Fri 11/11 6g: MU-van VU-laf SH-fdu X-leh CU-kc SJ-bcu

[MUPanther]

Big East goes 6-0....

Other interesting results:
UConn loses....
Boston College loses....
Pitt needs double OT to beat Eastern Michigan....

Travis Ford at St. Louis got smacked by Ball State.

[Novachap]

Nice night by BE. Couple of closer than expected games but X will certainly be ok, as will Creighton. Really good game by Marquette and Hall and Sju looked great too.

Nova didnt have much of a test. Real balanced attack. Brunson, so far, has stepped in well as the floor general. Hart & Jenkins were as expected, Paschall did well on boards, seemed to be a fair night. He will be a bull. Booth didnt score much but was effective as dual point. DiVencenzo looked very good. He will surprise people. Bridges is a freak. He is so efficient and his jumper has improved. Very good from 3, and took a jumper off the dribble, hadnt seen that before from him.

Monday at Purdue will be a very challenging game. They are built exactly to expose our faults. Will be interesting to see if we can force them away from the hoop, get their bigs in foul trouble/ tired chasing. Could go either way but a great early season test in a very hostile environment.

How about that Indiana Kansa game? That was fun to watch.

[NJRedman]

How 'bout 'dem Johnnies!?!?!?!?

I know I know Bethune-Cookman, but they looked much more competent than a year ago. They have depth at each position now. They have skilled ball handlers. And they have chemistry. 2 of their new comers who are expected to contribute big minutes were allowed to practice with the team all of last year (Lovett & Owens). Thats closer to having 7 guys returning.

I'm not saying we are going to win the regular season title, but I think we will end up higher than the pundits think. Everything breaks our way we end the season 5th or 6th.

[Novachap]

Undergrad from nova, grad school at SJU. Diehard Nova fan, but pull for the Johnnies too. Glad to hear they look stronger. Good for the league if they do well.

[BEhomer]

I was most impressed by St John's. Lovett seems as good as advertised. with him Ponds, Mussini, they have guys who can knock down some shots too. Rotation in close games and set plays will be the key, but Mullin has them playing hard and having alot of fun. We know about their front court. they now have more depth. my sleeper pick for sure in BE.

[Red Rooster]

I was most impressed by St John's. Lovett seems as good as advertised. with him Ponds, Mussini, they have guys who can knock down some shots too. Rotation in close games and set plays will be the key, but Mullin has them playing hard and having alot of fun. We know about their front court. they now have more depth. my sleeper pick for sure in BE.

You can see that LoVett, competition notwithstanding, has such a good feel for the game. He has the ball on a yo-yo, and you sense the team is following his lead and energy. At least, it seemed that way during the Baruch exhibition and last night's contest. LoVett has great vision, and even showed off a nice jumper last night. If his shot is even remotely falling like it did last night, then team's will probably have some problems. Ponds showed off some ball-hawking skills, in which a few recruitnik's raved about during his time playing AAU ball.

I knew Mussini would be much better in his role playing off the ball. He can occasionally play the point, but he's better when he's playing off the ball, and catch and shoot. The Johnnies will have four guards (including, Ellison) who all have a similar skill set. The frontcourt is long and lengthy, and each player presents a different skill set of sorts. Sima and Yakwe are still a work in progress with their backs to the basket, but they're not too shabby on that end of the floor, either. The Johnnies will probably lead the Big East in blocked shots again (had 9 blocks last night).

A few months ago, I predicted between a 5th-8th finish (I may have said, 6th-8th) for this group. I also predicted that I'm confident the Johnnies won't finish any lower than 8th. I still stand by those predictions.

This team could very, well be the "Sleeper Pick" of the conference, BEhomer. A lot of integral parts that wasn't there a season ago.

[marquette]

For whatever it's worth (not much this early)

Kenpom/Sagarin
Nova 2/2
Xavier 16/25
Butler 22/56
Georgtown 24/45
Marquette 33/37
Hall 37/35
Creighton 41/40
PC 62/91
SJU 96/60
DePaul 172/164

Way too early but 9 top 100 teams and as many as 7 on pace for a tourney bid. I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat.

[JohnW22]

There's no deneying Xavier needs Myles Davis AND Kaiser Gates

[BEhomer]

There's no deneying Xavier needs Myles Davis AND Kaiser Gates

Is sumner almost too tall to play the point in college? He doesn't maneuver very well in traffic because of his length and he's not strong enough to consistently post his man. he's still a very good pg but not the star pg I expected who can break down the D consistently and creating for others.

X is very solid with Sumner Macura and Bluiett. but I agree they can use Gates and/or Davis as they got nothing out of their bigs.

[whiteandblue77]

New Look Bluejays With Foster (0) and Patton (23):