Holy Land fan poll - who finishes in 7th this season?

[hoyahooligan]

How is SJ expected to go from 3rd and missing the NCAA tourney by the skin of their teeth to 7th? Sanchez is gone but didn't do much, Godsgift is gone but didn't do much. The only loss that will hurt a bit is Sampson. But as I've said, he was still a very raw player that really only did one thing great: dunk and make highlight plays. He has a ton of potential but certainly didn't play to it at SJ.

I think people are seriously undermining the fact that Jordan will be a Soph. He was really starting to get hot last year and hit his stride. Harrison is always good and will only be better as a Senior. We still have Greene, we still have Pointer, we still have Branch, we still have Obekpa. We import 7 ft De La Rosa and the rebounding machine Thomas. So yes we lose some offense, but the offense we lose took lots of terrible shots (Sampson and Sanchez). Having Harrison and Jordan handling more of the scoring opportunities will lead to more FT's and higher percentage shots. Many also forget that Obekpa while far from an offensive force, showed clear improvement in that area last season.

It just seems to defy logic to have a 3rd place team lose 1 decent (not great) player and drop off the map even though almost all of that 3rd place team is that much more experienced now. Our rebounding was awful in the past few seasons…if Thomas can rebound half as good as I hear, that means more scoring opportunities for our stud guards.

Very young teams struggle and experienced teams seem to perform better. That's the tendency. I'll always bet on the experienced veteran team over the diaper dandy's even if they are top 100 recruits. I don't take SJ being voted 7th by some as being personal but it just seems to defy logic.

They're not looking at the 3rd place going to 7th after losing 1 decent player they're looking at the 5th place team going to 7th after losing 3/4s of their front court( Sampson, Sanchez, and God's gift) also lost Hooper and replacing them with an out of shape raw freshman and a Juco and Sampson was more than just decent. St. John's fans love to throw him under the Bus, but he was a good player and there's a reason why he just signed a partially guaranteed deal with the 76ers and it's not because he's a terrible scrub that St. John's won't miss at all as St. John's fans would like us to believe.

I'm not picking St. John's that low, but I think anywhere from 3rd-6th is completely reasonable for St. John's.

[marquette]

Looks like St. John's and Seton Hall will be a tight race for 6th. I think we got the 7 spot locked.

[Amase2]

How is SJ expected to go from 3rd and missing the NCAA tourney by the skin of their teeth to 7th? Sanchez is gone but didn't do much, Godsgift is gone but didn't do much. The only loss that will hurt a bit is Sampson. But as I've said, he was still a very raw player that really only did one thing great: dunk and make highlight plays. He has a ton of potential but certainly didn't play to it at SJ.

I think people are seriously undermining the fact that Jordan will be a Soph. He was really starting to get hot last year and hit his stride. Harrison is always good and will only be better as a Senior. We still have Greene, we still have Pointer, we still have Branch, we still have Obekpa. We import 7 ft De La Rosa and the rebounding machine Thomas. So yes we lose some offense, but the offense we lose took lots of terrible shots (Sampson and Sanchez). Having Harrison and Jordan handling more of the scoring opportunities will lead to more FT's and higher percentage shots. Many also forget that Obekpa while far from an offensive force, showed clear improvement in that area last season.

It just seems to defy logic to have a 3rd place team lose 1 decent (not great) player and drop off the map even though almost all of that 3rd place team is that much more experienced now. Our rebounding was awful in the past few seasons…if Thomas can rebound half as good as I hear, that means more scoring opportunities for our stud guards.

Very young teams struggle and experienced teams seem to perform better. That's the tendency. I'll always bet on the experienced veteran team over the diaper dandy's even if they are top 100 recruits. I don't take SJ being voted 7th by some as being personal but it just seems to defy logic.

They're not looking at the 3rd place going to 7th after losing 1 decent player they're looking at the 5th place team going to 7th after losing 3/4s of their front court( Sampson, Sanchez, and God's gift) also lost Hooper and replacing them with an out of shape raw freshman and a Juco and Sampson was more than just decent. St. John's fans love to throw him under the Bus, but he was a good player and there's a reason why he just signed a partially guaranteed deal with the 76ers and it's not because he's a terrible scrub that St. John's won't miss at all as St. John's fans would like us to believe.

I'm not picking St. John's that low, but I think anywhere from 3rd-6th is completely reasonable for St. John's.

Agree that 3rd to 6th is completely reasonable, disagree that Sampson helped us more than he hurt us. Bad shots, bad defense (sans Mcdermott), rarely passed and had a terrible IQ. And I have been of this opinion all while he was part of the program. Great to see him get a partial deal and am verrry happy for him but that does not mean that he helped our team win. It means he is an athletic kid who has potential.

Hoya, I think I remember you being somewhat down on D'angelo. Who do you think was a better player, Jakarr or D'lo?

[hoyahooligan]

How is SJ expected to go from 3rd and missing the NCAA tourney by the skin of their teeth to 7th? Sanchez is gone but didn't do much, Godsgift is gone but didn't do much. The only loss that will hurt a bit is Sampson. But as I've said, he was still a very raw player that really only did one thing great: dunk and make highlight plays. He has a ton of potential but certainly didn't play to it at SJ.

I think people are seriously undermining the fact that Jordan will be a Soph. He was really starting to get hot last year and hit his stride. Harrison is always good and will only be better as a Senior. We still have Greene, we still have Pointer, we still have Branch, we still have Obekpa. We import 7 ft De La Rosa and the rebounding machine Thomas. So yes we lose some offense, but the offense we lose took lots of terrible shots (Sampson and Sanchez). Having Harrison and Jordan handling more of the scoring opportunities will lead to more FT's and higher percentage shots. Many also forget that Obekpa while far from an offensive force, showed clear improvement in that area last season.

It just seems to defy logic to have a 3rd place team lose 1 decent (not great) player and drop off the map even though almost all of that 3rd place team is that much more experienced now. Our rebounding was awful in the past few seasons…if Thomas can rebound half as good as I hear, that means more scoring opportunities for our stud guards.

Very young teams struggle and experienced teams seem to perform better. That's the tendency. I'll always bet on the experienced veteran team over the diaper dandy's even if they are top 100 recruits. I don't take SJ being voted 7th by some as being personal but it just seems to defy logic.

They're not looking at the 3rd place going to 7th after losing 1 decent player they're looking at the 5th place team going to 7th after losing 3/4s of their front court( Sampson, Sanchez, and God's gift) also lost Hooper and replacing them with an out of shape raw freshman and a Juco and Sampson was more than just decent. St. John's fans love to throw him under the Bus, but he was a good player and there's a reason why he just signed a partially guaranteed deal with the 76ers and it's not because he's a terrible scrub that St. John's won't miss at all as St. John's fans would like us to believe.

I'm not picking St. John's that low, but I think anywhere from 3rd-6th is completely reasonable for St. John's.

Agree that 3rd to 6th is completely reasonable, disagree that Sampson helped us more than he hurt us. Bad shots, bad defense (sans Mcdermott), rarely passed and had a terrible IQ. And I have been of this opinion all while he was part of the program. Great to see him get a partial deal and am verrry happy for him but that does not mean that he helped our team win. It means he is an athletic kid who has potential.

Hoya, I think I remember you being somewhat down on D'angelo. Who do you think was a better player, Jakarr or D'lo?

I was/am down on Harrison, but yes he was/is better than Jakarr, and was by far the best player on the team, but I would say that Jakarr was your second best player last year. He's definitely replaceable, but St. John's didn't recruit anyone to replace him. They got a Juco who is supposed to be a great rebounder, so he should replace that part of Sampson's game, but he's not supposed to be a big scorer, so scoring from anyone besides the guards is still a question mark. Basically teams would be wise to focus all energy on Jordan and Harrison and dare the rest of St. John's to beat them.

I am down on Harrison because so many times he has been frustrated by Georgetown and seems to pout and take himself out of games if he doesn't get off to a good start.

I'm actually fairly high on St. John's despite my negativity, because of their experience and the fact that they don't turn over the ball. I think they make it into the NCAA's this year despite Lavin.

[Amase2]

They're not looking at the 3rd place going to 7th after losing 1 decent player they're looking at the 5th place team going to 7th after losing 3/4s of their front court( Sampson, Sanchez, and God's gift) also lost Hooper and replacing them with an out of shape raw freshman and a Juco and Sampson was more than just decent. St. John's fans love to throw him under the Bus, but he was a good player and there's a reason why he just signed a partially guaranteed deal with the 76ers and it's not because he's a terrible scrub that St. John's won't miss at all as St. John's fans would like us to believe.

I'm not picking St. John's that low, but I think anywhere from 3rd-6th is completely reasonable for St. John's.

Agree that 3rd to 6th is completely reasonable, disagree that Sampson helped us more than he hurt us. Bad shots, bad defense (sans Mcdermott), rarely passed and had a terrible IQ. And I have been of this opinion all while he was part of the program. Great to see him get a partial deal and am verrry happy for him but that does not mean that he helped our team win. It means he is an athletic kid who has potential.

Hoya, I think I remember you being somewhat down on D'angelo. Who do you think was a better player, Jakarr or D'lo?

I was/am down on Harrison, but yes he was/is better than Jakarr, and was by far the best player on the team, but I would say that Jakarr was your second best player last year. He's definitely replaceable, but St. John's didn't recruit anyone to replace him. They got a Juco who is supposed to be a great rebounder, so he should replace that part of Sampson's game, but he's not supposed to be a big scorer, so scoring from anyone besides the guards is still a question mark. Basically teams would be wise to focus all energy on Jordan and Harrison and dare the rest of St. John's to beat them.

I am down on Harrison because so many times he has been frustrated by Georgetown and seems to pout and take himself out of games if he doesn't get off to a good start.

I'm actually fairly high on St. John's despite my negativity, because of their experience and the fact that they don't turn over the ball. I think they make it into the NCAA's this year despite Lavin.

Gotchya, I think if you asked any st johns fan, or at least he majority of them, they would say Jordan was the second best player on the team last year. And on many nights during the conference stretch he was our best, which just happened to coincide with our best ball. But agree, biggest question marks are scoring and unfortunately the head coach.

[gosports1]

which of you voted for Providence? You are both off my Christmas card list!

[Vill]

which of you voted for Providence? You are both off my Christmas card list!

I didn't - Seton Hall was my pick - but Providence isn't far off IMO. Let's be honest they were a 4th place team who wasn't going to make the NCAA tournament last year if they played Villanova in the Big East tournament. PC got lucky and didn't have to and then got hot to barely beat Creighton in the finals. Now they lose their best players and we should expect them to be better or even equal? I'm not seeing it this season.

[aughnanure]

We really should do these AFTER the non-con.

[Irishdawg]

We really should do these AFTER the non-con.

All kidding aside, you're probably right, but why make educational guesses instead of taking a shot in the dark?

[gosports1]

which of you voted for Providence? You are both off my Christmas card list!

I didn't - Seton Hall was my pick - but Providence isn't far off IMO. Let's be honest they were a 4th place team who wasn't going to make the NCAA tournament last year if they played Villanova in the Big East tournament. PC got lucky and didn't have to and then got hot to barely beat Creighton in the finals. Now they lose their best players and we should expect them to be better or even equal? I'm not seeing it this season.

Playing Villanova in the chmapionship game would not have been a gauranteed loss. PC probably would have had a tougher time against Nova but Nova's march to the championship wasnt a sure thing. Teams get hot thats the beauty of playing the game. i dont expect PC to repeat but it seems like they will finally have a full roster and lets hope a healthy one. I expect they will be in a position for ncaa bid unless of course the usual black cloud forms again in Rhode Island