Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

Subject to change after the draft. Just to start things off with alittle pot stirring. I thought I'd catch a few folks on their Nooner (asleep).

Switched to the Creighton.Rivals version...more input. Those looking for news should try Fox or CBS,

Big East - 2016-17 Finish (Pre-draft Edition)

1. Creighton
Lose Groselle/Milliken, 1 frosh/1 walk-on.
Add Foster/Patton/Mintz, regain Krampelj/IZ, add transfer in Joseph.
Starters - Mo, Marcus, Khyri, Cole, Patton.
Scoring should be by the buckets... Mo, Huff, Foster, Iz. Reliable and deep bench with Ronnie, IZ, Malik, Mintz, Khyri, Krampelj, Hanson.

2. Villanova
Lose Arcidiacono, Ochefu, Hart, & 3 sparsely used role players.
Add Paschal, Spellman and a couple of others.
Great returning cast. Brunson, Booth, Jenkins, but I'm thinking that it will take time for Spellman and Paschal to adjust to BE play.

2. Seton Hall.
Lose Whitehead, Derrick Gordon
Add 4 star Myles Powell.
Contributors Desi Rodriguez, Khadeen Carrington, Ismael Sanogo, Angel Delgado all return, and they will be a year older and wiser. They know how to win now - they will compete well this year.

4. Xavier.
Lose Abell, Farr, Reynolds, London, & Austin.
Add Quentin Goodin, PFs Jones, & PF Ekiyor.
Bluiett and great returning core, but returning bigs (Gaston, O'Mara, Gates) are only adequate. Again the new guys up front need time to adjust to the next level game.

5. Georgetown.
Lose DSR and Hayes.
Add Akoy Agau, PG Juco AA Mulmore
Returning contributors being Copeland, Peak, Derrickson,and Govan
Georgetown's saving grace is that they have a ton of talented athletes who could finally gel. Could rise higher. They should be in the mix - even with JT3 coaching.

6. St Johns
Lose Alibegovic, Christian Jones, Bamalou
Add PG Ponds...Juco AA Bashir Ahmed, PF Freudenburg
Returning cast was improving late - Yakwe, Williams, Owens, Sima. LoVett is eligible. Ahmed and Ponds contribute immediately. The Johnnies will be improved. They have talent - need a coaching plan.

7. DePaul
Lose Stimage, Henry, Molinari, 2 others
Add Pg Gage, PF Oumar Barry, C Levi Cook
Return 4 Seniors - Garrett, Hamilton, Currington, & Wood. Coach is adding good/not great talent. If sr's lead effectively, the Blue Demons will breakthrough this season - they could go higher dependent on the play of G'twn/StJ.

8. Marquette
Lose Henry Ellenson, SF Mache
Add PG 4* Marcus Howard, transfer Katin Reinhardt.
Plenty of talent...Fischer, Cheatham, Cohen, Carter, Wilson, others. An impressively inconsistent group of underachievers. Everybody is back. We'll see if Wojo can Coach.

9. Providence
Gone Kris Dunn, Bentil, Lomomba, and now Fazekas also.
Add PG Maliek White, Juco PF Emmitt Holt
Who is going to step up for Providence now? Bullock is not enough. Drew Edwards, Lindsey, Cartwright?
It will be a long year at the Dunk.

10. Butler
Lose Rosey Jones, Kellen Dunham, Jordan Gathers, Etherington, & Jackson Davis.
Add 4 star Joey Brunk
They don't have a full roster. 2 of their players are walk-ons. Kelan Martin, Andrew Chrabascz, Lewis, and Wideman return. The Bulldogs finish last.

luv ya,
gtmoBlue

Gtmo, no. This isn't the Valley; you don't go from one game out of the play-in to first place in one season in a league like the BIG EAST.

My take from a rational Creighton fan:
1. Nova (Big East and national champs until proven otherwise)
2. Xavier
3. Hall
4. Creighton
5. Providence
6. Georgetown
7. Marquette
8. Butler
9. St. John's
10. DePaul

Xavier.
Lose Abell, Farr, Reynolds, London
Add Quentin Goodin, PFs Jones &
Bluiett and great returning core, but again the new guys up front need time to adjust to the next level game.

Jury still out on Jalen. Gates will make a giant step forward and get lots of minutes. Quick and good defender/shooter. I think he could lead the team in rebounds with his athleticism. Sumner, Bluiett, M Davis, Macura, Gaston, O'Mara all back. Goodin will play some and should be plenty good enough. Lot of options. Sumner staying healthy could mean big yr. for X. He will get better and stronger. Anything the new guys bring will be a bonus.

Think Creighton could maybe get top 5. No Dougie's.

My take, with assumptions...

1. Nova (Hart and Jenkins return)
2. Seton Hall (Whitehead returns)
3. Xavier (Reynolds leaves... Gaston might fill the rebounding role, but the team won't be the same without Farr/Jalen)
4. Creighton (too much talent... interior play still a ?)
5. Butler (Chrabs steps up... Lewis/Savage give enough backcourt production)
6. Gtown (Copeland, Peak major steps forward...)
7. Marquette (not sure how this team will look until Wojo is done...)
8. Providence (Bentil leaves)
9. St. John's
10. DePaul

BEX wrote:Xavier.
Lose Abell, Farr, Reynolds, London
Add Quentin Goodin, PFs Jones &
Bluiett and great returning core, but again the new guys up front need time to adjust to the next level game.

Jury still out on Jalen. Gates will make a giant step forward and get lots of minutes. Quick and good defender/shooter. I think he could lead the team in rebounds with his athleticism. Sumner, Bluiett, M Davis, Macura, Gaston, O'Mara all back. Goodin will play some and should be plenty good enough. Lot of options. Sumner staying healthy could mean big yr. for X. He will get better and stronger. Anything the new guys bring will be a bonus.

Think Creighton could maybe get top 5. No Dougie's.

We also add Eddie Ekyior and Senior transfer Rashid Gaston. Both power forwards and both very highly recruited. Reynolds really wasn't that great. A fun player, but his offensive skills were lacking. Farr was tremendous this year, we will miss his rebounding. But I think with growth of Gates and O'Mara plus the new guys. Our front court could be even stronger.

Dear god gtmo's takes are worthless. Yeah, okay a bunch of freshmen were inconsistent...what else ya got?

St. John's needs a coaching plan? Is Lavin back at the helm? No? Well then I think we'll be fine there. Played close games against the top teams with a Ohio Valley line up.

gtmoBlue wrote:9. Providence
Gone Kris Dunn, Bentil also.
Add C/PF Dajour Dickens
Who is going to step up for Providence now? Bullock is not enough.

10. Butler
Lose Rosey Jones and Kellan Dunham (and that Etherington Kid)
Add 4 star Joey Brunk.
They don't have a full roster. 2 of their players are walk-ons. Kelan Martin and Andrew Chrabascz return. That's it. The Bulldogs finish last.

I can live with your enthusiasm for Creighton (FWIW, I think they are a top half team next year). However...it is absolutely ridiculous to suggest Butler and Providence will be the two worst teams in the league next year.

I think 4th is a a a realist's optimistic take. Does that make any sense? Considering where we finished last year, how many games were decided by small margins, and who we add to the roster, moving up two spots is by no means a stretch of the imagination. The only thing that could cause the season to turn south would be serious injuries to Mo, Marcus, or Cole. Inside presence could suffer a bit too, but they have enough big bodies (Zach, Justin, Toby, Martin)

PC doesn't add Dickens for '16-'17.