Around the Big East

Jack Williams said:
Dixon is a great player, but one could argue the team they have is way too centered around him. He's top 5 in usage rate in the country. People here thought Daniss "The ball hog" Jenkins had way too much usage, and his was 25.2. Dixon's is 34.5! That is nuts.

I think future Nova teams would be way better off as a balanced squad with multiple high level options.

But therein lies my other complaint about Neptune. He doesn't really know what he is doing assembling rosters, IMO. Boakye was a horrid pickup. Jhamir Brickus? What made him think Brickus was a good fit for the Big East? And when he does get talent, he struggles to implement them in any meaningful way. Anyone remember Cam Whitmore? Kid looked miserable the entire year he was there and he never worked on Nova, despite having obvious talent.

Dixon committed to play for Jay Wright and stuck around. I just don't see what Neptune has done, developmentally, recruiting, or coaching wise to inspire any confidence outside of that.
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To be fair Whitmore's been inconsistent and somewhat disappointing in the NBA as well.
 
dk423 said:
en.wikipedia.org

2006–07 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org

2007–08 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Their attendance during their last final four run + the year after. Interesting that, even in those good years, they did rely on BE competition to fill it up.

#11 in the nation and only 9k against STJ? Would never happen here.
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Still almost twice what they're getting now. That was my point.

PS forgot they got to the final four with that team. Jeff Green has been underrated for almost 20 years.
 
lawmanfan said:
These are both good points.

I do think that from what I've seen this year Neptune has had his team ready to play.

And I agree that veteran players (or clutch players) have a resiliency that is needed to win close games.

However with regard to Neptune, what troubles me is that last year I thought he made the least of the roster he had, and this year either his roster is not good outside of Dixon and Poplar or he hasn't figured out how to use it. And I have no idea what he does when Dixon leaves.

I also do not entirely agree that "routinely chokes away double digit leads" is strictly a player problem. If you're doing that repeatedly then unless your team is completely lacking in character it means that as a coach you aren't doing anything to stop the bleeding (slow reaction time in calling TOs and getting your troops organized) and/or the other team is making adjustments that you aren't responding to (again often a reaction-speed issue).

So I don't think you can hold the coach harmless and put it all on the players. Having vets like we do definitely helps. but so does good coaching.
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I am not at all saying Neptune is blameless, I really have no idea, but certainly it would seem ridiculous for him to not be some part of the problem, as I am sure Wright and K were in their respective situations. But part of the equation in deciding to keep or let a coach go is do the people making that decision see the path of improvement for that coach. IMO, you need to be “inside the circle” to make that evaluation, you need to see practices, interaction with coaching staff and players, etc.
 
Just me perhaps, but I think Chris Holtmann will turn DePaul around in a few years. He had some injuries this year, but more importantly he realizes DP needs to get bigger, stronger and add length to compete defensively. Sounds like a familiar plan. I assume he has adequate NIL $ too.
 
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I said back when SJU beat Xavier in OT I was glad SJU was done with them. I thought they would go on a run like SJU did last year at the end of the year.

And here we are, potential SJU/Xavier 12 PM game on Thursday.
 
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