We are who we are and the sky isn't falling

[GHSWolverines]

I am still focused on this year and think we could make a run and win the BET. Take one game at a time fellas. We are not guaranteed a spot in March Madness.

 

[boog204]

Moving forward, I believe the staff will reflect and adjust accordingly and recognize how the roster needs to be altered. This unfortunately includes knowing what players just are not going to work out and tweaking their recruiting philosophy. We cannot just think we can take finesse players and make them tough defensive players. We cannot think the system/culture will always surmount athleticism and toughness.

I agree that the sky is not falling. The obvious flaw is what stated above. With only 4 games remaining very little adjustments have been made with respect with the current personell.

The concern, moving forward though, is we have four finesse players coming in (Mullens might be the outlier.) None of them are known for being great athletes; one of them we already know is very skinny and one we know is borderline out of shape. We have to balance this out or we are going to have a repeat of this year in regards to having a deficit in quickness and the ability to play the type of defense DH employs. You just can't do it consistently if your players are slow AND you do not have a premier rim protector.

 

[Dutch Boyd]

When I was in Albany two years ago on 3/17/23 about to play Iona and someone told me we would win the next two championships but have a down year the next, I’d say sign me up. As above mentioned, a down year is still making the tournament and trying to win a game or two and reload for the next season.

 

[GHSWolverines]

The concern, moving forward though, is we have four finesse players coming in (Mullens might be the outlier.) None of them are known for being great athletes; one of them we already know is very skinny and one we know is borderline out of shape. We have to balance this out or we are going to have a repeat of this year in regards to having a deficit in quickness and the ability to play the type of defense DH employs. You just can't do it consistently if your players are slow AND you do not have a premier rim protector.

I believe we will be going portal hunting for key positions.

 

[Platt81]

The bonus, I don’t think any of our assistants are going anywhere after this year compared to the risk of them, and Hurley, leaving after each title.

 

[EricLA]

2 other things made this season disappointing...

1. Hurley publicly talking about NC #3. He said it, the team then said it, and once it's out there, expectations adjust accordingly. If anyone asked him about it, he should have said "Good god, man, we just lost 4 starters to the draft, and 2 went in the top 10. Let's have realistic expectations".
2. He made a mistake in the portal in taking Mahaney as the starting PG. That was a big one because while Hass (I think) has for the most part exceeded expectations, there's no one really to back him up.

Also unplanned injuries messed things up. Losing McNeeley, Hass being hobbled, Karaban's issues, Nowell's injuries (shoulder in December, ankle more recently) did not help. Add to that the disappointing (for the most part) sophomore "leap" of Ross and Stewart - Stewart is averaging just over 5 PPG and Ross just under 3 PPG...

None of that is a recipe for success. Also it didn't help being ranked #3 preseason. We certainly have had some disappointing losses, none worse than Seton Hall, although Colorado is a very close 2nd (dead last in the Big 12 and 11-16 overall).

Beat PC (no small task), Georgetown, and Seton Hall, lose to Marquette, end the regular season 21-10 and 13-7 in the BE - 4th place - and see what happens in the NCAA's...

Bottom line for the future - Hurley is crazy smart, and he's surrounded himself with a terrific staff. I believe of course they learn from this season and come back better in every way next season...

 

[UofCT]

Because we were relying on them and they’ve done jack? If you hadnt noticed we don’t have a backup PG

We actually have a backup PG but he’s starting because we whiffed on the starting PG.

 

[uconndogs]

Yes, but in this day and age it seems like we all want instant gratification. It's incredible how much things have changed to the point we are no longer patient enough for even a two season rebuild- we want it NOW. And seeing how Pitino went shopping in the portal to build his roster so quickly only ups the ante. I'm not saying it's right or that I like it (actually, I don't), but that's suddenly the way it is now.

That is the present reality.

 

[REB1094]

Enjoy the ride! We’re still on track to be a tournament team, and go from there

If/when it doesn’t work out this year, get ready for next year. Can’t win every title

 

[sdglast]

Funny thing about St. John's is that Pitino had some of the same players on last year's roster and it just didn't work, whereas this year the pieces worked great. Pitino is an all-time great coach, but so are others who dip into the portal and it just doesn't mesh sometimes. I think like others have said, this year was a transition year for us with a flawed team. So long as Hurley gets this team back to being a heavyweight in the coming years, we may have to deal with a "down" year from time to time. I like the group he has coming in--adding more athleticism and shooting to this team, and he will have to balance it with portal guys. For Pitino, he hit all the right portal guys this year, but he is losing the PG and Richmond (not sure that Luis will leave early, but if he did it would be a major blow), so he will have to find the "right" guys to step into those roles. As for DH, he isn't afraid to be introspective and to work hard to make changes. I expect him to do the right things and make the necessary changes to bring this team back to the top of the mountain.

 

[NickDanger]

Why are you blaming guys like Ross and Mahaney who barely play for the recent losses?

Clearly, if they played up to expectations, they would be playing a lot more and contributing and there’d be fewer losses

 

[HuskyHawk]

This was the #2 rated team in the country and DH was pissed we were not #1. All of the "ifs" from above, if they all were positive, would have us in the convo for a three-peat. We're nowhere near that. We've still had, all things considered, a solid year. There are a ton of teams that would love to win 20 wins and get to "dance." But we're better than that. We're where we were pre-championships. And that is okay and I'm hoping this is the dose of humility/reality DH and whoever returns needs to remember that it's not all a given and it wasn't supposed to be as easy as it was the latter half of 23 and all of 24. But we certainly have several things that need to be changed/altered if we aspire to be a final-four team again.

As I reflect, I'm trying to see what went wrong. We can all point to Mahaney, but he wouldn't fix much if he was who Dan hoped. The bigger picture is that we really shouldn't have been trying to win a NC. We brought in guys like Stewart and Ross and didn't develop them. They didn't play enough last year or early this year. Ball got on the court out of necessity but has holes in his game he's just now starting to fix (rebounding and defense). This season should have been about development.

We've had big minute impact freshmen, notably Alex (technically RS), Castle and now McNeeley. Donovan was good in a backup role. But Hurley isn't going to have rosters that are really good every year until he plays the 4 star freshmen more minutes and lets them work through things. AK is on the floor way more minutes than he should be, and I don't mean the slump, I mean guys are better able to give 100% at both ends when playing at or below 30 minutes.

Hurley claimed freshman Stewart was on the short path to NBA. Either he just flat out lied or Stewart hasn't developed as expected. He shows flashes of that talent. Then he disappears, but what I see when a forward disappears is that the other guys aren't putting the ball in his hands.

 

[jibsey]

Funny thing about St. John's is that Pitino had some of the same players on last year's roster and it just didn't work, whereas this year the pieces worked great. Pitino is an all-time great coach, but so are others who dip into the portal and it just doesn't mesh sometimes. I think like others have said, this year was a transition year for us with a flawed team. So long as Hurley gets this team back to being a heavyweight in the coming years, we may have to deal with a "down" year from time to time. I like the group he has coming in--adding more athleticism and shooting to this team, and he will have to balance it with portal guys. For Pitino, he hit all the right portal guys this year, but he is losing the PG and Richmond (not sure that Luis will leave early, but if he did it would be a major blow), so he will have to find the "right" guys to step into those roles. As for DH, he isn't afraid to be introspective and to work hard to make changes. I expect him to do the right things and make the necessary changes to bring this team back to the top of the mountain.

One outstanding player like Richmond can change the entire dynamic of a team. Just cost nearly 1 million to do it. Pitino with zero morals basically stole the best player from a brother conference BE roster. That’s rotten or as Mel Brooks would say otten ray.
I don’t believe Hurley would do it but maybe I’ll be surprised. Taking a R. I. player with him was not the same.

 

[Beowulf]

anyone who stayed up to watch all the maui games could have seen that this was how the year was going to go. some highs, some lows. finish as strong as you can and maybe you get a good draw. maybe someone gets hot.

 

[Jetskies]

Great point. When we look at the teams from the past two season with the bench depth, everyone was contributing. You could almost swap out 5 players for a fresh 5 and hardly skip a beat. This season it just hasn't been the case and I don't think we were expecting that.

yeah, this was evident to me in years past - teams were keeping up with us till the middle or end of the 1st half and then every time, their wheels fell off. having samson and diarra coming off the BENCH??? we were spoiled man. Those other guys were sucking wind and their bench was not ever gonna keep up with guys like that on our side.

I knew we had something special, and yet unsustainable. this year is no surprise to me. hope we get back soon.

 

[Jetskies]

I am ready for another cardiac kemba moment, this BET.

 

[UCan3]

The sky isn't falling, but I unfortunately don't think there's any real hope for a run this season. We just don't have any ball handling guards, other than a hobbled Diarra. Nearly impossible to beat any top team without that. When we went on unexpected runs in 2011 and 2014, we had excellent ball-handling guards (Kemba/Lamb, Napier/Boatright).

I didn't expect a three-peat before the season, but I was hopeful that we'd be a top 15, or at least a top 25, team all season. A season like this, where we're not really in the national conversation anymore, hurts us. With our coaching staff, I was expecting to be nationally relevant, even in a down year. Clearly, I was expecting too much.

I though Nowell looked good out there handing the rock for 90% of the time.

I would leave him AND Diarra out there together for stretches and speed things up! We can’t have players that are just too slow stay on the floor more than 20 min a game.

Right now with only 1 ball handler out there and Liam being #2 - that’s not a good look against pressing teams.

My line up, 2 bigs, Nowell Dirrah and Liam. Ball off bench 25 min a game, Alex too.

See what happens - we‘ve got to figure this out sooner or later.

 

[bendm]

As I reflect, I'm trying to see what went wrong. We can all point to Mahaney, but he wouldn't fix much if he was who Dan hoped

Idk. Mahaney was supposed to be the next Cam Spencer, and if we had Cam 2.0 as our starting PG I don’t think we’d be reflecting on what went so wrong right now. We’d have a really solid 8 man rotation with Diarra Stew and Reed off the bench. And we wouldn’t have needed to play Diarra so much so he’d prob be healthy.

 

[jibsey]

I though Nowell looked good out there handing the rock for 90% of the time.

I would leave him AND Diarra out there together for stretches and speed things up! We can’t have players that are just too slow stay on the floor more than 20 min a game.

Right now with only 1 ball handler out there and Liam being #2 - that’s not a good look against pressing teams.

My line up, 2 bigs, Nowell Dirrah and Liam. Ball off bench 25 min a game, Alex too.

See what happens - we‘ve got to figure this out sooner or later.

Nowell had a nice assist and his handle is better than Mahaney. I don’t think he’s a threat driving or shooting over taller players but maybe it would be better to have him zipping around trying to create scoring opportunities. What else we got?

 

[Hoops91]

Lost A LOT to the draft. Hard to replace Clingan, offensively and especially defensively. Hard to replace Newton, a veteran tall guard that played good D and could shoot. Hard to replace Castle's lock down D and clutchness. Hard to replace Cam's overall game. Hard to replace one of the smartest basketball teams ever assembled. He's got to find quality transfers like the guys mentioned above, the freshman coming in won't be enough.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Idk. Mahaney was supposed to be the next Cam Spencer, and if we had Cam 2.0 as our starting PG I don’t think we’d be reflecting on what went so wrong right now. We’d have a really solid 8 man rotation with Diarra Stew and Reed off the bench. And we wouldn’t have needed to play Diarra so much so he’d prob be healthy.

Adding Cam to this team would help, but he's not a PG either. Sometimes you just need to bite the bullet, develop the young guys and hope to still make the tournament. Chasing perpetual final four level competitiveness via the portal is unwise. It's the same mistake Self made at Kansas. How much would Zuby help them right now?

Should have signed a big, talented combo guard as a freshman instead of bringing in Mahaney. Should have been playing Nowell more from day one. Stewart too. Then next year's team would be in better shape.

So what does the yard want? More transfers so our McD AA guys spend more time on the bench. Adams could be an amazing player as a sophomore, but only if he plays next year and we take the lumps that come from that. Has to get stronger too. Mullins likely starts. Reibe will play backup C minutes like Donovan did.

 

[bendm]

Adding Cam to this team would help, but he's not a PG either. Sometimes you just need to bite the bullet, develop the young guys and hope to still make the tournament. Chasing perpetual final four level competitiveness via the portal is unwise. It's the same mistake Self made at Kansas. How much would Zuby help them right now?

Should have signed a big, talented combo guard as a freshman instead of bringing in Mahaney. Should have been playing Nowell more from day one. Stewart too. Then next year's team would be in better shape.

So what does the yard want? More transfers so our McD AA guys spend more time on the bench. Adams could be an amazing player as a sophomore, but only if he plays next year and we take the lumps that come from that. Has to get stronger too. Mullins likely starts. Reibe will play backup C minutes like Donovan did.

I would have complete faith in Cam as my starting PG but it’s not worth getting into. Below is the rotation I wanna see next year. I think it’s a good mix of returners, proven transfers and freshmen off the bench. I don’t think Mullins should be starting, we need a bigger more athletic wing to guard the other teams best perimeter player:

Transfer PG / Adams
Ball / Transfer CG
Transfer W / Mullins
Alex / Stew
Reed / Reibe