Big East Preseason Predictions Part II

[Novachap]

Shed some light for us Chap or anyone in NovaLand.

What's up with DCR being reduced to such limited PT? I mean he was getting 20+ minutes last year and now just 7 as a Junior? That can't be doing much for his moral but I guess JRE is that much better. Also, Slater was not productive at all last year and didn't get much traction to speak of this OOC. Are you guys concerned with bench depth? You need Antoine to get it going or the BEast will take a toll come late Feb.

BTW, Villanova has always carried the "3 Ball" flag into battle but 31 of 114 in the last 4? Geez, that's off your own rims at a 27% clip...officially a slump. Oddly it hasn't kept you from winning as your last 2 opponents were way worse, a dismal 4 of 24. But hey, that style is baked into the system, the guns a blazin' will continue....Eerily similar to the Creighton system but with much fancier recruits and a prettier coach.

In addition to Gumby's thoughts, here are mine.
DCR got a LOT of time last year out of necessity. You may recall we lost Spellman early from 2018 and DCR was thrust into the big man spot. I believe he is and should be a serviceable back up. He really can't create offense, is s decent finisher and rebounder, but is not a threat outside of 10 feet---that is rough in our system. We also have picked up the pace a bit with this team. Rebounding wise with Samuels, Bey, Moore, Swider, JRE and Slater, we are are pretty big (except at the pure 5).

Depth wise, Jay is actually going deeper on the bench than he did last year--when Booth and Paschall wore down in the tourney after winning the BET.. He usually plays 7 with decent minutes and then if needed an 8th gets a few. In 2018 with that talented roster, Donte was 6th man, DCR 7th and Gillespie 8th... So, no not worried at all. right now, going Gillespie, Swider, JRE, Bey, Samuels, 6th man--moore, then Slater, then DCR or Antoine...Slater is actually ramping up his minutes. He is a slasher that plays really good D. The hope is he will take the development track that Bridges did. Agreed on Antoine---in a perfect world he will start to get more. My worry is he is not getting the D well enough and is sitting as a result. He also is really thin. That shoulder surgery really hurt his ability to bulk up within the program over the summer. That said---really talented kid.

Slump---YUP. System works though, right? This team will take some lumps when they are not hitting 3's, but I still believe they will be really good by March. And, we love our pretty coach, he does ok for himself!

[Novachap]

Xuperman, after I said how much we love our pretty coach, turns out the AP just announced he was coach of the decade! I think we'll keep him!

[scoscox]

ON JRE, 5 is not his natural position, he is a 4. He will be ok I think expectations from everyone are incredibly high about him, but Jay absolutely loves the kid's intelligence on the court and his decision making. also, beg to differ, think we won for some other reasons as well, not just Q playing badly. Reality is, Nova didn't play all that great either. Bey played for crap, and we missed a lot of bunnies just like X did. Finally, Nova shot pretty poorly from 3. I think Moore and Samuels were the difference (aside from gillespie obviously). wrt to Naji, hate to say it, not sure if the lack of discipline is indeed fixable. He has consistently showed fantastic physical skills over his career, but whenever I have seen him (albeit certainly less than you) he has consistently not demonstrated the best decision making. I could be wrong, but I think its a mindset with him ( a bit of hero ball)---he had Tandy wide open on the wing when he launched one of thise 30 footers--sometimes there is a real lack of discipline and clearly something Mack and now Steele have not reigned in---for whatever reason.

I should've said those are the reasons we lost, rather than the reasons you won. obviously, you guys did other things well to win.

and i disagree about discipline being fixable. it should be very fixable. i think he'll get it figured out. he knows he hurt the team down the stretch i think. we'll see if it changes

[scoscox]

5. The 3 ball. The game has changed. Shooting is a big part of it. Jay and Mac, among others, both recognize its importance and both of them specifically recruit and develop shooters. X has not embraced that same philosophy. I, personally, think Jay and Mac are a bit more innovative than Steele on the offensive side of the ball. Steele seems to be a very good defensive coach. I guess we'll see which approach proves to be more effective over 18 games. Bey, Swider, Gillespie, Moore and to a lesser extent Samules and JRE can all shoot the ball. Jay gives the a green light. I'm 100% OK with that. I do find it interesting that you'd call us out on shooting after 1-11 and 29% on the year.

Gumby, do you know how innovative you have to be to design an effective offense for a team in today's game that shoots 30% from three? We kept it fairly close on your home court and made 1 three. Not saying travis is an offensive genius, but i think he knows what he's doing.

[Xuperman]

Xuperman, after I said how much we love our pretty coach, turns out the AP just announced he was coach of the decade! I think we'll keep him!

Hey Chap,
If you do a little digging, I am on record here at HLOH posting that Jay Wright is the BEST COACH in the COUNTRY. The man is phenomenal in ALL phases. ULTRA ELITE X/O guy, in game genius, master motivator and recruiting virtuoso. He's at the PINNACLE. Not to mention always CLASSY, nothing like, say Bobby Knight.

BTW, Calapari has a picture of him in his wallet....maybe because he's wondering where he got those shoes.

[gtmoBlue]

Kenpom conf title picks...per the Athletic.com

Big East
Butler 55 percent, Villanova 20 percent, Seton Hall* 17 percent, Marquette 14 percent

Butler has to be the surprise of nonconference play. Not only were the Bulldogs picked eighth in the 10-team Big East, but they were closer to last than seventh in the voting. If there’s one spot where I’d pick against the computer, it’s this one. Butler’s looked consistently great so far, but there are more difficult times ahead.

[Xuperman]

Kenpom conf title picks...per the Athletic.com

Big East
Butler 55 percent, Villanova 20 percent, Seton Hall* 17 percent, Marquette 14 percent

Butler has to be the surprise of nonconference play. Not only were the Bulldogs picked eighth in the 10-team Big East, but they were closer to last than seventh in the voting. If there’s one spot where I’d pick against the computer, it’s this one. Butler’s looked consistently great so far, but there are more difficult times ahead.

If the Bulldogs win the RS conference championship, I'll eat one of my X hats....not gonna happen. We're watching the team to beat on FS1 right now. Gonna be must see TV when the Pirates visit the 'Tas next week.

[scoscox]

Kenpom conf title picks...per the Athletic.com

Big East
Butler 55 percent, Villanova 20 percent, Seton Hall* 17 percent, Marquette 14 percent

Butler has to be the surprise of nonconference play. Not only were the Bulldogs picked eighth in the 10-team Big East, but they were closer to last than seventh in the voting. If there’s one spot where I’d pick against the computer, it’s this one. Butler’s looked consistently great so far, but there are more difficult times ahead.

Marquette? how do they have the 4th best odds?

[Xuperman]

MU? BU? I'll just say that the OOC results can't be denied BUT the BEast is a totally different season. Anyone here that is on the BU bandwagon, or say SJU, while disregarding X, PC or GU are just not seeing things from a Big East perspective. THIS IS a white knuckle alley fight on most days...bring some physicality or get punked.

[GumbyDamnit!]

MU? BU? I'll just say that the OOC results can't be denied BUT the BEast is a totally different season. Anyone here that is on the BU bandwagon, or say SJU, while disregarding X, PC or GU are just not seeing things from a Big East perspective. THIS IS a white knuckle alley fight on most days...bring some physicality or get punked.

I’m not sure if BU will end up on top of SHU and / or Nova because I think the ceilings of those two teams might be a bit higher than Butler. But as of right now they are the best team in the BE and they are clearly better than the 3 teams you cited. So you can put me on the bandwagon. I’m impressed by that team.