Do you believe now or......

[Halldan1]

are you still holding out judgement?

I began to believe after we started 2-0 in the league. I REALLY started to believe after the second Creighton game. They passed the eye test from that point moving forward.

This team as noted would write their own history and the 'sins of the past' had nothing to do with expectations for this group.

 

[SHUHoopsFan]

I reserved judgment until after the 1st Georgetown game. Getting a couple February wins and really still seeing an effort to play good basketball really is what I wanted to see from this group. I really would like to see them come out and take it to SJU Sunday. It would be nice to limit some minutes on key guys as we have 3 big games in a matter of 6 days after that. In all 3 games our opponent will have at least an extra day off.

 

[lwyrup]

The pessimist in me won't fully believe until we take care of SJU and Depaul (the games we should win).

 

[Bud Boomer]

I'm still going to wait until the end of the season to make any judgments, which is probably how it should be (good or bad). These guys certainly have the look of a good team.

 

[dcPirate]

The pessimist in me won't fully believe until we take care of SJU and Depaul (the games we should win).

+1, this is where I am at.

I want to go all in with this team as it seems like a great group of guys for once who enjoy playing with each other. The talent is there, no question. Please "lock it up" as the last 10 years have been so LONG... I'm not sure my psyche can take another near NCAA miss, but although I am certainly enjoying the ride this year as I wasn't expecting it, I need to actually see "Seton Hall" on the selection show...

 

[Halldan1]

Guys, it's easy to judge after the fact. The question is do you believe in this team now or do you still have doubts?

 

[Hall91]

I truly believe we are the # 3 team in the Big East below Xavier and Nova. I think we're better than Providence, hopefully we can get that split against Butler and avoid any letdowns. A signature season ending home game against Xavier would seal the deal for us as far as NCAA hopes.

Not out of the question we get 11 Big East wins.

 

[Pirate143]

what i now believe after being very skeptical over the last 2-3 seasons, is we have a head coach that is both a good face for the school and someone who has grown into the position. KW reflects what the school strives to project, honesty, a good work ethic, belief in what they are doing and a perseverance to overcome obstacles. like ever true blue fan, i will be watching selection Sunday and hoping for to see our name.

 

[dcPirate]

I believe in this team as they seem more than legit. (Just hard to keep the doubts from creeping in though as its been way too long).

I was at the game last night with a couple former colleagues who are Cuse and UVA fans. They both had not seen The Hall play in quite awhile and commented at how athletic they were. They were also surprised to hear all 5 starters were sophomores.

 

[TheBluePirate]

I believe that this team has demonstrated a team game that we have not seen in a very long time. I love this.

I believe that the coach has indeed grown significantly this year. I'm pleased for him on this account.

 

[SHUMAN]

I believe. Just hoping not to get screwed by committee (play-in game, virtual homegame for the opponent etc.)

 

[Seton75]

are you still holding out judgement?

I began to believe after we started 2-0 in the league. I REALLY started to believe after the second Creighton game. They passed the eye test from that point moving forward.

This team as noted would write their own history and the 'sins of the past' had nothing to do with expectations for this group.

I love this team's best, and they show it frequently. I believe.

 

[pmulcahy96]

I believe. Always have. I think now Coach Willard finally has the perfect mix of players and staff in the stable.

 

[shugrads]

i'm a believer and i also believe the prior years we did not have kids that wanted to put a consistant effort into defense

 

[cernjSHU]

I believe in the talent of this team. I think this team is good enough to make an impact.

But, last night's game was troubling in one big respect. Seton Hall in the last 14 minutes of the game did not score from the field. Or if it did it was at the very end of the game. Willard has shown improvement this year, i.e. defense and inbound plays. But, are you telling me you can't draw up a couple of plays to score in 10 minutes of a game? That was the troubling area of the game for me last night. Thankfully, the free throw shooting was excellent. Free throws can just save the game for a team. That is how all those Duke teams survived scares and Nova. They shoot lights out from the line.

 

[VioletPirate]

Yes- this team is more complete, athletic, disciplined, etc than any other SHU team of the last 10 years. It's pretty clear based on the first 25 games of the regular season that the last 5 won't include any (negative) surprises. Aside from the opening game in Charleston (which feels like ages ago) this team has taken care of business when they've had to.

 

[SnakeTom]

Good teams win on the road. When is the last time we had a team with this many Big East road wins ? And we still have three very winnable road games to go. Yes this is definitely a NCAA worthy team. Not only are they very talented but for the most part they are all underclassmen.

Tom K

 

[68Pirate]

I believe we will take 3 of the next 5 games to end up 11-7 and 21-9 overall getting at least a 10 seed.
This is now a fun team to watch and our Sophs have rounded into a very cohesive group with a Coach that now gets it....

 

[MassPirate]

After the Providence game I believed this team was for real. I was shocked at the size of the halftime lead!

And they won last night's game like a Carleismo team would .....defense and making free throws!

 

[chickenbox]

I'll believe it when we make the tourney which is looking more probable. Can't say look at the response following the no-shows to x and y without also saying why were there no-shows to x and y inn the first place?

 

[garyshu71]

Come out every night and play hard with lots of energy and this team is a handful. Take nights off, and they aren't so tough. Need to keep playing with intensity and finish this off.

 

[SHUBigT]

To answer Dan's question; I still have my doubts.

1) I think they let teams hang around for too long; eventually that will catch up with them. Still need to learn how to deliver the knockout punch. I can see that coming though just not quite there yet. I think this team has an extra gear that we haven't seen yet and I'm hoping they figure it out this year.

2) The scoring droughts still make me nervous.

3) Fatigue, in particular the lack of guard depth. I actually think Willard is doing a decent job with the sub pattern but if we had 1 more serviceable guard that would help a lot. Singh doesn't play in the second half either so that puts more pressure on the 3 guards and Desi. Anthony is getting better at giving Delgado a break but still has a way to go before he can be counted on for extended minutes.

 

[HALL85]

I believe this team, this year, is an NCAA team. There have been signs but after last night I believe we will be there on Selection Sunday and not sweating it.

 

[Piratz]

I am a believer. Let them break the heart again, who cares, but I believe we are finally going to back to the NCAA's!

This team has consistently responded well to adversity all season long. They have been true road warriors and they get in there and fight on defense and the boards.

 

[SOBO1]

I started to believe that this team could make the NCAA tourney once IW started playing like a first team all BIGEAST player.

We are still very young and a lot of room to grow.

 

[Hall2015Alum]

this is a completely different team than previous years. It is a team that not only wins on the road but bounces back. It is almost like they use the defeats as motivation. This team has hung around with every team in the Big East. No reason that they cannot make some serious noise in the Big East Tourney. Go Pirates!

 

[SHUSource]

And they won last night's game like a Carleismo team would .....defense and making free throws!

The defense has been fairly constant, which bodes well. The free-throw shooting - and thank God for it last night - has not, and as the games get tighter toward the ends of season/postseason, that will be a killer if it doesn't improve.

 

[sami]

I find it odd the number of people saying if we get to 11 wins, we'll get a 10 seed or maybe avoid the play-in game.

If we win 11, that, at worst, includes winning at SJU, at DePaul and home against Providence. Better scenarios include winning at Butler or home against X. That's a lot of road wins and not a bad BE loss on the resume.

If we get 11, we are ending the year as the #3 team in the Big East and ranked in the Top 25. That's not a 10 seed, that's a 7 with the potential to rise in the BET.

 

[TheBluePirate]

Sami, I think the "-3 seed" modifier on our seed placement will occur. Teams that get in year-over-year have an inertial eye-test factor. A team they don't remember seeing since they were knee high is a non-entity and is suitable for the shaft.

Nevertheless, I agree with your reasoning and observation - I do NOT believe for one minute in the NCAA Duke Selection Committee and its Kentucky Selection Process.

 

[SOBO1]

@sami I think normally you would be correct, but if you look at our resume we only have 1 top 50 RPI win, zero top 25 RPI wins, and an average SOS. I think 11 wins with our resume puts us in the 8/9 game.

 

[hallgrad80]

I'm neither a believer or a doubter I'm still a " Wait and see " how the next two games play out but I am cautiously optimistic about our chances.

 

[BostonBlackie]

It's funny how the mind is influenced by past events. When I watch this team I think, "God these guys are good! (Especially when our coach is working the game hard on the sideline.) Diving on loose balls, pressuring and helping all over the court ..." And then the next day I look at the upcoming games and I'm thinking, "It's going to be really tough to beat these guys." Do Kansas fans go through this?

 

[simone84]

I believe Willard has done a very good job this year.

I believe he is still a mediocre coach.

I believe he will leave Seton Hall.

I believe I will be happy.

 

[Hall91]

let's not worry about Willard right now. He has done a very good job, and to a certain extent, he's eliminated some doubts I had about him in the way that he got this team on the same page and have them playing well at this point in the season. I'm not sure what jobs he would jump to, but the guy is making very good $ right now and if he has most of the core Sophs coming back next year, he has a chance to have (dare I say) a top 10 caliber team.

 

[Piratefan2009]

Guys, it's easy to judge after the fact. The question is do you believe in this team now or do you still have doubts?

I'll believe it when we make the tourney which is looking more probable. Can't say look at the response following the no-shows to x and y without also saying why were there no-shows to x and y inn the first place?

Asked and answered. Absolutely have doubts. Bottom line is Georgetown isn't that good, and is very much outside the bubble.

Good:
The team fought hard on the road. That looks good. Period.

The team fought back against Gtown runs. That's what good teams do.

The team stayed out of foul trouble and clearly had a strategy to go inside against a team that is foul prone (which is totally to KW's credit in game planning). It shows that the team did their research and knew how to get to the opponent in their weak spot.

Bad:

We couldn't get a bucket for 14 minutes in the second half. That isn't going to work against good teams. Xavier and Butler were scoring against us at will in our games against them. If we can't find consistent ways to score in games we aren't going to win against better offensive teams, and we also aren't likely to have FT shooting nights like we did against Gtown. We were in the groove and feeling the rhythm last night, which kept people relaxed and hitting their foul shots. When they are rattled against Butler and losing by 8 the foul shots might not be going down.

Our offense still does not look good. I'm not talking about the bad passes in transition. We are a transition team and when you are pushing the ball you are going to mess up every once in a while. I am talking about the continual dribble drives into 1 on 3 situations in the paint. In the first half I started to count how often this happened. Over and over. I think we are getting scouted, and the word is to pack the paint against our guards who will more often then not end up jumping 10 feet from the basket trying to float it in.

 

[lloyde dobler]

Let's not forget that a huge part of the no field goals for 14 minutes streak was that Georgetown was committing fouls. There's a ton of difference between a no FG streak (especially when you are ahead in the 6 to 12 point range) and a scoreless streak.

 

[Merge]

I was pretty excited after Wichita State, I believed after Marquette. We just showed a different level of defensive intensity than I have seen in a very long time.

 

[hallgrad80]

I believe Willard has done a very good job this year.

I believe he is still a mediocre coach.

I believe he will leave Seton Hall.

I believe I will be happy.

84
You forgot one!

I believe he will join Hobbs at RU.

 

[garyshu71]

84
You forgot one!

I believe he will join Hobbs at RU.

The man just went through the worst 5 years of his life and you think he wants to do it again???

 

[SHUBK]

I believe Willard has done a very good job this year.

I believe he is still a mediocre coach.

I believe he will leave Seton Hall.

I believe I will be happy.

84
You forgot one!

I believe he will join Hobbs at RU.

Not sure if you are trolling or not, but sure seems like it to me.

I personally disagree, but that is fine. Where is he leaving seton hall to go? Are you assuming we lose out and he get canned? I don't understand.

I for one am pulling for willard and I think he gets bashed far too often on this board but put me in the minority here