2010-2011 Pre-Season Predictions [JohnnyJungle.com]

This is our first annual staff writers' predictions...

http://johnnyjungle.com/columns/2010-11-pre-season-predictions/

Do you agree or disagree? Feel free to post your own!

I'd say I most agree with Pico, we are gonna be firmly on the tourney bubble.  Hopefully better but this group has done nothing to make me expect otherwise.  I know having a new coach is exciting and everything but if you expect this group to go 24-6 with this schedule, you are setting yourself up for obvious disappointment.  We've never finished higher than 13th in the conference with this current group, making a jump to the top of the conference is going to be a struggle. 

Between 18-20 wins.

Between 18-20 wins.

19-11 based on schedule IMO. BET will determine if we play in NCAA's. 2 wins would do it.

20-10, 10-8, losses @ St M, @WV, SYR, @ louisville, @ G'town, @ UCLA, Pitt, @ marq, @ nova, @ seton hall. That's right, we beat pEwK on national TV. Sweet. Prognosis: I'll be more surprised if we don't make the tournament than I will be if we make the Sweet 16.

I think Pico is going to be right on the money, though I hope that Dimas is ha ha...

20-10, 10-8, losses @ St M, @WV, SYR, @ louisville, @ G'town, @ UCLA, Pitt, @ marq, @ nova, @ seton hall. That's right, we beat pEwK on national TV. Sweet. Prognosis: I'll be more surprised if we don't make the tournament than I will be if we make the Sweet 16.

Taking away your hatred of all things Duke pick we are on the same page. I hat Duke too btw, just not to the point that it has clouded my  my prognosticating skils. Lavin and staff is obviously an upgrade even with the knock on Lav's X & O work. Besides in game coaching the main thing this team needs is a belief that it can win games particularly close ones against teams that have been cleaning their clock for the last 3 years. I think this area will prove to be Lavin's greatest strengh. The fact remains though even with the coaching upgrade and addition of Polee, this is still a flawed roster. I think we will be a bubble  team.

Taking away your hatred of all things Duke pick we are on the same page. I hat Duke too btw, just not to the point that it has clouded my  my prognosticating skils. Lavin and staff is obviously an upgrade even with the knock on Lav's X & O work. Besides in game coaching the main thing this team needs is a belief that it can win games particularly close ones against teams that have been cleaning their clock for the last 3 years. I think this area will prove to be Lavin's greatest strengh. The fact remains though even with the coaching upgrade and addition of Polee, this is still a flawed roster. I think we will be a bubble  team.

Back when Louie was coach and I used to fill out brackets I always managed to find a way for SJ to make the final four, despite the fact that I knew we were going to lose to in the first round. Hence dEwK. Sure we're unlikely to win, but I can't bring myself to say it aloud. And besides if I'm right look at what a genyious I am.

If Norm won 17 games with these players and Norm was the worst coach evah then not having Norm has to be worth a couple extra wins. Lavin brings a lot to the table, but not the least of which is that he's high profile enough to get an even break from scum like Jim Burr, who'll have to give him at least some of the benefit of the doubt that we'd never get in the past because Norm was the one whining. To me those calls are worth a couple of wins a year, all other things being equal.

I agree that the real question is the effect that getting their brains kicked in for 3 years has had on their collective psyche. On the one hand, I'd have a hard time betting on France in the next world war. On the other hand, this is not a team that showed a lot of quit at the end of last year despite the fact that the only thing they had to play for was another year of NR as head coach. They seem like a confident  and even cocky group and depite being sad sack losers in college they weren't always - most were successful HS athletes from successful programs. So they maybe remember what winning is like even if Norm could quite remind them how to do it. If they were horses you'd say they had back class - they once performed at a high level, even if it was a long time ago. The other worrisome thing is that they're generally bad free throw shooters and that's going to bite them in the ass sooner or later.

Quote from: we are sju on November 15, 2010, 10:44:11 AM

Taking away your hatred of all things Duke pick we are on the same page. I hat Duke too btw, just not to the point that it has clouded my  my prognosticating skils. Lavin and staff is obviously an upgrade even with the knock on Lav's X & O work. Besides in game coaching the main thing this team needs is a belief that it can win games particularly close ones against teams that have been cleaning their clock for the last 3 years. I think this area will prove to be Lavin's greatest strengh. The fact remains though even with the coaching upgrade and addition of Polee, this is still a flawed roster. I think we will be a bubble  team.

Back when Louie was coach and I used to fill out brackets I always managed to find a way for SJ to make the final four, despite the fact that I knew we were going to lose to in the first round. Hence dEwK. Sure we're unlikely to win, but I can't bring myself to say it aloud. And besides if I'm right look at what a genyious I am.

If Norm won 17 games with these players and Norm was the worst coach evah then not having Norm has to be worth a couple extra wins. Lavin brings a lot to the table, but not the least of which is that he's high profile enough to get an even break from scum like Jim Burr, who'll have to give him at least some of the benefit of the doubt that we'd never get in the past because Norm was the one whining. To me those calls are worth a couple of wins a year, all other things being equal.

I agree that the real question is the effect that getting their brains kicked in for 3 years has had on their collective psyche. On the one hand, I'd have a hard time betting on France in the next world war. On the other hand, this is not a team that showed a lot of quit at the end of last year despite the fact that the only thing they had to play for was another year of NR as head coach. They seem like a confident  and even cocky group and depite being sad sack losers in college they weren't always - most were successful HS athletes from successful programs. So they maybe remember what winning is like even if Norm could quite remind them how to do it. If they were horses you'd say they had back class - they once performed at a high level, even if it was a long time ago. The other worrisome thing is that they're generally bad free throw shooters and that's going to bite them in the ass sooner or later.

I think Lavin is a 2-3 game improvement. The only problem with that is if recent history repeats, 20 wins is no longer an NCAA lock. As I have stated in the past, I strongly believe that our tourney hopes rest with Burrell and Boothe as far as the 2 or so more wins we would need to get in.

manbearpig says he saw this episode already johnnies get 21 wins an a win in the BE tourney. with the new 68 team brackett the johnnies get in but lose down south in the first round.

21-8. We beat St.Mary's. And let me start by saying that Norm didn't play a schedule like this. He had 9 wins before the BE started last year. 2 were legit.

We win both the Great Alaska Shootout, and the HF.

Kennedy has an All BE season. Boothe and Hardy contend for league honors.

Polee makes the all rookie team.

We have a tough non conference schedule. An 11-7 BE mark should get us in.

We win one NCAA tourney game, and lose the next one in a close one. The seniors can hang their heads high.

Wow, those are very good seasons you guys predicted for us. I wold honestly take any of those record because we would be at the least on the bubble. I think we win between 19-21 games and the games against St. Mary's, UCLA, and Arizona St. will be the difference between a NIT and NCAA berth.

I personally think you all have very red glasses on.

I personally think you all have very red glasses on.

Players are one half. Coaching is the other.

it's hard not to be a little optimistic right now with the way everything is bubbling. Also it's tough to do something like this, this early in the season. We made picks right off the bat, and hopefully when March rolls around we will be in the ballpark of being correct, one of us.

I agree, Lavin is at least 2-3 games on his coaching + staff alone. Should we get to the 17 wins we had last year that 19-20 so...you never know.

21-10  (10-8)

non-conf loss @ UCLA, Duke
conf loss @WV, @ND, SYR, @LV, @GT, @Cincy, PITT, @NOVA

Reg season: 19-11

10-2 non-conference 9-9 in Big East

Out of Conference Games Record       9-3
Conference Games Record               9-9
BET and NIT   (1 win in each tourney)  2-2
Total Games Record                         20-14

bump

A lot of people were close. Although none were more wrong than me, who counted 29 games, when there were actually 30.