The Holy Land of Hoops

I have to say, after that Lavin reign, I was left totally pessimistic, annoyed, sick, tired, and just confused. We got tons of top 100 players, but we never did anything. Even a few 5 star recruits. And 0 tourney wins. Yes we got ranked in 2011 and 2015 as low as #15, but it never actually got us anywhere. We had all the talent in the world, but something was missing. I'd just watch the games and something was off. Everything was disorganized and it wasn't team basketball. We had athletes and not basketball players. We had TERRIBLE shooters overall. I would go into games being nervous instead of excited. The opponent always seemed to have great shooters and torch us.

For the first time since Looie, it appears we may finally have all of these at the same time:

1. A coach who can recruit and develop players
2. Assistants who are some of the top in the country recruiting wise
3. A desire to really be NYC's team and keep the top area players home
4. Accountability
5. A culture that promotes tireless hard work and no nonsense
6. SHOOTERS! Everywhere!
7. Team basketball

When Mullin was hired, many questioned his recruiting ability, name recognition among recruits, whether NYC recruits would ever come home again, and if he could handle life as a head coach in general. So far, he has been a complete blessing along with his staff. He has totally silenced critics and the guy works and works and works. From speaking with local NYC area reporters, Lavin had easy practices, demanded very little, was very lax with behavior, and would be more readily seen in a 5 star Italian restaurant with his actress wife than in NYC gyms or on planes recruiting.

Could not be happier with our choice. To make things even crazier, we have now entered the Thon Maker sweepstakes. Of course we are unlikely to actually land him, but he does have a connection with Slice and has said he "cannot reiterate enough how much" he "loves NYC".

Relax, Joe3. You tend to be all over the place.

Obviously it's early but I personally am very high on Mullin and can't wait to see these next few years.

I'd wait until the guy coaches a game of basketball before declaring him SJU's savior.

Let them have their moment, they just landed a big time recruit

Hooper is either the highest of highs about St. John's or the lowest of lows. There is no middle ground for him.

I'm very excited for Mullin's team to see some action, but he and his players need to prove they are good. I have faith they will play well but it has yet to be seen.

If you guys get Maker and Alkins that would be the best class in the country. Both these guys are very tough gets and can go anywhere they want to go. Maker is a legit 7 footer by the way. Not easy to find a kid that size with skills. Would be unbelievable not only for St. John's but also the Big East. I think that will be very tough to pull off but no denying Mullin is getting players who are going to make St. John's legit again.

Red Rooster wrote:Relax, Joe3. You tend to be all over the place.

I will not take the bait. You try to start with people all the time for no reason. Get a life.

And I never said anything was a guarantee, all I said was that the staff is doing everything possible to bring a consistent winning program back from the dead. But if you want to ignore all the staff has done in almost no time at all, then go ahead.

SJHooper wrote:

Red Rooster wrote:Relax, Joe3. You tend to be all over the place.

Get a life.

Pot meet kettle. You should be the last person to tell anyone to "get a life." You have more board personalities than "Sybil," and your rants on Twitter and message boards are epic.


I do love what the staff is putting together. I hope they can continue with the good energy they've created.

Red Rooster wrote:

SJHooper wrote:

Red Rooster wrote:Relax, Joe3. You tend to be all over the place.

Get a life.

Pot meet kettle. You should be the last person to tell anyone to "get a life." You have more board personalities than "Sybil," and your rants on Twitter and message boards are epic.


I do love what the staff is putting together. I hope they can continue with the good energy they've created.

You and a handful of others on Redmen and Johnny Jungle are absolutely obsessed with me. 4 years ago I tried to buy a t-shirt on Johnny Jungle. I paid for it but the idiot Dave never sent it to me. When I was asking where it was (a month later) he said I was being disrespectful and it must have embarrassed him because I posted it on the board and didn't know how to message him directly. If you pay for a product and don't get it after a month, it's pretty understandable you'd be asking what happened. After waiting so long and him being so unprofessional I realized I didn't want him having any of my money and asked for a refund. He whined about that too. That's where all the medium shirt jokes came from. I also got into some debates on JJ and Redmen and was banned on both. Both sites feature the same 5 people who are 50 years old if not older who post on the forums. Only a few people are allowed to post...kinda defeats the purpose of a forum and it's a little weird. I still read the forums and they make a mention of me every few weeks...4 years later! And now you do too. A bit creepy, no?