The worst part of being a STJ fan...

B

BootsyT

Member
I have been a diehard fan since birth despite never actually attending SJU, I've missed events, streamed games from airports, argued with strangers over the team, and spent countless $ attending every game humanly possible... each recruit we sign, big game we win (few and far between), and new week there is a renewed sense of hope. Problem is this...

Outside of the anomaly that was Lavin's first season... we have been horrible (anyone who feels otherwise should took a long hard look at our record).

But that alone isn't what really stings. Lets face it there are plenty of teams in sports that are horrible year in and year out but the fans keep coming... The real issue for me during the Lavin era is with each top recruiting class, each article written and each time a I look at this board there is a renewed sense of optimism around this program and hope for the future. That is what is the absolute worst... being a team that is so damn bad but carrying expectations so high. We constantly underachieve and I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel... I saw some posts on Twitter today comparing this to the Roberts era and while it's a completely different program.... hell I don't know which is worse. At least during the Roberts era losses were expected and didn't ruin my entire day/week.

The team is so poorly coached and makes the same mistakes game in and out makes me really dread the rest of the season at the garden, I'd sell all the tickets but hell who would want them. We have some players with real heart on this team and I am praying they turn this around (I unlike some think guys like Dom and D'Lo deserve it) and make me look stupid. I just don't see it right now and after another summer of countless articles, hype and expectations that for me is by far way worse than the last 15 years.
 
I also am not a SJU alumni and have loyally been following this team for 30 years, which many times have been hard to do. Before the season started I thought this team would win at least an NCAA tourney game. I have lowered my expectations and expect us to make the NIT. I will still watch the games but can't say I'm not Dissapointed w this years performance.
 
I am a Alum of the school and proud of it. I've had the good fortune to see the REDMEN beat Villanova in the finals of the 1965 NIT. Coach Lapchick's last game in the old GARDEN.

Along the way, I've has season tickets for the glory years in the 1980's, the Mul-berry teams and maybe that was the high water mark for this Program? Who Knows?

While it's true the Program hasn't been the same since Louie left, we had a couple of good years, a few more NIT Championships, a Elie 8.

But, overall, the Program has not been blessed, with turmoil, bad management FH and poor Coaching choices.

I truly believed Lavin had the stuff to make us contenders again but, sad to say, I don't believe he does. He's capable of mediocrity, lots of cupcake wins but, not at the top of his profession. He will not take us to the next level. He's been a great ambassador for the school but, we're seeing his inability to take this group to a level that meets his own expectations. He fed us too much kool aid and the Media promoted the alleged talent to a level beyond its capabilities.

The game has passed Steve bye.. Individual athleticism wins games in the schoolyard but, not on the inside COURT against equally talented, or better athletes. Today, we saw Nova match our athleticism with better basketball players, pure and simple.

A noble effort but, this program is more, or should be more, than noble effort.

Louie always won, even without the best talent because he taught his players how to win. Steve can't do it. And, I think we've missed out on getting NYC area kids, long the backbone of this Program.. And, I don't for a minute think local kids are incapable of playing for ST jOHN'S..

i don't see a great turnaround with these players and the season is on its way to another year of no NCAA appearance.. 4 years in, the results should be better.
 
I am an alum. Went during then glory years of 1983 to 1987 and the worst part of being a fan now is going during the glory days of 1983 to 1987. We are so non-competitive now that I can no longer watch ANY college basketball. We need a change. :evil:
 
I also am not a SJU alumni and have loyally been following this team for 30 years, which many times have been hard to do. Before the season started I thought this team would win at least an NCAA tourney game. I have lowered my expectations and expect us to make the NIT. I will still watch the games but can't say I'm not Dissapointed w this years performance.
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I think it is the curse of the "RED STORM" name. We must return to "REDMEN". I have thugtht about this issue and we must find a real witch to remove the curse. Finding a witch needs to be Lavin's next recruiting trip.
 
The worst part of being a St. John's fan is being a loyal St. John's fan. It's really hard to walk from a program you are loyal to, living through false hope, disappointing losses that have outweighed the great moments over the past 20 years. It would be so much easier not to have this instinctual loyalty to stay with it.
 
Good point. The worst for me is before every season I tell fans of other teams and bandwagon St. John's fans that "this year" they're finally going to be good. Sooner or later I end up looking like a complete fool, and that point was reached this year against GT last weekend. Soon Spring Training can start and I can root for the Mets, who have been equally as frustrating the last few years. At least I know theywill be terrible this year.
 
I also am not a SJU alumni and have loyally been following this team for 30 years, which many times have been hard to do. Before the season started I thought this team would win at least an NCAA tourney game. I have lowered my expectations and expect us to make the NIT. I will still watch the games but can't say I'm not Dissapointed w this years performance.
Click to expand...

I think it is the curse of the "RED STORM" name. We must return to "REDMEN". I have thugtht about this issue and we must find a real witch to remove the curse. Finding a witch needs to be Lavin's next recruiting trip.
Click to expand...

Recently There was a catholic Bishop in Illinois who performed a ceremonial exorcism because same sex marriage passed. Perhaps his excellency can come to St. John's and do one for the program
 
I have been a diehard fan since birth despite never actually attending SJU, I've missed events, streamed games from airports, argued with strangers over the team, and spent countless $ attending every game humanly possible... each recruit we sign, big game we win (few and far between), and new week there is a renewed sense of hope. Problem is this...

Outside of the anomaly that was Lavin's first season... we have been horrible (anyone who feels otherwise should took a long hard look at our record).

But that alone isn't what really stings. Lets face it there are plenty of teams in sports that are horrible year in and year out but the fans keep coming... The real issue for me during the Lavin era is with each top recruiting class, each article written and each time a I look at this board there is a renewed sense of optimism around this program and hope for the future. That is what is the absolute worst... being a team that is so damn bad but carrying expectations so high. We constantly underachieve and I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel... I saw some posts on Twitter today comparing this to the Roberts era and while it's a completely different program.... hell I don't know which is worse. At least during the Roberts era losses were expected and didn't ruin my entire day/week.

The team is so poorly coached and makes the same mistakes game in and out makes me really dread the rest of the season at the garden, I'd sell all the tickets but hell who would want them. We have some players with real heart on this team and I am praying they turn this around (I unlike some think guys like Dom and D'Lo deserve it) and make me look stupid. I just don't see it right now and after another summer of countless articles, hype and expectations that for me is by far way worse than the last 15 years.
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Hahah great post. I can relate...I remember one time I was on vacation in Mexico and we were completely surprised with the 5-room presidential suite (paid for a much lesser room) with a hot tub and all the works, and all I kept doing was running to the business office to see if CASSAN BREEDEN (remember that name!) committed to us or Florida State the day before and the day of his decision. My GF at the time was not pleased.

I am a Mets and Knicks fans, so I have plenty of practice. Looking forward to Izzy/Pulsipher/Wilson single-handedly got me through like 4-5 horrible years. Ike Davis got me through 2-3 more, but now it looks like he'll never hit north of .250 again.

On a recruiting note, I really give Lavin somewhat of a pass for his first full class. So many of those recruits--especially the incredibly skilled average athlete variety that goes on to kill us--were already committed or close to committed before he was even hired. The loss of Moe after a year was completely unpredictable and there was no veteran to fall back on (like if we lost Sampson or Jordan now). Then there was the Rise Trio, Nuri, and Sanchez not qualifying--which all does comes back to the coach--but he had to take chances that year to fill a roster. A junior Sampson this season would have been a treat.
 
Sampson has been slightly above average as a sophomore after being very good his freshman year. On this trend why would his junior year be a treat?
 
Sampson has been slightly above average as a sophomore after being very good his freshman year. On this trend why would his junior year be a treat?
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Harkless is looking like a genius for having left when he did, given the regression that has occurred with Sampson and Obekpa over the last year.
 
Sampson has been slightly above average as a sophomore after being very good his freshman year. On this trend why would his junior year be a treat?
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I hope you meant slightly "below" average since he has not progressed at all. I am not fooled by his spectacular dunks. All other aspects of his game have not improved, especially ball handling and shooting. He and Sanchez have been disappointments on the front line.
 
Sampson has been slightly above average as a sophomore after being very good his freshman year. On this trend why would his junior year be a treat?
Click to expand...

I hope you meant slightly "below" average since he has not progressed at all. I am not fooled by his spectacular dunks. All other aspects of his game have not improved, especially ball handling and shooting. He and Sanchez have been disappointments on the front line.
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Oh I totally agree with you.
I meant compared to other BE forwards....he's only slightly better than average right now. Last year he was pretty damn good. Definitely regressed.

Worst part is that he's become a black hole when he gets the ball.
 
Sampson has been slightly above average as a sophomore after being very good his freshman year. On this trend why would his junior year be a treat?
Click to expand...

Harkless is looking like a genius for having left when he did, given the regression that has occurred with Sampson and Obekpa over the last year.
Click to expand...

The expectation for Obekpa this year were totally ridiculous IMO. He was/is a very raw one-dimensional player. All that talk about him being first round NBA pick was just crazy. I like most others expected some improvement this year, especially on offense, but he still has a very long way to go until he becomes an all around contributor.
 
Sampson has been slightly above average as a sophomore after being very good his freshman year. On this trend why would his junior year be a treat?
Click to expand...

Harkless is looking like a genius for having left when he did, given the regression that has occurred with Sampson and Obekpa over the last year.
Click to expand...

The expectation for Obekpa this year were totally ridiculous IMO. He was/is a very raw one-dimensional player. All that talk about him being first round NBA pick was just crazy. I like most others expected some improvement this year, especially on offense, but he still has a very long way to go until he becomes an all around contributor.
Click to expand...

Will the guy who said we had 6 potential NBA players please come forward! LOL!
 
Sampson has been slightly above average as a sophomore after being very good his freshman year. On this trend why would his junior year be a treat?
Click to expand...

Harkless is looking like a genius for having left when he did, given the regression that has occurred with Sampson and Obekpa over the last year.
Click to expand...

The expectation for Obekpa this year were totally ridiculous IMO. He was/is a very raw one-dimensional player. All that talk about him being first round NBA pick was just crazy. I like most others expected some improvement this year, especially on offense, but he still has a very long way to go until he becomes an all around contributor.
Click to expand...

Will the guy who said we had 6 potential NBA players please come forward! LOL!
Click to expand...

I was questioning whether we had even one if you flip back, but to be fair, I think that the guy meant that over the next 25 years we will have 6 potential NBA players.
 
It's time to understand, despite how painful it is, there will be no NCAA this year, maybe not even NIT. And, it's just ridiculous to think there are NBA players on this team, exception being possibly JORDAN, who needs a jump shot to go with the other parts of his game.. He was our spark in the 2nd half, until , for some reason the ball started winding up with Greene, Harrison, Pointer and Sampson, none of whom have shown the ability to win a game.

At crunch time , these guys forget about team effort and ball movement and go to the schoolyard game. IT DOESN'T WORK.

Did any of them come from winning or championship teams? I know jordan's team was a champion in PHILLY..

and, last year Greene refused to throw the ball to MARCO. This year he refuses to throw it to Hooper. It's so obvious. Max didn't shoot or play well today but, at least, he has the potential to throw the ball in the hoop. Pointer can't shoot for diddly. and, if you are relying on GREENE to create for you, you will lose every time.
 
We had a nice run, then Looie retired. He did pretty good for having subway tokens for a recruiting budget (although some say he had more than that). Then there was the stipend. How do you think Duquesne fans feel? They had a good run for awhile. May be time to accept the limitations and hire a guy that knows how to win and attract heady ballplayers that can shoot. Try to get our 20 wins like Looie did and lose in the first or second round of the NCAA. Every 20 years or so, we may get a local kid like Mullin or Artest who wants to stay home for college. Then we can have an elite eight or better run. The program will limp along for years, getting an NIT bid some years, and crapping out some others. Not every school is meant to have success. And that SJU infomercial bragging about being the college with the 7th most basketball wins? Got to change that every few years to 8th, then 9th, and so on.
 
I am an alum and I desperately wish that I could be like the rest of my alumni friends who don't give a crap about the team unless they are winning.

I'm trying every day to take my heart our of this.

Honestly, the only reason I watch the games at this point is to see Rysheed's development.

But this is a worse feeling than back in 1994 when we brought in Felipe, Zendon and Tarik. It is much worse.

Reason being, we didn't have a pompous loudmouth coach who loved being on camera and talking up a bunch of nonsense. The expectations back then were much higher because we had the best player in the nation AND Felipe and Zandon were local kids so there was that attachment to them.

But this "Lavin regime" is magnified because he is trying to Sell you a Lamborghini where we can all see that it is a lemon.

Never again should we hire a coach that does not have NY roots.

Lavin's cool, hands-off approach can work in Hollywood but it won't fly over here. He doesn't understand the NY attitude, hustle and desperation. NYers are hard to impress. No one is going to stop because you step into a room and that's the part that Mr. Soho doesn't get. Save the hair gel. We need someone who wants to get his fingernails dirty.

So I hope to post much less and less as we get closer to Febru...err...I mean March. And I will start to purposely not tune in to more and more games since the Leader of the team said don't bother because you won't see the best product until the last month of the season.

Yeah, "it's fluid".
 
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