*Update: SJU's Keith Thomas ineligible

[hoyahooligan]

Frankly it might be best for the BE long term for St. John's to be terrible this year, fire Lavin, and start from scratch.

[R to the OB]

That's if they can find a head coach who wants to be there... Masiello, maybe?

[NJRedman]

Once again I am the realist who was correct and others are left looking stupid with their rose colored glasses. No Thomas this year. It will take a miracle to make the NCAA's. Also hearing that Briscoe is a UK lean now. Bye bye Lavin. I can see a 17 win season coming at best. Program is back in shambles. 8-9 finish next year?

Hahaha how does him being ruled ineligible mean you're right on where the team will finish? You're not a realist, your just a reactionary little baby who cries and cries and cries. Just go join Stever over at CSNBBS where you'll fit in just fine.

Just go away, you're a chitty fan and an annoying poster.

[NJRedman]

That's if they can find a head coach who wants to be there... Masiello, maybe?

So no one wants to coach at St. John's now? When did this happen?

[SJHooper]

Once again I am the realist who was correct and others are left looking stupid with their rose colored glasses. No Thomas this year. It will take a miracle to make the NCAA's. Also hearing that Briscoe is a UK lean now. Bye bye Lavin. I can see a 17 win season coming at best. Program is back in shambles. 8-9 finish next year?

Hahaha how does him being ruled ineligible mean you're right on where the team will finish? You're not a realist, your just a reactionary little baby who cries and cries and cries. Just go join Stever over at CSNBBS where you'll fit in just fine.

Just go away, you're a chitty fan and an annoying poster.

This is a forum where ideas are shared, not a dictatorship.

[NJRedman]

Once again I am the realist who was correct and others are left looking stupid with their rose colored glasses. No Thomas this year. It will take a miracle to make the NCAA's. Also hearing that Briscoe is a UK lean now. Bye bye Lavin. I can see a 17 win season coming at best. Program is back in shambles. 8-9 finish next year?

Hahaha how does him being ruled ineligible mean you're right on where the team will finish? You're not a realist, your just a reactionary little baby who cries and cries and cries. Just go join Stever over at CSNBBS where you'll fit in just fine.

Just go away, you're a chitty fan and an annoying poster.

This is a forum where ideas are shared, not a dictatorship.

It's a place for us to discuss Big East basketball, not tell everyone how right you are about things that havent even happened yet.

[Xudash]

Once again I am the realist who was correct and others are left looking stupid with their rose colored glasses. No Thomas this year. It will take a miracle to make the NCAA's. Also hearing that Briscoe is a UK lean now. Bye bye Lavin. I can see a 17 win season coming at best. Program is back in shambles. 8-9 finish next year?

Hahaha how does him being ruled ineligible mean you're right on where the team will finish? You're not a realist, your just a reactionary little baby who cries and cries and cries. Just go join Stever over at CSNBBS where you'll fit in just fine.

Just go away, you're a chitty fan and an annoying poster.

This is a forum where ideas are shared, not a dictatorship.

That's true: you are absolutely free to post whatever you want.

Take it or leave it, but you should consider that posting is STEP ONE, and having enough credibility to be taken seriously is STEP TWO. If you don't establish credibility here, you can pump paragraphs into this place and not find much constructive discourse coming back in your direction.

[NJRedman]

Here's a good read on this situation.

http://stormthepaint.com/2014/10/29/cal ... ns-remain/

First thing is first, though. We need to admit something as people who follow the Johnnies. Red Storms fans, because the offseason is where they (we?) thrive as optimists, love to build up players before they ever step foot on the hardwood. Last season saw all the hoopla over Max Hooper being the long distance shooter the program needed to stretch the floor. That was before, you know, we found out that he really didn’t provide the team that and he spent large portions of the seasons collecting splinters on his rear.

The Max Hooper is all that and a bag of chips era came only a few moments after the Marc-Antoine Bourgault was going to be all that and a bag of chips season. So, yeah. Realistic expectations of players seem to be a thing not completely grasped here. Not just for Red Storms fans, but for any fans of any sport in the world.

There is nothing wrong with getting excited about a new player joining the fold. In fact, it is better to give new student-athletes (what a funny word) the benefit of the doubt first, instead of lambasting him for whatever his shortcomings may or may not be. However, it is still funny to me to see fans going this bonkers over Keith Thomas without knowing how good he was actually going to be.

And the writer closed with this gem.

If you’re expectationsï were for the Red Storm to make the NCAA Tournament don’t change it. That set of exceptions are right in line where they should be, with or without Keith Thomas. If you had expectations lower than that, as no a Tourney bid team or worse, well I guess you like to set your goals low.

However, if you had a set of expectations so high that the loss of Keith Thomas — a JUCO transfer and a guy who had a ceiling as being the fifth best player on this year’s team — has shifted them, I think it is time to reevaluate how you go about living.

Everyone take a deep breath and relax.

[hoops22]

I've been cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season, but think Thomas being ineligible is a big blow. A thin front court has become that much thinner. What worries me is Obekpa gets into foul trouble way too early most games. Opposing coaches are probably going to go at him from the opening tip, and try to put him on the bench only a few minutes into the game. Plus, although Obekpa is a great shot blocker, he's hasn't been that great of a rebounder. I'm not sure where the rebounds will come from now. Delarosa is unlikely to provide the kind of minutes as a freshman that we need. Christian Jones becomes more important than we thought. He didn't impress that much as a freshman, but who knows what he'll be like now that he's two years older. In any case, in a league with a lot of parity, where winning and losing will often come down to one or two possessions, missing those extra boards is bound to come back to haunt the Johnnies.

[SJHooper]

There are delusional Jets fans who said the Jets could still win out after being 1-6 and make the playoffs starting with beating the Bills. Then reality hit and the Bills without their best players smashed the Jets. I am a Jets fan but at least I can admit the team sucks when it sucks. I'm a stone cold realist. I think a Jets fan saying the Jets were still alive at 1-6 to make the playoffs is just as delusional as a SJ fan saying the team can still realistically make the tourney without Thomas playing.

Lavin screwed up 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes. Back to back. And now it's haunting him. If he got someone in 2014 to clog the paint and rebound, then losing Thomas really may not be a disaster. But all we have is Obekpa. And even he is still very raw. He can block. He's a "meh" rebounder. That's it. Yes he should improve offensively but even with improvement he is still going to be weak most likely unless he makes a miraculous jump. Obekpa gets a TON of fouls because he's always blocking shots. Opponents can just take it to him and make him foul out. Then what? Who steps up? The pudge ADR who can't jump over a sprinkle or run faster than a sloth? JDR who could not even find time at FIU? Christian Jones who is returning from surgery and showed absolutely nothing in the little playing time he got?

Bottom line is that if you aren't very concerned then you don't understand the impact of KT leaving. Is he still a relatively unknown? Yes. But his track record shows dominance and physicality as well as a defined skill. We have none of that without him. I'll say this though: if Lavin leads this team to the tourney even if we lose 90-30 in the first round to Robert Morris, Lavin deserves Big East coach of the year for making the tourney with no front court.