Beast Of the East Wrote: Totally different era, when there was just 3 major networks and maybe 1 televised games nationally. Fans never got to see stars like Bill Russell, Jerry West, or Wilt Chamberlain play on TV. UCLA got lots of TV run in their hey day, which would have meant that fans got to see them maybe 3 or 4 times a year.
It was a huge recruiting advantage for St. John's to be in NY. A mid major without conferences would have a hard time getting enough exposure to even be considered for a major tournament. So we got a much bigger share of local talent, even after Frank McGuire carpet bagged to the ACC and raided NYC talent.
Also consider that in an era without conference play, we had overall a softer schedule. 18 games in conference out of 31 is brutal, especially when you throw in 4 or 5 competitive OOC games. It's what greatly narrows the number of consecutive winning seasons coaches have over extended periods of time.
I understand your points but just because our consistent winning records happened in a different period of time does not negate our consistency of excellence for thirty years. Realistically during St. John's thirty year run the basketball landscape evolved tremendously but your arguments about how things were back then apply differently in 1963 then they do in 1992.
For me the X factor is that when Coach Carnasecca left it ended our ability to win consistently. At Syracuse Coach Boheim kept that winning culture going even though the game continued to keep evolving. The game changed drastically from 1963 to 1992 yet SJU kept winning. Why was that? I believe that since then we have never had the right steward to guide the ship back to consistency. One of the reasons to me that Coach Anderson is an exciting choice as leader is his consistent track record of winning. Its right there in his past performances and it would be great if seasons of five hundred or better happened year after year instead of at the fifty percent rate we have achieved over the last 26 years.
It was a huge recruiting advantage for St. John's to be in NY. A mid major without conferences would have a hard time getting enough exposure to even be considered for a major tournament. So we got a much bigger share of local talent, even after Frank McGuire carpet bagged to the ACC and raided NYC talent.
Also consider that in an era without conference play, we had overall a softer schedule. 18 games in conference out of 31 is brutal, especially when you throw in 4 or 5 competitive OOC games. It's what greatly narrows the number of consecutive winning seasons coaches have over extended periods of time.
I understand your points but just because our consistent winning records happened in a different period of time does not negate our consistency of excellence for thirty years. Realistically during St. John's thirty year run the basketball landscape evolved tremendously but your arguments about how things were back then apply differently in 1963 then they do in 1992.
For me the X factor is that when Coach Carnasecca left it ended our ability to win consistently. At Syracuse Coach Boheim kept that winning culture going even though the game continued to keep evolving. The game changed drastically from 1963 to 1992 yet SJU kept winning. Why was that? I believe that since then we have never had the right steward to guide the ship back to consistency. One of the reasons to me that Coach Anderson is an exciting choice as leader is his consistent track record of winning. Its right there in his past performances and it would be great if seasons of five hundred or better happened year after year instead of at the fifty percent rate we have achieved over the last 26 years.
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