Big East Games Thread - Feb '25

[upstater]

Smith is a bug - can accelerate up the floor mach speed

Diarra's knee problem is going to create issues for us.

I'm assuming UConn will be running back on any misses instead of crashing the boards.

 

[RuffRuff]

Diarra's knee problem is going to create issues for us.

I'm assuming UConn will be running back on any misses instead of crashing the boards.

Be interesting because Smith is still coming off the bench and playing about 25 minutes. Hassan matches up well with him, but otherwise I can see giving him some rest with Liam back and Ross in there for defensive purposes.

 

[superjohn]

Jon Rothstein might be correct. They played Duke on January 21, 1999, but the biggest game might be on January 30, 1999 when they hosted UConn at MSG. Both of those games generated a ton of hype in NYC .

Don't asked how I remember those dates. I didn't even look those up.

I remember that game well and then we destroyed the Johnnies in the Big East tournament championship game a little over a month later. One of the best UConn games ever. The ball never even touched the floor on a lot of those fastbreaks.

 

[Gurleyman]

Maddox just hit a ridiculous 3 to beat the shot clock against someone else. Don’t know if I feel better now.

 

[Marat]

I remember that game well and then we destroyed the Johnnies in the Big East tournament championship game a little over a month later. One of the best UConn games ever. The ball never even touched the floor on a lot of those fastbreaks.

That BET final was amazing. It was my 1st MSG final in person, and I couldn't believe the number of UConn fans there. What a night. Fans were chanting We Want Duke on the way out.

 

[gsmooth]

Maddox just hit a ridiculous 3 to beat the shot clock against someone else. Don’t know if I feel better now.

I think his point total in the 2 games against UConn are greater than his point total for all the other Big East games combined. I am being sarcastic, but it is close. Maddox just hit another.

 

[RuffRuff]

They're just collectively 2 tiers better athletically (bigger, stronger, faster, explosive). Luis, Richmond, Smith, Wilcher, Ejiofor from Jenkins, Dingle, Taylor, Ledlum, Soriano. Scott is good, too.

Ejiofor, Luis, and Wilcher weren't quite fully baked last year.

Better lateral quickness

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I get the sentiment expressed by some that it's good for the Big East for Georgetown to be good, but I continue to prefer watching Ed Cooley losing. It also increases the chances of him saying something dislikable in the post-game interview.

And Ed sneaks in some rancor with a fan while I'm writing the above.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

They're just collectively 2 tiers better athletically (bigger, stronger, faster, explosive). Luis, Richmond, Smith, Wilcher, Ejiofor from Jenkins, Dingle, Taylor, Ledlum, Soriano. Scott is good, too.

Ejiofor, Luis, and Wilcher weren't quite fully baked last year.

The ball needs to go in the basket for a team to win.

 

[AntG168]

The ball needs to go in the basket for a team to win.

This sounds extremely obvious but I’ll say it anyways. This point is why I think if we just make shots on Friday we’ll win. They are the worst high major shooting team in the country

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

St John's will be in for a battle Fri night.

FIFY

 

[AntG168]

FIFY

Yea I don’t know if they understand what they’re walking into

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Yea I don’t know if they understand what they’re walking into

Can they play defense and rebound? Yeah. But we'll score the ball more easily than they can as they are a poor shooting team. On top of it all, they will be walking into an absolute lion's den of an atmosphere that will be totally new to almost all of their roster. This ain't no neutral court or split crowd like MSG will be. Good guys win by 10+.

 

[auror]

The ball needs to go in the basket for a team to win.

They're 11-1 in the Big East and their only loss is a 1 point loss at Creighton.

Seems like it goes in enough.

 

[AntG168]

They're 11-1 in the Big East and their only loss is a 1 point loss at Creighton.

Seems like it goes in enough.

Eh. Their resume is lite. Today was their first good win. They haven’t really played or beaten a high octane offense or anyone particularly good for that matter. We’ll see which of our offense shows up on Friday. If it’s the shooting we saw in Milwaukee with cleaned up TO’s idk if they hang

 

[sdglast]

So much for that. 42 fouls called.

In typical Big East officiating fashion, the don't call many fouls in the 1st half and turn it into free throw fest in the 2nd half.

 

[87Xfer]

Eh. Their resume is lite. Today was their first good win. They haven’t really played or beaten a high octane offense or anyone particularly good for that matter. We’ll see which of our offense shows up on Friday. If it’s the shooting we saw in Milwaukee with cleaned up TO’s idk if they hang

if it's the shooting we saw in Milwaukee, I'm feelin' ok

 

[CTBasketball]

You guys are sleeping on St John’s. They play hard and are well coached. They pass the eye test and know how to win.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

You guys are sleeping on St John’s. They play hard and are well coached. They pass the eye test and know how to win.

They just don't pass my eye test offensively... If they shoot poorly from distance and the FT line and odds are they will (especially on the road in a tough environment) and we play our very efficient brand of offense, I just don't see how they keep it less than a 10 point game. If we shoot decently above our average, we win by 20.

 

[GlastonTim]

It’s going to be about rebounds

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

It’s going to be about rebounds

Totally - our guards and Terris have to hit the boards. If they do, game over.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I still believe our ability to protect the ball will be the key to this game.

They aren't capable of scoring in a halfcourt game at a level necessary to beat us. In an open court, off of turnovers they can put up enough points to be a problem.

Last weekend PC tied them (from 19 points back) in about ten minutes solely because they stopped turning it over.

Protect the ball and we are in good shape.

 

[7774]

Eh. Their resume is lite. Today was their first good win. They haven’t really played or beaten a high octane offense or anyone particularly good for that matter. We’ll see which of our offense shows up on Friday. If it’s the shooting we saw in Milwaukee with cleaned up TO’s idk if they hang

LOL.

 

[RuffRuff]

LOL.

We are definitely gonna shoot 60% from the field and 64% from three, this one is in the bag

 

[auror]

You guys are sleeping on St John’s. They play hard and are well coached. They pass the eye test and know how to win.

By KenPom, Torvik, and Evan Miya, their defense is on the same tier or better than Duke and Houston's.