I'm a die hard St. John's fan and have patiently waited for this team to start competing on a national level. I can honestly say that I'm tired of Lavin and the way this team plays. They run no offense besides a motion offense with the guards around the 3pt arc, the bigs we have stand there and pose no offensive threat. We shoot very poor from the 3pt line, poor from free throw line and without obekpa, we can't rebound. On defense they rely on their athletic ability instead of technique and boxing out for rebounds. I could go on and on and on. Lavin has to go and bring in a coach that knows the X/O's of basketball. Lavin is known for his recruiting but he has not pulled in a good class since his first year and these players are not developing the way division 1 players should be developing. They are seniors/juniors and play like inexperienced freshman. They almost always play from behind and very rarely dominate teams that they should dominate. The kids we have are very immature and it's a joke. If Jordan was smart he would leave after this year. He has big time ability but I feel he is being held back do to the lack of coaching and good players around him. Bring in Jackson, Hurley or id even take a assistant from duke that has been around a winning program. They know what it takes to win, recruit the right players and develop them. Gonzaga doesn't have the greatest talent but they play as a team and are very well coached. I know we are battling gonzaga but they play basketball and we play street ball. My rant is over.
Lavin has to go!
- Thread starter brayde0515
- Start date
I was pretty impressed with the team yesterday against Gonzaga who had a significant height advantage as well as very good guard play. If they had made an acceptable 70 percent of the free throws St. Johns would have won and they play excellent pressure defense. Lot's of steals!!! Rebounding by everyone overcame the lack of height. Also a missed call on Jordan's drive at the end of the game.So let's just wait and see.
Tskibell everything that you have said is true. But what concerns me is the fact that it has taken four years just to be competitive on this level. Its no secret that this year's senior laden team has a chance at making it to the big dance, but what about next year? There is no consistency here; do we wait every four to five years to see the johnnies(aka redstorm) make it to the big dance? I say no, that is unacceptable, this is the mecca.
Coach Lavin is not the problem. He doesn't miss the drives, He doesn't miss the free throws, and he doesn't commit the silly fouls. I am as heartbroken as every other SJU fan. But in an environment where kids don't often stay the 4 years (and I am not blaming them) like Sampson and Harkless it takes time and patience and few breaks. If they make their free throws, layups and play great defense it will happen. This team has to fight through this loss and prove to themselves not the fans that they can accomplish their goals. If they can do that, we as fans get to come along for the GREAT ride.
I agree! The years to come could be ugly, norm Roberts era ugly. Lavs has missed on local/national talent the past 3yrs. Jordan is gone if they have a strong regular season and make a run in the tourney. Obekpa would be only good player coming back but brings zero offense except dunks/offensive put backs. The future does not look bright if Lavin can't make a run with recruiting this year. Also he has to develop and make these future players better which he really hasn't done. Scary!
Are you serious? Lavin has not developed the talent that he has recruited 3-4yrs now. Agree, Sampson should have stayed but honestly he was not the top 50 recruit that he was ranked coming out of high school. Lavs and his staff are the problem. They don't know offense sets, they run a weave at the three pt line with 3 guards, let the shot clock come down and hoist up a bad shot. Their half court def is horrible , foul shooting is bad and average at best 3pt shooting team. They do play a good full court press but that's based on the players being athletic not talent. Other teams have less talented kids but win because of the way they are coached. When Dunlap left, we lost our offensive brain. U can't win at that level with mediocre talent and trying to score the majority of your points in transition opportunities.
if you don't think lavin is the problem, then you're delusional. this team has not improved in the past 4 years. there has been minimal player development. these guys are doing the same things they were as freshman. the FT shooting has not improved over the past 4 years. there is absolutely no flow on OFF. if you watched the gonzaga game you could tell. if they weren't in transition, they were lost. how can this be after 4 years of these guys playing together? think about all the talent that was there last year and they barely pressed on DEF. this is a poorly coached team. period. end of sentence. ever since mike dunlap left, coach lavin has been lost. rico is not an x's and o's guy and you can really see the effect dunlap's departure had.
also, look at all the transfers too. i have NEVER seen so many transfers from one program in such a short amount of time. and don't use the excuse about they couldn't play because of their talent. BS! polee, lindsey, hooper, sampson turning pro when he had no business leaving, obekpa leaving and then returning. come on!!!
coach lavin is a GREAT recruiter, but even that recently has gone down. i loved the the hire when first announced, but it has paid no dividends. the only appearance to the big dance was his first year with coach roberts players. he was able to recruit his own players and they have what? yeah no post season wins and no NCAA bid!!!
i still say we make a run for mark jackson!
also, look at all the transfers too. i have NEVER seen so many transfers from one program in such a short amount of time. and don't use the excuse about they couldn't play because of their talent. BS! polee, lindsey, hooper, sampson turning pro when he had no business leaving, obekpa leaving and then returning. come on!!!
coach lavin is a GREAT recruiter, but even that recently has gone down. i loved the the hire when first announced, but it has paid no dividends. the only appearance to the big dance was his first year with coach roberts players. he was able to recruit his own players and they have what? yeah no post season wins and no NCAA bid!!!
i still say we make a run for mark jackson!
You have to look at the players on the team. These are not HS or JrHS kids they are young adults who struggle with the reality of playing D1 BB. Success comes one swing at the bigger rock at a time. Believe me I share your frustration, but this is on the players as much as it's on the coaching staff. There are no half court players on this team. If they don't defend and do the basics (layups, FT, rebounding) they wont be there in the end. Lavin will never bash his players he always talks about we and us. Even when players have been immature, he has always protected them.
Obpeka has to rebound and put back and most importantly hit his foul shots. Rysheed needs to attack the rim get to the foul line and make his foul shots. Dom is a great defender but is a 10-12 footer really a stretch for him. Jamal needs to make the easy pass instead of the dipsy doodle behind the back acrobatic T/O. If Phil plays within himself they will win. If they all do what they are good at and play TEAM defense they will win.
You talk about transfers Polee nice player at SDState but has never been in double figures in four years. Lindsey, Hooper, Sampson Harkless none of them are household names. Maybe if Sampson and Harkless had stayed things would have been different not only for the program but for them as well. Sampson barely plays for a 0-17 team and Moe is buried on the bench in Orlando. Mark Jackson, Bobby Hurley or anyone else is not the answer. Teach them how to take responsibility for themselves.
Perhaps when Adonis gets in shape and his academics get cleared he will help. But in the meantime work hard to get on the court.
They are lucky to have Lavin guiding them, I believe in these players and Lavin, they need to believe in themselves. A blow out against Niagara and a beat down of Syracuse goes a long way to putting the Zags loss behind them. Get on the bandwagon and stop bashing it doesn't help. I guess we can agree to disagree.
Go Johnnies!!!!!
Obpeka has to rebound and put back and most importantly hit his foul shots. Rysheed needs to attack the rim get to the foul line and make his foul shots. Dom is a great defender but is a 10-12 footer really a stretch for him. Jamal needs to make the easy pass instead of the dipsy doodle behind the back acrobatic T/O. If Phil plays within himself they will win. If they all do what they are good at and play TEAM defense they will win.
You talk about transfers Polee nice player at SDState but has never been in double figures in four years. Lindsey, Hooper, Sampson Harkless none of them are household names. Maybe if Sampson and Harkless had stayed things would have been different not only for the program but for them as well. Sampson barely plays for a 0-17 team and Moe is buried on the bench in Orlando. Mark Jackson, Bobby Hurley or anyone else is not the answer. Teach them how to take responsibility for themselves.
Perhaps when Adonis gets in shape and his academics get cleared he will help. But in the meantime work hard to get on the court.
They are lucky to have Lavin guiding them, I believe in these players and Lavin, they need to believe in themselves. A blow out against Niagara and a beat down of Syracuse goes a long way to putting the Zags loss behind them. Get on the bandwagon and stop bashing it doesn't help. I guess we can agree to disagree.
Go Johnnies!!!!!
You are right, we will agree to disagree. But I expect them to blow out Niagara tonight and should be able to beat cuse this year. They are not the cuse of old. Go storm
are you guys watching this game? there is no aggressiveness on the offensive end. how is this on the players? this is the scheme! it's been like this the entire year and last year.
if you have players like harrison, pointer, branch, etc who are playing the exact same game and skill level they have since they were freshman, who is that on? the players? come on dude! that's on the coaches. player development is on the coaches. you can be delusional all you want and blame the players, but it's on the coaches. lavin had top 5 recruiting classes. he can't develop players! i'm tired of it!
if you have players like harrison, pointer, branch, etc who are playing the exact same game and skill level they have since they were freshman, who is that on? the players? come on dude! that's on the coaches. player development is on the coaches. you can be delusional all you want and blame the players, but it's on the coaches. lavin had top 5 recruiting classes. he can't develop players! i'm tired of it!
Turbo I agree! Even tho cuse isn't the typical cuse team, I'm happy with the win. Our seniors still play like they did when they were freshman and sophomores. We will win games this year based on their talent not the coaching of the talent. After this year it's gonna be scary with the lack of players coming back and the lack of players he's recruiting. Scary...
