Lance, Norm, and Poor St Johns fans..

Ok first of all let me clear something up..If Lance was to come to St Johns he would do more harm then good. Lance is a horrible teammate chemistry wise and doesn't respect anyone except for himself. Lance and Omari have hated each other for years. Last time i talked to Lance about 2 weeks ago, he was leaning toward Kansas anyways. If Lance came to St Johns the players would be fighting every single practice.

Secondly, all you St Johns fans are so quick to blame Norm without understanding what is going on behind the scenes. Norm took over this program with tainted reputation and with even worse players. Fans expect immediate results and thats just not possible, especially in the highly competitive world of Big East Basketball. It will take years to rebuild a program from where Norm took over St Johns. The St Johns administration has faith in Norm because they understand what is going, and they understand the strides he has made. The only reason there is pressure on Norm is because of knowledgeable fans and message boards like this. When fans put pressure on the University, the University in turn puts pressure on Norm even though thats the last thing he needs right now. A coach will be able to coach if you give him time. I remember when St Johns was recruiting the 6'11 Jordan Henriquez, Jordan is real good friends with Justin Burrell. They played on the same AAU team. St Johns would have been an excellent fit for Jordan. When I asked Jordan why he chose K-State he said, "the whole time Norm was talking to me, all I could think about was how he might not be here next year." So basically, we could have landed a good player but we lost him because of doubts of Norms future. So if Norm had a long extended contract (like the administration wishes to give him) we could have landed a good player. Thats just one example but there are so many examples like this. St Johns fans need to cut Norm some slack. The world of college Bball recruiting is cutthroat and dirty and Norm has far exceeded many expectations.

Next season St Johns will most likely still be on the bottom half of the Big East, but they will be a solid contender in every single game. With Mason Jr. returning and our current squad including Horne, Kennedy, Boothe and Burrell we will have very capable scorers and defenders. Then throw in the added depth at the guard position with Omari and Dwight Hardy we will have solid scorers. Many St Johns fans are quick to underestimate Dwight Hardy because hes a JUCO transfer but they dont realize that Dwight Hardy singlehandly lead his highschool to the Garden for the PSAL championship and then also singlehandly dropped Lincoln in the championship game. And he is currently leading his team to the national tournament after winning their league.  St Johns will have an improved season next year...expect to seeing Norm for many years to come. The sooner St Johns fans understand the situation, the sooner our team will be able to reach success.

Thanks, Monasch, for stopping by!  Good to see you!

Im not sure if that was ment to be a serious or a humorous comment...

 

hey bball fan.  you don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about.  you must be a "d" student somewhere because your comprehension of this situation is nowhere.

st john's had two players caught shaving points in 1957 and joe lapchick had them winning the nit only two years later when it was still a great tournament.  there's no stench greater than point shaving and we came back. 

norm has had time.  five years to teach fundamentals is long enough.  how many games do i have to watch where different announcers who were players point out how fundamentally unsound the players are.  forget the fans.  the players deserve much better.

Thanks, Monasch, for stopping by!  Good to see you!

If he thinks Henriquez is a good player, the tanning booth must've gotten to his brain.

As for the "situation," don't blame the remaining fans.

Im not sure if that was ment to be a serious or a humorous comment...

Doesn't seem like you are sure of much.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Ok newsman first of all dont come at me when you dont even know me.

The game of college basketball in 1957 and 2009 is worlds apart. There is no way in hell you can compare 1957 college ball to the way they play today. Im sorry to tell you but 5 seasons isnt a lot of time at all, especially in the Big East. And your comment about the announcers, if you watched the Marquette game today, Digger Phelps, Don Shulman and the other on-air announcer all mentioned how Norm is taking the program in the right direction

As for Henriquez, he may not be up to par with other Big East big men, but he is certainly a better option then Phill Wait who Norm gave a scholarship to out of desperation. I just used Hneriquez as an example of how hard a coaches job becomes when people cast doubts over his future.

Ok first of all let me clear something up..If Lance was to come to St Johns he would do more harm then good. Lance is a horrible teammate chemistry wise and doesn't respect anyone except for himself. Lance and Omari have hated each other for years. Last time i talked to Lance about 2 weeks ago, he was leaning toward Kansas anyways. If Lance came to St Johns the players would be fighting every single practice.

Secondly, all you St Johns fans are so quick to blame Norm without understanding what is going on behind the scenes. Norm took over this program with tainted reputation and with even worse players. Fans expect immediate results and thats just not possible, especially in the highly competitive world of Big East Basketball. It will take years to rebuild a program from where Norm took over St Johns. The St Johns administration has faith in Norm because they understand what is going, and they understand the strides he has made. The only reason there is pressure on Norm is because of knowledgeable fans and message boards like this. When fans put pressure on the University, the University in turn puts pressure on Norm even though thats the last thing he needs right now. A coach will be able to coach if you give him time. I remember when St Johns was recruiting the 6'11 Jordan Henriquez, Jordan is real good friends with Justin Burrell. They played on the same AAU team. St Johns would have been an excellent fit for Jordan. When I asked Jordan why he chose K-State he said, "the whole time Norm was talking to me, all I could think about was how he might not be here next year." So basically, we could have landed a good player but we lost him because of doubts of Norms future. So if Norm had a long extended contract (like the administration wishes to give him) we could have landed a good player. Thats just one example but there are so many examples like this. St Johns fans need to cut Norm some slack. The world of college Bball recruiting is cutthroat and dirty and Norm has far exceeded many expectations.

Next season St Johns will most likely still be on the bottom half of the Big East, but they will be a solid contender in every single game. With Mason Jr. returning and our current squad including Horne, Kennedy, Boothe and Burrell we will have very capable scorers and defenders. Then throw in the added depth at the guard position with Omari and Dwight Hardy we will have solid scorers. Many St Johns fans are quick to underestimate Dwight Hardy because hes a JUCO transfer but they dont realize that Dwight Hardy singlehandly lead his highschool to the Garden for the PSAL championship and then also singlehandly dropped Lincoln in the championship game. And he is currently leading his team to the national tournament after winning their league.  St Johns will have an improved season next year...expect to seeing Norm for many years to come. The sooner St Johns fans understand the situation, the sooner our team will be able to reach success.

I'm confused, if Dwight Hardy is so good, why will we still finish in the bottom half of the Big East next year?

I don't think that the hill Roberts had to climb is overlooked by many SJU fans. What I do know is that after 5 years, we're still on the outside looking in, and we ended the season in a such pathetic fashion, that it's embarrassing to admit that we're fans of this wretched program.

Fans know what Jarvis did to the program. Intelligent fans know that he is ancient history. Continuing to point out what happened 6 years ago, is just making these people angry.

I don't think Norm is the right man for the job. I'm tired of hearing excuses, and I'm tired of watching him and his teams twist in the wind against good teams.

agreed that 1957 compared to now is not a good example in this case, but consider this - Norm has made some mistakes in roster building, came to St. John's with very little head coaching experience, and the results might be okay in making inroads into recruiting, but seeing the same problems - a TERRIBLE offense, weak-ish fundamentals (the moving screens, the cuts, the turnovers, the passing), the interior defense, the inability to get his team to execute well on a regular basis, the multiple 10 or more point losses...

it would be one thing if they were losing by 5 and couldn't get over the hump, but blowouts mean there is something fundamentally wrong between recruiting and putting the product on the court. 

And I see what you're saying about Lance; some people think him a savior, some people think him a good element, if he's as go-for-self as many say, maybe he's not right.

But for Norm's team, where he needs someone to create, he might (unfortunately) be perfect.  I'd rather see better team ball and better coaching, but I ain't the AD.

To Poison...5 seasons ago isn't "ancient history." The position St Johns was left in will hurt recuits for years to come. Why do you think all the good NY players are going to Pitt? How are you going to call 5 seasons "ancient history"?

Dwight Hardy is real good and so is Omari, but 2 freshman guards aren't going to take us to the top half in the big east (the most stacked conference in the NCAA). We might end up in the top half actually but it would be a bit of a stretch. Either way the team next year will be better then any of the previous teams Norm has had

To Peter....your concerns are legitimate and i never said Norm was the perfect coach. It is his first time as a head coach and obviously thats a big adjustment. All im saying is that all the blame should not be placed on Norm. I know the fans hear this phrase all the time but its true, the players are really young. Learning as they go along. Also you cant judge a basketball game by only the final score. St Johns played a lot of close conference games this season where they may have leaded at the half and had a close game till the closing seconds, but in the closing seconds the opposing team may have gotten more then a 10 point lead. That happened on a few occasions, a lot of games were closer then the final score made it seem. Norm is learning as he goes but he definitely does not deserve all the criticism he gets. All in all Norm has done a much better job of recruiting players then other possible coaches could have done in his position. Especially with next years incoming class.

To Peter....your concerns are legitimate and i never said Norm was the perfect coach. It is his first time as a head coach and obviously thats a big adjustment. All im saying is that all the blame should not be placed on Norm. I know the fans hear this phrase all the time but its true, the players are really young. Learning as they go along. Also you cant judge a basketball game by only the final score. St Johns played a lot of close conference games this season where they may have leaded at the half and had a close game till the closing seconds, but in the closing seconds the opposing team may have gotten more then a 10 point lead. That happened on a few occasions, a lot of games were closer then the final score made it seem. Norm is learning as he goes but he definitely does not deserve all the criticism he gets. All in all Norm has done a much better job of recruiting players then other possible coaches could have done in his position. Especially with next years incoming class.

It's not his first time as a head coach.  He was 24-84 at Queens College.  He has never proven he can succeed.

Oops my bad your right. he was coach at Queens College. Either way you cant compare his situation at queens college to where hes at now. Unless you can name the conference he was in, the other teams in his league, the players he was working with, and the other strong players in his league then you cant make that comparison, its unfair. There is so much to factor into how well a D1 NCAA team plays, people need to realize that before they are ready to chop off Norms head.

Oops my bad your right. he was coach at Queens College. Either way you cant compare his situation at queens college to where hes at now. Unless you can name the conference he was in, the other teams in his league, the players he was working with, and the other strong players in his league then you cant make that comparison, its unfair. There is so much to factor into how well a D1 NCAA team plays, people need to realize that before they are ready to chop off Norms head.

so when you and harrington hang out what do you guys do...do you two like to stay in and watch movies or are more of a boys night out kinda bff's

wow....we like to watch movies..dummy

seriously, forget about pitino or cal..ive changed my mind...with all the bullshit i have to hear all day about this program, i want bobby knight and only bobby knight...i hated this guy since i started following college basketball, but at least with him at the end of the day, if his team threw up 10 points in the first half, he'd say "we were %$^#ing embarrassed today and i did a shitty job and im gonna kick these kids ass so it doesnt happen again"...bc at this point, im one cliche away from punching my tv

As for Henriquez, he may not be up to par with other Big East big men, but he is certainly a better option then Phill Wait who Norm gave a scholarship to out of desperation. I just used Hneriquez as an example of how hard a coaches job becomes when people cast doubts over his future.

Why would a coach give a player who he knew wasn't going to contribute year 1 a scholarship out of desperation? Obviously he saw some potential in him and the jury is still out. Fact of the matter is even if he doesn't turn out to be anything the scholarship wasn't given out in desperation. Maybe hope but not desperation.

Phill Wait was given a scholarship to be a long term project over the course of the years. He was given a scholarship to come in at 08-09 season and be an impact player. When i said he was given a scholarship out of desperation what I ment was they gave a scholarship to a poor player due to other big men going to other schools. There are much better big men out there.

huh?