogy between the Jarvae and Lavin. There are strong similarities between them - and not just that they have both blocked me on Twitter. The chief one - the one that makes them both so very very repulsive - is their sanctimony: both portray themselves as educators and builders of men to whom character - their own and their student athletes - is paramount. Whereas both are in fact petty little snake oil salesmen who anoint themselves righteous and use their presumed goodness as an excuse for their own moral and professional failings. Lavin raised to an art form shielding of himself from culpability, wheedling for sympathy when times were bad and taking credit for his player's successes - as few and far between as they were - when times were good. If Jordan had gone on to become an NBA player he would have been Lavin's guy. Now he'll be just another troubled kid that Lavin just couldn't get through to gosh darn it, despite his best intentions and efforts. Maybe he'll even tweet about it. If only I could have reached Rysheed like I reached D'angelo, hashtag tough love hashtag SJUBB. Whereas he was the enabler in chief, looking the other way as the kid's life turned to excrement because he was coaching for a contract and ultimately his career.
 
Twenty-two-year-old Rysheed Jordan, who attended Edward W. Bok Technical High School, is charged with attempted murder, robbery and other offenses.

http://6abc.com/news/former-philadelphia-basketball-standout-arrested-in-shooting-/1366993/

Rest assured Steve Lavin will visit him in prison. Or invite him to dinner at Rao's. Something.
Click to expand...

Come on Fun, Louie recruited Jayson Williams should we "kill him" for that
Click to expand...

Jordan shooting someone during an armed robbery a year removed from two years of learning that there are more important things than winning at the feet of educator first Steve Lavin is analogous to Jay Williams accidentally shooting someone 20 years after graduating? I think not.
Click to expand...

My only point was if you are trying to win basketball games you are not always going to be able to recruit the best human beings.
As far as Jordan goes, I can't criticize him for his handling of Jordan because he needed him and If he would have treated Jordan with more discipline, kid would have just left and that would not have made me happy at the time and people would have just criticized Lavin anyway.
You can justifiably bash Lavin for a lot of things. I just don't blame him for Jordan being a jerk. Heck if he would attempted to do the work Mullin would have taken him too.
Click to expand...

Heck if he was smart enough and disciplined enough to do his schoolwork and stay away from a bad crowd, then there's a very slim chance he'd be out pulling armed robberies and shooting people.
 
With a Jordan thread already created, I immediately thought this was a Jarvis thread. Maybe a way to compare a couple of our recent coaches who overlooked character flaws.

But when I saw it was another Jordan and Lavin related thread, I figured it was just as well.

Personally, no matter how much Lavin deserved to be fired, he still won't reach the level of pure disdain as Jarvis.

Heck, I sided with team Captain America simply because the name of Ironman's talking computer/assistant is Jarvis.
Click to expand...

Give Lavin time, the final chapter in his time here hasn't yet been written.
 
Twenty-two-year-old Rysheed Jordan, who attended Edward W. Bok Technical High School, is charged with attempted murder, robbery and other offenses.

http://6abc.com/news/former-philadelphia-basketball-standout-arrested-in-shooting-/1366993/

Rest assured Steve Lavin will visit him in prison. Or invite him to dinner at Rao's. Something.
Click to expand...

Come on Fun, Louie recruited Jayson Williams should we "kill him" for that
Click to expand...

Jordan shooting someone during an armed robbery a year removed from two years of learning that there are more important things than winning at the feet of educator first Steve Lavin is analogous to Jay Williams accidentally shooting someone 20 years after graduating? I think not.
Click to expand...

My only point was if you are trying to win basketball games you are not always going to be able to recruit the best human beings.
As far as Jordan goes, I can't criticize him for his handling of Jordan because he needed him and If he would have treated Jordan with more discipline, kid would have just left and that would not have made me happy at the time and people would have just criticized Lavin anyway.
You can justifiably bash Lavin for a lot of things. I just don't blame him for Jordan being a jerk. Heck if he would attempted to do the work Mullin would have taken him too.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, I don't buy that WASJU.
Lavin didn't "need" Jordan as much as you think. He wanted him, to get his contract renewed.

But a coach isn't obligated to do everything at his disposal to win more games. What difference would it have made if Jordan was tossed off the team and we won 3 less games? Zero difference in the long run.

Your comments make it seem like a coach is excused for bringing a problem in to the program, because he's just trying to win at all costs. Who says that's the mandate?
Win and run as clean a program as possible. Nobody's going to be perfect, I get that. And some kids deserve a chance.

But winning and recruiting kids worthy of a scholarship don't have to be mutually exclusive.
 
And, I don't think you're giving sju fans enough credit.

Had Lavin tossed Jordan off the team, and given his minutes to Phil Greene and Jamal Branch... two guys who never complained about their situation, never got into it on the court ... just played ball and went to school:

Would we have lost a few more games? Probably. Been more at risk on the bubble? Yea. But (most) sju fans wouldn't have killed Lavin for it. They'd have been pissed at RJ for blowing it for his teammates.
 
And, I don't think you're giving sju fans enough credit.

Had Lavin tossed Jordan off the team, and given his minutes to Phil Greene and Jamal Branch... two guys who never complained about their situation, never got into it on the court ... just played ball and went to school:

Would we have lost a few more games? Probably. Been more at risk on the bubble? Yea. But (most) sju fans wouldn't have killed Lavin for it. They'd have been pissed at RJ for blowing it for his teammates.
Click to expand...

He needed to at least make the tourney. They did and he still was fired.
I consider myself pretty even keeled and I thought he did just barely enough to keep his job. If for whatever reason we did not at least make the tourney most would have said he needed to go, me included. His best shot was with Jordan and Obekpa. If they had made a sweet 16 run, he would still be the coach.
 
If they had made a sweet 16 run, he would still be the coach.
Click to expand...

Your "If" is a big "if".

Unfortunately for the TV Announcer too many "ifs" did not occur during his coaching days at both UCLA and St.John's so he was fired at both schools..
 
If they had made a sweet 16 run, he would still be the coach.
Click to expand...

Your "If" is a big "if".

Unfortunately for the TV Announcer too many "ifs" did not occur during his coaching days at both UCLA and St.John's so he was fired at both schools..
Click to expand...

I am not a Lavin supporter. Thought he was a lunkhead. But considering what came before him, I though he did enough. ST John's is in no shape to ever not bring back a Sweet 16 coach. Is moot because we lost in first round but he might have been brought back if we had won a game. Something that ST John's basketball coaches simply do not do.
 
And, I don't think you're giving sju fans enough credit.

Had Lavin tossed Jordan off the team, and given his minutes to Phil Greene and Jamal Branch... two guys who never complained about their situation, never got into it on the court ... just played ball and went to school:

Would we have lost a few more games? Probably. Been more at risk on the bubble? Yea. But (most) sju fans wouldn't have killed Lavin for it. They'd have been pissed at RJ for blowing it for his teammates.
Click to expand...

If Jordan got tossed off the team a year ago by Lavin and got arrested today, most of the same blamers would blame Lavin again for not helping out a disadvantaged kid and pitching him once he didn't fit in here.
 
I blame Norm Roberts for all of this! Had he done the job better he would not have been fired, we would not have hired Lavin and we would not have ever recruited Jordan. See, it's all Norm's fault! :blink: :evil: :whistle:
 
http://6abc.com/news/former-philadelphia-basketball-standout-arrested-in-shooting-/1366993/
Click to expand...



And all this time we thought he was going home to Philly to visit his family, instead he couldn't wait to hang with his dirt bag thugs. What a shame, he needs help and our prayers.
 
And, I don't think you're giving sju fans enough credit.

Had Lavin tossed Jordan off the team, and given his minutes to Phil Greene and Jamal Branch... two guys who never complained about their situation, never got into it on the court ... just played ball and went to school:

Would we have lost a few more games? Probably. Been more at risk on the bubble? Yea. But (most) sju fans wouldn't have killed Lavin for it. They'd have been pissed at RJ for blowing it for his teammates.
Click to expand...

Exactly, worlds biggest hypocrite is and was Steve I Have no Shame Lavin. Jamel Branch who was a great kid and super student was pulled off the court every time he made a mistake while Jordan was permitted to go awol and start. What a farce. Lavin screwed Branch over , like he screwed over Félix. But Branch being the gentleman and great kid that he is never complained publicly out of fear of reprisal from the so called coach. Branch deserved much better and we
would have been abetter team with Branch playing and recruiting a proper pg for 2015.
 
And, I don't think you're giving sju fans enough credit.

Had Lavin tossed Jordan off the team, and given his minutes to Phil Greene and Jamal Branch... two guys who never complained about their situation, never got into it on the court ... just played ball and went to school:

Would we have lost a few more games? Probably. Been more at risk on the bubble? Yea. But (most) sju fans wouldn't have killed Lavin for it. They'd have been pissed at RJ for blowing it for his teammates.
Click to expand...

If Jordan got tossed off the team a year ago by Lavin and got arrested today, most of the same blamers would blame Lavin again for not helping out a disadvantaged kid and pitching him once he didn't fit in here.
Click to expand...

Beast, I don't blame Lavin for what Jordan has done. That's all on Rysheed.
Did Lavin help the situation by letting him continually slide bye? No. But, in fairness he was hardly the only one enabling this young man. Jordan made the decision to carry a gun, rob someone, and fire the weapon.
That's not Lavins fault.

But I do blame him for bringing in too many players who didn't deserve a scholarship from St Johns. We don't have to be holier than thou. I know basketball players are no angels most of the time.
But he brought in too many kids with asteriks, and whom other coaches shied away from for reasons other than basketball.
 
Lavin was fortunate to have kids like Moe, Jakaar, Pointer, Branch and Greene. Wait that's all he had..........
 
And, I don't think you're giving sju fans enough credit.

Had Lavin tossed Jordan off the team, and given his minutes to Phil Greene and Jamal Branch... two guys who never complained about their situation, never got into it on the court ... just played ball and went to school:

Would we have lost a few more games? Probably. Been more at risk on the bubble? Yea. But (most) sju fans wouldn't have killed Lavin for it. They'd have been pissed at RJ for blowing it for his teammates.
Click to expand...

If Jordan got tossed off the team a year ago by Lavin and got arrested today, most of the same blamers would blame Lavin again for not helping out a disadvantaged kid and pitching him once he didn't fit in here.
Click to expand...

Beast, I don't blame Lavin for what Jordan has done. That's all on Rysheed.
Did Lavin help the situation by letting him continually slide bye? No. But, in fairness he was hardly the only one enabling this young man. Jordan made the decision to carry a gun, rob someone, and fire the weapon.
That's not Lavins fault.

But I do blame him for bringing in too many players who didn't deserve a scholarship from St Johns. We don't have to be holier than thou. I know basketball players are no angels most of the time.
But he brought in too many kids with asteriks, and whom other coaches shied away from for reasons other than basketball.
Click to expand...

So of course, the blame is 100% on the adult, Rysheed Jordan. Lavin and staff had a window of opportunity to make an actual difference in this kids life, and they didn't. He needed to get his ass kicked on the court by better players and instead he was brought in as a savior for the program. He needed to stay away from Philly, and nobody stopped him. He needed structure and discipline, he got neither. Lavin didn't pull the trigger on the gun last week, but he sure as hell blew his chance to change a life. Referencing Harrison, the tournament, "better than Norm", or former Sweet 16 coach is all BS. I still can't believe I read things like "well, he made the tourney so he should have kept his job" ...based on what? Getting trounced in the first round? lack of roster planning and recruiting? more interest in social creds than on-the-court creds? Showing a pattern of poor in-game coaching and lack of game plans? He was a joke folks, a complete joke, and that's not what Rysheed Jordan needed.
 
So of course, the blame is 100% on the adult, Rysheed Jordan. Lavin and staff had a window of opportunity to make an actual difference in this kids life, and they didn't. He needed to get his ass kicked on the court by better players and instead he was brought in as a savior for the program. He needed to stay away from Philly, and nobody stopped him. He needed structure and discipline, he got neither. Lavin didn't pull the trigger on the gun last week, but he sure as hell blew his chance to change a life. Referencing Harrison, the tournament, "better than Norm", or former Sweet 16 coach is all BS. I still can't believe I read things like "well, he made the tourney so he should have kept his job" ...based on what? Getting trounced in the first round? lack of roster planning and recruiting? more interest in social creds than on-the-court creds? Showing a pattern of poor in-game coaching and lack of game plans? He was a joke folks, a complete joke, and that's not what Rysheed Jordan needed.[/quote]

Best post I have read tonight.
In 1982 I had to take evening summer courses at SJU. Every night before class I saw Ron Rutledge walking with a tall young man who looked very out of place to class. When class was over there was Ron Rutledge again waiting for this young man. After a few weeks I went over to Ron and asked him who the young man was. He said his name was Walter Berry.
Having followed high school basketball I knew who Walter was. Difference was Rysheed was ranked much higher than Berry coming out of high school, Rysheed was eligible and all they had to do was keep him eligible while Berry was not eligible. Staff put in two summers and a full year at SJU in an attempt to get Walter eligible, which unfortunately did not materialize, but they certainly put in the effort. Success just does not come about it is a result of consistent hard work. Now you can call it babysitting or anything else you choose but boy did that staff work hard to recruit, keep, get eligible and rerecruit Walter while having Mullin, Wennington, Jackson, Glass ,Jones etc on the team. They were going to be good without Walter and were great with him.
The staff wasn't stuffing their faces with pizza and wings, banging every Ho available and taking selfies at trendy restaurants. They cared about their players and went out of their way to make these kids productive citizens.
Like every other kid Rysheed needed love and discipline. Staff didn't have to give him love but certainly had to give him discipline and there they failed miserably.
1 of 7 kids with no father and a sick mother, growing up in abject poverty all the while being told you are great and will make millions. This kid had no chance on his own without strong guidance. Our shameless self- promoter had a chance to do something very special with this kid, the highest ranking recruit he got to SJU, but that entailed work, a concept that is foreign to Steve Lavin.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top