Why All The Optimism

Take your lumps, watch young guys & staff improve, keep recruiting well & next year we will be a competitive team to enjoy. This is just tough year that John Wooden could not have made bearable.
 
The reason for the optimism is we have Mullin as head coach. Who was a heady, hard working player and GM, who achieved the pinnacle of success in BB and Loves SJU. He started recuiting so late and the cup board was bare. Did a great job regarding the circumstances. Hired a great staff. Next year have the core back w exp plus Lovett .Yakwe,Ponds,Owens probably Bashir and or German Kid, plus other recruits and hopefully a healthy Williams. The foundation looks good. Of course During Lavins first year w his recruiting class and string of top 10 victories, I thought Lavin could do no wrong. Time will tell and like SSG says only the Shadow knows,
 
Optimistic? Well, some more than others, but what it's called is being a fan.

We played Creighton in Omaha when they had lost something like 9 straight. This is after they had a pretty good squad the year before. Our fans would be already disinterested, and many wold have stayed home if they had tix, and the rest would never have purchased.

Creighton fans PACKED the place, at least 17,000 of them (which is a significant % of the population of Omaha) They were so loud, you'd have thought their team had WON 9 in a row, not in a ridiculous tailspin.

It was great to see, and frankly as a NY fan, a little embarrassing to get schooled by such great fans.
 
The reason for the optimism is we have Mullin as head coach. Who was a heady, hard working player and GM, who achieved the pinnacle of success in BB and Loves SJU. He started recuiting so late and the cup board was bare. Did a great job regarding the circumstances. Hired a great staff. Next year have the core back w exp plus Lovett .Yakwe,Ponds,Owens probably Bashir and or German Kid, plus other recruits and hopefully a healthy Williams. The foundation looks good. Of course During Lavins first year w his recruiting class and string of top 10 victories, I thought Lavin could do no wrong. Time will tell and like SSG says only the Shadow knows,
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Forget optimism. Go for manic glee. Not only everything listed by Rich but we also get Alkins and Thon Maker, Amar not only is minus the baby fat from his freshman year but adds muscle to become a dangerous 4/5 backup who can shoot the three, and Christian Jones is signed by the Jets as a tight end and punches out Geno Smith, breaking the other side of his jaw and assuring that the team finally starts to build for the future.
 
This years team is not very good and we only have one player signed for next year. Am I missing something
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Yes. It's called being a fan and rooting for your team to succeed.

For instance against Vanderbilt:
[ul]
[li]Our starters outscored theirs by 5 pts[/li]
[li]We had 3 fewer turnovers than Vandy[/li]
[li]We had 5 more steals[/li]
[li]We shot 77% from the line![/li]

It's the little victories that count... Look deeper than that final score, iSham (great name for the Apple watch, BTW).

We have players (and by extension fans) from France, Spain, Italy and Arlington, TX. How cool is that?

We have the much feared Johnny Thunderbird. Vanderbilt's nickname comes from a 70's R&B band that fired Lionel Ritchie for getting down with Diana Ross.

We have so much to give thanks for this Thanksgiving.
 
Take your lumps, watch young guys & staff improve, keep recruiting well & next year we will be a competitive team to enjoy. This is just tough year that John Wooden could not have made bearable.[/quotes ms

Thanks Mr.P!
And let me add:
Joe Lapchik ( spelling?)
Lou Carnesecca
Pat Riley
John Caliperi
Rick Pitino
Bob Knight
Mike K ( won't try the spelling)
And Casey Stengel
And my staff& myself (SS&G :) )
could do no better and likely worse than
Our amazing high-ceiling staff!

Can we freeze dry this topic & these posts and look back at them circa 2016-17 when we've moved considerably and positive along???
All the best
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We knew this was going to be a rough year. We had no returning starters, no team and a new coaching staff. In a relatively short time they put together a roster for this year. Given what they they had to work with I think they have done a remarkable job in a very short time and we have some bright spots on the roster right now, just not enough, Today we played an outstanding team, one that could go deep in March. We know that we will face this on a frequent basis, until our new staff has a chance to recruit their own players. We have to give them the time they need to get this done. Our team is going to get their brains scrambled this year, Period. We can't do a thing about that. What we can do is realize it for what it is, we can be supportive of the kids we have, the coaching staff who have worked their rear ends off. We will always have the naysayers, We all want to win. We want to win now, but that will not be. Let's get excited about the future. Coach Mullin and his staff gives us the right to be optimistic about our future. I believe the future is bright. I know many of you will disagree with me, but I think it is a lot smarter to be optimistic about our future than to complain about all that is wrong. Let's enjoy the bright spots if and when they occur. It's going to be a long season......
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Nice post Frank and
I do not agree that many will disagree with you. I think you're right on & many posters appreciate what you've said.

Growing pains Yes
Losses Yes
Disappointments Yes unless one is wise enough to temper expectations.

As my friend Mr. Charles Dickens wrote in David Copperfield:
"Experiential does it as Popa used to say"!
We are blessed with accumulating EXPERIENCE!

all the best
 
Getting your clock cleaned like we did yesterday is a sobering experience. It makes one realize how much work is to be done, as not one of our guys would likely leave the bench at Vanderbilt. So why be optimistic? Unlike baseball or basketball, one great player or 2 or 3 very good players can put you in the hunt. The staff has 2 top recruiters who are working the NY area and are going global as well. We are reported to be leading on 2 major recruits, and are not out of it with 1 or 2 others. For Chris Mullin, this is a defining moment for his legacy at SJU. He is motivated, the staff is motivated, and have the support of the administration and the fans. It's the perfect storm, no pun intended.
 
This thread was started by a poster, who is Mr. Google, or Mr. Google's cousin, with an obvious agenda because of a connection to the prior staff. Go look at his posts on this site and the other - was essentially crickets between the Wagner game and the Vandy blow out. That should tell you everything you need to know.

I'm optimistic for all the reasons stated -- and most true SJU fans I know are -- irrespective of the lumps we are going to take this year, which are directly attributable to our prior coach failing to achieve stability after 5 years and millions of dollars. Had Lavin done what he was supposed to do, we would not be playing undermanned in Maui. And before anyone says the roster would have been much different - let me remind you that the only sure thing we had coming into this year was an unbalanced roster that would have had returning a PG who was ineligible for the first semester (and likely not been here at all), a Center who cared so much about our team that he quit during a BE tourney game, cared so much about our season that he got banned from the NCAA tournament (costing his supposed "friends", our seniors, a chance at winning at least one game and being competitive against Duke), and likely wouldn't have been here, and probably Brandon Sampson. May not Mussini. Definitely no Sima, Ellison, Williams, Mvoika and Durand.

I much prefer this group and the possibilities going forward than watching a bad team with Brandon Sampson (assuming he still came) hoisting 30 shots a game, and all the drama that followed our former coach.
 
The truth is that the future is a question mark and we appear to be years away from being competitive. There is no guarantee that all of these new kids (yawke, Lovett, ponds) will all play together, no less develop into a cohesive unit.

It appears that mullin, slice and company are making headway in the recruiting trail, but who knows how it will all play out. Unfortunately, the current program is at rock bottom. As I alluded to earlier, this team is presently far less talented than the squad normy inherited and that's saying something.

As a sju fan I think you can choose to be optimistic or be miserable. As one who usually chooses the latter, I will give optimism a try.
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I actually don't think we are years away from being competitive. Next year, with LoVett, Yakwe, Owens, and Ponds coming in to mesh with Mussini, Ellison, Sima, and Williams will be a good squad. On top of that, Freudenberg and Bashir Ahmed really make that a competitive roster.
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A lot of talent on that roster, but still very young and inexperienced. They'd compete for an NCAA bid, but my guess is they'll still be a year off.
 
The truth is that the future is a question mark and we appear to be years away from being competitive. There is no guarantee that all of these new kids (yawke, Lovett, ponds) will all play together, no less develop into a cohesive unit.

It appears that mullin, slice and company are making headway in the recruiting trail, but who knows how it will all play out. Unfortunately, the current program is at rock bottom. As I alluded to earlier, this team is presently far less talented than the squad normy inherited and that's saying something.

As a sju fan I think you can choose to be optimistic or be miserable. As one who usually chooses the latter, I will give optimism a try.
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I actually don't think we are years away from being competitive. Next year, with LoVett, Yakwe, Owens, and Ponds coming in to mesh with Mussini, Ellison, Sima, and Williams will be a good squad. On top of that, Freudenberg and Bashir Ahmed really make that a competitive roster.
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This^^^
 
I posed a legitimate question and I got attacked by individuals and called names. I'm an alum and a retired HS Basketball Coach. Yes, I had friends on both Norm's and Steve's staff. However as a SJU grad I have no problem with the present staff and only wish them success.Maybe I'm a pessimist but I felt it was imperative to have a strong class signed early, If this season turns out the way most people predict it becomes more difficult to recruit top talent. This is a tough business and the other coaches will disparage Chris to potential recruits . How effective will they be.We'll find out 4/15
 
I posed a legitimate question and I got attacked by individuals and called names. I'm an alum and a retired HS Basketball Coach. Yes, I had friends on both Norm's and Steve's staff. However as a SJU grad I have no problem with the present staff and only wish them success.Maybe I'm a pessimist but I felt it was imperative to have a strong class signed early, If this season turns out the way most people predict it becomes more difficult to recruit top talent. This is a tough business and the other coaches will disparage Chris to potential recruits . How effective will they be.We'll find out 4/15
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Ahh, don't be such a baby! ;) :)
 
I posed a legitimate question and I got attacked by individuals and called names. I'm an alum and a retired HS Basketball Coach. Yes, I had friends on both Norm's and Steve's staff. However as a SJU grad I have no problem with the present staff and only wish them success.Maybe I'm a pessimist but I felt it was imperative to have a strong class signed early, If this season turns out the way most people predict it becomes more difficult to recruit top talent. This is a tough business and the other coaches will disparage Chris to potential recruits . How effective will they be.We'll find out 4/15
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You implied that there was only one piece being added to next year's team, ignoring Owens, Yakwe (at the time being added next year, and was a 2016 top 100 recruit until he reclassified) and Lovett. Doesn't mean things are rosy but the way you ignored them and worded your question you came off as a troll. Maybe you're not. But things aren't as dire as your OP sounded.

I don't see the staff getting any other "top" recruits from 2016 unless they get Alkins and he's close enough to the program to not be affected by short term results. Freudenberg sounds like he would be a steal and is a very likely commit and Ahmed just needs to decide if he wants to come home. That's 2016 class unless they whiff on them all in which case it'll be Lavin like scrambling which could work or not. Oh yeah, and the Thon Maker dream. That makes 2017 class critical. I'd like to see another PG in the '16 class as well.
 
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