Zag's Big East preseason predictions

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Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« on: June 15, 2009, 10:15:21 PM »
http://web.sny.tv/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090615&content_id=5342118&oid=2&vkey=21

Here are SNY.tv's Preseason rankings for the 2009-10 season.

1. Villanova (30-8, 13-5)
Key Losses: Shane Clark, Dante Cunningham
Key Additions: Isaiah Armwood, Dominic Cheek, Taylor King (Transfer), Maurice Sutton (Redshirt), Mouph Yarou, Maalik Wayns
Bottom line: Reynolds returns to bolster an experienced core that includes Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Reggie Redding. The Wildcats also feature a top-five national recruiting class that should make Jay Wright's team the class of the Big East.

2. West Virginia (23-12 10-8)
Key Losses: Alex Ruoff
Key Additions: Deniz Kilicli, Dan Jennings, Casey Mitchell, Dalton Pepper
Bottom line: Newark native Da'Sean Butler could challenge for Big East Player of the Year honors, and the talented New York trio of Truck Bryant, Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones now has a year of conference experience under its belt. Guard Joe Mazzulla remains indefinitely suspended because of a domestic battery charge and it remains unclear if he will return.

3. UConn (31-5, 15-3)
Key Losses: Jeff Adrien, Scottie Haralson (Transfer), A.J. Price, Hasheem Thabeet
Key Additions: Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriakhi, Darius Smith, Jamaal Trice
Bottom line: The Huskies aren't a Final Four team without their departed stars, but they still have enough talent with Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson to win their share of games and make the NCAA Tournament. Ater Majok, a raw 6-10 big man who withdrew from the NBA Draft, could also return and Oriakhi is a 6-foot-9 245-pound center who could start for Thabeet from Day One.

4. Louisville (31-6, 16-2)
Key Losses: Earl Clark, Terrence Williams
Key Additions: Rakeem Buckles, Mike Marra, Peyton Siva, Chris Smith (Walk-on transfer), Stephen Van Treese
Bottom line: Clark and Williams led Louisville to the No. 1 overall seeding in last year's NCAA Tournament, but the Cardinals remain talented with big men Samardo Samuels and Terrence Jennings and guards Preston Knowles, Jerry Smith and Edgar Sosa. Coach Rick Pitino may be distracted by the extortion case he is in involved with and some believe that he may still have to take time away from the team to deal with it. Pitino's new assistant and old friend Ralph Willard, the former Holy Cross coach, may be called upon to steady the ship at times.

5. Notre Dame (21-15, 8-10)
Key Losses: Ryan Ayers, Kyle McAlarney
Key Additions: Scott Martin (Transfer), Ben Hansbrough (Transfer)
Bottom line: The return of Luke Harangody for his senior season makes the Irish a force in the Big East and a potential Top 25 team. Tory Jackson comes back to play the point and the 6-8 Martin and the 6-3 Hansbrough are viewed as starters who are more complete players than Ayers and McAlarney.

6. Syracuse (28-10, 11-7)
Key Losses: Eric Devendorf, Jonny Flynn, Paul Harris Key Additions: Wesley Johnson (Transfer), DaShonte Riley, James Southerland, Brandon Triche
Bottom line: The Orange loses a lot in the backcourt from last year's team, but Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku remain one of the most formidable front lines in the league. Andy Rautins, Mookie Jones, Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche, New York State's Gatorade Player of the Year, will anchor the backcourt under the Hall of Famer Jim Boeheim.

7. Cincinnati (18-14, 8-10)
Key Losses: Mike Williams
Key Additions: Sean Kilpatrick, Jaquon Parker
Bottom line: The Bearcats should move up into the conference's top eight with the return of Rashad Bishop, Yancy Gates and Deonta Vaughn. Kilpatrick, out of White Plains, N.Y., could add a shooting presence on the wing.

8. Pittsburgh (31-5, 15-3)
Key Losses: Tyrell Biggs, DeJuan Blair, Levance Fields, Sam Young
Key Additions: Lamar Patterson, J.J. Richardson, Dante Taylor, Talib Zanna
Bottom line: New Jersey products Ashton Gibbs and Travon Woodall will compete for the point-guard spot vacated by the veteran Fields. The Panthers' entire front line will be composed of rookies but watch for McDonald's All-American Dante Taylor of Greenburgh, N.Y., to have an impact right away.

9. Seton Hall (17-15, 7-11)
Key Losses: Paul Gause
Key Additions: Ferrakohn Hall, Jamel Jackson (JUCO), Keon Lawrence (Transfer), Melvyn Oliver, Herb Pope (Transfer), Jeff Robinson (Transfer)
Bottom line: This is the most talented and athletic team of Bobby Gonzalez's four-year tenure. The additions of Lawrence, Pope and Robinson should add depth and skill to a team that won seven league games a year ago. It remains to be seen whether the transfers of big men Mike Davis and Brandon Walters deplete the frontcourt.

10. Georgetown (16-15, 7-11)
Key Losses: DaJuan Summers, Omar Wattad (Transfer) Key Additions: Hollis Thompson
Bottom line: Summers' departure leaves big man Greg Monroe and point guard Chris Wright as the team's leaders and go-to players. Still, the Hoyas aren't the deepest team in the league and should finish near the bottom of the middle grouping.

11. St. John's (16-18, 6-12)
Key Losses: None
Key Additions: Justin Brownlee, Dwight Hardy, Omari Lawrence, Malik Stith
Bottom line: The Johnnies have the potential to move up in the rankings this year with the return of Anthony Mason Jr., Paris Horne, Malik Booth and D.J. Kennedy and the arrival of a talented young group of guards.

12. Marquette (25-10, 12-6)
Key Losses: Patrick Hazel (Transfer), Dominic James, Wesley Matthews, Jerel McNeal
Key Additions: Dwight Buycks, Junior Cadougan, Jeronne Maymon, Youssoupha Mbao, Erik Williams
Bottom line: Buzz Williams lost three of the best players in the league in James, Matthews and McNeal but brought in a seven-man recruiting class that is probably second only to Villanova's in the league. It should be a rebuilding year at Marquette, but the Eagles have the talent to contend in the future.

13. Rutgers (11-21, 2-16)
Key Losses: Anthony Farmer, Jaron Griffin, JR Inman
Key Additions: Austin Johnson, Brian Okam, Dane Miller, Jonathan Mitchell (Transfer)
Bottom line: The Knights are hoping JUCO point guard James Beatty will commit to them, but if he doesn't Corey Chandler could run the point in Piscataway. The additions of Miller and Mitchell up front should add depth and talent to a frontcourt that already has Hamady N'Diaye and Greg Echenique. Shooting guard Mike Rosario is spending the summer gaining valuable experience in international tournaments.

14. Providence (19-14, 10-8)
Key Losses: Weyinmi Efejuku, Jonathan Kale, Geoff McDermott.
Key Additions: Kadeem Batts, Vincent Council, Bilal Dixon (Redshirt), Johnnie Lacy, Greedy Peterson, Kyle Wright (JUCO)
Bottom line: The Friars lose a lot of experience but still have special players in Marshon Brooks and Sharaud Curry, while Council and Lacy add young talent to the backcourt.

15. South Florida (9-22, 4-14)
Key Losses: Jesus Verdejo
Key Additions: Mike Burwell, Jordan Dumars, Jarrid Famous, Shaun Noriega
Bottom line: With Dominique Jones and Gus Gilchrist back, the Bulls should create some matchup problems for more than a few teams. The 6-11 Famous, out of Westchester (N.Y.) Community College, chose USF over Arizona, Missouri and Seton Hall and Coach Stan Heath expects him to be an impact player immediately.

16. DePaul (9-24, 0-18)
Key Losses: Dar Tucker
Key Additions: Eric Wallace (Transfer)
Bottom line: Jerry Wainwright's entire staff turned over, the Blue Demons lost their leading scorer in Tucker and they aren't bringing in a single impact recruit. 6-10 junior Mac Koshwal returns so going winless for a second year in a row seems unlikely. But there's not much reason for hope in the immediate future.


Poison

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #1 on: June 15, 2009, 10:55:56 PM »
Marquette isn't finishing behind us.
We can't play with their 2nd string.

GTown could be in trouble not too much unlike SJU
When they had Lopez and Hamilton and a collection of terrible players.

Syracuse at 6 is generous. Boeheim seems to think his incoming class is better than Flynn, Devo and Harris. I don't buy that for a minute. We'll compete with them this year.

I'm not sold on Uconn at 3. They lost a lot.

Providence could finish higher than 14. They didn't lose everyone. Curry and Brooks return.



Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2009, 02:49:52 PM »
I dont see why some think Georgetown will be better than St Johns

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2009, 03:07:31 PM »
I think you could do these power rankings 16 times over and the only clear cut selection is Depaul being the worst team in the conference.
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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2009, 03:23:16 PM »
I dont see why some think Georgetown will be better than St Johns

Greg Monroe.

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2009, 03:24:31 PM »
Marquette isn't finishing behind us.
We can't play with their 2nd string.

GTown could be in trouble not too much unlike SJU
When they had Lopez and Hamilton and a collection of terrible players.

Syracuse at 6 is generous. Boeheim seems to think his incoming class is better than Flynn, Devo and Harris. I don't buy that for a minute. We'll compete with them this year.

I'm not sold on Uconn at 3. They lost a lot.

Providence could finish higher than 14. They didn't lose everyone. Curry and Brooks return.

Quick, name someone from Marquette's second string . . . I knew you couldn't.

Agree with most of the rest of your post.

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2009, 03:26:24 PM »
I dont see why some think Georgetown will be better than St Johns

Greg Monroe.

What about him?

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2009, 03:31:56 PM »
I dont see why some think Georgetown will be better than St Johns

Greg Monroe.

What about him?

Some people rightly or wrongly will put higher preseason expectations on a school that has one of the 10 best players in the country on it, even if said player/program underachieved last year (see UND at #5 on the list as well).  With Monroe they'll quote the "Best thing about freshmen . . . "  line and say he should be poised for big jump carrying the Hoyas along with him.  There's definitely talent there but can they play in JTIII's system is the question I'd be asking.  It didn't seem so last year.

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2009, 03:40:17 PM »
I dont see why some think Georgetown will be better than St Johns

Greg Monroe.

What about him?

Some people rightly or wrongly will put higher preseason expectations on a school that has one of the 10 best players in the country on it, even if said player/program underachieved last year (see UND at #5 on the list as well).  With Monroe they'll quote the "Best thing about freshmen . . . "  line and say he should be poised for big jump carrying the Hoyas along with him.  There's definitely talent there but can they play in JTIII's system is the question I'd be asking.  It didn't seem so last year.

I agree yank, Monroe might be  a good player but some of those players dont fit into JT3's type of basketball. They lose Sapp,Summers and a couple of transfers,St johns loses a couple of bench players including a walking turnover

boo3

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2009, 03:45:29 PM »
I dont see why some think Georgetown will be better than St Johns

Greg Monroe.

  Only if he takes more than 6 shots a game.    JT3  better learn to utilize this kid because he is immensly talented. Top 10 pick next year IMO

boo3

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2009, 04:41:01 PM »
  Gary Parrish's top 25 for next year.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11859618

   G'town  #24?
  Nova,  uconn,  west virginia  top 10.

  Kansas,  kentucky    1-2

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #11 on: June 17, 2009, 01:08:23 PM »
  Gary Parrish's top 25 for next year.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11859618

   G'town  #24?
  Nova,  uconn,  west virginia  top 10.

  Kansas,  kentucky    1-2
This has got to be one of the weakest years, in terms of cb depth, in ages.

The battered programs have no excuse not to move up this season. It'll be interesting to see if UConn and North Carolina can survive as well as he expects with the enormous losses of veteran talent.

peter

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #12 on: June 17, 2009, 02:20:11 PM »
  Gary Parrish's top 25 for next year.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11859618

   G'town  #24?
  Nova,  uconn,  west virginia  top 10.

  Kansas,  kentucky    1-2
This has got to be one of the weakest years, in terms of cb depth, in ages.

The battered programs have no excuse not to move up this season. It'll be interesting to see if UConn and North Carolina can survive as well as he expects with the enormous losses of veteran talent.
Fewer boldface names (and fewer well-known one-and-dones) but the talent is there.  Even when the top dogs lose 5 guys they're like the hydra, five more spring up in their place, just as good. 

And if Tommy Mason-Griffin can dribble a little and move the ball around (and if Tiny gallon and the other cat can rebound decently), people might be surprised that Oklahoma won't go very far.

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #13 on: June 17, 2009, 02:42:55 PM »
  Gary Parrish's top 25 for next year.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11859618

   G'town  #24?
  Nova,  uconn,  west virginia  top 10.

  Kansas,  kentucky    1-2
This has got to be one of the weakest years, in terms of cb depth, in ages.

The battered programs have no excuse not to move up this season. It'll be interesting to see if UConn and North Carolina can survive as well as he expects with the enormous losses of veteran talent.
Fewer boldface names (and fewer well-known one-and-dones) but the talent is there.  Even when the top dogs lose 5 guys they're like the hydra, five more spring up in their place, just as good. 

And if Tommy Mason-Griffin can dribble a little and move the ball around (and if Tiny gallon and the other cat can rebound decently), people might be surprised that Oklahoma won't go very far.
If you could more specific, which players do you anticipate more than filling the voids of

UConn: Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, Austrie, and A.J. Price

UNC:four-time All-American and ACC's all-time scoring leader, Tyler Hansbrough, ACC POY Ty Lawson, NCAA Tournament's MOP Wayne Ellington, and third-team all-ACC and ACC-Defensive Team member Danny Green?

I like Oriakhi, Henson, and Strickland, but that's an enormous amount of firepower to lose for both programs. One can argue that fifth-year senior Price can be somewhat offset by the sophomore Walker, but losing the intimidating inside duo of Adrien and Thabeet will be very difficult to makeup. I don't see how Leslie McDonald, Larry Drew, and Dexter Strickland can help offset the loss of speedy Ty Lawson and big-time shooter Wayne Ellington. Ginyard can bring Green's defense, but he isn't nearly the offensive weapon that Green was.

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #14 on: June 17, 2009, 03:18:19 PM »
  Gary Parrish's top 25 for next year.
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/11859618

   G'town  #24?
  Nova,  uconn,  west virginia  top 10.

  Kansas,  kentucky    1-2
This has got to be one of the weakest years, in terms of cb depth, in ages.

The battered programs have no excuse not to move up this season. It'll be interesting to see if UConn and North Carolina can survive as well as he expects with the enormous losses of veteran talent.
Fewer boldface names (and fewer well-known one-and-dones) but the talent is there.  Even when the top dogs lose 5 guys they're like the hydra, five more spring up in their place, just as good. 

And if Tommy Mason-Griffin can dribble a little and move the ball around (and if Tiny gallon and the other cat can rebound decently), people might be surprised that Oklahoma won't go very far.
If you could more specific, which players do you anticipate more than filling the voids of

UConn: Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, Austrie, and A.J. Price

UNC:four-time All-American and ACC's all-time scoring leader, Tyler Hansbrough, ACC POY Ty Lawson, NCAA Tournament's MOP Wayne Ellington, and third-team all-ACC and ACC-Defensive Team member Danny Green?

I like Oriakhi, Henson, and Strickland, but that's an enormous amount of firepower to lose for both programs. One can argue that fifth-year senior Price can be somewhat offset by the sophomore Walker, but losing the intimidating inside duo of Adrien and Thabeet will be very difficult to makeup. I don't see how Leslie McDonald, Larry Drew, and Dexter Strickland can help offset the loss of speedy Ty Lawson and big-time shooter Wayne Ellington. Ginyard can bring Green's defense, but he isn't nearly the offensive weapon that Green was.

UConn also returns Jerome Dyson

Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #15 on: June 17, 2009, 03:55:25 PM »
I dont see why some think Georgetown will be better than St Johns

Greg Monroe.

and they still have 2 other Mcds all american in Freeman & Wright who have to step up as upper class men. Add Fosh Hollis at SF & your talking about another talented team. The lost of Wattad could hurt he was one of their better jump shoots last year
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peter

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #16 on: June 17, 2009, 04:45:19 PM »

This has got to be one of the weakest years, in terms of cb depth, in ages.

The battered programs have no excuse not to move up this season. It'll be interesting to see if UConn and North Carolina can survive as well as he expects with the enormous losses of veteran talent.
Fewer boldface names (and fewer well-known one-and-dones) but the talent is there.  Even when the top dogs lose 5 guys they're like the hydra, five more spring up in their place, just as good. 

And if Tommy Mason-Griffin can dribble a little and move the ball around (and if Tiny gallon and the other cat can rebound decently), people might be surprised that Oklahoma won't go very far.
If you could more specific, which players do you anticipate more than filling the voids of

UConn: Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien, Austrie, and A.J. Price

UNC:four-time All-American and ACC's all-time scoring leader, Tyler Hansbrough, ACC POY Ty Lawson, NCAA Tournament's MOP Wayne Ellington, and third-team all-ACC and ACC-Defensive Team member Danny Green?

I like Oriakhi, Henson, and Strickland, but that's an enormous amount of firepower to lose for both programs. One can argue that fifth-year senior Price can be somewhat offset by the sophomore Walker, but losing the intimidating inside duo of Adrien and Thabeet will be very difficult to makeup. I don't see how Leslie McDonald, Larry Drew, and Dexter Strickland can help offset the loss of speedy Ty Lawson and big-time shooter Wayne Ellington. Ginyard can bring Green's defense, but he isn't nearly the offensive weapon that Green was.



First, I never said those guys will more than fill the voids, and I will backtrack slightly to say that I should not have said "just as good."  Potentially, they can be as good as the guys who left as a collective.  U Conn, in particular, will certainly not be the same team.  And I'm not picking UNC to win the championship again.  When I say 5 more guys pop up in place, I mean to say that they will be competitive on a similar level, even if they lose a few more games; they're not turning into 10 loss clubs or middle of the pack teams in their conference just because the big names are leaving.  I bloviated slightly.

First, I'll say I was seriously surprised that U Conn made it that far; I didn't think AJ Price was that solid.  They'll lack a go to guy on offense like Jeff Adrien and a go-to helper on defense in Thabeet.  that will be a dropoff.  It would also be nice if guys like Jonathan Man-to-love was better, or if anyone from their 2008 class besides Kemba was going to play (Haralson transferred, Nate Miles needs restraining, Ater Majok might go pro despite removing himself from the draft). 

But I think very highly of Kemba's game (he's a beast out there), Gavin Edwards gives effort and sucks less than I thought he did, Stanley Robinson might actually be giving consistent effort. Incoming frosh Darius Smith is supposed to be real nice; and people are impressed by Oriakhi.  Couple that with a weakened Big East, and a hall of fame coach who knows what he's doing, why can't the team be a solid, top 15 club?  (I think talent-wise, top 10 might be pushing it.)

As for UNC, in 2007 Roy Williams went 31-7 with Hansbrough and Ginyard as sophomores and a bunch of freshmen named Lawson, Deon Thompson, Ellington, Brandon Wright, and Alex Stephenson.  This time he has a couple of very good players who caught a lot of pine in Larry Drew and Tyler Zeller (b/c Zeller was hurt).  And then there's Ed Davis who is a fantastic player.  Then there's Dexter Strickland. The Wear brothers.  John Henson.  That's a lot of athletic talent, and Roy loves to run his athletes.  If someone gives three-quarters of the sheer effort Hansbrough gave, and someone else can hit outside shots?  That's potentially a great team.

They have scads of talent.  And coaching.  Neither of those teams have experience, and it will show a little; they won't be #1 teams at the beginning of the year.  But at the end, I could see them both (more UNC than U Conn) being teams that no one wants to play.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2009, 07:35:47 PM by peter »

Poison

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #17 on: June 17, 2009, 05:22:34 PM »
I thought Nate Miles was a perfect fit for Uconn after his arrest.
They've won 2 rings with like players. Why let something as weak as a restraining order get in the way of another?

kob24

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #18 on: June 18, 2009, 08:21:04 PM »
St.johns will be in the top 7

Poison

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Re: Zag's Big East preseason predictions
« Reply #19 on: June 18, 2009, 09:41:18 PM »
Marquette 2nd string: Burke. That's all I know by name. It just feels like Norm can't compete with them. The best he's ever done against them is when we played them relatively tight for a bit a few years ago.