(3) Wednesday BE Games - 01/25/2017 - SJU@PC, CU@GU, BU@SHU

[stever20]

NJRedman & SJhooper, come on, you guys both root for the same team. I personally think that SJhooper gets a little "bi-polar" (using the term affectionately lol) with his posts, but whether you agree with him or not, you have at least admire his passion for St. John's. St. John's fans have reasons to be frustrated, if they beat Delaware St & LIU, they might be in the hunt for an NIT this year. There's still a lot of basketball left to be played, St. John's will lose few more games & they will probably win a few more as well, that's how it goes.

I'm not ready to rule out Seton Hall as an NCAA team just yet. They have a lot of good teams left on their schedule (Villanova, Xavier & Creighton all at home), so they can still get some signature wins. Their last 2 losses were against the #1 team & #11 team in the nation, a tough task for anyone. They key is for them not to suffer any "bad losses" from this point forward, if they do pick up some of those big games coming up.

Not sure what to make of Creighton's situation at this point. The loss of Watson is huge, but they still have plenty of talent & a coach who isn't about to let the season slip away just b/c of the injury. Should be interesting going forward, 2 of their next 4 games are against DePaul, that might help stop the bleeding. They also have a stretch of 4 games in Feb where 3 are at home, that can also help.

Gotta believe that Marquette is probably the team right now is the team on the rise & that Providence might be slipping, but again, plenty of hoops left. Should be a fun February.

I think that's a great point. If St John's had just beaten Delaware St, LIU Brooklyn, Penn St, and just 1 of the exempt tourney games, they are 14-8 right now, and would only need like 3 more wins to make the NIT- with 5 wins possibly getting them into the tourney.

As far as Seton Hall- the problem that they have Is that Creighton is very possibly not going to be good enough to be considered a signature win. For a signature win- they'd need to beat Nova at home or maybe Xavier(if Xavier doesn't fall off a cliff either).

To me for Creighton, Saturday is their season. If they lose at home to DePaul, they are in deep trouble. With Butler and Xavier coming up, they could be looking square at a 5 game losing streak. At that point, the pressure starts really going up. The ONE plus for them IMO is remembering VCU. They went into the tank early after their PG went down with an ACL. Lost 3 of 4 games. Then a 3 game losing streak as well. But they bounce back and win the conference tourney. It does take time replacing a guy like Watson.

[hoops22]

We did hit tough shots but they have been falling all year for the most part. For Ponds and LoVett opponent fans wills laugh at some of their shot selection assuming it won't go in, then a perfect swish. They make those crazy shots a lot actually. This is how they were shooting for much of the season until LoVett's injury slowed him a bit and Ponds had a rough 3 game stretch. Our offense is fun to watch. If only we were able to get more stops and rebounds consistently after bringing in more big men, we'd really be scary. Lavin's teams here were good defensively but not so good offensively. I remember many 30% and below shooting nights from 3. If only we could have the defense from Lav's teams mixed with the offense of Mullin's team this year, we would be a top 25 team. We need to get Derrick Walker. Clark is coming, but we also need someone else. I don't expect Amar to be here next year and I think there's a chance Yakwe transfers. Even Mullin looks like he's had enough of his laziness and lack of aggression. If Yakwe had a motor like Owens, he'd be one of the best big men in the conference. They don't have to be 6'11...I'd settle for 6-7-6'8 guys with serious muscle. Next year's success will also depend heavily on whether or not LoVett stays. If him and Ponds stay and we shore up the bigs, we may finally get some consistency.

Walker would help provide a big body. Clark will help toughen things up. Simon will add size to the backcourt.

Despite the shooting %, I actually thought the D was really good last night. If you count the 19 TOs as missed shots, things look much different. Things have to be considered in light of the game plan. Those turnovers are stops, and the rebounding was also good last night.

Bill, like you I also felt the defense was much improved. But I think it shows how low the bar has been set, that allowing 62% from the field, has us complimenting the defense. I hear what you're saying about the turnovers, but plenty of those resulted from flatout sloppy play by Providence. I was happy to see us hold our own with the rebounding, but there's still plenty of work to do with the "D". We won't win many allowing the opponent to shoot 62%. Still it feels great to get a win, let's hope there are a couple more before the end of the season.

[REDMEN1415]

With Ellison emerging the way he is, and 5 star transfer Simon coming in, I think we are just 2 tough big men away from being really good.

Zach Brown killed us. He would've been just what the doctor ordered for this roster. Oh well

Remember the elite 8 team? Grant was our center at 6'7, and he was injured during the tournament.
It would be great to get a big man, but it can be done without one.

But then Ken Johnson (osu) killed us blocking 12 shots.

[SJHooper]

If I'm bipolar that would make NJRedman polar...he's only angry.

In all seriousness though Simon and Ellison would give us nice size to match up with bigger teams. Man I wish we had Anthony Livingston with Clark and Walker. Would be likely tourney team next year.

[REDMEN1415]

This from the PC boards:

Sister sent my a text after the game. Apparently she knows someone directly related with the team.
From my understanding, in the tunnel Cooley said to one of our guys "Those MFer's stole that one, huh?" and Mullin heard him and responded "F$ck you b%tch". Cooley apparently said "No, f$ck YOU, b%tch" which then resulted in players from both sides having to hold the coaches back.
Cooley might not be a great or even very good X's and O's guy, but it did make me feel a little better after a brutal loss.

[Bill Marsh]

NJRedman & SJhooper, come on, you guys both root for the same team. I personally think that SJhooper gets a little "bi-polar" (using the term affectionately lol) with his posts, but whether you agree with him or not, you have at least admire his passion for St. John's. St. John's fans have reasons to be frustrated, if they beat Delaware St & LIU, they might be in the hunt for an NIT this year. There's still a lot of basketball left to be played, St. John's will lose few more games & they will probably win a few more as well, that's how it goes.

I'm not ready to rule out Seton Hall as an NCAA team just yet. They have a lot of good teams left on their schedule (Villanova, Xavier & Creighton all at home), so they can still get some signature wins. Their last 2 losses were against the #1 team & #11 team in the nation, a tough task for anyone. They key is for them not to suffer any "bad losses" from this point forward, if they do pick up some of those big games coming up.

Not sure what to make of Creighton's situation at this point. The loss of Watson is huge, but they still have plenty of talent & a coach who isn't about to let the season slip away just b/c of the injury. Should be interesting going forward, 2 of their next 4 games are against DePaul, that might help stop the bleeding. They also have a stretch of 4 games in Feb where 3 are at home, that can also help.

Gotta believe that Marquette is probably the team right now is the team on the rise & that Providence might be slipping, but again, plenty of hoops left. Should be a fun February.

I agree with your assessment. Unless there are surprises - and there always are - Villanova, Butler, Xavier, and Marquette are in as long as they play at the level they have. Creighton has gone from a sure thing to a team having something to prove. I think they'll get in but we'll have to wait and see.

Seton Hall has an absolutely brutal schedule in front of them. Of their final 10 games, they'll be favored only against Providence, Georgetown, Creighton, and DePaul. Maybe St John's depending on what happens between now and then. And those are not going to be easy games. I don't think they need signature wins, they just need wins. They're 13-7. They're going to need more than 17-18 wins.

[stever20]

I wouldn't put Xavier in the same level as Nova and Butler. Those 2 are total locks right now.

Marquette and Xavier are in the same boat right now. Both are 14-6 right now. So both need really 4-5 more wins in the final 10(for Marquette) or 11(for Xavier) games. Neither one can afford to go on a losing streak right now at all. They still have 2 games with each other- if one got swept, the other could be in some danger.

Creighton will be interesting to watch. to me, they have to do more than just beat teams like DePaul, Providence, and St John's at home. They have to show they can win a game on the road now w/o Watson.

[ArmyVet]

I wouldn't put Xavier in the same level as Nova and Butler. Those 2 are total locks right now.

Marquette and Xavier are in the same boat right now. Both are 14-6 right now. So both need really 4-5 more wins in the final 10(for Marquette) or 11(for Xavier) games. Neither one can afford to go on a losing streak right now at all. They still have 2 games with each other- if one got swept, the other could be in some danger.

Creighton will be interesting to watch. to me, they have to do more than just beat teams like DePaul, Providence, and St John's at home. They have to show they can win a game on the road now w/o Watson.

I keep hearing that it's a really weak bubble. The fact that the Big Ten and ACC could get 10-12 teams each bodes well for the Big East in my opinion. Might all be seeded 8-12, but I think XU, CU, SH, and MU will all be there.

[stever20]

I wouldn't put Xavier in the same level as Nova and Butler. Those 2 are total locks right now.

Marquette and Xavier are in the same boat right now. Both are 14-6 right now. So both need really 4-5 more wins in the final 10(for Marquette) or 11(for Xavier) games. Neither one can afford to go on a losing streak right now at all. They still have 2 games with each other- if one got swept, the other could be in some danger.

Creighton will be interesting to watch. to me, they have to do more than just beat teams like DePaul, Providence, and St John's at home. They have to show they can win a game on the road now w/o Watson.

I keep hearing that it's a really weak bubble. The fact that the Big Ten and ACC could get 10-12 teams each bodes well for the Big East in my opinion. Might all be seeded 8-12, but I think XU, CU, SH, and MU will all be there.

The thing is, all of those teams have to get the wins. You aren't making the tourney at 17-14. Take Seton Hall. Right now, they're projected to finish at 17-13 and 6 seed. They would need to upset whoever that 3 seed is to have any shot of making the tourney.

[FDS]

The fact that the Big Ten and ACC could get 10-12 teams each bodes well for the Big East in my opinion.

Uhhhh.... what 10-12 teams is the B1G getting in the NCAA tournament???