Preview Villanova 2014-15

[GumbyDamnit!]

I expect a repeat of last season. they are an experienced and well disciplined team that will rack up wins during regular season.

however, they lack elite talent to carry them in the post season.

I don't think it is a talent issue. Jayvaugn Pinkston was a McD's AA. Daniel Ochefu was a top 5 C and Top 50 player in his recruiting class. Ryan Arch was a top 5 PG in his class. Hilliard has a shot at being BE POY this year. Hart, Jenkins, Booth and Bridges are all Top 100 recruits. I don't think their talent precludes them from making a run. I wouldn't characterize UCONN's team that won it last year as significantly more talented than Nova. Sometimes March is about getting hot at the right time, getting a little fortunate with matchups and the draw, and having a couple players peak during the tourney (eg - Boatright, Napier, etc.). When we went to the FF in 2009 I don't think we had "elite" talent. We just played well as a team. Duke and Kansas, conversely, certainly have had a plethora of talent over the last several years but it has not translated well in March at all. The 4 returning Nova starters would all play significant minutes on 98% of the teams out there. Their talent is fine IMO.

[SJHooper]

]
There are different kinds of people: blind optimists (everything is always great even when it's not), pessimists (everything is always terrible), and realists (fact oriented and honest). I am in the realist camp. Of course I hope SJU somehow finally puts it together and plays like a well-oiled machine entering the top 25 and making a tourney run. Of course I hope Creighton can show they are not just about McDermott. Of course I hope PC can fill the void of Cotton. Of course I hope losing Semaj won't affect Xavier too badly. Of course I hope Butler somehow finds its magic from the late 00's. Of course I hope Seton Hall's recruits pan out.

There is nothing wrong with being honest. The facts are that the conference lost a ton of good, experienced players including the POY. The facts are that Marquette, G'Town, Butler, SJU greatly disappointed this year. The facts are that SJU almost seems allergic to the NCAA's. The facts are that there is only 1 bonafide ranked top 25 team we can say with any confidence (Nova). Yes the conference did a good job recruiting but SJU seems to be failing in that area lately especially if Briscoe and Diallo don't sign which is likely given the competition.

Bottom line is there are way more question marks than periods. Nova is the name brand top 25 nationally ranked school. After that, roll the dice. So it's insincere to act like everything is going great. It's just wrong. Here's to hoping we have lots of pleasant surprises i.e. big OOC wins like SJU over Duke or Cuse, etc.

I'm baffled by your usage of the word "we" in this context and btw despite you anointing yourself a realist I'm pretty sure at HLOH you'll continue to be regarded as a pessimist.

Call it what you must...a business would never operate on maybe's and dreams. A business would operate based on facts and figures. Numbers. Data. And last year was very disappointing for everyone. Our top teams Creighton and Nova had great regular seasons but did nothing major in the tourney. Everyone else was far below them in terms of quality. Marquette, G'Town, and SJU have to prove they can actually rebound and make a damn tournament. Why should I give any other team other than Nova and G'Town the benefit of the doubt when much has been lost and nothing else has been proven yet? Let them prove themselves first, then they get credit. That's how it works. If SJU enters the top 25 even as #25 for 1 week and eventually makes the tourney I'll be the most excited guy on this board. But the best predictor of the future is the past. Historically, SJU has been terrible in the past 2 decades and we have a talented team but cannot ever put it together.

[BEhomer]

you can't just go by recruiting rankings and say you have talents to win in march. in march every single team you face will have some talents.

I'm talking about one or two guys on your team that can elevate their games and carry the team. napier and boatright could break down defenders anytime and get their own shots or create shots for teammates. deandre daniels at 6'9 is an nba small forward.

villannova plays smart and always seems to find open man for 3 but when their 3s don't fall they're in trouble. pinkston against uconn's tall athletic bigs couldn't do much. ochefu is ok but needs to do lot more on both ends to be considered elite.

like i said, I think they will have no problem having success in the regular season, but in order to have success in march one or two players will have to emerge.

[Bill Marsh]

This season I think will be all about Villanova and Georgetown. Nova returns most of their top 10 team last year and adds some good recruits. They will be fine and finish nowhere other than 1st or 2nd. I can see G'Town doing much better than last year. They bring in a ton of new talent and return some very good talent. They started off terribly, but got going at the end of the season. I just can't see G'Town being bad 2 seasons in a row and missing the tourney again.

What scares me is that only Nova and G'Town will be our nationally prominent teams. SJ not making the tournament seems to be a yearly guarantee at this point and always underachieves, Creighton lost everyone, PC lost Cotton and Fortune aka everyone, Marquette lost their top notch coach and lost recruits because of it, Butler lost Stevens last year and looked overwhelmed without him, Seton Hall brings in lots of talent on paper, but will they translate to real success? Rarely do very young teams start competing right away. SJ's class in 2012 is the perfect example...top 10 class, sub .500 record the first year. DePaul is...DePaul. The Mets of the Big East. And Xavier lost their best player to the draft.

I think best case scenario is that G'Town and Nova are in the top 15, Xavier squeaks in the tourney somehow and SJ is on the bubble.

Worst case: only Nova and G'Town are ranked or make tourney.

Sky is always falling with you, isn't it SJHooper? I'm surprised FS1 hasn't folded yet... The NBE should have signed with ESPN... The Catholic 7 should have never left to form the New Big East. If the sky was falling, why hasn't it hit the ground yet? Why did the Big East and Big Ten agree to the Gavitt Tipoff? Why did the Big East continue to excel at recruiting? Why this if the sky was falling?

But I digress to the OP's topic...
I think Villanova is by far and away the top team in the conference, but by no means should we crown them without a game played. That said, I have high expectations for Nova next year and I hope that they will represent the Big East well come tournament time.

There are different kinds of people: blind optimists (everything is always great even when it's not), pessimists (everything is always terrible), and realists (fact oriented and honest). I am in the realist camp. Of course I hope SJU somehow finally puts it together and plays like a well-oiled machine entering the top 25 and making a tourney run. Of course I hope Creighton can show they are not just about McDermott. Of course I hope PC can fill the void of Cotton. Of course I hope losing Semaj won't affect Xavier too badly. Of course I hope Butler somehow finds its magic from the late 00's. Of course I hope Seton Hall's recruits pan out.

There is nothing wrong with being honest. The facts are that the conference lost a ton of good, experienced players including the POY. The facts are that Marquette, G'Town, Butler, SJU greatly disappointed this year. The facts are that SJU almost seems allergic to the NCAA's. The facts are that there is only 1 bonafide ranked top 25 team we can say with any confidence (Nova). Yes the conference did a good job recruiting but SJU seems to be failing in that area lately especially if Briscoe and Diallo don't sign which is likely given the competition.

Bottom line is there are way more question marks than periods. Nova is the name brand top 25 nationally ranked school. After that, roll the dice. So it's insincere to act like everything is going great. It's just wrong. Here's to hoping we have lots of pleasant surprises i.e. big OOC wins like SJU over Duke or Cuse, etc.

It's not insincere. It's not wrong.

Your "facts" reflect bias. Marquette disappointed? How is that a "fact"? They were only a disappointment for anyone who had high expectations for them. I didn't. So, these facts often reflect the evaluations of "experts" or fans, none of which are factual. All are speculative.

Your "fact" that the conference lost a ton of good, experienced players is stated out of the context of the fact that every conference in the country also lost a ton of good experienced players. That's the nature of college sports. So, the "fact" that players have left is only a statement of the obvious.

One of the things that makes college sports fun is the unknown. That's a fact. Annual turnover is the nature of the sport, which leads to endless debate and speculation. Optimists, pessimists, realists are all speculating. None of them can really be factual in the summer because the only basis for comment is talent evaluation, past season performance, returning players, coaching history, and guess work. There truly is no set of overwhelming fact to go by at this point. And even when there is a slew of overwhelming facts in early March, someone like UConn goes out and runs through the tournament to a championship in spite of all of the "facts" that would have said otherwise.

Another fact is that college basketball conferences are developmental leagues for players whose physical abilities and athletic skills are still emerging. That's why we see players and teams change right before our eyes. There is no way to predict how or when all of that will happen for any player or when it will all click and come together for any team.

[billyjack]

Villanova just has so many weapons on offense. If two guys are cold, then 3 others would step up. A 3rd big man along with Pinkston and Ochefu would improve them even more. Their only weakness is that sometimes their offense would go on long cold streaks from 3 last year... usually they would hit their stride and run teams off the court, but their cold streak hurt at Syracuse (for example).

[Fieldhouse Flyer]

ESPN's Top 50 College Hoops Coaches

https://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page ... jay-wright

No. 19 for Jay Wright.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... -josh-hart

Q&A: Jay Wright talks Villanova's rise, its future and Josh Hart

By Jon Rothstein | CBS Sports | June 15, 2014 - 11:09 am ET



Jay Wright says Darrun Hillard is 'primed to be a great leader' at Villanova

[walijones]

Ochefu is certainly a key. If he shows the moderate improvement that one would typically make going from sophomore to junior year, they'll be a top 10 team. The biggest surprise to the rest of the league and country will be Josh Hart, as he will get major minutes replacing James Bell. I hate to say that he'll be an upgrade over Bell, who was on the Wooden Watch last year, but that's what my eyeballs see.