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Wittman is $$$$$$

(12-22-2009 12:24 AM)KnightChris Wrote:  I would love to see Cornell vs. Temple this season. It would be an amazing game, plus the Donahue vs. his mentor (Dunphy) storyline writes itself. No clue who would win, but man would it be fun to watch!

Maybe in the tournament! You guys would be a terrible trap game for anyone though.

(12-22-2009 12:24 AM)KnightChris Wrote:  I would love to see Cornell vs. Temple this season. It would be an amazing game, plus the Donahue vs. his mentor (Dunphy) storyline writes itself. No clue who would win, but man would it be fun to watch!

Yep. Interesting that Seton Hall beats Cornell and loses to Temple while St. John's beats Temple but loses to Cornell.

It wouldn't surprise me to see all 4 as tourney teams this year.

Great win for the Big Red.

Cheers,
Neil

Cornell is this year's Davidson, Siena, etc......

(12-22-2009 12:46 PM)KnightChris Wrote:  

(12-22-2009 07:18 AM)omnicarrier Wrote:  Yep. Interesting that Seton Hall beats Cornell and loses to Temple while St. John's beats Temple but loses to Cornell.

I blame myself for that Seton Hall loss. I was going to make the trip for that game (a rare Big East opponent coming to Ithaca), but I decided to stay here and go to 'Cuse/UNC instead. Honestly, that's a game we should have won though. ESPECIALLY on our home floor.

great win for cornell, my ccsu blue devils stink this year in bb, the fb team won the nec though. harvard is good this year also.........

It'll be interesting to see what St John's does in conference play. I guess you could say I'll believe it when I see it as far as the Johnnies making a statement.

(12-23-2009 02:38 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  It'll be interesting to see what St John's does in conference play. I guess you could say I'll believe it when I see it as far as the Johnnies making a statement.

The entire nation is down this year except for a few standout teams like Texas, Kansas, SU, WVU, etc. So many unexpected teams can do some damage this year in various conferences.

For the Big East St. John's and Seton Hall have the chance to do some damage in a Big East where only SU, WVU, and Nova look like they are head and shoulders above the rest.

St. John's two losses have been @Duke and that ECAC Holiday Festival championship game @MSG against a senior-laden and proven Cornell squad. But the Johnnies, like Pitt, rarely will blow opponents away so they will lose games they shouldn't as well. I'm anxious to see how the team reacts to Mason's return. I see the Red Storm definitely losing 5 Big East road games, but they should also win at least 6 of their 9 Big East home games. So, as a likely 10-6 team with a win over Temple and two tough losses to Duke and Cornell, they will likely be Dancing come March.

As for the Pirates, they have a brutal stretch that has already started with a Temple loss. It's the kind of stretch that made G'Town look really bad last year, really quickly. After beating Navy they now have WVU and SU at home, then VT on a neutral court, UConn on the road, Cincy at home, G'Town on the road, and then Louisville and Pitt at home. They will be fortunate to come out of that 10 game stretch better than 3-7. But if they do better than that, watch out, because the remainder of the schedule is set up for them to be 7-4 or 6-5 at worse, making them an intriguing bubble team come March.

Still, if I were a Cards' fan, I'd be more worried about my own team. The UNLV loss was understandable as was the Charlotte game with the guards being injured, but that loss to Western Carolina @ home is already starting to look bad despite the Catamounts current RPI, especially considering that overrated Clemson blew them out @ home yesterday and Davidson looks good enough to win the 1-bid Southern league again. Here's hoping the way the Cards played against Western Kentucky is more indicative of how they play the rest of the season.

A good Louisville squad and a good Cincinnati squad dancing in the same year has yet to be seen in Big East play. Could this be the year?

Cheers,
Neil

(12-23-2009 05:01 PM)omnicarrier Wrote:  

(12-23-2009 02:38 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  It'll be interesting to see what St John's does in conference play. I guess you could say I'll believe it when I see it as far as the Johnnies making a statement.

The entire nation is down this year except for a few standout teams like Texas, Kansas, SU, WVU, etc. So many unexpected teams can do some damage this year in various conferences.

For the Big East St. John's and Seton Hall have the chance to do some damage in a Big East where only SU, WVU, and Nova look like they are head and shoulders above the rest.

St. John's two losses have been @Duke and that ECAC Holiday Festival championship game @MSG against a senior-laden and proven Cornell squad. But the Johnnies, like Pitt, rarely will blow opponents away so they will lose games they shouldn't as well. I'm anxious to see how the team reacts to Mason's return. I see the Red Storm definitely losing 5 Big East road games, but they should also win at least 6 of their 9 Big East home games. So, as a likely 10-6 team with a win over Temple and two tough losses to Duke and Cornell, they will likely be Dancing come March.

As for the Pirates, they have a brutal stretch that has already started with a Temple loss. It's the kind of stretch that made G'Town look really bad last year, really quickly. After beating Navy they now have WVU and SU at home, then VT on a neutral court, UConn on the road, Cincy at home, G'Town on the road, and then Louisville and Pitt at home. They will be fortunate to come out of that 10 game stretch better than 3-7. But if they do better than that, watch out, because the remainder of the schedule is set up for them to be 7-4 or 6-5 at worse, making them an intriguing bubble team come March.

Still, if I were a Cards' fan, I'd be more worried about my own team. The UNLV loss was understandable as was the Charlotte game with the guards being injured, but that loss to Western Carolina @ home is already starting to look bad despite the Catamounts current RPI, especially considering that overrated Clemson blew them out @ home yesterday and Davidson looks good enough to win the 1-bid Southern league again. Here's hoping the way the Cards played against Western Kentucky is more indicative of how they play the rest of the season.

A good Louisville squad and a good Cincinnati squad dancing in the same year has yet to be seen in Big East play. Could this be the year?

Cheers,
Neil

Neil,

Here's my guess on the Cardinals. I think they will be an NCAA team, but I don't think we are going to see them rise above a 5/6 seed, much less a 1, as they did the last several years. We don't have a replacement for T Williams, but the team has responded over the last 2 games with Pitino altering the press back to a man press, similar to how he instituted it at Kentucky. Louisville has primarily been a zone press team this decade, so we'll see if that change sticks and continues to improve the team. Right now Siva and Knowles are playing, but both essentially cannot shoot jumpers due to hand issues, so the team is still getting healthy at the guard spot.

I agree that the level of play across the country seems to be down this year overall. The league does appear to be as wide open as it has been for several years, but I'm just being cautious with St John's. I'm not a fan of Roberts, so we'll see if he is able to stay out of his own way.

They very well may end up in the mix, but my Christmas prediction is the NIT for them. They'll need to improve on that 1-8 road record from last season in conference if they want to be dancing, that's for sure.

(12-23-2009 05:15 PM)CollegeCard Wrote:  Neil,

Here's my guess on the Cardinals. I think they will be an NCAA team, but I don't think we are going to see them rise above a 5/6 seed, much less a 1, as they did the last several years. We don't have a replacement for T Williams, but the team has responded over the last 2 games with Pitino altering the press back to a man press, similar to how he instituted it at Kentucky. Louisville has primarily been a zone press team this decade, so we'll see if that change sticks and continues to improve the team. Right now Siva and Knowles are playing, but both essentially cannot shoot jumpers due to hand issues, so the team is still getting healthy at the guard spot.

I agree that the level of play across the country seems to be down this year overall. The league does appear to be as wide open as it has been for several years, but I'm just being cautious with St John's. I'm not a fan of Roberts, so we'll see if he is able to stay out of his own way.

They very well may end up in the mix, but my Christmas prediction is the NIT for them. They'll need to improve on that 1-8 road record from last season in conference if they want to be dancing, that's for sure.

I agree about Roberts. But as you point out, this year's Cardinals team is nothing like last year's Cards team and the same looks to be true about St. John's. Last year's Johnnies wouldn't have beaten Temple in Philly, nor would they have hung close with the Blue Devils @ Duke. As for the 1-8 road record last year, well all but 2 (DePaul and Seton Hall) were against NCAA teams or teams whose bubble burst in late February early March - Providence, Cincinnati, and Notre Dame.

This year's is slate is a little less tough with near guaranteed wins at Rutgers and at DePaul and I see them winning two against the teams I consider to be BE bubble teams this year - Pitt, ND, and USF. It wouldn't surprise me if they win all three. That's how bad Pitt and ND have played this year, imho.

Cheers,
Neil

(12-23-2009 11:58 PM)KnightChris Wrote:  

(12-23-2009 05:01 PM)omnicarrier Wrote:  I see the Red Storm definitely losing 5 Big East road games, but they should also win at least 6 of their 9 Big East home games. So, as a likely 10-6 team with a win over Temple and two tough losses to Duke and Cornell, they will likely be Dancing come March.

I'll take that bet. There's no way they win 6 of 9 B.E. home games, let alone "at least" 6. No way. I kind of hope they do though. It would be great for our RPI!

You're on. They won 5 of 9 last year with a worse team and a much tougher slate at home then this year.

By the way, KenPom is predicting 7 home wins for the Johnnies and RealTime is predicting 8 home wins (but I think the Nova win is probably a stretch).

Cheers,
Neil

St. John's starts conference play @Georgetown, Providence, @Louisville, Cincinnati, and DePaul. There's at least 2 home wins in Providence and DePaul...

Providence and DePaul will probably be winless in conference play when they meet on January 17th, and will most likely be playing for last place in The BEast in their final game of the season...

(12-24-2009 12:32 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  St. John's starts conference play @Georgetown, Providence, @Louisville, Cincinnati, and DePaul. There's at least 2 home wins in Providence and DePaul...

Providence and DePaul will probably be winless in conference play when they meet on January 17th, and will most likely be playing for last place in The BEast in their final game of the season...

Agreed, bit. Those two are the worse teams in the league this year.

Looking forward to our upcoming showdown. I think the Eers get a win at home, but we'll get payback at the BET, our home away from home.

Cheers,
Neil

In the BET you'll have to handle Deniz Kilicli. He becomes eligible for the Pitt game February 2nd, but the game at WVU will be played without him. If Syracuse is going to win a game, that's their best shot. Kilicli is going to be a monster...