It was tough watching today's game for the mere fact that we missed a ish load of free throws. However I know we all hate Norm but once again today's game was on the players.
Call me crazy but I am really starting to believe in this team a little bit. I know we lose so many games because of little mistakes(free throws, missed layups, cold shooting streaks and missed open shots) but in all I can say this team is going to learn and get better.
They are going through the evolution of sports. Take last year, we got killed in so many games. This year not the case. I know we lost games by double figures in most loses but we were close or winning at some point late and then we fall apart. We are now at the point were we are in games but do not know how to finish and that is because we have not been in these spots before. I do not care how much experience you have, if kids have not been in close games in the past(including the coach) you are not going to magically win games now when these situations arise.
Ok, I will take the bait on this one.
The team is losing by less. Whoop de damn doo. Yes, they are improved, but they have improved from losing by 8-20 points to losing by 5-15 points. But they're still losses. There are moments where you can see the lack of concentration, or the purposeless hustle that gets defenders out of position. That's what they do. Pittsburgh has about the same talent, maybe even less - that is one ugly team out there - but they execute so well they play with anyone. They get to the right spots on defense - they know where they need to go. They get to the right spots on offense and make enough plays to get by (or today, they were excellent on offense).
So let's go back to closing the losing margin. I can speak to the improvement from FR to SO years in players, and So to JR years. But by juniors, the players are who they will be. I can buy that the staff is getting better play out of the guys at times. But how is it that this team loses to Providence? How is it that the effort is just enough to stay close but not to win?
Why would that effort all of a sudden become a winning effort?
Losing sticks with athletes, it sticks with people. If the team isn't making the plays they need to make to win the games now, who is to say they will make those plays next year? Maybe they'll go 6-12 or 7-11 with more crushing losses. The margin between St. John's and the rest of the league is about 5 points per 100 possessions; with the same roster, I don;t see how it is much closer.
And what about what's in their heads? The effort from the players is inconsistent at different times. Tonight, JBurrell didn't look totally into it; some of Sean Evans' games are better than others. DJ Kennedy's sloppy sometimes. Dwight Hardy struggles to get his shot off. They hang their heads sometimes. And it's not because the players aren't trying. It's not because the coaching staff isn't trying. It's because this mix isn't good enough; and even if both the players and the preparation/ training improve, it'll feel like Groundhog day from the first loss to the last loss.
A new voice is needed. New training. A hope that the team can win games.
And even if the team improves next year, those other Big East teams will improve more with their young talent. Lance Stephenson/ Cashmere Wright/ Jaquon Parker/ Sean Kilpatrick are out there. Malik Wayns and Mouph Yarou are out there. Rutgers' young talent is out there. West Virginia's talent. Syracuse's youngsters. Et cetera.
We ain't catching up with the status quo. I respect that hope you have, but the problems that are here - the cold streaks, missed layups, attention to detail - have been there for years.
And when this class of 9 players are gone? Every young player knows this team sucks. How is Norm going to sell them on some thought otherwise? Back when Justin/ Paris/ Dele/ DJ etc came in, the coach could say "look, we're turning the corner." By the time it's time to sign the impact recruits, we'll have this failure of a year once more, just over .500, no postseason (barring a miraculous next 3-6 games). There's nothing to sell except "come play in the Big East", which makes St. John's competitive with Northwestern and Penn State for recruits. In other words, we get the scraps and the hidden gems, worse than who was recruited 3 years ago.
Last year, getting "killed" was a bad sign. You do not improve from "getting killed" to .500 in two years. If the guys were all freshmen last year and improved to this, we could have a conversation.
Please disabuse the notion that what we're seeing from this team portends some kind of real success in the future, outside of an NIT (or if lucky, NCAA) trip next year. Please.