Big East Notebook
George Rodecker, Columnist
With all the lawsuits, countersuits, conference hopscotch and musical chairs, in addition to the criminal investigations going on in Syracuse, you’d hardly know that the BIG EAST is playing some roundball, and despite what the conference may look like in three to five years, it’s doing rather nicely on the court right now – highlighted by six nationally ranked teams.
A Lamb, a Pope and keeping up with Jones
So far, a few players of note are lighting up the stat sheet. Seton Hall’s 6-8, 235 lb powerful forward Herb Pope leads the conference with 20.9 points and 11.7 boards. Pope has matured a great deal during his time at SHU and seems poised to be the consistent inside force the Pirates will need once conference play begins. Jeremy Lamb is scoring at a 20.2 clip and is better than 87% from the foul line for Connecticut as he seeks to be the successor to Kemba Walker. Senior Kevin Jones is second in scoring for West Virginia, nailing it for 19.8 points and delivering big on the glass with the same 11.7 that Pope is clearing per night. And speaking, once again, of Pope – six double-doubles in seven games is simply amazing!
The sophomore Lamb is a shooting guard and has 2.5 seasons to play if he chooses to play all four, but the two big guys are both seniors and each can expect to see the other inside the paint during the postseason NBA pre-draft camp tour.
Around the BIG EAST
Louisville is rocking the attendance wars, averaging 20.863 in home games to date, but Syracuse is a strong second at 19,928.
The BIG EAST is not so big when playing the other BIG Conferences. Against the Big South, Big Twelve, Big Ten, and Big West, the BIG EAST is a not so big 6-10. Further, the conference is 6-8 versus top 25 ranked teams.
In games decided by six or more points, BIG EAST schools are 77-19.
Stat of the Week
Syracuse leads the nation in steals grabbing 12.5 balls per
contest, while there seems to be a block party in Storrs as the
Huskies are rejecting 9.0 shots per game. (Photo courtesy
of Syracuse Athletics Communications)
Looking Ahead: The week in preview
Big doings coming up before the end of the semester final exams slow things down.
Thursday, former Seton Hall Head Coach Tommy Amaker leads his newly ranked Harvard Crimson (25th) to Connecticut in what might be the biggest test of the season for the Cambridge crowd.
BIG Five basketball takes center stage Saturday as Villanova goes a few miles across the City of Brotherly Love to face the Temple Owls in the 57th season of Big Five hoops. For more on the Big Five visit their site: http://www.philadelphiabig5.org/history/index.html
Cincinnati travels to the other side of the city on Saturday to face Xavier in the 79th edition of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. The Bearcats lead the all time series 48-30, and won going away last year 66-46.
Roadie Rodecker's take
It’s pretty difficult to be a long-standing fan of the BIG EAST and not be a little bit angry over the off-court activities going on. The Bernie Fine allegations/distraction has certainly given Syracuse as well as the Conference a black eye.
But what upsets me the most is the feeling that this conference in this moment in time is not bringing the best available teams into the fold. Losing West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh certainly has its football/BCS impact, but no one can argue the impact on basketball that the Cuse-Pitt-WVU defections will have. Both the Orange and the Panthers are national brands: two teams that are small market giants and are perennial top 10 teams. West Virginia, under Bob Huggins has seen a return to glory.
Departing schools Pitt, West Virginia and Syracuse have over the past 10 seasons compiled a .809 winning percentage. One of the schools expected to be arriving: University of Central Florida over the same 10 year period will bring a .444 winning percentage – certainly several steps in a negative direction!
When looking to replace these three schools, we should expect to see the likes of Xavier and Memphis well before we ever hear the likes of Navy even mentioned. San Diego State and Boise State for football are fine, but SMU and Houston are just mediocre basketball-wise in comparison to the three departing schools.
I get it that the conference needs 12 football members to be BCS eligible.
Remember that the BIG EAST was a basketball conference first and foremost. Bringing in UCF, SMU and Houston just doesn’t get it done.
And from my perch, there seems to be nothing important getting done!
B.C.S. Basketball Cannot Survive!
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