The Holy Land of Hoops

Here is an excellent article on the Big East in the New York Post. Well done and right on the money.

http://nypost.com/2014/03/11/give-east- ... m-to-grow/

Nice article. Compare it to this piece of junk from the Philly paper:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/20140312_Big_East_tournament_not_what_it_used_to_be.html

FaN78 wrote:Nice article. Compare it to this piece of junk from the Philly paper:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/20140312_Big_East_tournament_not_what_it_used_to_be.html

A lot of the bad things in the story are straight from Jay Wright:

"I think this is an off-year for our league," said Jay Wright, whose Villanova team finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the nation. "If this was a conference that had been in existence for 20 years, I think you'd say, 'Ah, it's just a down year, but it'll be back.' "

"It's not going to be the same, because Connecticut and Syracuse were such a big part of it," Wright said. "The other teams you miss basketball-wise, but those two schools were a big part of what that tournament is all about. There was just an aura because those two schools were close to New York and their fans would stay. It will not be the same, but it will still be one of the best basketball experiences in the country. People in New York go to this thing every year, and it's basketball. It's the mecca of basketball."

And this part you can't really disagree with:

The catch-22 for schools that hope to gain national attention and rise in the rankings and RPI during the season is that it is nearly impossible during the conference schedule unless there are several highly rated teams in the league. Otherwise, the gains have to be made during the early, nonconference schedule or probably not at all.

this year has been pretty much exactly that in a nutshell....

stever20 wrote:

FaN78 wrote:Nice article. Compare it to this piece of junk from the Philly paper:

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/20140312_Big_East_tournament_not_what_it_used_to_be.html

A lot of the bad things in the story are straight from Jay Wright:

"I think this is an off-year for our league," said Jay Wright, whose Villanova team finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the nation. "If this was a conference that had been in existence for 20 years, I think you'd say, 'Ah, it's just a down year, but it'll be back.' "

"It's not going to be the same, because Connecticut and Syracuse were such a big part of it," Wright said. "The other teams you miss basketball-wise, but those two schools were a big part of what that tournament is all about. There was just an aura because those two schools were close to New York and their fans would stay. It will not be the same, but it will still be one of the best basketball experiences in the country. People in New York go to this thing every year, and it's basketball. It's the mecca of basketball."

And this part you can't really disagree with:

The catch-22 for schools that hope to gain national attention and rise in the rankings and RPI during the season is that it is nearly impossible during the conference schedule unless there are several highly rated teams in the league. Otherwise, the gains have to be made during the early, nonconference schedule or probably not at all.

this year has been pretty much exactly that in a nutshell....

On the bright side, Jay said:

""Everybody had tough preseasons and tough breaks except us and Creighton," Wright said. "I think in other years, that doesn't happen and you're going to start with four teams in [the rankings], and then it gives everybody else the chance to move up. We're the fourth-rated conference for RPI, and I think that will get better and we'll give teams a chance to improve themselves [during the conference season], but this year, it wasn't there."

bottom line, the Philly article is pretty fair. Wright said a lot of the things that I have a feeling you were saying was junk.

Jay Wright:

"...it will still be one of the best basketball experiences in the country. People in New York go to this thing every year, and it's basketball. It's the mecca of basketball."

stever20 wrote:bottom line, the Philly article is pretty fair. Wright said a lot of the things that I have a feeling you were saying was junk.

If you compare the headlines, I can see why FaN78 might see a problem with the Philly article (and call it junk). A headline, for some, sets the tone for an article. The first one gives the reader a sense that while the BEast tourney isn't the same, it has the potential to become what it was when UConn, Cuse, and the rest were members of the conference. The other headline sets the opposite tone.

milwaukeejedi1 wrote:

stever20 wrote:bottom line, the Philly article is pretty fair. Wright said a lot of the things that I have a feeling you were saying was junk.

If you compare the headlines, I can see why FaN78 might see a problem with the Philly article (and call it junk). A headline, for some, sets the tone for an article. The first one gives the reader a sense that while the BEast tourney isn't the same, it has the potential to become what it was when UConn, Cuse, and the rest were members of the conference. The other headline sets the opposite tone.

I think it saying it's not what it used to be is fair. Jay Wright said that exact thing.

I think one interesting sentence in it is:
What it is now is better than might have been feared, but also somewhat less than might have been hoped.

I think in a lot of ways, that's so true. Could have been a lot worse(imagine same scenario, except Creighton w/o McDermott and Gibbs).. Providence going into the tank after everything this year.

but at same times- could have been a lot better(Xavier not falling apart in Atlantis, St John's beating Syracuse, Marquette's OOC struggles. Georgetown's struggles with Seton Hall this year).

Ackerman said it best in her interview this week (and I'm paraphrasing), but the league really needs these 10 schools to grow together, thus eliminate the need for expansion at the present. The round-robin format is truly a unique and special scheduling tool that allows each of these schools to develop and grow special rivalries in the coming seasons. The Big East is a league built with so much tradition and history, but the current incarnation is drawing its own path.

I really hope for good numbers (attendance and viewership) for the tournament this week, but I also view the situation realistically. The numbers will undoubtedly be down from previous years, but that doesn't mean the games themselves will be down. We need these games to be close and competitive. The better the basketball, the better!

Very excited for the kickoff tonight!