St. John's Lovett Done for the Season

[NJRedman]

Heard that his father got very upset with it was reported by a NYC tweeted (Zach Braziller maybe) that he was going to resume practice today. Not sure if true, who knows.

Please, the FS1 announcers said it last night and Mullin himself said it.

[NJRedman]

The major difference: X and Creighton have been wildly successful compared to us and still not only made tourney but won games. We can't even make it. Mullin not the guy for job. Hate to say that. Get Hurley before it's too late.

Really? Mullin isn't the guy for the job because Lovett is leaving? So lose all the current players and recruits and start all over from scratch? You'll be bitching next year and the year after that even with Hurley.

[MullinMayhem]

The major difference: X and Creighton have been wildly successful compared to us and still not only made tourney but won games. We can't even make it. Mullin not the guy for job. Hate to say that. Get Hurley before it's too late.

Really? Mullin isn't the guy for the job because Lovett is leaving? So lose all the current players and recruits and start all over from scratch? You'll be bitching next year and the year after that even with Hurley.

You're a moron Redman. I told you so about LoVett and I guarantee Mullin doesn't make tourney next yr. the question is how long does the program wait until he leaves or gets fired. Easiest bet in the world btw. Anyone who watches us worth their weight in salt knows our team is clueless. It's not a lack of talent in our players it's the coach. Now go eat crow. I didn't want to be right but I was and will be about Mullin.

[NJRedman]

The major difference: X and Creighton have been wildly successful compared to us and still not only made tourney but won games. We can't even make it. Mullin not the guy for job. Hate to say that. Get Hurley before it's too late.

Really? Mullin isn't the guy for the job because Lovett is leaving? So lose all the current players and recruits and start all over from scratch? You'll be bitching next year and the year after that even with Hurley.

You're a moron Redman. I told you so about LoVett and I guarantee Mullin doesn't make tourney next yr. the question is how long does the program wait until he leaves or gets fired. Easiest bet in the world btw. Anyone who watches us worth their weight in salt knows our team is clueless. It's not a lack of talent in our players it's the coach. Now go eat crow. I didn't want to be right but I was and will be about Mullin.

Yeah, you're a real fan. You'll bitch about any coach thats not coach k.

You want the school to fire Mullin after 3 years? Who the F is going to want to come here now? We lose most of our current players to transfer and lose all of our recruits. Yeah thats the best way to handle this. If anyone here is a moron it's you pal.

Hey Holyland, does our team look clueless to you? Seton Hall fans? Creighton fans?

[MarquetteRustler]

It was a gamble to hire Mullin since he had zero coaching experience. I wouldn't say that they look like a very well coached team. I still think St. John's would be an attractive destination for an up and coming young coach looking to prove himself at the high major level.

[Hall2012]

Yeah, you're a real fan. You'll bitch about any coach thats not coach k.

You want the school to fire Mullin after 3 years? Who the F is going to want to come here now? We lose most of our current players to transfer and lose all of our recruits. Yeah thats the best way to handle this. If anyone here is a moron it's you pal.

Hey Holyland, does our team look clueless to you? Seton Hall fans? Creighton fans?

Nope, just struggling for consistency. They played with a chip on their shoulder against SHU and CU - looked like they had something to prove. If they played like that in every Big East game, they'd be at least 2-3, maybe 3-2 (PC just played well, they may have lost that one regardless). I don't want to say they played down to their opponents, because they weren't low level opponents by any stretch - but they didn't seem to really "get up" for those games like they did for the Pirates and Jays. They looked like they brought an extra level of fight for those 2 games.

[NJRedman]

It was a gamble to hire Mullin since he had zero coaching experience. I wouldn't say that they look like a very well coached team. I still think St. John's would be an attractive destination for an up and coming young coach looking to prove himself at the high major level.

Yeah only attractive to unproven young coaches. Thats a great position to be in.

[MarquetteRustler]

It was a gamble to hire Mullin since he had zero coaching experience. I wouldn't say that they look like a very well coached team. I still think St. John's would be an attractive destination for an up and coming young coach looking to prove himself at the high major level.

Yeah only attractive to unproven young coaches. Thats a great position to be in.

It's a better position than a lot of other schools. I guess you can go the big name route again at the expense of hiring someone that can actually coach.

[MullinMayhem]

LoVett is going pro overseas. He totally botched the whole situation and it took our program hostage. The coaches took him at his word that he was still hurt and then find out he was only saying that to preserve himself, but he could've played a month ago. Typical soft Cali kid. Only makes me appreciate guys like Tariq way more. Wish him the best, but he could have handled this WAY differently to put it very lightly. Anyone with the ability to read between the lines (not Redman obviously) knew this was likely the truth. It was fishy to begin with. You can wish him well but also say he's a lousy teammate who misled everyone for his own benefit. If you want to leave the program just leave the program. Don't string everyone along.

As for Mullin, the only player he has clearly seemed to improve upon is Tariq, and even that is up for debate because his father works crazy hard with him 1 on 1 in workouts. But even still, if Mullin was responsible for a bit of his progress, give it to him. That's where it ends though, no other players got better under Mullin. In fact, they regressed. Ponds regressed, Amar regressed, Yakwe regressed, etc. They make the same mistakes over and over and he gives them way too much of a green light. An undisciplined low basketball IQ team comes from the coach just as rotten kids are a product of poor parenting. What you see on the court is a product of our coaches. Redman says I only want Coach K, yeah that's realistic. I would settle for guys like McKillop, Hurley, Masiello, hell probably even Cluess over Mullin at this point (but he'd never be hired since the administration doesn't like him). What about the Albany coach? We already let a good one go in Steve Piekell. He would've been nice. Our biggest mistake in the last decade or so has been making the splashy hires, not the RIGHT hires. Bring in a real coach who is competent and hopefully keep Matt A. or bring in another solid recruiter. Hell, hire Mike Rice to be the head coach.

I'm still giving Mullin next season, but I guarantee he won't make the tourney and I guarantee he won't be fired if we miss the tourney again. If it were me though, I'd tell him he's a legend here but things did not work out as a coach. Shake his hand and wish him well. What good are recruits if you don't have a coach to lead them to win games? Mullin could have 2 McDonald's All-Americans and I bet he'd still fall short of expectations. Talent level matters to a certain extent but then it's up to the coach to maximize their potential. If you have mostly 4 star guys with a few 3 stars sprinkled in consistently, the talent is there and the rest is up to the coach. This is why Lavin got fired. He had Elite 8 potential on his team and scratched and scraped to barely make the tourney a few times only to lose immediately. Also always bowed out immediately in Big East tourney.

The St. John's fans who constantly make excuses and refuse to have expectations or ever hold anyone accountable are the ones who have enabled this failure.

[Wizard of Westroads]

It was a gamble to hire Mullin since he had zero coaching experience. I wouldn't say that they look like a very well coached team. I still think St. John's would be an attractive destination for an up and coming young coach looking to prove himself at the high major level.

Yeah only attractive to unproven young coaches. Thats a great position to be in.

I'm not willing to write the epitaph on Mullin yet. But .... next time look for somebody who can coach, not somebody who has a big name. None of the top-tier coaches in this league was a big name when hired. But their ADs were looking for somebody who could actually coach, not make a headline. Can StJ lower itself to do what Rutgers did, hire a guy who had proved himself but not a big name? Pikiell had won multiple conference titles at Stony Brook. He made the NCAA in his final year, which elevated him enough to be considered for a bigger job. Pikiell's got his work cut out for him at Rutgers, but they're trending in the right direction. And keep in mind that Rutgers was a dumpster fire, which StJ is not (unless you ask Mayhem).

I don't think either Lavin or Mullin are good game coaches who had a plan in place when recruiting. Just brought in a bunch of talented kids, had trouble corralling them into a team. Both good guys and would be good to have in the league, but I wouldn't want either as coach.