Whitehead Knew Lavin was gone?
- Thread starter fan5577
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we are sju
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In fairness some players have left SJU over 30 years ago and people still bring them up
Don't knock it, that is how we hired our current coach
In fairness some players have left SJU over 30 years ago and people still bring them up
LOL! Isn't that the truth!
Hey Tony,
Please note that it was a Lavin booster that brought him up in this thread.
I think it is fair to say that those posters which were critical of how the TV Announcer conducted the StJohn's program during the last 2-3 years of his tenure have moved on and are confident of the future.
The handful of posters who defended Lavin till the end are the one's that are still in spin mode.
It is time for everyone to move forward.
beast of the east
Active member
I'm not praising Lavin nor defending him. In fact, I didn't think much of him as a bench coach. But I will evaluate him objectively. His 5 seasons were light years ahead of Norm's 6, and to me that counts enormously. There were murmurs from coaches I spoke to who were questioning whether St. John's should drop from the Big East at the time, and even some of us questioned it. To forget all of that in the evaluation of Lavin's tenure is ridiculously unfair. THAT'S NOT PRAISE, IT'S OBJECTIVITY.
Even when we look at the load of crap of a rsoter that was left by Lavin, very few of us would doubt that if LAvin stayed and we got Sampson, kept Obekpa, and some of the other guys he was recruiting (Mussini for one) had come here that we would have had maybe 12-14 wins. THAT'S NOT PRAISE, IT'S OBJECTIVITY.
Finally, I'm glad Lavin is gone, but for you to presume that Mullin is pounding the pavement every minute of the day and Lavin was sitting at home every minute of the day when neither was/is on campus very much is just without basis. I love Mullin in terms of what he represents to the university, but so far he has not accomplished enough of anything to conclude beyond a doubt that he will outdo Lavin's 5 years is speculative at best and without basis. For one, at Mullin's salary, I'd like him to be a more visible representative of the university to students and alumni. But THAT'S NOT PRAISE FOR LAVIN, IT'S OBJECTIVITY.
Personally, Lavin wasn't my type of guy, and I think that for the money, which for starters was less than what Mullin is getting paid for with zero track record, we can do much better in terms of ROI for the program.
I will say this in terms of SJU oversight. Harrington allowed Lavin to bypass Chris Monasch and run to Rob Wile for everything. Mullin doesn't even have an experienced AD to confer with, so he is virtually on his own. The mere fact that the novice president Gempeshaw isn't doing more to leverage Mullin's importance to the university community is troubling all by itself.
I'm not a shill for Lavin. I'm happy with the decision the university made and was a big advocate for this precise decision. But I won't let the absolute vitriol of some people on here cloud my objective conclusion that Lavin did more to restore this program than destroy it.
we are sju
Active member
Majority on here hate Jarvis, a bunch even hate Lavin for some reason. Was not directed at you specifically. ST John's coach lets me throwaway a bracket picking ST John's to win a game or two in the tourney every couple years they pretty much get a pass from me.
Or if they were a really great player for ST John's even though whether or not they can actually coach is still really not clear
Those um guy get a free pass from me as wellwe are sju
Active member
He gets much credit from me for wiping off the Norm stink. No matter what else he brought or didn't bring to the table I will always remember him for that. Just me, people can dislike whomever they feel like
Lol, St. Johns fans now understand UCLA fans feeling regarding Lav. If only we had heeded their warnings 6 years ago.
Perhaps if he gets hired for another coaching gig (and I suspect he will), some STJ fan can write an article titled "Dear_insert school_Enjoy Lavin, Love ST. Johns"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ari-shapiro/dear-st-johns-enjoy-steve_b_521280.html
No need to even read the entire article I pasted above. Just skip to the last paragraph.
Perhaps if he gets hired for another coaching gig (and I suspect he will), some STJ fan can write an article titled "Dear_insert school_Enjoy Lavin, Love ST. Johns"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ari-shapiro/dear-st-johns-enjoy-steve_b_521280.html
No need to even read the entire article I pasted above. Just skip to the last paragraph.
beast of the east
Active member
Don't compare the two programs. Their doo-doo are failed Final Four appearances and Sweet Sixteens stopped short. Those are our heyday highlights.
I have read that article more times than I can count. What amazes me most about Steve Lavin is how his powerful charisma STILL compels people to defend him. He is a truly an incredible salesman.
They have both been posted a thousand times, but here are two additional spot-on warnings we were given:
http://www.bruinsnation.com/2011/2/4/1973417/why-we-hate-steve-lavin
http://www.bruinsnation.com/2010/3/30/1398029/new-york-times-analysis-exposes
we are sju
Active member
Again not debating Lavin's faults, there were a lot. But at UCLA which was basically the Celtics / Yankees of college basketball he replaced a coach who had won a National Championship there. Here he replaced the worst coach in the history of coaches. If Norm had replaced Harrick at UCLA I can only imagine someone would have assassinated him.
I learned a long time ago that you can't change someone's mind about Steve Lavin (regardless of how they feel). Frankly, I don't care about the SJU/UCLA comparison. The bottom line is he is perhaps the worst Div-I bench coach I have ever seen, and while I paid for tickets he stopped working. It was a frustrating reign and, to me, nothing else matters.
we are sju
Active member
Not a good game coach but worst you have ever seen? Not even worst ST John's coach. Norm and Mahoney were much worse and jury still out on ST Jean
L J S A
Well-known member
If Lavin was never here, that magical first year might not happen -- not every coach was going to hire Dunlap. And we wouldn't have had Harrison or Pointer. Harkless maybe, I suppose. He came, he did some things well, he stopped working and got weird, he was asked to leave. But some of it was the most fun around here in decades.
Mullin was never a fixture here in the years since he left, even when schedule permitted, so that might not change unless the higher-ups make it change. As long as we have coaches hustling out there, I really don't care what Mullin does with his time. Attending some coaching clinics might be nice. I'm just thrilled that it's no longer just TC out there sweating his ass off while the other guys do nothing and have affairs.
Mullin was never a fixture here in the years since he left, even when schedule permitted, so that might not change unless the higher-ups make it change. As long as we have coaches hustling out there, I really don't care what Mullin does with his time. Attending some coaching clinics might be nice. I'm just thrilled that it's no longer just TC out there sweating his ass off while the other guys do nothing and have affairs.