14th???

8Th and do not count on them playing a zone!

This is what's going to be soooooooo interesting about next season. I can see a bunch of freshman finishing at the bottom of the BE but this is an incredibility gifted collection of talent and they could excel beyond expectations. I believe they will all need to adjust to the BE college game. They will struggle and show flashs and by mid seasons they will start to gel and impress (or at least I hope). I have complete faith in our coaching staff and they will get the team on the right track.

8Th and do not count on them playing a zone!

They will be playing a zone.  Dunlap likes zone. And its one of the reason they played it so much this year.  Why tell a recruit your playing zone and then play man all year.  They got to see the style of play we would be using.

 The zone is not going anywhere but I hope they mix in some more man to man throughout the year.  I think it makes the zone more effective. Too many teams got "comfortable" against the zone and I think switching to man more often will help.

The zone is not going anywhere but I hope they mix in some more man to man throughout the year.  I think it makes the zone more effective. Too many teams got "comfortable" against the zone and I think switching to man more often will help.

Having longer players will help disrupt more teams on offense.  Shorter guys we had could only close out so much.

Quote from: jumpinjohnny on May 14, 2011, 11:51:43 AM

The zone is not going anywhere but I hope they mix in some more man to man throughout the year.  I think it makes the zone more effective. Too many teams got "comfortable" against the zone and I think switching to man more often will help.

Having longer players will help disrupt more teams on offense.  Shorter guys we had could only close out so much.

Agreed Moose. The guys recruited were to play in the defensive system we saw last year. I personally think that is the most underrated thing going into next season.

Quote from: 96 Schermerhorn Street on May 14, 2011, 10:34:38 AM

8Th and do not count on them playing a zone!

They will be playing a zone.  Dunlap likes zone. And its one of the reason they played it so much this year.  Why tell a recruit your playing zone and then play man all year.  They got to see the style of play we would be using.

Dunlap likes winning! It's the unexpected that give you an advantage.Last year was the zone this year we will see, I expect a greater reliance on man to man.

Quote from: Moose on May 14, 2011, 11:42:27 AM

Quote from: 96 Schermerhorn Street on May 14, 2011, 10:34:38 AM

8Th and do not count on them playing a zone!

They will be playing a zone.  Dunlap likes zone. And its one of the reason they played it so much this year.  Why tell a recruit your playing zone and then play man all year.  They got to see the style of play we would be using.

Dunlap likes winning! It's the unexpected that give you an advantage.Last year was the zone this year we will see, I expect a greater reliance on man to man.

I expect we'll see constantly shifting defenses all season.  But I agree we'll likely see significant man d - Pointer, Garrett, and Harkless are considred three of the top man defenders coming out of the prep ranks this year.  It would be a waste of their talent's not to have them in the opponents grill.   But on the other hand, this is the Big East - and there's a good chance that guys like Pelle and Polee might have trouble witht he physicality of Post players in conference in a man situation.   Don't be surprised if Dunlap and Lavin brush the dust off an old chestnut like the "triangle and 2" and add it to the defensive arsenal.

Quote from: Moose on May 14, 2011, 11:42:27 AM

Quote from: 96 Schermerhorn Street on May 14, 2011, 10:34:38 AM

8Th and do not count on them playing a zone!

They will be playing a zone.  Dunlap likes zone. And its one of the reason they played it so much this year.  Why tell a recruit your playing zone and then play man all year.  They got to see the style of play we would be using.

Dunlap likes winning! It's the unexpected that give you an advantage.Last year was the zone this year we will see, I expect a greater reliance on man to man.

If he likes winning like you say then we would have abandoned the zone thru the year when it hurt us.  But we didn't.  There were nights we played the zone to perfection.  Play the Duke and Uconn games over and over if you need a reminder.

Last year we didn't know what to expect, started ok, hit the wall and then finished strong. We'll have different talent this year but I can see a similar pattern. That translates to 10 -12 but hell on wheels in the BE tourney

Best guess on this end....anywhere from 7-14. The league is so balanced that a bounce here or there is the difference in winning 7 conference games or 10. The key question is will we be in a position to win those games? Will we be in the 2 point games in the last 2 minutes? Most importantly, how will the freshmen react in that situation, especially on the road?

That is the difference between 7 and 14 in the final standings.

14th? He has S Florida at 11th! He has NO credibility! I'm going out on a limb with the #2 class in the country...5TH!!!!!!!!

Agree with CR that we'll see a variety of defenses taking advantage of some of the bulldogs we brought in.  Those losses where guys got hot from three are very avoidable with good on ball defenders.  Hornewas about it last season and he couldn't guard everyone.  The rest of the team was pretty ordinary on "D" although Hardy improved more than I thought he would.  I think the zone suited us better but backfired on occasion and we didn't take enough advantage of the front court strength we did have.  It'll be a whole new ballgame this year and a lot remains to be seen.  Dunlap should have a field day with the pieces we have this time around.

Simply put, the guys we brout in with this class are longer, faster and more athletic overall.  This translates into improved ability to play ALL defenses from zones to man-d.  Paris horne was considered such a solid defender because he was the only one we had with the lateral quickness and athleticism to keep with offensive players.  This season we add about 9 guys who can move like Paris did. 

We had some savvy players last year and some solid pieces, but nobody would consider the roster we hadmas being real quick overall.  We looked that way sometimes because we played fast ball, but we had average speed roster-wise.  Going to be a lot different with guys like Pointer, Garrett, Sampson and others rotating in the zone. 

I too think we'll see more man-D than wemdid last year, but I think this team is built to mix defenses.  It was mentioned when Lavin came aboard that he loved mixing offenses etc. In his days at ucla.  Well it is both Lavin and Dunlap that love this hybrid style of ball.  They love to mix things up to suit the tram's strengths as well as keep opponents on their toes.  It will be a hallmark of SJU basketball as long as Lavin is here IMO.

I think we'll finish higher than 14th. The drop off from this year will not be as bad as some are predicting.

Last year we had an average offense, which struggles at times, this year, were adding more offensive threats to the mix. I think it will take some time to find a solid offensive rhythm, but defense is where is see a big improvement.

Although we are losing size and experience this upcoming year, we are adding overall length and speed. this will help close in on the gaps on the open 3s that we let up last year. also i think the skill level of the players added will make up for some of the experience were losing, and they will only get better as time goes on.

My only major concern is low post play of other bigger more powerful forwards. We are really going to have to rely on length and positioning to prevent the entry passes into the paint. And collapse down low when the ball gets down there.

All in all, I'm predicting a middle of the pack finish. between 8-10. I think closer to an 8 though.

We started the smallest front line in the BE last season.  That eventually got Burrell the 6th man award but he and Evans didn't play together enough to enable us to cope with size in some cases.  Then when DJ went down our midsize advantage was gone and too many changes were necessary.  This year we're much better balanced and way more athletic.  14th is ridiculous IMO.

I think we finish somewhere in the 8-10 slot.

Lavin said last year just before the season started that he preferred man to man defense but the team (then) wasn't suited for it. This one is and I think we see a lot more of it under certain circumstances but still will use the matchup zone. Look at how effective it was last year with less able manpower. The fly in its ointment was the hot shooter from three-point territory which killed us earlier in the season. We should be much better with that this year.

I think we finish as high or higher than last season.   Talent, skill, quickness, speed, individual defense - this team will be SUPERIOR to last years.   The only thing 2011 had over this team is EXPERIENCE.   We may not start out as strong - may not be 7-3 heading into conference like last year.  Could be 5-5 or even worse.  But with 10 games under their belts, that experience deficiency is really negated.  I expect us to be as strong as last season or stronger in conference.

You know, with all the great reports coming out of IS8 that have  got this board buzzing about the newcomers, there's still a good chance that Harrison (the only Parade All America we have coming in), and Lindsay & Achiuwa (both Jr. College All Americans) will be the three BEST newcomers - and we aren't even seeing THEM yet.  (Anyone know why Harrison isn't at IS8?)

theres a report crgreen that says harrison and pelle may be coming in next weekend to join harkless and sampsons squad. would be nice if greene showed up as well. That would make all seven highschool recruits at is8

I think we finish as high or higher than last season.   Talent, skill, quickness, speed, individual defense - this team will be SUPERIOR to last years.   The only thing 2011 had over this team is EXPERIENCE.   We may not start out as strong - may not be 7-3 heading into conference like last year.  Could be 5-5 or even worse.  But with 10 games under their belts, that experience deficiency is really negated.  I expect us to be as strong as last season or stronger in conference.

You know, with all the great reports coming out of IS8 that have  got this board buzzing about the newcomers, there's still a good chance that Harrison (the only Parade All America we have coming in), and Lindsay & Achiuwa (both Jr. College All Americans) will be the three BEST newcomers - and we aren't even seeing THEM yet.  (Anyone know why Harrison isn't at IS8?)

Why would you think Harrison 'should' be at IS8?  I mean a couple of the close by recruits have been playing there. Pointer is the farthest who's made multiple trips up.  Amir made just 1.  Who knows if they won if he would return next weekend.  I'm pleasantly surprised that Harrison and Pelle might be coming but hardly from expecting it.