Realistic Expectation for First Four Games

paultzman

paultzman

Well-known member
2023 $upporter 2022 $upporter
SH on road
Marquette at home
Georgetown on road
Nova on road

Always good to get out of gate well, but this is a tough initial group of games. Of course things even out in next four, but would be nice to maintain the positive vibe around program. As a subjective fan, it easy to predict 4-0, but frankly splitting the games would be fine imo, with a hope for 3-1. Thoughts?
 
So hard to judge how we'll perform against better competition. But in the early tests, our guys answered the bell against Rutgers and showed some grit in the comeback against GT. It's enough to convince me we have the toughness to come out of the first four with at least a 2-2 record. I'd take that as a good start.
 
This group seems up for large challenges now so feel very good about their BE prospects but would be at ease with 2-2 , thrilled with 3-1!
 
Realistically, a split would be great. More
Than that would be gravy and portend a really great season. Less than that would be a disappointment and possibly portend a struggle in conference play.

I do believe that the guys have done a better
Job the last several games and that to me indicates that they are jelling.
 
[quote="redmanwest" post=309425]Realistically, a split would be great. More
Than that would be gravy and portend a really great season. Less than that would be a disappointment and possibly portend a struggle in conference play.

I do believe that the guys have done a better
Job the last several games and that to me indicates that they are jelling.[/quote]

Agreed. Would hard to win on the road in th Big East. So you can't expect wins.
 
Hopefully Gillispe is back for our game against Nova. I think our guards will give him fits.

I would be happy going 2-2.
 
I'm hoping for a 2-2 split but if Keita is a non factor I can see us starting 0-4. Especially after watching Sacred Heart beat us on the boards on both ends of the court. In conference play size will matter and it is wonderful to have a good shooting forward like Clark taking treys but that usually means our guys are already running away from the basket when he shoots. Every Big East team here out will have the 6'8 and 6'10 kids to give us problems. Last night they were Sacred Heart kids. Now they will be nationally ranked Big East kids. Let's see if small ball works in conference. Without defense and rebounding my guess is that it won't be enough.
 
4-0 but I'll accept 3-1. Anything less than 3-1 is a disappointment. A loss to Marquette at home basically means a sweep. SH is one of most winnable road games due to proximity and fan support. Georgetown just below that due to their quality as a team.

This team needs to be thinking 12-13 wins in conference at this point. The only way to do that is to avoid sweeps and to sweep 3-4 teams.
 
[quote="Class of 72" post=309438]I'm hoping for a 2-2 split but if Keita is a non factor I can see us starting 0-4. Especially after watching Sacred Heart beat us on the boards on both ends of the court. In conference play size will matter and it is wonderful to have a good shooting forward like Clark taking treys but that usually means our guys are already running away from the basket when he shoots. Every Big East team here out will have the 6'8 and 6'10 kids to give us problems. Last night they were Sacred Heart kids. Now they will be nationally ranked Big East kids. Let's see if small ball works in conference. Without defense and rebounding my guess is that it won't be enough.[/quote]

WTF?

Our center is 6'7-6'8 230 lbs and is one of the best set shooters in the country. The guys we have playing PF an C can all start a break, score 25 points any given night, and hit free throws. He can space the floor better than any big man in the country.

Look at what a typical big man does in a game...usually 50% or so from the line which means 4-6 misses from the stripe, tires and gets beat back a few times in transition, gets beaten on the perimeter a handful of times by guards and wings, clogs the lane, doesn't stretch the D, etc. Let them get 5-6 layups if we can get 8-10 baskets on the other end from the other stuff.
 
All four games are winnable but none will be easy. The hope here is we play our best. If we do that some positive results will hopefully follow.

Historically we have struggled on the road against all three of our scheduled road opponents. On the road: at Seton Hall we are 1 and 12 in our last 13, at Georgetown 0 and 13 in our last 13 and at Villanova 3 and 14 in our last 17. Additionally we have a losing record against Marquette at home (4 and 5 in our last nine).

The difficulty of knowing if this group can reverse these losing trends, against these four opponents, is based on the step up of the level of competition we will be facing here. These should definitely be our four toughest games so far. How this team will perform here is largely guesswork. What I believe is that this group is talented enough at their best to win any of these four games and I will be very happy to see them win some and approach playing at their best in all.
 
4-0 is not a realistic expectation. That’s 3 road games including at nova and the home game is against the best team in the league who has the biggest physical presence in Theo John. We better come out and beat SH or I think we’ll be lucky to be 1-3.

The positive is one of the tougher 4 game stretches is out of the way, the negative being there aren’t many easy 4 game stretches in the BE. Regardless, I think end of the year we’ll have 11 wins and a more than safe bid.
 
Very tough 4 game start for sure. I really think Hall game is crucial to a good start. If we win that one, I say we'll go 3-1 or at worst 2-2; if we lose Hall game I think 2-2 is best we can expect. I would be fine with 2-2 start, do not want to see us starting BE season 1-3.
 
[quote="Section9" post=309454]1-3. The first game will really set the tone. If we beat sh it could easily be 3-1.[/quote]

I honestly feel like 1-3 is not only possible, but likely. This 4 game stretch is brutal. If we do go 1-3, there is no need to jump off the bandwagon though. We'll have plenty of opportunities to right the ship.
 
Honestly the only game I really expect to win is the Georgetown game and even that’ll be tough if Keita isn’t contributing on the defensive end, because I could see Govan going for 20-15 in that game.

The seton hall game is the big one. That’s a team that’s like evenly ranked with us right now when it comes to tournament hopes, and beating them on the road would be a really good look for us.

I say we beat SH, Gtown. Lose a close one at home to the golden eagles and then lose in OT on the road to nova. 2-2, not bad
 
Last edited:
[quote="Amaseinyourface" post=309444]4-0 is not a realistic expectation. That’s 3 road games including at nova and the home game is against the best team in the league who has the biggest physical presence in Theo John. We better come out and beat SH or I think we’ll be lucky to be 1-3.

The positive is one of the tougher 4 game stretches is out of the way, the negative being there aren’t many easy 4 game stretches in the BE. Regardless, I think end of the year we’ll have 11 wins and a more than safe bid.[/quote]

Georgetown and SH are two of the most winnable road games we play all season.

We have a stretch later in the year: @Creighton, @Duke, @Marquette, Providence, Butler, Villanova, and @ Providence...followed by Seton Hall. That is consecutive!!!!!

If we are a tournament team we will beat SH and Gtown on the road and we will protect our home court against Marquette. They are good but they aren't Gonzaga. They lost by 23 to Indiana and they barely beat a 3-0 UTEP team.

We can't lose at home to Marquette this early. What are the odds we can beat them on the road later in the year?! Pretty close to zero.
 
Of course we want 4-0, 3-1 and even 2-2
but imo as long as we are in the games and playing well there would be no need to "give up: on the season if the record is - an unfortunate - 1-3.
Do any of use know for sure which one it will be? Could be any of the combination of Ws and Ls and I would not be surprised. Tough to read.
I hope for at least 2!
Go Storm.

And health and happy holidays to all and among our blessings is this site! Let's enjoy and appreciate it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top