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Let's hope he's right!

http://www.todaysu.com/big-east-today/s ... -improved/

Hell... I said that a month ago.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5387

Jon RothsteinVerified account ‏@JonRothstein Aug 9
Expect SJU's Shamorie Ponds to lead all Big East freshmen in scoring next season. Effortless offensive player. Cuttino Mobley type. #SJUBB

St. John's is definitely the toughest team to predict. An infusion of talent, but still lots of youth and an unproven coach. Could be much improved and still not finish that much higher due to the toughness of the league.

hoyahooligan wrote:St. John's is definitely the toughest team to predict. An infusion of talent, but still lots of youth and an unproven coach. Could be much improved and still not finish that much higher due to the toughness of the league.

I think actually this is the perfect time to jump up a few spots. Providence is replacing it's two best players, Nova is trying to repeat but also losing two key seniors, Seton Hall just lost it's best player, same goes for Marquette. I think we finish 5th or 6th this year.

Could we be seeing a return of ......


THE COUNTRY"S MOST TALENTED ROSTER?????

As an absolutely avid SJ fan, we have to temper expectations. Remember, with what seemed like one of the best SJ rosters in recent memory under Lavin, we didn't even make the tourney. That was with a very deep (maybe among deepest in nation), very talented, and very experienced team. Yes we have Ahmed and Owens giving us some experience, but LoVett and Ponds will likely need a while to warm up. These aren't McDonald's All-Americans who you can plug and play immediately to give you 20 PPG. I think a lot will depend on how Mussini does as a catch and shoot guy instead of trying to create for himself. I can see him being as good as Harrison was from 3 if he does not have to create for himself. I just think it's tough with young guards...Briscoe on UK was supposed to be this unstoppable PG and he wasn't even anything that special immediately (one of top PG's in the nation as a recruit).

We have a great tradition and a few blue moon years where we were ranked. But for the most part, we have to be honest, we are a program that has failed to live up to hype time and time again. We have not won a single NCAA game in 17...yes SEVENTEEN years. That sounds almost impossible to do for any decent program. We have won, what 1 or 2 Big East Tourney games in the last decade? If not exact, it sure feels that way. Maybe it's just the bad taste Lavin left, but we seem to be cursed. Instead of being excited to watch games thinking we had a good chance to win, I was more afraid we would underperform (see Fordham and Incarnate Word last year). I want to be able to watch games knowing there's a real chance. I want us to be the bully and not the bullied for once.

My guess is we get 13-17 wins overall. Also, that's assuming we are healthy. If LoVett or Ponds get hurt at all, it will kill us. I'm really hoping Mullin gets this program to the next level and we start to see consistent tourney appearances (say 6 times every 10 years) and winning some games along the way. I'm also really hoping to see this program ranked regularly (if PC and Butler can do it, we can too). Can't even describe how exciting it was to see us at #15 a few years ago at one point when the polls came out. I have hope, but this program has found new ways to underachieve and choke. I hope Mullin proves me wrong. We really need to shed our mediocrity culture of the past 20 years if we want to be nationally relevant again.

I expect SJU's results this year to look a lot like Seton Hall's from 2 years ago. It's another team that's been revamped with a lot of talented freshman and I expect the same sort of inconsistency. I think they'll get some surprise wins against some really good teams but struggle to win games consistently and ultimately finish around 7th or 8th. The big difference is the Johnnies don't have that star senior the Pirates had (Sterling Gibbs). I think that makes SJU more vulnerable in non-conference play than the Hall was, but as we all know, that hurt the Pirates more than it helped down the stretch in league play.

I think they'll have a good team that certainly needs to be taken seriously, but they'll lose a lot of games late to more experienced opponents. 2017-18 is when they'll have a shot to break into the top half of the league.

I think this year will be much better than last, but they are still a year or two away from being a real threat in any real sense.

SJHooper wrote:As an absolutely avid SJ fan, we have to temper expectations. Remember, with what seemed like one of the best SJ rosters in recent memory under Lavin, we didn't even make the tourney. That was with a very deep (maybe among deepest in nation), very talented, and very experienced team. Yes we have Ahmed and Owens giving us some experience, but LoVett and Ponds will likely need a while to warm up. These aren't McDonald's All-Americans who you can plug and play immediately to give you 20 PPG. I think a lot will depend on how Mussini does as a catch and shoot guy instead of trying to create for himself. I can see him being as good as Harrison was from 3 if he does not have to create for himself. I just think it's tough with young guards...Briscoe on UK was supposed to be this unstoppable PG and he wasn't even anything that special immediately (one of top PG's in the nation as a recruit).

We have a great tradition and a few blue moon years where we were ranked. But for the most part, we have to be honest, we are a program that has failed to live up to hype time and time again. We have not won a single NCAA game in 17...yes SEVENTEEN years. That sounds almost impossible to do for any decent program. We have won, what 1 or 2 Big East Tourney games in the last decade? If not exact, it sure feels that way. Maybe it's just the bad taste Lavin left, but we seem to be cursed. Instead of being excited to watch games thinking we had a good chance to win, I was more afraid we would underperform (see Fordham and Incarnate Word last year). I want to be able to watch games knowing there's a real chance. I want us to be the bully and not the bullied for once.

My guess is we get 13-17 wins overall. Also, that's assuming we are healthy. If LoVett or Ponds get hurt at all, it will kill us. I'm really hoping Mullin gets this program to the next level and we start to see consistent tourney appearances (say 6 times every 10 years) and winning some games along the way. I'm also really hoping to see this program ranked regularly (if PC and Butler can do it, we can too). Can't even describe how exciting it was to see us at #15 a few years ago at one point when the polls came out. I have hope, but this program has found new ways to underachieve and choke. I hope Mullin proves me wrong. We really need to shed our mediocrity culture of the past 20 years if we want to be nationally relevant again.

Either you're woe is me or gung-ho about St. John's. You're all over the place, per usual. This thread is about next season, so stick the tireless rant in a pipe.

St. John's didn't have a point guard last season. None! LoVett (who is a true lead guard, and was able to practice with the team last season) and Ponds, albeit young guards, will be good for an extra 3 or 4 wins by being more productive than what we had a season ago. I hope to see some improvement with the Johnnies' defense. Last season's D was, at times, cringe worthy. I think with the returnees (especially, Yakwe, Sima, and Mussini) and newcomers (particularly, Ahmed and Ponds), this team could finish higher than some may think. Personally, I believe they'll finish anywhere between 5th-8th. I feel strongly confident they won't finish any lower than 8th. If so, then I'll certainly come back to eat crow.

hoyahooligan wrote:Could be much improved and still not finish that much higher due to the toughness of the league.

Similarly, to Georgetown, right?