Preseason Looks?

[adoraz]

Some of those odds do look odd (Georgetown over St. John's?), but Creighton doesn't surprise me. They should be much stronger by end of the year given how young and talented they are. The question is whether they can win enough early on to reach the Tournament.

[GumbyDamnit!]

Just doin' my Sunday Morning reads/re-reads of the national talking heads and bracket prognosticators.
I don't know how I missed this previously?

https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/04/n ... la-gonzaga

The SI group of talkin' heads are badmouthing my boys up in Radnor!!!? How dare they. Don't they KNOW
that Lil' Jay & the Americans (read: Philadelphians) are above reproach. The nerve, the Gall, the audacity,
of those ne'er-do-wells at Sports Illustrated - taking potshots at the Holy Radnorites! Fatmouthing on both
HRH Gillespie and Samuels...those sacrilegious, sanctimonious SI scumbags!


Calling the Huskers, err...Huskies, a breakthrough team...to win the Big East?? OR to make the 2nd weekend
in the dance - the logic and clarity were both cloudy?

Oh woe, woe is me. What's a loyal, true Blue, dyed-in-da-wool, Radnor Dunkin' Donuts guy s'posed to do? I know...
I'll cancel (culture) my SI subscription...yeh...that's it! That's the ticket! To hell in a handbasket with those SI pukes!
How dare they besmirch the name-image-likeness of the blessed Wildcats of Radnor!

Git you're celebrating the following quote from SI:
"I think the Wildcats are the favorites in the Big East without too much question and very well may be a top-10 team. That said, I’m not sure this group has the top-end talent to be the top-five team."
Oh the horror!!! To recap: this single prognaticator--Kevin Sweeney, B1G10 shill from Chicago who of course has the Illni as his dark-horse team of the year--says that Nova maybe overrated. "Sure they are BE Conf Champs good, and Top 10 good, just not Top 5 good." You're right...what shall we do?

[Novachap]

Just doin' my Sunday Morning reads/re-reads of the national talking heads and bracket prognosticators.
I don't know how I missed this previously?

https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/04/n ... la-gonzaga

The SI group of talkin' heads are badmouthing my boys up in Radnor!!!? How dare they. Don't they KNOW
that Lil' Jay & the Americans (read: Philadelphians) are above reproach. The nerve, the Gall, the audacity,
of those ne'er-do-wells at Sports Illustrated - taking potshots at the Holy Radnorites! Fatmouthing on both
HRH Gillespie and Samuels...those sacrilegious, sanctimonious SI scumbags!


Calling the Huskers, err...Huskies, a breakthrough team...to win the Big East?? OR to make the 2nd weekend
in the dance - the logic and clarity were both cloudy?

Oh woe, woe is me. What's a loyal, true Blue, dyed-in-da-wool, Radnor Dunkin' Donuts guy s'posed to do? I know...
I'll cancel (culture) my SI subscription...yeh...that's it! That's the ticket! To hell in a handbasket with those SI pukes!
How dare they besmirch the name-image-likeness of the blessed Wildcats of Radnor!

Git you're celebrating the following quote from SI:
"I think the Wildcats are the favorites in the Big East without too much question and very well may be a top-10 team. That said, I’m not sure this group has the top-end talent to be the top-five team."
Oh the horror!!! To recap: this single prognaticator--Kevin Sweeney, B1G10 shill from Chicago who of course has the Illni as his dark-horse team of the year--says that Nova maybe overrated. "Sure they are BE Conf Champs good, and Top 10 good, just not Top 5 good." You're right...what shall we do?

Crap, we're only top 10, not top 5... fire Jay.

[gtmoBlue]

...actually No. Sweeney's 2cents was a part of the overall comments.

https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/04/n ... la-gonzaga

These were the quotes I was referring to...

Breakthrough team
Jordan: Connecticut. I get it, you’re confused. Yes, the Huskies were picked to finish second in the Big East this season, so breakthrough seems like a bit of a stretch, but Dan Hurley’s squad was one-and-done last March in the NCAA tournament and returns a group talented enough to get it to the second weekend this season. Hurley will use a committee approach on the offensive end to combat the loss of James Bouknight; R.J. Cole is capable, Akok Akok is healthy, and the Huskies welcome the No. 13 recruiting class in the SI All-American team rankings. Hurley has length, depth, size and athleticism—the perfect blend to take the next step this season.

I'm not buying the hype on...

Sweeney: Villanova. I think the Wildcats are the favorites in the Big East without too much question and very well may be a top-10 team. That said, I’m not sure this group has the top-end talent to be the top-five team many are anointing them as. Jay Wright’s club was pedestrian on defense a season ago and relied heavily upon Jeremiah Robinson-Earl on both ends of the floor. There’s some upside in smaller, switchable lineups with Jermaine Samuels at the five without Robinson-Earl, but this team will struggle up front with good bigs and its perimeter defense may continue to be an issue.

Jordan: Villanova. Yes, Collin Gillespie is back healthy, but if you’ve got the Wildcats penciled in for New Orleans you’re severely underestimating the loss of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The co-Big East Player of the Year and last season’s leading scorer (15.7 ppg) will prove to be a devastating blow to Jay Wright’s squad on both ends, and, while Gillespie’s presence will help address the offensive depletion, it’s the Wildcats’ defense that needs the overhaul. Wright’s crew ranked 206th in field goal percentage defense last season, and doesn’t seem to have the personnel in the paint to address Robinson-Earl’s loss down low.

[GumbyDamnit!]

...actually No. Sweeney's 2cents was a part of the overall comments.

https://www.si.com/college/2021/11/04/n ... la-gonzaga

These were the quotes I was referring to...

Breakthrough team
Jordan: Connecticut. I get it, you’re confused. Yes, the Huskies were picked to finish second in the Big East this season, so breakthrough seems like a bit of a stretch, but Dan Hurley’s squad was one-and-done last March in the NCAA tournament and returns a group talented enough to get it to the second weekend this season. Hurley will use a committee approach on the offensive end to combat the loss of James Bouknight; R.J. Cole is capable, Akok Akok is healthy, and the Huskies welcome the No. 13 recruiting class in the SI All-American team rankings. Hurley has length, depth, size and athleticism—the perfect blend to take the next step this season.

I'm not buying the hype on...

Sweeney: Villanova. I think the Wildcats are the favorites in the Big East without too much question and very well may be a top-10 team. That said, I’m not sure this group has the top-end talent to be the top-five team many are anointing them as. Jay Wright’s club was pedestrian on defense a season ago and relied heavily upon Jeremiah Robinson-Earl on both ends of the floor. There’s some upside in smaller, switchable lineups with Jermaine Samuels at the five without Robinson-Earl, but this team will struggle up front with good bigs and its perimeter defense may continue to be an issue.

Jordan: Villanova. Yes, Collin Gillespie is back healthy, but if you’ve got the Wildcats penciled in for New Orleans you’re severely underestimating the loss of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. The co-Big East Player of the Year and last season’s leading scorer (15.7 ppg) will prove to be a devastating blow to Jay Wright’s squad on both ends, and, while Gillespie’s presence will help address the offensive depletion, it’s the Wildcats’ defense that needs the overhaul. Wright’s crew ranked 206th in field goal percentage defense last season, and doesn’t seem to have the personnel in the paint to address Robinson-Earl’s loss down low.

Yawn...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdW_ma7GRgI

[DudeAnon]

Rhode Island (KenPom #100): 85
St. John's (KenPom #51): 83

So the 4 of our teams receiving AP votes have gone 0-5 thus far against D1 teams. Granted, if this were a regular season game we probably would've pulled it off with a shorter rotation, but still not an encouraging sign that we didn't play better.

Old takes exposed

[adoraz]

Haha, regarding that post it's actually still true (at least for St. John's). Way too many of our fans had us pencilled into the Sweet 16 this year and were looking past Indiana. Way too much optimism when we blew out the worst team in the country on opening night, and it showed when we played a real team in Indiana. We could still have a great year obviously, but I'm not happy with the start to our season. Not a bad start, just not a very good one. We also have a mediocre OOC schedule with only one more notable game. Terrible job by the school with scheduling.

That said, the rest of the league clearly has played much better compared to their pre-season scrimmages. Glad those scrimmages ended up being totally off.