Big East Basketball thread

8 Big East teams in the top 25. Unreal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5984720

Newch91 wrote:

8 Big East teams in the top 25. Unreal.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5984720

lunardi's now got 10 big east teams in with his latest braketology with marquette on the bubble....

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

The Jeagler wrote:

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

Georgetown is coming off a tough loss at Notre Dame, St. John's coming off two road wins and is at home. Sounds like a little more of the gambling community likes St. John's.

congrats dude. that's an awesome win for the johnnies.

the big east is a battle every single night. wow!

Thanks, glad to be back. Been way too long. I guess this truly is the winter of the basketball being re-born in my neck of the woods with the Knicks and St. John's. I'd love to see Seton Hall and Rutgers succeed as well to get the NY area buzzing even more.

i don't think that's happening this year......just saw that st johns' has 7 ranked teams in a row up next :shock: :shock:

This fucking ND team can shoot. UConn has to play better D.

If Kemba was scoring and doing good, UConn would be winning. Players have stepped tonight.

Tough loss tonight.

i love the kenpom.com reference. does anyone use that site? a wealth of info there. love it.

Why the Big East is such a beast January, 5, 2011Jan 58:02AM
By Fran Fraschilla



Those who say that familiarity breeds contempt must be thinking of the old days in the Big East when all eight teams saw each other twice during the regular season and once more in the Big East tournament.



The competitiveness of eventual Hall of Fame coaches, the proximity of the schools to each other, players who grew up playing against each other every summer and during high school seasons up and down the East Coast, and television created rivalries that are still a large part of the college basketball landscape. And the byproduct was a conference full of teams that were ready for anything the NCAA Tournament threw at them in March.



Tradition, however, went out the window with conference expansion. While the league may be as competitive as it has ever been and still has its share of Hall of Fame coaches, there has been a different dynamic since the Big East expanded to 16 teams. Ten Big East teams currently reside in kenpom.com's Top 40, so it's a given that almost every game will be hand-to-hand combat.



But what makes the league more unique to coach in than any in college basketball is the preparation that is necessary to compete against 15 different opponents and styles of play over an 18-game schedule. With usually only a day or two to prepare, teams in the Big East must be ready for a diversity of man-to-man, zone and pressure defenses and will have to defend a variety of offenses, from NBA-oriented pick-and-roll to set-play to motion, run by opponents that play at completely different tempos.



A huge part of coaching is problem solving, and that starts long before the regular season ever gets under way. Hubie Brown used to tell high school and college coaches at clinics to prepare the most in preseason practice for the three toughest teams in their conference. That is problematic in the Big East because there are so many quality teams on the schedule. But you have to start somewhere.




For me, it would be in the preseason practices and nonconference games, where there is time to work on the offenses and defenses that could cause the most trouble when conference play comes around. It makes sense, for example, to create a solid game plan in practices in October and November to attack the three opponents that we would see twice in round-robin play. Then would come the preparation for teams whose styles would cause us to spend the most practice time getting ready for them.



In my second year at Saint John's, it was apparent that we were not going to be a great outside shooting team and that we would see heavy doses of zone during conference play. So, as a point of emphasis for our team, it was the first thing we worked on offensively on the first day of practice in October. We had to look that far ahead.



Another way to prepare a team for conference play is to put together a nonconference schedule that, in some way, mirrors the competitiveness of what the Big East schedule entails -- and, as importantly, it needs to mirror the many styles of play to be encountered when conference action starts in late December.



Getty Images
Mike Brey set up his non-conference scheduling so as to prep the Irish for what was to come.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey called consecutive December games versus Kentucky in Louisville and at home versus Gonzaga "Big East Week" because the two opponents were Big East-caliber teams. Each provided the Irish a different challenge.



The Irish defeated Wisconsin in a slow-tempo game in the Old Spice Classic championship game. While no one in the Big East plays at the Badgers' Division I-low 59-possession rate, the game provided Brey's team with the opportunity to play a quality opponent with the type of defensive patience needed to win a close game later in the season.



Georgetown has the tough assignment of preparing for Syracuse's 2-3 zone defense twice every season. A game plan for attacking this zone must be formulated long before the Hoyas meet the Orange for the first time on Feb. 9. The athleticism, size and experience of coach Jim Boeheim's players in this defense make it as dangerous as an Anaconda snake. And, because this rivalry game usually has huge implications at the top of the Big East, waiting to prepare for the zone in the couple of days before they play would be foolish.



Equally challenging -- but a completely different defense because of its unique slides -- is West Virginia coach Bob Huggins' 1-3-1 zone. It is a defense that cost Kentucky a trip to the 2010 Final Four. Like hitting a knuckleball, it's not something you see often during a season, but you had better have a plan for it when you see it.



Despite the fact that DePaul is in rebuilding mode, new coach Oliver Purnell has implemented a 40-minute, full-court pressing style that has been successful at four other programs. While the talent level is down at DePaul, its opponents are playing with fire if they don't prepare for the relentless trapping they will see from the Blue Demons. A late-season loss to Purnell's club could be a postseason crusher.



Offensively, the challenges are identical and endless. Teams in the Big East will see the Princeton-inspired Hoyas offense of ball movement, reads and backdoor cuts one night and the driving, attacking style of Marquette two nights later. UConn and Kemba Walker will try to push the pace on you, while coach Jamie Dixon's Pittsburgh Panthers will grind you with their relentless attack in half-court sets and on the offensive glass. Notre Dame will screen and screen and screen until Tim Abromaitis gets an open 3-point shot.




Playing against so many different quality opponents and styles, however, is certainly distinctive to the Big East and does help its teams prepare for the postseason even if this doesn't always guarantee postseason success.


For much of last season's Big East schedule, the Syracuse zone was nearly impenetrable as Boeheim's team went 15-3 in conference play. However, Louisville came up with a successful formula of effectively running its offense through Jared Swopshire in the high post. His passing helped the Cardinals carve up the Orange defense twice during conference play, including in the last Louisville game played at Freedom Hall in the regular-season finale.



One week later, Georgetown and Greg Monroe used the same formula to knock off Syracuse in the Big East tournament 91-84; earlier in the season, scoring 91 points on the Orange seemed improbable.



Getting through any conference's regular-season schedule is a grind. Every quality league has great players and coaches, and every team during the course of conference play will have a "murderer's row" stretch of games. And teams know each other far better in conference play. Those are givens. Travel, inevitable injuries and tough losses will always be a part of the adversity quotient, as well. Winning is a relief and losing is 48 to 72 hours of misery.



Playing against so many different quality opponents and styles, however, is certainly distinctive to the Big East and does help its teams prepare for the postseason even if this doesn't always guarantee postseason success. Even in Butler's Sweet 16 win over Syracuse, solving the zone was problematic for the Bulldogs. With only one day to prepare, they shot 6-of-24 from behind the arc.



There are many who think that playing the Big East schedule is great preparation for success in the NCAA tournament, and I agree. The proof is in the league's overall postseason success. However, if you don't adequately prepare to play the Big East schedule, there likely will be no NCAA tournament to prepare for.

Some good 1's tonight!

Can I get a winner??

The Juggler wrote:

booomm11 wrote:

Some good 1's tonight!

Can I get a winner??

i can't wait for nova/louisville tonight. do you know what the line is?

-4 & 148.5