Well Jeff Borzello Likes the Johnnies

paultzman

paultzman

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25. St. John's Red Storm: This spot originally came down to Florida, Clemson and TCU, but with St. John's getting a waiver for Auburn transfer Mustapha Heron to play immediately, the Red Storm get the nod heading into the season. The personnel is not in question. Heron and Shamorie Ponds form one of the elite backcourts nationally, but remember, this team has had talent in recent years and consistently disappointed. This is the year for Chris Mullin to put it together.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...4/college-basketball-preseason-power-rankings
 
Now let's play up to our capabilities.......Let the games begin. This is an exciting time for all Redmen fans and for college basketball.
 
First time we've been on any Top 25 list since early January 2015. ESPN Power Rankings are second to only the AP/Coaches polls in terms of reach. Great to see!

We have a shot to crack the pre-season AP poll, but think we'll be RV and come in around #29. This certainly helps.
 
If we go out and dominate our non-conference we should be ranked in the 10-20 range heading into Big East play.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=298425]25. St. John's Red Storm: This spot originally came down to Florida, Clemson and TCU, but with St. John's getting a waiver for Auburn transfer Mustapha Heron to play immediately, the Red Storm get the nod heading into the season. The personnel is not in question. Heron and Shamorie Ponds form one of the elite backcourts nationally, but remember, this team has had talent in recent years and consistently disappointed. This is the year for Chris Mullin to put it together.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...4/college-basketball-preseason-power-rankings[/quote]

??? "This team has had talent in recent years and consistently disappointed"???
I ask how much talent and depth of talent - and - how significant was the departure of Marcus Lovett - otherwise we would have been more successful or less "consistently disappointed" - the curve since no mans' land circa April 2015 has been upward and continues to climb.

Let's get real (rather than fake lol) - The previous rosters pale in comparison to 2018-19!!!
And for that we are fortunate and undoubtedly will accumulate Ws before the Ides of March.

all the best
 
Adam wrote: First time we've been on any Top 25 list since early January 2015.

I'll bet it's the first time we have been on a major pre-season top 25 ranking in close to twenty years (unless I am forgetting something which is very possible).
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=298458]Adam wrote: First time we've been on any Top 25 list since early January 2015.

I'll bet it's the first time we have been on a major pre-season top 25 ranking in close to twenty years (unless I am forgetting something which is very possible).[/quote]

You're correct, at least going back 15+ years. One of Lavin's teams received 3 votes in the pre-season AP poll (not making the actual Top 25), but that's it.

Pretty sure we're also the only team on the list to not make the Tournament/NIT last year.
 
Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough!
 
[quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

The one thing we do not need is the players moldering.
 
[quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

This season will not be a test for a coaching staff. Starting 2 freshman or trying to replace an injured starter tests the ingenuity of a coaching staff. This team is filled with talent and experience. They will start two 5*, two 4* and a 3*, with another 4* off the bench. They have 3 returning starters that logged a lot of minutes together. Any coach in America should win 23 games with this team, and maybe more. Not succeeding this season will be an embarrassment to the staff and inexcusable. I'm expecting a big year, and nothing short of that should be accepted.
 
[quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

Coached up and molded into a team? I am pretty confident in saying that after losing their second best player last year, and having a roster as this as Tariq Owens, the coaching staff kept these kids together. I choose to look at the fact that the staff was able to keep these kids together and get them playing their best ball once February hit. I choose to look at the fact that they went 5-3 in February to finish out their last 8 games with wins over there number 4 and number 1 team (on the road) , to finish out the season. I choose to look at going 1-1 in the BET with that loss coming to the number 1 seed a mere 12 hours after knocking off Georgetown. None of this happens without a staff that knows what they're doing and how to coach players up and keep their heads in the game. In theory, the team overachieved because of lack of depth. If you want to get on the staff for having no bench and basically going with a 6 man rotation, that's understandable. That's been corrected. I choose to be positive and see actual and factual results of a coaching staff finally putting it together. You choose to be negative in every post of yours. It's all about perception and choice.
 
[quote="rawdognyc" post=298490][quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

Coached up and molded into a team? I am pretty confident in saying that after losing their second best player last year, and having a roster as this as Tariq Owens, the coaching staff kept these kids together. I choose to look at the fact that the staff was able to keep these kids together and get them playing their best ball once February hit. I choose to look at the fact that they went 5-3 in February to finish out their last 8 games with wins over there number 4 and number 1 team (on the road) , to finish out the season. I choose to look at going 1-1 in the BET with that loss coming to the number 1 seed a mere 12 hours after knocking off Georgetown. None of this happens without a staff that knows what they're doing and how to coach players up and keep their heads in the game. In theory, the team overachieved because of lack of depth. If you want to get on the staff for having no bench and basically going with a 6 man rotation, that's understandable. That's been corrected. I choose to be positive and see actual and factual results of a coaching staff finally putting it together. You choose to be negative in every post of yours. It's all about perception and choice.[/quote]

I agree with you but Ron S. mentions "molded into a team". That is every fan's hope and a legitimate concern. We will soon see if a very talented group can be motivated to play team ball. I expect some tough love by Mullin if any player strays from the plan.
 
[quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

That is what you'll also see from several members, if you peruse conference foes sites. They're not sold on our coaching staff to get the job done.

You can, I'd assume for the most part, get an unbiased opinion from those particular sites. I also think it's a legitimate question or concern until proven otherwise.
 
I think our team play showed last season late, when we handed Duke and Nova back to back losses. We took a big hit when we lost our Pg in Lovett and had nobody on the bench besides a freshman Trimble to back up our guards. We could have been a tourney team last year if we had more depth and didn’t call it quits for a month after losing Lovett. We always had the capability amongst our starters.

This year we have none of those depth issues at all... none, just a lot more talent and depth at almost all spots. I have no doubt we will be able to play together. Coaches just need to keep the players heads in the game, go out and try to throttle everybody.

I think Mullin has the team he wants, and year 4 of his tenure is actually an appropriate time to field a solid roster. I don’t think we have underachieved. Mullin started with nobody, we took some rough losses on transfer and it took a while to build a team. Now we just have to win, and creating a winning tradition again.
 
[quote="MJDinkins" post=298501][quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

That is what you'll also see from several members, if you peruse conference foes sites. They're not sold on our coaching staff to get the job done.

You can, I'd assume for the most part, get an unbiased opinion from those particular sites. I also think it's a legitimate question or concern until proven otherwise.[/quote]

Here's my thing though. I can't legitimately say we've been losing games because Mullin was out coached. Maybe someone can point out some examples and correct me.

I'm not trying to compare, but I do remember Lavins lack of coaching at times. What immediately comes to mind was inbound plays following time outs and how often those went wrong.
 
[quote="Room112" post=298529][quote="MJDinkins" post=298501][quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

That is what you'll also see from several members, if you peruse conference foes sites. They're not sold on our coaching staff to get the job done.

You can, I'd assume for the most part, get an unbiased opinion from those particular sites. I also think it's a legitimate question or concern until proven otherwise.[/quote]

Here's my thing though. I can't legitimately say we've been losing games because Mullin was out coached. Maybe someone can point out some examples and correct me.

I'm not trying to compare, but I do remember Lavins lack of coaching at times. What immediately comes to mind was inbound plays following time outs and how often those went wrong.[/quote]

No need to rehash and go down that road. There's a perception amongst several fans throughout the conference that Mullin can't or won't get it done. My opinion, and obviously many others, still have some concernment about coaching and getting the most out of the team.

Prove the doubters (or folks on the fence) wrong. I'm also very careful about taking one season and feel someone has arrived (unless, someone, typically a player, just has that "It" factor). That goes for teams, coaches and players in any sport. Most of the time, I need to see something sustained before I'm swayed.
 
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[quote="MJDinkins" post=298536][quote="Room112" post=298529][quote="MJDinkins" post=298501][quote="ron s m" post=298474]Implied in his comments is that the talent is there, but it is on the coaching staff to succeed. That is my big concern also. The players need to be coached up and moldered into a team. I think the jury is still out as to whether we have the coaches to get the job done. We will know soon enough![/quote]

That is what you'll also see from several members, if you peruse conference foes sites. They're not sold on our coaching staff to get the job done.

You can, I'd assume for the most part, get an unbiased opinion from those particular sites. I also think it's a legitimate question or concern until proven otherwise.[/quote]

Here's my thing though. I can't legitimately say we've been losing games because Mullin was out coached. Maybe someone can point out some examples and correct me.

I'm not trying to compare, but I do remember Lavins lack of coaching at times. What immediately comes to mind was inbound plays following time outs and how often those went wrong.[/quote]

No need to rehash and go down that road. There's a perception amongst several fans throughout the conference that Mullin can't or won't get it done. My opinion, and obviously many others, still have some concernment about coaching and getting the most out of the team.

Prove the doubters (or folks on the fence) wrong. I'm also very careful about taking one season and feel someone has arrived (unless, someone, typically a player, just has that "It" factor). That goes for teams, coaches and players in any sport. Most of the time, I need to see something sustained before I'm swayed.[/quote]

You can't sustain anything in college basketball without the players. We need to sign a big time recruit out of prep school every year with a mix of transfers. Without a Precious or Kofi or whomever it means we haven't kept the foot on the pedal at the head coach's level. Matt can only do so much. Getting current players to go all out for future recruits is also important.
 
I am
Very pleased and heartened by the statements of Ponds and Heron who’ve known each other and played with and against each other for years - they look forward to being teammates
- to me that bodes very well for SJU
2018-19!!!
 
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