by JP Pelzman
The similarities between this March and the one in 2016 for Seton Hall are striking. The Pirates have a player who has put the team on his back, they came on late in the season and they reached the Big East tournament championship game against Villanova.
Of course, the one major difference is that the Pirates lost that title game this time, as opposed to going into the 2016 NCAAs on the high of a Big East championship and their first automatic bid since 1993.
And maybe that’s a good thing.
“We're playing with a bit of a chip on our shoulder,” point guard Quincy McKnight said after practice Monday, via the Associated Press. “Everybody has been playing with a chip on their shoulder all season because personally everyone was doubted, not just the team.”
McKnight, who was a full go at practice Monday despite tweaking his groin during the second half of the Villanova contest, has a valid point. The Pirates were thought to be rebuilding this season, and certainly seemed lifeless after a three-game skid in late February and early March left their NCAA chances circling the drain.
“We fought against adversity,” Myles Powell said Monday. “No one expected us to be here. Everybody said this was a rebuilding year. It was up to us to believe in each other and do things that people didn't think that we could. That's an achievement.”
Three years ago, the Pirates got a terrible draw despite their Big East title. They had to head west to Denver as a sixth seed to face a woefully underseeded Gonzaga team which had won the West Coast Conference tournament and was just hitting its stride. Isaiah Whitehead, who had been dominant in the two months prior to the game, suffered through a terrible shooting night and the Pirates never had a chance.
This time, the Pirates also seem to be underseeded at 10 in their matchup with Wofford, which went undefeated in Southern Conference play. But at least they get to remain on the East Coast. Coach Kevin Willard was diplomatic when asked about the draw shortly after the bracket reveal Sunday night, but it seemed as if he felt the Pirates’ slew of Quadrant 1 wins and their very tough non-conference schedule should have netted (NET-ted?) them a better seeding.
“I’m going to read and look into what metrics they used,” he said. “I think that’s going to be important for scheduling going forward. Is strength of schedule (SOS) important or is NET more important? Are they using KenPom? There are so many ways to manipulate the numbers. You can do it by playing more home games, playing more Quadrant 2 teams. The one thing I’ll do over the next couple weeks is really analyze what the committee said are the important things about seeding and try to take those metrics and look at our schedule next year and see how we can improve on those metrics.”
But also that night, he said he didn’t think motivation would be a problem even after two straight hard-fought Big East tournament games.
“For a 19-to-21 year old kid, if they can’t re-fill the tank in a couple days, they’ve got issues,” the coach said. “This is why you spend all the hours in the summer and as a kid, to play in March Madness. … The Big East Tournament was a brutal three days and this team has always bounced back after tough losses and gets ready to work. I think they’re ready to get in the gym (Monday) and get back after it.”
Willard made it clear he felt he took the team to Denver too early that year as he attempted to acclimate them to the time change and the high altitude. There are no such obstacles traveling to Florida, so the team will leave Tuesday night for Jacksonville.
The coach did say he would ramp up practices Monday and Tuesday to keep the players sharp, something he didn’t do three years ago.
“We’ll have a much more aggressive preparation,” he said. “Usually on Monday after we play (on Saturday) it’s a little lighter, but (this) will be a normal practice day because this is a basketball team offensively (in Wofford) that can hurt you in so many different ways. I think we’ll crank it up a day earlier than we usually do.”
COMMENTS?
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
The similarities between this March and the one in 2016 for Seton Hall are striking. The Pirates have a player who has put the team on his back, they came on late in the season and they reached the Big East tournament championship game against Villanova.
Of course, the one major difference is that the Pirates lost that title game this time, as opposed to going into the 2016 NCAAs on the high of a Big East championship and their first automatic bid since 1993.
And maybe that’s a good thing.
“We're playing with a bit of a chip on our shoulder,” point guard Quincy McKnight said after practice Monday, via the Associated Press. “Everybody has been playing with a chip on their shoulder all season because personally everyone was doubted, not just the team.”
McKnight, who was a full go at practice Monday despite tweaking his groin during the second half of the Villanova contest, has a valid point. The Pirates were thought to be rebuilding this season, and certainly seemed lifeless after a three-game skid in late February and early March left their NCAA chances circling the drain.
“We fought against adversity,” Myles Powell said Monday. “No one expected us to be here. Everybody said this was a rebuilding year. It was up to us to believe in each other and do things that people didn't think that we could. That's an achievement.”
Three years ago, the Pirates got a terrible draw despite their Big East title. They had to head west to Denver as a sixth seed to face a woefully underseeded Gonzaga team which had won the West Coast Conference tournament and was just hitting its stride. Isaiah Whitehead, who had been dominant in the two months prior to the game, suffered through a terrible shooting night and the Pirates never had a chance.
This time, the Pirates also seem to be underseeded at 10 in their matchup with Wofford, which went undefeated in Southern Conference play. But at least they get to remain on the East Coast. Coach Kevin Willard was diplomatic when asked about the draw shortly after the bracket reveal Sunday night, but it seemed as if he felt the Pirates’ slew of Quadrant 1 wins and their very tough non-conference schedule should have netted (NET-ted?) them a better seeding.
“I’m going to read and look into what metrics they used,” he said. “I think that’s going to be important for scheduling going forward. Is strength of schedule (SOS) important or is NET more important? Are they using KenPom? There are so many ways to manipulate the numbers. You can do it by playing more home games, playing more Quadrant 2 teams. The one thing I’ll do over the next couple weeks is really analyze what the committee said are the important things about seeding and try to take those metrics and look at our schedule next year and see how we can improve on those metrics.”
But also that night, he said he didn’t think motivation would be a problem even after two straight hard-fought Big East tournament games.
“For a 19-to-21 year old kid, if they can’t re-fill the tank in a couple days, they’ve got issues,” the coach said. “This is why you spend all the hours in the summer and as a kid, to play in March Madness. … The Big East Tournament was a brutal three days and this team has always bounced back after tough losses and gets ready to work. I think they’re ready to get in the gym (Monday) and get back after it.”
Willard made it clear he felt he took the team to Denver too early that year as he attempted to acclimate them to the time change and the high altitude. There are no such obstacles traveling to Florida, so the team will leave Tuesday night for Jacksonville.
The coach did say he would ramp up practices Monday and Tuesday to keep the players sharp, something he didn’t do three years ago.
“We’ll have a much more aggressive preparation,” he said. “Usually on Monday after we play (on Saturday) it’s a little lighter, but (this) will be a normal practice day because this is a basketball team offensively (in Wofford) that can hurt you in so many different ways. I think we’ll crank it up a day earlier than we usually do.”
COMMENTS?
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
