St Joseph's fires Phil Martelli

[RF2044]

This.

Just because he's a good guy doesn't change the facts.

He was given the reigns there for a long time and the results aren't all that great and have nosedived in the last 3 seasons.

It's a results-driven business and he's surely pulling down a decent wedge.

Surprised the exit was not more graceful given how long he was there, but I would guess maybe he was a tad contentious about being let go.

It happens.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

All a new coach would need to do is finish 7th in the A10 every year and he would be better than Martelli was in 6 of the last 10 years.

 

[Townie72]

All a new coach would need to do is finish 7th in the A10 every year and he would be better than Martelli was in 6 of the last 10 years.

In John Feinstein's piece today in the WaPo, he cites the University brass talking about the strategic importance to the University of the SJU basketball programs.

The University from the top level down doesn't sound like they will be at all happy with 7th place finishes. Now whether their goal is achievable or not is a different story.

 

[Sherman20]

That's one way to look at it. In the five seasons leading up through the 2015/2016 season SJU averaged over 20 wins a season and won two conference tournaments. Over the next three seasons the record was poor but his team was hurt badly by injuries as I referenced above.

I'm quite familiar with the program as my son goes to school there and I can tell you it would be difficult for any mid-major to thrive when losing as many key players as they lost over the last three seasons. Should they have had more depth to help deal with the injury situation? Sure but this is St Joe's and not some basketball powerhouse. Therein lies the problem imo, the expectations are a bit unrealistic. SJU is rarely ever going to get upper echelon talent. And that's not going to change just because they bring in a new coach.

Is it unrealistic to finish Top 4 in the A10 and make the NCAA/NIT more seasons than not? In the last 11 seasons he failed to make the NCAA/NIT SEVEN times. He only made the NCAAs twice. He only finished Top 4 in the A10 three times over that span (two 4ths abs one tie for 3rd. Expanding out to 14 years he only has 3 NCAAs and failed to make the NCAA/NIT 8 times. That’s over 50% of the time, while just over 20% of the time he made the NCAAs. His Top 4 finishes over 14 years was three. So again just over 20% of the time he finished Top 4 of the A10. Is 14 years not long enough?

Oh come on, Alsacs. That’s a fine record. The A 10 is a very competitive conference (remember it had really good basketball schools like Xavier and Temple in it just a few years ago), but only a few teams from the conference are going to get NCAA bids every year. Only 68 teams can make the field! St. Joe’s is a small Catholic school in Philly competing against better funded programs with her bigger fan bases. Fans expectations are out of whack. Besides, Martelli was dealing with player injuries 3 seasons in a row.

 

[Alsacs]

Oh come on, Alsacs. That’s a fine record. The A 10 is a very competitive conference (remember it had really good basketball schools like Xavier and Temple in it just a few years ago), but only a few teams from the conference are going to get NCAA bids every year. Only 68 teams can make the field! St. Joe’s is a small Catholic school in Philly competing against better funded programs with her bigger fan bases. Fans expectations are out of whack. Besides, Martelli was dealing with player injuries 3 seasons in a row.

Not sure if you are serious?
The record is 80-81 the last 5 years.

Philadelphia helps their recruiting.
Nobody expects St. Joseph’s to be Villanova but the performance has been subpar.
The A-10 is a decent conference but it’s not better than the 8th or 9th Conference.
The guy has had the job since 1995. He is 64 years old the school doesn’t owe him the job for life. They made the decision to move on.
Fan expectations out of whack?
St. Joe’s fans shouldn’t expect 41-55 over 3 years.
The A-10 isn’t that hard.

 

[bpo57]

Not sure if you are serious?
The record is 80-81 the last 5 years.

Philadelphia helps their recruiting.
Nobody expects St. Joseph’s to be Villanova but the performance has been subpar.
The A-10 is a decent conference but it’s not better than the 8th or 9th Conference.
The guy has had the job since 1995. He is 64 years old the school doesn’t owe him the job for life. They made the decision to move on.
Fan expectations out of whack?
St. Joe’s fans shouldn’t expect 41-55 over 3 years.
The A-10 isn’t that hard.

It's hard when you lose your best players for substantial periods of time.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Yes it is a very nice campus. Bit of a crime problem on the edges of the campus but that is often the case at many colleges. Where did your son decide to go to school?

Manhattan College. He is the number 2 goalie next year. The plan is he starts as a sophomore, assuming he plays well.

 

[bpo57]

Manhattan College. He is the number 2 goalie next year. The plan is he starts as a sophomore, assuming he plays well.

Awesome. Good luck to him.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Awesome. Good luck to him.

Thanks

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OttoMets]

Oof, that dude is a pill. Was at Navy when I was in the Patriot League. Not pleasant to deal with, even worse than board favorite Jeff Jones.

I never had him pegged as a great recruiter, though obviously he's got connections in the area.

 

[Zepharus]

Best head in coaching...

 

[bpo57]

St. Joe's still hasn't won an A-12 game yet this year. They're 0-12 in the A-10 and 4-21 overall. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to get rid of Martelli after all.

 

[SUGIANT]

I always liked Martello, lived in the philly area for a while and some st Joes coverage. Too bad he gets fired, he’s been there a long time.

 

[bpo57]

I always liked Martello, lived in the philly area for a while and some st Joes coverage. Too bad he gets fired, he’s been there a long time.

Yeah very poorly handled for sure. And his middle of the pack A-10 finishes (and occasional A-10 tourney runs) don't seem so bad right about now.

 

[bpo57]

haha right on cue St Joe's wins their first A-10 game. Down 21 in the 1H to Davidson they rally back and hit a three at the buzzer to win 73-72.

 

[JaySU22]

I think their was a significant mass exodus in lieu of the Martelli firing. They did still manage a win @Gampel though

 

[bpo57]

I think their was a significant mass exodus in lieu of the Martelli firing. They did still manage a win @Gampel though

I think that was their first game of the year. A whole lotta nothing in between.

 

[bpo57]

Looking back, maybe firing Phil Martelli wasn't such a great idea after all. Some of the posts in here didn't age very well.

St. Joe's is 2-25 in A-10 play since Martelli left and 7-40 overall.

Meanwhile Martelli is playing a pivotal role as an assistant at Michigan and they have a decent shot at a #1 seed. Kudos to Juwan Howard for hiring Martelli.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

When I hear of Martelli, I think of Bernard Blunt, and that makes me think of his leg injury, which is one of the worst I have seen caught on camera.
Kid was never the same.

 

[bpo57]

When I hear of Martelli, I think of Bernard Blunt, and that makes me think of his leg injury, which is one of the worst I have seen caught on camera.
Kid was never the same.

J-D right?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

When I hear of Martelli, I think of Bernard Blunt, and that makes me think of his leg injury, which is one of the worst I have seen caught on camera.
Kid was never the same.

When I think of Bernard Blunt, I think of a brawl he was involved in vs Nottingham one game.

 

[Bulldog04]

When I think of Bernard Blunt, I think of a brawl he was involved in vs Nottingham one game.

Hey - Us Ham Bulldogs neverrrrr got into fights, but when we did...

 

[maxxyz]

Hey - Us Ham Bulldogs neverrrrr got into fights, but when we did...

Wasn’t Blunt a bulldog before he was a red ram? I could be misremembering...

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

J-D right?

Yes but he lived on University Ave. Mmm.