Sunday's Games 2/28

[GumbyDamnit!]

The one thing I will point out though, not that it mattered all that much when it was all said and done, is that the technical on Jalen Reynolds appeared to be utter bullsh-.

I've seen this said by many X fans and I think they missed ENTIRELY what happened. Reynolds did not get a technical because he was nose to nose with Delgado talking trash (surprise, surprise). He got the technical because as they were staring each other down, Reynolds grabbed the ball out of Delgado's hands. Delgado was technically in-bounding the ball at the time. When a defensive player touches the ball while in the opponents hands while he is in-bounding it is a technical. The rule is pretty clear on it actually. Good call; bad timing for Jalen and X.

[stever20]

The one thing I will point out though, not that it mattered all that much when it was all said and done, is that the technical on Jalen Reynolds appeared to be utter bullsh-.

I've seen this said by many X fans and I think they missed ENTIRELY what happened. Reynolds did not get a technical because he was nose to nose with Delgado talking trash (surprise, surprise). He got the technical because as they were staring each other down, Reynolds grabbed the ball out of Delgado's hands. Delgado was technically in-bounding the ball at the time. When a defensive player touches the ball while in the opponents hands while he is in-bounding it is a technical. The rule is pretty clear on it actually. Good call; bad timing for Jalen and X.

that's an automatic one.... if you reach across the plane it's a delay of game. If you touch the ball, it's an automatic T....

[GumbyDamnit!]

Is this some kind of joke?

So by virtue of G'town being 101 and Marq being 105 it's very convenient for you to exclude them from your little "tough game" data.

TOUGH game to me is vs. an RPI Top 10 team. Butler has 5 of those. UCONN has 1 (if Maryland is still in the Top 10) and both Cincy and Tulsa have ZERO. So please don't peddle your cherry picked #'s to make it seem like UCONN and Cincy have played more truly TOUGH games that Butler has. 5 games against teams 55-88 is not the same as 5 games vs. 1, 5 & 9. The chances of victory vs Top 10 vs. 55-88 is vastly different.

And they are 0-5 vs those. You don't just get credit for scheduling tough games. You have to actually you know win those games. Butler is 2-7 vs RPI top 50 teams. UConn has 2 top 20 wins. Butler has 1 top 20 win.

And the thing is, even if Georgetown is in top 100- Butler would have 15 games, but UConn would have 16 then.

Bottom line for Butler. Beat Seton Hall, and they will be in no matter what.

You are not grasping the obvious. Yes Butler is 0-5 in those games. Most bubble teams would be 0-5 in those games. Why don't you check your little KenPom #'s and see if Tulsa, Cincy, or Uconn would be favored to win any game vs Nova, X or Miami.

Here are the RPI ranks of each teams losses. You tell me who played the tougher schedule.

Butler (9 losses total) - 7(n), 44, @6, 2, @44, @97, @111, 6, @2 (Average opponent RPI in losses: 35)

Tulsa - (10 losses) - 36(n), 38, 28(n), 14, @52, @78, @61, @53, 146, @158 (Avg. opp. RPI: 66)

Cincy - (8 losses) - @6, 19, @14, @43, 55, 61, @61, @158 (Avg. opp. RPI: 52)

UConn - (9 losses) - 10(n), @43, 51(n), 66(n), 61, 52, @61, @52, 78 (Avg. Opp. RPI: 53)

5 of Butler's 9 losses came against teams that are really, really good that the AAC teams--who have similar # of losses--never had to face. Also I showed you that Butler has 2 wins both away from home against absolute tourney teams. Uconn has one @ Texas and both Cincy and Tulsa's best wins are against other bubble teams. So tougher schedule but same amount of losses; better signature wins and playing in a much better conference.

Sure Butler has to keep playing. Every bubble team needs wins this time of year. But as of TODAY I like Butler's resume' a whole lot better than any of the teams from that conference that you love.

[GumbyDamnit!]

BTW, your boy Lunardi agrees with me on the BE and the AAC. Butler in. As of today he's got UConn and Cincy both being one of the last 8 in. Tulsa out. If those two face off in the AAC quarterfinal tourney game there is a good chance that one of them will be left out. If the winner of that game goes on to win the AAC tourney, look out. I don't think it'll happen but there is the path for the AAC to only get one bid...

[stever20]

looking at the team sheets though that the NCAA uses. This is before yesterday for full disclosure- they don't have the ones from after yesterday posted yet....
Butler- SOS 86, OOC 249 avg win 172 avg loss 35
PC- SOS 52, OOC 231 avg win 160 avg loss 57
Cincy- SOS 97, OOC 143 avg win 182 avg loss 50
UConn- SOS 64, OOC 93 avg win 168 avg loss 48

So with the numbers that the NCAA uses, UConn was much better than Butler. It'll be interesting to see when they post the sheets for today how much difference there is. You can see with the numbers why PC and UConn were ahead of Butler and Cincy.

Now note- Cincy's numbers are going to go way up this week playing Houston and SMU. UConn's will be about the same- yeah they get SMU, but then UCF. PC might drop a smidge with Creighton and St John's. Butlers probably will have a slight uptick with Seton Hall and then Marquette.

[stever20]

BTW, your boy Lunardi agrees with me on the BE and the AAC. Butler in. As of today he's got UConn and Cincy both being one of the last 8 in. Tulsa out. If those two face off in the AAC quarterfinal tourney game there is a good chance that one of them will be left out. If the winner of that game goes on to win the AAC tourney, look out. I don't think it'll happen but there is the path for the AAC to only get one bid...

Butler as the next to last team in.

UConn, Cincy, and Butler all have a game this week where they win and they are in. UConn and Cincy with SMU, Butler with Seton Hall.

[Vill]

Yesterday was almost unreal. I'd love a honest SJU assessment of the job Mullin has done. Anyone?

[Hall2012]

Yesterday was almost unreal. I'd love a honest SJU assessment of the job Mullin has done. Anyone?

S
I'm not an SJU fan obviously, but I'd say he's done about as expected. St. John's returned something like 4% of their scoring from last year, so with such a depleted roster I don't think anyone expected the to win more than maybe a game or 2 in the Big East. A better Xs and Os coach maybe could've won 3 or 4 BE games, but with zero prior head coaching experience that wouldn't have been a fair expectation for Mullin. While his on-court results this year are expectedly poor and he'll get a deserved pass on them, he's more than made up for it with excellent recruiting. Where he should and will be judged will ultimately be in his ability to develop this incoming class and turn recruiting into winning over the next 2-3 years.

[BigEast1]

Something that Seton Hall fans will probably enjoy from yesterday

http://shuhoops.com/seton-hall-basketba ... vs-xavier/

[stever20]

so the sheets got updated finally- thru yesterday(they skipped thru Sunday for some reason)
https://rpiarchive.ncaa.org/Stats%20Lib ... Sheets.pdf
PC- RPI 45- SOS 53, OOC 225, avg win 161 avg loss 56 2 top 50 wins, 4 top 60 wins
Cincy- RPI 50- SOS 96, OOC 137, avg win 182 avg loss 50 2 top 50 wins 4 top 60 wins(plus 61)
UConn RPI 53- SOS 57, OOC 99, avg win 168 avg loss 50 3 top 50 wins, 4 top 60 wins
Butler RPI 57- SOS 88 OOC 254 avg win 173 avg loss 36 3 top 50 wins, 4 top 60 wins

You can see why Butler is getting hurt with their SOS. 31 spots worse than UConn right now overall- and that probably will maintain this week. And you see why Cincy is struggling while UConn is viewed a lot safer...