Does 10-8 get us

A nice byproduct of last night's W is that the next two games are now "house money" games. We got the split we needed from Gtown/UConn, and can play pressure-free against Cuse/Lville knowing that 0-2 doesn't really change things. Having that kind of confident, little downside mindset is usually when you steal one.

Really intrigued by what we can do offensively against Cuse with the emergence of Marco. He really changes the dynamic in terms of teams being able to zone us when he's on the floor (as was the case last night). Cuse is obviously going to zone us anyway, and if we can get he and D-Lo going at the same time from 3 we could be really dangerous (acknowledging that you don't want to rely on the 3 to beat a zone, but the simple fact remains we'll have to knock some down if we want to win that game).
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Jakarr or Sir Dom with early baskets off foul line jumpers against Syracuse would open the game up for Marco and 3Lo.
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100%. I'm sure the staff has seen or will soon see the way Pitt attacked the zone on Saturday, as that was masterful. They were patient and did a great job of getting the ball to the soft spots on the interior of the zone. They were able to run a little more high-low action than we'll likely be able to because of their size and their bigs ability to create and hold space at the rim, but we're better equipped to catch and shoot from 12-15 ft as you mention.

The biggest thing Saturday will be our ability to keep them off the offensive glass. They're 11th in the country in team rebounding, and if we don't wrap up defensive possessions we're going to have a tough time winning the game.
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Need Branch to attack the zone otherwise if he doesn't play its pretty much all for naught.

Other x factor is if Southerland magically becomes eligible just in time for us.
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Good point, his ability to penetrate would be a big plus. My seats are on the other side of the court and wasn't watching that closely but it looked like he was moving around alright? Was sitting on the bench with both legs bent, didn't look like he was in a brace to keep it straight or anything. Anyone get a better look? Not that it changes the probability of him playing Saturday or not, but in terms of big-picture outlook the way he looked seemed positive.
 
We will not be able to score inside against Cuse. No way.

We'll need that Jakarr FT line jumper to be as consistent as it has ever been and we need outside shooting (ball reversal). Having Branch would help immensely in that ball reversal because when Branch is out, D'Lo handles the ball too much and can't get his shot off.

Going to take a miracle for Obekpa not to get in foul trouble. And if Dom can stay out of foul trouble sticking MCW.

But we need D'Lo to have a 20+ point game. He has to go off. Not enough scoring out there because Phil cannot and should not be relied upon.
 
I don't think 18 or 19 wins get us in either without a Syracuse or Louisville "signature" win. When I'm not watching St. John's, I'm watching IU and the rest of the Big Ten. The difference in conference strength this season is night and day and I don't see the BE carrying that many teams this year. I was a little bummed watching Florida get blown out by Arkansas because we may have to compare resumes with a school like that and have our bubble burst. Of course, I agree with you all that this conversation being a legitimate one at this point of the season (especially after our first loss to G-town) is a welcome one.
 
A nice byproduct of last night's W is that the next two games are now "house money" games. We got the split we needed from Gtown/UConn, and can play pressure-free against Cuse/Lville knowing that 0-2 doesn't really change things. Having that kind of confident, little downside mindset is usually when you steal one.

Really intrigued by what we can do offensively against Cuse with the emergence of Marco. He really changes the dynamic in terms of teams being able to zone us when he's on the floor (as was the case last night). Cuse is obviously going to zone us anyway, and if we can get he and D-Lo going at the same time from 3 we could be really dangerous (acknowledging that you don't want to rely on the 3 to beat a zone, but the simple fact remains we'll have to knock some down if we want to win that game).
Click to expand...

Jakarr or Sir Dom with early baskets off foul line jumpers against Syracuse would open the game up for Marco and 3Lo.
Click to expand...

100%. I'm sure the staff has seen or will soon see the way Pitt attacked the zone on Saturday, as that was masterful. They were patient and did a great job of getting the ball to the soft spots on the interior of the zone. They were able to run a little more high-low action than we'll likely be able to because of their size and their bigs ability to create and hold space at the rim, but we're better equipped to catch and shoot from 12-15 ft as you mention.

The biggest thing Saturday will be our ability to keep them off the offensive glass. They're 11th in the country in team rebounding, and if we don't wrap up defensive possessions we're going to have a tough time winning the game.
Click to expand...

Need Branch to attack the zone otherwise if he doesn't play its pretty much all for naught.

Other x factor is if Southerland magically becomes eligible just in time for us.
Click to expand...

Good point, his ability to penetrate would be a big plus. My seats are on the other side of the court and wasn't watching that closely but it looked like he was moving around alright? Was sitting on the bench with both legs bent, didn't look like he was in a brace to keep it straight or anything. Anyone get a better look? Not that it changes the probability of him playing Saturday or not, but in terms of big-picture outlook the way he looked seemed positive.
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He was limping pretty good to be honest.
 
I don't think 18 or 19 wins get us in either without a Syracuse or Louisville "signature" win.
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I disagree. I think if we were to beat either Syracuse or Louisville, and end up with 10 conference wins, then we are going to the NCAA Tournament. Especially, if those 10 conference wins places us amongst the top 7 teams in the Big East (which, in all likelihood, will be the case).

Regardless, I think we're gonna need 10 or 11 conference wins to get us in, period. I'm also hoping this group can win a couple of games in the Big East tournament to help their resume'. Get 11 regular season conference wins and win two (or more games) in the conference tournament, and I will have no doubts our ticket will be punched on Selection Sunday.
 
The other questions should be does 10 wins gets Lavin the BE Coach of the Year award? As we all know, the team was picked at the bottom of the standings. If they can finish in the top 5 or 6 in the conference standings, wouldn't that warrant the Award?

To me, PItino and Boeheim have all the talent in the world and were predicted to finish atop the standings. I guess you could make a case for Buzz at Marquette, but other than that, Lavin has to be considered.
 
The other questions should be does 10 wins gets Lavin the BE Coach of the Year award? As we all know, the team was picked at the bottom of the standings. If they can finish in the top 5 or 6 in the conference standings, wouldn't that warrant the Award?

To me, PItino and Boeheim have all the talent in the world and were predicted to finish atop the standings. I guess you could make a case for Buzz at Marquette, but other than that, Lavin has to be considered.
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No.

I think JTIII, Pitino and Boeheim are all ahead of Lavin.
 
5 of our last 7 games are against currently ranked teams. If we win 4, that would include 2 more wins against ranked teams and I think that gets us close to a bid. A win against the Cuse or Louisville among those 4 would get us even closer. To be a lock I think we need to win 5 of 7.
 
5 of our last 7 games are against currently ranked teams. If we win 4, that would include 2 more wins against ranked teams and I think that gets us close to a bid. A win against the Cuse or Louisville among those 4 would get us even closer. To be a lock I think we need to win 5 of 7.
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Agree here. 4 wins in the next 7 games of the reg season gets us to 19 wins. I am in the boat that we need to get to 20 wins, regardless of opponent down the stretch, to get in the tourney. 4 of the next 7, a trip to the semis of the BE tourney and we are locked in with 20+ wins. Sitting on 18 or 19 wins and were are on the outside looking in. We have Worse signature losses (UNC-Ash, San Fran) than Good signature wins (ND, UConn, Cincy- at this point ;).

Keep the MO going Jonnies! 6 of the last 7- bring that fight to the Dome this weekend!
 
A nice byproduct of last night's W is that the next two games are now "house money" games. We got the split we needed from Gtown/UConn, and can play pressure-free against Cuse/Lville knowing that 0-2 doesn't really change things. Having that kind of confident, little downside mindset is usually when you steal one.

Really intrigued by what we can do offensively against Cuse with the emergence of Marco. He really changes the dynamic in terms of teams being able to zone us when he's on the floor (as was the case last night). Cuse is obviously going to zone us anyway, and if we can get he and D-Lo going at the same time from 3 we could be really dangerous (acknowledging that you don't want to rely on the 3 to beat a zone, but the simple fact remains we'll have to knock some down if we want to win that game).
Click to expand...

Jakarr or Sir Dom with early baskets off foul line jumpers against Syracuse would open the game up for Marco and 3Lo.
Click to expand...

100%. I'm sure the staff has seen or will soon see the way Pitt attacked the zone on Saturday, as that was masterful. They were patient and did a great job of getting the ball to the soft spots on the interior of the zone. They were able to run a little more high-low action than we'll likely be able to because of their size and their bigs ability to create and hold space at the rim, but we're better equipped to catch and shoot from 12-15 ft as you mention.

The biggest thing Saturday will be our ability to keep them off the offensive glass. They're 11th in the country in team rebounding, and if we don't wrap up defensive possessions we're going to have a tough time winning the game.
Click to expand...

Need Branch to attack the zone otherwise if he doesn't play its pretty much all for naught.

Other x factor is if Southerland magically becomes eligible just in time for us.
Click to expand...

Good point, his ability to penetrate would be a big plus. My seats are on the other side of the court and wasn't watching that closely but it looked like he was moving around alright? Was sitting on the bench with both legs bent, didn't look like he was in a brace to keep it straight or anything. Anyone get a better look? Not that it changes the probability of him playing Saturday or not, but in terms of big-picture outlook the way he looked seemed positive.
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He was limping pretty good to be honest.
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Unfortunate to hear, but thanks for the info. At the same time, I would imagine that it's good he's already moving around at all even with the limp. Hopefully he'll be back in a few weeks.
 
IMHO neither 18-12 nor 19-11 should be an NCAA bid, unless that record includes a signature win (as in, beat Louisville or Syracuse on the road, which is highly unlikely).

I think that people are vastly overrating the Big East. With the exception of Louisville and perhaps Syracuse, the league is totally mediocre this year, and we are in the middle of the mediocrity. It's likely that the selection committee is going to continue its trend (which i agree with) of putting good non-BCS conference teams in over mediocre BCS-conference teams. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Big East got 5 or 6 bids this year.

If we win 20, then I think we will be playing an 8/9 game, or maybe a 10/7 game as the 10.
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Agree with your assessment of the BE but if you eliminate all mediocre BCS conference teams there's going to be 30 at large spots for mid majors. Have you looked at the B12, ACC, Pac 10 and especially the SEC? Call it mediocrity, call it parity, call it the new reality of college hoops but there's going to be a number of teams making the dance that probably won't deserve it.
 
55 RPI and 30 SOS as of this morning. They probably need to get the RPI into the 40s. SOS will probably be in the 20s by season's end.

So, the 3 wins will get us there if they are of quality. Beating Lousiville, Syracuse and Marquette certainly would get that done. But I'm realistic and know that isn't happening.

As mentioned already, it's cool that we are even having this discussion.

If they go 9-9 in conference, this season has been a success IMO. Everything else is gravy from that point forward.
 
55 RPI and 30 SOS as of this morning. They probably need to get the RPI into the 40s. SOS will probably be in the 20s by season's end.

So, the 3 wins will get us there if they are of quality. Beating Lousiville, Syracuse and Marquette certainly would get that done. But I'm realistic and know that isn't happening.

As mentioned already, it's cool that we are even having this discussion.

If they go 9-9 in conference, this season has been a success IMO. Everything else is gravy from that point forward.
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Did our RPI drop? Thought it was 40's a few games ago
 
We dropped after the Georgetown loss. I think we were in the high 50s after that game.

But hey, we have finally moved ahead of Bucknell and Stony Brook!
 
If we get Branch back for Cuse and L'Ville, we can steal one. They will be playing to not lose. We will be playing to win with no pressure. We are their trap game. It's actually a good place to be. We tend to elevate our game against better teams in the Big East except G'Town (just too big and strong). If Temple and Nova beat Cuse that tells me it can be done. Keep in mind we are WAY overdue to beat Cuse...I think we lost our past 13 to them...so law of averages guys. They also haven't played us with this good a team in a long time. Remember, Providence also beat #1 Pitt about 2 years ago. These sneak up wins are not as rare as you might think. Sure they are not common at all, but they do happen.

If we can somehow get a split with Cuse and L'Ville and take care of business against lower teams the rest of the way, I like our chances. If we somehow pull a Nova and beat both, that puts us at 17-8 (9-4) and all we really need is 1 or 2 more wins to lock our spot in the tourney. You would also see a #23 next to our name in the polls. Hey, why not dream?
 
If we get Branch back for Cuse and L'Ville, we can steal one. They will be playing to not lose. We will be playing to win with no pressure. We are their trap game. It's actually a good place to be. We tend to elevate our game against better teams in the Big East except G'Town (just too big and strong). If Temple and Nova beat Cuse that tells me it can be done. Keep in mind we are WAY overdue to beat Cuse...I think we lost our past 13 to them...so law of averages guys. They also haven't played us with this good a team in a long time. Remember, Providence also beat #1 Pitt about 2 years ago. These sneak up wins are not as rare as you might think. Sure they are not common at all, but they do happen.

If we can somehow get a split with Cuse and L'Ville and take care of business against lower teams the rest of the way, I like our chances. If we somehow pull a Nova and beat both, that puts us at 17-8 (9-4) and all we really need is 1 or 2 more wins to lock our spot in the tourney. You would also see a #23 next to our name in the polls. Hey, why not dream?
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Put down the rose-colored glasses and slowly step away, sir.
 
10 wins no because if we are on the bubble now that would mean we lose 4 out of our last 7. Would than have to win at least 3 in BET getting us to final to have a chance IMHO.
 
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