Jay Bilas 2013 Big East Power Rankings

[gman]

Surprised to be ranked that, even with a lot of unknowns. Also surprised a copywritten story only available to insiders was allowed to be posted in its entirety. Thought that was against site rules.

If I subscribe I really have no clue what is pay and what isn't.

 

It's not that hard Moose. Insider articles have that little yellow "i" at the top of the article.

 

Yeah since I've had ESPN Insider since I was in middle school I pretty much read articles not looking for yellow i's.

*Also no link was posted so I just read the post.

I will go back to edit the original post. I will remove all the fluff except for STJ's paragraph and then post just the # and the team. Or should I maybe only post the odd #'s and make everyone guess the rest  

 

I stopped reading ESPN when they went to the pay for content site. Plenty of places to find good info/analysis for free.

 

[MCNPA]

 I .expected to be somewhere around 10th. I don't think Uconn finishes ahead of us. They have some decent guards but lost a ton in the frontcourt. I just don't see it. I seriously think we can make a run for 5-8th in the conference and the NCAA's with our depth and talent. We are really, really deep this season with talent at all positions. I think by mid-season we'll be looking real dangerous. I also think we have enough experience returning to win a lot of those early season speed bump games as opposed to last year. Let them sleep on us. Makes for better publicity when we surprise people.

 

.Disappointing Bilas doesn't think to highly of us

 

There are two reasons he does not think too highly of St. John's :
1. He is an ACC shill.
2. He is jealous of Lavin.

 

Yes, he's an ACC shill, but jealous of Lavin? Bilas is very successful, both as a lawyer and an ESPN on-camera guy, and, to the best of my knowledge, has never shown any real interest in coaching, so -- aside from hair -- what's to be jealous about?

That said, if we're going to get into the 8-to-9 range, Sampson has to provide the offensive punch that Mo took with him to the NBA. We have a number of solid defenders, so for me, Sampson's offense is the key to a successful season.

 

I don't think this is on Sampson's back. We should have sooo much more at different spots this year. Amir, Pointer, Gift, Greene and D'Lo should be a year better. Add two excellent forwards in Sampson and Sanchez. I think Sanchez is being underrated here. He's a heck of an athlete and passer for a guy his size. He can do a lot of things. Then we add arguably the best shotblocker in the class at center. We also add a top notch Pg in Branch. We continue by adding other talented wings in Bourgault and Balamou. Top off with Christian Jones.

Not taking away from Moe, but we return everybody else and add some really good players at every position. Our depth alone should buy us more wins than last year. I think the 7 we add will more than make up for the loss of Harkless in the long run. Not sure why Bilas doesn't see it, but I have to like our chances adding not only a talented guy in Sampson, but half-team worth of additional new signees that are also pretty talented.

Sure we will have to find some other guys to share the scoring load, but I think we'll find plenty of it as we settle in from several different guys.

 

[LINY89]

 I just can't understand why Branch (ESPN150), Obekpa (ESPN150), Sampson (ESPN150), Sanchez, etc. weren't given credit. Branch was a very highly regarded recruit coming into Texas A&M, Obekpa was getting high major attention and considered the 2nd best shot blocker behind Nerlens, and Sampson could have gone to Kansas...he is a monster. Couple that with D'Lo having a good enough season to win Big East ROY nailing 3's in bunches, Hooper being another potentially fatal 3 pt threat, Sampson and Sanchez slamming dunks and short range shots, Obekpa blocking shots and grabbing boards, another year of experience AND coach Lavin's return ontop of all of that...this team has TONS of potential. They have top 25 staying power this season if they come within the ballpark of their potential as well as a tourney berth.

Is Rutgers really seen as more dangerous than us this year? What about USF...really? I think we have more weapons than half of those teams on the list. As others said though, let them underrate us...it will be that much sweeter. I remember Lavin's first season when he took the team to the NCAA's, SJ was all over TV! When they win they will be rewarded with the NYC media attention. Take us lightly at your own peril!

 

[Jack Williams]

 He gave obekpa credit, but other than that I agree

 

[redmannorth]

To the eyes of an outsider we return 5 players and lost our best player.
However, they are 5 first year players who got a baptism by fire and a ton of experience. We can debate forever, but I believe they did very well under the circumstances. The best thing about a freshman is they become a sophomore and if nothing else changed this team would win 2-3 more games this season just on experience. Add in the fact that Coach Lavin brought in at least one talented and highly ranked recruit at every position, Branch at pg, Chris O at c, Sanchez at pf, Jakaar at f, Bourgeault at the 2/3 and added depth with Belamou, Hooper and Jones you have a team that can really take off but is hard to evaluate. Lets the games be played we will win our fair share.

 

[Moose]

Surprised to be ranked that, even with a lot of unknowns. Also surprised a copywritten story only available to insiders was allowed to be posted in its entirety. Thought that was against site rules.

If I subscribe I really have no clue what is pay and what isn't.

 

It's not that hard Moose. Insider articles have that little yellow "i" at the top of the article.

 

Yeah since I've had ESPN Insider since I was in middle school I pretty much read articles not looking for yellow i's.

*Also no link was posted so I just read the post.

I will go back to edit the original post. I will remove all the fluff except for STJ's paragraph and then post just the # and the team. Or should I maybe only post the odd #'s and make everyone guess the rest  

 

I stopped reading ESPN when they went to the pay for content site. Plenty of places to find good info/analysis for free.

 

I paid for the magazine and they have always gave you Insider as an add on.

 

[austour]

Surprised to be ranked that, even with a lot of unknowns. Also surprised a copywritten story only available to insiders was allowed to be posted in its entirety. Thought that was against site rules.

If I subscribe I really have no clue what is pay and what isn't.

 

It's not that hard Moose. Insider articles have that little yellow "i" at the top of the article.

 

Yeah since I've had ESPN Insider since I was in middle school I pretty much read articles not looking for yellow i's.

*Also no link was posted so I just read the post.

I will go back to edit the original post. I will remove all the fluff except for STJ's paragraph and then post just the # and the team. Or should I maybe only post the odd #'s and make everyone guess the rest  

 

I stopped reading ESPN when they went to the pay for content site. Plenty of places to find good info/analysis for free.

 

I paid for the magazine and they have always gave you Insider as an add on.

 

Exactly. AND I got a fleece pullover the first year. ; )

 

[Moose]

Surprised to be ranked that, even with a lot of unknowns. Also surprised a copywritten story only available to insiders was allowed to be posted in its entirety. Thought that was against site rules.

If I subscribe I really have no clue what is pay and what isn't.

 

It's not that hard Moose. Insider articles have that little yellow "i" at the top of the article.

 

Yeah since I've had ESPN Insider since I was in middle school I pretty much read articles not looking for yellow i's.

*Also no link was posted so I just read the post.

I will go back to edit the original post. I will remove all the fluff except for STJ's paragraph and then post just the # and the team. Or should I maybe only post the odd #'s and make everyone guess the rest  

 

I stopped reading ESPN when they went to the pay for content site. Plenty of places to find good info/analysis for free.

 

I paid for the magazine and they have always gave you Insider as an add on.

 

Exactly. AND I got a fleece pullover the first year. ; )

 

Don't think I ever got that. I do recall the commercial. Wasn't it Webber and Camby????

 

[SI1996]

Surprised to be ranked that, even with a lot of unknowns. Also surprised a copywritten story only available to insiders was allowed to be posted in its entirety. Thought that was against site rules.

If I subscribe I really have no clue what is pay and what isn't.

 

It's not that hard Moose. Insider articles have that little yellow "i" at the top of the article.

 

Yeah since I've had ESPN Insider since I was in middle school I pretty much read articles not looking for yellow i's.

*Also no link was posted so I just read the post.

I will go back to edit the original post. I will remove all the fluff except for STJ's paragraph and then post just the # and the team. Or should I maybe only post the odd #'s and make everyone guess the rest  

 

I stopped reading ESPN when they went to the pay for content site. Plenty of places to find good info/analysis for free.

 

I paid for the magazine and they have always gave you Insider as an add on.

 

Exactly. AND I got a fleece pullover the first year. ; )

 

Don't think I ever got that. I do recall the commercial. Wasn't it Webber and Camby????

 I remember Webber but Camby is a bit fuzzy. Ray Allen maybe?

 

[redken]

 I .expected to be somewhere around 10th. I don't think Uconn finishes ahead of us. They have some decent guards but lost a ton in the frontcourt. I just don't see it. I seriously think we can make a run for 5-8th in the conference and the NCAA's with our depth and talent. We are really, really deep this season with talent at all positions. I think by mid-season we'll be looking real dangerous. I also think we have enough experience returning to win a lot of those early season speed bump games as opposed to last year. Let them sleep on us. Makes for better publicity when we surprise people.

 

.Disappointing Bilas doesn't think to highly of us

 

There are two reasons he does not think too highly of St. John's :
1. He is an ACC shill.
2. He is jealous of Lavin.

 

Yes, he's an ACC shill, but jealous of Lavin? Bilas is very successful, both as a lawyer and an ESPN on-camera guy, and, to the best of my knowledge, has never shown any real interest in coaching, so -- aside from hair -- what's to be jealous about?

That said, if we're going to get into the 8-to-9 range, Sampson has to provide the offensive punch that Mo took with him to the NBA. We have a number of solid defenders, so for me, Sampson's offense is the key to a successful season.

 

I don't think this is on Sampson's back. We should have sooo much more at different spots this year. Amir, Pointer, Gift, Greene and D'Lo should be a year better. Add two excellent forwards in Sampson and Sanchez. I think Sanchez is being underrated here. He's a heck of an athlete and passer for a guy his size. He can do a lot of things. Then we add arguably the best shotblocker in the class at center. We also add a top notch Pg in Branch. We continue by adding other talented wings in Bourgault and Balamou. Top off with Christian Jones.

Not taking away from Moe, but we return everybody else and add some really good players at every position. Our depth alone should buy us more wins than last year. I think the 7 we add will more than make up for the loss of Harkless in the long run. Not sure why Bilas doesn't see it, but I have to like our chances adding not only a talented guy in Sampson, but half-team worth of additional new signees that are also pretty talented.

Sure we will have to find some other guys to share the scoring load, but I think we'll find plenty of it as we settle in from several different guys.

 

Gift and CO provide little offensive threat; Pointer hasn't shown that he can score consistently, certainly not in the half-court; and Sanchez might be capable putting up some offensive numbers, but he wasn't a big scorer in Juco, so there's no guarantee he will. (I'm not even including Christian Jones, because I don't think any one of us truly knows what he can contribute this year, if anything.) That's not an imposing group offensively, and that's why I think it's crucial that Sampson steps up as a Harkless-type scorer who demands attention and takes defensive pressure off of D'Lo.

 

[MCNPA]

 You also left out Amir, Green, Bourgault, Balamou. You say Gift is no threat, but he put up decent offensive production for a first year JC player. Maybe obekpa can be more productiive as well. we should get more scoring from all spots. We have some real dynamic guards as well. We don't need Harkless-like production from Jakarr. That is extremely rare. Jakarr was a near lottery pick. We need a few more ppg from other spots on the floor where we didn't get them in the past., that's all. I love Jakarr, but it's not fair to project him as Moe Harkless, as he is a rare type of player.

 

[jrhoops1949]

To the eyes of an outsider we return 5 players and lost our best player.
However, they are 5 first year players who got a baptism by fire and a ton of experience. We can debate forever, but I believe they did very well under the circumstances. The best thing about a freshman is they become a sophomore and if nothing else changed this team would win 2-3 more games this season just on experience. Add in the fact that Coach Lavin brought in at least one talented and highly ranked recruit at every position, Branch at pg, Chris O at c, Sanchez at pf, Jakaar at f, Bourgeault at the 2/3 and added depth with Belamou, Hooper and Jones you have a team that can really take off but is hard to evaluate. Lets the games be played we will win our fair share.

 Hey North, I think your first sentence hits the point right on. We do not bring in 3 top 20's. This is not a coach Cal group, although they can turn out to be anything. If guys wanna see something before putting us in the top half of the BE, that's fine.

 

[dff6]

While outsiders may not appreciate this, the level of play from this team has to be markedly better than last years team, even without Moe, because our depth gives us the ability to actually run real practices, and we can play D so much more agressively without worrying about fouling out and playing walk-ons. Of course, you cannot account for improvement owing to off-season training until you see them play, but I'm willing to bet that Coach and his staff made sure that our guys worked hard in the offseason to improve their games (except maybe Amir, who has been working on his curve ball). But whatever, better to surprise the naysayers than fall short of unrealistic expectations.

 

[redken]

 You also left out Amir, Green, Bourgault, Balamou. You say Gift is no threat, but he put up decent offensive production for a first year JC player. Maybe obekpa can be more productiive as well. we should get more scoring from all spots. We have some real dynamic guards as well. We don't need Harkless-like production from Jakarr. That is extremely rare. Jakarr was a near lottery pick. We need a few more ppg from other spots on the floor where we didn't get them in the past., that's all. I love Jakarr, but it's not fair to project him as Moe Harkless, as he is a rare type of player.

 

Marcus, I can see where you're coming from. But Amir (whose potential I love) and Green both need to show a lot more consistency offensively, and Bourgault and Balamou are total question marks at this point. I don't expect Jakarr to be a Harkless clone (oh, that he would), but he's the gem of this recruiting class, and with gem #2 (Obekpa) having a limited offensive game at this point in time, we need him to help make up for Moe's loss by giving us solid offensive production in the forecourt, game in/game out, if we're to be in the 7-9 range in the conference.

 

[MCNPA]

 Gotta remember that there's still a big transition to soph season. Even Kemba walker put up only about 8ppg his freshman season to almost 24 his final season. Not saying any of these guys are Kemba, but I expect improvement across the board and I tnk someof our other incoming talent is undersold, including Sanchez who I think is a real talent but just needs some more coaching and direction,

 

[Jnaw17]

 We'll also get a lift in the scoring averages of our sophs due to the defensive intensity we can bring now, resulting in many easy buckets off turnovers. We didn't have much of that last year. Clearly Jakarr and the other newcomers will benefit from that, as well, putting less pressure on our half court execution. Having said that, once Branch is eligible, our half court will improve, and just in time for BE play. Moe had to create a lot for himself last year, but we should need less of that with this group.

 

[redken]

 Gotta remember that there's still a big transition to soph season. Even Kemba walker put up only about 8ppg his freshman season to almost 24 his final season. Not saying any of these guys are Kemba, but I expect improvement across the board and I tnk someof our other incoming talent is undersold, including Sanchez who I think is a real talent but just needs some more coaching and direction,

 

Well, we'll all know soon enough. ... Actually, not soon enough. With my Mets swooning their way into oblivion once again, I'm counting the days until the season starts. It'll certainly be an interesting and entertaining season, regardless of what Mr. Bilas thinks.

 

[austour]

 Gotta remember that there's still a big transition to soph season. Even Kemba walker put up only about 8ppg his freshman season to almost 24 his final season. Not saying any of these guys are Kemba, but I expect improvement across the board and I tnk someof our other incoming talent is undersold, including Sanchez who I think is a real talent but just needs some more coaching and direction,

 

Well, we'll all know soon enough. ... Actually, not soon enough. With my Mets swooning their way into oblivion once again, I'm counting the days until the season starts. It'll certainly be an interesting and entertaining season, regardless of what Mr. Bilas thinks.

 

Not soon enough at all . . . .

 

[bamafan]

Austour  was the fleece pullover you received a medium?   

 

[austour]

Austour  was the fleece pullover you received a medium?   

 

LOL. The last time I fit into a medium was around 1985. It was an XL but luckily they run a little large. LOL