Norm Roberts to Return in Year 5

I’ve held off talking about the St. John’s coach as if he was already gone. But I figure, with a 10-16 record in his fourth year, no offense to speak of, players rumored to be leaving, no recruits in sight, hardcore Oz style beatings 5 times a year, that St. John’s would happily shake Coach Norm Roberts’ hand and bring in a top-level coach with a history of winning.

ESPN has been wrong before but… they say he’s coming back. And it’s corroborated by NY Daily News beat writer Roger Rubin.

St. John’s, facing growing speculation in the New York metro area that men’s basketball coach Norm Roberts will be out after this season, will announce Friday that Roberts will return for his fifth season in 2008-09, multiple sources told ESPN.com.Roberts met with St. John’s athletic director Chris Monasch on Thursday and was assured he would return next season, according to a source close to the program. Roberts and Monasch will meet soon to discuss a longer-term contract.

Oh.

Good grief.

Perhaps the meeting will include a “change your assistant coaches” ultimatum (as this blogger describes). That would be a great idea; testing his loyalty, and perhaps giving him a way to step down gracefully, if the offer isn’t to his liking.

Why did it take so long for this to come out of St. John’s? The news outlets have been mercilessly putting him on “the hot seat” or conversely trying to pretty up 20-point whippings with the color announcer saying “he just needs more time, he just needs more time.” We all believe in more time, but dang, what has been proven?

Last year with seniors, the team was barely .500.

Norm has said, in a recent post-game interview, that he can’t make freshmen juniors. What about when they’re sophomores? Huh? What will they be then?

How is this team going to get better?

Who is going to leave this squad?

What indication has been given that this will turn around? Was it the competitive half of basketball against Georgetown, where St. John’s Executive VP and COO supposedly attended in an evaluative role? What happened to waiting until the end of the season, as the Athletic Director Chris Monsach stated he would? What kind of Isiah Thomas/ Jim Dolan evaluative techniques are being used here? What has been compelling about Norm’s record?

And what a way to announce this before senior day, where some fans might just lose their minds and start booing the scholarship senior, Eugene Lawrence, the first recruit the coach brought in. Granted, there were other recruits, but they all just up and disappeared. Wonder how that happened.

I think I’ll follow Missouri a little more for the next year or two. Maybe it’s a leap year joke. It’s leap day, after all.

Providence Candidates (Coaching Carousel)?

Way to go Providence, don’t wait to fire Tim Welsh before other candidates pop up:

Providence is targeting Sean Miller of Xavier, Jim Larranaga of George Mason, Tim O’Shea of Ohio, and Matt Brady of Marist. We are hearing that Miller and Larranaga will not have too much interest. Matt Brady could be the guy when the smoke clears.

I like Matt Brady; his Marist team has suffered without Jared Jordan’s talent. And he’s renowned as a teacher of shooting. St. John’s could use that guy.

Game #28: Seton Hall at St. John’s

Or, “is this season over yet?”

Analysis to come in between doing stuff for the people who pay me. But I wanted to post two things on the upcoming game:

- From the Storming the Floor Blog:

SATURDAY - Seton Hall vs. St. John’s. “Hey Norm, don’t you wish NYC had more talent to choose from? It totally screws us.” “Yep, Bobby, you’re soooo right.”

Seton Hall fans need to take a moment and see where all of that Bobby Gonzalez bluster is getting them. He talks a big game, he woofs about how he’s just hungry enough to steal a recruit from the big boys, how he’s a competitive SOB, how Pitino hates him…

But where are those recruits? He’s got Jeremy Hazell, and he had Michael Glover until he was ruled ineligible (aka the Derwin Kitchen special), Eugene “Nunu” Harvey, and a bunch of mediocre guys. Gonzalez says Seton Hall will compete for the top guys, but… we’ll believe it when we see it.

But two years into his tenure at the Hall, the Pirates have 17 wins and the team’s fighting for a win at St. John’s so he can get into the Big East tourney - the win clinches their berth. It’s early yet; and as long as he doesn’t grope up on Erin Andrews…

Though fistfighting with one’s assistants might be a little too bats**t crazy even for Bobby Gonzalez. Coaching on the edge, right there.

Game #27: St. John’s 52 at Georgetown Hoyas 64 recap (short)

The best and the worst of this St. John’s team was on display tonight at the Verizon Center in DC as St. John’s played the Hoyas tough, but still came away with the loss. St. John’s falls to 10-17 overall, 4-11 in conference; Georgetown improves to 23-4, 13-3 in the Big East.

ESPN U broadcast the game, and had some Georgetown student named Jake Tuber (I think? I will get the name right later) announcing. Because what else would make the game interesting? Certainly not the woeful Johnnies.

Except that after a slow start, St. John’s had some molasses-speed rhythm going, goading the Hoyas into playing ugly and blowing dunks. Did the Hoyas lay down a little, defensively, in the first half? Ewing and Rivers got a bit of time to add more physicality to the Hoya defense.

The guards got their hands up and deflected or otherwise interfered with the Hoya passes… in the first half. Tomas Jasiulionis had an okay defensive game, as did Burrell and Dele Coker; all three were on Hibbert at one time or another and slowed him down with a lot of muscle and a bit of grabbing. Until the Hoyas got serious about finding the big man in the post.

Anthony Mason Jr. made sharp moves to the basket, and best of all, Lawrence got into the lane a few times or opportunities and passes. Burrell got the ball moving toward the basket, and though he only scored 10 points, had flashes of what is going to make him a solid-to-special player in the Big East. Burrell and Mason both got in some highlight reel thunder dunks.

But basketball is about the W and the L, not about the facial. And St. John’s had 17 turnovers, two double digit scorers (Mason: 12, Burrell: 10), allowed the Hoyas to get to the line and couldn’t draw fouls in return (G’Town: 16 foul shots, St. John’s: 5) shot one more three-pointer than the Hoyas shot (St. John’s: 11 attempts, G’Town: 10 makes from beyond the arc), and they looked like grasping freshmen in that mid-second half run where Georgetown pulled away.

For all the tough defense, the team still looked like a squad getting lucky and hanging with a big boy. And after a while, all the promising signs make a body wonder about fulfillment. Check out johnnyjungle.com and hoyasaxa.com for more recap; I won’t be posting likely until tomorrow afternoon.

Articles:

NY Daily News - Hoyas pull rank on St. John’s

Washington Post - Georgetown Stays Ahead of the Game

Washington Times - Hoyas get defensive to upend Red Storm

The Hoya - Summers, Hoyas Use Stronger Second Half to Quiet Storm

Georgetown Voice - Hoyas stop the Red Storm

Hoya Hoops Postgame Thoughts

Around (American) Football

Myron Cope, the inventor of “the terrible towel” and iconic Pittsburgh sportscaster, died today.

Chiefs release Eddie Kennison.

The Redskins release Brandon Lloyd.

The Jets release Justin McCareins, Andre Dyson, and Adrien Clarke, who was supposed to make Jet fans forget about veteran Pete Kendall. How was that dirt, Pennington and Clemens? Jonathan Vilma and Dewayne Robertson—two highly touted high draft picks and impact players in the 4-3 scheme—are next on the moving queue, because they’re less effective in the 3-4.

Patriots release Roosevelt Colvin. He plays in a 3-4 and isn’t entirely over the hill—go sign him, Jets.

Game #27: St. John’s at Georgetown Hoyas - pregame articles

St. John’s links.

NY Post - GEORGETOWN IS NEXT ON STORM’S HORIZON

Note: Jasiulionis is slated to start tonight on Hibbert. Whoops, wrong link.

Washington Post - A Young Hoya Drives With a Steady Hand

On Austin Freeman.

Washington Post – Red Storm can’t match Hoyas’ rise:

Georgetown has remained the Big East’s elite team since Thompson’s arrival; no league team boasts more conference victories over the last three-plus seasons than Georgetown (43).

At the opposite end of the spectrum, St. John’s can claim only 19 Big East victories and no postseason appearances in Roberts’ three-plus seasons.

After Duke ran the Red Storm out of Durham 86-56 on Saturday, St. John’s athletic director Chris Monasch was asked whether Roberts would return for next season’s fifth and final year of his contract:

Said Monasch: “I’m not willing to pass judgment on a season until it’s complete.”

With that somewhat transparent lack of an endorsement behind him, Stewart (?!!) and his team will step on the floor at Verizon Center tonight seeking the affirmation of an upset. Perhaps this tale of two coaches has a dual moral:

Few high-profile professions are more stress-filled or more difficult, particularly when the task involves resurrecting a major conference program. Just ask Matt Doherty, Quin Snyder, Tommy Amaker, Steve Alford, Kelvin Sampson, Billy Gillespie or Sidney Lowe.

Once again, someone misnames Norm Roberts as Norm Stewart. For future reference:
and

Staten Island Advance - Too Soon For St. John’s To Quit On Norm Roberts

The fact that the program doesn’t look much different than when the coach stepped in to the head job is reason enough to ask for a change, Mr. Dowd.

HoyaSaxa’s matchup notes.

Game #27: St. John’s at Georgetown Hoyas

Tomorrow, St. John’s continues its tour of beatings in the nation’s capital, where #11/#10 Georgetown Hoyas welcome the Red Storm to the Verizon Center. St. John’s is 10-16 on the season, 4-10 Big East; Georgetown is 22-4, 12-3 in the Big East.

What is there to say? Georgetown eviscerated the Red Storm last time out. Then the Keys to the Game were:

1. Stop turning the ball over,

2. Play like there’s nothing to lose, wherein I name checked the Bunny Ranch (SFW) and talked about how this team wouldn’t score if Mason’s shot wasn’t falling. He went 3-12 and the team scored 42 points.

3. Play good interior defense.

Those keys all stand for this game. Johnny Jungle’s keys are to Own the Paint, Get to the Line, Hit the Free Throws, and to Fight/ Show some Intestinal Fortitude. All are good points.

St. John’s players could dedicate themselves to this current roster, this system, and this coach with a gritty, tough performance; the players have learned and battled and practiced toughness with the “war” drill in response to the woodshed ass-whupping they received last time. And last year’s team played a tough half of basketball against the Hoyas. Unfortunately, it was the first half. Basically, the team has to not pee their leg like they did at home against this same team. Usually a month makes a difference in the development of players, especially freshmen, but in this case I am less sure:

Then: St. John’s shot 1-14 from the three.
Now: They couldn’t be that bad again. And if they make a shot in the first 4 minutes, I could see the confidence growing. They executed well for the first 5 minutes of the Duke game, why not against Georgetown? Oh yeah, that Hibbert guy.

Then: Larry Wright played 5 minutes.
Now: Injury or not, if Wright can get out there, let the guy loose.

Then: Coker was working his way into the doghouse, and got awful positioning on everyone he was up against.
Now: I almost think he’s learning. This is a great opportunity to prove his skill, bodying up Hibbert. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him either start or get some significant minutes.

Then: Horne was a defensive guard off the bench; Kennedy got the majority of minutes at the 2-guard.
Now: Horne’s 9-point performance gained him 22 minutes. Granted, this was against a small team, and Coach Roberts likes to change his matchups depending on the other team’s action (in part because St. John’s doesn’t have matchups for the other team to really worry about).

Well, when times get tough and the games are lame, there’s always an unnecessary Emmanuelle Chriqui photo to liven up the day.

Early Previews:

It’s a month old, but Dime Magazine has a comparison of prominent basketball alumni from both St. John’s and Georgetown matched up as an alumni all-star team.The starting fives:

St. John’s:
pg Mark Jackson, sg Max Zaslofsky, sf Chris Mullin, sf Ron Artest, c Jayson Williams (no Bill Wennington? Psshhht!) with a bench of Walter Berry, Felipe Lopez, Kevin Loughery, Billy Paultz, and Malik Sealy.

Georgetown:
pg Allen Iverson, sg Sleepy Floyd, sf Reggie Williams, c Patrick Ewing, c Dikembe Mutumbo, with a bench of Jeff Green, Othella Harrington, Alonzo Mourning, Jerome Williams, David Wingate, and Joey Brown (ohhhkay on that one).

Yeah, yeah, the game at hand. Hoya Hoops is predicting how many field goals St. John’s will score in the game.

The Hoya newspaper is expecting a rout, and lots of rest for the Hoya stars. They are also identifying the problems with the Hoya offense.

The Georgetown Hoyas played some tough defense on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bearcats, and hope to continue that performance against the Red Storm.

Mets Spring Training Notes

I plan to post a weekly recap of Mets’ Spring Training Notes.

Yes, it’s still basketball season, but with St. John’s basketball in the (proverbial) crapper, I do have to remark it’s spring training, the time when even the Cubs and the Pirates are filled with hope. With such optimism in the face of historical precedent, who couldn’t love MLB spring training?

Sad that I won’t get down to Ft. Myers this year to see the Twins and Red Sox camps, or to the east coast of Florida to see the Mets’ camp, but I am sure this week’s 20 degree temperatures will make me think of Florida.

Headlines:

The former Mets who were traded for Johan Santana (Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey, Philip Humber, and Carlos Gomez) are getting used to life with the Twins. Little do they know how much warmer Fort Myers is than Minneapolis.

Carlos Beltran has made a guarantee, and Jimmy Rollins thinks he’s a biter.

Carlos Delgado thinks last year’s below league average hitting at first base was a one-time thing, and not baseball-age catching up with him. I love me some Carlos, and I love your guts, but that’s what they all say.

The Mets have Spring Training competition (PLAY GOTAY, DAMMIT) and non-roster invitees up the wazoo, including Olmeda Saenz, Tony Armas Jr, Fernando Tatis, Jose Valentin, Nate Field, Ricardo Rincon, and Brady Clark. Here are their Met uniform numbers.

Duaner Sanchez and Juan Padilla are looking good recovering from their injuries.

JOHAN! Santana is already dealing out pitching filth.

CitiField has a logo (do you think it looks like a Dominos Pizza too?) and another rendering:

And, how are those Phillies doing, anyway?

Big East Power Poll, 2.25.2008

The main poll, taken by a raft of Big East basketball bloggers, can be found (with a host of Big East News) at the NBE Basketball Blog. The season is coming to a close; teams are trying for the top seed in the Big East tournament to better their NCAA seedings, and others are trying real hard to get to that tournament. It’s late; no comments on the poll this week from me.

1. Louisville

2. Notre Dame

3. Georgetown

4. Connecticut

5. Marquette

6. West Virginia

7. Pittsburgh

8. Cincinnati

9. Syracuse

10. Villanova

11. Seton Hall

12. DePaul

13. Providence

14. St. John’s

15. South Florida

16. Rutgers

Kyle McAlarney, player of the week
Corey Stokes, freshman of the week

Norm Roberts Feel the Heat, by the Daily News

The NY Daily News has a profile of the troubles Coach Norm Roberts is facing:

High-pressure Storm: Norm Roberts feels heat as St. John’s flounders

Roberts is finishing his fourth season, and the Johnnies need a strong finish just to get back to the Big East’s postseason tournament, which they reached last season for the first time in four years. The team is 10-16 after Saturday’s 30-point loss at Duke, and a dialogue about the program’s future is percolating. In high school gyms, on the talk-radio airwaves and among St. John’s most loyal and influential supporters, the question is asked whether the school will stick with Roberts or make a change.

A determination probably is still weeks away and the value of Roberts’ successes and failures will be measured by the university president, the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, and athletic director, Chris Monasch.

“I’m not willing to pass judgment on a season until it’s a complete season,” Monasch said. “We knew our record would probably take a step back this year. The criteria we’re looking for is whether there’s a good core of players to build on.”

The article goes into the mixed bag of Roberts’ tenure, including some of the achievements in bringing in better citizens and getting the students to hit the books counterbalanced with the lack of wins and the gossip about Coach Roberts’ future.

In my earlier post about Coach Roberts’ profile, I didn’t add the bit about how this season’s team had one of the highest first semester GPA’s for a basketball team at St. John’s. That is an important metric—if we talk about how Bobby Knight graduates players as a positive metric for him, we have to do the same for Norm Roberts. Of course, Roberts’ results are much less impressive.

I think Coach Roberts will be a fine head coach at another school; he is a decent recruiter, and has gotten some players to St. John’s. he knows the recruiting hustle. But the losses—and probably the inconsistent style of play— will deter the 4 and 5 star recruits from the school no matter what. At a lower level school, the coach can improve on his game coaching and training chops; the Big East is making him look like a worse coach than he actually is.

A telling line in the article is this:

“(My players) ask about (Roberts’) future because they hear rumors,” said one prominent Catholic league coach. “I’m not bringing it up with them, but they wonder and that can’t be good for recruiting.”

Said [St. Raymond’s coach Oliver] Antigua: “If the president or AD back him publicly … rumors would go away.”

It is telling that the Athletic Director Chris Monsach or President Father Harrington—or even Hall of Fame Coach Lou Carnesecca— have not come out to publicly defend Coach Roberts, or to give him the “vote of confidence” (which often means the coach is near firing, like LSU coach John Brady).

And from the possible NYC recruits:

Last week, the Johnnies had four high-school recruits attend their game at the Garden against Villanova, including Lawrence. St. John’s scored a season-low 13 points in the first half of an 18-point loss.

“A game like that makes it hard to consider them,” [Omari] Lawrence said. “They didn’t stay energetic. They got stagnant. Maybe it’s just too early in the process for things to be different. I want to produce and play and win on a high stage. They are on a high stage, but don’t win.”

“I keep St. John’s in mind, but I don’t know about them,” said Keith Spellman of Jefferson, who counts St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova and Rutgers among his many suitors. “I want to go someplace where I can continue to win. I don’t want to have to catch back up with everyone else.”