Experienced assistant

From memory I think I was the first to bring this up a year or 2 ago. At the time I thought it was a great idea. Most on here didn’t agree. My buddy foad said something like why do we need an old has been coach. Don’t remember the exact words. I am sure he called me some kind of name. But I think that was reasonably accurate. A year or 2 later I agree with foad.
Richmond- Mullins good freind. Does he get fired ? Do we pay him all that money to not be a coach and have a different role ?

St. Jean- does he get fired ? Does he get demoted? What would his role be with a dominant assistant coach? Mullin seems to really like him also

Chris Mullin- I don’t believe he wants to fire anyone. I don’t think he wants a mike rice or mike Dunlap type. As fans we liked Dunlap, I don’t think the players loved him

My guess is Mullin is content with the staff and he'd probably be OK with Richmond or St. Jean leaving only if they wanted to pursue something else....not if he felt pressured by AD, alumni/fans, media etc.

I really like St. Jean and think there is long term potential there (should the program succeed consistently and Mullin hands the keys over as he expected should the winning happen when named coach in 2015).  Even if we win if years 4, 5 & 6, I just don't know if Mullin would be eager to sign up for an extension..... For this, I'd like to keep him over Richmond.  Still, while St. Jean did have an NBA coach/GM father), I believe he could get value of more in game experience with a seasoned coach side by side while in real time.   I'm sure St. Jean is great a scheduling & coordinating practices & individual drills, breaking down video etc. as that is what his limited experience actually is. 

Richmond's value seems more about companion & comfort to Mullin.  He is not a recruiter, he is not an X& O guy.  He probably does have good relations with the players and gives good tips in practice etc. but for what he brings I'd rather someone with experience who knows the recruiting game, X & O and continue to mentor St. Jean

As much as Mike Rice intrigues me for his skill, and I'd like him on staff, I can see this being a media drama, although by all public indications he's doing well from his past demons.  I just don't quite see him and Mullin working well together..but  would be nice.   Also, if Richmond left, I'm sure there would be pressure to higher an equal or better qualified African-American coach than Mike Rice which makes sense too.

Take away the online drama, Matt's a recruiter, and a good one.  Keep him, as he knows his role and keeps to it.

Didn't we have an experienced assistant?

Didn't we have an experienced assistant?

Yes... but no one can seem to agree on the true, exact reasons he's no longer here.

Quote from: Marco Baldi on January 08, 2018, 08:16:05 PM

Didn't we have an experienced assistant?

Yes... but no one can seem to agree on the true, exact reasons he's no longer here.

Matt older And dirtier is not an experienced assistant

As much as Mike Rice intrigues me for his skill, and I'd like him on staff, I can see this being a media drama

Enough time has passed and St. John's isn't relevant enough this to be a big media issue

Quote from: RedStormNC on January 08, 2018, 07:40:52 PM

As much as Mike Rice intrigues me for his skill, and I'd like him on staff, I can see this being a media drama

Enough time has passed and St. John's isn't relevant enough this to be a big media issue

Furthermore Rice has demonstrated since his firing from RU ,  that he is a model coach. His players like him, he is successful and no negative reports. Why shouldn’t he be given a second chance. With our luck we will see him on the Seton Hall staff.

Rice is the most logical choice by far but who knows if Mullin wants a strong personality like that on his staff. Here's some other top asst coaches around the country. There's plenty of candidates out there.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/candid-coaches-which-assistant-is-most-likely-to-be-a-very-successful-head-coach/

Rice is the most logical choice by far but who knows if Mullin wants a strong personality like that on his staff. Here's some other top asst coaches around the country. There's plenty of candidates out there.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/candid-coaches-which-assistant-is-most-likely-to-be-a-very-successful-head-coach/

Don't understand the pertinence of that list. All guys with assistant jobs already at better programs than STJ, sitting next to guys who can teach them a heckuva lot more than they can learn from Mullin.  Article is about guys whose next step will be a Head Coach job somewhere.  Unless of course STJ offers them Slice money.

Quote from: Johnny23 on January 08, 2018, 09:15:47 PM

Rice is the most logical choice by far but who knows if Mullin wants a strong personality like that on his staff. Here's some other top asst coaches around the country. There's plenty of candidates out there.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/candid-coaches-which-assistant-is-most-likely-to-be-a-very-successful-head-coach/

Don't understand the pertinence of that list. All guys with assistant jobs already at better programs than STJ, sitting next to guys who can teach them a heckuva lot more than they can learn from Mullin.  Article is about guys whose next step will be a Head Coach job somewhere.  Unless of course STJ offers them Slice money.

Well maybe they need to offer a big time asst slice money although that ship has probably sailed and will most likely never happen. I agree the list is more about established guys at big-time programs but my larger point is really that there's plenty of good assts out there.

If this season keeps tanking, Mullin will lose some power. You have a President who is cutting cost everywhere but basketball (Business school has a nice remake, but overall...), Mullin wastes an Asst coach position,  crticism of his coaching and direction of program.

At the end of the day money talks and the consensus was this was supposed to be a big year. An NIT birth without Lovett will probably  buy him one more year without being forced to do something.

How much of an impact of Lovett not playing by choice is affecting the team (if true)?  Does a decision need to be made about his status and removing him from the bench? If he’s not really hurt and deciding not to play because he wants to go pro somewhere.

At the end of the day money talks and the consensus was this was supposed to be a big year. An NIT birth without Lovett will probably  buy him one more year without being forced to do something.

You're right, money does talk. And who do you think pours the most money into the basketball program and athletic department? It's the geezers who grew up watching Mullin play and ever since then have thought that Mullin is a god. Those are the guys that are spending the money to support the program they grew up watching (when St. John's basketball was actually relevant) and may spend more now because their hero is the Head Coach. I doubt there are many young alumni in their late 20s or early 30s dumping money into this program.

Now, if the losing continues will these guys eventually decide to force changes but closing up the wallets? Maybe. But until that happens nobody, not Goff and not Gempesaw, will get involved with the basketball decisions

Thanks for starting this thread Tony and your initial gut feeling on the staff flaw was right on the money.  I advocated for bringing on Mike Rice since the spring and still feel that way.

As I mentioned in a previous thread, and this isnt St. Jean's fault, but the fact of the matter is that he was and still is very unqualified for the position he was hired for and the amount of power he holds over the on-court product in a Big East program. The guy might very well be a prodigy and could turn out to be a very good coach one day, but there is no substitute for an experienced guy with head coaching reps under his belt who understands in-game adjustments, bench management, practice planning, etc.  Neither Mullin nor Richmond have been a coach at any time on any level and Matt is a pure recruiter (and a good one at that who has done a nice job here IMO).  I can also tell you that as someone who watched Slice's teams when he was the head coach at Manhattan, he too is a pure recruiter as an assistant.

Now, to give St. Jean/Mullin credit, I wasn't very optimistic before the start of the year that the team would make a significant jump defensively and they did. So credit to them for that. But there are still major holes in adjustments, especially coming out of half and late-game execution and bench management.

Mike Rice would be a strong fit here.  Yes, there would be some media coverage and some criticism of it but it would be in and out of the news cycle within a few days and the staff would all move on with their lives.

Quote from: nudginator59 on January 08, 2018, 11:14:25 PM

At the end of the day money talks and the consensus was this was supposed to be a big year. An NIT birth without Lovett will probably  buy him one more year without being forced to do something.

You're right, money does talk. And who do you think pours the most money into the basketball program and athletic department? It's the geezers who grew up watching Mullin play and ever since then have thought that Mullin is a god. Those are the guys that are spending the money to support the program they grew up watching (when St. John's basketball was actually relevant) and may spend more now because their hero is the Head Coach. I doubt there are many young alumni in their late 20s or early 30s dumping money into this program.

Now, if the losing continues will these guys eventually decide to force changes but closing up the wallets? Maybe. But until that happens nobody, not Goff and not Gempesaw, will get involved with the basketball decisions

I think the reaction will be a lot faster under this leadership then the previous one, and that gives me some hope.