Big East Games Thread - Feb 25

[jibsey]

It’s going to be about rebounds

Their entire offense is rebounds and putbacks and getting fouled going to the rim, but I certainly think it’s going to be a street fight.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

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.

Right now, Xavier is St. John's best road/neutral win, by far. A team that shoots like St. Johns is not going to win 3 or 4 games against good teams on neutral courts in March. It is just not happening.

 

[RuffRuff]

Their entire offense is rebounds and putbacks and getting fouled going to the rim, but I certainly think it’s going to be a street fight.

Elite defense, opportunistic offense.

I didn’t watch their game at Creighton closely but would see that kind of matchup one they’d struggle with. Kalk sagging back forcing them to shoot outside.

Marquette played right into their hands picking them up high, but that’s their style. It’s just amazing how bare Marquette leaves the defensive glass.

Marquette is designed to need an athletic 4/5 that can sweep the glass with their guards always running out. Gold stinks and Joplin ain’t much better, one of the worst rebounding teams out there.

 

[7774]

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

AND not turn the ball over. The last time we shot that well from 3, on any volume, against any level of competition, was Feb. 2017 against South Florida at home. They finished 292nd in Kempom that year.

 

[auror]

Right now, Xavier is St. John's best road/neutral win, by far. A team that shoots like St. Johns is not going to win 3 or 4 games against good teams on neutral courts in March. It is just not happening.

Well we lost that at Xavier game, so...

I won't predict they'll be a final four team, they're ranked in the teens in analytics.

 

[RuffRuff]

Well we lost that at Xavier game, so...

I won't predict they'll be a final four team, they're ranked in the teens in analytics.

Liam would have made a difference there.

StJ has most definitely played the softer part of their BE schedule up front. They are a very unique team. They have no bench either. Kind of team that can stun finesse teams and just take them out of rythym or get shot off the court.

Them, Houston and Tenn in the F4 would be the maulers classic, might have to bring the national guard in to ref.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Well we lost that at Xavier game, so...

I won't predict they'll be a final four team, they're ranked in the teens in analytics.

St. Johns can beat UConn in a single game. KenPom has it 51/49 UConn. I think it is more like 55/45 or 60/40, but not more than that in UConn's favor. That is not what I was arguing.

Teams like St. Johns that play a strange style but have an obvious flaw generally don't go deep in March because opposing coaches have time to gameplan the style and exploit the flaw.

 

[superjohn]

Liam would have made a difference there.

StJ has most definitely played the softer part of their BE schedule up front. They are a very unique team. They have no bench either. Kind of team that can stun finesse teams and just take them out of rythym or get shot off the court.

Them, Houston and Tenn in the F4 would be the maulers classic, might have to bring the national guard in to ref.

St. John's didn't have Deivon Smith for their last game against Xavier, he's a pretty awesome 6th man.

 

[AntG168]

LOL.

I’m not implying when have to literally shoot that well. I’m talking about our main guys knocking down shots an efficient rate(karaban, ball, McNeeley) , Stewart has been shooting well lately as well. Laugh all you want but we are one of the most efficient teams in the country. This isn’t far fetched.

AND not turn the ball over. The last time we shot that well from 3, on any volume, against any level of competition, was Feb. 2017 against South Florida at home. They finished 292nd in Kempom that year.

“Not turn the ball over” doesn’t mean zero turnover. Come on. It means not turning the ball over 25 times.

 

[RuffRuff]

Lunardi has Xavier first team out. While he’s not gospel, it insists every game they play is do or die on getting in. I think they squeak in with the favorable schedule and getting the s together.

 

[7774]

I’m not implying when have to literally shoot that well. I’m talking about our main guys knocking down shots an efficient rate(karaban, ball, McNeeley) , Stewart has been shooting well lately as well. Laugh all you want but we are one of the most efficient teams in the country. This isn’t far fetched.

“Not turn the ball over” doesn’t mean zero turnover. Come on. It means not turning the ball over 25 times.

So when you said the shooting we saw at Marquette you meant shooting far worse than we saw at Marquette.

And yes, I'm pretty sure everyone knows the phrase "not turn the ball over" means a limited amount of turnovers, not 0 turnovers. I didn't realize that had to be spelled out.

 

[August_West]

Liam would have made a difference there.

StJ has most definitely played the softer part of their BE schedule up front. They are a very unique team. They have no bench either. Kind of team that can stun finesse teams and just take them out of rythym or get shot off the court.

Them, Houston and Tenn in the F4 would be the maulers classic, might have to bring the national guard in to ref.

Except now they are winning games in the tougher part of the schedule. Friday night is going to be so huge.

 

[RuffRuff]

Except now they are winning games in the tougher part of the schedule. Friday night is going to be so huge.

Let’s not jump the gun - they beat Marquette at home. Marquette is overrated, and slumping. They barely got by PC at home, was down big to Gtown at home. They barely won at PC. I still don’t see what I’d call a signature win, which to me is a top 4 BE team on road. A win Friday could change that narrative.

They lost at Creighton. Shot 36%.

I want to see them beat us, or win at Marquette, or beat Creighton to feel they are good enough to overcome the awful shooting. They dropped to 340 in the country in 3pt% after last night.

Friday is huge, for both teams. I might even say it’s the biggest BE game in last 3 years given the variables on both sides. It’s Hurley/Pitino, B2B against the new hard charging Jonnie’s and fully resuscitated fanbase. A win by either team amps up the fan-base x100. It legitimizes STJ and it makes the Husky faithful really start believing another run is possible.

If we win and close the gap, it sets up that MSG game up to be a fireball. It would be 7 straight games we beat Pitino (Iona included) and him looking for blood.

This one is going to be close to a pickem too.

 

[AntG168]

So when you said the shooting we saw at Marquette you meant shooting far worse than we saw at Marquette.

And yes, I'm pretty sure everyone knows the phrase "not turn the ball over" means a limited amount of turnovers, not 0 turnovers. I didn't realize that had to be spelled out.

No it means our shooters hitting shots at a fairly efficient rate. Karaban, Ball , McNeeley and I’ll throw Stewart in with the way he’s been shooting.

The 60% was heavily skewed by ball going
7-9. He can go 3-9 and that would still have us at 8-19 which is 42%. We shoot our regular efficiency from inside the arc and our regular turnover rate(which will allow us more outside opportunities) and I think we win.

 

[HooperScooper]

St. Johns can beat UConn in a single game. KenPom has it 51/49 UConn. I think it is more like 55/45 or 60/40, but not more than that in UConn's favor. That is not what I was arguing.

The ESPN Predictor gives UConn a 66.3% to win. I have no idea what goes into their analytics but they always seem to have UConn as a higher percentage than the betting spreads would dictate.

St. John's vs. UConn (Feb 7, 2025) Live Score - ESPN

Live coverage of the St. John's Red Storm vs. UConn Huskies NCAAM game on ESPN, including live score, highlights and updated stats.

www.espn.com

 

[ctbro1999]

Liam would have made a difference there.

StJ has most definitely played the softer part of their BE schedule up front. They are a very unique team. They have no bench either. Kind of team that can stun finesse teams and just take them out of rythym or get shot off the court.

Them, Houston and Tenn in the F4 would be the maulers classic, might have to bring the national guard in to ref.

I honestly believe we are undefeated in BE play if we had a healthy McNeeley this whole time, but the fact is we haven't had him, so shruggieguy. That being said, I believe we will actually be a stronger team come March because of how other guys (like Ball, Johnson, etc) have had to step up with McNeeley out. Once he returns and shakes off the rust, I truly think we will be primed for another title run. I'm not nearly as confident we can get back to the Final Four as last year, but we have the talent (assuming everyone's healthy) to get back there.

 

[RuffRuff]

This is a historic game for that program. Jonnie’s fans already have 5 pages worth of posts on Fridays game. How nice it would be to put little brother back in his place.

@#19 Connecticut, Fri., Feb. 7, 8p, FOX

Smith needs to get the basket in transition. Their guards have no chance to stop him. We can live with some ugly misses. He’s the most athletic kid on the court every game by a mile and he has to be absolutely relentless stacking the rim before the defense gets set. If Ball is going run off...

red.fans

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Lunardi has Xavier first team out. While he’s not gospel, it insists every game they play is do or die on getting in. I think they squeak in with the favorable schedule and getting the s together.

It isn’t just winning, Xavier has to lay a beating on some of these teams. They have to finish stronger than they did yesterday.

Style points matter.

 

[7774]

No it means our shooters hitting shots at a fairly efficient rate. Karaban, Ball , McNeeley and I’ll throw Stewart in with the way he’s been shooting.

The 60% was heavily skewed by ball going
7-9. He can go 3-9 and that would still have us at 8-19 which is 42%. We shoot our regular efficiency from inside the arc and our regular turnover rate(which will allow us more outside opportunities) and I think we win.

I forgot how impossible it is to have an actual conversation with you.

"When I said the shooting we saw in Milwaukee, I just meant a regular good shooting game, not actually the shooting we saw in Milwaukee". Good times.

 

[AntG168]

I forgot how impossible it is to have an actual conversation with you.

"When I said the shooting we saw in Milwaukee, I just meant a regular good shooting game, not actually the shooting we saw in Milwaukee". Good times.

I’ll ignore the dig and just say touché lol.

Diarra hit a three, karaban hit a 3 and Stewart hit 3. The outlier was Ball. I’m not speaking as much to his outlier performance as I am the other guys knocking down outside shots. I worded the OP poorly.