Holy Land fan poll - who finishes in 4th this season?

[hoyahooligan]

To the Hoya fans... Concerned at all about depth at guard? Losing Starks is a pretty big void to fill and though I really like DSR you will be asking him to assume more of that floor general role, and basically play the entire 40 minutes. I know with the Princeton offense a traditional PG is not as relied on, but you guys seem very thin in the ball handling dept. Thoughts?

Not really worried. I'll let JT3 answer as he did int he article I linked above:

"CBSSports.com: One of your key losses from last year's team was veteran point guard Markel Starks. Who takes the baton from him this season at the most important position on the floor?

Thompson: I don't know that we're looking at it like that simply because Markel probably for the time I've been here has been the most dominant point guard I've had in terms of always having the ball in his hands. I think we have the versatility and the flexibility this year where D'Vauntes [Smith-Rivera] is going to fill that role at times. We have other people that we can throw back there. Some of our freshmen --- L.J. [Peak] --- who is natural scorer, also has a great feel for the game. He can have the ball in his hands. Tre Campbell can have the ball in his hands. Jabril can have the ball in his hands. Now are they the stereotypical image that people will think of when they hear point guard? No. But are they skilled enough and do they understand enough where they can bring the ball up and initiate our offense? Yes. This isn't going to be one person that's going to be put in that role but I think we have enough pieces where we'll be fine."

[FriarJ]

I believe PC will be a better team then they were last year by the end of the season this year. They are going to be playing a completely style then they have been the last two years. They are the biggest team in the BE now and one of the more athletic. Cooley always had fantastic defensive teams at Fairfield and I suspect we will finally see what that was all about this year. Of course if Dunn does not stay healthy then all bets are off, but every team has a player they can't afford to lose.

As far as the SJU fan always ripping us, I assume because somehow saying something good about PC is a slight to the redmen, I could see your team finishing anywhere from 1st to 9th, but I say that every year about you guys. See the pattern here?

[BEX]

Results of this poll so far seem to indicate how 3, 2 and 1 will go. Done.

[SJHooper]

I believe PC will be a better team then they were last year by the end of the season this year. They are going to be playing a completely style then they have been the last two years. They are the biggest team in the BE now and one of the more athletic. Cooley always had fantastic defensive teams at Fairfield and I suspect we will finally see what that was all about this year. Of course if Dunn does not stay healthy then all bets are off, but every team has a player they can't afford to lose.

As far as the SJU fan always ripping us, I assume because somehow saying something good about PC is a slight to the redmen, I could see your team finishing anywhere from 1st to 9th, but I say that every year about you guys. See the pattern here?

Saying you lost Cotton (one of the best players in the entire conference and among the national leaders in PPG) and Fortune (key player) is not a slight or "ripping" on PC. It's a legitimate question. It would be the equivalent of us losing say Harrison and Jordan in terms of PPG. Actually it would be more than that. So when we lose both players next year and people say we will drop off, I will be sure to tell them to stop "ripping" on us.

[stever20]

To the Hoya fans... Concerned at all about depth at guard? Losing Starks is a pretty big void to fill and though I really like DSR you will be asking him to assume more of that floor general role, and basically play the entire 40 minutes. I know with the Princeton offense a traditional PG is not as relied on, but you guys seem very thin in the ball handling dept. Thoughts?

Not really worried. I'll let JT3 answer as he did int he article I linked above:

"CBSSports.com: One of your key losses from last year's team was veteran point guard Markel Starks. Who takes the baton from him this season at the most important position on the floor?

Thompson: I don't know that we're looking at it like that simply because Markel probably for the time I've been here has been the most dominant point guard I've had in terms of always having the ball in his hands. I think we have the versatility and the flexibility this year where D'Vauntes [Smith-Rivera] is going to fill that role at times. We have other people that we can throw back there. Some of our freshmen --- L.J. [Peak] --- who is natural scorer, also has a great feel for the game. He can have the ball in his hands. Tre Campbell can have the ball in his hands. Jabril can have the ball in his hands. Now are they the stereotypical image that people will think of when they hear point guard? No. But are they skilled enough and do they understand enough where they can bring the ball up and initiate our offense? Yes. This isn't going to be one person that's going to be put in that role but I think we have enough pieces where we'll be fine."

thought it was pretty interesting- JT3 was asked in the same article about why the Big East struggled so much last year. One of the things he answered was the scheduling. I think that was the one thing that the Big East flubbed up on big time last year- and it probably cost the Big East an NCAA spot(and probably getting Xavier out of the PIG). I think this years schedule is much better and condusive for getting better results. Might make the final standings a bit more spread out and not 3 10-8 teams 3-5 and a 9-9 team 6 Maybe get a 11 or 12 win 3rd place team.

[FriarJ]

I believe PC will be a better team then they were last year by the end of the season this year. They are going to be playing a completely style then they have been the last two years. They are the biggest team in the BE now and one of the more athletic. Cooley always had fantastic defensive teams at Fairfield and I suspect we will finally see what that was all about this year. Of course if Dunn does not stay healthy then all bets are off, but every team has a player they can't afford to lose.

As far as the SJU fan always ripping us, I assume because somehow saying something good about PC is a slight to the redmen, I could see your team finishing anywhere from 1st to 9th, but I say that every year about you guys. See the pattern here?

Saying you lost Cotton (one of the best players in the entire conference and among the national leaders in PPG) and Fortune (key player) is not a slight or "ripping" on PC. It's a legitimate question. It would be the equivalent of us losing say Harrison and Jordan in terms of PPG. Actually it would be more than that. So when we lose both players next year and people say we will drop off, I will be sure to tell them to stop "ripping" on us.

I said always ripping. In every single one of these silly poll threads you make a point of saying you can't possibly understand how SJU could finish behind PC or any other team for that matter like saying negative things about another teams chances somehow elevates SJU. It doesn't and only makes you look silly. SJU has under-performed each and every year that Lavin has had his own players and maybe it changes this year but most people are in the show me mode and honestly so should you be.

[SJHooper]

I believe PC will be a better team then they were last year by the end of the season this year. They are going to be playing a completely style then they have been the last two years. They are the biggest team in the BE now and one of the more athletic. Cooley always had fantastic defensive teams at Fairfield and I suspect we will finally see what that was all about this year. Of course if Dunn does not stay healthy then all bets are off, but every team has a player they can't afford to lose.

As far as the SJU fan always ripping us, I assume because somehow saying something good about PC is a slight to the redmen, I could see your team finishing anywhere from 1st to 9th, but I say that every year about you guys. See the pattern here?

Saying you lost Cotton (one of the best players in the entire conference and among the national leaders in PPG) and Fortune (key player) is not a slight or "ripping" on PC. It's a legitimate question. It would be the equivalent of us losing say Harrison and Jordan in terms of PPG. Actually it would be more than that. So when we lose both players next year and people say we will drop off, I will be sure to tell them to stop "ripping" on us.

I said always ripping. In every single one of these silly poll threads you make a point of saying you can't possibly understand how SJU could finish behind PC or any other team for that matter like saying negative things about another teams chances somehow elevates SJU. It doesn't and only makes you look silly. SJU has under-performed each and every year that Lavin has had his own players and maybe it changes this year but most people are in the show me mode and honestly so should you be.

If PC had Cotton still and Dunn proved he could stay healthy and became a star, then I would not be shocked if PC was ranked in the top 25. Cotton is a lot to lose I think level-headed people can agree. When we lose Harrison, Jordan, and others next year it will be a MAJOR loss. We might be 9th or 10th next year. So I'm not being a homer. All I'm saying is SJ has arguably the most talent and experience simultaneously in the conference maybe except for Nova. I understand people are in show me mode. I am too, trust me. But this is a team that has still made progress from 15 wins (I think) to 17 wins to 20 wins. The key players are only older and more experienced and Lavin has a better idea of how to use them. We have real role players now who won't try to shoot and will just do their job rebounding instead. That's what we need. So if you really want to be logical about it, SJ has been trending up for the past 3 years now in total wins and 20 is nothing to sneeze at good for 3rd place. I expect more wins from such a veteran team with our backcourt leading the way. That's why it's odd when people expect us to fall off the map when we've made consistent progress the past 3 years with the team and they only get more experienced now. Losing Sampson will sting, but it won't kill us. He wasn't our best player.

[hoyahooligan]

Interesting looking at last years polls here, vs. coaches poll, vs. final results:

The coaches and Holy Land agreed on Everything except Coaches correctly had Seton Hall 8th and Butler 9th while we here had them flipped. Every thing else was predicted the same, but obviously only St. John's 5th, and DePaul 10th were predicted correctly by both groups. Both groups were only 1 off about Creighton predicted 3rd finished 2nd, but we were way off on the rest: Nova predicted 4th finished 1st, Xavier predicted 7th finished 3rd, and Providence predicted 6th finished 4th and of course Marquette and Georgetown picked 1 and 2 finished 6 and 7.

So Basically none of us know what we're talking about

[friars321]

In regards to Providence finishing 4th, I think that is a good preseason ranking for them comparative to the league.
PC loses Cotton, Fotune, Batts...but added a lot as well. The team was forced to play a certain style (Cotton centric) with only 6 players all season.
This year's team is completely different and will play completely different. The points will be distributed among multiple guys, fast break, pressing, etc.
Having the biggest and one of the most athletic teams will help on the boards with easy 2cd chance points.
Unfortunately for the big east- PC is young and will likely struggle out of conference but will be much better as the season progresses.
Just hoping that doesn't hurt the conference rpi come march.

[FriarJ]

If PC had Cotton still and Dunn proved he could stay healthy and became a star, then I would not be shocked if PC was ranked in the top 25. Cotton is a lot to lose I think level-headed people can agree. When we lose Harrison, Jordan, and others next year it will be a MAJOR loss. We might be 9th or 10th next year. So I'm not being a homer. All I'm saying is SJ has arguably the most talent and experience simultaneously in the conference maybe except for Nova. I understand people are in show me mode. I am too, trust me. But this is a team that has still made progress from 15 wins (I think) to 17 wins to 20 wins. The key players are only older and more experienced and Lavin has a better idea of how to use them. We have real role players now who won't try to shoot and will just do their job rebounding instead. That's what we need. So if you really want to be logical about it, SJ has been trending up for the past 3 years now in total wins and 20 is nothing to sneeze at good for 3rd place. I expect more wins from such a veteran team with our backcourt leading the way. That's why it's odd when people expect us to fall off the map when we've made consistent progress the past 3 years with the team and they only get more experienced now. Losing Sampson will sting, but it won't kill us. He wasn't our best player.

fair enough. I'm rooting for St. Johns. We need them to be good, every year. The talent is there, the backcourt is dynamic. Can he get these guys to play as a team and quit all the pouting? That to me is the only thing holding them back from the top of the league.