Big East Thread

Shoot....Temple came to play.  SU had been just getting buy, having breakdowns in the last few games.  This was a coming.  I wonder if the boys will learn from it or not?  GG Temple fans....your boys showed up to play. 

SU has now struggled for a game and a half. They are not putting together a coherent offense when they need baskets most. They are giving up rebounds at an alarming rate and the starters are finding themselves in foul trouble. M(r. NBA)CW obviously had a bad game. Not just the inability to make a foul shot but his inabilty to make jump shots or finish at the rim. He was out played by Khalif Wyatt who looked like he was in total control of the game when he was on the court compared to the helter skelter play of the Carter-Williams led offense. CJ did have a decent game and Triche played OK but I worry going forward that the team doesn't have a go to guy. So it looks like they had this one comming and they will lose more games this year of course, I hope the kids learn from this and toughen up before Big East play or this could be a double digit year in the loss column.


Go Cuse!     

This league is a lot different this year. I think a lot of games will be defensive battles for a change.

Well, looky here...


Both Villanova,(11-4 overall and 2-0 BE) and Rutgers (11-3 overall, 2-1 BE) are doing better than I had at first feared before the season started.  Granted, they have both played their "cupcake" portion of their schedules, but league play has started, and both teams have held up decently.


Things get tougher, as VU has to head to the Dome to face Syracuse.  VU has a nice, young team, with good players, but no real step-up star. Maybe some young players on the roster will develop into such a role, but it hasn't happened yet.  Syracuse is in the upper eschelon of not only the BE, but the nation as well.  It could get ugly...


Rutgers takes on Cinncinati (13-3, 1-2 BE, #21/20, depending on poll) at the RAC in Piscataway.  The Scarlet Knights escaped an ugly, poor-shooting performance against St. Johns with a win, only because the Red Storm had a worse shooting performance. RU also suffers from not having a true, ball-handling point guard.  RU had a number of turnovers soley due to bad decisions.  To make matters worse, Cinncinati is coming off a home loss to ND, so they should be angry and readt to take it out on the Knights.  Cincy is also a rebounding machine, and plays tight defense. This game will be, at best, an uphill battle for RU, and could easily turn into a blowout for Cincy. 


With all that, I'll say:


Go Wildcats!

Go Knights!


       

Go Hoyas!

Syracuse is gonna be hurt by losing Southerland but it opens the door for Coooney.  He can fill the role but he's not a 5th year senior.  He looked good today stroking the 3 and he is a big time sniper from out there.  Good win although Nova doesn't look so great this year.  What happend to Jay Wright?  He's in Philly and he's getting his ass kicked on the recruiting trails in his own backyard.  How many guys have Syracuse taken from Philly Metro?  Further evidence of how we should all marvel at Syracuse and Boeheim's consistency.

MU picked a great year to have their worst offensive team by far. For once we are a slow it down, defense, rebound and killer depth team. Nice 3-0 start but every game could have gone either way. The BE is totally up for grabs this year after UL and then probably Cuse(they still havn't looked stellar). Every other team is solid on D for the most part with a lot of scoring issues. I could see 3rd-8th going in any number of combinations.

Great win for uconn at nd... really too bad this team can't even go to the big east tourney this year. They'd do some damage.

Great win for uconn at nd... really too bad this team can't even go to the big east tourney this year. They'd do some damage.

I agree, while Uconn like every other BE team this year so far sans UL and Cuse(a little) they havn't really impressed me as a whole but they are much better than most expected and with two great guards like they have the huskies could win on any given night in a very average league.

Shame for Uconn they have to sit out because again outside of UL and most likely Cuse.........I truly have no idea who will be the 3rd best team and down the line. 

Marquette, cincy, pitt and gtown, nd, uconn are likely the next six up.. Out of those 4 i'd say marq is probably the best. I'm likely forgetting about someone

I believe that Villanova has had less success recruiting recently, as they no longer have Fred Hill on staff. Hill was an assistant coach for Jay Wright, and was known as a great recruiter. He was largely responsible for the good VU teams in the early-to-mid 00's. Hill was hired to be the HC at Rutgers, which did not work out well.

UConn fan if I was going to pick the next six up I'd probably put Villinova right up there somehwere. But I don't think Marquette is the top of the next six up. They just seem to be missing that certain something they had last year. I'm going to say its good gaurd experience.
Pitt is a good team but they also are missing something. I can't put my finger on it but they flip flop too easy.
Cincy has all the weapons to be a really good team but they seem to get running too much and make mistakes and rely too much on the 3s. If they worked the ball inside out more they'd be a team that could challenge anyone.
Gtown just suffered a major setback with losing Whittington to eligibility issues. He was one of their best low post players and defenders. I knock them down a peg or two now.
UConn is a solid team. I think their biggest problem is a mediocre inside game and conditioning. Louisville had the gaurds gased in the second half. But I see them beating several BE teams this year because the gaurds are top notch.
ND got exposed against St Johns the other night. Cooley is a work horse but he really is not that good. He's an average at best power forward. They have good gaurds but if you shut that down and have good inside guys you can beat them home or away IMO. They are tough at home but that's just a head game. Quiet the crowd and the Irish are just an average team.

So here is how I would rank the middle teir after UofL and Syracuse:
Cinci
UConn
Marquette
ND
Gtown
Villinova
Pitt

The remainder:
St. Johns
Rutgers
Seton Hall
Providence
Then of course there is Depawful

Wow! Nice win by Villanova! Of course, Louisville didn't help their cause with poor free-throw shooting and turnovers in the last few minutes of the game. Still, this was a good boost for the 'Cats. Perhaps they can exceed the pre-season expectations, if they can play with consistency. Still seeing some iffy ball-handling and questionable passing, but not as much as earlier in the season. Rebounding was good last night, and really like how Pinkston is playing lately. Is it too much to hope the Wildcats can maintain a decent record, do some damage in the BE tourney, and sneak into the Big Dance?

Rutgers v. St. John's tonight! I think these teams are evenly matched as far as talent level. Expecting a back-and-forth game. A little rough, shooting-wise. Go Knights!

Syracuse 6 0 1.000 18 1 .947 Won 8 13 0 5 1
Marquette 4 1 .800 13 4 .765 Lost 1 10 0 3 4
Louisville 4 2 .667 16 3 .842 Lost 2 9 1 7 2
Cincinnati 4 3 .571 16 4 .800 Lost 1 9 3 7 1
Pittsburgh 4 3 .571 16 4 .800 Won 3 11 2 5 2
St. Johns (N.Y.) 4 3 .571 12 7 .632 Won 3 7 3 5 4 (We won @ Cincy also)

I like where we are at now, tied for 4th place.  Have a 3game winning streak and in every game during that streak had atleast a 12pnt lead.  Next 2 games are at home against Seton Hall and DePaul, both are winnable.

I know we have a long way to go before getting to where Syracuse and Louisville is at, but it`s a start. Just gotta take it one game at a time and stay focused.

REDMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hopefully uconn can get a win streak going here, 5 relatively easy games before final conf game against Cuse. Cmon Ollie teach these kids how to close out games.

Syracuse6-1 18-2
Marquette 5-1 14-4
Pittsburgh 5-3 17-4
St. Johns (N.Y.) 5-3 13-7
Cincinnati 4-3 16-4
Louisville 4-3 16-4
Notre Dame 4-3 16-4
Georgetown 4-3 14-4
Villanova 4-3 13-7

Look who`s tied for 3rd in the B.E.       Gotta beat and sweep DePaul on Wednesday night
REDMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Georgetown is likely to win the Big East.  They dominated the Irish at the Joy Center, play sick D and have 3-4 really consistent handlers and scorers.  I give JT3 credit with the direction his team is heading.  The Hoyas will be the # 2 seed in the East Regional.

Jonvi, you want to know why I live in Louisiana but have been a Cuse fan for the last 25 years.  Watch the "Syracuse Dunk Tape" on youtube.  When I was 11-12 years old, this is what I saw.  Cuse destroyed all comers, but had some major March meltdowns.  I live in a town with about 13,000 people, there is only one other Cuse hoops fan, and he moved here from New York.  Douglas having David Johnson and Stevie in transition was electric to watch, Owens and Coleman to corral the mishaps, and Seikaly for the flush. 

B12KO...I didn't know why you were a LSU and a Cuse fan...so thanks.  And you know the LSU team as well or better than then cuse...so yes...I've wondered where the relation came in.  Glad you're on our side cause you got game.

I know you like southy a bunch....I like J Grant better....but the loss to nova proved SU needs South back....soon.   SU lost that game when Grant fouled out.  I hope when Southerland gets back, JB doesn't let Grant die on the bench like he did MCW last year.  IMO....He is a play maker big time.  And not to dis Southerland.  For sure he is the starter....I just want Grant getting big minutes too.  

The SU team from the mid 80's is what got me to be such a big Orange fan as well.  But the day of guys like Coleman hanging out for four years are long gone.  Now everyone is a flash in the pan.  It's too bad.    

A quick note out to wildcatknight.....your boys played a great game the other night.   Congrats. 

SJU....your boys are starting to come together.  It's great to see.