Steve DeMeo

I don’t recall you questioning any motives for the years of Mullin hate.

What has Anderson done so far that would win over someone that didn’t like his hire?

He signed a two and a three star recruit. He promoted his nephew to a position higher than he’s held at his prior three schools and he’s added an underwhelming staff.

I happen to like the two kids Anderson signed as depth pieces but depth pieces don’t mean sh*t if you can’t get the stars.

Man is working and has a good record at prior schools.  Filled the most pressing need at the point with a kid who, body wise, looks ready and who plays D.  Lets face it, we are unlikely to get 5 stars and only the occasional 4, until we start winning.  We are St Johns, which means a mediocre academic school with a shit campus in Jamaica Queens.  I like the uptempo pressing style CMA plays and for this, he needs depth which he is accumulating quickly.

I don’t recall you questioning any motives for the years of Mullin hate.

What has Anderson done so far that would win over someone that didn’t like his hire?

He signed a two and a three star recruit. He promoted his nephew to a position higher than he’s held at his prior three schools and he’s added an underwhelming staff.

I happen to like the two kids Anderson signed as depth pieces but depth pieces don’t mean sh*t if you can’t get the stars.

He's not going to get the stars yet. He has to prove it on the court with building a system that yields results. This is what the Mullin backers didn't realize. It doesn't matter how good Mullin was as a player 35 years ago. What mattered was his ability to coach kids up of the court and this is where he fell flat on his face.

Anderson is the anti-Mullin. He's a proven winner at all of his coaching stops. He's not going for the get rich quick scheme the way a Mullin needed to because he had no confidence in his coaching ability.

Quite the contrary, Anderson is a proven program builder who will start small with a few under the radar signings (McGriff, Sears). He will then show next year that he can not only assemble a program but win games on the court and improve his team's chemistry throughout the course of the season. Once he does that then he will start signing these 4 star kids because they can all tell he's building something. That's how you build a sustainable program. Not with some cockamamie, unsustainable scheme that was being thrown out there the last 4 years. That sh*t never works.

I don’t recall you questioning any motives for the years of Mullin hate.

What has Anderson done so far that would win over someone that didn’t like his hire?

He signed a two and a three star recruit. He promoted his nephew to a position higher than he’s held at his prior three schools and he’s added an underwhelming staff.

I happen to like the two kids Anderson signed as depth pieces but depth pieces don’t mean sh*t if you can’t get the stars.

The point is that it seems out of character for Dave to be this critical of the staff this early. I don't recall him being this critical of the past staff (him having a close friend on that staff is probably a reason why), yet he he just took a big shot at this current staff even though this staff is already MILES better than the past staff and we only have a HC and 2 assistants.

While Anderson hasn't done anything to win over anybody against this hire, he also hasn't done anything to deserve the criticism of every move he's made that Dave has done. Cleveland and Macon are solid hires, yet Dave is out here bashing them.

It's obvious Andrew Slater has some sort of motive to hate on this staff. To me, it seems that Dave does too. I could be wrong though, just seems out of character for him.

What makes you say that

DeMeo has a job that many coaches can get at 25-27 years of age. Esposito’s last job is something you need decade’s of experience for. He also can being players currently in the portal with him. DOBO would no be a job that interests someone of Esposito’s rank.

The point is that it seems out of character for Dave to be this critical of the staff this early. I don't recall him being this critical of the past staff (him having a close friend on that staff is probably a reason why), yet he he just took a big shot at this current staff even though this staff is already MILES better than the past staff and we only have a HC and 2 assistants.

While Anderson hasn't done anything to win over anybody against this hire, he also hasn't done anything to deserve the criticism of every move he's made that Dave has done. Cleveland and Macon are solid hires, yet Dave is out here bashing them.

It's obvious Andrew Slater has some sort of motive to hate on this staff. To me, it seems that Dave does too. I could be wrong though, just seems out of character for him.

There is nothing that Anderson has done that's vaguely deserving of praise. He signed his nephew -



- Tom Pecora's right hand man and a couple of recruits no one else wanted. Other than not being Mullin he so far hasn't accomplished much of anything. Maybe Dave's offended by the ball washing. I know I am.

He's not going to get the stars yet. He has to prove it on the court with building a system that yields results. This is what the Mullin backers didn't realize. It doesn't matter how good Mullin was as a player 35 years ago. What mattered was his ability to coach kids up of the court and this is where he fell flat on his face.

Anderson is the anti-Mullin. He's a proven winner at all of his coaching stops. He's not going for the get rich quick scheme the way a Mullin needed to because he had no confidence in his coaching ability.

Quite the contrary, Anderson is a proven program builder who will start small with a few under the radar signings (McGriff, Sears). He will then show next year that he can not only assemble a program but win games on the court and improve his team's chemistry throughout the course of the season. Once he does that then he will start signing these 4 star kids because they can all tell he's building something. That's how you build a sustainable program. Not with some cockamamie, unsustainable scheme that was being thrown out there the last 4 years. That sh*t never works.

I think we'll land a 2020 top 50 (or two) player by the time November rolls around.

I think we'll land a 2020 top 50 (or two) player by the time November rolls around.

From your lips to God's ears

There is nothing that Anderson has done that's vaguely deserving of praise. He signed his nephew -



- Tom Pecora's right hand man and a couple of recruits no one else wanted. Other than not being Mullin he so far hasn't accomplished much of anything. Maybe Dave's offended by the ball washing. I know I am.

The only thing that matters is wins and losses. Neither you nor anyone else could possibly be offended YET because he hasn't coached a real game here YET.

I think we'll land a 2020 top 50 (or two) player by the time November rolls around.

I'd tend to agree however don't tell the naysayers that. It doesn't fit with their doomsday narrative which is based on nothing to this point.

There is nothing that Anderson has done that's vaguely deserving of praise. He signed his nephew -



- Tom Pecora's right hand man and a couple of recruits no one else wanted. Other than not being Mullin he so far hasn't accomplished much of anything. Maybe Dave's offended by the ball washing. I know I am.

I get it. I don't think anybody is really anointing Anderson as the guaranteed savior, but it's nice having a head coach that actually gets after it at every level of the position for a change.

I don't think he's done anything to be deserving of outright praise at this point and he very well may end up failing here. But I also don't think he's done anything deserving of criticism. He's been on the job about a month and has had a handful of scholarships to fill. Nobody is coming to SJU in early April and immediately getting commitments from 4 and 5 star kids or elite transfers that are eligible to play in the upcoming season. If that's what anybody was expecting then they deserve to be disappointed.

The point is that it seems out of character for Dave to be this critical of the staff this early. I don't recall him being this critical of the past staff (him having a close friend on that staff is probably a reason why), yet he he just took a big shot at this current staff even though this staff is already MILES better than the past staff and we only have a HC and 2 assistants.

While Anderson hasn't done anything to win over anybody against this hire, he also hasn't done anything to deserve the criticism of every move he's made that Dave has done. Cleveland and Macon are solid hires, yet Dave is out here bashing them.

It's obvious Andrew Slater has some sort of motive to hate on this staff. To me, it seems that Dave does too. I could be wrong though, just seems out of character for him.

I’m in the middle and I can see both sides. I thought Anderson was a surprisingly good hire given the direction things were headed and how botched the coaching search was.

I am not opposed to Clevelend, but we could have had him as a second or third assistant instead of as associate head coach. That closed the door on hiring a stud first assistant. Macon is an underwhelming hire. Esposito would be a solid third assistant.

I disagree with Dave on his “warm body” take on the new PG. I love the kid as 15-25 second PG. He would have been perfect with Ponds.

I would like Dave to elaborate on what he believes are the “shortcomings” of the staff. Appears to be a solid group.

I get it. I don't think anybody is really anointing Anderson as the guaranteed savior, but it's nice having a head coach that actually gets after it at every level of the position for a change.

I don't think he's done anything to be deserving of outright praise at this point and he very well may end up failing here. But I also don't think he's done anything deserving of criticism. He's been on the job about a month and has had a handful of scholarships to fill. Nobody is coming to SJU in early April and immediately getting commitments from 4 and 5 star kids or elite transfers that are eligible to play in the upcoming season. If that's what anybody was expecting then they deserve to be disappointed.

I have no opinion of Run CTC and have offered no criticism of him except that he was as a choice sloppy thirds or fourths. If I've ever seen him coach a game I don't remember it and I hope he's a genius. But Mullin's first year he created a staff comprising Slice, Matt and HOF'er Richmond and signed Mussini, Yakwe, Fruedenberg, Sima, Williams, Mvoika, Johnson and Ellison. All of that did not work out particularly well but IIRC there were not a lot of "Mullin doing work" posts. And PS over the past four years MA made one more NCAA tournament than did Mullin and was ranked one more time than Mullin - and the consensus is that Mullin stunk - and MA had a four year head start.

Pardon me if I'm not particularly excited.

 

Macon is an underwhelming hire.

In what respect? Appears highly respected within the local basketball community.

I have no opinion of Run CTC and have offered no criticism of him except that he was as a choice sloppy thirds or fourths. If I've ever seen him coach a game I don't remember it and I hope he's a genius. But Mullin's first year he created a staff comprising Slice, Matt and HOF'er Richmond and signed Mussini, Yakwe, Fruedenberg, Sima, Williams, Mvoika, Johnson and Ellison. All of that did not work out particularly well but IIRC there were not a lot of "Mullin doing work" posts. And PS over the past four years MA made one more NCAA tournament than did Mullin and was ranked one more time than Mullin - and the consensus is that Mullin stunk - and MA had a four year head start.

Pardon me if I'm not particularly excited.

Records aside, Mullin didn’t run practices and didn’t recruit. Mullin was hands off and delegated a lot of the work. I’m excited about the prospects of having a true coach who knows how to build a program. This isn’t Arkansas, Alabama, or Oklahoma. NYC may not be what it was, but it’s still one of the fruitful recruiting areas in the country.

If CMA applies the same strategy by developing relationships within the local community, I believe he will be able to bring in better talent than he has before. Sure it’s possible he’ll fall on his face, but his proven record of success suggest otherwise. As long suffering fans, we should be excited. We have a professional at the helm, trust the process until proven otherwise.

Records aside, Mullin didn’t run practices and didn’t recruit.

Yeah, I don't believe you have any idea what Mullin did or didn't do. But then I'm a cynic. And if Mullin achieved the same results in four years as Coach CTC did in eight doing no recruiting and no coaching why'd they fire him to hire someone who had to work his balls off to be as shitty as you think Mullin was? Never mind answering, that's a trick question. And rhetorical.

DeMeo has a job that many coaches can get at 25-27 years of age. Esposito’s last job is something you need decade’s of experience for. He also can being players currently in the portal with him. DOBO would no be a job that interests someone of Esposito’s rank.

The transfer portal is a good point, but it’s not like there isn’t recent evidence of hm taking a position less than assistant coach or anything. At a non power 6 school on the other side of the country no less.

Geez man, what did Mike Anderson do to you, seriously? You've bashed pretty much everything he's done from the start after being very against his hire in the first place. It's obvious there's some motive behind all of this with you so what is it?

I'm not sure what motive I have. I have nothing to gain or lose by expressing my thoughts.

I want St. John's to be great just as any other fan would. I'm very skeptical at Mike Anderson's ability to navigate the Big East and culture at St. John's.

Van Macon is a good hire but hard to full evaluate until entire staff is filled.

I've known Coach DeMeo for a long time and he'd be over the moon to coach here and I'm sure he'd be at the pulse of some good juco players which coach Anderson seems to have a history with. Why hasn't any metro area school offered him a spot on staff? There have been plenty of openings over the years.

To me the whole vibe of everything feels very low mid-major. This is evident by the first 2 recruits signed. I feel like it's the path to be Virginia Tech under Seth Greenberg. Just good enough but never really good enough. Just see this process happening again in 3-4 years.

Again I hope I'm wrong. I'm rooting for success

The point is that it seems out of character for Dave to be this critical of the staff this early. I don't recall him being this critical of the past staff (him having a close friend on that staff is probably a reason why), yet he he just took a big shot at this current staff even though this staff is already MILES better than the past staff and we only have a HC and 2 assistants.

While Anderson hasn't done anything to win over anybody against this hire, he also hasn't done anything to deserve the criticism of every move he's made that Dave has done. Cleveland and Macon are solid hires, yet Dave is out here bashing them.

It's obvious Andrew Slater has some sort of motive to hate on this staff. To me, it seems that Dave does too. I could be wrong though, just seems out of character for him.

I didn't want the school to let go of Lavin. So I really wasn't on board with Mullin hire either if you recall. You can't hire a first time coach and learn in the Big East. However it was Mullin so there was that. 

I was also critical of staff Mullin had. Matt is one of my best friends and was excited because I knew he'd be able to fix imbalance of scholarships with transfers which he did. I wish him and Slice found some middle ground but ultimately was a bad hire. Should have had a more seasoned x/o head coach to be associate and another bench coach who could spot recruit. St. Jean should have been DOBO
(again he had no experience as a coach) and Mitch special assistant.

The last 3 coaches have all lost their jobs due to poor decisions on forming staff. Norm not hiring local guys tied to players, Lavin not replacing Dunlap, and Mullin Slice mess, loyalty to Mitch/GSJ, and failure to hire Rice (the president story was bs and was cool with hire, Mullin wasn't)

So your saying every coach hired except Matt was a bad hire since the Norm days got it.