beast of the east
Active member
I do have a tendency to be an "I told you so person", but last week I cautioned against those wanting to extend Lavin immediately, because in two or three games everything could change quickly.
Then when everything changed quickly so many of us went berserk and were calling for Lavin's head, some immediately despite the result of doing that back in the Jarvis era. I suggested we just be patient, and asked that we let the Jordan saga play out. After I calmed down I suggested that he had so few options, that I thought he'd be back.
Now I am not suggesting that the Jordan tale is over yet, but I do think that Coach Lavin played his hand as well as possible. When you consider that in less than 2 years, it looked like Harrison, Obekpa, Greene, and now Jordan were headed out the door, never to be seen again, Coach Lavin masterfully brought them back. If you don't think that Lavin has built up incredible trust and respect from these kids prior to whatever event caused them to be headed for the exits, you are sadly mistaken. Guys like the aforementioned don't suddenly listen to words of wisdom from their soon-to-be-ex-coach unless they have a sincere belief that he looks out for their best interests, and their best interest is to be here at SJU. For this reason and this reason alone, I think he ranks as the best post-Carnesecca era coach of the Johnnies, even if he should be gone after this season/
We can lose every game, miss the tournament, fire Lavin justly for any number of failures, but NONE of this should be lost on you knuckleheads. I might not think Lavin is the best coach in the world, but I tell you I would trust my own kids to him, and that's the highest praise I can give him.
Then when everything changed quickly so many of us went berserk and were calling for Lavin's head, some immediately despite the result of doing that back in the Jarvis era. I suggested we just be patient, and asked that we let the Jordan saga play out. After I calmed down I suggested that he had so few options, that I thought he'd be back.
Now I am not suggesting that the Jordan tale is over yet, but I do think that Coach Lavin played his hand as well as possible. When you consider that in less than 2 years, it looked like Harrison, Obekpa, Greene, and now Jordan were headed out the door, never to be seen again, Coach Lavin masterfully brought them back. If you don't think that Lavin has built up incredible trust and respect from these kids prior to whatever event caused them to be headed for the exits, you are sadly mistaken. Guys like the aforementioned don't suddenly listen to words of wisdom from their soon-to-be-ex-coach unless they have a sincere belief that he looks out for their best interests, and their best interest is to be here at SJU. For this reason and this reason alone, I think he ranks as the best post-Carnesecca era coach of the Johnnies, even if he should be gone after this season/
We can lose every game, miss the tournament, fire Lavin justly for any number of failures, but NONE of this should be lost on you knuckleheads. I might not think Lavin is the best coach in the world, but I tell you I would trust my own kids to him, and that's the highest praise I can give him.