The Holy Land of Hoops

Probably biased here, but I'm going with SJ. 6 top 100 players including a 5 star PG, the best blocker in the NCAA, the Big East ROY, the 2nd leading scorer in the conference, a Jordan Brand All-American, a Dominican National Team player, a top 50 PG nationally, etc. etc. With that on paper, it should clearly be in contention for the conference title. Veterans and youth all mixed. So no young team excuse. Some people were even wondering if this year's team could be in the top 25 and make the Sweet 16 or further. Looking back, we have no bad losses, but we have 4 losses. 9-4 is not going to cut it. We should really be 11-2 with a win over #2 Cuse. That would have put us at probably #22 ish in the nation. That's what the talent can do. But instead, we are 9-4 and may not get our 10th win for a LONG time with G'Town and Nova coming up. This team is very likely 9-6 very soon. This team leaves itself literally no room for error if it wants to make the tourney. From here on out they have to beat teams they should i.e. SHU, PC, DePaul, etc. but I bet my life they will lose to at least 1 of them.

Marquette was supposed to be good too, but SJ had its best team since I've been alive and they blow it…again. SJ just was not meant to be for some reason…the basketball gods hate us.

And I can't even read Redmen.com anymore (SJ fan forum) because of how delusional the posters are. 90% of them say even now that a 9-4 record is not a big deal and we will be fine. Really? If you told me we won the next 5 in a row then yeah maybe we would be fine. But let's be real we won't make the tourney this year.

Easy choice - marquette

Marquette was supposed to be one of our heavy weights and help carry the league. They aren't even going dancing and have lost any game that has mattered.

St John's was not even projected to make the tourney by most (bubble team was the prognosis). St John's is still in okay shape though. They are really only the penn state game away from being where they should be. Wisconsin or syracuse would have been nice wins, and I wish they scheduled more "average" winnable games (like gtech) instead of the patsy fest they had. But they are only a game off of where they should be and are still in the hunt.

And as others will tell you: I'm not afraid to knock a team down if they deserve it. St john's doesn't deserve it yet.

Actually, st john's can lose its next 3, start out 0-3, and I still wouldn't stick a fork in them. Their next 10 would have a slew of winnable games, and if they went like 7-3 or 8-2 over that stretch they would then be 7-6 or 8-5 and be in good shape.

And if the jonnies lose their next 2, you can come to me for comfort, as I will not have written them off yet.

And if this is the best sju team of your life, then you must be very young.

The 2000 st johns team was very good. 1999 st johns was very good. Those were top 10 teams. If you thought this was a top 10 st johns team, your expectations were waaaaaaay off.

Unless you're a St. John's fan it's definitely Marquette. Marquette was preseason top 25 and picked to win the BE. St. John's was picked to finish 5th and it's not unreasonable that they could still finish there. Whereas no way does Marquette win the BE regular season title now.

Marquette easy, preaseason favorite, pretty much loses all their big non-conference games (except GW). SJ only disappointment was Penn State but that wasn't a horrible loss.

SI had Marquette rated 15th in their preseason issue. Marquette is in the conversation for the biggest disappointment, to date, among high profile schools in the entire D1.

Lavinwood wrote:Probably biased here, but I'm going with SJ. 6 top 100 players including a 5 star PG, the best blocker in the NCAA, the Big East ROY, the 2nd leading scorer in the conference, a Jordan Brand All-American, a Dominican National Team player, a top 50 PG nationally, etc. etc. With that on paper, it should clearly be in contention for the conference title. Veterans and youth all mixed. So no young team excuse. Some people were even wondering if this year's team could be in the top 25 and make the Sweet 16 or further. Looking back, we have no bad losses, but we have 4 losses. 9-4 is not going to cut it. We should really be 11-2 with a win over #2 Cuse. That would have put us at probably #22 ish in the nation. That's what the talent can do. But instead, we are 9-4 and may not get our 10th win for a LONG time with G'Town and Nova coming up. This team is very likely 9-6 very soon. This team leaves itself literally no room for error if it wants to make the tourney. From here on out they have to beat teams they should i.e. SHU, PC, DePaul, etc. but I bet my life they will lose to at least 1 of them.

Marquette was supposed to be good too, but SJ had its best team since I've been alive and they blow it…again. SJ just was not meant to be for some reason…the basketball gods hate us.

And I can't even read Redmen.com anymore (SJ fan forum) because of how delusional the posters are. 90% of them say even now that a 9-4 record is not a big deal and we will be fine. Really? If you told me we won the next 5 in a row then yeah maybe we would be fine. But let's be real we won't make the tourney this year.

I`ll reserve my vote for after the G-Town game, I had them 1-1 after two road games. A loss here puts us at 0-2 and 9-5, that including the PSU loss puts us 2 games behind where I had them at 11-3.

So even though it`s only the second conf game, to SJU this is a HUGE game. Tough road game right? Well no excuses, in this league you need to win a few tough road games.

I hope the team feels the same.

St. John's are going to go on a run at some point - they're far too talented not to. Lavin and most of these guys are used to the grind of Big East play and I think that will count for something at the end of the day.

James wrote:St. John's are going to go on a run at some point - they're far too talented not to.

James,

Please explain why you believe that St.John's has "talented" (your term) players.

Yes, many of the,players were ranked in recruit listings but since arriving at St.John's they have proven to be mediocre at best. Lavin has not done a good job recruiting players that play within a team concept.

A team is what their record is and St.John's won't qualify for the NCAA this season. Capisce?

Lavinwood wrote:Probably biased here, but I'm going with SJ. 6 top 100 players including a 5 star PG, the best blocker in the NCAA, the Big East ROY, the 2nd leading scorer in the conference, a Jordan Brand All-American, a Dominican National Team player, a top 50 PG nationally, etc. etc. With that on paper, it should clearly be in contention for the conference title. Veterans and youth all mixed. So no young team excuse. Some people were even wondering if this year's team could be in the top 25 and make the Sweet 16 or further. Looking back, we have no bad losses, but we have 4 losses. 9-4 is not going to cut it. We should really be 11-2 with a win over #2 Cuse. That would have put us at probably #22 ish in the nation. That's what the talent can do. But instead, we are 9-4 and may not get our 10th win for a LONG time with G'Town and Nova coming up. This team is very likely 9-6 very soon. This team leaves itself literally no room for error if it wants to make the tourney. From here on out they have to beat teams they should i.e. SHU, PC, DePaul, etc. but I bet my life they will lose to at least 1 of them.

Marquette was supposed to be good too, but SJ had its best team since I've been alive and they blow it…again. SJ just was not meant to be for some reason…the basketball gods hate us.

And I can't even read Redmen.com anymore (SJ fan forum) because of how delusional the posters are. 90% of them say even now that a 9-4 record is not a big deal and we will be fine. Really? If you told me we won the next 5 in a row then yeah maybe we would be fine. But let's be real we won't make the tourney this year.

I agree, Lavinwood, that St. John's has been the bigger disappointment so far.

I was never a believer in Marquette - picked them for 6th in the Big East - and I thought they were wildly overrated. They're playing about as well as I expected them to play.

I expected a lot more for St. John's for all the same reasons as you listed. The great thing about college basketball is that it is a developmental level. Players are growing and improving as the season progresses. The players are still young kids - even the "experienced" ones. The season isn't over today any more than it was for the 2011 team at this point in the season. The talent is still there and no one of us knows what the future holds. Keep the faith.