Seth Davis on Coaching Changes

and yea its a stretch but to quote shawshank, "hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things"

The only reason a coach of Rick Pitino or John Calipari's status takes on the task of returing St. John's to any sort of high level is EGO...

Both of these guys have coached at every level and they certainly don't need the money.

They have both coached professional in the area and they both know that they would be NYC Gods in they could turn around this program.

All that being said..   both are huge huge long shots to come here if the job opens up.

The more people I speak with about it, the more I am warming up to Tom Pecora. Everyone I speak with thinks he would be a very successful recruiter at St. John's.

If they hired Tim Cluess I would have a very hard time ever rooting for the program again.

i remember somone saying that if roberts were to be fired that some of the players would transfer, are we willing to fire him and take the chance of losing some of are players?  and also if we do get rid of roberts will that play an impact in the recruiting of lance? will lance want to go somewhere else if roberts is fired? or if lance picks us after his season and then finds outs roberts is fired will he decide not to come to us?

Quote from: kob24 on February 17, 2009, 09:25:26 PM

u know every one throws out cal and pitino. why dont they throw out calhoun or williams for that matter? yall are gonna set yall self up for a ulcer thinking yall gonna get these guys if and i mean IF they decide to terminate coach. i think yall get a mid major or low major coach. just hope they dont sign him to a long term deal. its tuff new york is tuff everyone is crying broke. the school has 2 top sports team in the country other than basketball. im pretty sure those sports have boosters also who give the school money. im saying i like u guys who post on this site yall cool as hell i dont want yall to get more upset if changes arent made or the right pick isnt chosen.

That’s what I have been trying to tell these guys on all three sites KOB, if and when the school gets rid of coach Roberts it’s NOT going to be a “dream team” coach that they bring in. It’s most likely going to be an “up and comer” like Pecora or Brown. Now mind you I like both these guys, but it’s certainly not what the mainstream fans want to hear!

Is this what you really want?

Any bum off the street would be an IMPROVEMENT! Get rid of Slappy first worry about the next coach later!!

i remember somone saying that if roberts were to be fired that some of the players would transfer, are we willing to fire him and take the chance of losing some of are players?  and also if we do get rid of roberts will that play an impact in the recruiting of lance? will lance want to go somewhere else if roberts is fired? or if lance picks us after his season and then finds outs roberts is fired will he decide not to come to us?

I think it's important to think of "what's the worst that could happen" in this kind of scenario, and the worst - many players transferring, and no Lance - isn't really that bad.  Loss of players is a setback, but someone's got to transfer to clean up the roster construction for sustained success (or at least not another 11 win all-freshman season).  I know people are high on Lance so I won't comment on him and his possible effect.

That said, on Pecora - his teams are continually at the bottom of Division I in assists per field goals made, indicating a squad of players who have to get their own shots... and for the last two years, those shots haven't fallen at all. 

It's something to think about before falling in love with Pecora.

Once again, from Seth Davis:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/seth_davis/03/17/hoop.thoughts/2.html

Finally, from everything I'm hearing, I think Norm Roberts is going to survive at St. John's. Like Wainwright, Roberts was handed a difficult situation in a challenging environment, and he has built up an enormous amount of goodwill for the way he has treated people and run his program. Roberts has had trouble landing a breakthrough recruit, but the guys he does have play their tails off for him. This situation is also affected more than most by the economy, since many of the big money people at St. John's work on Wall Street. Still, until we get the official word that Roberts is back, we should never assume anything. This is, after all, one crazy business.

Roberts is not going anywhere. If he was the school would not have entered the a post season tournament.

seth davis is completely out of touch with st john's.  he just reads the press releases monash's people hand out.  there are 300 teams out there and we're not relevant enough for him to dwell on us.

that's why he's still using the same material that was handed out in february.

"difficult situation...challenging environment...enormous goodwill...the way he treats people...play their tails off."

he hasn't missed a single talking point handed out by the administration and he says it over and over again no matter the venue.

the bottom line is he's totally clueless as to our situation and should be seen as such.

seth davis is completely out of touch with st john's.  he just reads the press releases monash's people hand out.  there are 300 teams out there and we're not relevant enough for him to dwell on us.

that's why he's still using the same material that was handed out in february.

"difficult situation...challenging environment...enormous goodwill...the way he treats people...play their tails off."

he hasn't missed a single talking point handed out by the administration and he says it over and over again no matter the venue.

the bottom line is he's totally clueless as to our situation and should be seen as such.

but Stephen A Smith is in touch with St Johns basketball?

You know, if Seth Davis felt that way in February, why shouldn't he feel the same way about the "tough situation" now? 

Nothing's changed. 

If anyone is looking, it's not like the team's gotten worse.  They're the same team - get smoked by the good teams, beat the bad teams.  He might well be clueless, but the fact that he hasn't changed his tune?  There hasn't been much to change his mind, except for a couple of wins over Georgetown.

I posted that because I think it's interesting that some folks still talk about the challenging environment.  Then again, the national basketball media doesn't usually call for a coach's head.

Quote from: newsman13 on March 18, 2009, 03:05:42 PM

seth davis is completely out of touch with st john's.  he just reads the press releases monash's people hand out.  there are 300 teams out there and we're not relevant enough for him to dwell on us.

that's why he's still using the same material that was handed out in february.

"difficult situation...challenging environment...enormous goodwill...the way he treats people...play their tails off."

he hasn't missed a single talking point handed out by the administration and he says it over and over again no matter the venue.

the bottom line is he's totally clueless as to our situation and should be seen as such.

but Stephen A Smith is in touch with St Johns basketball?

I doubt if Smith could name four of our players, let alone our starting lineup.

Hell, Seth was willing to write a three page article on St. John's earlier this season.

Skimming on the rim will definately get the wraiths out.

... I doubt if Smith could name four of our players, let alone our starting lineup. ...

I was going to say the same thing.

And nor could Mike Francesa, the guy from WFAN, who is actually an alum of the school!!!

Quote from: Not The Sleaveless Guy on March 18, 2009, 03:53:50 PM

... I doubt if Smith could name four of our players, let alone our starting lineup. ...

I was going to say the same thing.

And nor could Mike Francesa, the guy from WFAN, who is actually an alum of the school!!!

The man is the living embodiment of the first mover principle in business. He now essentially broaches two topics, NFL and MLB (even more specifically, the AL East and NY Mets baseball).

He used to take an active interest in college basketball, but anyone who seriously follows the sport could spot him as a man trying to get by on past laurels (roughly eighteen years since he was a CBS man).

 When he does some of his annual coaches' interviews in very late February/early March, it's almost painful to watch or hear because you know how ill-prepared he is.

You're absolutely right about MF. It's amazing how a man who used to make money on college basketball has completely distanced himself from the program of his alma mater to this point.