NIT

[quote="otis" post=379474][quote="MCNPA" post=379429][quote="bamafan" post=379427]
Syracuse? B)[/quote]
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I’d love that. Dying to play them again![/quote]
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St. John's has defeated the Syracuse University each of the last 3 times the teams have played ![/quote]

Oh I know.. and I was enjoying the hell out of it! I’m mad they cancelled it. It’s a great draw and a win-win for both teams. I’m hoping it gets renewed because Cuse is becoming an irrelevant ACC team, especially with Boeheim dragging his retirement out.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=379480][quote="otis" post=379474][quote="MCNPA" post=379429][quote="bamafan" post=379427]
Syracuse? B)[/quote]
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I’d love that. Dying to play them again![/quote]
_________________

St. John's has defeated the Syracuse University each of the last 3 times the teams have played ![/quote]

Oh I know.. and I was enjoying the hell out of it! I’m mad they cancelled it. It’s a great draw and a win-win for both teams. I’m hoping it gets renewed because Cuse is becoming an irrelevant ACC team, especially with Boeheim dragging his retirement out.[/quote]

Syracuse lost its soul moving to ACC. They are not good enough to consistently overcome UNC, Duke, FSU, Louisville, UVA, etc. They used to be a perennial top 10 team nationally every year in the Big East. They are not a blue blood anymore. Like you said with Boeheim leaving, Cuse is going to get even more irrelevant. They will find out the hard way that landing a HOF coach who stays 30+ yrs is like hitting the lotto. Won't ever happen to them again. Many of these programs take it for granted. They're making more money now, but no one cares about them nationally anymore for the most part. A win against them feels more like a win against NC State or Georgia Tech these days...a team that's pretty good sometimes but rarely anything that special.
 
[quote="MCNPA" post=379480]

Oh I know.. and I was enjoying the hell out of it! I’m mad they cancelled it. It’s a great draw and a win-win for both teams. I’m hoping it gets renewed because Cuse is becoming an irrelevant ACC team, especially with Boeheim dragging his retirement out.[/quote]
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I was told that it was the University of Syracuse that ended the series, not StJohn’s.

.
 
[quote="MBaldi" post=379470]I believe that to qualify for NIT field the team had to finish no worse than .500. If I’m correct, anyone know whether that’s still a requirement?[/quote]

That is not a requirement any more
 
[quote="otis" post=379486][quote="MCNPA" post=379480]

Oh I know.. and I was enjoying the hell out of it! I’m mad they cancelled it. It’s a great draw and a win-win for both teams. I’m hoping it gets renewed because Cuse is becoming an irrelevant ACC team, especially with Boeheim dragging his retirement out.[/quote]
————

I was told that it was the University of Syracuse that ended the series, not StJohn’s.

.[/quote]

Absolutely Otis. It was Cuse. I still would like to play them in the Garden more often though. It fills the seats and I can’t stand them.
 
NIT OR BUST!

At this juncture, if we could manage it, we would have exceeded the expectations that many had for this season, before it started. A little post season experience would help the core group and provide something to build on.
 
I said early on that if we make the NIT, I’ll consider this season a huge success. I already consider it a success. Having said that, yesterday’s game doesn’t make me feel any different about this team. We’re still very limited and stringing together wins in the Big East(or NIT if we make it) is very very tough to do. Will do what I’ve done all season, and take it one game at a time.
 
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Ultimately though we showed heart this season, I don't see an NIT in the cards if I'm being honest. But if we somehow do make it, that would be about as good a rebuilding season as you could realistically expect. It's amazing...if we would've just won 3 more of those tight games where a ball bounces our way, we would be squarely on the bubble and probably in the tourney with 18 wins if we got 1 in the BET. Our resume is as good as almost anyone's when you consider WVU, Arizona, Creighton, PC. But that's why you need to close out games. I think we are 1 shooter away (even with Cole) and 1 real big away from middle of the pack Big East possibility next year. If LJ comes back too, this team will be very fun to watch.
 
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And, this is a very important point. For all the grousing and complaints (some rightfully so) of an unbalanced roster, poor shooting, failures to close out etc etc etc, this team was basically a few plays and a few wins away from a very good season. I attribute that to the coaching staff coaching up a team of rag-tag players with heart (I say that with admiration), who play hard and are competitive in almost every situation. That bodes well for a better future than the past 2 decades.

[quote="Mike Zaun" post=379497]Ultimately though we showed heart this season, I don't see an NIT in the cards if I'm being honest. But if we somehow do make it, that would be about as good a rebuilding season as you could realistically expect. It's amazing...if we would've just won 3 more of those tight games where a ball bounces our way, we would be squarely on the bubble and probably in the tourney with 18 wins if we got 1 in the BET. Our resume is as good as almost anyone's when you consider WVU, Arizona, Creighton, PC. But that's why you need to close out games. I think we are 1 shooter away (including Cole) and 1 real big away from middle of the pack Big East possibility next year. If LJ comes back too, this team will be very fun to watch.[/quote]
 
[quote="redmanwest" post=379498]And, this is a very important point. For all the grousing and complaints (some rightfully so) of an unbalanced roster, poor shooting, failures to close out etc etc etc, this team was basically a few plays and a few wins away from a very good season. I attribute that to the coaching staff coaching up a team of rag-tag players with heart (I say that with admiration), who play hard and are competitive in almost every situation. That bodes well for a better future than the past 2 decades.

[quote="Mike Zaun" post=379497]Ultimately though we showed heart this season, I don't see an NIT in the cards if I'm being honest. But if we somehow do make it, that would be about as good a rebuilding season as you could realistically expect. It's amazing...if we would've just won 3 more of those tight games where a ball bounces our way, we would be squarely on the bubble and probably in the tourney with 18 wins if we got 1 in the BET. Our resume is as good as almost anyone's when you consider WVU, Arizona, Creighton, PC. But that's why you need to close out games. I think we are 1 shooter away (including Cole) and 1 real big away from middle of the pack Big East possibility next year. If LJ comes back too, this team will be very fun to watch.[/quote][/quote]

The last several games e.g. Nova and Creighton we played with much less talent and went 1-1 almost taking Nova down if we made our bunnies we missed all game. I hate saying what if, because if my aunt had balls...but these kids don't lay down and throw in the towel like the Mullin era. The thing I'm getting excited about is seeing how CMA does with more talent next year. Wonder if LJ coming back is more likely now that his stats plunged overall since last year. If so, Cole, LJ, Wusu, Posh, Champ, Earlington, Williams, Dunn, etc. we will have much more scoring potential.
 
[quote="Making Plays" post=379479][quote="Class of 72" post=379444]After today's beatdown of Creighton why presume that we are NIT bound?
Heck, maybe we win the Big East tournament and go to the NCAA tournament.[/quote]

They have played well at MSG, some very heart breaking close losses there this year. Would be an amazing season ending if they finally put it all together there and made a run in the BE tournament.

And I'm wondering how many games they would need to make the NCAA tournament.

Looking at the remaining schedule, you have Butler, who's lost 3 of it's last 4 games. It's a road game and we've struggled on the road, if they can somehow pull this game off, you have to like our chances against Marquette on the final home game at MSG, they've lost 4 of their last 5 games, so not an impossible task.. Winning those 2 games gets you to 17-14 heading into the BE tournament.

And if seedings don't change much, we'll play Georgetown in the first round of BE tournament. They are on a 4 game losing streak, so again not an impossible task. The big challenge comes in the next game which you'll either have a really hot Seton Hall or Creighton team. If somehow they pull a huge upset in that game, then run out of steam against a hot Providence team the next round. Would that be enough for an NCAA bid? We would have a 19-15 record, If that scenario happened, that would put us with 7 Quad 1 wins, possibly 8 if DePaul climbs a few spots. With no bad losses on the resume.[/quote]

The life of a St. John's fan. Trying to coax an NCAA bid out of a .500 season. I do agree that if some of those close losses had been wins, we'd be having a totally different conversation.
 
I love the enthusiasm, but it has to be tempered.

You usually don't win when you make 55% of your free throws.
We usually don't have a chance when the turnover margin is 0.
We rarely fight to a standoff on the boards (I think it was something like 35-33)
We shot 64% from three, and GWIII had 7 threes.
Creighton shot 17% or so from three.

It was an odd formula for a big time very memorable win in our own building.

Having said all of that our guys play extremely hard wire to wire. A fan behind me said, "We are three minutes into the game and Creighton looks gassed". I said, "They aren't gassed, but we come out with such intensity, their adrenaline didn't start pumping and they all feel sluggish and unprepared for the intensity being dogged just to get the ball past midcourt".

I don't ever remember a big win where the heroes were largely guys who you don't count on game in and game out. Those guys, Williams, Caraher in particular, had their best games of the season by far, and will never forget this game, especially in our own building.

It was a really great day at CA. I arrived really early and there was a gigantic RW crowd, For my two cents, when we play at CA, it feels like home, not just a home court, but every inch of campus feels like home. Our guys should expect to win there every game when we add a little more talent, and that's why an on campus arena, even one that needs work, is preferable to the very important MSG.

NIT? Well if we get there, we can beat anyone, and likely lose to anyone also.
 
Yes, the quirks about this team are interesting. We've lost a few games where we turned the other guys over 20 times and had fewer than 6 or 7 ourselves. On that stat alone (I know not enough), you usually don't lose games. That said, the margin for winning or losing is often pretty small in most games.
 
[quote="redmanwest" post=379505]Yes, the quirks about this team are interesting. We've lost a few games where we turned the other guys over 20 times and had fewer than 6 or 7 ourselves. On that stat alone (I know not enough), you usually don't lose games. That said, the margin for winning or losing is often pretty small in most games.[/quote]

The way I look at it, turnover margin for us offsets a rebounding deficit, and those two things seemed to be consistent all season. We were minus 10 in rebounds for most of the guy until the team made a few shots and got amped up by the crowd.
 
Maybe the most Valuable Player in the Game was the Head Custodian . Providence lost to us at CA and now , Creighton . Maybe there is something to heating the building to tropical levels , while fans are in shorts and T shirts in March . Having the Blue Jays from a frigid Omaha play in Jamaica in the Bahamas like temperatures could be a new strategy .
 
The college basketball season goes way too fast. I spend a few months waiting for the season to begin, reading the magazines and following this board. Then the OOC schedule starts, and I blink and it's over. The conference schedule starts and becomes a sudden rush of activity, and some great wins and a few what ifs.

Whether the predictions are good or bad, I look forward to each and every game, and hate when the season ends. So anything that extends the season, even for a game or 2, is like whipped cream on my Sundae. An NIT would be such a nice ending to what was really a rebuilding season. This team went way beyond my expectations. With no Ponds or other game changer in the lineup, every win was a team effort and every win earned. Too often, the past 20 years had us fans with one door in the season, and the other looking for better things ahead. Right now, I am fully engaged because I know that this Johnnie team never phones it in.
 
Here’s some power conference teams behind us in the NET rankings. All of them are in the top 88.

Oklahoma state 15-14
Tennessee 16-13
Washington 13-16
Syracuse 16-13
Oregon state 15-13
Clemson 15-13
Georgia tech 15-14
DePaul 14-15
Georgia 15-14
Utah 15-14
UNC 12-17
VA Tech 15-14
Iowa state 12-17

Here are some records for last years NIT teams. Keep in mind there were ten auto bids. That can change either way this year.

Butler 16-16
Texas 16-16
Indiana 17-15
Arkansas 17-15
Nebraska 18-16
Providence 18-15
Xavier 18-15
Creighton 18-14
Alabama 18-15
 
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