Thurs Jan 22nd, 2 Games - DeP-Seton, XU-PC.

[RedStormHoops]

Since when does losing once to DePaul "steal a bid from the conference"?

St. John's was projected in the "First Four Our" after the loss to the blue demons, and after the Marquette win are right back in "Last Four In". So it is not like losing one game to DePaul costs SJU the season. It didn't cost SHU the season either. So enough with this narrative that they steal bids from the other teams. If St. John's beats duke somehow, it completely nullifies the DePaul loss anyway.

[EMT]

i complained about depaul's ooc meltdown, in part, because I knew they had talent to do better. so i guess i was right about that assessment. the fact also remains true that their low rpi coming in coupled with their success in BE hurts the conference overall standing.

however, they have played so well to the point that they have put themselves in the post season conversation. as a BE supporter, i will be rooting for depaul from now on.

billy garrett jr is arguably the best pg in the BE right now. he plays with so much poise and control. against st. johns he knocked down like 10 free throws in a row to keep his team in the game. and against seton hall he's constantly beating his man to the basket getting fouled or finding a teammate on the perimeter. when you have a pg this good in college, it goes a long way.

Not named Kris Dunn.......

[BEhomer]

i knew someone was going to mention dunn. that's why i said arguably. i like dunn a lot but he's a little too loose with the ball. billy garrett has much better handle which allows him to be in control. i don't have a problem saying dunn is the best pg, but at least billy garrett deserves to be in the conversation.

[Freshjive2103]

I have been a bit of a broken record on this; I do not agree with Doug Gottieb that because DePaul is in first, that means this conference sucks. It does not suck. However, it perhaps is not the elite conference that some on here believe it to be. When I saw 7 bids being discussed, I kept thinking... lets not get ahead of ourselves. Ultimately, they may get 7 teams in, or they may get 5 teams in. If it is 5 teams, it is not DePaul's fault; it is the team's that had their bubble burst fault. DePaul, as it stands, has like 4 wins over top 50 RPI teams. They may stay at 4 or they may go to 5/6/7... who knows.

Secondly, Garrett is a solid player, but I am not sold on him being the best PG. DePaul has perhaps 10-11 assists the past 2 games combined. That troubles me. He is usually automatic from the line and he does well getting into the lane, but I think the offensive flow with DePaul has been crap. That is on the staff for the most part, but the floor general(s) [BG, Wood, McDonald, Simpson] share some of the blame.

[TheBall]

Losing to depaul might not knock a team out of the tournament (especially as depaul continue to play well), but it definitely could burst a bubble or it will knock a team down a couple of seed lines.

At this point maybe we should be rooting for depaul to get real hot and become the 6th bid from the big east?

[SJU1987]

St. John's losing to DePaul ain't so bad now. Too bad DePaul had a terrible start. That will hurt later on.

[stever20]

I have been a bit of a broken record on this; I do not agree with Doug Gottieb that because DePaul is in first, that means this conference sucks. It does not suck. However, it perhaps is not the elite conference that some on here believe it to be. When I saw 7 bids being discussed, I kept thinking... lets not get ahead of ourselves. Ultimately, they may get 7 teams in, or they may get 5 teams in. If it is 5 teams, it is not DePaul's fault; it is the team's that had their bubble burst fault. DePaul, as it stands, has like 4 wins over top 50 RPI teams. They may stay at 4 or they may go to 5/6/7... who knows.

Secondly, Garrett is a solid player, but I am not sold on him being the best PG. DePaul has perhaps 10-11 assists the past 2 games combined. That troubles me. He is usually automatic from the line and he does well getting into the lane, but I think the offensive flow with DePaul has been crap. That is on the staff for the most part, but the floor general(s) [BG, Wood, McDonald, Simpson] share some of the blame.

The assist stat can be so overrated though. I didn't get to see the game just because I was coaching my own game. But- a point guard could throw a great pass that leads to a layup attempt- but the layup gets missed due to a foul being committed. No assist there. yesterday was 4 assists out of 21 baskets. But they shot 33 free throws. Sunday was 9 assists out of 18 baskets- with 29 free throws. So that's not too bad.

[FriarJ]

If you can shoot the ball well during the game from 3 you can beat PC pretty easily, if you shoot poorly from the field like X did last night it's going to be tough to beat PC in an old fashioned BE physical slugfest. The game will be close, they will be ugly and in the end very few teams will have an answer for Kris Dunn.