(2) Wednesday Big East Games 12/29/21

[Omaha1]

Is he wrong though? Playing a highly condensed schedule isn't exactly ideal (or even safe) for players who haven't even been able to practice for 2 weeks because they're just getting over ilnesses.

Straight up question - is the Seton Hall team and coaching staff all fully vaccinated? If not, that responsibility falls on Willard and he has no right to blame anyone.

Have you seen the rate at which vaccinated people are getting this and fully vaccinated teams are getting shut down? While I fully support the vaccine, I'm afraid that's just not relevant to this situation.

I do understand. And I have less sympathy for someone or a group who shrugged off the need to vaccinate. If Willard and the entire team were vaccinated and then tested positive, your comment carries more weight. If they chose not to vaccinate and Willard didn’t convince them to, he’s lost all credibility on this. Doesn’t matter if vaccinated people are possibly testing positive as that is a different conversation to this specific case.

[butlerguy03]

The Butler-DePaul game was one of the worst officiated games I have witnessed. Early whistles, constantly going to the monitor for tenths of a second, phantom charges, a random 3-seconds call that didn't exist - there was no Butler player even in the paint, a lot of slapping of arms on both sides that didn't get called, the foul shots given on an offensive rebound foul, etc. Horribly officiated. If those are Big East regulars, we should consider hiring.

[Savannah Jay]

Is he wrong though? Playing a highly condensed schedule isn't exactly ideal (or even safe) for players who haven't even been able to practice for 2 weeks because they're just getting over ilnesses.

I don't think there will be anything ideal about this season. Clearly not ideal for SHU to play short handed. I assume other teams will have to do that, as well. And clearly we will have another season where not everyone plays a full round robin and the schedule will be unbalanced. PC gets to play a shorthanded Hall and others, presumably, will have to play the Pirates at full strength. Some teams will lose very winnable games that would help their tourney resume (like the Hoyas in Omaha for the Jays, which i don't see how they can make that up unless we do the 3 games in 5 days thing).

As happy as I was to watch Big East basketball last night, it almost seems like they ought to just take 10 days and let everyone get better and then put forth a condensed schedule where everyone has to play games in a condensed window but do it with (fingers crossed) healthy teams. Try to level the playing field.

In an odd way, the SHU-PC game was probably best case for conference (tho not for Pirates). PC won a game that it "should have" won given SHUs issues and SHU should be "forgiven" the loss when seeding for losing a game short handed.

I think a large part of Willard's rant was lobbying for that "forgiveness," reminding people the team that may very well start Big East play 0-3 or worse is currently a shell of the one ranked 15th in the country.

Personally, for this season I think we should just throw out the standings and let the healthy teams play the games they can/want to and let the paused teams get back to playing when they're able to. If the means the same 2 teams play each other 3 or 4 teams, so be it. It's just as unfair for Creighton to have 2 weeks off from other teams covid problems as it is to make Seton Hall play after not even being able to practice for 2 weeks. Creighton and Providence should have played last week when they knew their scheduled opponents couldn't. In addition to the originally scheduled ones, not replacing one.

100% agree...the conference should have said "here's healthy teams with no game so let's schedule one...and we'll look at whether it should be in Omaha or Providence based on how opening that date on their schedules later can benefit the league and teams." The idea that we had a few teams with issues and then had teams sitting around no games seemed "inefficient" if not just stupid.

EDIT: Maybe i agree 80% : )...PC and CU should have played and, if that could have replaced a game so that a canceled game could be played, great. But it makes sense if they couldn't make that work to just play 3 times (as long as 2 are in Omaha!!!)

[Hall2012]

I don't think there will be anything ideal about this season. Clearly not ideal for SHU to play short handed. I assume other teams will have to do that, as well. And clearly we will have another season where not everyone plays a full round robin and the schedule will be unbalanced. PC gets to play a shorthanded Hall and others, presumably, will have to play the Pirates at full strength. Some teams will lose very winnable games that would help their tourney resume (like the Hoyas in Omaha for the Jays, which i don't see how they can make that up unless we do the 3 games in 5 days thing).

As happy as I was to watch Big East basketball last night, it almost seems like they ought to just take 10 days and let everyone get better and then put forth a condensed schedule where everyone has to play games in a condensed window but do it with (fingers crossed) healthy teams. Try to level the playing field.

In an odd way, the SHU-PC game was probably best case for conference (tho not for Pirates). PC won a game that it "should have" won given SHUs issues and SHU should be "forgiven" the loss when seeding for losing a game short handed.

I think a large part of Willard's rant was lobbying for that "forgiveness," reminding people the team that may very well start Big East play 0-3 or worse is currently a shell of the one ranked 15th in the country.

Personally, for this season I think we should just throw out the standings and let the healthy teams play the games they can/want to and let the paused teams get back to playing when they're able to. If the means the same 2 teams play each other 3 or 4 teams, so be it. It's just as unfair for Creighton to have 2 weeks off from other teams covid problems as it is to make Seton Hall play after not even being able to practice for 2 weeks. Creighton and Providence should have played last week when they knew their scheduled opponents couldn't. In addition to the originally scheduled ones, not replacing one.

100% agree...the conference should have said "here's healthy teams with no game so let's schedule one...and we'll look at whether it should be in Omaha or Providence based on how opening that date on their schedules later can benefit the league and teams." The idea that we had a few teams with issues and then had teams sitting around no games seemed "inefficient" if not just stupid.

Exactly. The goal should be to get as many teams as possible to 20 games while minimizing the need to crowd future schedules. Not to get every team to play everyone else twice.

[stever20]

The Seton Hall schedule isn't crowded with the 2 makeups. It really isn't. Losing a bye isn't crowding the schedule. I'd be surprised if all teams don't lose their mid-week bye during the season.

And I think a lot would disagree that the goal shouldn't be to play everyone else twice.

[FriarJ]

Ed being Ed.
https://twitter.com/mhershgordon/status/1476521699290058758?s=21

[stever20]

Ed being Ed.
[url]https://twitter.com/mhershgordon/status/1476521699290058758?s=21[\URL]

loved his reaction last night when Seton Hall made that 3 pointer with 1 second to go on the shot clock. As a coach I've felt just like that on those BS luck shots so often.

[Hall2012]

The Seton Hall schedule isn't crowded with the 2 makeups. It really isn't. Losing a bye isn't crowding the schedule. I'd be surprised if all teams don't lose their mid-week bye during the season.

And I think a lot would disagree that the goal shouldn't be to play everyone else twice.

If the cancellations are mostly behind us, you're right. That's a big assumption though.

[stever20]

The Seton Hall schedule isn't crowded with the 2 makeups. It really isn't. Losing a bye isn't crowding the schedule. I'd be surprised if all teams don't lose their mid-week bye during the season.

And I think a lot would disagree that the goal shouldn't be to play everyone else twice.

If the cancellations are mostly behind us, you're right. That's a big assumption though.

like what the USC situation- guys that tested positive won't be tested again for 90 days. So they are in the clear for the rest of the season really now.

[OmahaUberAlles]

I do understand. And I have less sympathy for someone or a group who shrugged off the need to vaccinate. If Willard and the entire team were vaccinated and then tested positive, your comment carries more weight. If they chose not to vaccinate and Willard didn’t convince them to, he’s lost all credibility on this. Doesn’t matter if vaccinated people are possibly testing positive as that is a different conversation to this specific case.

Burn in hell you Authoritarian UnAmerican scum.