It amazes me how Lavin supporters like yourself and others use a horrendous stretch of basketball to compare Lavins accomplishments. Why not compare with him with Looies tenure on the job. Sure Looie had some faults and was not great in the end but certainly superior to Lavin in a much tougher Big East conference.
So you believe that 25 years ago is a more accurate representation of the state of the program as opposed to the prior 10 years of Lavin's hire? I think that says it all about your ability to look at things rationally.
The one good thing, perhaps, is that since it us quite obvious that Lavin will need NBA all star talent to be successful it may keep the pressure on him to recruit high caliber HS players. The downside to that is if he does not, the party's over.
So remind me I forgot, exactly how many NBA all star talent players were on the team Lavin's first year here when he brought us to the NCAA tourney for the first time in a decade?
Oh really but you look at things rationally? You are content with mediocrity so you compare his results to the worst group of coaches in the school's history? Give me a break. And it terms of his first year, the big difference....DUNLAP or did you conveniently forget about him?
Just because I point out the fact that progress is being made doesn't mean one is accepting mediocrity. Mediocrity is what this program was before Lavin. No top rated recruits and CBI bids. Its a process and steady improvement is being made. That is a fact. Its convenient for u to not give Lavin credit for that first year success. What did Dunlap do the next year with a top 5 recruiting class and a first round NBA draft pick? Lavin is the head coach, he gets the credit.
Hey buddy, after tonites DEBACLE, do you still think progress is being made? If so, I can recommend some therapists that work well with reality checking.
One game doesn't define a tenure. Robert Morris defeated Kentucky in the first round of the NIT last year. We don't have no were near the talent Kentucky has. So I'm not surprised that they lost, I am disappointed in the effort of the players. So to answer your question, yes I still believe progress is being made. We will bring in better players, that's what good recruiters do.
Is there really progress? Is going 10-8 in the NEW BE, better than going 7-9 in the old one? What would our record have been if we played Louisville, Uconn, Cinci and SU, once or even twice?
A strong argument can be made that the team regressed. This "20 wins" BS that I'm sure Lavin will go to whenever he feels like it is smoke and mirrors, when you're wins are actually not as strong as they were a year ago. He had an easier time making decisions with a limited selection of eligible players. Branch started to play well and he got into a rhythm, and so did Dom Pointer, who has regressed to the point of being more of a hindrance than a help when he enters the game.
That said, if Lavin is staying, and really looks like he is, we're going to need help. Clearly, he, and his staff were not capable of recognizing what needed to be done until we were in a gigantic hole. Then, once guys like Harrison and Sampson had an off night, we were done. An upperclassmen team shouldn't need until February to figure things out. That is 100% on Lavin. He didn't have it figured out, and therefore, the players were playing confused for 2/3 of the season.