Seton Hall

[TheBall]

Guys like Gibbs need to show some leadership. Seton Hall is just falling apart...I don't think we'll get 7 anymore but 6 is still possible but SJU or Seton Hall need to step up.

Well said.

[stever20]

It's funny I was under the impression there were 8 games left

There is, but with what some schools have left, tough to see them doing anything. Seton Hall looks absolutely done now.

St John's has a chance- but they pretty much must win all these games- DePaul, Seton Hall, Xavier, Georgetown, and @ Marquette. If they lose one of those, they then have to win one of these- @ Xavier, @ Georgetown, or @ Nova.

I think you're wrong. Joe Lunardi already has St. John's firmly on the bubble, in the first four out, and will probably move them back in in his update tomorrow morning because of purdues bad loss to Minnesota and St. John's win against Creighton.

And I respect his opinion more than random guy from holy land of hoops.com

You do understand that Lunardi is talking if the season ended right now. The problem is if they don't win those games that I said- say they come up 1 short. That puts them at 4-4 entering the BET. That puts them at 18-12 overall with a 57.8 RPI. They would likely have to make the tourney final to make the tourney at that point- or the SF if a win was against Nova or Butler I'm assuming. To feel comfortably in going into the BET, they need to go 5-3 down the stretch. That gets them to 19-11 with a 44.7 RPI. Now that should be safe. And I think Lunardi would say the exact same thing quite frankly.. It's one thing to be on the bubble, it's another to have a realistic shot of making it. St John's going 4-4 and losing in the 1st rd of the BET, there is pretty much a 0% chance of them making the tourney, even if they are on the bubble. I don't see why that's so hard to admit.

Also, since when is a loss to Minnesota- who is #88 right now- considered a bad loss, especially on the road. That's hardly a bad loss at all. It's more of a lost opportunity than anything else.

[stever20]

It's funny I was under the impression there were 8 games left

There is, but with what some schools have left, tough to see them doing anything. Seton Hall looks absolutely done now.

St John's has a chance- but they pretty much must win all these games- DePaul, Seton Hall, Xavier, Georgetown, and @ Marquette. If they lose one of those, they then have to win one of these- @ Xavier, @ Georgetown, or @ Nova.

I think you're wrong. Joe Lunardi already has St. John's firmly on the bubble, in the first four out, and will probably move them back in in his update tomorrow morning because of purdues bad loss to Minnesota and St. John's win against Creighton.

And I respect his opinion more than random guy from holy land of hoops.com

Wrong on St John's being in today's bracket- they're the 1st team out.

Seton Hall last team with a bye right now.

Tough bracket with ESPN-
Xavier 9 seed plays 8 Oklahoma St and then Kentucky in Louisville
Providence 6 seed plays 11 Temple/ODU and then UNC in Charlotte
Georgetown 6 seed plays 11 LSU and then Utah in Portland(win there and Wisconsin is looming)
Butler 5 seed plays 12 SF Austin(same team that beat VCU last year) and then 4 Northern Iowa. Win there and Virginia is looming
Villanova 2 seed plays 15 Albany and then 7 Ohio St in Pittsburgh(some neutral site there!)
Seton Hall 11 seed plays 6 West Virginia and then 3 Louisville in Columbus

Xavier, PC in Midwest
Georgetown in South
Butler and Villanova in East
Seton Hall in West

[Hall2012]

I think we'll learn a lot about this team tomorrow night. Mobley's comments sounded bad, but in all honesty if his concerns are legitimate (and I think it's safe to assume they are), then they needed to be said. Maybe saying it to the media wasn't the best choice, but it's out there now and identifying the problem is the first step to fixing it.

You've all heard the sayings: "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," "the strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire," etc. They're not without merit and right now this team is at a major crossroads. They can either wilt and not be heard from again this season, or they can battle through this adversity together and end up even stronger for it. We'll see. It's not win/lose against Georgetown tomorrow that will define the rest of the season (although they could really use a win, both for morale and the tournament resume), but it's how hard they fight- for each other and for the team.

On a side note, I was very disappointed in the Seton Hall crowd booing these kids off the floor at halftime on Saturday (and loudly voicing their displeasure at several other moments during the game). I get everyone's frustrated, I am too, but I doubt anyone is more frustrated than the kids on the floor. As we see now from the post-game comments, the problems are running a bit deeper than an inability to make layups. This team needs our support now more than ever, and booing is going to frustrate them even more. Half of the kids on this team were in high school last year. They're not professionals. A lot of people seem to forget that. I really admire the Creighton fan base and how they stay positive and support their kids at every game regardless of how well or poorly they're playing at the time. I wish we could see more of that in college basketball.

[shupirate98]

Those boos are 100 percent for Willard. Of course it's still discouraging for the players as they don't know that and all they hear is BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But all the frustration from the people around me was directed at Willard, all of it. All the bitching and moaning that was going on around me, and Lord knows there was plenty of it, the only player I heard anyone complain about at all was Whitehead on a couple of occasions when he was dribbling into oblivion. All the other talk was Willard, Willard, Willard.

In the 20-plus years I've gone to Seton Hall games the only player I ever booed was Eddie Griffin and that was because he just refused to give an effort. He couldn't even be bothered to pretend to give an effort. The players we have now are trying, they're just not good enough. And the coach is lost at sea.

[Hall2012]

Those boos are 100 percent for Willard. Of course it's still discouraging for the players as they don't know that and all they hear is BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! But all the frustration from the people around me was directed at Willard, all of it. All the bitching and moaning that was going on around me, and Lord knows there was plenty of it, the only player I heard anyone complain about at all was Whitehead on a couple of occasions when he was dribbling into oblivion. All the other talk was Willard, Willard, Willard.

In the 20-plus years I've gone to Seton Hall games the only player I ever booed was Eddie Griffin and that was because he just refused to give an effort. He couldn't even be bothered to pretend to give an effort. The players we have now are trying, they're just not good enough. And the coach is lost at sea.

Like you said though, the players hear it and it definitely affects them. They had a lot of bad giveaways and must've missed at least 10-15 easy layups on Saturday. That's a clear sign of the team struggling mentally and hearing the boos only makes it worse.

I obviously have no idea what Kevin did as far as practice yesterday, but if I were him I wouldn't have brought 1 basketball out on the floor or mentioned anything pertaining to the word "Georgetown." The sole priority needs to be getting these kids back on the same page and to a point where they're working together and battling for each other. If that doesn't happen, you can put Coach K on the bench and they still won't win another game.

[TheBall]

A month ago, Kevin willard was my pick for big east coach of the year and the pirates were my pre-season 2016 favorites.

Now it looks like willard could lose his job this spring and there is going to be a mass departure with seton hall dropping down to rutgers level. Amazing.

I posted a while back that I thought they should ease whitehead back into the rotation, have him come off the bench, try to develop him into the best 6th man in the conference. Someone called me ridiculous and said that I was an idiot for suggesting such. Well....., whitehead has clearly not meshed well upon his return.
Sometimes a solid 6th man is very valuable. Corey fisher 2009, kyle Lowry 2005, jayvaughn pinkston 2013 all come to mind. It benefits the player and the team chemistry. This isn't a video game, you need to massage your lineups a bit.

Anyway, what are the chances of whitehead being back in Newark next year? 20%

At least delgado is a player they can build around.

[Hall2012]

A month ago, Kevin willard was my pick for big east coach of the year and the pirates were my pre-season 2016 favorites.

Now it looks like willard could lose his job this spring and there is going to be a mass departure with seton hall dropping down to rutgers level. Amazing.

I posted a while back that I thought they should ease whitehead back into the rotation, have him come off the bench, try to develop him into the best 6th man in the conference. Someone called me ridiculous and said that I was an idiot for suggesting such. Well....., whitehead has clearly not meshed well upon his return.
Sometimes a solid 6th man is very valuable. Corey fisher 2009, kyle Lowry 2005, jayvaughn pinkston 2013 all come to mind. It benefits the player and the team chemistry. This isn't a video game, you need to massage your lineups a bit.

Anyway, what are the chances of whitehead being back in Newark next year? 20%

At least delgado is a player they can build around.

Whitehead did return as the 6th man. He got starter minutes, but came in off the bench. Yesterday's game was his first start since returning from injury, and that was really just to try to shake things up after the DePaul and Marquette disasters. Clearly it didn't help.

The way things are right now- I'd agree Whitehead does not return next year, even if he doesn't get drafted. Fortunately, he's a smart kid and there's still plenty of time left for the team to work these locker room issues out.

Last year, Kevin Willard handed out several 1-game suspensions for having a bad attitude in practice. I don't know if they look as disjointed in practice right now as they do in games, but I wouldn't be too shocked to see the Pirates have a healthy scratch or 2 in Providence on Saturday. Like I said after the Marquette game, the coaching staff shouldn't bring a single ball to practice today. No amount of running drills or designing plays is going to help this team until they get their heads on straight.

[shupirate98]

Where exactly is Whitehead going? He came here thinking he was a one-and-done. If he tries to go pro off of this season the NBA won't even acknowledge his existence, he'll be spending next winter in Bulgaria. So he's going to transfer? And sit out a season meaning he's AT LEAST two years away from the NBA when he thought he'd be there this year? Uh, no. He's stuck with us. Although with his attitude it may be more appropriate to say we're stuck with him.

[gmoser1210]

A month ago, Kevin willard was my pick for big east coach of the year and the pirates were my pre-season 2016 favorites.

Now it looks like willard could lose his job this spring and there is going to be a mass departure with seton hall dropping down to rutgers level. Amazing.

It seems that mass exodus is starting with Sina.