Three Man Weave- Big East Preview

[Masterofreality]

Really good and complete rundown on each team.
They pick Xavier 7th.

Here are the comments re: Steele-
Opening Paragraph:
“Outlook: Travis Steele fared better in his second season at the helm of the Musketeers but still failed to live up to preseason expectations. After being picked 3rd in the Big East preseason poll and 17th overall by KenPom, Xavier stumbled to an 8-10 conference record, finishing T-6th in the Big East and 45th in KenPom. Despite a good start to the year, there was no guarantee Xavier would even make the NCAA Tournament after losing three straight to end the season including an opening round conference tourney defeat to DePaul. With two subpar seasons under his belt, the pressure is on for Steele to start producing – Xavier fans are accustomed to seeing quality basketball.”

Closing Paragraph:
“ . There’s still a low floor here, however, and Steele has yet to prove he can lead a team that’s greater than the sum of its individual parts.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/big-east-2021-preview

[JTG]

Quite the glowing review of the roster for the team to be picked 7th. I'm guessing the author doesn't think much of Steele's coaching. I'm hoping the roster the last 2 years was such a mismatch that Steele's hands were tied. And with a roster he tailored he can show his acumen on the bench.

[xudash]

How many games did Paul Scruggs miss at the end of the season? Three?

[Masterofreality]

Quite the glowing review of the roster for the team to be picked 7th. I'm guessing the author doesn't think much of Steele's coaching. I'm hoping the roster the last 2 years was such a mismatch that Steele's hands were tied. And with a roster he tailored he can show his acumen on the bench.

One thing that they are off on was that Adam Kunkle is not going for a waiver, right? Unless I missed something.

[JTG]

I understood Kunkle planned to sit out. Stanley I fear could go pro if he doesn't get the waiver. I forsee many games we score in the mid 80s.

[bobbiemcgee]

Really good and complete rundown on each team.
They pick Xavier 7th.

Here are the comments re: Steele-
Opening Paragraph:
“Outlook: Travis Steele fared better in his second season at the helm of the Musketeers but still failed to live up to preseason expectations. After being picked 3rd in the Big East preseason poll and 17th overall by KenPom, Xavier stumbled to an 8-10 conference record, finishing T-6th in the Big East and 45th in KenPom. Despite a good start to the year, there was no guarantee Xavier would even make the NCAA Tournament after losing three straight to end the season including an opening round conference tourney defeat to DePaul. With two subpar seasons under his belt, the pressure is on for Steele to start producing – Xavier fans are accustomed to seeing quality basketball.”

Closing Paragraph:
“ . There’s still a low floor here, however, and Steele has yet to prove he can lead a team that’s greater than the sum of its individual parts.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement.

https://www.three-man-weave.com/3mw/big-east-2021-preview

I would have to agree with the assessment of steele and last year's team, not with the 7th place this year.

[bleedXblue]

Not much to disagree with. Although I think WITH Stanley, we should finish between 3rd-6th.

[Xavier]

The Travis rebuild really starts this year. Unfortunately the guys he had last two years were pieces that did not fit well together. A whole lot of new guys, I can't imagine expecting much. I see another year of struggling and being on the bubble leading to next year being a make or break year for Steele.

[XUGRAD80]

The Travis rebuild really starts this year. Unfortunately the guys he had last two years were pieces that did not fit well together. A whole lot of new guys, I can't imagine expecting much. I see another year of struggling and being on the bubble leading to next year being a make or break year for Steele.

I totally agree with this. I will add that there is IMO a good chance that they will be a tough out in the tourney iF they make it. I look for this team to start slowly and improve as the year goes on.

[xukeith]

I totally agree with this. I will add that there is IMO a good chance that they will be a tough out in the tourney iF they make it. I look for this team to start slowly and improve as the year goes on.

Like Providence last year? Gulp! They had a brutal start then put it all together at the end of the season.
X is talented but very inexperienced. We shall see. You can't really disagree with the disappointment of the past 2 seasons.
Now or never.

[Xuperman]

Not much to disagree with. Although I think WITH Stanley, we should finish between 3rd-6th.

I agree, Stanley is key to getting 10+ BE wins. (along with Miles).

The chances that his 22 ppg doesn't translate nicely for us is slim. Looking at his game film, the guy is a legit scorer AND good luck with trying to out muscle him....NOBODY is going to push him around (Welage). Now granted, if CJ and CoJo live up to the billing, it makes Stanley much less necessary in the quality of depth that Coach is depending on. IMO all 3 of those guys are strong options at Naji's SF position...if cleared to play, I think Ben starts there.

[XUGRAD80]

Banners is speculating that many of the buy games that teams pad their schedules with, aren’t going to happen. That leaves X playing a much tougher overall schedule that they might otherwise have to play. Combining that with an inexperienced squad made up of many new parts doesn’t bode well for a fast start. I’m keeping my expectations low for this year. That doesn’t mean I’m any less disappointed by the last two squads, or that I’m giving Steele a pass on those squads, but that’s history now and nothing can change what already happened. With so many new players on this years squad it’s time to let the past go and look forward to what THESE kids can accomplish, not what the past kids failed to accomplish.

[JTG]

I heard today on the John Fanta podcast that Gavitt type games, and tournaments are going to be priority. So Gavitt, Big12 and a tournament would only leave a couple games to schedule. That's one bitch of a schedule.

[xudash]

I heard today on the John Fanta podcast that Gavitt type games, and tournaments are going to be priority. So Gavitt, Big12 and a tournament would only leave a couple games to schedule. That's one bitch of a schedule.

Great point.

It's nice to consider having to compete in things like the Gavitt Games and Big12 Challenge. Hell, it's a luxury - - to be in a major conference with such opportunities.

The good news that we all know is that EVERYONE is in the same boat.

[surfxu]

The good news that we all know is that EVERYONE is in the same boat.

Well the power 6 teams are all in the same boat. They all have these "challenges" all set up like the Gavitt Games, ACC/Big10 challenge etc along with a holiday tournament, so those are 5 or 6 games set right there. Most everything else for the big guys, like a guaranteed game/win against the likes of Colgate at home will be left on the scrap pile. The mid and low majors are going to struggle to find quality competition as a result. Assuming the crosstown shootout happens, a mid-major like uc will likely only have one opportunity against a power 6 team, maybe two if they are part of a holiday tournament which usually have a couple mid-majors to complement the power teams. That will probably just leave those mid-majors to play each other, like dayton, uc, Western Ky, Toledo etc. Point being, uc and dayton are mid-majors and uc lost to Colgate at home last year. Scheduling is going to be a mess though. I'm sure Mario is on top of things. There's not going to be any time for this team to warm up. It's going to be a gauntlet from the tip of the first ball. My main concern is turnovers. There was just not a lot of ball security last year, combine that with poor shooting and that team was doomed. Sounds like the shooting piece is going to look a lot better, but we can't have 20+ possessions lost because we throw it to the cardboard cutout in section 105. With so many new pieces and what appears to be a compressed practice timeline I just don't know that is going to change quick enough.

[XUGRAD80]

You’re wrong about UC...they have a home game with Louisville and an away game with Tennessee scheduled, and they are a part of the preseason NIT. The only real question is IF ANY of those games will take place? The crosstown shoot will will definitely take place, but I doubt that any fans will be allowed.

But your overall point is valid...there are going to be a lot of moving parts when it comes to the 2020-2021 schedule. One thing that has to be considered is the status of legal and binding contracts. It stands to reason that any games that were scheduled before the official date that games can occur are not going to happen and the contracts are null and void. However, the contractual status of any other games is not so clear. Those smaller schools that rely on those buy games to fund their programs are not going to just walk away from that money. They are going to want (and need) some type of financial settlement. The same can pretty much said of any games that were already contracted for between major schools. Now perhaps they all agree to play it another year, or perhaps they agree to a financial settlement, but there is still the real possibility that some of those schools insist on the games being played as contracted for.

[MHettel]

If there is very limited schedule this year across all of the NCAA, and most of those games being within conference, then nearly ALL of the metrics (Ken Pom, RPI, etc) will be rendered useless for comparison purposes.

These metrics rely upon "cross pollination" of the different teams to establish some basis for the rankings.

Imagine if you took the rankings of all the Triple A baseball teams, and did the same for the MLB teams. You couldn't say that the top teams from the Triple A list and the top teams from the MLB list constitute the top overall teams. In reality, the MLB teams would beat the AAA teams 85% or more of the time.

NCAA selection will be different this year, with limited metrics...

[Masterofreality]

I heard today on the John Fanta podcast that Gavitt type games, and tournaments are going to be priority. So Gavitt, Big12 and a tournament would only leave a couple games to schedule. That's one bitch of a schedule.

Not even that.When you consider 20 Conference games, SucKS and Wake contracts, 3 games in Orlando plus the Gavitt & Big 12 Challenges, the schedule is done.