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Q&A: DePaul's Dave Leitao rebuilding in return to Blue Demons - CBS Sports - June 10, 2015



After going 58-34 in three seasons at DePaul, Leitao was 63-60 in four seasons at UVA.
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Best of luck to the Blue Demons in 2015-16

People are sleeping on DePaul. Any team that has a great PG can do some damage. Non-conference I think they're going to be great and will be an asset to the BE very soon.

billyjack wrote:People are sleeping on DePaul. Any team that has a great PG can do some damage. Non-conference I think they're going to be great and will be an asset to the BE very soon.

Yeah I don't think folks remember how good they started in conference play last year. 5-2 with wins over Xavier and St John's at home, and Seton Hall on the road. Not to mention only a 6 point loss to Georgetown. I could see it where they could make the NCAA tourney next year if they play their cards right.

OOC they have a decent schedule. Penn St in the Gavitt Games. The Big game is vs South Carolina in the Paradise Jam. A win there, and they get Florida St and then one of Indiana St or Tulsa. A loss there and they get Hofstra and then either Norfolk St or Ohio. Then road game at Stanford and homes with Northwestern and GW. Still have like 4 possible games left. So a fair OOC schedule- not great, but then again- for DePaul if they could just get some wins that will serve them pretty well. Make it where conference play determines how they do

stever20 wrote:

billyjack wrote:People are sleeping on DePaul. Any team that has a great PG can do some damage. Non-conference I think they're going to be great and will be an asset to the BE very soon.

Yeah I don't think folks remember how good they started in conference play last year. 5-2 with wins over Xavier and St John's at home, and Seton Hall on the road. Not to mention only a 6 point loss to Georgetown. I could see it where they could make the NCAA tourney next year if they play their cards right.

OOC they have a decent schedule. Penn St in the Gavitt Games. The Big game is vs South Carolina in the Paradise Jam. A win there, and they get Florida St and then one of Indiana St or Tulsa. A loss there and they get Hofstra and then either Norfolk St or Ohio. Then road game at Stanford and homes with Northwestern and GW. Still have like 4 possible games left. So a fair OOC schedule- not great, but then again- for DePaul if they could just get some wins that will serve them pretty well. Make it where conference play determines how they do

Why would I want them to win any of these game? This trip will be a success as long as they gat an AAC matchup against Tulsa because they are destined to be great and should be a definite lock for the NCAA.

billyjack wrote:People are sleeping on DePaul. Any team that has a great PG can do some damage. Non-conference I think they're going to be great and will be an asset to the BE very soon.

I hear what you are saying but let's be honest here... Depaul has been really bad for a long time and until they can prove otherwise, why should anyone expect any different? Some startling #'s to consider: Depaul has not finished over .500 in their last 8 seasons. During that time they have gone a remarkable 89 games under .500. That's just really, really bad for a team in a power conference. To bring some perspective... a team that is easy to compare them to (in proximity and futility) is Northwestern. During those same 8 seasons NW is only 7 games under .500.

DePaul has some pieces and you would think that maybe with a new coach some of that talent can be harnessed and pointed in the right direction. But to think they'll go from a 12-20 team to the tourney, without any significant additions to the roster, is asking a lot IMO. I really hope DePaul CAN get it together. But until they prove otherwise I think it is OK to sleep on them a little bit.

GumbyDamnit! wrote:

billyjack wrote:People are sleeping on DePaul. Any team that has a great PG can do some damage. Non-conference I think they're going to be great and will be an asset to the BE very soon.

I hear what you are saying but let's be honest here... Depaul has been really bad for a long time and until they can prove otherwise, why should anyone expect any different? Some startling #'s to consider: Depaul has not finished over .500 in their last 8 seasons. During that time they have gone a remarkable 89 games under .500. That's just really, really bad for a team in a power conference. To bring some perspective... a team that is easy to compare them to (in proximity and futility) is Northwestern. During those same 8 seasons NW is only 7 games under .500.

DePaul has some pieces and you would think that maybe with a new coach some of that talent can be harnessed and pointed in the right direction. But to think they'll go from a 12-20 team to the tourney, without any significant additions to the roster, is asking a lot IMO. I really hope DePaul CAN get it together. But until they prove otherwise I think it is OK to sleep on them a little bit.

You figure that they would need 7 more wins to make the tourney last year....that gets them to 19-13. Pretty borderline, but they did have already a good OOC win over Stanford.
1- Lehigh
2- Illinois St
3- Ohio
4- 5th place game in Diamond head classic(Nebraska)
5- Georgetown(game they lost by 6)
then 2 more conference games. They would have been after the Seton Hall game on Jan 22nd 16-4. Don't think they would have gone 1-11 after that to the end of the season. They would have wins then over Stanford, Xavier, Georgetown, and St John's. I think given everything, they would have gotten in at 19-13 pretty easily quite frankly. Don't you?

You are what your record says you are. As easy as it is to turn some of those losses into wins it's equally easy to see them losing some of those games they were fortunate to win. So as you can easily see them as 19-13 I can see them as 8-24 had a couple of bounces not gone their way. But the reality is they haven't had a winning record in 9 years.

GumbyDamnit! wrote:You are what your record says you are. As easy as it is to turn some of those losses into wins it's equally easy to see them losing some of those games they were fortunate to win. So as you can easily see them as 19-13 I can see them as 8-24 had a couple of bounces not gone their way. But the reality is they haven't had a winning record in 9 years.

Yeah I get what you're saying. They did have 7 10+ point wins. 5 close wins, 6 close losses though.

The thing is, you get 1-2 of those wins early, and the attitude changes. Taking last year- if they had beaten Lehigh and Illinois St, they are 8-1 heading into the Oregon St/Hawaii road trip. They go 2-2 there, they are 10-3 entering conference season. That's a HUGE difference.

All I'm saying is DePaul wasn't really as far away as one would think. And could see with what looks like everyone back them taking a big step up this year. And got to remember they did have 6 conference wins. So pretty easy to see if they've had a good OOC season them being a real threat to make the tourney next year.

Stever, they were miles away, as usual. If they don't lose to Lehigh, they lose to some other low-major/mid-major because that's what they do. Can't isolate one game. They haven't had a coach or players in years that are tourney-level. They've had some nice players, but the amount of losing this program has done since entry to the Big East eliminates any benefit of the doubt.

Leitao may be successful there, but he's starting from Square 1. Purnell was a total dumpster fire and a year-older Billy Garrett doesn't change that. These guys are guilty until proven innocent.

mainlinemadness wrote:Stever, they were miles away, as usual. If they don't lose to Lehigh, they lose to some other low-major/mid-major because that's what they do. Can't isolate one game. They haven't had a coach or players in years that are tourney-level. They've had some nice players, but the amount of losing this program has done since entry to the Big East eliminates any benefit of the doubt.

Leitao may be successful there, but he's starting from Square 1. Purnell was a total dumpster fire and a year-older Billy Garrett doesn't change that. These guys are guilty until proven innocent.

I disagree, but I totally see why folks are skeptical. I mean, they're flipping DePaul for gosh sakes- and have been putrid so much. I mean wasn't their 3 game winning streak in conference this year their 1st ever in the Big East? So it's very reasonable, if not expected to have folks not think they have a chance.

I think the things that DePaul struggled with are the things that are Leitao's strengths- and were strengths with Tulsa's team where he was an assistant. I think we're going to see a very different DePaul this year. Will it be good enough to make the tourney? Probably not, but would it be the most shocking thing ever? Not really.

Also your point on not having coach or players in years that are tourney-level.... It could be that they did have the players, but didn't have the coach to get them playing together.