Changes for Drexel

After a tough loss to FDU, Hawks fans are starting to get worried. St. Joe’s plays Monday against Drexel and concerns should not be too high. The Drexel Dragons are considered the worst team in the “City Six”. Sju just needs to bring everything together and pull off an easy win. A win would help the Hawks to gain their confidence back. It became apparent during last game that this team was truly lacking confidence, and it looked as though Phil could not get them to believe in themselves during the game. St. Joes’ clearly has the talent to compete in this league; Phil just needs to get it out of them.

Looking towards this game Hawk fans should be looking for a few things to be different in this game. First, Miles will not shoot the ball as much as he did the first game. Even though Miles did have a double-double in the first game of the season, these numbers lie about his real performance. Although Miles was productive, he shot the ball too much. Miles’ job should be to be the clean-up guy, kind of like what Halil did. He needs to score off rebounds due to the fact this is where he is most productive. Additionally, look for Evan to get even more minutes this game. In the first game, Evan played twelve impactful minutes at the guard position. It is apparent that both Demery and Shavar, are not ready to take control of the starting role. Both players struggled on the court taking bad shots and making huge foul mistakes. The pace of the game seemed to be a bit too much for Demery. From the buzz that we heard out of practice, that was not the case. Both of the freshmen that received playing time should not start. Moreover, Demery is likely lost his starting wing position, opposite of Bembry. The last thing to look for in this game against Drexel is Aaron Brown starting. Brown plays with energy and intensity that will be rub-off on the rest of the team. Aaron proved to not only SJU fans but himself that he deserves to be starting. The guy is not only super athletic, but he plays unbelievable defense and can provide some relief to DeAndre. 

Coming into this season many thought that the Hawks had an opportunity to start the season at least 2-0 before going to Gonzaga, however that will not be happening. This team can clearly compete due to the fact that on paper they have one of the best players in the A-10 in DeAndre Bembry. However, it looked like DeAndre felt some pressure in game one of the season.  This team will get it together and will be contenders in the A-10 this season, and against this Drexel team look for the starting lineup to become more stable and older. The lineup should be Chris, Evan, DeAndre, Brown, and Miles, with Javon coming up with some valuable minutes off the bench. This team has the talent to compete even though they lost their three main seniors last season.

The Hawk Will Never Die

-Pants

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Phil's Contract

In the city of Philadelphia the careers of coaches do not last very long. But, one head coach has remained constant for 20 seasons, which is Saint Joseph’s University’s Phil Martelli. 20 seasons Phil has been at the helm of the Hawks basketball team and now once more there are rumors that he is looking for an extension. Since 1995, Martelli has been providing HawkHill with great players and tremendous opportunities, leading the team to an undefeated season in 2004 and to the A-10 Championship last season. Now the question is brought up whether or not Phil actually deserves an extension or should 2016 be his final season.

Martelli  is in his 20^th year and has always been a sign of stability on HawkHill. Now the question is, does he deserve an extension. Many of the coaches in the A-10 who have recently had success have received extensions. Martelli’s current contract is worth in the neighborhood of $900,000; which for a coach of 20 years may not seem that much. The Hawk’s head coach’s last extension came after the last time the Hawks were in the tournament in 2008, for 8 years. In Martelli’s 19 years he has taken SJU to the NCAA tourney six times and won the A-10 Championship twice. In 2004, the year every Hawk team wants to replicate, the team had its undefeated season in 2004 and Phil was the Coach of the Year.

Though after the 2004 season Martelli and the Hawks seemed to struggle only providing above average teams with average talent. But, it now looks like Martelli has the Hawks on the right track once more, winning the A-10 Championship in 2014. This coming year is Coach Martelli’s biggest task. Phil does not want to fall into the same pattern like he and the team did the season after going undefeated. They played average and were not true competition to the league. This upcoming season Phil has players such as Bembry, Demery, and Miles. The Hawks look like they have the players that will allow them to compete for years to come and not play average the season after having successful.

Martelli has provided the Hawks with leadership that is unmatched and should be taken into consideration when extension time comes around for Phil. Phil Martelli has had his ups and downs as coach of the Hawks producing a career record of 362-247. HawkHill will not be the same if Coach Martelli leaves, and he deserves to have an extension. This team is finally turning things around, they are finally are the right track. There is only one man for the job, Phil Martelli. The Hawks have a promising future with DeAndre Bembry, a player that could potentially be A-10 Player of the Year. Who is better to coach him through his entire college career than Phil?

Saint Joseph’s University and Phil Martelli are both dedicated to one another. There is no question that he deserves an extension after the tournament birth and the conference championship. In addition he has positive momentum for better things to come with each recruiting class over the last few years being better than the last. The question for Don Dijulia and whoever makes the decision, is not whether if he deserves an extension, but how long it is for. He has two seasons left now. One thing that Phil should consider himself is if he is willing to coach in his seventies. Coach Martelli should at least be given the consideration for a contract extension until 2018, thus giving him enough time to finish off his goals at SJU.

-Brett