Can Seton Hall make a mid-season run?

[TheHall]

This is an excerpt from Big East Tempo-Free Metrics: Week Two article from Big Apple Buckets:

Seton Hall’s next four opponents are St. John’s, DePaul, Butler, and a reeling (and short-handed) Georgetown — all winnable games — and while the Pirates currently have just one Big East win, a double overtime victory against Providence, their recent play suggests an potential surge. Similar to last year’s team, the Pirates are heavily dependent on their perimeter shooting — Kevin Willard’s squad ranks second in three-point attempts percentage during conference play, and SHU converts nearly 40% of their threes.

Some may argue SHU’s defense is too porous to actually challenge the Big East’s top three, and while losses to Creighton and Villanova were lopsided, the Pirates did hold Marquette to just 1.02 PPP, and that one-point loss was played without Gene Teague, a forward who might be able to take the court on Saturday against Georgetown. The combination of a healthy Teague and Gibbs’ savvy sophomore play could boost Seton Hall.


http://www.nycbuckets.com/2014/01/big-east-tempo-free-metrics-week-two/

Other topics in the article:

Josh Hart is the conference’s top freshman: Of the eleven Big East prospects ranked within ESPN Recruiting’s top 100 database, Villanova’s Josh Hart was arguably the one recruit without a defined role entering his freshman season...

Lack of defense fueling Butler’s lack of luck: Five of Butler’s games have ended in overtime this season, and the team has only won one of those contests. Along with Butler’s two-point loss to Oklahoma State, one might easily proclaim Brandon Miller’s team is the nation’s unluckiest. But are the Bulldogs merely unlucky? Or has the team’s historically stingy defense been less than stellar in 2014?

[TheHall]

Jerry Carino ‏@NJHoopsHaven: At Seton Hall practice, where the whole team is finally back on the floor, including Gene Teague and newcomer Cheir Ajou.

Great news...GO PIRATES!!!

[MackNova]

Depends what you mean by a run. People have said all season that DePaul and Seton Hall would bring up the rear in the conference. No longer convinced of that. Gun to my head, I still probably think they're the 9th and 10th-best teams, but the gap between them and any team in the conference other than Villanova and Creighton isn't all that wide.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Seton Hall went 3-1 in these 4 games. At the same time, 1-3 is also a distinct possibility.

[fra]

Can they? Sure. Will they? Probably not.

[GumbyDamnit!]

It would be nice for the Hall to pick up some W's and get themselves in the RPI Top 100 along with the rest of the league. That would certainly help the conf profile. Not sure they have what it takes to finish over .500 in the league.

[XUFan09]

Depends what you mean by a run. People have said all season that DePaul and Seton Hall would bring up the rear in the conference. No longer convinced of that. Gun to my head, I still probably think they're the 9th and 10th-best teams, but the gap between them and any team in the conference other than Villanova and Creighton isn't all that wide.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Seton Hall went 3-1 in these 4 games. At the same time, 1-3 is also a distinct possibility.

I'd argue for a big gap between them and Xavier and Georgetown. After that, though, it is pretty chaotic.

EDIT: That doesn't make me full confident in a win at DePaul's place coming up.

[XUFan09]

It would be nice for the Hall to pick up some W's and get themselves in the RPI Top 100 along with the rest of the league. That would certainly help the conf profile. Not sure they have what it takes to finish over .500 in the league.

Seton Hall needs to go 8-6 the rest of the way to break the top 100. Maybe 7-7, which projects them to 108 (basically, their non-conference opponents would have to win a decent number of games more than expected and some teams projected at the back of the top 100 would have to lose more than expected).

[MackNova]

Depends what you mean by a run. People have said all season that DePaul and Seton Hall would bring up the rear in the conference. No longer convinced of that. Gun to my head, I still probably think they're the 9th and 10th-best teams, but the gap between them and any team in the conference other than Villanova and Creighton isn't all that wide.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Seton Hall went 3-1 in these 4 games. At the same time, 1-3 is also a distinct possibility.

I'd argue for a big gap between them and Xavier and Georgetown. After that, though, it is pretty chaotic.

EDIT: That doesn't make me full confident in a win at DePaul's place coming up.

Oh, I agree. To me, there's a tier with Villanova and Creighton (with Villanova slightly ahead). Xavier may be the second tier by itself. After that, I'm not sure if I wouldn't favor the home team in most matchups.

[ChelseaFriar]

Depends what you mean by a run. People have said all season that DePaul and Seton Hall would bring up the rear in the conference. No longer convinced of that. Gun to my head, I still probably think they're the 9th and 10th-best teams, but the gap between them and any team in the conference other than Villanova and Creighton isn't all that wide.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Seton Hall went 3-1 in these 4 games. At the same time, 1-3 is also a distinct possibility.

I'd argue for a big gap between them and Xavier and Georgetown. After that, though, it is pretty chaotic.

EDIT: That doesn't make me full confident in a win at DePaul's place coming up.

Oh, I agree. To me, there's a tier with Villanova and Creighton (with Villanova slightly ahead). Xavier may be the second tier by itself. After that, I'm not sure if I wouldn't favor the home team in most matchups.

MackNova, I agree.

[TheHall]

Hall fans IW, Desi Rodriguez & Lincoln are about to play Yates (TX) in the Hoophall Classic right now. Live stream with Wes Mathews Sr. calling the game..

http://www.thebasketballchannel.net/hoophall-classic/