Mustapha cleared...

[brewcity77]

More like favorite.

Favorite to win the league? LOL no.

[Silkk the Shaka]

Favorite to win the league? LOL no.

Agreed, but this makes a clear top 3 now along with us & Villanova. And to me it looks like the gap between Nova (favorite) and St. John's (3rd) is far less than between St. John's and the 4th (Providence?). The Johnnies' top end talent is the best in the league, but their bench will likely bite them a few times.

I wouldn't be surprised if any of Villanova, Marquette, or St. John's won it. I would definitely be surprised if anyone else did.

[wadesworld]

Mullins is a very competitive guy. With these key pieces in place he will make sure the players work toward the greater good. If they don't play together and everyone starts chucking , the scenario you outline is definitely possible.

Lol. So Mullins could stear them in the right direction and they could be good or he could not and they could be bad.

Thanks for the analysis.

[Nukem2]

Agreed, but this makes a clear top 3 now along with us & Villanova. And to me it looks like the gap between Nova (favorite) and St. John's (3rd) is far less than between St. John's and the 4th (Providence?). The Johnnies' top end talent is the best in the league, but their bench will likely bite them a few times.

I wouldn't be surprised if any of Villanova, Marquette, or St. John's won it. I would definitely be surprised if anyone else did.

Folks are undervaluing the Friars.

[brewcity77]

Agreed, but this makes a clear top 3 now along with us & Villanova. And to me it looks like the gap between Nova (favorite) and St. John's (3rd) is far less than between St. John's and the 4th (Providence?). The Johnnies' top end talent is the best in the league, but their bench will likely bite them a few times.

I wouldn't be surprised if any of Villanova, Marquette, or St. John's won it. I would definitely be surprised if anyone else did.

Heron is great, but St John's lost a lot and Mullin has yet to show he can coach his way out of a wet paper bag. I think this gets the Johnnies to the top-half of the league, but still behind Nova, MU, Providence, and Butler.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Folks are undervaluing the Friars.

Friars could be great or terrible. Again, they have a lot of talent but balance is a concern. Not positional balance like SJU but skill balance. The Friars have a lot of slashers but no shooters. They lost 81% of their 3P shooting from last season to graduation. Markus Howard has 23 more career 3PM than their entire roster put together. They only have one guy with a career 3P% above 35% (36.8% for Isaiah Jackson) and only two above 33% (Jackson and 34.4% for Emmitt Holt). Not only that but their two top 50 freshman are not known as knockdown shooters, in fact, one of Duke's big weaknesses is his shot. If they don't figure out how to address that, I see teams packing the paint and neutralizing guys like Diallo and Watson. Plus the word is that Holt is not at the same level that he was prior to last season's injury.

Personally, I have them 5th (with Butler 4th) in the Big East. If Holt gets healthy and Diallo or someone else develops an outside shot, they could exceed that. But I could also their lack of shooting cause them to miss the tourney.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Heron is great, but St John's lost a lot and Mullin has yet to show he can coach his way out of a wet paper bag. I think this gets the Johnnies to the top-half of the league, but still behind Nova, MU, Providence, and Butler.

Who did st johns lose??

[Dr. Blackheart]

Folks are undervaluing the Friars.

Agree

[Boone]

No way the Friars will be 'terrible.'

[Herman Cain]

Heron is great, but St John's lost a lot and Mullin has yet to show he can coach his way out of a wet paper bag.I think this gets the Johnnies to the top-half of the league, but still behind Nova, MU, Providence, and Butler.

It took a considerable degree of coaching skill to beat Villanova and Duke last year , without Lovett.

[brewcity77]

Who did st johns lose??

Lovett, Owens, Yakwe, Ahmed, and Alibegovic.

[Jay Bee]

It took a considerable degree of coaching skill to beat Villanova and Duke last year , without Lovett.

It took Brunson going 2/11 3FG and Nova shooting 8/33 for 24.2% eFG% (Nova was 4-3 when shooting 30.8% 3FG% or worse); and it took Grayson Allen going 1/7 FG and a huge game from Ponds.

They're a flipped team - bad offense, good defense last year.. this year people are counting on a great offense, but expecting bad defense.

I'm trying to see where the great offense is.. they've got a roster where - on a given night - they can be sensational. Not sure how consistent it'll look on the court.

But.. a very tough team to project, imo.

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

Lovett, Owens, Yakwe, Ahmed, and Alibegovic.

😂😂😂

Are u kidding me?! Or you just post stuff and expect people to accept with blind faith?
U realize u named a solid starter a guy that was outmatched and that left because of the transfers that were coming in?  Another guy would didnt play after thanksgiving and two others that got walk on type minutes.
  Please

[Mr. Sand-Knit]

It took Brunson going 2/11 3FG and Nova shooting 8/33 for 24.2% eFG% (Nova was 4-3 when shooting 30.8% 3FG% or worse); and it took Grayson Allen going 1/7 FG and a huge game from Ponds.

They're a flipped team - bad offense, good defense last year.. this year people are counting on a great offense, but expecting bad defense.

I'm trying to see where the great offense is.. they've got a roster where - on a given night - they can be sensational. Not sure how consistent it'll look on the court.

But.. a very tough team to project, imo.

Dont disagree with any of this, i will only add the yound talent they had last year is a year older and with the three transfers in they are considerably more talented and deeper than they were last year.

[brewcity77]

It took a considerable degree of coaching skill to beat Villanova and Duke last year , without Lovett.

Just like it took coaching skill to lose 11 straight Big East games? Mullin is 38-60 overall and 12-42 in conference play. His roster turnover makes Iowa State look like the model of stability. Maybe this year will be different, but he's shown nothing to indicate he's a Big East caliber coach yet.

[Herman Cain]

Just like it took coaching skill to lose 11 straight Big East games? Mullin is 38-60 overall and 12-42 in conference play. His roster turnover makes Iowa State look like the model of stability. Maybe this year will be different, but he's shown nothing to indicate he's a Big East caliber coach yet.

Losing Lovett contributed heavily to the 11 game losing streak. The offset was the team regrouped and finished the season competitive. They have been 2-2 against MU the last two years. Mullin has been able to put together a talented team on paper for this year.  I am not ready to write him off as a Big East level coach yet. 

[brewcity77]

He could get there. He's not there yet. I'm not ready to view them as a top-3 program until he shows he at least has NCAA chops.

[Herman Cain]

He could get there. He's not there yet. I'm not ready to view them as a top-3 program until he shows he at least has NCAA chops.

I  agree with this analysis.

[Herman Cain]

I thought this post from the Johnny Jungle site sums up their fan base point of view..
http://johnnyjungle.com/forum/index.php?topic=11008.msg298465#msg298465

[Golden Avalanche]

Keep seeing people refer to Mullin as the coach of St. John's. That's weird since he's not the one in charge.

[jesmu84]

https://www.barstoolsports.com/barstoolu/is-the-mustapha-heron-transfer-going-to-change-how-the-ncaa-rules-on-transfer-eligibility