Seton Hall & DePaul, our only games tonight

[Friarfan2]

Enjoyable depaul game.

[Jet915]

I don't know, hasn't it been 5 years already??? Melvin and Young are seniors and they have two big time freshmen, this year should have been the year that they compete for an NCAA bid, instead they will likely be hurting Big East teams trying to get into the tournament (albeit, their RPI isn't that bad). You are willing to wait a couple more years for the arena to be built? I'd give Purnell a pass if he had big time recruits coming in next year but they don't...

[TheHall]

I don't know, hasn't it been 5 years already??? Melvin and Young are seniors and they have two big time freshmen, this year should have been the year that they compete for an NCAA bid, instead they will likely be hurting Big East teams trying to get into the tournament (albeit, their RPI isn't that bad). You are willing to wait a couple more years for the arena to be built? I'd give Purnell a pass if he had big time recruits coming in next year but they don't...

5 years is really one good run by a class Purnell would have brought in four years ago (Melvin/Young, etc) as well as its enough time to graduate/transfer out the past regime's recruits. For a rebuilding job like DePaul that's just not a lot of time. This class with BG Jr., Hamilton & next years class are the ones that will get OP fired or extended IMO.

[NJRedman]

I don't know, hasn't it been 5 years already??? Melvin and Young are seniors and they have two big time freshmen, this year should have been the year that they compete for an NCAA bid, instead they will likely be hurting Big East teams trying to get into the tournament (albeit, their RPI isn't that bad). You are willing to wait a couple more years for the arena to be built? I'd give Purnell a pass if he had big time recruits coming in next year but they don't...

I don't think you fully understand how bad they have been. You are basically inferring that if they make a change they will make greater improvement. That is not the case, in fact they could regress back to the god awfulness they just came from. I know they look bad, but for those of us who have been watching them since they joined the Big East we know they have been worse and are actually improving.

Oh and this is his fourth year, not his fifth.

[ivet]

I don't know, hasn't it been 5 years already??? Melvin and Young are seniors and they have two big time freshmen, this year should have been the year that they compete for an NCAA bid, instead they will likely be hurting Big East teams trying to get into the tournament (albeit, their RPI isn't that bad). You are willing to wait a couple more years for the arena to be built? I'd give Purnell a pass if he had big time recruits coming in next year but they don't...

Any team in the Big East that loses to DePaul deserves not to be in the tourney. You win the games you're suppose to win and there wont be a problem. Injuries aside, there is no excuse even if you play at Allstate-this is not really considered having Home Field advantage for DePaul, other BE schools can tell you that from experience.

[Friarfan2]

I think purnell has shown he has the potential to make the tourney. He has had some time at depaul, and they have been terrible, but for some reason I haven't totally given up on him. He is a bit old now, maybe he retires soon and leaves the program in okay shape for the next guy.

Willard is a lost cause in my opinion. Guy simply cannot coach. It is as simple as that. He is terrible on the sidelines (and I don't care what puffery rick pitino says about him to fool hall fans).

[TheHall]

@JPPelzman: I'm told Gene Teague is out of the hospital and resting in his dorm on campus. Feeling much better. Great news!

[JOPO]

I watch Big East basketball on Fox whenever possible. I may skip tonight. These two teams just have me pulling my hair out.

Every conference needs cellar dwellars. If these are our two bad teams, so be it. But they need to hold up their end of the bargain for out of conference play. They can't be losing to lafayette or fordham or st peters or illinois state or northwestern or mercer or rutgers or whoever. You can be our doormats, but please don't drag down the conference.

I really don't even know how these programs are so bad, or what they need to do to get better. They both have fan bases, but those fan bases are dormant right now due to years of failure and lack of interest in the program.

Seton Hall. Those who follow the big east know the problem here - lack of effort. Lack of institutional support, lack of direction from the athletic department, lack of promotion of the program. Just overall apathy right now. They had a good coach in louis orr, fired him for whatever reason, hired a headcase, fired him, and then proceeded to make kevin willard the lowest paid coach among major conference schools. Not usually a sign that a school cares about winning. Kevin willard might be a good coach one day, but there was nothing in summer of 2010 to make any reasonable person think that kevin willard was prepared to navigate big east waters. Nothing. He had a career losing record, and only had one winning conference record (as well as overall record) in his career. To this date he still only has one career conference winning record. And I don't think his recruits next year are on the high enough impact side to turn this thing around. Even the talented freshman can require time to develop, senior leadership, and good coaching. That's not going to be there for these kids next year. This mess is only going to get worse.
Seton hall should spend the money and steal an established coach from a bcs school. Make a statement they care and back it up. Might not work, but at least the perception wil change and interest might return to the program.

Depaul, they are almost the exact opposite. They made the effort and stol an established coach from an acc school. Oliver purnell had success in the midwest at dayton. He was a program builder at old dominion. He turned clemson into a tournament team and made 3 straight dances with them. They paid him big and made a splash. This is what seton hall should do.
But what the heck is going on with purnell? Is he mailing it in? Is he content with what his career has given him and his effort to rebuild is not there? Or is depaul just that hard to win at? The big east is tough, but a 6-50 conference record when you had over 25 home games in that span is ridiculously bad.
They seem to have some impact freshmen. I have no idea if he can turn the ship around. Unlike kevin willard, I am still willing to give purnell the benefit of the doubt, but I wouldn't mind hearing what others have to say.

If these two can get their acts together out of conference it doesn't matter if they combine for a 4-32 conference record on the year. But take care of the trash on your out of conference schedules please!

Please refrain from talking about Seton Hall. It is painfully obvious you have no idea what you are talking about.

[JOPO]

It is hard to crawl out from the basement. It took my Johnnies over 10 years and we're still not out of the woods yet. I like what DePaul is doing, and I think we need to continue to give Purnell time. You don't get a team like DePaul out of the tailspin they've been in without a lot of time, patience, blood, sweat and tears. The team last year while finishing in last and only won a few games had three go to OT with the potential to win something like 6 conference games last year. The games weren't the blow outs they used to be. They are becoming competitive. I think they can become respectable in the next five years and once the new building gets up and running. That should really rejuvenate the fan base and get some more alumni out to support the school.

Seton Hall on the other hand is in a much bigger hole with a much bleaker outlook. They don't have the money like DePaul, they don't have the fan support of the Blue Demons and they aren't in the best area to attract kids. I think they are going to fall even farther soon, I think Willard is using some shady recruiting methods that are going to cost Seton Hall dearly. If they weren't already in the Big East I don't know if they get an invite to the league. Sorry guys, not hating just telling it like it is. I think Willard is fired in the next two years, and the NCAA starts investigating around that time as well. Unfortunately they have yet to hit rock bottom.

Wow. How is it possible to keep a straight face & continue handicapping other BE teams' prospects after starting with a sentence like this. Let the games begin.

It's really easy when talking about the Hall. Willard is doing some seriously shady recruiting. Watch out, you have not hit bottom yet.

Honestly, the Johnnies just don't like the fact that SHU is walking into NYC and taking all of the top players back to South Orange with them. Have you guys gotten a verbal from anyone yet for next year?

[JOPO]

And providence fired the guys who were the problem and providence is trying to pick it up and providence hant lost to mercer or fsu or st peters.

Stop with the, "other guys have been bad at times, so don't get mad at seton hall for being terrible" argument.

Really sucks when someone presents you with facts that blow your argument huh?