Preliminary predictions re: 2016/17 BE standings

[paultzman]

LoVett & Ponds will be very good in time, but seldom at this level of play do first year players of their ilk, especially guards, immediately make a huge difference. Yes LoVett has practiced a year, but that does not equate to competitive play at a BE level. GIve them time & expect a period of adjustment in my opinion. If the key to success this season is guard play it may be a bit much to expect these two key players to be dominant.

It should be a fun year on the heels of a dreadful first season (to no one's fault). Let's just have reasonable expectations. Dancing is not reasonable, perhaps next year if roster remains intact & new kids are as good as advertised.

 

[basketballjones]

Too many new faces at key positions to have high expectations. A little improvement every game would be success in my opinion. Let's get back to .500 in the league before we start thinking about surprising results.

 

[Class of 72]

1. VILLANOVA
2. XAVIER
3. BUTLER
4. SETON HALL
5. ST. JOHN'S
6. CREIGHTON

Felix Balamou, Jones, M'ouvika, Johnson are not on the team anymore. We are going from slow mo to fast and furious. The impact of Bashir, Shamorie and Marcus Lovett will be significant. Sima, Yakwe and Owens will have gained some muscle and bench of 4 kids that played a lot of minutes will surprise many here.

There's two ways to look at it. We know what we got with Sima and Yakwe, two impressive projects who still have a lot of development to do. After that all the major pieces for next year haven't played a game in D1, besides Owens whose play has been limited and ancient history at this point and maybe Williams gets into the 8 man rotatoin, he's got all of 3 games under his belt. You can expect all the new guys to play like the top newcomers in the conference, in which case you'll obviously be highly optimistic, or you can expect thew newcomers to play like newcomers, flashes of good, flashes of not so good. Should the guards be better than Ellison and Mussini were this year? Sure. Should they be as good as any of the top rated BE front courts with equal talent and more experience from the past season? I and others think that's unlikely and therefore see it as a growing year.

Of course I am being overly optimistic. Partly because the players I mentioned that graduated were not Big East material and were starters. Likely the worst starting 5 in SJU history. The good news is that we have 8 returning players that practiced together last year. All the new players are quality 4 star level talent. To me, the biggest question will be how our game prep and our in game coaching improves. This is a 10 team Big East and not a 16 team behemoth that included Syracuse, Louisville, Uconn, Pitt and West Virginia. We need to start conditioning ourselves to a winning mentality and finishing less than .500 should never be a target. That said, it was wicked hot today in NYC and I drank a lot of cherry Kool Aid.

 

[Eric]

We are all entitled to our own predictions to say someone is right or wrong or has too high or low expectations is useless right now. I'll argue we have dynamic quick playmakers who can handle the ball .... and those with tempered expectations can say too young or too small. Time will tell. we can check back next year and see who was correct or not.

 

[JohnnyFan]

Here are my preliminary predictions regarding the final 2016/17 regular season Big East standings

1. VILLANOVA
2. XAVIER
3. CREIGHTON
4. SETON HALL
5. GEORGETOWN
6. BUTLER
7. ST.JOHN'S
8. PROVIDENCE
9 . MARQUETTE
10. DEAUL

That looks like a good bet. Like many have said, I would be pleased with 6th or 7th place and a good number of BE wins.

I think Xavier is the best team in the league next year. Better than Nova.

 

[Red.Fans]

I don't know Creighton's lineup well enough at this point but curious why some are picking them so high?

 

[paultzman]

I don't know Creighton's lineup well enough at this point but curious why some are picking them so high?

Their backcourt with Watson returning & very good transfer from Kansas State seems to be the primary reason. I too wonder about the hype however.

 

[austour]

I don't know Creighton's lineup well enough at this point but curious why some are picking them so high?

Guards. Watson and Foster will be in the top 3 backcourts in the conference. Behind Bluett/Sumner and Hart/Brunson.

Just not sure Creighton has enough upfront with Groselle graduating.

 

[bamafan]

LoVett & Ponds will be very good in time, but seldom at this level of play do first year players of their ilk, especially guards, immediately make a huge difference. Yes LoVett has practiced a year, but that does not equate to competitive play at a BE level. GIve them time & expect a period of adjustment in my opinion. If the key to success this season is guard play it may be a bit much to expect these two key players to be dominant.

It should be a fun year on the heels of a dreadful first season (to no one's fault). Let's just have reasonable expectations. Dancing is not reasonable, perhaps next year if roster remains intact & new kids are as good as advertised.

Paultzie, Paultzie, Paultzie, I wish you were my dad when I was growing up as a young boy. Program goes 8-24, has a dreadful season in your words and it is no one's fault. If my sister spilled a glass of milk I got blamed for it.

 

[Andrew]

Also why is Butler being dropped down so low. They are always tough.

 

[redmannorth]

LoVett & Ponds will be very good in time, but seldom at this level of play do first year players of their ilk, especially guards, immediately make a huge difference. Yes LoVett has practiced a year, but that does not equate to competitive play at a BE level. GIve them time & expect a period of adjustment in my opinion. If the key to success this season is guard play it may be a bit much to expect these two key players to be dominant.

It should be a fun year on the heels of a dreadful first season (to no one's fault). Let's just have reasonable expectations. Dancing is not reasonable, perhaps next year if roster remains intact & new kids are as good as advertised.

Not just reasonable but spot on. In your assessment of both key players. I have been following the team and recruiting for exactly 35 seasons and I can say that during that time we have only had 2 impact freshmen pgs. The first Erik Barkley was a 20 year old freshman. The second was Omar Cook who was a MCAA. While Ponds and Lovett were highly ranked neither is coming in ranked like Cook. I expect them to be great additions to the team this season but not great players as they have to get acclimated to BE play. Give them time and they both will be very good.

 

[Eric]

LoVett & Ponds will be very good in time, but seldom at this level of play do first year players of their ilk, especially guards, immediately make a huge difference. Yes LoVett has practiced a year, but that does not equate to competitive play at a BE level. GIve them time & expect a period of adjustment in my opinion. If the key to success this season is guard play it may be a bit much to expect these two key players to be dominant.

It should be a fun year on the heels of a dreadful first season (to no one's fault). Let's just have reasonable expectations. Dancing is not reasonable, perhaps next year if roster remains intact & new kids are as good as advertised.

Not just reasonable but spot on. In your assessment of both key players. I have been following the team and recruiting for exactly 35 seasons and I can say that during that time we have only had 2 impact freshmen pgs. The first Erik Barkley was a 20 year old freshman. The second was Omar Cook who was a MCAA. While Ponds and Lovett were highly ranked neither is coming in ranked like Cook. I expect them to be great additions to the team this season but not great players as they have to get acclimated to BE play. Give them time and they both will be very good.

I respect both you guys a lot on this site quite a bit
But I will say that Times are different nowadays....underclassman today compared to years ago contribute much more. I'm not saying these guys are gonna come right in and dominate every step of the way, but we can and should expect them to be a big part. So Lovett may not shoot lights out but I am expecting him to be dishing out plenty of assists and running a fun offense while annoying plenty of defenders along the way. And ponds to me is our 5 star in my eyes.

I'm not saying we definitely will be an NCAA tourney team but we certainly have the potential this upcoming season in my eyes. And that's what I'm rooting for. If we end up 17-13 instead of 21-9 and we play hard and its a fun team I wont be disappointed as I understand they are building from year to year, but I think we have such potential by adding these players over the crew that left. Thank you mvouika Johnson Félix and Jones for your efforts here and I cheered all of them on. . But ill take Lovett ponds Ahmed along with whatever we get out of Owens and Freedenberg over them any day even with our new guys freshmen and or new to div 1 play. Talent level so much higher with this class. We were so close to 4-6 more wins last year with that crew so I don't think I'm being unrealistic to believe there is a decent chance at something this season

 

[paultzman]

LoVett & Ponds will be very good in time, but seldom at this level of play do first year players of their ilk, especially guards, immediately make a huge difference. Yes LoVett has practiced a year, but that does not equate to competitive play at a BE level. GIve them time & expect a period of adjustment in my opinion. If the key to success this season is guard play it may be a bit much to expect these two key players to be dominant.

It should be a fun year on the heels of a dreadful first season (to no one's fault). Let's just have reasonable expectations. Dancing is not reasonable, perhaps next year if roster remains intact & new kids are as good as advertised.

Paultzie, Paultzie, Paultzie, I wish you were my dad when I was growing up as a young boy. Program goes 8-24, has a dreadful season in your words and it is no one's fault. If my sister spilled a glass of milk I got blamed for it.

I am being held captive in Logen's basement.

 

[JackofVirginia]

1. VILLANOVA
2. XAVIER
3. BUTLER
4. SETON HALL
5. ST. JOHN'S
6. CREIGHTON

Felix Balamou, Jones, M'ouvika, Johnson are not on the team anymore. We are going from slow mo to fast and furious. The impact of Bashir, Shamorie and Marcus Lovett will be significant. Sima, Yakwe and Owens will have gained some muscle and bench of 4 kids that played a lot of minutes will surprise many here.

No reason we can't beat G'town, Seton Hall and Creighton to finish fourth or fifth. Looking forward to an exciting young team. And why not?

 

[JackofVirginia]

1. VILLANOVA
2. XAVIER
3. BUTLER
4. SETON HALL
5. ST. JOHN'S
6. CREIGHTON

Felix Balamou, Jones, M'ouvika, Johnson are not on the team anymore. We are going from slow mo to fast and furious. The impact of Bashir, Shamorie and Marcus Lovett will be significant. Sima, Yakwe and Owens will have gained some muscle and bench of 4 kids that played a lot of minutes will surprise many here.

There's two ways to look at it. We know what we got with Sima and Yakwe, two impressive projects who still have a lot of development to do. After that all the major pieces for next year haven't played a game in D1, besides Owens whose play has been limited and ancient history at this point and maybe Williams gets into the 8 man rotatoin, he's got all of 3 games under his belt. You can expect all the new guys to play like the top newcomers in the conference, in which case you'll obviously be highly optimistic, or you can expect thew newcomers to play like newcomers, flashes of good, flashes of not so good. Should the guards be better than Ellison and Mussini were this year? Sure. Should they be as good as any of the top rated BE front courts with equal talent and more experience from the past season? I and others think that's unlikely and therefore see it as a growing year.

Of course I am being overly optimistic. Partly because the players I mentioned that graduated were not Big East material and were starters. Likely the worst starting 5 in SJU history. The good news is that we have 8 returning players that practiced together last year. All the new players are quality 4 star level talent. To me, the biggest question will be how our game prep and our in game coaching improves. This is a 10 team Big East and not a 16 team behemoth that included Syracuse, Louisville, Uconn, Pitt and West Virginia. We need to start conditioning ourselves to a winning mentality and finishing less than .500 should never be a target. That said, it was wicked hot today in NYC and I drank a lot of cherry Kool Aid.

One of Mullin's biggest problems will be finding playing time for ten good players. We'll see how good a coach he is then.

 

[Section9]

1. VILLANOVA
2. XAVIER
3. BUTLER
4. SETON HALL
5. ST. JOHN'S
6. CREIGHTON

Felix Balamou, Jones, M'ouvika, Johnson are not on the team anymore. We are going from slow mo to fast and furious. The impact of Bashir, Shamorie and Marcus Lovett will be significant. Sima, Yakwe and Owens will have gained some muscle and bench of 4 kids that played a lot of minutes will surprise many here.

There's two ways to look at it. We know what we got with Sima and Yakwe, two impressive projects who still have a lot of development to do. After that all the major pieces for next year haven't played a game in D1, besides Owens whose play has been limited and ancient history at this point and maybe Williams gets into the 8 man rotatoin, he's got all of 3 games under his belt. You can expect all the new guys to play like the top newcomers in the conference, in which case you'll obviously be highly optimistic, or you can expect thew newcomers to play like newcomers, flashes of good, flashes of not so good. Should the guards be better than Ellison and Mussini were this year? Sure. Should they be as good as any of the top rated BE front courts with equal talent and more experience from the past season? I and others think that's unlikely and therefore see it as a growing year.

Of course I am being overly optimistic. Partly because the players I mentioned that graduated were not Big East material and were starters. Likely the worst starting 5 in SJU history. The good news is that we have 8 returning players that practiced together last year. All the new players are quality 4 star level talent. To me, the biggest question will be how our game prep and our in game coaching improves. This is a 10 team Big East and not a 16 team behemoth that included Syracuse, Louisville, Uconn, Pitt and West Virginia. We need to start conditioning ourselves to a winning mentality and finishing less than .500 should never be a target. That said, it was wicked hot today in NYC and I drank a lot of cherry Kool Aid.

One of Mullin's biggest problems will be finding playing time for ten good players. We'll see how good a coach he is then.

I love the enthusiasm but after years of incoming player hype and mostly disappointment I am tempering my expectations. I hope I'm proved wrong.

 

[rcatalano]

I am in your camp 9, show me! Many of these so called program changers never work out.

 

[redmannorth]

I am in your camp 9, show me! Many of these so called program changers never work out.

You see I don't believe we have any program changers on board for this season, but I do believe we add a bunch of players who could be very good and/or fill holes that we have.
We all saw what last years four freshman can do and I think we all agree that Sima and Yakwe could be stars down the road with continued hard work and consistency.
We all hope that Mussini and Ellison work on their weaknesses and can be productive four year players.
I don't believe anyone expects any of Amir, Owens or Williams to be a star but I think if they all understand their roles they can be very useful bench players , especially Owens.
Each of Bashir, Ponds, Richard F and Marcus could be very good college players/stars but I don't believe it will be next season for any of them, probably after a season or two of college ball.
We have a nice deep and inexperienced team for next season, look for a big jump in wins and a trip to the dance in 2018 if we don't encounter any bad luck.

 

[austour]

I don't know Creighton's lineup well enough at this point but curious why some are picking them so high?

Guards. Watson and Foster will be in the top 3 backcourts in the conference. Behind Bluett/Sumner and Hart/Brunson.

Just not sure Creighton has enough upfront with Groselle graduating.

Hey Paul, thought I'd bump this after reading ESPN.com's post draft decision day too early top 25 they published today. They've got Creighton at #20. Nova is #2, X is #9 and Seton Hall is Honoarable Mention FWIW.

 

[Red.Fans]

Too much credit to Whitehead.