Lavin out at St Johns

[HutchwasClutch]

Jon Rothstein @JonRothstein
BREAKING: St. John's has offered Chris Mullin its HC job + he is expected to accept, sources told @CBSSports.

Hmm, interesting, but has he ever coached at any level of anything?  I mean, he'll get the alumni and fan base fired up short term, but can he coach and recruit? 

[HutchwasClutch]

Never mind, he has zero coaching experience, even as an assistant. 

St John's & DePaul both f**ked up their hires I think.

[brewcity77]

Mullin did work in NBA front offices. Similar experience to Hoiberg, probably hoping to replicate that.

So St. John's talked to and offered Mullin yesterday, he refused, then tried to work something out with Danny Hurley, he re-upped with URI, now they go back to Mullin and he says yes? What a clusterf**k.

SJU and DePaul both having seeming catastrophic weekends.

[Eldon]

Nah man, I like Mullin as a hire.

Guy is born and raised in NYC, played for the Johnnies, and is a HOF NBA player with an olympic gold medal, to boot

My guess is that recruits will eat that stuff up.

[HutchwasClutch]

Nah man, I like Mullin as a hire.

Guy is born and raised in NYC, played for the Johnnies, and is a HOF NBA player with an olympic gold medal, to boot

My guess is that recruits will eat that stuff up.

Their fans and alumni will eat it up, especially those who were around back in the day.

Why would a high school kid give a rip? 

[GGGG]

Mullin did work in NBA front offices. Similar experience to Hoiberg, probably hoping to replicate that.

So St. John's talked to and offered Mullin yesterday, he refused, then tried to work something out with Danny Hurley, he re-upped with URI, now they go back to Mullin and he says yes? What a clusterf**k.

SJU and DePaul both having seeming catastrophic weekends.

You sure that Hurley was ever offered?

[brewcity77]

You sure that Hurley was ever offered?

Conflicting reports. Sounds like Drew definitely got two offers, some say Hurley did get an offer, others are less specific.

[Warrior Code]

Their fans and alumni will eat it up, especially those who were around back in the day.

Why would a high school kid give a rip? 

High School kids certainly seem to "give a rip" about our own coaching staff's playing history, and none are remotely as accomplished as Mullen.

[brandx]

Never mind, he has zero coaching experience, even as an assistant. 

St John's & DePaul both f**ked up their hires I think.

So what. How much experience did Steve Kerr have? These guys have been involved in high level basketball their whole lives and you're wondering if they can coach?

I might question his recruiting skills, but would never think to question his coaching knowledge.

The special thing about Cal or Coach K is their recruiting ability. There are a hundred guys that can coach a team of great players to victory. You need to remember that anytime Duke or Kentucky or NC or Kansas lose, it is to a team with inferior players. So there are a ton of guys that can coach x's and o's.

[HutchwasClutch]

So what. How much experience did Steve Kerr have? These guys have been involved in high level basketball their whole lives and you're wondering if they can coach?

I might question his recruiting skills, but would never think to question his coaching knowledge.

The special thing about Cal or Coach K is their recruiting ability. There are a hundred guys that can coach a team of great players to victory. You need to remember that anytime Duke or Kentucky or NC or Kansas lose, it is to a team with inferior players. So there are a ton of guys that can coach x's and o's.

I included the question about whether he can recruit in the very comment before the one you responded too.  

As for the rest of your response, it's trivializing what goes into coaching at the high major level to base it merely off whether they've played, been around, etc. at that level before and know the x's and o's part of it.   I'll throw an example out there - Sidney Moncrief- great player, intelligent player, an absolute disaster when he tried his hand at being a college head coach.  And that's just one example which immeidately comes to mind.

[brewcity77]

Rumor he may be able to lure Kentucky assistant Slice Rohrssen to the bench. If so, would give him an ace recruiter in the New York area. Might not be as bad of a hire as I first thought, though no idea if Mullin can coach or has the patience to spend all summer at AAU events.

[HutchwasClutch]

High School kids certainly seem to "give a rip" about our own coaching staff's playing history, and none are remotely as accomplished as Mullen.

Fair enough, I'll walk back my remark...they might care after you explain to them who Chris Mullin is, and what he did.

[Mutaman]

St Johns needed to get the New York media paying attention to them again. This hire does that. Good for St Johns and good for the Big East.

[GGGG]

St Johns needed to get the New York media paying attention to them again. This hire does that. Good for St Johns and good for the Big East.

OK...so they pay attention for a few days and baseball season starts.  Winning takes care of everything so you hire the best coach to help you win.

[nyg]

OK...so they pay attention for a few days and baseball season starts.  Winning takes care of everything so you hire the best coach to help you win.

Exactly.  If Mullin takes the job, interesting hire.  51 years old, no coaching background, played in NBA from 1984-2001, was member of Dream Team in 1992 (23 years ago) and I doubt many recruits really know who he is.  I believe he also has been living on west coast, so his ties to NY are based upon his legend status in high school and college, many years ago.  If he hires a staff with NY AAU ties, etc., maybe it works out for SJ, I hope so after the Depaul fiasco.  

[Mutaman]

OK...so they pay attention for a few days and baseball season starts.  Winning takes care of everything so you hire the best coach to help you win.

Baseball trumps everything in NYC as does winning,  but this will be a big story again next fall and St Johns needs some attention.  Don't underestimate how big a deal Mullin is in New York .

http://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/greg-logan/anointing-chris-mullin-a-no-brainer-for-st-john-s-1.10148339

[brandx]

I included the question about whether he can recruit in the very comment before the one you responded too.  

As for the rest of your response, it's trivializing what goes into coaching at the high major level to base it merely off whether they've played, been around, etc. at that level before and know the x's and o's part of it.   I'll throw an example out there - Sidney Moncrief- great player, intelligent player, an absolute disaster when he tried his hand at being a college head coach.  And that's just one example which immeidately comes to mind.

Just as there have been veteran top assistants that have been a disaster.

[Tugg Speedman]

St. John's job interested World Peace

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/12583438/metta-world-peace-expressed-interest-st-john-job

St. John's is closing in on the hiring of Chris Mullin as its next coach, but not before another alumnus at the school who found success in the NBA -- Metta World Peace -- formally registered his interest in the job.

In an interview from Italy on Sunday night with the NBA Insiders show on ESPN Radio, World Peace confirmed that he and his representatives contacted school officials to let them know that his interest in the job was genuine.

Known as Ron Artest in his St. John's days, World Peace is scheduled to make his on-court debut Monday with Pallacanestro Cantu after signing with the Italian League club earlier this week. Yet he insists that he is "totally, totally ready" to make the jump to coaching and described the St. John's opening as "the only thing I would stop my pro career for."

World Peace also promptly sent his congratulations Sunday as word spread about Mullin's impending hire, tweeting: "Go st.johns. Go chris mullin. This will be awesome."

In his interview with ESPN Radio, World Peace acknowledged that he would undoubtedly face skepticism about his ability to coach effectively, given the various controversies that swirled around him throughout his 15-year NBA career, but he quickly pointed to the fact that he has been coaching boys and girls high school basketball for the past year-plus as evidence of his seriousness in transitioning to a bench career.

"This is not something that I'm not prepared for," World Peace said of coaching. "It's not something I'm afraid of.

"If we're talking about basketball intellingence, you're talking to one of the best. If you're talking about my past ... you can't take away the past. It's impossible. If I could erase some of the things I did, I would. I would go on Google and actually erase the [Pacers-Pistons] brawl [in 2004] and erase things that I've done in my past. But I can't.

"I'm not afraid to address anything ever. I'm also not afraid to focus, lock in, and if I did have an opportunity to coach [St. John's], I would be in a zone, totally focused on the task."

In explaining his motivation to pursue the job, World Peace said his "only goal" and "only reason" was to lead the Red Storm to an NCAA title and added that even a Final Four appearance, in a city like New York, "would be a failure."

It must be noted, though, that the 35-year-old told Italian reporters this week upon his arrival at Cantu that he intends to play "five more years" until he turns 40. World Peace began the 2014-15 season playing for the Sichuan Blue Whales, appearing in just 15 games thanks to persistent knee trouble but quickly making himself available again as a free agent after the Chinese season ended in February.

And he might have found a perfect match in terms of eccentricity with his new team in Italy, where team officials have described the late-season signing of World Peace as "the coup of the century."

In another tweet this weekend after making his interest in the St. John's job public, World Peace said: "Leave the past in the past.Yes I am colorful and different.I love exactly who I was and who I am.No regrets.My future as a coach is diamond."

Via both Twitter and his interview with ESPN Radio, he cited numerous coaching role models, including his former NBA coaches such as Rick Carlisle, Phil Jackson, Rick Adelman and Mike Brown, Italian coaching legend Ettore Messina (now an assistant in San Antonio who coached World Peace under Brown with the Lakers) and ESPN's Fran Fraschilla, his former coach at St. John's.

"I've had so much great teaching and I'm one of the best defensive players to ever play the game on the wing," World Peace said. "This is a job I'm totally capable of doing. You can't question that. Now you can bring up the past, but anybody can bring up the past. Even my daughter brings up the past sometimes. She makes a lot of jokes about the things that I've done."

As for his desire to try to play his way back into the NBA after last appearing in the league last season with his hometown Knicks, World Peace said: "I could play in the NBA if I wanted to. I'm not washed up yet. ... By my second or third game [in Italy], I'll be amazing."

[Groin_pull]

Unlike DePaul, St Johns understands the importance of being bold with its hire.

[brewcity77]

Unlike DePaul, St Johns understands the importance of being bold with its hire.

DePaul confused "bold" with "old".

[WarriorFan]

St. Johns just got a lot more interesting.

And DePaul just got worse.

[Litehouse]

Might not be as bad of a hire as I first thought, though no idea if Mullin can coach or has the patience to spend all summer at AAU events.

I thought about that too, but Mullins could potentially never have to leave NYC to recruit with all the local talent.  Just tell kids "go play hard in Mequon this weekend and say hi to all those other coaches.  I'll be back here in NYC, the greatest city in the world, and I'll see you when you get back and you can stay here to play college ball at a top flight program."

[Tums Festival]

Between the hires (or hires to be) at DePaul and St. John's, the Johnnies going with Chris Mullin is definitely more intriguing. Don't know how successful he'll be, but he'll bring many fewer groans than what DePaul did.

[Golden Avalanche]

Between the hires (or hires to be) at DePaul and St. John's, the Johnnies going with Chris Mullin is definitely more intriguing. Don't know how successful he'll be, but he'll bring many fewer groans than what DePaul did.

Which says a lot about the intelligence of the average person today that a coach with an actual record of coaching (whether HC or AC) is considered to bring more groans than a former stud player who hasn't spent one hour on a coaching bench.

[Goose]

A pretty good hire IMO and think it will improve St. John's and the conference. Never hurts having high profile coaches in getting extra media coverage.