With it 42 days before the season, practice have begun. It's about time!

(09-23-2024 03:02 PM)stever20 Wrote:  With it 42 days before the season, practice have begun. It's about time!

Can't wait! Happy UConn football is rolling and I have something to follow until then!

Now only 34 days to go! Can almost feel it getting closer now that we're in October.

I know this board is largely dead, but rather than make a new thread, I figured this would be a good thread to see if anyone wants to take a guess at how their starting line ups will look. I haven't kept up with every roster move, so I'm curious if there are position battles on certain teams I'm not aware of.

We have position battles everywhere except the starting 4 (Karaban.) But here is my best guess as to who starts opening day:

Diarra
Ball
McNeeley
Karaban
Johnson

I'm least confident in the starting 2 and 5. I think Reed is probably the better overall player than Johnson, but Johnson has earned the right to start. If it's a push, the starting spot will go to Johnson. Could change by mid season or league play though. I think Ball gets the start for sitting so many games last year despite being talented enough to play. But Mahaney does seem to be more versatile, and we have other guys that could snatch the role from him too. I'd say I'm 60% confident Ball is the starter.

Stewart may grab the starting 3 spot from McNeeley. But I think his positional versatility will make him the 6th man.

Interested in seeing how y'all feel about your own rosters!

I'm actually kind of excited about DePaul hoops this season (I supposed because of the addition of Chris Holtmann). I'm curious to see how big man David Skogman (6-11, 240 and a transfer from Davidson) does.

On a somewhat related note, I just learned the Holy Land of Hoops site will cease functioning at year's end. Unfortunate.

(10-01-2024 06:03 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'm actually kind of excited about DePaul hoops this season (I supposed because of the addition of Chris Holtmann). I'm curious to see how big man David Skogman (6-11, 240 and a transfer from Davidson) does.

On a somewhat related note, I just learned the Holy Land of Hoops site will cease functioning at year's end. Unfortunate.

I'm actually really excited to see how DePaul does this year as well. Just having a new coach creates some optimism around the program that isn't typically there. Holtmann did well in the transfer portal too so I'm excited to see how the roster gels/fares in the Big East.

Never really used Holy Land but know that is the main Big East hoops forum... Perhaps we get an influx of posters here once it drops offline?

(10-02-2024 02:24 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(10-01-2024 06:03 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'm actually kind of excited about DePaul hoops this season (I supposed because of the addition of Chris Holtmann). I'm curious to see how big man David Skogman (6-11, 240 and a transfer from Davidson) does.

On a somewhat related note, I just learned the Holy Land of Hoops site will cease functioning at year's end. Unfortunate.

I'm actually really excited to see how DePaul does this year as well. Just having a new coach creates some optimism around the program that isn't typically there. Holtmann did well in the transfer portal too so I'm excited to see how the roster gels/fares in the Big East.

Never really used Holy Land but know that is the main Big East hoops forum... Perhaps we get an influx of posters here once it drops offline?

Maybe. But I'm not too hopeful. Somebody like stever20 would need to drive the traffic here.

Lots of posters on the realignment board and who are fans of Big East schools rarely (if ever) post on this BE board. No big deal. I don't post much here either. But it would be nice to see more activity than we have seen the past few basketball seasons. It's been rather slow.

Thanks for the positive vibes regarding DePaul. I would say "good luck" to UConn, but your Huskies winning so much is making the sport boring!! (Just kidding.)

(10-04-2024 04:09 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(10-02-2024 02:24 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(10-01-2024 06:03 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'm actually kind of excited about DePaul hoops this season (I supposed because of the addition of Chris Holtmann). I'm curious to see how big man David Skogman (6-11, 240 and a transfer from Davidson) does.

On a somewhat related note, I just learned the Holy Land of Hoops site will cease functioning at year's end. Unfortunate.

I'm actually really excited to see how DePaul does this year as well. Just having a new coach creates some optimism around the program that isn't typically there. Holtmann did well in the transfer portal too so I'm excited to see how the roster gels/fares in the Big East.

Never really used Holy Land but know that is the main Big East hoops forum... Perhaps we get an influx of posters here once it drops offline?

Maybe. But I'm not too hopeful. Somebody like stever20 would need to drive the traffic here.

Lots of posters on the realignment board and who are fans of Big East schools rarely (if ever) post on this BE board. No big deal. I don't post much here either. But it would be nice to see more activity than we have seen the past few basketball seasons. It's been rather slow.

Thanks for the positive vibes regarding DePaul. I would say "good luck" to UConn, but your Huskies winning so much is making the sport boring!! (Just kidding.)

In regards to the bolded, my thoughts exactly. I don't post on the boneyard or Holy Land, so I really only have this board to discuss Big East hoops with people. After being on the AAC board for so many years, it would be nice to have even a quarter of the traffic they used to get. Would definitely liven the discussion up a bit. It was basically you and I shooting the **** back and forth last season, we should have renamed the board "Nameless and the Dazzler" or something

And honestly, I'm surprised the UConn hate isn't in full swing already after winning back to back. If we 3peat hating us will be the norm, lol

(10-01-2024 12:39 PM)Nameless Wrote:  I know this board is largely dead, but rather than make a new thread, I figured this would be a good thread to see if anyone wants to take a guess at how their starting line ups will look. I haven't kept up with every roster move, so I'm curious if there are position battles on certain teams I'm not aware of.

We have position battles everywhere except the starting 4 (Karaban.) But here is my best guess as to who starts opening day:

Diarra
Ball
McNeeley
Karaban
Johnson

I'm least confident in the starting 2 and 5. I think Reed is probably the better overall player than Johnson, but Johnson has earned the right to start. If it's a push, the starting spot will go to Johnson. Could change by mid season or league play though. I think Ball gets the start for sitting so many games last year despite being talented enough to play. But Mahaney does seem to be more versatile, and we have other guys that could snatch the role from him too. I'd say I'm 60% confident Ball is the starter.

Stewart may grab the starting 3 spot from McNeeley. But I think his positional versatility will make him the 6th man.

Interested in seeing how y'all feel about your own rosters!

I'll add some information on Creighton. The starting lineup was from The White and Blue Review: https://whiteandbluereview.com/creighton...ober-2024/

Projected Starting Lineup:

Ashworth
Isaacs
Neal
Green
Kalkbrenner

I'm super excited to have Kalkbrenner back

Assuming this lineup is correct, I'm happy to see Green work his way into the starting rotation. I really liked watching him play. Sucks for a player like Miller, who has stayed with the team for so long and improved a lot to lose his starting role. But at least he is losing it to another player who has been with the program for a while and not a transfer who was recruited over him.

(10-08-2024 07:50 PM)pjm.2021 Wrote:  

(10-01-2024 12:39 PM)Nameless Wrote:  I know this board is largely dead, but rather than make a new thread, I figured this would be a good thread to see if anyone wants to take a guess at how their starting line ups will look. I haven't kept up with every roster move, so I'm curious if there are position battles on certain teams I'm not aware of.

We have position battles everywhere except the starting 4 (Karaban.) But here is my best guess as to who starts opening day:

Diarra
Ball
McNeeley
Karaban
Johnson

I'm least confident in the starting 2 and 5. I think Reed is probably the better overall player than Johnson, but Johnson has earned the right to start. If it's a push, the starting spot will go to Johnson. Could change by mid season or league play though. I think Ball gets the start for sitting so many games last year despite being talented enough to play. But Mahaney does seem to be more versatile, and we have other guys that could snatch the role from him too. I'd say I'm 60% confident Ball is the starter.

Stewart may grab the starting 3 spot from McNeeley. But I think his positional versatility will make him the 6th man.

Interested in seeing how y'all feel about your own rosters!

I'll add some information on Creighton. The starting lineup was from The White and Blue Review: https://whiteandbluereview.com/creighton...ober-2024/

Projected Starting Lineup:

Ashworth
Isaacs
Neal
Green
Kalkbrenner

I'm super excited to have Kalkbrenner back

Assuming this lineup is correct, I'm happy to see Green work his way into the starting rotation. I really liked watching him play. Sucks for a player like Miller, who has stayed with the team for so long and improved a lot to lose his starting role. But at least he is losing it to another player who has been with the program for a while and not a transfer who was recruited over him.

Kalkbrenner has been a force for years, but he's going to be really tough this year. He's a grown man at this point, think he will control a lot of games.

I know there was a question in that link about who would replace the scoring of Trey Alexander and Scheirman (I know I botched that spelling.) Who do you think will step up, personally? To me, Ashworth and Kalkbrenner are probably the obvious choices, but curious what you think

(10-08-2024 09:57 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(10-08-2024 07:50 PM)pjm.2021 Wrote:  

(10-01-2024 12:39 PM)Nameless Wrote:  I know this board is largely dead, but rather than make a new thread, I figured this would be a good thread to see if anyone wants to take a guess at how their starting line ups will look. I haven't kept up with every roster move, so I'm curious if there are position battles on certain teams I'm not aware of.

We have position battles everywhere except the starting 4 (Karaban.) But here is my best guess as to who starts opening day:

Diarra
Ball
McNeeley
Karaban
Johnson

I'm least confident in the starting 2 and 5. I think Reed is probably the better overall player than Johnson, but Johnson has earned the right to start. If it's a push, the starting spot will go to Johnson. Could change by mid season or league play though. I think Ball gets the start for sitting so many games last year despite being talented enough to play. But Mahaney does seem to be more versatile, and we have other guys that could snatch the role from him too. I'd say I'm 60% confident Ball is the starter.

Stewart may grab the starting 3 spot from McNeeley. But I think his positional versatility will make him the 6th man.

Interested in seeing how y'all feel about your own rosters!

I'll add some information on Creighton. The starting lineup was from The White and Blue Review: https://whiteandbluereview.com/creighton...ober-2024/

Projected Starting Lineup:

Ashworth
Isaacs
Neal
Green
Kalkbrenner

I'm super excited to have Kalkbrenner back

Assuming this lineup is correct, I'm happy to see Green work his way into the starting rotation. I really liked watching him play. Sucks for a player like Miller, who has stayed with the team for so long and improved a lot to lose his starting role. But at least he is losing it to another player who has been with the program for a while and not a transfer who was recruited over him.

Kalkbrenner has been a force for years, but he's going to be really tough this year. He's a grown man at this point, think he will control a lot of games.

I know there was a question in that link about who would replace the scoring of Trey Alexander and Scheirman (I know I botched that spelling.) Who do you think will step up, personally? To me, Ashworth and Kalkbrenner are probably the obvious choices, but curious what you think

I'd be stoked if Ashworth is able to replace their scoring, but I just have a feeling he won't be the one to replace those points. He's great at shooting the 3, but I just can't imagine him being able to create enough of his own shots (I'm really no basketball expert though, so watch me be totally wrong).

I am really high on Green. Obviously way too early to tell, but I really liked his drives to the basket last year, and if he has improved his 3-point shooting, which the article touches on, I think he could be a major scorer for us.

Then there is Fedor Zugic. There was a lot of hype when we signed him, and people seem to think we wouldn't have signed him unless Creighton was confident that NCAA would let him play. So first, we have to have the NCAA deem him eligible to play. My other hesitation is I remember a lot of hype with our last European player, Rati Andronikashvili, and he was an important part of those Creighton teams, but never a star.

And yes, Kalkbrenner could replace some of those lost points too. I'd actually be interested to see if King (or maybe even Traudt playing at the 5) can earn some more minutes, which would both give Kalkbrenner some rest and free him up to play more aggressively. I have to imagine that our need for him to play 35 minutes a game meant he was really focused on staying out of foul trouble.

guessing at some point in the next week or so we'll see the initial ratings coming out for the 24-25 season in KenPom.

I was looking back and last year they came out on October 13. So literally could be any day now.

So I edited my post at 6:17 ET.

They are out now-
5 UConn
12 Creighton
19 St John's
20 Villanova
22 Marquette
30 Xavier
60 Providence
83 Butler
88 Georgetown
91 Seton Hall
166 DePaul

(10-09-2024 07:10 PM)pjm.2021 Wrote:  

(10-08-2024 09:57 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(10-08-2024 07:50 PM)pjm.2021 Wrote:  

(10-01-2024 12:39 PM)Nameless Wrote:  I know this board is largely dead, but rather than make a new thread, I figured this would be a good thread to see if anyone wants to take a guess at how their starting line ups will look. I haven't kept up with every roster move, so I'm curious if there are position battles on certain teams I'm not aware of.

We have position battles everywhere except the starting 4 (Karaban.) But here is my best guess as to who starts opening day:

Diarra
Ball
McNeeley
Karaban
Johnson

I'm least confident in the starting 2 and 5. I think Reed is probably the better overall player than Johnson, but Johnson has earned the right to start. If it's a push, the starting spot will go to Johnson. Could change by mid season or league play though. I think Ball gets the start for sitting so many games last year despite being talented enough to play. But Mahaney does seem to be more versatile, and we have other guys that could snatch the role from him too. I'd say I'm 60% confident Ball is the starter.

Stewart may grab the starting 3 spot from McNeeley. But I think his positional versatility will make him the 6th man.

Interested in seeing how y'all feel about your own rosters!

I'll add some information on Creighton. The starting lineup was from The White and Blue Review: https://whiteandbluereview.com/creighton...ober-2024/

Projected Starting Lineup:

Ashworth
Isaacs
Neal
Green
Kalkbrenner

I'm super excited to have Kalkbrenner back

Assuming this lineup is correct, I'm happy to see Green work his way into the starting rotation. I really liked watching him play. Sucks for a player like Miller, who has stayed with the team for so long and improved a lot to lose his starting role. But at least he is losing it to another player who has been with the program for a while and not a transfer who was recruited over him.

Kalkbrenner has been a force for years, but he's going to be really tough this year. He's a grown man at this point, think he will control a lot of games.

I know there was a question in that link about who would replace the scoring of Trey Alexander and Scheirman (I know I botched that spelling.) Who do you think will step up, personally? To me, Ashworth and Kalkbrenner are probably the obvious choices, but curious what you think

I'd be stoked if Ashworth is able to replace their scoring, but I just have a feeling he won't be the one to replace those points. He's great at shooting the 3, but I just can't imagine him being able to create enough of his own shots (I'm really no basketball expert though, so watch me be totally wrong).

I am really high on Green. Obviously way too early to tell, but I really liked his drives to the basket last year, and if he has improved his 3-point shooting, which the article touches on, I think he could be a major scorer for us.

Then there is Fedor Zugic. There was a lot of hype when we signed him, and people seem to think we wouldn't have signed him unless Creighton was confident that NCAA would let him play. So first, we have to have the NCAA deem him eligible to play. My other hesitation is I remember a lot of hype with our last European player, Rati Andronikashvili, and he was an important part of those Creighton teams, but never a star.

And yes, Kalkbrenner could replace some of those lost points too. I'd actually be interested to see if King (or maybe even Traudt playing at the 5) can earn some more minutes, which would both give Kalkbrenner some rest and free him up to play more aggressively. I have to imagine that our need for him to play 35 minutes a game meant he was really focused on staying out of foul trouble.

Appreciate the insight! I expect CU to be the biggest threat to UConn this year in terms of winning the conference, will be fun to see how things shake out!

(10-07-2024 03:02 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(10-04-2024 04:09 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  

(10-02-2024 02:24 PM)Nameless Wrote:  

(10-01-2024 06:03 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  I'm actually kind of excited about DePaul hoops this season (I supposed because of the addition of Chris Holtmann). I'm curious to see how big man David Skogman (6-11, 240 and a transfer from Davidson) does.

On a somewhat related note, I just learned the Holy Land of Hoops site will cease functioning at year's end. Unfortunate.

I'm actually really excited to see how DePaul does this year as well. Just having a new coach creates some optimism around the program that isn't typically there. Holtmann did well in the transfer portal too so I'm excited to see how the roster gels/fares in the Big East.

Never really used Holy Land but know that is the main Big East hoops forum... Perhaps we get an influx of posters here once it drops offline?

Maybe. But I'm not too hopeful. Somebody like stever20 would need to drive the traffic here.

Lots of posters on the realignment board and who are fans of Big East schools rarely (if ever) post on this BE board. No big deal. I don't post much here either. But it would be nice to see more activity than we have seen the past few basketball seasons. It's been rather slow.

Thanks for the positive vibes regarding DePaul. I would say "good luck" to UConn, but your Huskies winning so much is making the sport boring!! (Just kidding.)

In regards to the bolded, my thoughts exactly. I don't post on the boneyard or Holy Land, so I really only have this board to discuss Big East hoops with people. After being on the AAC board for so many years, it would be nice to have even a quarter of the traffic they used to get. Would definitely liven the discussion up a bit. It was basically you and I shooting the **** back and forth last season, we should have renamed the board "Nameless and the Dazzler" or something

And honestly, I'm surprised the UConn hate isn't in full swing already after winning back to back. If we 3peat hating us will be the norm, lol

Nameless and the Dazzler ... I kind of like that. Well done.

Creighton won their exhibition against Purdue last night. Green was indeed a starter over Miller (according to the box score, it took me like 20 minutes to log into the game stream so I missed the opening), although Green didn't have a great game.

Bench did amazing compared to last year (31 points), we seem a lot deeper. Last year I'm pretty sure we had multiple games with 0 bench points and it was incredibly rare to ever get double digit bench points.

Offense looked great, 3pt% was 52% in the first half. Dropped quite a bit in the second half, but that was mainly due to McDermott keeping the starters out to wrap up the game (I think they missed like 3 in a row to close out the game).

Excited to see what this team can do!

Box score: https://gocreighton.com/sports/mens-bask...core/15933

(10-27-2024 08:44 AM)pjm.2021 Wrote:  Creighton won their exhibition against Purdue last night. Green was indeed a starter over Miller (according to the box score, it took me like 20 minutes to log into the game stream so I missed the opening), although Green didn't have a great game.

Bench did amazing compared to last year (31 points), we seem a lot deeper. Last year I'm pretty sure we had multiple games with 0 bench points and it was incredibly rare to ever get double digit bench points.

Offense looked great, 3pt% was 52% in the first half. Dropped quite a bit in the second half, but that was mainly due to McDermott keeping the starters out to wrap up the game (I think they missed like 3 in a row to close out the game).

Excited to see what this team can do!

Box score: https://gocreighton.com/sports/mens-bask...core/15933

I know it's only an exhibition, but that's an impressive win. Purdue still has talent and should be formidable this year (although I'm not sure I would have them at #14 as the pollsters do.) Was glad to see Pop Isaacs fit right in when I looked at the box score as well.

Thanks for sharing this!

DePaul hosts the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles tonight. Wish the Blue Demons good luck!

(11-04-2024 04:05 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  DePaul hosts the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles tonight. Wish the Blue Demons good luck!

80-78 OT win. Not the greatest performance but a W is a W!

(11-05-2024 08:44 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(11-04-2024 04:05 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  DePaul hosts the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles tonight. Wish the Blue Demons good luck!

80-78 OT win. Not the greatest performance but a W is a W!

We will take it. Meyer came up big for the Blue Demons.