(3) Saturday Big East Games 1/13/18

[SJUBBALL]

That was a poor performance from nova tonight. And we still couldn’t win. Nova beat us and they didn’t bring their A game, they brought their D- game tonight. Their leprechaun looking dude is the only one who really showed up tonight.

It’s sad they can play that bad and still win, St. John’s is not in a good place right now

I don’t think you are giving your team the credit they deserve. SJU competed really hard on both ends of the floor, and made Nova play uncharateristically sloppy. Give SJU D a lot of credit. They were intense and caused a lot of the turnovers. Ponds was unstoppable, and the game was within reach. I think the difference was that for some reason DiVincenzo just goes off on SJU, and Nova’s veterans have learned how to close out tight games.

We have a whiney fan base. Ponds goes off for 37 and they still complain.

I would dispute that since Bridges made a boneheaded foul that the refs bailed him out on in what was clearly an over the back against Ponds with a minute left SJU rallying and Nova missing it's last 7 shots. But Nova can drill the FT's and that was that.

I agree that St. John’s did compete hard and I was proud of them last night. But the idea that fans shouldn’t complain just because Ponds scored 37 doesn’t make sense. We lost.

And honestly, a tough loss to #1 team, we competed hard, it’s not that big of a loss. I think my attitude towards it stems from the fact that the loss pushed us to 0-6 in conference, and it’s quite possible 0-7 is on the way. Really tough pill to swallow because we looked like a tournament team in non conference in my opinion.

[DanofXav76]

Creighton just didn't show up today. Crappy effort, shooting, defense, coaching.

So, it's your belief that Xavier had nothing to do with that outcome?

Xavier got boat raced in Philly, and that had a lot to do with Nova stepping on our throats and exhausting our will to compete.

No need to presume that "we stunk" comment was a slight toward your team Xudash. X outplayed CU in every aspect of the game. You guys are loaded and a terrible matchup for us. But CU fans can't complain about a very lackluster performance (at best) by the Jays? Must every post lavish praise on the victor?

Your length (at all positions), energy and experience were clearly too much for us yesterday. We looked sped up from the get-go. We missed three layups in the first half. We had nearly double the turnovers for the game relative to our season average. Some of that may have been X pressure, but most were due to lazy passes or poor communication. That's on CU. We were terrible from 3-point range on many open looks--without Ballock's hot streak in the second half, that was a sub-30% game from 3 and 30 point loss in the works. Yes, X had something to do with it, but the Jays are a good team who looked scared and unprepared from the beginning.

I thought the two main issues were the inside presence of X (no surprise) and the way X got back on defense which limited our ability to run. X shot very well from distance. Most of those were wide open looks because your big guys were controlling things inside. You could go inside, we'd drop down to help and your big would pass back out for a wide open look. We will have trouble against teams like you all year--unless we can rebound defensively better than we did yesterday and up the tempo to a level where we like that.

So on to hosting SH this week. Hopefully we show up better prepared and with more energy and resilience than we showed yesterday.

One positive note for CU: Ballock brought more energy than he has in conference games to date. Looked more like the non-con Mitch. He has been reluctant to shoot in BEast games (didn't take a shot in the first two). We need him to play with confidence/aggression on the offensive end. When he gets hot, he's a difference maker on both ends of the court.

Props to the Creighton fans, generally knowledgeable and classy. Going to bluejayunderground, no complaining the refs cost us the game, or hope this player blows out an ACL on the way to the locker room or taking that player out on the court when they come to our place, like some other boards.
A really top shelf rivalry that's just about dead even.

[NJRedman]

I don’t think you are giving your team the credit they deserve. SJU competed really hard on both ends of the floor, and made Nova play uncharateristically sloppy. Give SJU D a lot of credit. They were intense and caused a lot of the turnovers. Ponds was unstoppable, and the game was within reach. I think the difference was that for some reason DiVincenzo just goes off on SJU, and Nova’s veterans have learned how to close out tight games.

We have a whiney fan base. Ponds goes off for 37 and they still complain.

I would dispute that since Bridges made a boneheaded foul that the refs bailed him out on in what was clearly an over the back against Ponds with a minute left SJU rallying and Nova missing it's last 7 shots. But Nova can drill the FT's and that was that.

I agree that St. John’s did compete hard and I was proud of them last night. But the idea that fans shouldn’t complain just because Ponds scored 37 doesn’t make sense. We lost.

And honestly, a tough loss to #1 team, we competed hard, it’s not that big of a loss. I think my attitude towards it stems from the fact that the loss pushed us to 0-6 in conference, and it’s quite possible 0-7 is on the way. Really tough pill to swallow because we looked like a tournament team in non conference in my opinion.

I never said you can't complain, but acting like we should have beat the #1 in the country and the fact we didn't is a let down is unrealistic.

[MullinMayhem]

Redman would call SJ fans "complainers" and "whiners" if we finished winless all year. Now obviously this is not a perfect analogy, so let me use that as a preface...but the principle remains. Imagine raising a child with Redman's mindset. You got a 55 on that test? Well, at least you tried and you didn't get a 54. You're failing Math class? Well, it must be someone else's fault. You rank 500 out of 500 in your graduating class? Well, to be honest it's a very competitive school...so it's no biggie.

There is a spectrum of almost anything, and you are at the extreme far end of optimism to the point where it's not logical anymore. Being at either pole whether negative or positive is not a logical place to be. I feel like many in the St. John's fanbase have those big bingo wheels at home but instead of being full of numbers, they are full of excuses to use after each loss. What will the excuse be tomorrow? What about next year? Being close means nothing. Almost means nothing. Trying hard means nothing. It's along the same lines of the stupid "if you had fun, you won!" cupcake mindset. That's for losers.

Bottom line, we need to cut the BS and get right to the point: Mullin has no idea what he's doing coaching. The talent is there, but the coaching isn't. We have gone 0-5 to start conference play 3/5 last seasons. How many teams in the country can claim that? We need to finally resist the urge to get the splashy hire and get that boring nerd coach who may not make headlines but has tons of experience coaching and knows how to make players better every year. Mullin has one more year to prove he can do anything as a coach and the way things have been going for the better part of 30 years, it's shockingly safe to bet against him.

[NJRedman]

Redman would call SJ fans "complainers" and "whiners" if we finished winless all year. Now obviously this is not a perfect analogy, so let me use that as a preface...but the principle remains. Imagine raising a child with Redman's mindset. You got a 55 on that test? Well, at least you tried and you didn't get a 54. You're failing Math class? Well, it must be someone else's fault. You rank 500 out of 500 in your graduating class? Well, to be honest it's a very competitive school...so it's no biggie.

There is a spectrum of almost anything, and you are at the extreme far end of optimism to the point where it's not logical anymore. Being at either pole whether negative or positive is not a logical place to be. I feel like many in the St. John's fanbase have those big bingo wheels at home but instead of being full of numbers, they are full of excuses to use after each loss. What will the excuse be tomorrow? What about next year? Being close means nothing. Almost means nothing. Trying hard means nothing. It's along the same lines of the stupid "if you had fun, you won!" cupcake mindset. That's for losers.

Bottom line, we need to cut the BS and get right to the point: Mullin has no idea what he's doing coaching. The talent is there, but the coaching isn't. We have gone 0-5 to start conference play 3/5 last seasons. How many teams in the country can claim that? We need to finally resist the urge to get the splashy hire and get that boring nerd coach who may not make headlines but has tons of experience coaching and knows how to make players better every year. Mullin has one more year to prove he can do anything as a coach and the way things have been going for the better part of 30 years, it's shockingly safe to bet against him.

Heres the difference dummy, you can help your kid get better grades, none of us can do anything about a sports team we follow to get more wins.

Go ahead and whine and complain about your coach who isn;t even through his third year. We hired the boring nerd coach his name was Norm Roberts and you would have known that if you were actually a Johnny through those miserable years. We are better now than we were then.

[MullinMayhem]

Actually, you can do something. Send a message that it's unacceptable to be playing at this level so consistently. We have an AD who actually listens to fans. It has a real impact. By making excuses, you're implying that the failure is just fine. You're implying that "almost" is enough. It's not...not for a fanbase that has been told "almost" and "maybe next year" for the better part of 30 years. Not for a fanbase that has not seen a measly NCAA win in almost 20 years (TWENTY!). The majority of the fanbase is literally dying off (the remnants of the Mullin years and earlier) and there are barely any young fans since the team never did anything in their lifetime. The way to succeed is not by making excuses, but by demanding accountability and setting the bar high. If Seton Hall, Butler, Xavier, Creighton, PC, etc. can find sustainable success on a national level, there's zero reason we can't. It starts with the coaching and until we have a real coach we will fail.

[NJRedman]

Actually, you can do something. Send a message that it's unacceptable to be playing at this level so consistently. We have an AD who actually listens to fans. It has a real impact. By making excuses, you're implying that the failure is just fine. You're implying that "almost" is enough. It's not...not for a fanbase that has been told "almost" and "maybe next year" for the better part of 30 years. Not for a fanbase that has not seen a measly NCAA win in almost 20 years (TWENTY!). The majority of the fanbase is literally dying off (the remnants of the Mullin years and earlier) and there are barely any young fans since the team never did anything in their lifetime. The way to succeed is not by making excuses, but by demanding accountability and setting the bar high. If Seton Hall, Butler, Xavier, Creighton, PC, etc. can find sustainable success on a national level, there's zero reason we can't. It starts with the coaching and until we have a real coach we will fail.

And firing coaches every other year? Yeah, that'll work! Lets fire our favorite son in three years! That will get quality coaches to come here and stick around for the long haul!

It's not making excuses. Teams are not just their records. There is a difference between a team thats 0-6 who isn't competitive and one who is very competitive.

You mention Seton Hall. If they listened to folks like you Willard would have been gone before they had their current success.

You are a reactionary. You are impulsive. You are blind to the reality of the situation. We are a good team who is having some bad luck. Thats it. A couple of bad bounces from having some very good wins. Yes, we are no matter how much you cry about how terrible we are. We had legit shots to beat ASU, Seton Hall, Creighton and Villanova. All ranked teams. We are short handed, undersized and without our true PG. Next year we will have a full roster with size and athleticism. Thats something we haven't had in a long time. You want to blow it up because you can't see a bigger picture. You think we will automatically get better by firing the coaching staff and hiring some no name young coach. Maybe some long time assistant at a power school like say Kansas. Once again, we did that his name was Norm Roberts and our team now would have run his teams off the court and we gave him 6 years.

You can cry and whine and say I see things through rose colored glasses, thats fine. The truth is we are better than you say and the AD and President isn't firing Mullin because they are not reactionaries like you.

[MullinMayhem]

Redman, appealing to emotion does nothing. Once again, almost means nothing. One time a bad team almost upset a top 5 team. And? You want to award a "nice try" trophy? Christ. We all love Chris Mullin, but that doesn't mean you blindly remain attached to him as coach. We probably will knowing what kind of program we are, but my point is it's the completely wrong way to go. Chris Mullin PLAYER is not Chris Mullin COACH. One was a wild success (player) while the other is a failure (coach). Should the Jets hire Joe Namath as coach? Ugh. How about the Mets hire Tom Seaver as manager?

1. Force Mullin to hire a real assistant coach i.e. Mike Rice for next year. If he refuses, urge him to resign or fire him.
2. We know we have the talent and depth next year. If Mullin still fails to make the tourney even with a deep, experienced, talented roster AND a real assistant coach, then you urge him to resign or you fire him if he refuses. You shake his hand, you thank him for trying his best to bring us back, and he goes right back to royalty as a player.
3. We hire a real coach with a proven track record for X's and O's, sound basketball, and developing talent year after year. It's almost certain players get better naturally as they get more experienced, so to see most of the team not only not progress but regress after years being on the team, it's a sign that your coach can't develop players.

By the way, that old adage that other coaches will be scared to come just because we fire a crappy coach after 3-4 years is ridiculous. There's always someone out there looking for this kind of job. It's still a high profile job in that we play in MSG, national TV, Big East, NYC, and have history. What are we supposed to do, hold onto terrible coaches so other potential coaches may "like" us more? If something is not effective, you don't stay the course and secretly hope it becomes effective. You cut ties.