Big East East Division Preview
1.
'01-'02 Big East Rank |
Field Goal % | 1 |
Free Throw % | 5 |
3-point % | 1 |
Rebounding +/- | 4 |
Turnover +/- | 11 |
Barring a major injury, the Big East's East Division is Connecticut's for the
taking. UConn returns three outstanding starters in center Emeka Okafor and their
experienced backcourt of Taliek Brown and Tony Richardson. Okafor was spectacular
last season as a Freshman, blocking 4.1 shots per game and becoming one of the most
formidable post defenders in the country. As a Sophomore, Okafor will undoubtedly
be one of the top centers in the country. He is currently leading the nation in
both blocks and rebounds. The Huskies will need to replace the 32 points and 13.5
rebounds per game that departed forwards Caron Butler and Johnnie Selvie gave them
last season, but Jim Calhoun should be in good hands with Sophomore standout Ben
Gordon, who is averaging 21.4 ppg (points per game) this season. The Huskies were
also one of several Big East programs with an outstanding recruiting class.
Freshman forwards Denham Brown and Rashad Anderson could see significant playing
time in Big East action.
Pre-Christmas record: 7-0, but not yet tested.
Pleasant Surprise: Okafor's offense. His defense and rebounding were
fully expected, but his 17 points per game (up from 7.9 last season) is a bit of
a surprise.
Disappointment: Sophomore Scott Hazelton from Somerville, Mass, a one
time McDonalds All-American was expected to contribute and possibly start but he
has left the team and withdrawn from school for personal reasons. Hazelton was
benched by Coach Jim Calhoun earlier this season for what was deemed "inappropriate
behavior at practice."
Impact Freshmen: Denham Brown is averaging 9.7 ppg and is shooting 43%
from three point range while averaging 20 minutes per game. Rashad Anderson,
ranked as the 27th best incoming freshman according to The Sporting News should
also play a significant role this season.
Outlook: Connecticut should have no problem winning the Big East's
somewhat weaker East Division. The Huskies will face difficult road games against
Pitt, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Oklahoma, but will have a solid chance to land
at least a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.
2.
'01-'02 Big East Rank |
Field Goal % | 13 |
Free Throw % | 11 |
3-point % | 14 |
Rebounding +/- | 8 |
Turnover +/- | 2 |
Last year, I predicted that St. John's would be a better team without the ball-hogging,
glory-mongering Omar Cook running the point. With all due respect to Bill Raftery,
Omar was not a great player and was certainly not the type of the point guard that
helps his team win basketball games. Without Cook's detrimental impact, the Red
Storm had an excellent season last year, winning 20 games, finishing third in the
Big East's East Division and claiming a prized spot in the NCAA Tournament. Much
of the Red Storm's resurgence came as a result of electrifying guard Marcus Hatten,
who scored 20.1 points per game while grabbing an average of 5 rebounds. Hatten
will again be the focus of the offense, but the Storm will also look for guard
Willie Shaw to bounce back from a poor shooting season (34% from the field).
Anthony Glover will continue to give St. John's a strong inside presence while
diminutive guard Elijah Ingram - the Red Storm's latest freshman phenom -- will
look to contribute at the point. St. John's finished last in the Big East in
field goal percentage last season, so just making a few more outside shots will
make a huge positive impact on this team.
Pre-Christmas record: 5-1, with five cupcake wins and a loss to Wake Forest
Pleasant Surprise: Willie Shaw looks to have his shooting stroke back
(6/14 from behind the arc).
Disappointment: Hatten is averaging a hefty 18 shots per game in 33
minutes. He may have been infected with Omar Cook disease.
Impact Freshmen: Elijah Ingram has already made a huge impact, averaging
14 points per game and shooting 42% from three point range. Like most freshman,
Ingram is turning the ball over quite a bit (3 per game) but those numbers should
decline as the season moves along.
Outlook: In Sharif Fordham and Donald Emanuel, the Red Storm lost two
solid players, but they will not leave gaping holes in the team's rotation.
Ingram should more than make up for the scoring of both players. With the
addition of Ingram and the reemergence of Willie Shaw, St. John's will have
three legitimate outside scoring threats. Meanwhile, Glover and Kyle Cuffe
should be adequate in a conference without much inside talent. All this adds
up to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament bid for St. John's in 2003.
3.
'01-'02 Big East Rank |
Field Goal % | 3 |
Free Throw % | 2 |
3-point % | 2 |
Rebounding +/- | 3 |
Turnover +/- | 13 |
Much like St. John's, Villanova improved last year after the loss of their star player,
Mike Bradley. Like Omar Cook, Bradley put up some gaudy statistics, but never really
embraced the team concept. Last year, the Wildcats spread the offensive wealth among
four players who averaged ten points per game or better. Three of those players
returned this season - guards Gary Buchanan and Derrick Snowden and forward Ricky
Wright. Buchanan should again be the Wildcats top offensive weapon and could improve
on his 17.8 ppg average of a year ago. Buchanan is also one of the nation's best free
throw shooters at 91%. Villanova will also benefit from a recruiting class widely
regarded as one of the ten best in the country. According to The Sporting News,
Villanova signed four of the top 70 recruits coming out of last year's senior class.
Among them is 6'10" forward Jason Fraser who is Villanova's first McDonald's
All-American since Tim Thomas in 1997.
Pre-Christmas record: 5-4, including a win over Michigan State and losses
to Marquette and Penn.
Pleasant Surprise: The freshmen are all contributing in a big way. Guards
Allan Ray (not to be confused with Ray Allen) and Randy Foye and forward Jason Fraser
are averaging 29 points per game combined. Ricky Wright is shooting 56% from the field
through nine games.
Disappointment: The Wildcats would love to return to the NCAA Tournament
for the first time since 1999, but with four losses already that goal will be an uphill
battle.
Impact Freshmen: As I mentioned above, Villanova has four impact freshmen
in Ray, Foye, Fraser and, to a lesser extent, forward Curtis Sumpter. Fraser will be
the key among these four newcomers because Villanova is very weak at the power forward
and center positions.
Outlook: Villanova could be a solid team by the end of the year as the
freshmen mature and blend their skills with the veterans. The mix of raw young talent
and experienced veterans will make Villanova dangerous in February and March. With
four non-conference losses already and a game at Memphis on the horizon, the Wildcats
may need to win 10 Big East games to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament. I think
they will come up a bit short this season, but the future could not be brighter for
Jay Wright's team.
4.
'01-'02 Big East Rank |
Field Goal % | 7 |
Free Throw % | 1 |
3-point % | 5 |
Rebounding +/- | 12 |
Turnover +/- | 4 |
The Miami Hurricanes limped to the finish last season after a surprising 14-0 start.
Still, the Hurricanes won an impressive 24 games and finished second the Big East's
East Division. In fact, over the past four years, only Connecticut has won more Big
East games than the Hurricanes (UConn is 47-19, Miami 46-20). The Canes lost three
starters from last season in Marcus Barnes, Elton Tyler and John Salmons. The trio
contributed 37 points per game, a number that Miami will be hard-pressed to replace.
Miami does, however, return two excellent starting forwards in Junior Darius Rice
(15 ppg, 6 rebounds/game) and Senior James Jones (13 ppg, 6 reb/gm). Production
beyond Jones and Rice remains a big question mark eight games into the 2002-2003
campaign. So far, Freshman guard Robert Hite has been Miami's third leading scorer
with 8.4 points per game. No other Hurricane is averaging better than 6 points per
game. Like Pittsburgh, Miami will move into a new on-campus arena this season.
Pre-Christmas record: 4-4, with losses in four of their last five games.
In other words, not good.
Pleasant Surprise: Freshman Robert Hite has chipped in with 8.4 points
and 4.9 rebounds per game in the early going. Senior Rafael Berumen is shooting 56%
from the field and 82% from the free throw line in limited time.
Disappointment: Junior guard Michael Simmons has made just 25% of his
field goal attempts and has only 18 assists in eight games.
Impact Freshmen: Hite is making a solid impact, though not on the same
level as Craig Smith, Carmelo Anthony, Torin Francis or Elijah Ingram.
Outlook: Miami has clearly taken a major step back after winning 24 games
last year. Jones and Rice will fill up the basket, but the Canes will struggle to
find offense from the other positions. With four non-conference losses already,
the NIT may be Miami's most likely destination
5.
'01-'02 Big East Rank |
Field Goal % | 10 |
Free Throw % | 5 |
3-point % | 8 |
Rebounding +/- | 9 |
Turnover +/- | 5 |
For a full preview of the BC Eagles, please check out our season preview.
Pre-Christmas record: 6-2, with wins over St. Bonaventure and Iowa State
and costly losses to Holy Cross and St. Joseph's.
Pleasant Surprise: Craig Smith. The freshman from Los Angeles has shown
amazing abilities in the early stages of his college career. Smith made 18
consecutive field goal attempts during one stretch and is shooting 66% from
the floor. At 6'8" and 260 pounds, Smith is also a solid rebounder, averaging
eight boards per game.
Disappointment: By far the biggest disappointment is the neck injury
suffered by forward Uka Agbai which may have ended the Senior's season, forcing
him to redshirt. Ryan Sidney's three-point shooting has been horrendous (1 for 17)
and outside of Bell, the Eagles' free throw shooting has been horrendous.
Impact Freshmen: Smith and possibly guard Louis Hinnant, who is averaging
5 points in 24 minutes per game.
Outlook: Last season, the Eagles finished 8-8 in Big East play, but earned
an NCAA bid while Georgetown and Syracuse did not mainly because BC played a much
more difficult non-conference schedule. This season, the Eagles have put themselves
into a difficult position with losses to Holy Cross and St. Joseph's and a bad loss
to Northeastern, so an 8-8 Big
East record will not put the Eagles into postseason play. The Eagles can win 9-10
Big East games but only if Troy Bell regains his shooting touch and if sophomores
Nate Doornekamp and Jermaine Watson contribute more than the 5.0 points per game
that they have during the first eight games of the season. The lack of defensive
intensity and short bench without Agbai has the Eagles looking like an NIT squad.
6.
'01-'02 Big East Rank |
Field Goal % | 11 |
Free Throw % | 10 |
3-point % | 13 |
Rebounding +/- | 14 |
Turnover +/- | 1 |
The 2001-2002 season was one the Friars and their fans would like to forget. Key
injuries at inopportune times left Providence without much depth and it showed.
The Friars, who were in the NCAA Tournament in 2001, struggled to a 15-16 overall
record last year. The outlook for this season is much rosier, thanks to the healthy
return of Junior forwards Maris Laksa and Romuald Augustin, who have combined for 20
points per game in the early stages of the season. Both players pose a credible
three-point threat and have displayed that skill during the first seven games.
Returning starter, Sophomore Ryan Gomes will also provide offensive punch and
rebounding. Unfortunately, the injury bug again hit the Friars early in the season
as Abdul Mills injured a hip and has not played yet this season. The Friars also
lost one of the Big East's greatest point guards, John Linehan, to graduation after
what seemed like nine years at PC.
Pre-Christmas record: 4-3, including a loss to #3 Alabama
Pleasant Surprise: Sophomore Ryan Gomes has been on fire with three
consecutive double-doubles and a 19.1 ppg average. Gomes also appears to have
improved his rebounding, averaging 10.9 boards per game so far this season. Gomes
had 21 points and 12 rebounds against #3 Alabama.
Disappointment: 6'10" Junior center Marcus Douthit has only 7 baskets and
20 rebounds and has averaged only 10 minutes per game. Mills' injury is certainly a
major concern for Coach Tim Welsh.
Impact Freshmen: 6'4" point guard Donnie McGrath has started all seven games
and is leading the Friars in minutes played. He is averaging 8.6 points and 5.3
assists per game and has a solid 2.6 assist to turnover ratio.
Outlook: Even with the emergence of Gomes and the healthy return of Laksa,
the Friars will have a difficult time returning to the NCAA Tourney in 2003. The loss
of Linehan is simply too great a hole to fill at this point. Look the Friars to be
an NIT invite in March.
7.
'01-'02 Big East Rank |
Field Goal % | 9 |
Free Throw % | 8 |
3-point % | 6 |
Rebounding +/- | 1 |
Turnover +/- | 14 |
The Hokies ended last season on somewhat of a high note after a dismal 0-9 Big East
start. Virginia Tech won four of its final seven Big East games, but could not escape
the Big East East Division basement at 4-12. The good news for the Hokies is that
they return four starters from last season's squad, including three-point specialist
Brian Chase and slender leading scorer Carlos Dixon (12.2 ppg).
Pre-Christmas record: 5-5, with losses to William & Mary, Wofford and East
Carolina. Ouch!
Pleasant Surprise: Sophomore center Dimari Thompkins has started seven
games, averaging 6.6 points and 4.5 rebounds.
Disappointment: The Hokies have had virtually no contribution from the
freshman class. Philip McCandies is the leading Frosh scorer averaging only 3.7 ppg
while averaging 14 minutes.
Impact Freshmen: So far the Hokies have not seen much production from the
incoming class, but this may change as the season moves along. Athletic 6'6" swingman
Fabian Davis is considered Tech's top 2002 recruit.
Outlook: Last year, VA Tech's basketball team won two more games (10)
than its football team (8). If the Hokies can beat Air Force in the San Francisco
Bowl and grab their tenth win, my money will be on the football team this year.