St. John's proving talent more important than coaching

[Fk_Pitt]

This board has done a number on him ever since he took over at St.John's'.
He took over a program that had gone downhill. He struggled for a few
years and had little or no talent. His best player at one point was Johnson
(I think that was his name) who transfered from Pitt.
He's a legend not only at St. John's but also in NYC Bball circles.
I grew up going to Bball games at Alumni Hall on that campus when they
were great. They're obviously not the same program. Getting the top NYC
kds to stay and go to school out in Queens ain't the same as it was back in their
great years. There's some reasons for this, not all basketbal related.
The university has changed demographically. It's no longer just a commuter
school for suburban middle class families from Catholic schools primarily
from Long Island. The nighborhood has gone downhill. St. John's is not
the magnet for NYC area students and players that it once was.
Right now they are 19-7. They knocked off ranked Villanova the other night, and
they've beaten a ranked Marquette team twice this season. He is now getting
much better players as is reflected in their won loss record. They're getting
there slowly. Part of coaching is recruiting, and it appears he's turned the corner on this. Given some of the a...holes who populate the college coaching ranks
in America, Mullin to many people is a breath of fresh air.
St John's hiring him would be quivalent to Pitt hiring Dan Marino. Can Marino
coach?....I have no idea, but may Pitt fans would have an orgasm over a hire like that. Saying Mullin can't coach is ludicrous IMO. Anyway, just my two cents.

How about Patrick while we are at it?? How’s he doing?

 

[Chescat]

How about Patrick while we are at it?? How’s he doing?

Good question. Georgetown was not quite the dumpster program that St. John's had fallen into. I think they made a mistake getting rid of Thompson11. They obviously
are a top academic school in a great area of Washinton DC and Patrick should be able to recruit better than St. John's with their tradition and everything else G'town offers.
They've lost to Villanova and Marquette who St. John's defeated. They
did however beat St. John's when they played. Just my opinion, but I feel that
Patrick gets some of the same kind of unjustified criticism that's leveled at Mullin.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Good question. Georgetown was not quite the dumpster program that St. John's had fallen into. I think they made a mistake getting rid of Thompson11. They obviously
are a top academic school in a great area of Washinton DC and Patrick should be able to recruit better than St. John's with their tradition and everything else G'town offers.
They've lost to Villanova and Marquette who St. John's defeated. They
did however beat St. John's when they played. Just my opinion, but I feel that
Patrick gets some of the same kind of unjustified criticism that's leveled at Mullin.

JTII was good. Not sure they could have done better. Will be interesting to see how Sweaty Pat does. Lol.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

It's harder to win though in the ACC.

I agree. But Capel has a much better coaching staff, so it's not going to be all apples to apples anyway. I just think a lot of their recruits and our recruits are at a similar level, so it is promising that they've trended up despite being a bit of a mess of a program (sort of like we were in a microwave time period via the Stallings debacle.)

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Re: Georgetown, was always surprised McClung was a consensus "3 star" recruit. He's still an inefficient freshman with a high usage/low FG%, but he's had some 20-30 point games and I could see him becoming a heck of a college point guard there.

I still enjoy watching Big East basketball even if Pitt did the right and obvious thing with the ACC invitation.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Re: Georgetown, was always surprised McClung was a consensus "3 star" recruit. He's still an inefficient freshman with a high usage/low FG%, but he's had some 20-30 point games and I could see him becoming a heck of a college point guard there.

I still enjoy watching Big East basketball even if Pitt did the right and obvious thing with the ACC invitation.

See, I cant watch the BE anymore because I still see it as Nova, Gtown, 3 NE scrubs (SJU, SHU, PC) and 5 midwestern schools. Just seems like a different league

 

[Atch]

I

I realize Chris Mullin is a Hall of Famer who obviously knows a ton about basketball but his first ever coaching job was taking over a downtrodden D1 program who has struggled for decades. The guy never coached anything before. Not HS, not AAU, not kids leagues, nothing. And I doubt he is a Brad Stevens savant. Mullin's secret: he got good players and didnt screw them up.

I dont enough is being a made about the job Mullin has done. People just assume because he is a HOFer, he should be a good coach but its not that easy......or maybe it is....just get good players (although that hasnt worked for Pat Chambers)

I never knew Chambers was a Hall of Famer.