
The Cycle
Aug 30, 2009 Oct 02, 2011 14 29
My name is Keith Stewart and I'm a recent graduate from Seton Hall, from the Class of 2008 as a Communications major.
Before joining the South Orange Juice community, I began the sports blog The Cycle (which is the website you can click on here on my page). If you went to Seton Hall around 2007 and watched Pirate TV, The Cycle was the sports talk show on the network. I was part of the production both off-camera and as an analyst. When thinking of a name for my first blog, The Cycle just came to me and since it stopped being produced, this would give the name extended life. The Cycle is place you can go for any sports topic, not just Seton Hall basketball.
Back in January, I was given the opportunity to join South Orange Juice and it has allowed me to maintain a focused attention at my alma mater to which I'll be thankful for the opportunity to our editor.
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BREAKING NEWS: SETON HALL TO LEAVE THE BIG EAST FOR THE A-10.
A source close to the school under the condition of anonymity told me today that Seton Hall will leave the Big East following the 2011-12 season along with DePaul for the Atlantic 10. It's going to be a trade as Xavier and Temple will both be moving to the Big East. This is obviously not the news new coach Kevin Willard wanted to hear as after three days of recruiting, he now can no longer use playing in the Big East and at MSG every year for the tournament as a selling point. This news also should frustrate Seton Hall students, alums and fans who no longer can be guaranteed of a tourney bid if they win 20+ games. I, for one, have expected this to happen for many years already since the Big East is too big, but I didn't expect a trade off with the A-10 powers. I will further analyze this news after the jump.
Bubble Watch for Thursday March 11th
Yesterday, it was almost a given that Seton Hall was heading to the NIT. The three of us who write for this site were all ready to bury the NCAA chances for our beloved Pirates following their 68-56 defeat Wednesday night. After today, I know I'm not ready to put the Hall back in the tournament, but it has been a good day for the Pirates. Here's a recap for the day on the bubble and why Seton Hall is in better shape.
-There was a massacre in the Conference USA tournament as both Memphis (RPI: 46, SOS: 64) and UAB (RPI: 40, SOS: 87) lost their quarterfinal matchups. For Memphis, it was heartbreaking as they lost to Houston 66-65. The nation's leading scorer Aubrey Coleman hit a leaner with 5 seconds left and the ensuing possession, Willie Kemp was called for a carry with 0.8 left. A Cougar started celebrating and left the bench, but there was no technical foul was called. Meanwhile, it was much more clear cut in Southern Mississippi's win over UAB 58-44 as the Blazers basically couldn't hit free throws at all. UAB was in trouble when Memphis lost because they would of needed a win over the Tigers to avoid having to win the tournament. As long as UTEP wins the conference tourney, there should only be the one bid and all bubble teams hope that happens.
-Second big result of the night, Arizona State (RPI: 54, SOS: 80) lost in their opening game of the Pac-10 tournament. The Stanford Cardinal took it to the Sun Devils, winning 70-61. After being the punching bag of the nation, the Pac-10 suddenly had a chance at two or three tourney teams with the successes of Cal, Washington and ASU. They can now only have two with the Sun Devils loss. Also, Washington (PRI: 51, SOS: 70) is hurt by this game as they can't get the win over ASU to give the committee another good win. Fortunately for them, the Huskies were able to overcome a 12 point deficit with a 20-2 second half run to beat Oregon State 59-52, and keep their bubble hopes alive, but will need to continue winning. Now, they must make the Finals and may still need that game. Of course, if UW needs that game, it might not be good for Seton Hall either.
Follow the jump for the rest of the bubble breakdown.
Big East Tourney Seeding Scenarios
I've been wanting to post something like this for a while, but there was too much time to have an idea on how the Big East Tournament would set itself up as. Finally, after a bubble-saving win by Seton Hall and a buzzer-beating three by Pitt, we're down to one game left for each team in the conference. Thus, there finally is a pattern emerging for the five days in NY. Here's how the league shakes down with a weekend of basketball remaining.
Double Byes: Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia, Pittsburgh
With Ashton Gibbs three at the buzzer, Pitt locked up the fourth and final double bye in the Big East. Marquette loses out because they lost to both WVU and Pitt. Syracuse locked up the top seed with their win Tuesday against St. John's and go into Louisville Saturday with nothing to play for, except top seed in the entire NCAA tournament. Villanova and WVU play on Saturday for the 2nd seed and Nova would get it if they win. If Nova wins, Pitt would then get the 3rd seed if they win their game against Rutgers and would still get it if they lose since they win their tiebreaker with WVU. The nightmare scenario is if WVU wins, which means the 2nd seed would be determined by where Georgetown and Notre Dame finish. If Pitt joins the Mountaineers and WIldcats at 13-5. Pitt would win a tiebreaker between WVU and Villanova, who are 3rd and 4th, respectively.
Single Byes: Marquette, Louisville
Both the Golden Eagles and Cardinals have locked up one bye and will start on Wednesday at MSG. Marquette is the 5 seed, so they could be set for an early tourney run, but could also face UConn, which would ratchet up a challenge in that case. Louisville would be the sixth seed if they win, or finished tied with ND. If they are tied with Georgetown, then the Cardinals are the seventh seed behind the Hoyas. If Louisville, Georgetown and Notre Dame are tied, then the complex three-way tiebreaker appears, which looks to favor Louisville.
Alive for a Bye: Georgetown, Notre Dame, South Florida, Seton Hall
Here's the group that Seton Hall falls into. Their best chance at a bye in the Big East tourney is if they win, USF loses, and ND loses. South Florida is in a similar boat with Georgetown, needing a SHU loss to help them get the bye. Obviously, if Georgetown and Notre Dame win, they have a bye, of which ND is the 7th seed and the Hoyas are 8th (assuming Louisville wins). Should that happen, SHU needs a win and a USF loss to get the 9th seed and DePaul in round one. With multi-team ties, Seton Hall would need Pitt to finish close to the top of the league based on the tiebreaker, particularly if ND is involved. There's a chance here for a four-way tie, which Seton Hall ends as the 10th seed behind ND, Georgetown and USF.
The rest:
UConn can move past South Florida with a win in Tampa and losses by both Cincinnati and Seton Hall. The Bearcats, however, would have to have UConn win to move up, since any tiebreaker that benefits Cincy includes their two wins over the Huskies. If the Big East still only sent 12 teams to NY, Rutgers, St. John's, Providence and DePaul would be eliminated already. Rutgers would be 13th if they win or Providence loses. St. John's needs a win and Rutgers loss to be 13th, while they could fall to 15th if they lose and the Friars win. Providence gets the 13th seed if they win and Rutgers loses. As mentioned earlier, DePaul is the 16th seed once again.
What this means for Seton Hall?
This means that the Pirates can finish as high as 8th if they are tied with Notre Dame. They'll be 9th if they are tied with Georgetown or are 9-9 alone. They are 10th if South Florida wins, regardless if Cincy wins. They are 11th if they lose, and UConn wins and can still be 12th if they lose and both UConn and Cincy win.
Adam Zagoria: Hazell Cleared to Play
According to Adam Zagoria, Jeremy Hazell will be cleared for tomorrow's game against West Virginia. Even though the Pirates won without him against St. John's, the Mountaineers are much better and the Hall will need every weapon at its disposal. With Eugene Harvey likely back as well, hopefully the Pirates will finish the job from earlier this season. We'll keep you posted.
Halftime Notes: Seton Hall 49, Notre Dame 39
Sometimes, there's no place like home.
After struggling mightily on the road the past three games, Seton Hall has come back to the Rock to lead Notre Dame by ten after one half of play. This half for the most part was a back and forth affair; when one side was turning the ball over, so would the other. Then they would trade three's. The Pirates would break this trend by ending the half on a 21-10 run, with success with both Jeremy Hazell on and off the floor.
Hazell has bounced back thus far with 17 PTS tonight and he's made a much bigger impact, obviously than he did on Saturday. Disclaimer: ESPN's game page isn't up-to-minute and I can't give you complete stats for every player.
His superstar counterpart, Luke Harangody, has been in some foul trouble and finished the half with 6 points on 1 for 5 shooting. Jeff Robinson was playing better than him with a couple of jumpers in Harangody's face. Interesting note: Brendan Prunty tweeted that our student section chanted "Shrek" when he was at the line, not sure why myself.
Notre Dame was very sloppy with 9 turnovers when they average 10 a game. They also had mental blip and intentionally fouled Harvey on a fast break.
Seton Hall cleaned up as the half progressed and had a lot of key contributors. Stix Mitchell hit a pair of big 3PT shots when Hazell sat down, Lawrence started to use his speed to make plays after some frustrating jumpers we have come to expect. JT came off the bench tonight and also made a couple of jumpers. Pleasant surprise.
The second half has started, let's hope the Pirates can keep up the good work and keep Harangody from taking over down in the post.
Keys to the Seton Hall/Villanova Tussle
No need to call this one a huge game as the Pirates head down to Philly to take on the No. 2 Wildcats. After losing that horrible game to South Florida, the Hall is in need of another season-defining win and one over a once-beaten Villanova squad qualifies and, honestly, erases the bitter defeat, at least in my eyes. A loss, and the Pirates would have to wait for either their rematches with Pitt and/or West Virginia for that resume-building win. Enough talk, here's what Seton Hall needs to do to win tonight.
1. They must somehow contain Scottie Reynolds. Big shock, I'm sure everyone reading this says the same thing. Which only makes it more important to slow him down. Keon Lawrence had one of his best defensive games slowing down Dominique Jones and now should have the chance to do the same here. Make Reynolds take difficult shots, fight through screens, and deny as much as possible.
2. Bobby G. needs to return Jeff Robinson to the starting lineup. In a night of many bad decisions by the Pirates, it all started Thursday when Gonzo started Jeff Garcia instead of J-Rob. Despite a 7-1 start, it wasn't sustained and as you can expect, Garcia had very little in terms of stats. Robinson has been the most consistent of the transfers (yes, including Herb Pope) and having him and Pope up front allows Seton Hall to funnel the offense inside-out better since neither guy is the liability that Garcia is.
Chances for the NCAA Tournament
Before tonight's loss to South Florida, this was what I thought Seton Hall needed to do to make the tournament. Win their four home games, and beat the Bulls and Rutgers on the road. Even if they lost to St. John's and/or Providence, they still would probably need to win one or two Big East Tourney games.
Now? They have to now get a win on the road against any of Villanova, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and probably have to get one of St. John's and/or Providence, along with the four home games and Rutgers. They still can do it, but not if they play like they did tonight.
Halftime Notes: Seton Hall 28, South Florida 27
After a very disjointed first half, Seton Hall leads South Florida 28-27. The Pirates started quickly with a 7-1 lead, but more or less played a lackluster half, missing on key opportunities to have a larger lead. The main culprits were their inside scoring and free throw shooting. Seton Hall had so much trouble scoring in the post, whether they drove the lane, set up inside or hitting their offensive put backs, leading to 32 percent shooting from the floor. Herb Pope's first half is indicative, as he had 0 PTS/ 9REB. As for FT shooting, the Pirates shot 58 percent from the stripe, not very good at all.
Jeremy Hazell was the best Pirate by default since he scored 11 PTS adding a REB/STL/BLK each. South Florida did try to avoid letting him beat them, but Hazell was able to shake them off a few times and for the most part is taking good shots.
Jordan Theodore was again the best Pirate PG on offense, scoring 4 PTS/3 REB/1AST. However, he slowed down as the half ended. Keon Lawrence once again wasn't that good shooting the ball, but was assigned to Dominique Jones and held the Bulls star to 6 PTS on 3 of 6 shooting. Lawrence did have an impressive drive and finger roll finish to go along with a beautiful assist as his lone highlights.
South Florida was more efficient on offense and was able to move the ball around better than the Pirates did.
SHUBigEBall10 added about the Bulls play, "USF is looking to exploit the size differential of Theodore, interesting to see how Bobby adjusts to this. Also, the Bulls need to keep up their defensive intensity to have a chance in this game."
Great job by ESPN2 to showcase our guys at WSOU, in which their call on Hazell's give and go three was terrific.
Second half has started, hopefully the Pirates can up the intensity and pick up this road win.
BREAKING NEWS-Joe Quinlan and Seton Hall Set to Part Ways
According to Jerry Carino (and tweeted by Paul Tyahla), Joe Quinlan is about to no longer be Seton Hall's AD. This appears to be the end of a tenure which the men's basketball team has only made the NCAA's once; his first season. This was also a tenure which the entire athletic program was particularly weak, as women's basketball, baseball and soccer weren't successful. Carino writes:
Four sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that Quinlan’s contract was not renewed when it expired in September, and that he has been working on an "at-will" basis this year, which is unusual for someone in his position. A potential landing pad is Loyola (Md.), where he began his career as sports information director from 1984-86. Loyola’s longtime AD, Joseph Boylan, is retiring in July. A search is underway.
To be honest, this is a good day for Seton Hall, because the tenure of Quinlan was not a successful one at the very least. There's a Facebook group calling for his ouster, created while I was still an undergrad. It also ends a battle of wills between Quinlan and Bobby Gonzalez, which turned into Gonzo's favor after signing a contract extension before the season.
However, now is a huge dilemma for the Pirates as they not only have to bring in an athletic director who will allow Gonzalez to continue to build the program into a real program, but needs one who can help the other sports to experience some success. Remember, Seton Hall used to have a baseball program that developed players such as Matt Morris, Mo Vaughn and Craig Biggio. Why can't Seton Hall have a baseball program like that again? Those in charge at Seton Hall can't take this search for a new AD lightly or the ramifications that will result will lead to a worse era of Seton Hall athletics. Perhaps a Rutgers-like NCAA drought would result on the wrong person. The right person, however, can help bring this program back to late-80s, early 90s levels of success.
Halftime Notes: Seton Hall 46, Louisville 36
After a terrible performance against Georgetown, Seton Hall played the first half much better against Louisville back at home. Offensively, the Pirates haven't played this well since Big East play started as they shot 59 percent from the floor and moved the ball as well as they have all season. They played mediocre defense against a lesser Cardinals squad from last year's Big East champs, though picked their spots and forced the usual turnovers. The best thing you can say about the Pirates in the half was they didn't have the lulls that have typified this team all season long. It was a 40 minute effort, which the Pirates looked for good shots and crashed the boards as well as they have all year.
-Last week, I wondered if Seton Hall was capable of starting fast, instead of going down early and burning an early timeout, before frantically trying to comeback. Tonight, the Pirates started the game with a 12-4 run, causing Rick Pitino to call the early timeout.
-Jeremy Hazell played an entirely different half tonight than his game down in D.C. Last week, Hazell only cared about shooting. Tonight, his all-around game is much better with 3REB/1AST/2STL. He scored 15PTS and took his circus shots, but he's been hitting them, shooting 6 for 7, and 3 for 4 behind the arc.
-For once, Herb Pope was able to avoid foul trouble, scoring 10PTS/5REB, however, that doesn't begin to state his impact on the floor. His fellow big, Jeff Robinson, was also superb, scoring 6PTS/4REB.
-One of the issues facing Seton Hall in recent weeks has been their point guard play. Tonight, Keon Lawrence, Jordan Theodore and Eugene Harvey have all played well in spurts. Lawrence set the tone early, playing the role of facilitator on offense, though his 3PTS/AST don't tell his story. Theodore picked up the slack when Lawrence got into foul trouble, using his speed to make plays on both sides of the ball, adding 8PTS/2AST. Harvey would finish the half, adding 2REB/2AST. Late in the quarter, Harvey drove the lane with the shot-clock winding down and instead of going for a tough layup, he found an open Pope for the two. Smart play by all three PGs.
-Louisville has tried to press the Pirates, but it hasn't worked at all, which is not a huge surprise since Seton Hall sees the press everyday in practice. Meanwhile, the Pirates haven't pressed as much, picking their spots and making plays when they did.
-The Cardinals did shoot 54 percent from the field, but they were only 2 for 6 from three, while Seton Hall was 5 for 10 behind the arc. Free throws also tell the story as Seton Hall is outshooting them at the stripe 88% to 55%. Even Pope made both of his free throws.
-The crowd looks weaker than it was in the West Virginia game. Unfortunately, I can barely hear the student section with the ESPN telecast.
-As long as the Pirates can continue playing well in the half-court, they should be able to hang on here. Enjoy the second half.
Post-Game Thoughts: Georgetown 85, Seton Hall 73
Tonight's Post-Game Thoughts were covered by Keith Stewart, thecycle.
Editor's notes, posted by Gonzo Ball editor, Bob Yelenak, will appear in italics -- like such.
-Rough night at the Phone Booth
BY: Defense was optional for the Pirates (10-6, 1-4) tonight as the Georgetown Hoyas (13-2, 4-1) shot 70% en route to a 12 point victory at the Verizon Center. Seriously, 70% shooting. If a defense is going to give up buckets at that rate, there's really no reason to play the game. The contest was not nearly as close as the final score portrays as Jeremy Hazell cleaned up in mop-up duty, checking in with 1:20 remaining to hit two 3PT buckets.
-Seton Hall played it's worst game of their young Big East schedule as Georgetown dominated in every facet of the game (except, shocking, free throw shooting). At one point in the second half the Pirates tried to make a game of it. A 14-2 run turned a certain blowout into a possible comeback, despite the Pirates seemingly committing a foul on every Hoya possession. Trailing by only 7 points with 7 minutes remaining, the Pirates fouled Jason Clark who hit both throws. On the following possession a block by Greg Monroe on a Ferrakohn Hall shot led to a follow up score by Chris Wright. That effectively ended it as the Hoyas lead by 11 points and Seton Hall wouldn't get under double digits for the remainder of the game.
-Georgetown finished the game shooting a season-high 69.8 percent from the floor as Seton Hall played this game like they didn't believe in half-court defense. When they attempted their full-court press, it was routinely broken by the Hoyas. The Hoyas were also 7-of-11 from behind the arc, while the Pirates were 3-of-14, however abandoned the 3PT shot a bit in the second half as Jeremy Hazell saw extended minutes on the bench.
-It wasn't a coincidence that the Pirates had their 14-2 run while Hazell sat the bench for the majority of it. He was awful tonight, despite finishing with 17PTS, he contributed 0AST/0REB/0BLK/1STL/0TO. When Hazell is too focused on scoring his points, his game and the Pirates offense both suffer.
-Once again, Herb Pope was hurt by foul early foul trouble as he picked up his 2nd foul with 6:54 remaining in the first half. At that point, Bobby decided to leave him on the floor and like clockwork, Pope picked up his third just a minute later. He finished with 6PTS/10REBS/2AST/4TO. Getting in foul trouble forced him to play timid as he finished the game without blocking a shot tonight. Meanwhile, I continue to be impressed by Jeff Robinson, who scored 10PTS/3REB/3STL off the bench.
-Eugene Harvey really only played well during the second half run, but tended to drive a bit too much, as he wasn't finding his teammates, finishing with 0AST. Keon Lawrence was our best point guard yet again with 6PTS/4AST/2REB/2STL/1TO; not exactly great numbers, but at least he's distributing the ball. Jordan Theodore scored eight points tonight, but those were a very quiet eight points on 2-of-7 shooting.
BY: The point guard play has been horrendous as of late. Tonight was no exception. The trio finished on 7-of-19 shooting, a pretty bad percentage, right? Consider this, all 7 buckets were converted layups. The other 8 attempts? Missed jump shots and layups. The Hall point guards didn't hit one jumper tonight, think about that for a minute.
-One thing to say about the Hoyas, they have a tremendous starting five and seem to fit with J.T. III's offense. Monroe, Wright, Clark, Austin Freeman and Julian Vaughn compete very hard and they got their revenge for last year's loss at The Rock.
BY: Their guard play tonight was the polar opposite of the Pirates as Chris Wright and Jason Clark were good for 21 and 20, respectively, with Wright dropping 7 dimes along the way.
-Random thought: I hope everyone got sick of this law angle that Len Elmore and Mike Patrick kept harping on. We get it, it's Washington D.C. and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was a Seton Hall Law professor. Everyone who went to Seton Hall knows this since he always came up in Seton Hall's frontpage in the 'Did You Know' section. We don't need to spend half the telecast on this.
BY: Imagine if Judge Napolitano was in the house as well? It would have been trouble for the players on the court.
-Final thought: Once again, opportunity was there for Seton Hall to gain a big win to help their chances for a NCAA berth and they failed. This was supposed to be the year where Bobby Gonzalez takes this team to the next level. Their transfers are playing, the team finally has size and depth, yet it's just not clicking. Now, we must wonder if the NIT can be an option this season, however, if the Pirates don't make it to the NCAA's, will Bobby Gonzalez have to pay for this failure? Louis Orr had a much better record and made two tourney appearances and still wasn't deemed good enough to coach Seton Hall.
BY: The hopes of an NCAA tournament berth are quickly slipping away as a 1-4 Big East start will do that to a team. It's true, the Pirates needed this game, they needed to secure a big victory, especially a road victory, sooner than later. It's going to have to wait, if it's going to happen at all this season. To be fair on the Bobby Gonzalez subject, whether the Pirates make a postseason tournament or not, he's going to be safe. The administration made that clear this off-season in the form of a three year contract extension. It's not really fair to compare Gonzo and Orr. Louis Orr had some success with the Pirates and may have been treated a bit unfairly at the end of his tenure, however, it was clear Orr wasn't cut out for recruiting in the New York-New Jersey area. Trust me, regardless what we want to pin on Gonzo thus far this season, he's going to be safe when it's said and done.
Georgetown 44, Seton Hall 28 Halftime Notes
-Worst performance of the season by the Pirates. This must be what it's like to watch a team steal the ball from you every chance they get. Seton Hall continues to have it's troubles when they have the ball, however, every single time the Hoyas made a play on defense, they scored. For a short time, the Pirates closed the gap to eight, but the Hoyas ended the half on a 12-4 run. Georgetown also put together a 15-0 run early in the game when Seton Hall was ahead, 7-6.
-Random thought: How come Seton Hall always starts games slow? It seems like they always put themselves in an early enough hole to start wasting timeouts early. Then, when they have to have timeouts in close games in the final four minutes, they never have enough.
-Once again, Herb Pope is in foul trouble. He ended the half with 4 points and 5 boards. With him in foul trouble, along with the tunrovers, the Hoyas have scored 28 of their points inside.
-Georgetown is shooting 16 of 23 for 69.6 percent from the floor. Seton Hall is 10 of 26 for 38.5 percent. You don't win games with that much differential. Ditto when you're -3 in turnover margin as well.
-One good sign for the Pirates, they hit 7 of 8 free throws, after going 21-24 against Cincinnati. Let's hope they turned a corner on the free throw shooting.
-None of Bobby Gonzalez point guards have played well. Jordon Theodore has been irratic, while Eugene Harvey and Keon Lawrence have been non-existent.
-Down 16, let's see if the Pirates can improve their play. They need to be strong with the ball and more attentive on the defensive end. Hopefully, Jeremy Hazell can finally decide to start playing, since after making the first shot of the game, he's been invisible.
Trouble Brewing for Fred?
From time to time, we must take a look at how are rivals have been faring as of late. Rutgers is now mired in their own four game losing streak, which with a loss to Providence makes theirs not as strong as ours was. They stand at 9-6 and are floundering. Just as you say it can't be worse, now there are more and more rumors of players leaving coach Fred Hill and transferring out. It started with Greg Echenique, now there's a rumor of Mike Rosario ready to leave New Brunswick. Then, I read this latest post from fellow Seton Hall fan blog Setonia of something former Scarlet Knight J.R. Inman supposedly wrote on Facebook about coach Hill. If this is real, it's one of the most scathing attacks I've ever heard about a coach.
I've always thought Fred Hill is vastly overrated. When he was hired, most everyone loved the move since he has been a proven recruiter back in the Tommy Amaker Era and at Villanova. He even worked some of that magic at Rutgers when he signed Rosario, the first McDonald's All-American to play for Rutgers. One problem, he can't coach at all. Now that doesn't stop guys like Rick Barnes from having great teams despite shortcomings with X's and O's, but based on how everyone seems right to jump ship, Hill is failing to put out competitive teams. Unless Rutgers can turn it around, I see no way that Hill still has a job. Of course, Norm Roberts is still coaching St. John's, so you never know (he probably has to win this year, but that's been said since 2007). However, I've never heard anyone say a bad word about Roberts personally, while if more players have the opinion of Fred Hill that Inman has, then even he can't talk his way out of the chopping block or continue to become irrelevant in the Big East and on their own campus.
What To Make of the Pirates?
With the loss to Virginia Tech in Cancun Saturday night, Seton Hall has now dropped three in a row and four in five games. Each of these games were winnable for the Pirates as they gave West Virginia and Syracuse trouble at the Rock and could have beaten both Temple and Va Tech. However, you don't make the NCAA Tournament with good efforts in losses (and Saturday's game I question their first-half effort). Add the fact that the non-conference schedule was a box of cupcakes and you clearly have to be concerned if this team has any hope to be playing deep in March.
During the unbeaten streak to start the season, aside from the near-debacle against St. Peters, the Pirates proved to be a top scoring team and for once, didn't lose games that they shouldn't be, unlike past years against the James Madison's and IUPUI's of the world. They finally have talent up front with Herb Pope and have depth now with all the transfers Bobby Gonzalez recruited playing. I think we can all agree that when we saw Seton Hall win the "How Is That Not a Foul?" Game in Cornell, that they looked impressive against a good team in a tough environment.
Now, the schedule has become tougher and while teasing us in these games, ultimately the same problems exist for this team: inconsistent FG shooting and poor FT shooting. The free throw shooting is inexcusable, especially from guys like Jordan Theodore and Jamel Jackson. Despite the fact we always look at the missed free throws as make-or-break, good teams can overcome that weakness. They can't, however, overcome poor offensive efficiency, especially in the Big East, where defensive play still rules. Shooting below 40 percent will not cut it in Big East play, no matter how many opportunities you get because of your defense. That's the rub for a team that likes to pressure; they need to hit their shots. Otherwise, you don't score as much as the press will give up. And that's precisely what we are seeing from Seton Hall.
Tonight, the Pirates head up to Storrs to face UConn, followed by an absolute must-win game (not saying UConn isn't) against Cincinnati at Newark Saturday night. It is a must-win because Seton Hall has only Cornell on the road to hang their hat on for a quality win and that's simply not enough. We knew they could be very good this year, now it's time to prove it.
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