jerseyshorejohnny
Well-known member
Big East
Things are a bit odd in the Big East: With the possible exception of Marquette, which has earned a bit of S-Curve separation, basically every team in the remote tournament picture is somewhere between a No. 7 and a No. 11 seed. It’s early, and lots of stuff could happen — maybe Georgetown or Xavier makes a big second-half run? — but after years of Big East teams ranging up and down the bracket, this group is neither flirting with a top seed nor deep on the bubble fringe. It just feels kind of weird, is all.
Should be in: Marquette
Work to do: Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Creighton, Butler
Marquette (14-3, 3-1 – NET: 19, SOS: 39): Let’s take a brief moment to appreciate the line guard Markus Howard put up in Omaha last week: 53 points, six assists, two rebounds, and a block, on 15-of-26 from the field, 13-of-15 from the free throw line and — wait for it — 10-of-14 from 3. Ten of 14! OK, sure, Howard had nine turnovers as well. Honestly, who cares? He scored 53 points in 43 minutes!
The encore against Seton Hall last Saturday — when Howard needed 20 attempts to score 26 points — was him drifting ever so slightly back toward the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. He still put up six assists, six boards and two steals along the way. His usage and shot rates both lead the Big East, so the product isn’t always going to be hyper-efficient, but to paraphrase Kevin Gates, Howard looks like he’s balling ’cause he’s really balling.
Villanova (13-4, 4-0 – NET: 29, SOS: 12): Don’t count out the Wildcats just yet. The non-conference work and the résumé it might produce may not match the dominance of recent years, sure. But after last week’s wins over St. John’s and Creighton — the latter of which saw Nova throw up 90 points in 70 possessions on the road — Jay Wright’s team is looking more and more familiar, especially on offense.
Seton Hall (12-5, 3-2 – NET: 39, SOS: 13): Like so much of the Big East lately, the Pirates have been living on the edge. On Jan. 6, they lost a one-point game at DePaul; three days later, they held on by a point against Butler at home. On Saturday, they pushed Marquette to the finish in Milwaukee, only to come up a couple of makes short. Now it’s off to Providence, where KenPom.com’s predicted result is a 71-70 SHU loss. Who knew a pirate’s life was this stressful?
St. John’s (14-3, 2-3 – NET: 37, SOS: 73): Last week we waxed rhapsodic about Shamorie Ponds, Mustapha Heron and a team taking a massive post-rebuild return to relevance. Naturally, the Red Storm lost their next two games, at Villanova on Tuesday (forgivable) and at home to DePaul on Saturday (not so much). This isn’t a full-blown Bubble Watch Curse situation just yet, but we’ll keep an eye on it just in case.
Creighton (10-7, 1-3 – NET: 55, SOS: 9): You’d assume in such a small sample size that the most efficient offense in Big East play would be the one with the dude who scored 53 points. Incorrect! It’s actually Creighton. True story. Unfortunately, the Bluejays are the Big East’s worst defensive team by, like, a lot. (If you didn’t know and were forced to guess on whom Howard hung his 53 points, you’d guess Creighton.) In its own building, Creighton allowed 1.21 points per possession in its first four league games. It scored 1.15. Greg McDermott’s team has yet to take a genuinely bad loss in any of its seven. The underlying per-trip math is troubling all the same.
Butler (10-7, 1-3 – NET: 48, SOS: 22): Tough few days for Blue III’s boys last week. Back-to-back trips to Seton Hall and (rebuilding but competitive) Xavier were always going to be tough, of course, but the way the week worked out — with two intense, hard-fought, one-point losses — might be more frustrating than if Butler had just gotten blown out. (Process over result, sure, but still.) On Saturday, the Bulldogs finally get back to Hinkle, but not before they have to get back from DePaul without making it three in a row.
Things are a bit odd in the Big East: With the possible exception of Marquette, which has earned a bit of S-Curve separation, basically every team in the remote tournament picture is somewhere between a No. 7 and a No. 11 seed. It’s early, and lots of stuff could happen — maybe Georgetown or Xavier makes a big second-half run? — but after years of Big East teams ranging up and down the bracket, this group is neither flirting with a top seed nor deep on the bubble fringe. It just feels kind of weird, is all.
Should be in: Marquette
Work to do: Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s, Creighton, Butler
Marquette (14-3, 3-1 – NET: 19, SOS: 39): Let’s take a brief moment to appreciate the line guard Markus Howard put up in Omaha last week: 53 points, six assists, two rebounds, and a block, on 15-of-26 from the field, 13-of-15 from the free throw line and — wait for it — 10-of-14 from 3. Ten of 14! OK, sure, Howard had nine turnovers as well. Honestly, who cares? He scored 53 points in 43 minutes!
The encore against Seton Hall last Saturday — when Howard needed 20 attempts to score 26 points — was him drifting ever so slightly back toward the outer reaches of Earth’s atmosphere. He still put up six assists, six boards and two steals along the way. His usage and shot rates both lead the Big East, so the product isn’t always going to be hyper-efficient, but to paraphrase Kevin Gates, Howard looks like he’s balling ’cause he’s really balling.
Villanova (13-4, 4-0 – NET: 29, SOS: 12): Don’t count out the Wildcats just yet. The non-conference work and the résumé it might produce may not match the dominance of recent years, sure. But after last week’s wins over St. John’s and Creighton — the latter of which saw Nova throw up 90 points in 70 possessions on the road — Jay Wright’s team is looking more and more familiar, especially on offense.
Seton Hall (12-5, 3-2 – NET: 39, SOS: 13): Like so much of the Big East lately, the Pirates have been living on the edge. On Jan. 6, they lost a one-point game at DePaul; three days later, they held on by a point against Butler at home. On Saturday, they pushed Marquette to the finish in Milwaukee, only to come up a couple of makes short. Now it’s off to Providence, where KenPom.com’s predicted result is a 71-70 SHU loss. Who knew a pirate’s life was this stressful?
St. John’s (14-3, 2-3 – NET: 37, SOS: 73): Last week we waxed rhapsodic about Shamorie Ponds, Mustapha Heron and a team taking a massive post-rebuild return to relevance. Naturally, the Red Storm lost their next two games, at Villanova on Tuesday (forgivable) and at home to DePaul on Saturday (not so much). This isn’t a full-blown Bubble Watch Curse situation just yet, but we’ll keep an eye on it just in case.
Creighton (10-7, 1-3 – NET: 55, SOS: 9): You’d assume in such a small sample size that the most efficient offense in Big East play would be the one with the dude who scored 53 points. Incorrect! It’s actually Creighton. True story. Unfortunately, the Bluejays are the Big East’s worst defensive team by, like, a lot. (If you didn’t know and were forced to guess on whom Howard hung his 53 points, you’d guess Creighton.) In its own building, Creighton allowed 1.21 points per possession in its first four league games. It scored 1.15. Greg McDermott’s team has yet to take a genuinely bad loss in any of its seven. The underlying per-trip math is troubling all the same.
Butler (10-7, 1-3 – NET: 48, SOS: 22): Tough few days for Blue III’s boys last week. Back-to-back trips to Seton Hall and (rebuilding but competitive) Xavier were always going to be tough, of course, but the way the week worked out — with two intense, hard-fought, one-point losses — might be more frustrating than if Butler had just gotten blown out. (Process over result, sure, but still.) On Saturday, the Bulldogs finally get back to Hinkle, but not before they have to get back from DePaul without making it three in a row.