and it starts with the coach first, and then the players, and then yes, the fans. I am a culprit of this, as is pretty much every st. john's fan on this site. A close road loss in the NIT is not an accomplishment. A close road loss during the season is not an accomplishment. A close home loss to a ranked team is not an accomplishment.
St. John's is a team that backs down to no one, and isn't satisfied unless they win - no matter if they're playing #1 on the road or #320.
We haven't been that way since Jarvis. While Jarvis was awful, the team still had that attitude back then like F you, you come into our house, you're gonna pay. Norm never instilled that in this team. His postgame quotes which were always so tame and nice and praising the other team and making excuses were just as much a part of the problem as were the fans who were content watching, never cheering, never doing anything, just watching as if we were in a church.
We need a coach with FIRE. I've heard people criticize Paul Hewitt for his interview recently saying the NYC media would eat him alive. His attitude is WHAT I WANT IN A COACH. We need someone who is CONFIDENT who knows how good they are and knows how good the team should be and DEMANDS that of everyone around them!
We need PLAYERS with fire who don't back down from no one, who snarl at the other players on defense, and yes I LOVE the players Norm has brought us. I think they can do this. The players are going to be the EASIEST part of this transition bc they are all great kids and they WILL buy into the new system and WILL become winners next year, paving the eway for future classes.
Most of all we NEED FANS! We need fans to renew their season tickets now that a new coach will be hired. We need to fill Carnesecca for games against NJIT and fill MSG for Duke and Cuse with ST JOHNS fans. We need to lead the way in reviving the city's interest in St Johns, because if WE show up and take our passion to the game, the players, the coach, and the city will follow.
Norm did a great job doing a lot of the legwork putting us in a place for a more skilled coach to return this program to the success it has always achieved. It's now time to seize it. And it's not just up to the administration. It's up to us too!
GO ST. JOHN'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!