Svoboda
03-10-2008, 10:56 PM
http://www.sju.edu/ucomm/images/lunardi.jpgAs you guys may remember, ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi kindly accepted our request (http://www.xavierhoops.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1238) to take questions from our kick ass members here at XavierHoops.com.
Well, despite being booked on pretty much every ESPN radio and television talk show to discuss the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Joe found some time to squeeze us into his schedule and answered many of the questions that we submitted to him on Xavier, the Atlantic 10 and Bracketology.
The staff here at Xavier Hoops really wants to thank Joe for taking his personal time to answer the submitted questons for us. Now lets get to the answers before you guys burn down the place!
ON DREW LAVENDER, XAVIER AND CONFERENCE AFFILIATION
Q) waggy: Is Drew Lavender the best point guard in college basketball?
A) Joe Lunardi: I like Drew, but he's probably outside the top five.
Q) Xpectations: Where would you rank our backcourt this season?
A) Joe Lunardi: Considering offense, defense, versatility and depth, somewhere between 5-10 nationally.
Q) Xpectations: Where would he XU rank as a program over the past 10 years?
A) Joe Lunardi: Without compiling a metrics-based list, I'd say somewhere between 20-30 nationally.
Q) Xpectations: Which program would he say most closely resembles XU's over say the past 10 years?...25 years?
A) Joe Lunardi: It's hard to say because the better A-10 programs are such hybrids (non-football schools with high expectations). Like it or not, if you take "arena" out of the comparison, Xavier and SJU are probably the best "comps" in this case.
Q) BlueGuy: What chances are there that there will be a Big East break-up, and some sort of realignment involving Xavier in the (near) future?
A) Joe Lunardi: I don't sense this happening any time soon. With the Big East getting more than its share in BCS football right now, there may not be much urgency to realign. A greater risk to the status quo could be if the new Big East gets consistently fewer NCAA bids in basketball than the combination of former Big East/Conference USA teams. Also, there could be growing discontent among some of the original basketball-only members -- Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's -- that aren't sniffing the NCAAs at all. This is where a Xavier could come into play, but it's definitely not a front-burner item. Too much money is flowing to all in the current Big East.
ON LINDA BRUNO AND THE ATLANTIC TEN CONFERENCE
Q) X-band '01: When Linda Bruno steps down, who would you like to see replace her as A-10 commissioner?
A) Joe Lunardi: My two favorite candidates would be Saint Joseph's A.D. Don DiJulia and Missouri Valley commissioner Doug Elgin, but I highly doubt either is going anywhere. I do think it's a very attractive position, however, and I'm very confident the search committee will have a high-level pool when the time comes.
Q) Chris Knight: If you were named commissioner of the A-10, what changes, if any, would you implement?
A) Joe Lunardi: The first thing I would do is change the name of the conference. The thinking that the brand equity of the current name outweighs the fact that we are neither "Atlantic" nor "10" seems silly to me. Something like the "Alliance" that communicates us as an uncommon, but influential collection of institutions would have numerous benefits. I would also begin an immediate marketing campaign around the accomplishments/prominent alumni of the 14 universities -- non-basketball -- as a way of emphasizing "what we have" (as opposed to the ongoing chatter of "what we don't"). This may be the bias of my 'real job' coming through. On the court, the current emphasis toward development of performance standards -- scheduling, facilities, investment, etc. -- must be accelerated or this year's apparent successes could be more a numerical fluke that self-sustaining. Mainly the conference needs a vision and a visionary to serve as its public ambassador.
ON BRACKETOLOGY AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Q) Muskie73: So far this season the A-10 has done very well and there have been some opinions of 3-5 teams making the "Dance".Given the past history of the NCAA selection committee, do you believe that they would select more than three teams possibly at the expense of the Big 6?
A) Joe Lunardi: If the team(s) are deserving, absolutely.
Q) PMThor: Do you ever hear from coaches or schools during the season about your Bracketology predictions? Anyone ever get upset with your prognistications and let you hear about it?
A) Joe Lunardi: All the time and, thankfully, it's more complimentary and informational than anything else. The "upset" part comes more from fans who don't fully understand the process. One cool thing the last couple years has been able to consult with schools such as Xavier on their non-conference scheduling.
Q) American X: The RPI is a well-known and often criticized tool of the NCAA Selection Committee. Do they use other metrics such Pomeroy and Sagarin?
A) Joe Lunardi: Not as stated criteria. Individual members, however, can bring anything to the table they wish.
Q) American X: Does the committee consider conference affiliation when determining bids and seeds? Are blind comparisons used?
A) Joe Lunardi: The answer to these questions, simply, are "no" and "yes".
Q) American X: Final Four appearances by non-Big Six conference teams are extremely rare. What are the chances for one this year?
A) Joe Lunardi: Better than ever considering that Memphis is the No. 1 team in the country (as I write this).
ON IF HE WAS THE AD OF ANY PROGRAM
Q) Xpectations:If he were the AD of a program and could choose any coach in the country, whom would he choose, and where would Miller rank? If he could start a team with any A-10 coach, whom would he choose?
A) Joe Lunardi: The first part of the question is so unrealistic that I'm not sure I can offer an intelligent answer. I do love Sean as a person and a coach, however. My bias on the second question would be Phil Martelli, as much for personal reasons as basketball (not that the latter would suffer).
CHECK OUT JOE'S WORK AT ESPN!
While he declined when I asked him if he wanted us to plug anything for him, be sure to check out Joe's current bracket projections over at ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology). It's the least we can do to let the head honchos at ESPN know that Joe knows his stuff. Thanks again, Joe!
Well, despite being booked on pretty much every ESPN radio and television talk show to discuss the upcoming NCAA Tournament, Joe found some time to squeeze us into his schedule and answered many of the questions that we submitted to him on Xavier, the Atlantic 10 and Bracketology.
The staff here at Xavier Hoops really wants to thank Joe for taking his personal time to answer the submitted questons for us. Now lets get to the answers before you guys burn down the place!
ON DREW LAVENDER, XAVIER AND CONFERENCE AFFILIATION
Q) waggy: Is Drew Lavender the best point guard in college basketball?
A) Joe Lunardi: I like Drew, but he's probably outside the top five.
Q) Xpectations: Where would you rank our backcourt this season?
A) Joe Lunardi: Considering offense, defense, versatility and depth, somewhere between 5-10 nationally.
Q) Xpectations: Where would he XU rank as a program over the past 10 years?
A) Joe Lunardi: Without compiling a metrics-based list, I'd say somewhere between 20-30 nationally.
Q) Xpectations: Which program would he say most closely resembles XU's over say the past 10 years?...25 years?
A) Joe Lunardi: It's hard to say because the better A-10 programs are such hybrids (non-football schools with high expectations). Like it or not, if you take "arena" out of the comparison, Xavier and SJU are probably the best "comps" in this case.
Q) BlueGuy: What chances are there that there will be a Big East break-up, and some sort of realignment involving Xavier in the (near) future?
A) Joe Lunardi: I don't sense this happening any time soon. With the Big East getting more than its share in BCS football right now, there may not be much urgency to realign. A greater risk to the status quo could be if the new Big East gets consistently fewer NCAA bids in basketball than the combination of former Big East/Conference USA teams. Also, there could be growing discontent among some of the original basketball-only members -- Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's -- that aren't sniffing the NCAAs at all. This is where a Xavier could come into play, but it's definitely not a front-burner item. Too much money is flowing to all in the current Big East.
ON LINDA BRUNO AND THE ATLANTIC TEN CONFERENCE
Q) X-band '01: When Linda Bruno steps down, who would you like to see replace her as A-10 commissioner?
A) Joe Lunardi: My two favorite candidates would be Saint Joseph's A.D. Don DiJulia and Missouri Valley commissioner Doug Elgin, but I highly doubt either is going anywhere. I do think it's a very attractive position, however, and I'm very confident the search committee will have a high-level pool when the time comes.
Q) Chris Knight: If you were named commissioner of the A-10, what changes, if any, would you implement?
A) Joe Lunardi: The first thing I would do is change the name of the conference. The thinking that the brand equity of the current name outweighs the fact that we are neither "Atlantic" nor "10" seems silly to me. Something like the "Alliance" that communicates us as an uncommon, but influential collection of institutions would have numerous benefits. I would also begin an immediate marketing campaign around the accomplishments/prominent alumni of the 14 universities -- non-basketball -- as a way of emphasizing "what we have" (as opposed to the ongoing chatter of "what we don't"). This may be the bias of my 'real job' coming through. On the court, the current emphasis toward development of performance standards -- scheduling, facilities, investment, etc. -- must be accelerated or this year's apparent successes could be more a numerical fluke that self-sustaining. Mainly the conference needs a vision and a visionary to serve as its public ambassador.
ON BRACKETOLOGY AND THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Q) Muskie73: So far this season the A-10 has done very well and there have been some opinions of 3-5 teams making the "Dance".Given the past history of the NCAA selection committee, do you believe that they would select more than three teams possibly at the expense of the Big 6?
A) Joe Lunardi: If the team(s) are deserving, absolutely.
Q) PMThor: Do you ever hear from coaches or schools during the season about your Bracketology predictions? Anyone ever get upset with your prognistications and let you hear about it?
A) Joe Lunardi: All the time and, thankfully, it's more complimentary and informational than anything else. The "upset" part comes more from fans who don't fully understand the process. One cool thing the last couple years has been able to consult with schools such as Xavier on their non-conference scheduling.
Q) American X: The RPI is a well-known and often criticized tool of the NCAA Selection Committee. Do they use other metrics such Pomeroy and Sagarin?
A) Joe Lunardi: Not as stated criteria. Individual members, however, can bring anything to the table they wish.
Q) American X: Does the committee consider conference affiliation when determining bids and seeds? Are blind comparisons used?
A) Joe Lunardi: The answer to these questions, simply, are "no" and "yes".
Q) American X: Final Four appearances by non-Big Six conference teams are extremely rare. What are the chances for one this year?
A) Joe Lunardi: Better than ever considering that Memphis is the No. 1 team in the country (as I write this).
ON IF HE WAS THE AD OF ANY PROGRAM
Q) Xpectations:If he were the AD of a program and could choose any coach in the country, whom would he choose, and where would Miller rank? If he could start a team with any A-10 coach, whom would he choose?
A) Joe Lunardi: The first part of the question is so unrealistic that I'm not sure I can offer an intelligent answer. I do love Sean as a person and a coach, however. My bias on the second question would be Phil Martelli, as much for personal reasons as basketball (not that the latter would suffer).
CHECK OUT JOE'S WORK AT ESPN!
While he declined when I asked him if he wanted us to plug anything for him, be sure to check out Joe's current bracket projections over at ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology). It's the least we can do to let the head honchos at ESPN know that Joe knows his stuff. Thanks again, Joe!