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

[SJHooper]

Do not be surprised if Mullin announces he is leaving after the season. You have to read between the lines. His house is up for sale, he is already a superstar NBA HOFer and very rich. He does not need this. He wanted to try coaching but he looks miserable out there...miserable. No doubt he is taking this VERY hard. He is an extremely competitive guy remember he cursed at the Fordham coach last year in the handshake line after he left his starters in and ran up the score. He also says he's still angry about losses to Georgetown from his days as a SJ player. He is the opposite of Steve Lavin who would laugh after blowout losses. He takes the losses personally. I guarantee you it's at the very least crossing his mind about leaving and I can't blame him. He is realizing that being a head coach in a major basketball school is wayyyyy more complicated and daunting than he expected. Look at his face each game and you can just hear him thinking that to himself with his expressions. I love the guy, but he is in over his head and he knows it. If he keeps losing he will not let the program suffer, he seems to be the type to say "I tried and I failed so instead of letting the program suffer I decided to walk away, it was a great experience but I'm not cut out for coaching".

By the way, for those who bothered to watch the game (sorry if you did), could you hear that OBNOXIOUS mother of a Penn State player screaming the entire game? Even up 27 she was jumping up and down screaming like Penn State won the NCAA tourney after the most mundane things. It took every fiber of my being to refrain from standing up and yelling to SIT DOWN!

[hoops22]

Most damning coaching indictment during that 35-5 run to end the half, was no time out called. Nothing but wild out of control street ball being played. Yet as the game was slowly becoming out of reach, no time out to try to settle down this young team. Unbelieveable.

[marquette]

Other candidates that despite what others may say...are indeed possible:

Miller
Marshall
Pecora
Rice
Cluess
Will Brown (head coach of Albany led them to 5 straight NCAA's)

For those of you who say, "who would come to SJ after Mullin left/got fired after 2 yrs?!", the answer is "someone who knows how to coach and wants to make a lot of money". Coaching this program would be a step up for every single one of the coaches listed above. Just because a mid major like Wichita St. has done very well doesn't make it a major program. SJ is still a desirable job that will pay more than any of the above coaches make right now. We are in the Big East, one of the premiere conferences in the country with FS1 putting us on national TV every game. None of the above coaches have any of those perks right now.

Too bad Billy Donavan is in the NBA. Would have been a great hire here. Local guy and familiar with Big East from coaching PC.

You aren't going to outbid the Koch brothers for Marshall. He is already making Big East coach money, the only way he leaves is if he feels he's taken them as far as he can and wants a new challenge.

[pc5151]

Its too early to give up on Mullin. You have to at least see what type of class he is going to bring in for 2018, the class that staff has been focusing on since they arrived. Plus you have 2, maybe 3, new starters lined up for next year and your current starters (besides Ponds & LoVett) will be playing support roles off the bench, roles they are much better suited for. I am not suggesting Mullin should be given a complete pass for this season, its not wrong to have expected much better than this, but it cant be the nail in the coffin. If next year doesnt show improvement and they don't have a legit class coming in for 2018 then its time to start thinking about the next coach.

[hoops22]

Only silver lining from this, is I can't imagine after watching us play, that Syracuse will be taking us seriously for Wednesday's game. As bad as last years team was, they got a lot of mileage from the fan base for that win. If lightning could ever strike twice again, that would go a long way to soothing the natives.

[Bill Marsh]

Do not be surprised if Mullin announces he is leaving after the season. You have to read between the lines. His house is up for sale, he is already a superstar NBA HOFer and very rich. He does not need this. He wanted to try coaching but he looks miserable out there...miserable. No doubt he is taking this VERY hard. He is an extremely competitive guy remember he cursed at the Fordham coach last year in the handshake line after he left his starters in and ran up the score. He also says he's still angry about losses to Georgetown from his days as a SJ player. He is the opposite of Steve Lavin who would laugh after blowout losses. He takes the losses personally. I guarantee you it's at the very least crossing his mind about leaving and I can't blame him. He is realizing that being a head coach in a major basketball school is wayyyyy more complicated and daunting than he expected. Look at his face each game and you can just hear him thinking that to himself with his expressions. I love the guy, but he is in over his head and he knows it. If he keeps losing he will not let the program suffer, he seems to be the type to say "I tried and I failed so instead of letting the program suffer I decided to walk away, it was a great experience but I'm not cut out for coaching".

There you have it, folks. Armchair psychiatry at its fines. Hooper just psychoanalyzed a man he's never even met. Isn't there a law against practicing without a license?

[Bill Marsh]

Other candidates that despite what others may say...are indeed possible:

Miller
Marshall
Pecora
Rice
Cluess
Will Brown (head coach of Albany led them to 5 straight NCAA's)

For those of you who say, "who would come to SJ after Mullin left/got fired after 2 yrs?!", the answer is "someone who knows how to coach and wants to make a lot of money". Coaching this program would be a step up for every single one of the coaches listed above. Just because a mid major like Wichita St. has done very well doesn't make it a major program. SJ is still a desirable job that will pay more than any of the above coaches make right now. We are in the Big East, one of the premiere conferences in the country with FS1 putting us on national TV every game. None of the above coaches have any of those perks right now.

Too bad Billy Donavan is in the NBA. Would have been a great hire here. Local guy and familiar with Big East from coaching PC.

You aren't going to outbid the Koch brothers for Marshall. He is already making Big East coach money, the only way he leaves is if he feels he's taken them as far as he can and wants a new challenge.

Is there any doubt about that?

[stever20]

Only silver lining from this, is I can't imagine after watching us play, that Syracuse will be taking us seriously for Wednesday's game. As bad as last years team was, they got a lot of mileage from the fan base for that win. If lightning could ever strike twice again, that would go a long way to soothing the natives.

only thing I'd say about that is that after last year, and this past weekend, Syracuse won't be overlooking you guys.

[Rum_Ham]

You don't fire a coach in the middle of a rebuild it just sets the program back more than it was before. Any new coach you bring in will still need 2-3 years to replace the roster and there is still no guarantee they succeed. Mullin is bringing in talent which is a great start, I wish he would have hired an experience coach to replace Slice instead of Richmond but what's done is done. St John's wasn't making the tournament I don't see why people are pretending this is some sort of unexpected tragedy of a season its not like they started the season in the top 25. If they are still struggling next year then start to panic. Also can we stop bringing up the Manhattan coach as a possible replacement look at their current record.

[REDMEN1415]

You don't fire a coach in the middle of a rebuild it just sets the program back more than it was before. Any new coach you bring in will still need 2-3 years to replace the roster and there is still no guarantee they succeed. Mullin is bringing in talent which is a great start, I wish he would have hired an experience coach to replace Slice instead of Richmond but what's done is done. St John's wasn't making the tournament I don't see why people are pretending this is some sort of unexpected tragedy of a season its not like they started the season in the top 25. If they are still struggling next year then start to panic. Also can we stop bringing up the Manhattan coach as a possible replacement look at their current record.

Dude, yeah we weren't gonna make the Tournament, but I was expecting maybe 15fucking win.
Witnessing last year, SJU fans were saying well next year can't be as bad as this year, well Cuse will probably smoke us Wednesday.

We'll be going into league play with 5 wins, if we're lucky we get 3 wins in the BE., that's f'ing patheric.
wtf is the improvement?????
Yeah I'll give him next year, but they better show MAJOR improvement.