Next Year

Why are you knocking Laing? He was an All Big East selection, led the team in pts. and was tied for the lead in rebounds. Where is the rebounding going to come from next year? Garcia, Davis and Okuson were destroyed off the boards this year. Laing will be missed. Other than Gause, who else on this team plays solid defense?

Yes, the coach is ultimately responsible for everyone he recruits. Glover was ineligible, Flowers had drug charges and speeding charges against him. These are the athletes Gonzalez is attracting and recruiting at Seton Hall.

Harvey was terrible this year. Thedore will be a rookie. Gause is injury prone, Is Flowers coming and will he be eligible?, Garcia has chronic knee problems, can Mitchell compete in the Big East?, will Glover be eligible?, Okuson is too raw and Hazzell is too streaky. These are just a few of the problems and questions going into next year. I haven't even started on the coach and his antics on and off the court. Not pretty.

I will always be a Seton Hall fan win or lose. But, I am a realist. The truth hurts and next year could be an embarrassment.

Im not bashing Laing.  Hes turned into quite possibly a NBA player.  However in terms of what he was for this team, and where we will be missed, we have a clone to him in Stix Mitchell.  Nutter will be so sorely missed, like Billmeir was this season.  The truth is that Laing whether exhausted towards the end of the season, or whatever played like crap.  Yes he was forced to play PF which isnt his position, however he came up so small in his last 2 games.  And for the record, Laing never played defense.  Besides harvey, he was probably the worst defender on the team.

Gause will allow Gonzalez to press effectively and with a bench of more than 2 players we wont wear out late in the season.  Flowers, Glover, Theodre, both davis's, Okuson, they dont have to be great players.  They just have to be able to compete. 

Stix will be as good as Laing, has 3 years of eligibility, and actually plays defense.  Gause was our best player and he will be healthy.  Injury prone?  Jeff Adrien's dirty play broke his hand, and Harrangodys freak play tore his acl, and ruined our season.  2 freak plays makes someone injury prone?

 If Harvey continues to struggle, then either Gause can play the point, and move harvey to the 2, or have Theodre spell him.  Garcia had great flashes, and towards the end of the season was the only consistant player on both sides of the ball.  

If nothing else, players will have to compete for minutes next year.  The unfortunate truth is that we had no bench, especially when Gause got hurt.  Larry Davis, and especially Eugene Harvey knew they would get minutes regardless of how they played.  That wont be the case finally.

Gause, Stix, Flowers, Garcia and whomever plays the point is good enough to compete next year for an NCAA bid.  And should flowers not come, Hazzell can start.  We will have some depth, and experience. 

Oh and in regards to your comment about the "types" of players hes recruiting.  Glover is enrolled at school, paying his OWN way.  NO SCHOLARSHIP.  Hes somehow forking the 38,000+ a year through student loans to be at Seton Hall.  So if you want to attack the kids character, then maybe you should look in the mirror.

And as far as Flowers goes.  Yea hes made mistakes.  2 years ago.  Im sorry that everyone ant be as perfect as you, and always make the right decisions.  Fortunately, through hard work and dedication, theres these things called second chances.  And a kid like Flowers will work his ass off to prove he was worth that 2nd chance.  

I could list hundreds of kids that made mistakes when they were 16,17,18,19 years old and have turned into well rounded individuals and made the most of their second chance.  Why should flowers be deprived of that?

Never claimed to be perfect or a know it all like you. Just stating the facts. Glover was ineligible and Flowers has had problems with the law. UNLV and Jerry Tarkanian were ripped apart by the media for years about his recruiting. Seton Hall is a CATHOLIC University which normally has higher standards. I don't know either Flowers or Glover personally like you must do. I do hope you are right and both turn their lives around.

You can defend Gonzalez all you want. He was overlooked and passed over by many schools because of his act. I think Seton Hall finally realizes they made a mistake. He's been reprimanded at least 3 times already by Seton Hall in the past month and was suspended for the first game next year. Is this the coach you really want at Seton Hall? He's not a good enough coach (like a Bobby Knight) for Seton Hall to put up with his crap. People are starting to take notice and he is embarrassing Seton Hall. But, you may have lower standards than others. Even Jim Boheim has offered to talk with Gonzalez about toning down his act. Other Big East coaches feeling sorry for Seton Hall. What a shame.

Hey jackass, you're probably one of those brainless fools that thinks Louis Orr was a great coach for us.  3 postseasons in 5 years, what an accomplishment.  Except the 2nd NCAA we had no business being in, and he had Andre Barrett for 3 years, and managed a first round loss to Rhode Island in the NIT after being up 13 with under 5 to go, along with an NCAA bid where we were down 20 to Arizona before Barrett and Whitney took over for a lucky win.  And what happened when we played duke?  Oh yea, we didnt even show up to play.

And FYI, American Chrstian was accredited this week.  Probably because Tyreke Evans is set to graduate this June.  The NCAA is a joke and the fact that Glover was rejected is appalling but again, thats Gonzos fault right?

Didn't Seton Hall blow a 17 pt. lead at home to Rutgers this year? How about blowing the 10 pt. lead to St. John's with 5 to go this year? You must be blaming Laing for these losses too. Can't knock Gonzo.

I agree the NCAA is a joke. I agree Orr wasn't a great coach because he couldn't recruit. But Louis Orr knows basketball and he does a good job teaching big men. He is also a better X's and O's guy than Gonzo. You don't have to act like an ass to be a good coach. You are knocking Orr for being mild mannered. He got his point across when he had too. Plus he has more class in one finger than Gonzo has in his entire body. Orr is respected by everyone in basketball. Gonzo just the opposite. But continue your praise for Gonzo who has won and done nothing here. He needs to make 3 straight postseason appearances (and win 1 NCAA tourney game) just to do what Orr did (which you dismissed as "luck"). Don't hold your breath. If Gonzo lasts another 3 years at Seton Hall it will be a miracle. He is on thin ice already after only 2 years. He is going to be watched closely by the administration and he better grow up soon.

One more time, Orr isnt respected by ANYONE that matters in basketball.  First of all, while at Seton Hall he got into fights with players, and assistants.   Yea, real classy, I know.  2nd, develop big men?  Was that a joke?  Greg Morton never got any better, Billmeir ddint do anything until last year when Gonzalez was here for his senior year, David Palmer transfered out, Maurico Branwell transfered out, and Marcus Cousin transfered out.  Thats right, in 5 years we had 3 promising big men come into the program, and leave.  Not to mention the fact that we had a 7-1 coordinated guy that never played more than 5mins in a game in his 3 years at seton hall in Alexander Gambino.  Where was the development there?  Orr didnt develop anyones talent, he leetched off an all senior team at Siena for 1 year, then came here and did the same thing with Andre Barrett.  How does a team consisting of Andre Barrett, Andre Sweet, Greg Morton, Kelly Whitney and Marcus Toney El miss the NCAAs 1 year, then only get an NIT bid the following.  Come on, Orr was trash and whether you like Gonzalez's antics or not doesnt give you the right to put them into the same conversation as far as coaching.

As Ive said, Gonzalez may go too far at times, but you know what, Id much rather have that than have him sit on the bench with a listless look on his face having not a clue of whats going on.  NO ONE will ever care about our kids/program more than Gonzalez and thats what we need.

And to compare our losses this year with no bench where Laing played 40mins/game, Harvey who is possibly the worst PG in the Big East playing 38mins to a team loaded with talent that drastically underachieved with the BEST PG in the conference and big men who could finish is just stupid.

Just remember that we were 15-7 and 5-3 with Paul back and at the time projected to be a 10 seed in the NCAAs when he got hurt.  We were also projected to finish 13th in the Big East with a full roster, Chris Smith, Glover, and a healthy gause  assumed on our roster all year, and we did better than that.

So unless you can give me 1 big man that he developed, (there are none with plenty of opportunities) please keep your love of Orr to yourself.