Around the Big East 19/20

[quote="MCNPA" post=387433]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.[/quote]

I dont think we far exceeded expectations. We finished where I personally felt we would. Just above 500. We finished also just where the experts predicted us as well. Again I'm very happy with the hands were in and expect naturally this year to be better. But people who want to put us in the Creighton and Nova tier clearly need to go out and get some fresh air.

The BE is 3 groups. Creighton and Nova Tier 1. Gtown and DePaul Tier 3. Everyone else in Tier 2. And yes up to 5 teams can safely dance from Tier 2 probably.
 
[quote="Paultzman" post=387419]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[/quote]

They also had two late European recruits, a post player and a highly regarded point guard.
 
I tend to look at the glass half full but I definitely feel SJU has a reasonable shot at competing for finishing in the top tier of the big east next season. Last season SJU had games where they forced turnovers in the high teens and even in the low twenties and lost games.
It is an incredible stat but just shows how bad their half court offense was. If all of the following events occur we may be in for an enjoyable season:
1 the pressure defense with a bigger roster and a year's experience continues to shine
2 Earlington's year end outside shooting proves to be no fluke
3 Champagnie's game continues to improve
4 Cole turns out to be one of the big easts top additions because of his outside shooting skills and SJU's need for that skill
5 With Earlington and Cole providing scoring LJ ( hopefully coming back ) has less pressure on him to score and his overall offensive game improves
6 Dunn leaves the outside shooting to the above
 
Enright wrote: I tend to look at the glass half full but I definitely feel SJU has a reasonable shot at competing for finishing in the top tier of the big east next season. Last season SJU had games where they forced turnovers in the high teens and even in the low twenties and lost games.
It is an incredible stat but just shows how bad their half court offense was. If all of the following events occur we may be in for an enjoyable season:
1 the pressure defense with a bigger roster and a year's experience continues to shine
2 Earlington's year end outside shooting proves to be no fluke
3 Champagnie's game continues to improve
4 Cole turns out to be one of the big easts top additions because of his outside shooting skills and SJU's need for that skill
5 With Earlington and Cole providing scoring LJ ( hopefully coming back ) has less pressure on him to score and his overall offensive game improves
6 Dunn leaves the outside shooting to the above

Only item I'd add to the above (and I think it's very likely) is Greg Williams continues his incremental improvement and becomes a more than solid two way guard for us.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=387442]Enright wrote: I tend to look at the glass half full but I definitely feel SJU has a reasonable shot at competing for finishing in the top tier of the big east next season. Last season SJU had games where they forced turnovers in the high teens and even in the low twenties and lost games.
It is an incredible stat but just shows how bad their half court offense was. If all of the following events occur we may be in for an enjoyable season:
1 the pressure defense with a bigger roster and a year's experience continues to shine
2 Earlington's year end outside shooting proves to be no fluke
3 Champagnie's game continues to improve
4 Cole turns out to be one of the big easts top additions because of his outside shooting skills and SJU's need for that skill
5 With Earlington and Cole providing scoring LJ ( hopefully coming back ) has less pressure on him to score and his overall offensive game improves
6 Dunn leaves the outside shooting to the above

Only item I'd add to the above (and I think it's very likely) is Greg Williams continues his incremental improvement and becomes a more than solid two way guard for us.[/quote]

Williams has to be more aggressive both driving and shooting on offense or Cole will take a bigger chunk of his minutes.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=387445][quote="NCJohnnie" post=387442]Enright wrote: I tend to look at the glass half full but I definitely feel SJU has a reasonable shot at competing for finishing in the top tier of the big east next season. Last season SJU had games where they forced turnovers in the high teens and even in the low twenties and lost games.
It is an incredible stat but just shows how bad their half court offense was. If all of the following events occur we may be in for an enjoyable season:
1 the pressure defense with a bigger roster and a year's experience continues to shine
2 Earlington's year end outside shooting proves to be no fluke
3 Champagnie's game continues to improve
4 Cole turns out to be one of the big easts top additions because of his outside shooting skills and SJU's need for that skill
5 With Earlington and Cole providing scoring LJ ( hopefully coming back ) has less pressure on him to score and his overall offensive game improves
6 Dunn leaves the outside shooting to the above

Only item I'd add to the above (and I think it's very likely) is Greg Williams continues his incremental improvement and becomes a more than solid two way guard for us.[/quote]

Williams has to be more aggressive both driving and shooting on offense or Cole will take a bigger chunk of his minutes.[/quote]

i dont see williams's role changing much. I think he will come off the bench and provide solid minutes for us. Just like he did last year.

I believe Cole is going to take the starting 2 guard spot right away and never look back.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=387442]Enright wrote: I tend to look at the glass half full but I definitely feel SJU has a reasonable shot at competing for finishing in the top tier of the big east next season. Last season SJU had games where they forced turnovers in the high teens and even in the low twenties and lost games.
It is an incredible stat but just shows how bad their half court offense was. If all of the following events occur we may be in for an enjoyable season:
1 the pressure defense with a bigger roster and a year's experience continues to shine
2 Earlington's year end outside shooting proves to be no fluke
3 Champagnie's game continues to improve
4 Cole turns out to be one of the big easts top additions because of his outside shooting skills and SJU's need for that skill
5 With Earlington and Cole providing scoring LJ ( hopefully coming back ) has less pressure on him to score and his overall offensive game improves
6 Dunn leaves the outside shooting to the above

Only item I'd add to the above (and I think it's very likely) is Greg Williams continues his incremental improvement and becomes a more than solid two way guard for us.[/quote]

How about Greg Williams plays the entire season like he did the last few games, when he was healthy and had regained his confidence. His last few games were really good. Play at that level for 30 games and I would be delighted.
 
[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. [/quote]

Not really. The team finished strong winning three of their last 4 but it did lose 7 of their last 11. Is there reason for optimism. Sure is. But let's not be delusional.
 
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I would also like to see better rebounding and think we will have that be it from Toro, Moore or the team as a whole.
 
This is going to be a very interesting season for Williams. I can see him either really exploding into a star or regressing back to where he was. This may be hyperbole but when he's playing with confidence, I genuinely think he looks like one of the better players in the Big East. His athleticism is crazy, he has pretty good defensive fundamentals, he plays tremendously hard and he appears to be very coachable. If he can stay confident in his outside shot (like towards the end of last season) and gain some consistency (injury free would be good) then he's a star to me. I wouldn't bet my savings that he will end up that but I do think that's his potential.

And yes I know Cole is coming in and I'm also excited to see him in action but I'm not worried about playing time. Especially with Anderson. If you're being productive he will get you on the floor. Also in the modern game all you really need is one guard with legit PG skills and one big who can protect the rim and hopefully add a different dimension on offense. Those last 3 spots (unless matchups dictate otherwise) should be your 3 best players available. Sometimes we (myself included) get too caught up in positions 1-5 that are quickly becoming obsolete (if they aren't already) There's guards, wings and bigs.
 
I can easily foresee a lineup including 4 of Cole, Figgy, Willams, Posh /or Dunn and a big getting some time.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=387478]I can easily foresee a lineup including 4 of Cole, Figgy, Willams, Posh /or Dunn and a big getting some time.[/quote]

Totally NCJohnnie. On paper it seems like we may have a number of guys with overlapping skill sets (Dunn, Posh, McGriff for example) but an interchangeable team is so dangerous. Especially with a coach who has shown he understands that it's a weapon and uses it.

I know there were depth issues and Mullin's coaching ability can be a delicate topic but I think if Owens had stayed here for the 18-19 season we would have had a very different season. Even before we knew how good he'd be a Texas Tech that year. He was playing really well towards the end of 17-18. If we had Owens as our main big instead of Clarke (Keita doesn't count) I don't think we'd just be a First Four and out type of team. Ponds as the lead guard, Owens as the big and then Simon, Clarke, Heron and LJ who are basically all just wings with slightly different strengths and weaknesses. That's a really versatile team. Instead Owens leaves, Trimble gets bumped up to 6th man (tough kid but clearly over his head in that role) Clarke has to guard bigs and picks up dumb foul after dumb foul (not always his fault, I remain a big fan of his) and instead of this scary, athletic, versatile team we're suddenly just a team of 5 pretty good guys who don't make a ton of sense together. That (even more than Lovett disappearing) is my biggest "what if?" for St John's of the last decade.

Forgive this long, hypothetical rant about the team from 2 seasons ago but I've been locked inside my home for months now. I don't have much going on...
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=387478]I can easily foresee a lineup including 4 of Cole, Figgy, Willams, Posh /or Dunn and a big getting some time.[/quote]


I have Dunn, Cole, LJ, Champagnie and Toro or Earlington.
 
It's starting to look like we have a full roster of thirteen players, who are legitimate division one players, and who will all contribute, in one way or another. Coach's biggest problem will be deciding on playing time.
 
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Just watched a short Jon Rothstein video on Facebook in which he previewed the 2020-21 Big East season.

He said the Nova is clearly the favorite (with or without Bey) and Creighton is clearly number two. He said that Yukon, Providence and Seton Hall make up the "second tier" and that the rest of the teams are jumbled and could finish in any order.

I really think that our team has the potential to prove him wrong. IMO, if the returning players continue to develop as they did during the past season and some of the newcomers are ready to contribute right away, a fourth or fifth place finish is entirely possible. We will certainly be a formidable opponent for anyone in our league and capable of beating any team on any given night.
 
[quote="MarkRedman" post=387536]Just watched a short Jon Rothstein video on Facebook in which he previewed the 2020-21 Big East season.

He said the Nova is clearly the favorite (with or without Bey) and Creighton is clearly number two. He said that Yukon, Providence and Seton Hall make up the "second tier" and that the rest of the teams are jumbled and could finish in any order.

I really think that our team has the potential to prove him wrong. IMO, if the returning players continue to develop as they did during the past season and some of the newcomers are ready to contribute right away, a fourth or fifth place finish is entirely possible. We will certainly be a formidable opponent for anyone in our league and capable of beating any team on any given night.[/quote]

We will have the talent and depth to be a top 5 team.
 
Agree, assuming no injuries or defections, I see us as ahead of the Hall for sure and no worse than 5th.
 
[quote="NCJohnnie" post=387541]Agree, assuming no injuries or defections, I see us as ahead of the Hall for sure and no worse than 5th.[/quote]

I’m not really figuring out why the Hall is near the top? They lose Powell, Gill and McKnight. Those are 3 pretty irreplaceable guys. Mamu, Cale, Obiago and the Harvard transfer and whomever else doesn’t seem enough to put them that high. Maybe I’m missing something.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=387543][quote="NCJohnnie" post=387541]Agree, assuming no injuries or defections, I see us as ahead of the Hall for sure and no worse than 5th.[/quote]

I’m not really figuring out why the Hall is near the top? They lose Powell, Gill and McKnight. Those are 3 pretty irreplaceable guys. Mamu, Cale, Obiago and the Harvard transfer and whomever else doesn’t seem enough to put them that high. Maybe I’m missing something.[/quote]
While nice players Gill and McKnight can hardly be considered "irreplaceable".
 
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