St. Joes goes 27-0! Win Final Four?

[SP33Demon]

They only play RI two more times, only team with a winning record left. They have about 6 more games to go... Can they do it? How far do you think they'll go in the tournament?

Good to see a smaller school having a Cinderella year... especially from hometown area.
:beer:

 

[thereds]

Where is the poll?


And no, I don't think they'll win anything.

 

[gistech1978]

you dont think they will be soft from the weak schedule?

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: gistech1978
you dont think they will be soft from the weak schedule?

Probably not... they beat Gonzaga (no.12), and have beaten quality teams such as Richmond (who upset Kansas when they were top 3) and Xavier (who has beaten no.10 Cincy). Not to mention Dayton who was undefeated in the division until last night, and who had beaten Richmond twice and Xavier once.

To add to this, yesterday, Dick Vitale listed St. Joes as having the best backcourt over Duke, Stanford, UNC, and Pitt...

I think they're the real deal...

 

[pyonir]

I think they'll go undefeated in the regular season.

They will be an early upset in the tourney though. The beat Gonzaga, sure. They beat Richmond and Xavier who have upset good teams, that doesn't mean Richmond and Xavier are good teams themselves. Every team has a great night.

Xavier is 13-9 Losses include Ball State, Indiana, Duquesne
Richmond is 13-10 Losses include UAB, Manhattan, La Salle

Not exactly great teams there. St. Joes does probably have the best backcourt in basketball, but that won't win you the NCAA Championship.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: pyonir
I think they'll go undefeated in the regular season.

They will be an early upset in the tourney though. The beat Gonzaga, sure. They beat Richmond and Xavier who have upset good teams, that doesn't mean Richmond and Xavier are good teams themselves. Every team has a great night.

Xavier is 13-9 Losses include Ball State, Indiana, Duquesne
Richmond is 13-10 Losses include UAB, Manhattan, La Salle

Not exactly great teams there. St. Joes does probably have the best backcourt in basketball, but that won't win you the NCAA Championship.

I think you're forgetting that Gonzaga's ONLY losses are to St. Joes and Stanford. Remember Gonzaga has also beaten Mizzou and Maryland, it was no walk through the park for St. Joes, and it was on a neutral court. Not to mention their wins in Richmond and Xavier were also on the road, while beating Cal (who has beaten AZ) on the road as well. All of their big wins have been away from home...

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

I think you're forgetting that Gonzaga's ONLY losses are to St. Joes and Stanford. Remember Gonzaga has also beaten Mizzou and Maryland, it was no walk through the park for St. Joes, and it was on a neutral court. Not to mention their wins in Richmond and Xavier were also on the road, while beating Cal (who has beaten AZ) on the road as well. All of their big wins have been away from home...

The game against Gonzaga was the first of the season for the Zags. If they beat the Zags now I'd be more impressed. IMO it doesn't matter much that the Zags have beaten Maryland and Mizzou and St. Joes beat Gonzaga. So whomever upsets Stanford or St Joes first, will automatically be better than any team that St Joes or Stanford has beaten?

Winning on the road is big. St Joes playing in New York is a little closer to a home game for them, than a neutral court. Especially against a team from the west coast. The wins on the road against Cal and Xavier were big...but I'm sorry the A-10 is a WEAK conference.

 

[Nitemare]

1. Of course when the best team they play is a mid major team named Dayton.

2. They will lose in the second round, maybe third if they get lucky

 

[Nitemare]

Team that will not make it to the final 4
St Joes, Strength of schedule:31:
QUALITY WINS
(vs. RPI 1-25) N-Gonzaga, Boston College
(vs. RPI 26-50) at Villanova, at Richmond

Teams that have a good chance:
Duke, Strength of schedule:8:
QUALITY WINS
(vs. RPI 1-25) N-Texas, NC State, at Georgia Tech, at North Carolina
(vs. RPI 26-50) at Michigan State, Wake Forest, at Maryland, Florida State

Kentucky, Strength of schedule:4:
QUALITY WINS
(vs. RPI 1-25) North Carolina, at Mississippi State, at Florida
(vs. RPI 26-50) N-Michigan State, at Vanderbilt, South Carolina

NC State, Strength of schedule:18:
QUALITY WINS
(vs. RPI 1-25) Georgia Tech
(vs. RPI 26-50) UW-Milwaukee, BYU, at Florida State, at Maryland, Wake Forest

Louisville, Strength of schedule:19:QUALITY WINS
(vs. RPI 1-25) Seton Hall, Florida, at Kentucky, Cincinnati
(vs. RPI 26-50) UAB

When you live by the 3's you will die by the 3's. Until they prove they can win otherwise I will doubt them

 

[NeoV]

NC State a final 4 team? Uh, no.

Actually, guard play is crucial in the NCAA tournament.

Dayton is the best team they have played? Do you know about Gonzaga? Forget the small-school name, Gonzaga is one of the best teams in the nation, and beating them, first game or not, is very impressive.

I think St.Joe's will finish their regular season undefeated, and I think they will make it to the sweet 16 - and hey, if they get hot, they can beat anyone.....in their win over Temple, they only scored 4 points from regular FG's..the rest were foul shots and 3's.

My early final 4 - Duke, Gonzaga, Stanford, Kentucky

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: NeoV
Do you know about Gonzaga? Forget the small-school name, Gonzaga is one of the best teams in the nation, and beating them, first game or not, is very impressive.

I've been a Gonzaga fan for a long time. It was the first game of the year and in NY. Gonzaga is pretty much unbeatable at home. On the road...they have troubles. Every year they run into problems on the road. That was a pretty impressive win, but they haven't played a very good time since that one win. And won't until the tournament.

 

[Saulbadguy]

If they pull a #1 seed, which they easily could by going undefeated, they will make waves in the tourney. They could be that #1 - #8 upset easily though, but I don't see them getting to the Final Four.

 

[Saulbadguy]

My early Final Four -

Duke, Oklahoma State, Stanford, UConn.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: Nitemare
1. Of course when the best team they play is a mid major team named Dayton.

2. They will lose in the second round, maybe third if they get lucky

1) Um, you must be forgetting about Gonzaga, where St. Joes' Jameer Nelson missed a Triple Double by 2 rebounds...

2) They could easily win it with their backcourt IMO, think Cleaves and Peterson when Mich State won it all (Nelson and West are comparable).

 

[Ynog]

I think they can go undefeated throughout the regular season, though the game in Rhode Island will definatlely test them.
Rhode Island's team can play very well or very bad and St. Joes has alot of trouble when it comes to playing in kingston for
some reason.

I am not sure about the Tourny though, every time I see St. Joes play they play well, but I just don't feel that
domination that comes with a team you expect to see in the Final Four. But thats just me.
It will definately be interesting though.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: pyonir

Originally posted by: NeoV
Do you know about Gonzaga? Forget the small-school name, Gonzaga is one of the best teams in the nation, and beating them, first game or not, is very impressive.

I've been a Gonzaga fan for a long time. It was the first game of the year and in NY. Gonzaga is pretty much unbeatable at home. On the road...they have troubles. Every year they run into problems on the road. That was a pretty impressive win, but they haven't played a very good time since that one win. And won't until the tournament.

I'm a little confused here... They've won 8 games on the road, including an 82-68 decimation of Maryland, yet they have trouble? Gonzaga has only lost to Stanford at Stanford, and St. Joes on NEUTRAL ground. They've only lost one game on the road yet they have "trouble" and "problems"?

When you said earlier, oh, well it's like a home game for St. Joe's, it's in NY. Do you know how many students go to St. Joe's? Do you know how many people their gymnasium (really, it's like a high school) holds? I'll give you a hint, around 3000. So now out of the 3800 students that are enrolled in this college, how many are going to make the trip up to NYC for the FIRST game of the season? Surely you must be joking when you say "NYC, it's like a home game for them!".

 

[gistech1978]

well a good backcourt does not a team make; look at UNC.
where the hell is Okla State in vitale's top 5, he cuddles up to UNC way too much.
the past couple of weeks there isnt a better PG than john lucas III.

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: pyonir

Originally posted by: NeoV
Do you know about Gonzaga? Forget the small-school name, Gonzaga is one of the best teams in the nation, and beating them, first game or not, is very impressive.

I've been a Gonzaga fan for a long time. It was the first game of the year and in NY. Gonzaga is pretty much unbeatable at home. On the road...they have troubles. Every year they run into problems on the road. That was a pretty impressive win, but they haven't played a very good time since that one win. And won't until the tournament.

I'm a little confused here... They've won 8 games on the road, including an 82-68 decimation of Maryland, yet they have trouble? Gonzaga has only lost to Stanford at Stanford, and St. Joes on NEUTRAL ground. They've only lost one game on the road yet they have "trouble" and "problems"?

When you said earlier, oh, well it's like a home game for St. Joe's, it's in NY. Do you know how many students go to St. Joe's? Do you know how many people their gymnasium (really, it's like a high school) holds? I'll give you a hint, around 3000. So now out of the 3800 students that are enrolled in this college, how many are going to make the trip up to NYC for the FIRST game of the season? Surely you must be joking when you say "NYC, it's like a home game for them!".

He said "every year". Not just this year.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: Saulbadguy

Originally posted by: SP33Demon

Originally posted by: pyonir

Originally posted by: NeoV
Do you know about Gonzaga? Forget the small-school name, Gonzaga is one of the best teams in the nation, and beating them, first game or not, is very impressive.

I've been a Gonzaga fan for a long time. It was the first game of the year and in NY. Gonzaga is pretty much unbeatable at home. On the road...they have troubles. Every year they run into problems on the road. That was a pretty impressive win, but they haven't played a very good time since that one win. And won't until the tournament.

I'm a little confused here... They've won 8 games on the road, including an 82-68 decimation of Maryland, yet they have trouble? Gonzaga has only lost to Stanford at Stanford, and St. Joes on NEUTRAL ground. They've only lost one game on the road yet they have "trouble" and "problems"?

When you said earlier, oh, well it's like a home game for St. Joe's, it's in NY. Do you know how many students go to St. Joe's? Do you know how many people their gymnasium (really, it's like a high school) holds? I'll give you a hint, around 3000. So now out of the 3800 students that are enrolled in this college, how many are going to make the trip up to NYC for the FIRST game of the season? Surely you must be joking when you say "NYC, it's like a home game for them!".

He said "every year". Not just this year.

I think he was trying to blame Gonzaga losing to St. Joes on neutral ground and at Stanford due to "problems on the road". Seriously, what team DOESN'T have problems on the road? We all know that statistically you have a better chance of winning at home. We all know that the last undefeated team was UNLV. Now take all the years since then, and look at how many losses most good teams have on the road. In all liklihood, probably as many as Gonzaga this year (1). So you may as well say: any team that doesn't go undefeated is due to the fact that nobody plays well on the road (the only way to be defined as "playing well on the road" would be not to lose one game, i.e. go undefeated lol).

 

[pyonir]

No...Gonzaga got beat. There is no doubt about that. I'm not trying to give excuses for that loss (and i've never said anything about Stanford not being a really good team, so i'm not sure why you brought that up). I'm saying St. Joes hasn't proven anything by beating a good team in NYC in the first game of the year. You have nothing to compare St Joes with. I'm sorry, but that was the ONLY test St Joes has really had this season, and the only real test they will have until the tournament.

So St. Joes is a small school. So is Gonzaga. How many fans do you think made the journey from Philadelphia, PA and how many do you think made the journey from Spokane, WA? I watched part of that game, and you could obviously tell that St. Joes fans far outnumbered the Zag fans, hence making it more like a home game for St Joes.

Regardless. Gonzaga lost to St Joes. St Joes' only big win was that one. Beating ONE team in the top 15 does NOT make you the best team in college basketball. (unless that win is the NCAA Championship).

 

[gistech1978]

Originally posted by: pyonir


Regardless. Gonzaga lost to St Joes. St Joes' only big win was that one. Beating ONE team in the top 15 does NOT make you the best team in college basketball. (unless that win is the NCAA Championship).

but it does in college football?
sorry had to throw that in there.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: gistech1978

Originally posted by: pyonir
Regardless. Gonzaga lost to St Joes. St Joes' only big win was that one. Beating ONE team in the top 15 does NOT make you the best team in college basketball. (unless that win is the NCAA Championship).

but it does in college football?
sorry had to throw that in there.

LMAO. NO doubt. For some...it does in college basketball too.

 

[SP33Demon]

Originally posted by: pyonir
No...Gonzaga got beat. There is no doubt about that. I'm not trying to give excuses for that loss (and i've never said anything about Stanford not being a really good team, so i'm not sure why you brought that up). I'm saying St. Joes hasn't proven anything by beating a good team in NYC in the first game of the year. You have nothing to compare St Joes with. I'm sorry, but that was the ONLY test St Joes has really had this season, and the only real test they will have until the tournament.

So St. Joes is a small school. So is Gonzaga. How many fans do you think made the journey from Philadelphia, PA and how many do you think made the journey from Spokane, WA? I watched part of that game, and you could obviously tell that St. Joes fans far outnumbered the Zag fans, hence making it more like a home game for St Joes.

Regardless. Gonzaga lost to St Joes. St Joes' only big win was that one. Beating ONE team in the top 15 does NOT make you the best team in college basketball. (unless that win is the NCAA Championship).

Ok, I stand corrected about the home court thing.

"Nelson's best sequence came when he drew a charge at midcourt, then took the inbounds pass and made a drive through traffic that left the crowd at Madison Square Garden standing and cheering.

More than 4,000 Saint Joseph's fans bought tickets, turning the building in New York into Philadelphia's Hawk Hill for a night. The university with the enrollment of 3,800 was the big school for the night.

Nelson finished 6-for-20 from the field but that didn't bother the fans who chanted "You can't guard him" at any of the Gonzaga defenders that had the assignment."

I doubt anyone from any top 5 team could guard Nelson as well

I can tell you, I'm from the Philly area and it's PITA to driving up to NYC, although it was on a Friday night. Surprised that many would make the drive up for only the first game of the season...

If St. Joes finishes undefeated, they will be the best team in basketball according to the polls. If they win the tourney, then that will only affirm what the polls have defined. I doubt Temple or RI have any shot at knocking them off...

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon
If St. Joes finishes undefeated, they will be the best team in basketball according to the polls. If they win the tourney, then that will only affirm what the polls have defined. I doubt Temple or RI have any shot at knocking them off...

I don't agree. If St Joes wins out, and Stanford and Duke do as well, i would put Stanford and Duke ahead of them. No question.

 

[Nitemare]

Originally posted by: NeoV
NC State a final 4 team? Uh, no.

Actually, guard play is crucial in the NCAA tournament.

Dayton is the best team they have played? Do you know about Gonzaga? Forget the small-school name, Gonzaga is one of the best teams in the nation, and beating them, first game or not, is very impressive.

I think St.Joe's will finish their regular season undefeated, and I think they will make it to the sweet 16 - and hey, if they get hot, they can beat anyone.....in their win over Temple, they only scored 4 points from regular FG's..the rest were foul shots and 3's.

My early final 4 - Duke, Gonzaga, Stanford, Kentucky

The first couple games of the season do not count as each teams is starting to find themselves.

What has St Joes done lately?
Dayton - Good win against a team that only plays inferior teams, but usually beats them
other than that and Gonzaga, the first game, and Boston College in the 6th game, they should be completely embarassed that they didn't win each game by 20.
a 7 point win at Villanova
an 8 point win at Xavier
a squeaker at California

They have never faced a capable defense the entire year.