is Seton Hall fixable?

[TheBall]

There is a lot of displeasure being voiced about the coach and the state of the program, but is it really crisis mode yet?

They were cruising coming into january, but they were a little ahead of schedule at that point. Next year was the season they were more likely to compete. Freshmen don't usually come in and carry a team to the dance, especially not the ones shu has (ie, a bunch of very solid freshmen, but only 1 mcd's all American and whitehead was never a serious one and done consideration).

They don't look like a "bad" team when I watch them. They had a few lack luster efforts this year during that slump, and there is apparently something going on with the chemistry. But how toxic is it? Can it be saved?

They have pretty much everyone returning. Two months ago I would have told you that seton hall is the easy pick for next year's pre-season big east favorite.

The comparison I would make is jay wright's 3rd season (2004). He had that stacked recruiting class with foye and ray, but in 2004 they still weren't ready to compete at a tournament level. Some of the know it all fans were calling for jay's head saying that he was nothing without speedy Claxton, etc. That team finished the conference regular season out 3-9.

They started to gel a bit during the big east tourney and then the nit. But even 2004-2005 they started like 9-4 and it wasn't until the kansas game in january that they started to look like a tournament team.


Is the locker room past the point of no return at seton hall? Or is this something that they can recover from?

I would prefer to see them give Willard a shot to fix it. I generally am critical of letting bad coaches stay too long (tim welsh, norm roberts), but I see next year as sort of the culmination of his efforts. He either gets it done next year or not. I am not sure giving willard another year will set shu back that much, so why not?

[Hall2012]

Willard, in all likelihood, will be back next year. Apparently the buyout in his contract drops significantly after next season, so Seton Hall will give him a 6th year for financial reasons if nothing else.

[stever20]

1 thing that is bad is they don't have a guaranteed NIT slot by any stretch of the imagination. That's huge. Sometimes having success in a tourney like that can change a programs trajectory big time. Seton Hall I think is going to be right on the bubble for the NIT, depending on how many #1 seeds fall in their conference tournaments. They could really use a win in the 1st rd of the BET to have more of a chance I think.

[TheBall]

A nit slot this year would be nice, but it's not "huge". Not even a little bit huge. It would be nice.

Look, Willard will either get it done next yr or he won't. If he does not, I'm not going to point to no nit slot. Heck, one of the other tournaments might even be a better option (go win the Cbi or whatever and carry that experience over)

I guess my cinder is how toxic the situation is. It doesn't appear toxic to me on the outside. It seems more like work in progress.

The season kids are going through growing pains right now. But if they all come back I'm slotting them as a tourney team next yr. A fresh start will be nice and they have the talent and these down times might make them stronger

[Hall2012]

A nit slot this year would be nice, but it's not "huge". Not even a little bit huge. It would be nice.

Look, Willard will either get it done next yr or he won't. If he does not, I'm not going to point to no nit slot. Heck, one of the other tournaments might even be a better option (go win the Cbi or whatever and carry that experience over)

I guess my cinder is how toxic the situation is. It doesn't appear toxic to me on the outside. It seems more like work in progress.

The season kids are going through growing pains right now. But if they all come back I'm slotting them as a tourney team next yr. A fresh start will be nice and they have the talent and these down times might make them stronger

As far as post-season, it's likely NIT or nothing for Seton Hall. They've been invited to the CBI before and turned it down every time. There's no reason to think Willard wouldn't do the same this year.

As far as the chemistry issues, they appear to be improving. To me, the Gibbs incident at Villanova seemed to be the turning point, after which the team came together and said this needs to change. They're only 1-3 (and barely that) since then, but three losses were all valiant efforts against NCAA Tournament locks in SJU, PC, and Gtown (2 of which were on the road). Against SJU (minus Gibbs) and PC, they hung tough for about 30 minutes before running out of gas and against Gtown they did well to battle back in the 2nd half when it looked like it could turn into a route. I'm not a big believer in moral victories, but even in losing efforts they looked a lot more like a team than they had for the previous month.

Now we'll see how they do in the BET knowing their next loss is likely the end of their season. It's highly unlikely that we'll see a repeat of last year's game vs Villanova, but if they can get passed Marquette, perhaps Sterling will relish the opportunity to redeem himself.

[Edrick]

Regardless of what he's said, I don't think there's better than a 1/10 chance Gibbs is there after April.

He can be a grad transfer and he'd have a great many opportunities that are simply better. It's clear that that locker room is toxic and I've heard he and whitehead butting heads was some of that

[Bearcat_Bounce]

They remind me of Cincinnati in 2009-10, that team started of really well beating two eventual 5 seeds in Maui (Maryland and Vanderbilt), but chemistry issues and lack of experience caused that team to fall apart and they finished 7-11 in the Big East and 16-14 overall...they went on a mini run in the Big East tournament but lost to WVU on a banked three at the buzzer, went to the NIT and finished 19-16 ending the season getting blown out by Dayton, who's fans may have outnumbered UC fans at our home game. Even though they lost their two best players off of that team (namely Lance Stephenson), the program has not looked back since and made (hopefully) 5 straight tournaments!!! Mick and Kevin are good friends and coach very similarly. Keep your heads up Pirates!!!

[TheBall]

If sexton hall is invited to the Cbi, they should go and win it.

That would be just as good as a nit run.

Go win something. Don't snub your nose at the competition. Take advantage of the opportunity to play as a team and go win.

A senior led team that dismantles and finishes poorly can skip the Cbi as they are finishing, not building. The hall is building. Don't throw away potential building blocks

[robinreed]

i am more interested in finding out if DePaul is capable of being anything but a bottom dweller. I have seen no indication that they are improving year to year. Chicago is more important to Fox than any metro area except NYC and should be important to us.

[TheBall]

The future of DePaul is probably worthy of its own thread. They are young and talented, does the coach stay, etc...

But this is a seton hall conversation