the issue that has plagued SJU has been there coaching, ever since Louie left there has been major or weird coaching issues. They have been discussed multiple times on this board. I disagree with lets just try to be a mid major team because as Lavin has shown is that quality players will come to SJU...Hell you can argue Norm brought in quality players and if DJ didn't blow out his knee who knows what could of happend.
The key is finding the right coach that fits the school and wants to be here...How the hell did the SJU WBB do it so successfully and they don't even at at MSG!! Except for his first year he has had some kind of coaching issue (I count recruiting as a coaching issues) and he has not been able raise this program above NIT level...Which is an accomplishment and sad...The key is SJU administration engagement and finding a Sid coach to right this ship. I would guess that the SJU President is pretty embarrassed about tonight and ever since he arrived last Summer on all the weird shanigans.
I wanted Lavin to be succesful and wanted his contract extended all the way up to the last couple of weeks....Hopefully he can salvage this season and leave on a high note, or maybe even earn that extension but I honestly just see this season getting worse.
There is still one type of coach that St.John's has avoided. I can't understand why, but they not looked for a coach as much as they've looked for what would get them positive media attention. The coach we hire to replace Steve Lavin should a strategist first and a recruiter second.
A coach should have a clear plan for each game, but he should also have a strong understanding of why he teaches a particular type of defense or runs a particular offense. Be it a match up zone or a havoc-like press + man to man, I want the coach to know what he believes in and to recruit for that belief system like Jim Boeheim and Shaka Smart do.
A kid should come here for our coach and that kid should know what type of basketball we play. I still don't know what type of basketball we play now.
Bobby Hurley knows man to man defense. He's my choice to bring some basketball IQ and local
credibility back to St.John's. Get his dad to join us for two or three seasons as an assistant and we're golden.