Allright, I'm the ultimate optimist so take this post with a grain of salt.
We have been miserable, arguably the most dissappointing year thus far under the Norm era. I root for Norm, but at this point I want to win, and if he has to go, see ya later. 1 thing I always have liked about Norm and his teams is that I thought he was a tough dude and our teams always were tough. We brought Norm in because he's a NYC guy, and when I think of a guy from NYC I instantly think of guys who won't back down from anyone and love the challenge. Norm isn't a stupid guy (even though he might sound it and show us it on the court at times) and he knows we need to win. Of course he's going to tell the media these guys are young blah blah but you all know damn well he was tearing those kids apart. I always felt the Big East season was a completely different season, so in my eyes we're starting off 0-0 (what suck is we're really 6-5 and have no cushion to screw this up lol). I thought about what teams are the best in the Big East and how we might look compared to them, and honestly guys, its not that crazy to think we could make some noise.
Pitt - No fields and cook ... where are they going to get points from?? There aren't close to as scary to me as they were 2 weeks ago.
Louisville - Have been subpar all year ... Palacios and Padgett might be comign back but really how good will they be and I'm sure Caracter will get another game off here or there.
Syracuse - No Devendorf ... I hate the kid but he has experience in the Big East and that team seems to give up a crapload of points to EVERYONE.
Georgetown - I've watched them a few times this year and they are obviously good but they aren't unstoppable. They dont have a go to guy like Green last year and that will definetely hurt them in big spots. Hibbert is good but hes not ever going to drop 25 on ya.
Marquette - I know a lot of people are falling in love with them but we went toe to toe with them last year in the BE Tourny. I still think James only thinks about the NBA and they are pretty weak down low. I also feel bad for them bc they're road games are longer road trips then most of the other teams in the conference.
Villanova - It's hard to bash them, they are damn good. They throw good guard after good guard at you. On that same token I can see them shooting themselves right out of a game just like how they'll light a good team up too.
West Virginia - I honestly havent seen them play this year and they scare the crap out of me because of Huggins. I know they lost to OU yesterday but thats about it.
UCONN - I don't think they're much better then last year. They have all the horses but something just doesnt click with that team. Thabeet hasnt been what they wanted and others havent really lived up to expectations either. Plus, after AJ they dont have a good PG to get the ball to all those guys.
Notre Dame - I know they'll win they're share of games but I always like how we match up against them. They lost they're 2 best scorers from last year and i think will have a hard time getting buckets down the stretch. We usually put up a nice fight and even pull some out (thank you larry!!)
Providence - Weird team that should be a lot better then they are and are real mysterious to me. My good friend is a Prov guy and he's constantly bashing the squad and Welsh (similar to how we all are) so I think they'll have their ups and downs.
Seton Hall, Rutgers, South Florida, Cincy, Depaul - None of these scare me at all and quite frankly have had just as rough a non conf season as us. I know the hall has won a lot of games but they are barely winning and going to OT against crappy teams.
So I mean who knows what will happen. Are we going to roll through the Big East? No, I doubt that but do i think we can be a player? yeah i really think we could suprise people. This team has talent, its up to Norm to figure out who to play, when to play em and how to play em. It's time for Geno to step up and be the Senior Captain hes supposed to be and lead these guys. It's time for Mase to show us he's ready to be a star at this level. It starts with those 2 guys on the court to lead the way and show these youngins how to win. There is no reason we don't go .500 and quite frankly i'll be pist if we go much less. We are starting to get healthy as other teams are losing guys, our freshman will start to grow up and our coach is going to teach these boys how to fight every second of the game to get W's. Ok, I'm sure I'll get reemed if we get smacked by Cuse on Wednesday but who cares I'll still be rooting for them on Saturday and all the days after that. WE ARE ... STJOHNS!!!