@Xavier, Wed. Jan. 17, 8:30pm, CBS SN/570AM

Boo, you must have missed when Lappas praised Mullin for pulling Ahmed . That defensive lapse by him was like a mortal sin in Basketball . Ahmed will never play D, rebound or change his reckless charge to the basket for questionable and more often than not , poor shots . So, your critique of Mullin pulling him is more enlightened than a 2 time Head Coach at Manhattan and Villanova saying he would have yanked him too ! Lappas seemed surprised he even put him back in at all . Ahmed will play his way for as long as he plays B.B. . He is the type player that won’t or can’t take Coaching . This is his last season here . We won’t miss his game .
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I didn't miss Lappas' comments and understand and agree with Mullin pulling Ahmed. But as another poster commented, with eight scholarship players, we can't afford to sit Ahmed the whole second half as part of a teaching moment. I'm not suggesting we would have won the game had he me played more but I do believe that he and Yakwe needed to play more minutes in the second half (I'm not sure Yakwe played at all in the second half) to give our other guys a breather.
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You say "we" can't afford to sit Ahmed...as part of a teaching moment? Who is "we"-the posters? Mullin has bigger worries than if you enjoyed the outcome of last night's game. Ahmed has not played well since having the flu. I will take the teaching moment and deal with the loss that: 1. Had no impact on where we end up at year's end. 2. Would probably have been a loss anyway. Part of coaching is having those teaching moments. We weren't playing for the national title. I would like to have seen Mullin try more teaching moments the past few seasons. Maybe the team would be a little more disciplined, and rested.
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You may have missed the point. "Teaching" moments are what 2 hours of practice are for each day. Halftime can be a valuable teaching time. You, me and everyone else would have "liked" to see more teaching moments by Mullin but you can't teach and be a student at the same time. Only at St. John's do we pay $200K to an assistant to tutor the $2 million coach. I see progress being made by Mullin on the coaching end and think it's time to bring in a real associate head coach to smooth Mullin's rough edges. That would be a tremendous positive spin for the program for next season. As for beating Xavier, you must be kidding! We had a real opportunity to pull a major upset on national T.V. Justin Simon announced he was the real deal and adjusting the tempo and organization of the offense may not have led to 5 scoreless minutes. It WAS doable could have impacted momentum. Instead we suffer a disheartening loss and now face a Georgetown team that got embarrassed and who will play with more motivation at home.
 
Boo, you must have missed when Lappas praised Mullin for pulling Ahmed . That defensive lapse by him was like a mortal sin in Basketball . Ahmed will never play D, rebound or change his reckless charge to the basket for questionable and more often than not , poor shots . So, your critique of Mullin pulling him is more enlightened than a 2 time Head Coach at Manhattan and Villanova saying he would have yanked him too ! Lappas seemed surprised he even put him back in at all . Ahmed will play his way for as long as he plays B.B. . He is the type player that won’t or can’t take Coaching . This is his last season here . We won’t miss his game .
Click to expand...

I didn't miss Lappas' comments and understand and agree with Mullin pulling Ahmed. But as another poster commented, with eight scholarship players, we can't afford to sit Ahmed the whole second half as part of a teaching moment. I'm not suggesting we would have won the game had he me played more but I do believe that he and Yakwe needed to play more minutes in the second half (I'm not sure Yakwe played at all in the second half) to give our other guys a breather.
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You say "we" can't afford to sit Ahmed...as part of a teaching moment? Who is "we"-the posters? Mullin has bigger worries than if you enjoyed the outcome of last night's game. Ahmed has not played well since having the flu. I will take the teaching moment and deal with the loss that: 1. Had no impact on where we end up at year's end. 2. Would probably have been a loss anyway. Part of coaching is having those teaching moments. We weren't playing for the national title. I would like to have seen Mullin try more teaching moments the past few seasons. Maybe the team would be a little more disciplined, and rested.
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We the fans, we the recruits, we the kids on the team who are busting their asses in practice every day, we the program. Every game matters and if you don't think beating Xavier yesterday would have been impactful, we'll have to agree to disagree.

Nothing wrong with sitting Ahmed for a few minutes to teach him a lesson, but I think it was a mistake to keep the same five guys on the floor for virtually the entire second half. The results support my conclusion. The players were gassed. I'm not suggesting giving Ahmed and Yakwe more PT in the second half would have definitively changed the outcome, but we have proven time and time again (as we've faded down the stretch) that we can't win games with just five guys playing.

Ahmed is an imperfect player who makes a number of boneheaded plays. He also has some skill, and when playing well, can be an asset. I'd take my chances with a rested Ahmed on the floor over a gassed Trimble.
 
Links to Fun's columns are the best reason to come to these game threads. Sigh.
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Thank you Mrs. Fun. I cut and paste them and plan to publish a coffee table book called "Sport is Just a Five Letter Word, an Anthology of Fun's Greatest Works". Your sigh is enchanting!;)
 

We should have put him back in after a star discussion on the bench with coach. As imperfect he is there was no one on the bench with his shooting ability. He could have got hot a score in a bunch no one knows now. But it is obvious after our starting 5 of which it would be hard pressed to see what no alone make an impact other team if any they could start for not alone make an impact. I do feel if the any go the bigs coming in next season could have play now we would have won no less than 5 games Just look at out games out rebounded 15 t0 20,with a talent big coming in now instead of next yr we are a different team. Ponds has to stop trying to shoot NBA 3s a college 3 ok maybe, he can get on track.As I said , it is hard to see a conf game remaining that we should win.Hope what we have recruited for next yr is multi players wyo also can shoot from deep
 

YES, because they are trying to fall back and defend because our interior front court is so weak. Why would coach ever have Ownens shooting 25 ft from the basket is beyond common sense. Order him and clark to stay planted within 15 ft from the rim only then they might help in rebounds. When you have many games that our 6 ft guards are the leading rebounders that should have told someone things had to change
 
Boo, you must have missed when Lappas praised Mullin for pulling Ahmed . That defensive lapse by him was like a mortal sin in Basketball . Ahmed will never play D, rebound or change his reckless charge to the basket for questionable and more often than not , poor shots . So, your critique of Mullin pulling him is more enlightened than a 2 time Head Coach at Manhattan and Villanova saying he would have yanked him too ! Lappas seemed surprised he even put him back in at all . Ahmed will play his way for as long as he plays B.B. . He is the type player that won’t or can’t take Coaching . This is his last season here . We won’t miss his game .
Click to expand...

I didn't miss Lappas' comments and understand and agree with Mullin pulling Ahmed. But as another poster commented, with eight scholarship players, we can't afford to sit Ahmed the whole second half as part of a teaching moment. I'm not suggesting we would have won the game had he me played more but I do believe that he and Yakwe needed to play more minutes in the second half (I'm not sure Yakwe played at all in the second half) to give our other guys a breather.
Click to expand...

You say "we" can't afford to sit Ahmed...as part of a teaching moment? Who is "we"-the posters? Mullin has bigger worries than if you enjoyed the outcome of last night's game. Ahmed has not played well since having the flu. I will take the teaching moment and deal with the loss that: 1. Had no impact on where we end up at year's end. 2. Would probably have been a loss anyway. Part of coaching is having those teaching moments. We weren't playing for the national title. I would like to have seen Mullin try more teaching moments the past few seasons. Maybe the team would be a little more disciplined, and rested.
Click to expand...

We the fans, we the recruits, we the kids on the team who are busting their asses in practice every day, we the program. Every game matters and if you don't think beating Xavier yesterday would have been impactful, we'll have to agree to disagree.

Nothing wrong with sitting Ahmed for a few minutes to teach him a lesson, but I think it was a mistake to keep the same five guys on the floor for virtually the entire second half. The results support my conclusion. The players were gassed. I'm not suggesting giving Ahmed and Yakwe more PT in the second half would have definitively changed the outcome, but we have proven time and time again (as we've faded down the stretch) that we can't win games with just five guys playing.

Ahmed is an imperfect player who makes a number of boneheaded plays. He also has some skill, and when playing well, can be an asset. I'd take my chances with a rested Ahmed on the floor over a gassed Trimble.
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Understand your point. If you were the coach, you would have put Ahmed back in. You have the right to second guess the coach. But I don't know if Ahmed felt sick, or didn't listen to the lecture, or made a face, or what. I also know that if Ahmed came in and took an errant 3, or got called for a charge, which we all know happens with him, there would be bitching about how well the team played when Ahmed was on the bench, and how bringing him in hurt the team's chemistry.
 
It’s old news but, not fake that our demise started with Father Harry and him firing both , Fran and Jarvis and then , hiring Norm !
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Next year to me is the most important season in the last 20yrs, if Mullin can't succeed with a full roster, then he probably isn't the coach to turn it around. It will be his freaking 4th season, you absolutely gotta show something in his freaking 4th season. We haven't won a ncaa game since 01, we're close to being like all the other former great nyc schools, who are nothing now in basketball.
Year 1 we knew would suck (8 wins.), last year 15 so we improved, this year i was thinking nit, but back to year 1.
Being a sju fan is torture.
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Mullin will do just fine next year as long as our main guys stay. I know he will at least have the kids hustling, playing hard and being competitive, however I still would like to see an experienced x and o coach added to the staff.
 
I don’t think I’m drinking Kool-Aid to say next year has the potential to be the best year for St. John’s men’s basketball since 2014-15–with perhaps a better performance in the NCAAs.
Ponds, Simon, Dixon, Owens, Clark are starting five, with good depth from Keita, Brooks, Trimble, and Williams—with some support from Diakite and Roberts.
And that’s not expecting anything from the 2 available open scholarships we may have available by this season’s end.
 
I don’t think I’m drinking Kool-Aid to say next year has the potential to be the best year for St. John’s men’s basketball since 2014-15–with perhaps a better performance in the NCAAs.
Ponds, Simon, Dixon, Owens, Clark are starting five, with good depth from Keita, Brooks, Trimble, and Williams—with some support from Diakite and Roberts.
And that’s not expecting anything from the 2 available open scholarships we may have available by this season’s end.
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I guess I should renew my season tickets, again.
 
It seems Xavier, Creighton, Marquette and now , DePaul have had success in getting the 5 th Year Big Man Player . These are 6’10” guys who are bulky , strong , have a Offensive game and in recent Years have tortched us Unmercifully . Many are European , White, and while not super athletes , shot blockers or great leapers, they usually get the job done . The kid Kanter on Xavier is an example and he killed us the other night , 22 points and pushed Owens around all night . How come we never recruit or get this kind of player? Mullin was close to Marchilonus when they were teammates on the Warriors . Marchilonus is virtually running B.B. in Lithuania these days and presumably has all sorts of access to that Nation’s up and coming prospects . How about Matt A and Chris getting their butts over there and see what’s up ? There are a lot more European players in the NBA now and they are more than holding their own against our US Players . Just check the Rosters of NBA teams . The European kids seem fundamentally sound in all facets of the game and have more polished skills than a kid like Yakwe , who came late to Basketball . Worth the airfare ?
 
I don’t think I’m drinking Kool-Aid to say next year has the potential to be the best year for St. John’s men’s basketball since 2014-15–with perhaps a better performance in the NCAAs.
Ponds, Simon, Dixon, Owens, Clark are starting five, with good depth from Keita, Brooks, Trimble, and Williams—with some support from Diakite and Roberts.
And that’s not expecting anything from the 2 available open scholarships we may have available by this season’s end.
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"next year has the potential to be the best year for St. John’s men’s basketball since 2014-15–with perhaps a better performance in the NCAAs."

I can guess at the reaction from a few here had I posted that nostalgic missive!;)

"72, get over the Lavin years already!"
"72, you incessantly bring up Lavin every chance you get!"
72, I am going to publicly appeal to OhioFan and OTIS to chastise your geriatric ass."

Seriously Chicago buddy but if we have to use Lavin's last year as a yardstick we are as condemned as Sisyphos.;)
Besides, it was never about winning. Lavin’s last three years we won 17, 20 and 21 games. It was never about going to post season tournaments. We did that 3 consecutive years.
What do you think it was???
 
It was time for Lavin to go . He had a empty recruiting year and knew his team was going to be a BE cellar dweller . And , Obepka was suspended for smoking weed and Jordan on his way to Prison . Both of them , wasted their St John’s opportunity’s . Shame . Lavin , to me , seemed to lose his interest in Coaching while he was here . He thought he could recruit against Cal, Coach K, Self, etc . Meanwhile , missed out on Carrington , Rodriguez , etc . He had that 1 great Recruting year with Harrison , Harkless, Dom, Greene, Garrett, Sampson . He kind of rode those guys until they finished . The Hardy , Burrell, DJ, Hardy Team was really Norm’s Guys . He got a lot out of them , until the end vs Gonzaga . Mark Few outcoached him badly . Lavin’s best niche is TV .
 
If our best player DJ kennedy didn't tear his ACL, might of been a different outcome against Gonzaga
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Likely would've had a better matchup than Gonzaga too. May have even beaten Cuse in the Big East Tourney
 
It was time for Lavin to go . He had a empty recruiting year and knew his team was going to be a BE cellar dweller . And , Obepka was suspended for smoking weed and Jordan on his way to Prison . Both of them , wasted their St John’s opportunity’s . Shame . Lavin , to me , seemed to lose his interest in Coaching while he was here . He thought he could recruit against Cal, Coach K, Self, etc . Meanwhile , missed out on Carrington , Rodriguez , etc . He had that 1 great Recruting year with Harrison , Harkless, Dom, Greene, Garrett, Sampson . He kind of rode those guys until they finished . The Hardy , Burrell, DJ, Hardy Team was really Norm’s Guys . He got a lot out of them , until the end vs Gonzaga . Mark Few outcoached him badly . Lavin’s best niche is TV .
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I tend agree in that entering his 5th year, with his seniors, he had not done well with his 4th year recruiting class. Any chance to secure a 5 star or 2 were basically on the university. Those here that had their finger on the SJ political pulse know that the swelling negative publicity generated by a few shit stirrers led the new president to put Lavin's coaching job in limbo. Those here not in the early stages of dementia would recall that it was speculated that the issue of his coaching tenure was a major recruiting disadvantage. Tony Chiles spent 2 years recruiting Isiah Briscoe and, going into Lavin’s 5th year ir was widely believed he would be Harrison's heir apparent, step right in and be the star. Urban legend has it that one coach, late to the table, bluntly told the Briscoe family that Lavin would likely not be around to coach their son. His source? A supposed St. John's "insider". We've always seemed to have a fox in our henhouse. I tend to agree with many here that Lav lost a step or two due to his cancer and other family issues. Just as with Matt, he had one guy focused on recruiting and mostly of the local variety and that was Tony Chiles. Rico Hines was Lav's Mitch Richmond and a player of the non-basketball kind bar none.

Ironically our St. John's website listed a bio for all 5 years for Steve Lavin that included the following blurb.


"A diligent and focused recruiter with a blue-collar work ethic, and two No. 1 recruiting classes and one No. 2 class to his credit, Lavin arrived in New York and was faced with the daunting task of filling 10 available scholarships for 2011-12. Shining through a situation unprecedented in the history of contemporary college basketball - he and his staff met the challenge with passion and precision, and landed the consensus No. 3 recruiting class in the nation for 2011-12, a group that ranks among the most-heralded in school history, and the No. 8 class for 2012-13. With only one scholarship available, Lavin signed consensus top 25 prospect Rysheed Jordan, a point guard rated third in his class, nationally, for the 2013-14 season. The future is bright in Queens."

As Chicago man stated "hopefully next year we have as good, if not a better, season than waayyy back in 2014-15.:D :( ;)
 
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