(1) Sunday Game 12/18 - psu v SJU

[Jet915]

Talent is better, results are the same so far. Mullin deserves a couple more years to turn it around. He can recruit but from what I see, doesnt look like he can coach and he has assistants who cant coach either which is a problem

[Edrick]

St Johns will never get the top 20 type talent that supercedes system-play. That's just not going to happen. Until they reconcile this, this is what they'll be

[Bill Marsh]

Talent is better, results are the same so far. Mullin deserves a couple more years to turn it around. He can recruit but from what I see, doesnt look like he can coach and he has assistants who cant coach either which is a problem

Maybe so, but it is a fixable problem. Let's see if they do anything about it.

[cu blujs]

I thought it was a bad hire when they did it and I haven't seen anything to change my mind. As with any profession, coaching is a learning process. I can't fathom who would ever think a guy with zero coaching experience at any level could step in as head coach of any college program and be successful, let alone at a major D1 program going against coaches who have been honing their coaching skills for a dacade or more. Maybe he will figure it out in time, but I will be pleasantly surprised if he does. He just seems clueless on the bench at times. Not everyone has what it takes to be a successful coach at this level. I just don't know why St Johns would gamble five years or so to see if a guy who never coached before has it in him. Skilled players only gets you so far. Even the collection of talent at Kentucky require quality coaching to be successful against good teams.

[Bill Marsh]

I thought it was a bad hire when they did it and I haven't seen anything to change my mind. As with any profession, coaching is a learning process. I can't fathom who would ever think a guy with zero coaching experience at any level could step in as head coach of any college program and be successful, let alone at a major D1 program going against coaches who have been honing their coaching skills for a dacade or more. Maybe he will figure it out in time, but I will be pleasantly surprised if he does. He just seems clueless on the bench at times. Not everyone has what it takes to be a successful coach at this level. I just don't know why St Johns would gamble five years or so to see if a guy who never coached before has it in him. Skilled players only gets you so far. Even the collection of talent at Kentucky require quality coaching to be successful against good teams.

How much coaching experience did Kevin Ollie have when UConn made him their head coach after his NBA career? You're acting as if no one's ever done this before and been successful with it.

[Jet915]

Mullin doesnt have to be a "great" coach if he can recruit. However, when u hire assistants like Abdellmasah (?) who is a great recruiter, Mitch Richmond (not sure what he brings other than being an NBA player) and St. Jean (not sure he has any experience coaching and he's the X and O guy), thats a huge problem. Mullin really needs to get a coach who has head coaching experience.

[Hall2012]

I thought it was a bad hire when they did it and I haven't seen anything to change my mind. As with any profession, coaching is a learning process. I can't fathom who would ever think a guy with zero coaching experience at any level could step in as head coach of any college program and be successful, let alone at a major D1 program going against coaches who have been honing their coaching skills for a dacade or more. Maybe he will figure it out in time, but I will be pleasantly surprised if he does. He just seems clueless on the bench at times. Not everyone has what it takes to be a successful coach at this level. I just don't know why St Johns would gamble five years or so to see if a guy who never coached before has it in him. Skilled players only gets you so far. Even the collection of talent at Kentucky require quality coaching to be successful against good teams.

How much coaching experience did Kevin Ollie have when UConn made him their head coach after his NBA career? You're acting as if no one's ever done this before and been successful with it.

2 years as Jim Calhoun's assistant coach. certainly not the most experienced hire, but at least it's something. And it's not like he spent those 2 years working with just anybody, he spent them working with one of the best coaches in the game, who was molding Ollie into his hand picked successor.

[EMT]

Talent is better, results are the same so far. Mullin deserves a couple more years to turn it around. He can recruit but from what I see, doesnt look like he can coach and he has assistants who cant coach either which is a problem

Actually, if the talent is better, the results are worse....

[hoops22]

Talent is better, results are the same so far. Mullin deserves a couple more years to turn it around. He can recruit but from what I see, doesnt look like he can coach and he has assistants who cant coach either which is a problem

This sums it up in a nutshell. Let's put aside the whole Slice fiasco, which is costing the university plenty. Mullin has brought in as coaches, his good friend Mitch Richmond, and the son of another good friend Greg St. Jean. The three of them combined have no college coaching experince. All three are used to dealing with NBA caliber talent, that is for the most part a finished product. That's not what they're working with at St John's. People say "be patient, they're young" but we need to see even the slightest measurable progress being made. What player is better then he was last year? In fact, what facet of anyones game has gotten better? The defense is completely non existant. After the LIU debacle, the staff had a full week to prepare for this game. We were demolished by a bottom of the barrell B1G team that recently lost at home to Albany and George Mason. We gave up 52 points in the first half. This team views defense as an inconvenience you endure, while waiting to get the ball back to hoist up another contested shot. It's alarming how easy it is for opposing guards to get to the rim on us, and how after two or three passes, the ball winds up in the hands of a wide open player for a wide open 15 footer. These are all 3 and 4 star players we have, there's no excuse for being this totally clueless and inept on defense. The staff has to be held accountable.

There's no denying the Johnnies are in a hell of a bind. But at a salary of 2 million a year, I feel Mullin has to swallow his pride and bring in some help. We need a legimate X's and O's guy that knows what he's doing, not St. Jean learning on the job. We need a legitimate big man coach that can work with the big men, and help develope them. With Moses Brown coming in that can be huge for the programs future. While Simon and Clark will both be terrific additions next year, if there's no coherent defensive coaching instruction, what will it matter?

Mullin has to take ownership of this. Clearly this isn't working, and he needs to make the changes that at least allow for the possibility of success. If he insists on staying the course with this mess, then the outcome is likely to be the same as the Titanic sailing into the iceberg.

[EMT]

I thought it was a bad hire when they did it and I haven't seen anything to change my mind. As with any profession, coaching is a learning process. I can't fathom who would ever think a guy with zero coaching experience at any level could step in as head coach of any college program and be successful, let alone at a major D1 program going against coaches who have been honing their coaching skills for a dacade or more. Maybe he will figure it out in time, but I will be pleasantly surprised if he does. He just seems clueless on the bench at times. Not everyone has what it takes to be a successful coach at this level. I just don't know why St Johns would gamble five years or so to see if a guy who never coached before has it in him. Skilled players only gets you so far. Even the collection of talent at Kentucky require quality coaching to be successful against good teams.

How much coaching experience did Kevin Ollie have when UConn made him their head coach after his NBA career? You're acting as if no one's ever done this before and been successful with it.

2 years as Jim Calhoun's assistant coach. certainly not the most experienced hire, but at least it's something. And it's not like he spent those 2 years working with just anybody, he spent them working with one of the best coaches in the game, who was molding Ollie into his hand picked successor.

Not to mention he was given a very good team, not a complete rebuilding job. He also had a 1st rate staff behind him.