Fatal Flaws of the Back Half of the Top 25

[Muskie]

Yahoo (https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketball-preseason-top-25-201132435.html)

13. SETON HALL


DOES OLDER ALWAYS MEAN BETTER?I love Seton Hall this season. I love Myles Powell (https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/136025/) forever and always. But the truth is that this Seton Hall team last season was already pretty old, turnover prone and inconsistent from beyond the arc. They won a bunch of games because Powell is good enough to win a bunch of games by himself, but if Seton Hall is going to live up to these lofty expectations, they’re going to need the likes of Myles Cale (consistency), Quincy McKnight (turnovers, three-point shooting) and Sandro Mamukelashvili (ability to control the paint) to take steps forward.But just how much better will they actually be this year? These guys are already upperclassmen, and just because a good-not-great team returns everyone they have on their roster doesn’t mean that they are going to be great the next season. Put another way, just because they had room to grow doesn’t mean they grew.


18. XAVIER


ARE THEY THE TEAM THAT WON SIX OF THEIR LAST SEVEN, OR THE ONE THAT STARTED 3-8 IN THE BIG EAST?The thing that is difficult about projecting teams that finished the regular season hot is that they may have made their leap during the season.Put another way, is Xavier a team that still has room to grow after they figured some things out late in the year, or is this a group that made their jump down the stretch of the season?I ask, because a team whose ceiling is an 11 game stretch where they go 8-3 against a mediocre Big East and NIT competition is one thing. But if Naji Marshall and Quentin Goodin actually get better from beyond the arc, if this group learns how not to turn the ball over, if they show some improvement in being able to run opponents off of the three-point line, then they have a chance to truly compete for a Big East title and make a run at getting a top four seed.

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Some interesting points for both squads.

[GoMuskies]

I guess the "concern" is fair, but Xavier has a lot more talent on the roster this year.

[XUGRAD80]

Q....will SH be a better team this year than they were last?

Q...will X be a better team this year than they were last?


Consider...on 2/20/19 Xavier BEAT SH on their home floor 70-69.

I really don’t get all the love for SH at this point. Sure, they bring a lot of experience back. But outside of Powell, how much real talent? And what real talent did they add?

I like the potential that X has more than the questions that SH have.

[Muskie]

Q....will SH be a better team this year than they were last?

Q...will X be a better team this year than they were last?


Consider...on 2/20/19 Xavier BEAT SH on their home floor 70-69.

I really don’t get all the love for SH at this point. Sure, they bring a lot of experience back. But outside of Powell, how much real talent? And what real talent did they add?

I like the potential that X has more than the questions that SH have.

I think it's because Powell has the ability to take over a game or a stretch of games. We'll see if he can do it for season. X as of yet, hasn't identified a player on that roster that can do what Powell can, consistently.

[XUMIOH12]

Q....will SH be a better team this year than they were last?

Q...will X be a better team this year than they were last?


Consider...on 2/20/19 Xavier BEAT SH on their home floor 70-69.

I really don’t get all the love for SH at this point. Sure, they bring a lot of experience back. But outside of Powell, how much real talent? And what real talent did they add?

I like the potential that X has more than the questions that SH have.

They do add Obiagu from Florida St after he sat last year. They should be pretty good inside, they have a ton of depth at the 4/5. They really are just missing another true perimeter scorer to help out Powell.

[GIMMFD]

I think the concerns are fair, personally with all the weapons we have now, I'd like if Q DIDN'T have to shoot a bunch of threes, if he's open, take it, that led to some decent shooting down the stretch a couple years ago, as for Naji, I think he'll be closer to the 34% he shot Freshman year than the 27% he shot last year from the 3, experience matters, and Naji will be the go to guy. I really would love to see a game where Naji and Scruggs BOTH go off, it felt like last year if one had a great game, the other took a backseat role, we need both of them to score consistently in my opinion, it takes a lot of pressure off Q to make plays, and he can focus on distributing more.

[XMuskieFTW]

Q....will SH be a better team this year than they were last?

Q...will X be a better team this year than they were last?


Consider...on 2/20/19 Xavier BEAT SH on their home floor 70-69.

I really don’t get all the love for SH at this point. Sure, they bring a lot of experience back. But outside of Powell, how much real talent? And what real talent did they add?

I like the potential that X has more than the questions that SH have.

They were a terrible shooting team who finished 9-9 in the worst Big East since realignment and got bounced in the first round of the tourney. All they add is a 7 foot shot blocker. I don't see them as a team taking a big jump forward, whereas the teams around them in the standings last year should improve more.

[EastCoastXman]

SHU will be good. Only lost Michael NZei. Aside from Powell, they return Pt guard Q McKnight and Miles Cale. They now have 2 7 footers in Romero Gill (Who killed us at Cintas last year and Obiagu who had minutes against us in Nashville with FL St). They now move Mamu to wing. 2 other solid bench players. 1 frosh from Canada might see some minutes. But you are right, not much added to last year's roster other than the big guy. They do have a killer non conference schedule.

[X-band '01]

They were a terrible shooting team who finished 9-9 in the worst Big East since realignment and got bounced in the first round of the tourney. All they add is a 7 foot shot blocker. I don't see them as a team taking a big jump forward, whereas the teams around them in the standings last year should improve more.

Georgetown might be the team that makes the biggest jump this season. Marquette is going to be a question mark with the Hausers gone, but you can't count them out if Markus Howard has an "on" night at any point.

[XMuskieFTW]

Georgetown might be the team that makes the biggest jump this season. Marquette is going to be a question mark with the Hausers gone, but you can't count them out if Markus Howard has an "on" night at any point.

They have a really strong supporting cast still and quite a bit of depth. Howard, McEwen, Anim, Bailey, and John is a solid starting five. Those 5, along with a bench of Elliott, Torrence, Cain, Morrow, and Johnson, make for a very solid rotation. I just wonder how good they can be with only one super star and a bunch of rotational pieces. They really need a second and third guy to emerge and provide them 12-13 ppg. I can see Anim and McEwen or Bailey doing so.

[WCWIII]

What about Willard as a coach? A couple years ago, I thought the SHU team chemistry was a disaster, but now I'm more positive towards Willard, but not convinced he's the leader behind a BE championship team.

[XU 87]

Yahoo (https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketball-preseason-top-25-201132435.html)

But if Naji Marshall and Quentin Goodin actually get better from beyond the arc, if this group learns how not to turn the ball over, if they show some improvement in being able to run opponents off of the three-point line, then they have a chance to truly compete for a Big East title and make a run at getting a top four seed.

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I think we'll see less turnovers and better defense. I don't think we'll see Q become a better three point shooter. We might see Naji be a little better from the behind the arc. And I hope those two take less threes this year.

[noteggs]

They really need a second and third guy to emerge and provide them 12-13 ppg. I can see Anim and McEwen or Bailey doing so.

Anim is a great defender. Could not believe the game he had against X last year. He tore us up on scoring tho. Season high of 20 points to go along with 7 boards (think most of those points came in the first). It will be interesting to see what role he’ll play this year without the Hauser’s. His average last year was 9.8 pts per game in Big East play.

[bobbiemcgee]

"But if Naji Marshall and Quentin Goodin actually get better from beyond the arc, if this group learns how not to turn the ball over, if they show some improvement in being able to run opponents off of the three-point line, then they have a chance to truly compete for a Big East title and make a run at getting a top four seed."

Very fair points imho. Got to improve the 3 pt. attack and guard against them.

[xubrew]

I didn't think X would be ranked as high as 19th. Having said that, I think X is better than 19th.