Rothstein - Early Big East Breakdown - St. John's and UConn are on a collision course + Power Rankings

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Until St John's shows something in the Big Dance I'm out on them.

 

[HooperScooper]

Dave Borges with a Big East summer overview. He likes UConn to beat out St. John's for the Big East title.

“St. John’s and UConn have put together incredible rosters,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott admitted. “They appear to be the two teams to beat. The rest of us will do what we can to hang in there.”

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/big-east-st-johns-rick-pitino-dan-hurley-20791888.php

Alternate access:
Big East men's basketball midsummer overview: UConn, St. John's 'appear to be the two teams to beat'

 

[RuffRuff]

Dave Borges with a Big East summer overview. He likes UConn to beat out St. John's for the Big East title.

“St. John’s and UConn have put together incredible rosters,” Creighton coach Greg McDermott admitted. “They appear to be the two teams to beat. The rest of us will do what we can to hang in there.”

https://www.nhregister.com/sports/uconn-mens-basketball/article/big-east-st-johns-rick-pitino-dan-hurley-20791888.php

Alternate access:
Big East men's basketball midsummer overview: UConn, St. John's 'appear to be the two teams to beat'

Thanks for sharing. Love that he has 8/10 of the first/second team BE players as StJ/Uconn, lol. Has that ever happened in any league? He has the entire Uconn starting 5 making All BE teams. That's likely never happened either. Perhaps the quality of our roster X the lack of talent in the BE makes that happen. Not sure I'm agreeing Solo will be the highest drafted Uconn player in 2026 (Mullins).

Also not sure I'm agreeing with Slick Rick about PG's being irrelevant at the college level. College hoops is not the NBA. It's way more important at the college level to have a captain of the ship as the glue who runs the offense and creates opportunities for his teammates, especially when you have a team full of new guys (or young guys).

The BE is going to be bad this year. Creighton has McDermott & a few guys that will make them relevant, Shaka has continuity but it's cliff drop after that. When PC is at the top of best of the rest, signs are not positive.

 

[Ha Who]

 

[HW611]

Thanks for sharing. Love that he has 8/10 of the first/second team BE players as StJ/Uconn, lol. Has that ever happened in any league? He has the entire Uconn starting 5 making All BE teams. That's likely never happened either. Perhaps the quality of our roster X the lack of talent in the BE makes that happen. Not sure I'm agreeing Solo will be the highest drafted Uconn player in 2026 (Mullins).

Also not sure I'm agreeing with Slick Rick about PG's being irrelevant at the college level. College hoops is not the NBA. It's way more important at the college level to have a captain of the ship as the glue who runs the offense and creates opportunities for his teammates, especially when you have a team full of new guys (or young guys).

The BE is going to be bad this year. Creighton has McDermott & a few guys that will make them relevant, Shaka has continuity but it's cliff drop after that. When PC is at the top of best of the rest, signs are not positive.

Agreed on the Slick Rick PG evaluation. PGs these days are just more 2011 Kemba Walker than 2006 Marcus Williams.

At the end of the day you want a guy who is a great decision maker and playmaker. Whether the best decision is to score for himself or create for others based on their skillset.

Good luck to him making Ian Jackson that in one summer.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

Agreed on the Slick Rick PG evaluation. PGs these days are just more 2011 Kemba Walker than 2006 Marcus Williams.

At the end of the day you want a guy who is a great decision maker and playmaker. Whether the best decision is to score for himself or create for others based on their skillset.

Good luck to him making Ian Jackson that in one summer.

That does seem to be a pivotal item for St John's. I'll just say I'm glad we've got Silas.

 

[BGesus4]

I don’t know what you’re trying to sell me here Ricky but whatever it is I don’t trust it

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don’t know what you’re trying to sell me here Ricky but whatever it is I don’t trust it

He's making excuses for why our fans fill his arena. There are more UConn fans than St. Johns fans in the NYC DMA.

 

[RuffRuff]

That does seem to be a pivotal item for St John's. I'll just say I'm glad we've got Silas.

Too many reasons a great PG is key for college game, taking care of basketball during pressure, initiating offense, creating offense late in clock, keeping teammates involved. Crucial late in close games to bring calm to the floor. Reason assist/to ratio is often one of the highest indicators of success. College isn’t the NBA where they just space floor and jack threes all game.

 

[Lafayette]

It'll probably be similar this year. UConn will probably end up going further in the tournament but will probably struggle head to head vs St John's. As things stand, I don't think we have enough beef down low to deal with physical teams, especially if Reed gets into foul trouble, which I fully expect him to do in at least one of our matchups. In such a scenario, I can see us getting absolutely killed on the boards. I am REALLY surprised we didn't get another beefy big who can defend/rebound vs big/physical teams. We appear really vulnerable down low if Reed gets hurt or has foul issues.

boards? with solo and mullins we can play 5 out