NBC Sports on BE Next Year

[Bill Marsh]

Omari Spellman to stay in draft. Risky move IMO but I wish the kid well. The BE will be wide open next year. Still like our chances but it's going to test Jay's ability to develop talent quickly.

Donte is gone as well.

[Hall2012]

It's crazy that Villanova's losing 4 players to the NBA Draft and are still widely considered the favorite to win the league again.

[stever20]

It's crazy that Villanova's losing 4 players to the NBA Draft and are still widely considered the favorite to win the league again.

I think a lot of that though is due to-
Xavier losing 5 key players
Creighton losing 2 best players
Seton Hall losing 4 starters
Providence losing 2 best players
Butler losing best player

If this was a normal year, maybe Nova isn't considered the favorite again. But given how many guys have been lost- it's not a normal year.

[stever20]

2 of the early top 25's out......

Rothstein- Nova #12
CBS Sports-Gary Parrish- Nova #9

Nova only Big East team in either poll Rothstein went to 30 and Parrish to 26.

[Novachap]

It's crazy that Villanova's losing 4 players to the NBA Draft and are still widely considered the favorite to win the league again.

Yeah, although I think Nova has the potential to be (very) good by the end of the year, there are a LOT of moving parts. Pachall and Booth will be fine, but the sophomores and newbies will need to step up.

Offense should not be an issue (although they won't approach last year's ridiculous efficiency), it will, as is always the case, be on the defensive end for Nova. How long it takes the team to grasp Jay's concepts on D will determine in the long run how good they will be. Last year's team covered their shortfalls on D through scoring crazy numbers until the D clicked in the later half of they year---and defense was really good in the tournament. For that reason I don't think they are a slam dunk favorite by any stretch. That said, a lot of people are saying the league is down this year--to me it means more parity. 6 losses could in fact win the league this year. Gonna be an interesting season.

[FriarJ]

It's crazy that Villanova's losing 4 players to the NBA Draft and are still widely considered the favorite to win the league again.

I think a lot of that though is due to-
Xavier losing 5 key players
Creighton losing 2 best players
Seton Hall losing 4 starters
Providence losing 2 best players
Butler losing best player

If this was a normal year, maybe Nova isn't considered the favorite again. But given how many guys have been lost- it's not a normal year.

Providence is not losing it's 2 best players. It's losing 1 of it's 2 best players. If you watched any game at all you would realize that Alpha Diallo and Cartwright were the two best players last year.

[stever20]

It's crazy that Villanova's losing 4 players to the NBA Draft and are still widely considered the favorite to win the league again.

I think a lot of that though is due to-
Xavier losing 5 key players
Creighton losing 2 best players
Seton Hall losing 4 starters
Providence losing 2 best players
Butler losing best player

If this was a normal year, maybe Nova isn't considered the favorite again. But given how many guys have been lost- it's not a normal year.

Providence is not losing it's 2 best players. It's losing 1 of it's 2 best players. If you watched any game at all you would realize that Alpha Diallo and Cartwright were the two best players last year.

OK- but then it's at least 2 of best 3-4 players(and the top 2 minutes players). It's a big loss.

[gtmoBlue]

I haven't been keeping track and had no idea so many teams were losing so many players. This is good as coaches will have to develop young stars.
14-4 will probably win the conference. Rock fight between Prov and Cr8n.

ESPN Poll: 10-Nova, 24-Butler

Couple of questions:
How likely is Heron to get a hardship waiver for StJ?
Is Quinerly cleared (of FBI investigation) to play?

[stever20]

I haven't been keeping track and had no idea so many teams were losing so many players. This is good as coaches will have to develop young stars.
14-4 will probably win the conference. Rock fight between Prov and Cr8n.

OOC play will be crucial league wide this year. It seems like the teams have upgraded their schedules for this upcoming year.

St John's may have the smart idea- they're doing their game with Duke again during conference play. After the team has grown together. I could see pretty easily scenarios where teams take 4-5 OOC losses in November and December and then they're square behind the 8 ball for the season. Something kind of like what happened with Providence last year, but this year- there's probably not going to be the lifeboat of conference teams that can get you in by just beating them like Providence did beating Nova and Xavier 2x.

[gtmoBlue]

So Stever...thinks the BE will be a 2 bid league this year.

We'll get our 5 teams in.