The Holy Land of Hoops

The following three teams will make some noise come Tournament time.

Villanova
Georgetown
Xavier

This Xavier team is legit. I knew they had the pieces but until you saw them play I wasn't sure. Bluiett is the real deal!

Hopefully another team can get into the mix. Logical guess would be Providence or Seton Hall if the gel.

BigmanU wrote:The following three teams will make some noise come Tournament time.

Villanova
Georgetown
Xavier

This Xavier team is legit. I knew they had the pieces but until you saw them play I wasn't sure. Bluiett is the real deal!

Hopefully another team can get into the mix. Logical guess would be Providence or Seton Hall if the gel.

X is still very young and although our OOC is weak I still expect 1 or 2 losses. The Muskies will do very well in the league and 14 - 4 is not impossible though 13 - 5 is more likely.

Barring injury I see the three you mentioned as the top dogs.

I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

FlyJays wrote:I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I respectfully disagree, This Georgetown team is loaded with potential and athleticism. This team will roll out of bed and land in the top 3. The only question is if they put it all together and take the title.

BigmanU wrote:

FlyJays wrote:I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I respectfully disagree, This Georgetown team is loaded with potential and athleticism. This team will roll out of bed and land in the top 3. The only question is if they put it all together and take the title.

"roll out of bed and land in the top 3"

Hopefully the Georgetown team doesn't have the same attitude as the fans do. They are talented, for sure. But not talented enough to just show up and win games. Both games I saw them play they looked disjointed on offense, had subpar ball movement, and gave up some sloppy baskets on D. Also, Smith is really out of shape. If you get into a 40-minute game, which you will eventually, I see him struggling badly to give significant minutes down the stretch. Now, it's like a week into the season, and I fully expect them to drastically improve as time goes on, because JT3 is a great coach. Will they end up in the top 3? Very likely. I just wouldn't make that guarantee today based on the two games they've played.

FlyJays wrote:

BigmanU wrote:

FlyJays wrote:I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I respectfully disagree, This Georgetown team is loaded with potential and athleticism. This team will roll out of bed and land in the top 3. The only question is if they put it all together and take the title.

"roll out of bed and land in the top 3"

Hopefully the Georgetown team doesn't have the same attitude as the fans do. They are talented, for sure. But not talented enough to just show up and win games. Both games I saw them play they looked disjointed on offense, had subpar ball movement, and gave up some sloppy baskets on D. Also, Smith is really out of shape. If you get into a 40-minute game, which you will eventually, I see him struggling badly to give significant minutes down the stretch. Now, it's like a week into the season, and I fully expect them to drastically improve as time goes on, because JT3 is a great coach. Will they end up in the top 3? Very likely. I just wouldn't make that guarantee today based on the two games they've played.

They will win on bad nights, their floor is 12-6 in conference play. Smith will not be able nor need to play 40 minutes. Hell play 20-25 per game as the situation dictates, this team is very deep unlike last year.

BigmanU wrote:

FlyJays wrote:I'm not ready to put Georgetown in that top tier yet. They've had two uninspiring performances thus far.

I respectfully disagree, This Georgetown team is loaded with potential and athleticism. This team will roll out of bed and land in the top 3. The only question is if they put it all together and take the title.

If you think gtown can roll out of bed and beat teams like St. John's and Creighton, you got another thing coming! Much like St John's (who play Minnesota, maybe Gonzaga, and Syracuse) soon, you should wait for Georgetown to play a real team before deeming them a top 3 team in the big east. Same thing with Creighton, who get their first test tonight. Same thing with providence, same thing with pretty much everyone. Predicting a top 3 this early is all moot point until our teams play better competition than st Francis, Maine, NJIT, etc.

I would agree with Villanova and Georgetown. Xavier could be there, but their first few games are real snoozers so it is hard to tell with the level of competition they have played. They need to take care of Missouri and I think Auburn; other than that, they play no one out of conference until late in the year against UC.

Georgetown is not going to live up to their potential if Josh is struggling to go up and down the court.

ohiohsbball wrote:I would agree with Villanova and Georgetown. Xavier could be there, but their first few games are real snoozers so it is hard to tell with the level of competition they have played. They need to take care of Missouri and I think Auburn; other than that, they play no one out of conference until late in the year against UC.

Xavier does have a soft schedule. I think Xavier just played the best team of their non-conference schedule. Long Beach State is for real.