Around the Big East 19/20

[quote="Paultzman" post=387273]Middle of BE is real progress & just as CMA fears no one, nor do his competitors. SJ is deservedly respected, not feared. Middle of pack means a Dance ticket. Better than that is gravy & certainly not impossible if wild card issues like injuries don’t arise. Just trying to be sensible. Step one, becoming a better road team.[/quote]

In order to be a top of the BE team you have to have "your guy." A go to player that can win you games when needed. They don't have to be a 1st team AA but they need to be someone that can hit a big shot or free throws. I don't know if we have that kind of player yet. LJ isn't really that guy, Dunn might be but was unable to do it last season, maybe Cole but we don't really know yet. Hopefully somebody emerges with this role when the time comes.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=387273]Middle of BE is real progress & just as CMA fears no one, nor do his competitors. SJ is deservedly respected, not feared. Middle of pack means a Dance ticket. Better than that is gravy & certainly not impossible if wild card issues like injuries don’t arise. Just trying to be sensible. Step one, becoming a better road team.[/quote]

Most logical and reasonable post on this thread. Good solid progress with players that fit and accept their roles irrespective of their prior rankings, go to class, cause no trouble, and steady progress at balancing the recruiting classes. Nothing overly sexy but building a very solid foundation much quicker than I thought possible.
 
[quote="Making Plays" post=387271]

Seems like his issues is him not recruiting the right kids that fit what he's trying to do. He's just grabbing the highest rated kids that he can, and it's not a fit. I've seen other coaches do this before, and it always backfires on them, [/quote]

This is the vicious cycle of pro sports in particular and big business in general. As the stakes get higher people make safer bets. When you have ratings and hype to support your choices, you rely on them. Crappy companies are full of this where managers make all their choices on this kind of CYA rather than the big picture (team) that require hard and unpopular choices. But the NCAA turning college basketball into a pro sport where everyone gets paid except the players, it is the same. But it is nice to see how in college basketball there are still plenty of break the mold choices that are successful with individual player choices, style of play and team building.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=387273]Middle of BE is real progress & just as CMA fears no one, nor do his competitors. SJ is deservedly respected, not feared. Middle of pack means a Dance ticket. Better than that is gravy & certainly not impossible if wild card issues like injuries don’t arise. Just trying to be sensible. Step one, becoming a better road team.[/quote]


Would certainly be a big step in the right direction
 
Big East membership impact obvious

UConn says it's selling basketball tix at a much faster pace than last season, more in the first two days than in the first six weeks in 2019.

@AmoreCourant
 
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[quote="Paultzman" post=387273]Middle of BE is real progress & just as CMA fears no one, nor do his competitors. SJ is deservedly respected, not feared. Middle of pack means a Dance ticket. Better than that is gravy & certainly not impossible if wild card issues like injuries don’t arise. Just trying to be sensible. Step one is becoming a better road team.[/quote]
Bulls-eye, Paultzman! Couldn't agree with you more.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=387265]SJU is top 4 with our roster of LJ js back and Anderson as coach. Zero doubt.[/quote]
Would not be surprised
 
[quote="Porgyman" post=387267][quote="Duke of Earlington" post=387266][quote="MCNPA" post=387265]SJU is top 4 with our roster of LJ js back and Anderson as coach. Zero doubt.[/quote]

I think top 3 and im being conservative. With saqiq bey and alexander gone, i think we have just as good a shot to win it all as nova or creighton does.

Nobody wants to play us. Thats a fact![/quote]
DOE - while I truly admire and applaud your optimism, ( and I don’t want to be Debbie Downer), I think that it’s premature to think that nobody wants to play us. Let’s win a game first. I’ve seen many a talent laden team that never gelled. I think that we will be ok, but on paper is different than on court.[/quote]
Think its an overreach to say that no one wants to play us but, if given a choice, I definitely think there are at least 6 teams that they rather play, Styles make fights and we don’t make it easy
 
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In terms of not wanting to play us, I think it's a sentiment that freshmen starters will often have at halftime of their first go-around with us thanks to our style. Arizona's stud freshmen were largely baffled by us, and I think at the very least our style will make this a common theme. Of course corrections will be made by the second meeting, but that first meeting could be hell for an unprepared frosh.

I'd love to say teams will fear us, but it's not like we are Larry Johnson and the Running Rebels.
 
[quote="L J S A" post=387373]In terms of not wanting to play us, I think it's a sentiment that freshmen starters will often have at halftime of their first go-around with us thanks to our style. Arizona's stud freshmen were largely baffled by us, and I think at the very least our style will make this a common theme. Of course corrections will be made by the second meeting, but that first meeting could be hell for an unprepared frosh.

I'd love to say teams will fear us, but it's not like we are Larry Johnson and the Running Rebels.[/quote]

Or Corlis Williamson and the Hogs who perfected 40 minutes of hell in the early 90s.
 
[quote="Duke of Earlington" post=387284]Why would McClung not have to sit out a year?[/quote]

He did miss 11 games due to foot injury, so maybe he thinks NCAA would allow him to play during second half of next year. Seems doubtful, imo. Losing a year of playing time would really set him back also. When was the last time a leading scorer transferred out of a high major. Can't see Ewing surviving this.
 
[quote="nycfan" post=387380][quote="Duke of Earlington" post=387284]Why would McClung not have to sit out a year?[/quote]

He did miss 11 games due to foot injury, so maybe he thinks NCAA would allow him to play during second half of next year. Seems doubtful, imo. Losing a year of playing time would really set him back also. When was the last time a leading scorer transferred out of a high major. Can't see Ewing surviving this.[/quote]

I agree. I dont see any way he can be immediately elogible.
 
Creighton will lose its leading scorer, Ty-Shon Alexander, to the NBA, but the return of Marcus Zegarowski, Denzel Mahoney, Mitch Ballock, Christian Bishop and likely Damien Jefferson (who has placed his name into the draft), should be enough for Greg McDermott’s bunch to overcome any uncertainty that the summer may bring. Throw in Antwann Jones, who was practicing all winter but sat out due to transfer restrictions, and the major players for Creighton next year will have had at least one full season of sharing the floor together.

That doesn’t include Jacob Epperson, who sat out last winter due to injury. With the Aussie big man healthy and the addition of four-star center Ryan Kalkbrenner down low, the Jays should be more than fine next season, with or without a full summer of development.

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals...ams-likely-to-thrive-despite-pandemic-hurdles
 
Saddiq Bey is expected to keep his name in the NBA Draft, and filling the primary scoring role will not be easy. However, practically all the other parts will return for Jay Wright in the fall, and it is always nice to have someone like Collin Gillespie, a player who has been there, done that - and more. Gillespie has appeared in close to 100 games and pairing him with more experienced players in Jermaine Samuels, Justin Moore, Cole Swider and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl will not hurt.

Wright would have loved to have seen the progressions that Bryan Antoine and Brandon Slater might have made this summer, but the concerns at Villanova are fewer than at many other programs. Tulane transfer Caleb Daniels will be available now, too, after practicing last winter.

https://basketballrecruiting.rivals...ams-likely-to-thrive-despite-pandemic-hurdles
 
Creighton and Nova will again be the top of the BE. After that throw most of the teams up in the air and see where they land. (Lets exclude Gtown and DePaul from this exercise)
 
[quote="Moose" post=387424]Creighton and Nova will again be the top of the BE. After that throw most of the teams up in the air and see where they land. (Lets exclude Gtown and DePaul from this exercise)[/quote]

You could make a case we are right there with them. But due to our recent history, we will have to earn it. To start the season, St johns is in the next tier of big east teams just below creighton and nova.
 
[quote="Duke of Earlington" post=387426][quote="Moose" post=387424]Creighton and Nova will again be the top of the BE. After that throw most of the teams up in the air and see where they land. (Lets exclude Gtown and DePaul from this exercise)[/quote]

You could make a case we are right there with them. But due to our recent history, we will have to earn it. To start the season, St johns is in the next tier of big east teams just below creighton and nova.[/quote]

No I can’t. Nor can any sane SJU fan. Love this team just as much as anyone but people are choosing to remember the last 3.5 games of the year and putting way too much emphasis on it.

Creighton and Nova have PROVEN it for years. That’s called a safe bet. If you want to include SJU in the tier under that sure but it’s a tier. It’s not a sure fire 3 or 4 or 5. It’s a few teams jumbled together.
 
[quote="Moose" post=387428][quote="Duke of Earlington" post=387426][quote="Moose" post=387424]Creighton and Nova will again be the top of the BE. After that throw most of the teams up in the air and see where they land. (Lets exclude Gtown and DePaul from this exercise)[/quote]

You could make a case we are right there with them. But due to our recent history, we will have to earn it. To start the season, St johns is in the next tier of big east teams just below creighton and nova.[/quote]

No I can’t. Nor can any sane SJU fan. Love this team just as much as anyone but people are choosing to remember the last 3.5 games of the year and putting way too much emphasis on it.

Creighton and Nova have PROVEN it for years. That’s called a safe bet. If you want to include SJU in the tier under that sure but it’s a tier. It’s not a sure fire 3 or 4 or 5. It’s a few teams jumbled together.[/quote]

Agree. We are in the bottom tier until we prove otherwise. I remember all the hype about Keita, Obepka, Steere, etc. Let's see what they can do on the court before making any pronouncements.
 
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I have a different view. Last year we FAR surpassed expectations with the roster we had. Mike Anderson gonna exceed them again, with a bunch more talent because he’s as consistent as the sun rising in the morning.
 
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