Step back from the ledge

You are right that fans should neither chant "Fire Mullin" or boo the players. That would be stupid and uncalled for, but unlike you there is no way I am giving CM or this staff a total pass for what is unfolding. Going into this season, I thought the NCAA Tournament was a possibility, but a definite stretch. The back court trio of Ponds, LoVett, & Simon impressed me, but I said it all offseason that I thought the wings and front court was weak. Bashir is the exact same player from last year, Yakwe is Jekyll and Hyde, Owens plays hard but is probably best coming off the bench, and Clark would much rather play out on the wing than fight for boards. I really, really hope that Brooks, Roberts, & Diakite can rebound because I don't see our current group getting any better on the boards for next year either. Outside of Owens, they just don't position themselves or battle for rebounds.

But the bigger problem remains the coaching staff. We all know CM is an inexperienced coach who needs help. Anybody who watches a St. John's game can clearly see that when a 27 year old GSJ is always leading the Johnnies huddle. Matt A is obviously there more for recruiting purposes. And Mitch just kind of... stands there. In year 3, this is totally unacceptable and cannot be tolerated past this season. How many times have we as fans watch the team come out of a timeout and look totally unorganized? And how long can we continue to tolerate the team make the same mental errors on defense game after game? As many of you on this board have said, we as fans have been put through a lot worse, so this is just another disappointing season thereby making the school more irrelevant. But I really hope that CM and Goff have a good sit down next season and really look at the people he's surrounding himself with. I get that he may have strong relationships with these guys, but I also understand that the key to a successful person is coming to grips with his flaws and addressing them. They need to add experienced members to the coaching staff who can put these kids in a better position to compete.
 
I dont know if I've ever as a fan experienced a loss like this that was far less painful for me than empathy for the guys on our team.

They gave it their all, played a wonderfully competitive game, and even with mistakes, deserved a W. Pretty sure from the Twitter posts of the guys that they are all hurting.

Ticket buying fans should bring their A game to CA THIS WEEK TO SUPPORT OUR GUYS. if you aren't a ticket holder consider buying one.

A win is coming soon andcwe can support it.
 
We fired a coach who had us relevant for this
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Relevant = two conference tournament wins in five years

Relevant = one post season win in five years.

Relevant = taken to the wood shed by at home by NEC powerhouse Robert Morris in the NIT.


Why, Lavin was like Wooden, nearly. I can see how you'd be pining for good old days. On the bright side if Mullin manages to make the NIT over the next couple of years he can eclipse that astounding record.
 
You are right that fans should neither chant "Fire Mullin" or boo the players. That would be stupid and uncalled for, but unlike you there is no way I am giving CM or this staff a total pass for what is unfolding. Going into this season, I thought the NCAA Tournament was a possibility, but a definite stretch. The back court trio of Ponds, LoVett, & Simon impressed me, but I said it all offseason that I thought the wings and front court was weak. Bashir is the exact same player from last year, Yakwe is Jekyll and Hyde, Owens plays hard but is probably best coming off the bench, and Clark would much rather play out on the wing than fight for boards. I really, really hope that Brooks, Roberts, & Diakite can rebound because I don't see our current group getting any better on the boards for next year either. Outside of Owens, they just don't position themselves or battle for rebounds.

But the bigger problem remains the coaching staff. We all know CM is an inexperienced coach who needs help. Anybody who watches a St. John's game can clearly see that when a 27 year old GSJ is always leading the Johnnies huddle. Matt A is obviously there more for recruiting purposes. And Mitch just kind of... stands there. In year 3, this is totally unacceptable and cannot be tolerated past this season. How many times have we as fans watch the team come out of a timeout and look totally unorganized? And how long can we continue to tolerate the team make the same mental errors on defense game after game? As many of you on this board have said, we as fans have been put through a lot worse, so this is just another disappointing season thereby making the school more irrelevant. But I really hope that CM and Goff have a good sit down next season and really look at the people he's surrounding himself with. I get that he may have strong relationships with these guys, but I also understand that the key to a successful person is coming to grips with his flaws and addressing them. They need to add experienced members to the coaching staff who can put these kids in a better position to compete.
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I dont disagree with almost anything you said and you made some really good points. I'm just of the mindset now that next year is make it or break it type year now
 
*Recruiting is going well.

*Team discipline (off court) and academics seems to be going well.

*The team is playing hard

I think adding one proven assistant coach could make a huge difference. Mullin has the personal qualities to be successful, but as a new coach he has forgone the luxury of carrying an experienced adviser.
 
Should never boo a kid who is not getting paid to play. Seems like great kids and they work their butts off.

Coaches are fair game. The head coach is the CEO of the program and he is doing a terrible job. We fired a coach who had us relevant for this.
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LMFAO!!!!!!!!!! Lavin had us relevant? Lets see.
Year one was Norms seniors, only reason they got to the NCAA tourny was because Mike Dunlap is a x's and o's guru.
So he inherited the kids while someone else drew up the play, Yep, what a genius.
Last year they made it again, but the 2 times they made it they were one and done.

To bad he got lazy recruiting.
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I love how people keep making believe that Norman Roberts' "seniors" coached themselves that first year! I don't recall Mike Dunlap drawing up the plays during games, do you? As for that guru, the players hated him. About that first year the archives read:
"Lavin inherited a team that finished in 13th place in the Big East Conference in 2009-10. The next year the same players finished at 12-6. A jump of similar magnitude had previously occurred only one other time in Big East Conference history.
The Red Storm finished the 2011 season ranked 18th in the Associated Press Top 25, marking the first time it qualified for the postseason as a ranked team since 2000-01."
Poor Chris Mullin! He's just been unlucky in 3 years. That Lavin guy he only had cancer! Poor Chris Mullin he will have three losing seasons. That idiot fat necked Lavin only went to 2 NITs and 2 NCAA tourneys. Thank God Chris Mullin, a direct descendant of the long Lou Carnesecca coaching tree, has come home to save the program from the quagmire it was in. Chris is our "LAST HOPE". There will be no St. John's university basketball program should he fail. There will be no St. John's in the Big East should he fail. Lavin left the program in shambles. It could take 5 or 6 years just to recover.
BTW, some morons are actually saying that crap! Apocalyptic blind followers of a guy that brought nothingness to the program other than his name. Lavin had his Lavinwood disciples. Mullin has the walking dead as disciples. The problem is Lavin never considered any of his disciples friends while Chris Mullin does. Show me who your friends are and........
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It's the typical BS from the agenda-driven folks. It's disingenuous. Lavin was integral in installing the defenses not only here, but for UCLA, too. I'd much rather watch those defenses than what we've witnessed the past 3 seasons.

This "LAST HOPE" crap I've seen from a few posters and folks on Twitter..... Haha! Please! Straight up defeatist and loser talk. What has Mullin ever accomplished as a coach for this to be our "last hope?" Not a damn thing!

Stop tying in his basketball ability to his coaching ability (or, lack of). They aren't mutual. If anyone still didn't think this team shouldn't have, at least, been an NIT participant without LoVett.... Keep lying to yourselves.

Those will be the same posters with other excuses a year from now.
 
Of course a year like this is grist for the mill for our recruiting rivals. That said, despite someone on JJ throwing out a rumor re Brooks breaking his verbal commitment, he & family remain fully on board. I sense he sees ample playing time on horizon & appreciates the perils of a short roster this year.

Hopefully the core guys return as well, but we'll see on that. If so, Mullin will have a full, talented roster to prove he can get the job done. A lot of BE teams lose very good players this year, so the opportunity is there. Hopefully it is not a lost one. Adding an experienced assistant coach to me is worth a try. It certainly is not the total fix, but in this rut, why not give it a shot?
 
Of course a year like this is grist for the mill for our recruiting rivals. That said, despite someone on JJ throwing out a rumor re Brooks breaking his verbal commitment, he & family remain fully on board. I sense he sees ample playing time on horizon & appreciates the perils of a short roster this year.

Hopefully the core guys return as well, but we'll see on that. If so, Mullin will have a full, talented roster to prove he can get the job done. A lot of BE teams lose very good players this year, so the opportunity is there. Hopefully it is not a lost one. Adding an experienced assistant coach to me is worth a try. It certainly is not the total fix, but in this rut, why not give it a shot?
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Yes.
 
The fact remains that if the head coach of this program were any other person in the world other than Chris Mullin, he’d be run out of town. Possibly cut loose before this season even ends.

But he is Chris Mullin so he gets a pass albeit for 1 more year. Simple as that. I think everyone here understands and accepts this.

CM has done 1 thing that others before him failed at. He’s actually tried to purge the program of unbalanced recruiting classes. Laying all scholarships on 1 class every 4 years and having to rebuild 3 years in a row because of it.

I get that we’ve sucked for 3 years regardless but the hope is, and at this point it seems like a long shot, that with some balanced recruiting classes we may be able to have success next season AND beyond in a consistent manner.

Would be lying if I didn’t say I had some doubts but definitely willing to see!

 
I knew the frustrating, disappointing loss would lead to a Donner party. Some platitudes to soothe the hurt:

It’s always darkest before the dawn (although this night seems to have the duration of a GoT winter)
When you walk through a storm hold your head up high (or, when you root for the Storm hold your head up high)
We will garner some victories in 2018 (may not be until November, hope that’s not the case)

Guys are playing hard, I can’t believe they went 2 OTs, they looked like they were on fumes with 8 minutes to go. Effort is there, talent is there, hopefully next year the roster will be there.

And Lavin made us nuts, remember sayings like “hammer to rock”, the change in hairstyle during one of our blowout losses to the Cats, the endless drama culminating in our short roster becoming shorter (both body count and height wise) because one of our guys was legally a few years ahead of his time. And in the wrong state (but not for long). Didn’t he also claim to “not be a tournament coach”?

 
And can we leave 20 in the rafters? Taking it down has wrecked a European in one year, and a knee/season in another. It’s become the numerical equivalent of being the DATDA professor at Hogwarts.
 
And can we leave 20 in the rafters? Taking it down has wrecked a European in one year, and a knee/season in another. It’s become the numerical equivalent of being the DATDA professor at Hogwarts.
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good point, Time to reretire it
 
Coaches always take heat and that is par for the Course . But, fans here and elsewhere are Amateurs and can say anything they want . Most of it , including my comments , are largely frustration and this Year meets that to a T . Did Mullin cause LoVett to get injured and miss the whole season ? Has everyone here forgotten , we were picked 6 in the BE with a healthy LoVett and a prediction of s 9-9 Record ? Wasn’t much of the early optimism predicated on Clark and Simon being near All World Players ? Both , are great additions to our roster but, their games have limitations . Clark doesn’t play inside and Simon is not a good shooter but, fills up all the stats otherwise . Yesterday he had a off day and only scored 8 points . He is a little weak on free throws and isn’t a 3 pt Scorer, who is on this team ? Owens is a perimeter player and can block shots . Most posters have forgotten the impact that Lovett provided . This was a flawed roster , with him . No inside player of BE standard . That’s our downfall , not Mullins coaching . And , for the Lavinites, his teams could not defend the 3 either ! How soon we forget !
 
I do remember that he was not 8-36 in the big east in the middle of year 3.

For all his quirks we were a lot more interesting and a lot more fans in the seats.

Will be very small crowds the remainder of year and assuming assistants are not added ticket sales will be down further next year.

Bottom line is Mullin is not getting fired but Mitch and St. Jean need to be reassigned with real experience being added to bench.

 
Based on its history, I'm just resigned to the fact that this probably won't get better. Unless Mullin has an epiphany and realizes GSJ and Mitch have to be replaced by more seasoned pros, the players will continue to be poorly coached. Plus, let's get real for a second. SJU had 5 players leave the program last year (Sima, Mussini, Ellison, RF, & Williams). Even with Dixon, Keita, Brooks, & Diakite coming in, there are going to be more departures after this season. Do you really think LoVett, Ponds, Clark, & Owens are all going to stick around? Not a chance, especially since they'll probably end up being the worst team in the Big East this year.
 
Let’s hope we don’t loose Ponds or Owens , or I will be stepping back on the ledge. IF we can retain our players, keep Brooks and upgrade staff I think we will be in good shape next year. But ,those are big ifs, that have me worried. It wasn’t just the Lovett loss that hurt this year but the loss of Sima,Ellison,Mussini, all who would have been upperclassman. We lost the aforementioned 3 plus Lovett and Wilson, impossible to recover from.
 
Based on its history, I'm just resigned to the fact that this probably won't get better. Unless Mullin has an epiphany and realizes GSJ and Mitch have to be replaced by more seasoned pros, the players will continue to be poorly coached. Plus, let's get real for a second. SJU had 5 players leave the program last year (Sima, Mussini, Ellison, RF, & Williams). Even with Dixon, Keita, Brooks, & Diakite coming in, there are going to be more departures after this season. Do you really think LoVett, Ponds, Clark, & Owens are all going to stick around? Not a chance, especially since they'll probably end up being the worst team in the Big East this year.
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i honestly think all those will be back except for Lovett. I think the only way ponds isn’t back is he goes to nba but i don’t think he would get drafted high yet so i think we get him for another year and i think with the extra players and a year to work on his threes he can have explosive junior year here
 
For all of this moaning, had ponds, an 85% ft shooter made both late free throws, or if yakwe, a 75% shooter hadn't missed both, most of you would be crowing how they are turning the corner. Georgetown made almost all of their fts and a prayer at the end of regulation.

Wins really don't matter much any more this season. On to the next game. As a rookie bill Bradley would throw fits after a tough loss. Finally Dave debusschere, his roomie and close friend told him, "listen if you are going to make it in this league you have to simply let go of a bad game and move forward. "

Mullin could have reminded the team that back in the 80s sju was about to beat Villanova at the spectrum. 1 point lead, Mullin at the line with 5 seconds left for a one and one, no 3 point shot. Money in the bank. Mullin misses the front end nova races up court and John pinone unleashes a 30 footer as the buzzer gies off that gets all net.

It happens. Get over it.
 
Based on its history, I'm just resigned to the fact that this probably won't get better. Unless Mullin has an epiphany and realizes GSJ and Mitch have to be replaced by more seasoned pros, the players will continue to be poorly coached. Plus, let's get real for a second. SJU had 5 players leave the program last year (Sima, Mussini, Ellison, RF, & Williams). Even with Dixon, Keita, Brooks, & Diakite coming in, there are going to be more departures after this season. Do you really think LoVett, Ponds, Clark, & Owens are all going to stick around? Not a chance, especially since they'll probably end up being the worst team in the Big East this year.
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i honestly think all those will be back except for Lovett. I think the only way ponds isn’t back is he goes to nba but i don’t think he would get drafted high yet so i think we get him for another year and i think with the extra players and a year to work on his threes he can have explosive junior year here
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Heard staff expects him back, with Ponds realizing he can improve upon his play this year. That said, this "stuff" is so fluid and this is just a snapshot of today. What tomorrow may bring is another story. Fingers crossed on this crucial situation.
 
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