How is it even possible that SJU regressed?

[adoraz11]

yeah I've been guilty too of hyping them up to friends and bringing to the Garden. Won't ever do that again until they show actual results.

Last year at this point we had more bad losses, but at least some quality wins and were in better shape overall. Unbelievable.

I think the high expectations also hurt them because they keep choking away these endings. Last year they didn't have any real expectations and were better at closing games. The law of averages says we will eventually start winning these close games, but does it matter at this point? If we were a great team then DePaul wouldn't have been close in the first place. We would've won by 7 or 8.

As it stands the best part of our season was when we led the Syracuse game with a few minutes to go. That's pretty sad. Feels like I'm waiting for the BE tournament now and even that would only be for a 5% or so shot at making the tournament.

[TheHall]

I think this is very sound analysis.

I also think people put too much stock in recruiting rankings some times. Just because you have highly ranked individual players, it does not mean you will have a highly ranked team. Things like fit, style and personality type are sometimes more important. At Creighton, we saw how one highly ranked recruit can destroy a team and almost decimate a program a few years ago. Give me team players, not guys who are looking to get theirs every time they step on the floor.

Hey Bluejay, we're past rankings now with SJU. These guys are 2 & 3 yr starters now, we know most of them can ball. Go down the line they have role players. I don't think it's fair to label them as a bunch of selfish players. Sir Dom is the ultimate competitor, team-first glue guy. Same for Obekpa, Green, Branch & GG. This is about lack of player development, lack of a strong PG presence & coaching IMO.

[aughnanure]

What I am seeing in St. John's (from watching Villanova game and 2/3 of DePaul game plus parts of others) reminds me a lot of Villanova's 2011-2012 season where VU went 13-19 (see results: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/222/year/2012/villanova-wildcats. That year VU had a lot of talent (on paper anyway) (see roster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80 ... eam#Roster) including Wayans, Cheek, Yarou, Bell, Pinkston, and others yet the team had zero chemistry and played very selfish basketball. It was frustrating to watch knowing that Wayans and Cheek would hold the ball until there was 10 seconds left on the clock and then put up an awful shot.

You could argue that the team Villanova has right now doesn't have as much talent on paper as the 2011-2012 team did but they play as a team and play really , really solid defense. The 2011-2012 team played crappy defense. Every team will have off nights on the offensive end but a solid defense can keep a team in those games. The VU-SJU game last week is a good example: Villanova didn't shoot well at all, certainly nowhere close to what they had shot the prior two games yet their defense kept St. John's from getting much of a lead.

St. John's 2013-2014 reminds me of VU 2011-2012: A lot of talent that doesn't seem to enjoy playing with or for each other.

I think this is very sound analysis.

I also think people put too much stock in recruiting rankings some times. Just because you have highly ranked individual players, it does not mean you will have a highly ranked team. Things like fit, style and personality type are sometimes more important. At Creighton, we saw how one highly ranked recruit can destroy a team and almost decimate a program a few years ago. Give me team players, not guys who are looking to get theirs every time they step on the floor.

Care to elaborate on this player?

[Jet915]

What I am seeing in St. John's (from watching Villanova game and 2/3 of DePaul game plus parts of others) reminds me a lot of Villanova's 2011-2012 season where VU went 13-19 (see results: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/222/year/2012/villanova-wildcats. That year VU had a lot of talent (on paper anyway) (see roster: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80 ... eam#Roster) including Wayans, Cheek, Yarou, Bell, Pinkston, and others yet the team had zero chemistry and played very selfish basketball. It was frustrating to watch knowing that Wayans and Cheek would hold the ball until there was 10 seconds left on the clock and then put up an awful shot.

You could argue that the team Villanova has right now doesn't have as much talent on paper as the 2011-2012 team did but they play as a team and play really , really solid defense. The 2011-2012 team played crappy defense. Every team will have off nights on the offensive end but a solid defense can keep a team in those games. The VU-SJU game last week is a good example: Villanova didn't shoot well at all, certainly nowhere close to what they had shot the prior two games yet their defense kept St. John's from getting much of a lead.

St. John's 2013-2014 reminds me of VU 2011-2012: A lot of talent that doesn't seem to enjoy playing with or for each other.

I think this is very sound analysis.

I also think people put too much stock in recruiting rankings some times. Just because you have highly ranked individual players, it does not mean you will have a highly ranked team. Things like fit, style and personality type are sometimes more important. At Creighton, we saw how one highly ranked recruit can destroy a team and almost decimate a program a few years ago. Give me team players, not guys who are looking to get theirs every time they step on the floor.

Care to elaborate on this player?

P'Allen Stinnett. One of the more highly touted recruits to come to Creighton since Benoit Benjamin. Top 100 player. Had skills but was selfish, not a team player, never improved and did alot of extracurricular stuff that Altman turned a blind eye to and created resentment with the other players. Killed chemistry.

[Bluejay]

I think this is very sound analysis.

I also think people put too much stock in recruiting rankings some times. Just because you have highly ranked individual players, it does not mean you will have a highly ranked team. Things like fit, style and personality type are sometimes more important. At Creighton, we saw how one highly ranked recruit can destroy a team and almost decimate a program a few years ago. Give me team players, not guys who are looking to get theirs every time they step on the floor.

Hey Bluejay, we're past rankings now with SJU. These guys are 2 & 3 yr starters now, we know most of them can ball. Go down the line they have role players. I don't think it's fair to label them as a bunch of selfish players. Sir Dom is the ultimate competitor, team-first glue guy. Same for Obekpa, Green, Branch & GG. This is about lack of player development, lack of a strong PG presence & coaching IMO.

Let me give you just one of many possible examples from tonight's game ( I can't use player names because I am still learning them for all of the teams):

St Johns has the ball on a fast break opportunity. Ball handler on rt side of the floor. Teammate on the left side of the floor with another Johnnie a few feet behind him. Ballhandler throws the lob up to his teammate on the left. The guy on the left goes to get the lob AS DOES HIS TEAMMATE THAT IS A COUPLE FEET BEHIND HIM. Obviously, the second guy saw the ball in the air and thought, "I'm gonna get that alley-oop, I don't care if I have to run over my own teammate in front of me to get it." The result is that the second guy bumps into the guy in front of him, neither guy gets the ball, and an easy, should have been guaranteed bucket, results in a turnover.

That isn't lack of player development. It isn't even a lack of coaching. It is just plain SELFISH.

[whiteandblue77]

St Johns has the ball on a fast break opportunity. Ball handler on rt side of the floor. Teammate on the left side of the floor with another Johnnie a few feet behind him. Ballhandler throws the lob up to his teammate on the left. The guy on the left goes to get the lob AS DOES HIS TEAMMATE THAT IS A COUPLE FEET BEHIND HIM. Obviously, the second guy saw the ball in the air and thought, "I'm gonna get that alley-oop, I don't care if I have to run over my own teammate in front of me to get it." The result is that the second guy bumps into the guy in front of him, neither guy gets the ball, and an easy, should have been guaranteed bucket, results in a turnover.

That was just awful. There were a LOT of missed assists that I noticed as well... it was pretty shocking how much it stood out, I guess I'm spoiled watching lots of unselfish basketball:

2013-2014 Assists Per Game Leader
RK.TEAM..........GP...AST..APG
1.Creighton.......17...324...19.1
2.Iowa State......16...295...18.4
3.Michigan State.17...309...18.2
........................................
27.Villanova.......16...254..15.9
36.Xavier..........18...281..15.6
56.Marquette.....17...257..15.1
95.Georgetown...16...227..14.2
101.Providence...16...225..14.1
164.Seton Hall....17...223..13.1
201.St. John's....16...203..12.7
217.DePaul....... 18...223..12.4
275.Butler.........17.. 195..11.5

I'm also including the lowly Huskers because I HATE them 333rd!
333.Nebraska...16....162..10.1

[friars321]

Wow looking at those rankings, is almost identical to looking at the Big East standings. Obviously more assists means more cohesion and teamwork and points on offense. Talent in this league is everywhere,playing together and sharing the ball could be a really underrated facet.