I'm not sold on Georgetown being good enough to stay in that top 7 this year. They are certainly always competitive, but with some big losses and a lot of question marks in the backcourt, it's hard to be confident about them being able to supplant in a deep league. Cincy I'm skeptical about their frintcourt, but their backcourt is arguably the best in the big east. They have enough talent at the forward spots to be top 7. Notre dame will be there as well as they have a ton coming back. Luckily, sju has had notre Dame's number for the past 5 years but the rest of the league is still troubled by the "burn" offense.
I put sju in that top 7-8 because we have lots of experience returning at 5 spots on the floor and more than double the roster with talent. We're simply too deep and talented. I think we'll have a solid season.
And you're more than entitled to your opinion. I think Georgetown is too deep and too talented to fall out of the top 7. We obviously are going to believe in our teams. I think St. John's will be much improved this year and be a bubble team. But at this point it's speculation. No one really knows at this point in the year. There will always be teams that surprise and there will be teams that disappoint. It's impossible to say what players will do on the court next year. We don't know how much players will improve, who will take a step back, or who will be injured. We like to talk in definites when we're making these predictions, but none of us really know nor are any of us unbiased.
Georgetown loses Hollis Tompson, Sims and Clark. Those 3 were not only the leaders in points, but in just about every other stat. Those were the only 3 that were double-digit scorers on the average and georgetown loses nearly 40ppg scoring with those 3. I could keep going, but aside from Porter, Georgetown loses most of what made them decent last year. Not only that, Lubick can't replace Sims in the least and Georetown has zero returning talent of significance in the backcourt.
I'm just saying that it is a real stretch considering that Georgetown's starting roster was essentially decimated from last season. Porter is certainly a super talented player, but not sure enough talent back to expect them to be top 7.
Yet as some have noted in this thread we have new people step up each year and keep us in the NCAAs. Who outside of Georgetown Fans thought Henry Sims was going to do anything? Hmm? No one. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean the talent isn't there.
Otto Porter is being discussed as an All-American.
Nate Lubick was a top 50 recruit, Starks was a top 100 recruit, DSR is a top 50 recruit, Domingo is a top 50 recruit, Hopkins was a top 100 recruit. There's plenty of talent there.
Last year we lost Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Julian Vaughn. Those were arguably bigger losses. We lose people but we have the people to step into their shoes and fill their roles.
This team is going to build off their defense just like last year. We're incredibly long and will likely start 4 players 6'8" or taller.