Jay Bilas 2013 Big East Power Rankings

 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.
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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.
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My expectations are higher then the 7-9 range. Feel jarkarr will be as good as Moe
 
 
11. St. John's Red Storm

The Red Storm are young again, and even though the Big East is going through changes, it is still a league that punishes youth. Moe Harkless and assistant Mike Dunlap were lost to the NBA, but God'sgift Achiuwa, Sir'Dominic Pointer, D'Angelo Harrison and Amir Garrett are talented second-year players. Freshman forward Christopher Obekpa of Centereach, N.Y., has potential, but he too is another young player.

In the "good old days," St. John's could expect these young players to mature together, but who knows how long they'll stick around together.

If this talent pans out and the pieces fit we could knock on the upper spots in the league.. When is a new coach going to come on board?
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Well, yeah, with the team he just reviewed, and the players he listed, I'd pick us 11th also.

Of course, if we also had last year's pg returning - an 8 pt 3asst 31 minutes a game guy, That'd make a difference. Maybe to 10th?

If we had a top 30 ranked PG transferring in - one Bilas's own network called the best defensive player in high school basketball 2 seasons ago, that'd also make a difference. Another spot up in the rankings?

If we had a 6'9 JC All American being added to the mix - one who can play all 3 frontcourt spots, that'd make a difference too. Is that worth 1 or 2 spots?

If we could possibly add a 6'8 5th year prep All American - a top 30 prospect out of high school, that'd probably jump us a couple spots as well.

Hey, if we could ALSO add some depth - maybe a 6'76'8 PF "beast on the boards" kind of guy, a 6'6 sharpshooter from the wing, a 6'3 freak athelete in the backcourt to bring off the bench - maybe another spot or so?

And of course, we did lose our assistant coach. if ONLY we could have gotten our HEAD coach back from his cancer - that guys proven to be worth a couple spots in the conference rankings all on his own....

Boy - how many spots would all that have moved us up from 11th? Man, if only we could have done that!

OH WAIT - we DID!
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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.
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When you say, "if nothing else changed this team would win 2-3 more games this season just on experience," I assume you are assuming that Harkless was still on the team. Unfortunately, Harkless is no longer on the team. With the five returning players (minus Harkless), aint no way we win 13 games next year.

The question is how many additional wins the team with five returning players with solid experience and seven new players (Hooper is not eligible this year) will provide in comparison to last year's team.

I think Harkless will be sorely missed. From everything I've read, Sampson will be special and Sanchez will be solid, but to expect them to have the kind of year Harkless did as first year players, while not impossible, is a tall order.

I think we will definitely see improvement this year, but with our youth anything more than 17-18 wins would be a pleasant surprise.
 
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.
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When you say, "if nothing else changed this team would win 2-3 more games this season just on experience," I assume you are assuming that Harkless was still on the team. Unfortunately, Harkless is no longer on the team. With the five returning players (minus Harkless), aint no way we win 13 games next year.

The question is how many additional wins the team with five returning players with solid experience and seven new players (Hooper is not eligible this year) will provide in comparison to last year's team.

I think Harkless will be sorely missed. From everything I've read, Sampson will be special and Sanchez will be solid, but to expect them to have the kind of year Harkless did as first year players, while not impossible, is a tall order.

I think we will definitely see improvement this year, but with our youth anything more than 17-18 wins would be a pleasant surprise.
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We won 13 games last season with the same squad. Although, we'll be minus Harkless, we were able to replinish the roster with a 5th year senior who happened to be AA POY in the very, tough NEPSAC (Jakarr Sampson); a 24 year old "do-it-all" JUCO AA (Orlando Sanchez); a top 50 kid who was considered to be one of the top defenders in the 2011 class (Jamal Branch); a superb shooter (Marco Bourgault); and, one of the best (if not the best) shotblockers in the 2012 class (Chris Obekpa).

We're also returning guys who got significant time in playing in a very, tough Big East conference. The time those kids played cannot be undersold. They took their bumps and bruises, but it should pay off dearly for them in 2012-2013. I also wouldn't be shocked, and, quite frankly, expect to see Harrison on some preseason first-team Big East teams.

Some people continue to forget or simply won't acknowledge we were practically playing with 6 players for a good portion of the season. It'll look much different this season, and we'll be able to do several things we weren't able to do last season. The kids we're returning and bringing in doesn't have to be or replace Harkless. Harkless isn't necessarily replaceable as a player, but we should be able to replace him as a core group.

I'm expecting, at the least, 20 wins for the upcoming season.  
 
 11. St. John's Red Storm

The Red Storm are young again, and even though the Big East is going through changes, it is still a league that punishes youth. Moe Harkless and assistant Mike Dunlap were lost to the NBA, but God'sgift Achiuwa, Sir'Dominic Pointer, D'Angelo Harrison and Amir Garrett are talented second-year players. Freshman forward Christopher Obekpa of Centereach, N.Y., has potential, but he too is another young player.

In the "good old days," St. John's could expect these young players to mature together, but who knows how long they'll stick around together.
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I don't think the ranking is anything to get upset about. Looking at St. John's objectively, they are going to have a ton of new players and their team is still most likely going to be the youngest in the Big East. If our current players progress like they are supposed to and our incoming players play at a high level, then I'm sure we will be in the top half of the conference. Yes, we have (a) a top point guard coming in January (b) two top forwards in Sampson and Sanchez (c) a legitimate shot blocking center in Obekpa. But none of those players have seen game action in the Big East and truthfully speaking we don't know how they will respond. They could end up following the path of a Harkless or Harrison and become immediate contributors off the bat. Or they could have the deer in the headlights look of Pointer and God's Gift initially. That's not to say they won't get better (as Pointer proved as the season progressed), but we have to be fair and realistic about the fact that most players are not prepared off the bat.
 
 Another advantage is we have a full team practicing and playing together during the summer. How many players did we have on campus last summer, 4,5 ?
 
Leave Bilas alone, he is a smart guy, I especially thought his take on the whole Penn State thing was the most sane of all the crazies out there. He has the right to pick us pre-season anywhere he wants, then when we do so much better--- we feel good--- and he is a bad prognosticator---a win-win.

Calm down, yes, he went to Duke (a pretty formidable academic school), AND I have heard him say a lot of nice things about us over the years, now and then, (not always), like I said he is mostly a smart guy, just not a very good prognosticator!

When he puts forth a point-of-view, on anything, you have to take him seriously, just not on Pre-season PICKS. (probably some dopey associate at his law firm wrote the thing!)

 
 
 BE is wide open this year. I dont blame him for picking us 11th because quite honestly he did a crappy job of researching the program. We could finish anywhere between 5-12 in the conference, there are so many variables that haven't been set into motion. With that said anything worse than 8th would be a disappointment in my eyes.
 
 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.
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Hey, Moe had a nice year but he was drafted based more on potential than actual production. I think DLo had more to do with the wins we did get than him. Last year's guys got a huge amount of minutes and will be ahead of other sophs this year. Achiuwa Sampson and Sanchez are seasoned players and I really expect this group to surprise a lot of people this year. Preseason evaluations mean squat and should be motivators more than anything. I look at the roster and don't see a bad player anywhere. Bilas is generally OK but he doesn't know our team any better than we do. We'll see what happens when they roll the balls out.
 
 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.
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Hey, Moe had a nice year but he was drafted based more on potential than actual production. I think DLo had more to do with the wins we did get than him. Last year's guys got a huge amount of minutes and will be ahead of other sophs this year. Achiuwa Sampson and Sanchez are seasoned players and I really expect this group to surprise a lot of people this year. Preseason evaluations mean squat and should be motivators more than anything. I look at the roster and don't see a bad player anywhere. Bilas is generally OK but he doesn't know our team any better than we do. We'll see what happens when they roll the balls out.
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Anyone taking bets on how long it takes for the wheels to fall off the Bobre optimism train?
 
It's all subjective so I really have no problems with Bilas.

His little blurb on D'Angelo Harrison just shows how little stock he has into what's really going on at SJU. D'Angelo's name should come up in every discussion of All-Big East players.

And IIRC, Pitt was near the top of the preseason rankings coming off an outstanding year by Ashton Gibbs and their dominance in the conference. No reason to take Bilas' opinion to heart.
 
It is impossible for all these CBB "gurus" to know about every team. They follow the top teams...and top recruits...but know very little about the rest.

A team like St Johns earns their ranking based mainly upon last season results. Also, Jakaar Sampson is basically a 2011 recruit, and doesn't show on any 2012 recruiting lists. Though, he may be in the top 20 recruits in the nation. Juco transfers, and late signees (both of which the Johnnies have) also, do not always factor into these predictions.

So, I would not worry too much about Bilas's comments.

This team has a good young core, and an equally good supporting cast coming in. If they gel, and chemistry is good, this team will be laughing at a #11 pre-season ranking, when March rolls around. 
 
 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.
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.Disappointing Bilas doesn't think to highly of us
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WE have to accomplish something before we can get him to change his prospective But that being said he is off think we finish in the top[ 7
 
It is impossible for all these CBB "gurus" to know about every team. They follow the top teams...and top recruits...but know very little about the rest.

A team like St Johns earns their ranking based mainly upon last season results. Also, Jakaar Sampson is basically a 2011 recruit, and doesn't show on any 2012 recruiting lists. Though, he may be in the top 20 recruits in the nation. Juco transfers, and late signees (both of which the Johnnies have) also, do not always factor into these predictions.

So, I would not worry too much about Bilas's comments.

This team has a good young core, and an equally good supporting cast coming in. If they gel, and chemistry is good, this team will be laughing at a #11 pre-season ranking, when March rolls around. 
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Couldn't agree with you more. The part that I'm really looking forward to this season will be the increase in defensive pressure out on the court. Contrary to last season, Steve Lavin has tremendous depth at his disposal and can use it game in and game out. St. John's can be a physical team out on the hard court and not be afraid of getting into foul trouble. They have returning players like Achiuwa, Garrett, Greene, Harrison, and Pointer. Combine that with freshmen Balamou, Jones, Obekpa, and Sampson. And on top of that, let's throw in transfers Bourgault, Branch, and Sanchez.

Now, of course the rotation won't be that big. But you could realistically be looking at 8 or 9 players getting on the court on a nightly basis. You can afford to play an aggressive game and show opponents you are not going to be pushed around on the court. Rough and tough basketball -- that's old school Big East.
 
It is impossible for all these CBB "gurus" to know about every team. They follow the top teams...and top recruits...but know very little about the rest.

A team like St Johns earns their ranking based mainly upon last season results. Also, Jakaar Sampson is basically a 2011 recruit, and doesn't show on any 2012 recruiting lists. Though, he may be in the top 20 recruits in the nation. Juco transfers, and late signees (both of which the Johnnies have) also, do not always factor into these predictions.

So, I would not worry too much about Bilas's comments.

This team has a good young core, and an equally good supporting cast coming in. If they gel, and chemistry is good, this team will be laughing at a #11 pre-season ranking, when March rolls around. 
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Couldn't agree with you more. The part that I'm really looking forward to this season will be the increase in defensive pressure out on the court. Contrary to last season, Steve Lavin has tremendous depth at his disposal and can use it game in and game out. St. John's can be a physical team out on the hard court and not be afraid of getting into foul trouble. They have returning players like Achiuwa, Garrett, Greene, Harrison, and Pointer. Combine that with freshmen Balamou, Jones, Obekpa, and Sampson. And on top of that, let's throw in transfers Bourgault, Branch, and Sanchez.

Now, of course the rotation won't be that big. But you could realistically be looking at 8 or 9 players getting on the court on a nightly basis. You can afford to play an aggressive game and show opponents you are not going to be pushed around on the court. Rough and tough basketball -- that's old school Big East.
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I forsee at least ten players playing regularly this season.
There is a good reason other than having practice players that coach used the ships he had.
 
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