Athlon Sports 2017-18 Preview

NYCRedmen

NYCRedmen

Well-known member
Picked up my copy today, a few things worth noting:

-the St. John's write was before Sid Wilson left, so you need to factor that in to anything that you read about St. John's
-they are only predicting 4 Big East teams to make the NCAAs, I think that is kind of low
-St. John's predicted to finish in 5th place (not sure how much Wilson's departure would have changed the writer's option)
-The overall projected order of finish is:
1-Villanova
2-Xavier
3-Seton Hall
4-Providence
5-St. John's
6-Creighton
7-Marquette
8-Butler
9-DePaul
10-Georgetown

I am attaching a copy of the St. John's write up
[attachment]201709151443.pdf[/attachment]
 
seems pretty accurate. Top 3 is a tossup to me. I'm tempted to say Nova is a year away and pick SHU #1 but Brunson could elevate the team and make up for some inexperience. Would not be shocked to see Xavier, SHU or even Prov end up at #1 in conference by the end of the season.


Picked up my copy today, a few things worth noting:

-the St. John's write was before Sid Wilson left, so you need to factor that in to anything that you read about St. John's
-they are only predicting 4 Big East teams to make the NCAAs, I think that is kind of low
-St. John's predicted to finish in 5th place (not sure how much Wilson's departure would have changed the writer's option)
-The overall projected order of finish is:
1-Villanova
2-Xavier
3-Seton Hall
4-Providence
5-St. John's
6-Creighton
7-Marquette
8-Butler
9-DePaul
10-Georgetown

I am attaching a copy of the St. John's write up
[attachment]201709151443.pdf[/attachment]
Click to expand...
 
Picked up my copy today, a few things worth noting:

-the St. John's write was before Sid Wilson left, so you need to factor that in to anything that you read about St. John's
-they are only predicting 4 Big East teams to make the NCAAs, I think that is kind of low
-St. John's predicted to finish in 5th place (not sure how much Wilson's departure would have changed the writer's option)
-The overall projected order of finish is:
1-Villanova
2-Xavier
3-Seton Hall
4-Providence
5-St. John's
6-Creighton
7-Marquette
8-Butler
9-DePaul
10-Georgetown

I am attaching a copy of the St. John's write up
[attachment]201709151443.pdf[/attachment]
Click to expand...

Seemed like the writer was more impressed with Trimble then Wilson. Well written and maybe they read Redmen.com.
 
Hard to believe that Georgetown is predicted to finish last
Who ever thought that that could ever happen?
However, since I hate them the most, it puts a huge smile on my face :lol:
 
seems pretty accurate. Top 3 is a tossup to me. I'm tempted to say Nova is a year away and pick SHU #1 but Brunson could elevate the team and make up for some inexperience. Would not be shocked to see Xavier, SHU or even Prov end up at #1 in conference by the end of the season.


Picked up my copy today, a few things worth noting:

-the St. John's write was before Sid Wilson left, so you need to factor that in to anything that you read about St. John's
-they are only predicting 4 Big East teams to make the NCAAs, I think that is kind of low
-St. John's predicted to finish in 5th place (not sure how much Wilson's departure would have changed the writer's option)
-The overall projected order of finish is:
1-Villanova
2-Xavier
3-Seton Hall
4-Providence
5-St. John's
6-Creighton
7-Marquette
8-Butler
9-DePaul
10-Georgetown

I am attaching a copy of the St. John's write up
[attachment]201709151443.pdf[/attachment]
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Agree with you Paul regarding the Top 3 being interchangeable and SHU possibly having the edge on paper. They are absolutely loaded.

That said the formula for Nova might be there again, even if not at the level it was the past two years. Brunson as the upperclassmen centerpiece as you noted - their ability to retain players that are starters/contributors as freshman that develop into stars or something close to it as juniors/seniors is uncanny and enviable. Another year older for Bridges, Paschall, and DiVincenzo (who is an x-factor for them IMO and could be next in line for aforementioned Brunson dynamic) after getting major minutes last year. Effectively a Spellman/Samuels recruiting class. And then getting Booth back.

Know I'm not saying anything new here, and no doubt Hart/Jenkins/Reynolds a lot to replace and even with Spellman they are not deep up front yet again. For SJU purposes they are probably as beatable as they've been in quite some time. But pretty impressive that they can lose that level of their core to graduation and put the rotation on the floor they are projected to this year...and have the possibility to return that entire group next year + add to it. That's a program that's just running downhill at this point.
 
Booth is back now too for Nova but who knows what the extended knee rehab means. But definitely adds some experience.
 
Final Analysis is spot on regarding our defense. I think we either show vast improvement or struggle based on our commitment to the defensive side of the ball. We'll just have to wait and see.
 
Final Analysis is spot on regarding our defense. I think we either show vast improvement or struggle based on our commitment to the defensive side of the ball. We'll just have to wait and see.
Click to expand...

Agree, if they, especially Ponds & LoVett, don't improve dramatically defensively, there will be no "dancing" in my opinion. The continued inability to stop penetration will just put too much pressure on the interior guys, where depth is lacking. In that case, going to the NIT with 17 wins seems reasonable. Improve the defense substantially, get lucky on the injury front & making the NCAA T seems feasible.
 
Fist off I like the overall evaluation of our team, but heres my problem with that edition. They don't have St Johns as a top backcourt in the country. We clearly have a deep backcourt with proven players that are at the top of the conference in scoring. Second is how do they not have Ponds in the top 100 players? Look at that list, Id have Ponds and LoVett ahead of a bunch of those guys. I guess we will see who's right. Hopefully me!
 
Final Analysis is spot on regarding our defense. I think we either show vast improvement or struggle based on our commitment to the defensive side of the ball. We'll just have to wait and see.
Click to expand...

Agree, if they, especially Ponds & LoVett, don't improve dramatically defensively, there will be no "dancing" in my opinion. The continued inability to stop penetration will just put too much pressure on the interior guys, where depth is lacking. In that case, going to the NIT with 17 wins seems reasonable. Improve the defense substantially, get lucky on the injury front & making the NCAA T seems feasible.
Click to expand...

Agree Paultz. Commitment, effort, and technique obviously the foundation, many or all of which were lacking at so many times last year, and difficult to get much traction without improvement in those regards. That said three reasons I'm cautiously optimistic:

1. Positive impact that the addition of stronger defenders (Simon/Clark) can have in pushing rest of team.

2. Potential for there to be a genuine defensive lineup without completely giving everything away on the offensive end, which was not really an option last year. Owens, Clark, Ahmed (a better defender than he generally gets credit for), and Simon is a group unlikely to get overwhelmed defensively as we too often did last year. You add Ponds as a 5th, not a strong on-ball defender last year, but when engaged was extremely effective in the team concept (home Marq, SHU, and GTown as key examples, doubling bigs and disruptive in passing lanes), and you have a group that has potential to be defensive-oriented but can still score. See what Trimble may have to offer here as well.

3. It was there in a big way enough times last year to at least offer hope for improvement with added year of experience. Home Butler, Marq, Seton Hall, and GTown 2x (including BET). It wasn't there a lot more times than that, so goes back to consistency in foundational respects.
 
Final Analysis is spot on regarding our defense. I think we either show vast improvement or struggle based on our commitment to the defensive side of the ball. We'll just have to wait and see.
Click to expand...

Agree, if they, especially Ponds & LoVett, don't improve dramatically defensively, there will be no "dancing" in my opinion. The continued inability to stop penetration will just put too much pressure on the interior guys, where depth is lacking. In that case, going to the NIT with 17 wins seems reasonable. Improve the defense substantially, get lucky on the injury front & making the NCAA T seems feasible.
Click to expand...

Agree Paultz. Commitment, effort, and technique obviously the foundation, many or all of which were lacking at so many times last year, and difficult to get much traction without improvement in those regards. That said three reasons I'm cautiously optimistic:

1. Positive impact that the addition of stronger defenders (Simon/Clark) can have in pushing rest of team.

2. Potential for there to be a genuine defensive lineup without completely giving everything away on the offensive end, which was not really an option last year. Owens, Clark, Ahmed (a better defender than he generally gets credit for), and Simon is a group unlikely to get overwhelmed defensively as we too often did last year. You add Ponds as a 5th, not a strong on-ball defender last year, but when engaged was extremely effective in the team concept (home Marq, SHU, and GTown as key examples, doubling bigs and disruptive in passing lanes), and you have a group that has potential to be defensive-oriented but can still score. See what Trimble may have to offer here as well.

3. It was there in a big way enough times last year to at least offer hope for improvement with added year of experience. Home Butler, Marq, Seton Hall, and GTown 2x (including BET). It wasn't there a lot more times than that, so goes back to consistency in foundational respects.
Click to expand...

I also think the addition of Simon and Clark can have an impact on the other guys becoming better defenders. They both seem to be leaders on this team and everybody else respects them. Other guys seeing Clark and Simon giving all out effort can rub off quickly.
 
Agree, if they, especially Ponds & LoVett, don't improve dramatically defensively, there will be no "dancing" in my opinion. The continued inability to stop penetration will just put too much pressure on the interior guys, where depth is lacking. In that case, going to the NIT with 17 wins seems reasonable. Improve the defense substantially, get lucky on the injury front & making the NCAA T seems feasible.
Click to expand...

Agree with that but Simon will help regardless. But those two elevating their defense makes them top national players and makes us a complete team even if we don't have an aircraft carrier in the middle.
 
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