I'm not drinking the cool aid. This team is mediocre, to good, and this is being kind. Lavin is awful at coaching, great at excuses. At least he can't use the "we are the youngest team in the country" excuse anymore. Minn 90 -StJ 68. Maybe a little closer if Minn lets up in garbage time.
So just so were clear. Do you or do you not like Lavin? Couldn't really tell from your post
I guess I have to eat some crow. I admit, that I totally underestimated our talent, and completely overestimated the strength of Minn.
I've been on these boards since redmen.com was an AOL site. Probably 20 years. I don't post much, and as you can see, I don't know much about college basketball. I have been hearing the preseason hype for so long, just to see terrible results.
As far as the team goes, I was impressed with their athleticism. I liked Harrison attacking the middle of the floor, not his horrible shot choices from the 3pt line. I thought they hustled, and made things happen. Dom has made a lot of great plays defensively, but still can't shoot. If they could have hit free throws it would have been a borderline blowout. I guess my vision was clouded by the effort they put forth in last years' NIT game as a number 1 seed, and the fact that some of those returning wanted out in the offseason.
I still think this is a flawed team … and with that said, Lavin can't coach around those deficiencies. I don't think they will make the tourney, but I am hoping they do. One injury to Harrison, Obekpa, or Jordan, and this team will be in serious trouble.
And I still don't believe in Lavin. So correct, I don't like his coaching … not the man. He talks around the details. I liked him a lot better when Dunlap was his #1 assistant. Lavin's best attribute was his recruiting, and he appears to be failing terribly in that department, so what do we have?