Rest of the way...

[NYShoreGuy]

Ok on the presumption Tuesday is a win, shu will be 10-2 going into league play with one neutral site bad loss with 18 league games to go, knowing the tourney bubble changes season to season here is my thoughts on league schedule and results, this club needs to defend home court against conference teams

12/30 at marquette - tough place to play, rising coach would be a great way to open league play but count a loss here

1/2 vs depaul - a no question must win game against a conference lower tier team

1/6 at nova - hard to see a win here, loss

1/9 vs creighton - another must win here, early jan home conference game

1/16 at providence - maybe willard and staff come up with good defense scheme against dunn and bentil, they will have 6 days of prep but i see loss here

1/20 vs nova - this is a game that a tournament team needs to have on the home court, nova may be top 10 by this time

1/23 at xavier - great coach, really good team this season, short turnaround from possible major home emotional energy game, tough spot see a loss here

1/27 vs st johns - another must win game at home against a lower tier team in conference play

1/30 at creighton - a team to sweep in conference this season to close out the month of jan, win

2/3 vs marquette - another spot at home in early feb where a tournament team should prevail with a win

2/6 vs gtown - not a great team this season, home, needs to be a win

2/10 vs butler - vet team, always hard nosed ball with them, but you are home and this needs to be a win

2/17 at georgetown - can you sneak out a road gutsy win against a mediocre league opponent, hopefully

2/21 at st johns - another great spot for a league road win, we hope

2/25 vs providence - late feb against a team that may be top 25-15 ranked perhaps, snag out a win

2/28 vs xavier - not a must win but good showing here, expect a loss

3/2 at butler - tough spot, tough opponent, tough venue, loss here

3/5 at depaul - beat a lesser team on the road

league reg season record - 11-7, 21-9 entering msg, the two st johns games bookend a stretch that will define the season

 

[Piratz]

This team has a lot to prove before I can think they're 11-7 caliber. Big East is an animal.

All signs are very good so far, but after what transpired last year I'm not sure what to expect over the long haul.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

This team has a lot to prove before I can think they're 11-7 caliber. Big East is an animal.

All signs are very good so far, but after what transpired last year I'm not sure what to expect over the long haul.

in this season, gtown, st johns, depaul, creighton should account for 8 wins, asking for 3 more, esp with some at home not a major project...in this circumstance take care of business and beat the teams you should this season

 

[NYShoreGuy]

with the way things are, shu can finish 6 in league, get a bid and willard retains his job

i think top of league is nova/xavier then providence/butler then marquette

 

[HALL85]

It's a long season...take the BE sched in thirds. Need to be 3-3 in the first third. 2-4 puts doubts in everyone's mind...here we go again. 4-2 would be a good set-up for February.

 

[NYShoreGuy]

It's a long season...take the BE sched in thirds. Need to be 3-3 in the first third. 2-4 puts doubts in everyone's mind...here we go again. 4-2 would be a good set-up for February.

that is why the stretch in between the st johns game is key, can go into first st johns game at 3-4 and come out with a huge record, i do expect them at 3-4, anything better is gravy, anything worse get resumes ready for new staff

 

[halltheway]

this game was a great confidence booster, in future games this will pay dividends

 

[shu09]

Just do something that gets us to 10 wins. 4-5 on the road, 6-3 at home. That's what I want.

Only two real bad teams in this league (DePaul and St. John's). A lot of folks are taking Creighton for granted, they're not bad. 59th in KenPom. It will not be easy to get to 10-8. Can we do it? I think so. Would I bet on it? Not so sure.

 

[Seton75]

This team can defend. That can take you somewhere.

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

Would be nice to sellout January 20 vs Nova.

The athletic dept should start marketing that game to alumni.

 

[HallBall10]

Win on Tuesday.

 

[mjs428]

Let's focus on Tuesday

 

[Proud NJ Sports Fan]

If we lose on Tuesday, it washes out today's great win.

K-Will must keep them focused and rip into them in practice tomorrow

 

[Piratz]

The Big East is a gauntlet. You'll get games like this two, three games in a row, and then have to play everyone on the road as well. What we did today was phenomenal. Now we're going to have to do it on a regular basis to get to our first winning Big East season in 10 years.

Our teams under Willard have not been mentally tough enough to deal with that regardless of the roster's experience, skill level, or style of play during the Willard Era. That's why we've crashed and burned so often. It's been systemic; 4-1 and nationally ranked to 8-10 in 2011-12, 3-1 and nationally ranked to 6-12 last year. When the BE has started grinding us, we've come apart. Have to shake that. It's habitual.

Last year's team played tough in the beginning, no? We flew around on defense early, we beat St. John's without Whitehead, we beat Villanova without Whitehead and with Delgado in foul trouble and we were all impressed by our resolve, no?

This team has to earn it. Hoping they will. They are less reliant on the 3 than those other teams, have guys who can finish, and are exponentially better on the boards. Those are fundamental differences that should be there every night, unlike the outside shot. Different team. Today was a big first step given how we play, who we beat, and how we came back on them. A leap, in fact.

We'll see. Start Tuesday by hammering USF at home.

 

[Piratz]

As of this morning:

#48 in KenPom (WSU #36, Ole Miss #57, Georgia #70)

#50 in RPI (Warren Nolan)
Wins = WSU #48, Ole Miss #99, Georgia #66)
Loss = LBST #84, GW #8

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2016/schedule/Seton-Hall

LBST will drop beyond #100 by season's end, and hopefully Witchita State stays top-50, Georgia/Ole Miss maybe Top-75 unless one of them surprise. Need to avoid any disasters Tuesday against USF (RPI #247, KenPom #266), obviously.

Solid non-conference resume for a change.

 

[sami]

lol, I always love the "focus on the next game" posts...

maybe the team must, the fans can drift as we're not lacing them up

 

[halltheway]

unfortunately... history puts a damper on previous high points.

 

[Halldan1]

unfortunately... history puts a damper on previous high points.

You're right of course. But should it? This roster isn't responsible for past sins of others.

We should be optimist based on what we are seeing, not pessimistic regarding what happened with previous teams.

That said, there's no doubt we all get too high after a W and too low after a L.

This is a good young team, but not an outstanding one. We should watch and let it grow while enjoying the ride.