BGesus4
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We’re the ones excited by a season that ended in the round of 32???
Kenpom is out
- Thread starter RuffRuff
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As I said, I think 3 of 4 of last years final 4 went out in first round year prior. I don’t care about last year though. SjU was still building
BGesus4
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You guys have been building for decades, but I guess, to your point, you’ve had plenty of good precursor seasons to final fours apparently
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EvanMiya has a study on the necessary amount of returning minutes needed to be serious contenders.
Between having a brand new roster and no PG, looks like you all will still be building.
How To Build A CBB Roster In 2025
A study on the roster construction strategies that lead to success for high majors
blog.evanmiya.com
What are you talking about? I watched UConn all season including in the post season. We don't know what will be solved until this season. Demary is a nice player but from what I see UConn fans are putting McNeeley into “problem” category rather than the guy who was a difference maker.
As a SjU fan I couldn’t stand McNeeley over all the rest which means he was a problem and your best player. I couldn’t stand Ball either. He’s back so definitely worrisome lol. Also didn’t care for Tarriss but we have more talented and experienced depth to counter this season.
I’m just still trying to find where UConn gets ton better except for Demary and returning players. Sju has clear upgrades at almost all spots. Who takes McNeeley’s spot and outproduces?
Just silly. Not arguing UConn’s illustrious history.
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St John's is a throw of the dice every year. 15 scholarships. 15 new guys. Every year.
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SJU has been building for 40 years 😂.
sounds great but college ball has changed. Teams are rebuilding instantly.
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I guess you didn’t read the article that referenced seasons as recent as… last year lol
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Dude, hoops isn’t a math equation or a fantasy sport. It requires roster building to build balance. Take a look at McNeelys efficiency stats after injury and you’ll see a guy that shot poorly (38% FG, 31% from 3 for season) turned the ball over and just played out of control. He was not additive. There are so many unique situations and matchups in a year, key is having an answer, or being “bullet proof”. StJ is not that out of the gate, but maybe they find some player that steps up to be a lead guard and other players learn how to compliment. I’d call them a WIP for awhile. They also looked awful early last year.
I know you’re excited that your Vitamin Water backing bought you the best roster money could buy, but as goes team sports, it requires a lot more than that to win.
Kenpom and Evan both use math equations. That’s exactly what I’m refuting and the topic of the thread is.
McNeeley was UConns best player? Not close. Most potential, yes. Best when healthy, arguable. Best actually on the court at end of year, nope.
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Go look at who his top 3 were last preseason and then look at the final four and then tell me the rankings have zero merit.
1) Houston - Finals
2) Duke - F4 (lost to Houston)
3) Auburn - F4
The AP Poll had those teams 4, 7, and 11 for the record.
His 4th team was Alabama, who made the Elite 8 and then lost to one of those top 3 teams (Duke). He missed on Florida, so yeah, the rankings aren't perfect... But they're pretty darn good, even in the preseason with nothing but program history, coach, and roster.
Mitchell and Ejiofor are probably the 2 best defenders in the Big East (with some consideration for a couple Marquette dudes). That's a pretty good basis to start the team.
Jackson and Sanon have elite, 5* athletic qualities that can be molded. Hopkins is a question mark, but he's been recovered from his injury for a while. He's a veteran, probably won't be a negative.
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I’m with you on Mitchell. Ejiofor I wouldn’t go that high, but he’s a good defender. The rest is below average imo. If we’re talking athletic ability then Solo has it too. Athletic ability isn’t a sign of a good defender.
uconnbill
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SJU has Pitino, who is a great coach, and they will play hard for him; however, they experienced a good number of losses last season. Yes, UConn lost McNeeley, but gained an experienced point guard in Demary, who was missing from the team last year. I like the makeup of this team better as well.
We will see as the season progresses, but I'm not sure how you, as a Johnnie, can feel better than you did last season. You lost so much.
We will see as the season progresses, but I'm not sure how you, as a Johnnie, can feel better than you did last season. You lost so much.
Ejiofor's switching ability allows them to switch all ball screens, and their positional size and athletic ability at guard/wing is going to prevent any mismatches from being generated from the switches. Any team that relies on getting downhill from ball screens is toast, and it'll be very difficult for our off ball screening actions that they can switch at will also. That's all keyed by Ejiofor. He's a 1-man defensive scheme in a similar (but completely opposite) way that Kalkbrenner was.
Mr. French
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I feel good because we have a lot more offense and athleticism than last year. Lots of shooters when our Achilles heel was by far shooting last year . I think the talent on offense is a ton better and will make this SJU team hard to stop if they are able to replicate that sju defensife intensity even somewhat.
offense was not the problem.
Absolutley was. Especially shooting. We were one of the best ranked defensive teams in the country last year. Offense and shooting a huge problem down the stretch.
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I think he confused you with Uconn. It's not a mystery that shooting & scoring the basketball was StJ's main issue last year. There is no point posturing on what StJ is in advance and arguing over it. When you have a roster that is entirely new, you need to be patient and see them in action to draw on anything. New key pieces are two sophomore 5 star HS kids that played under the other Hurley & Hubert, really hard to tell what Pitino can do with them right now. I know it's easy to get sucked into their upside because of they were bluechip. Hopkins is coming off two years of inactivity. So you know, Mitchell was also a top ten bluechip that hasn't really played out. Great athlete, but can barely make a free throw. Lot's of variability with StJ as of now, and "if's". The one constant is Pitino.