Brian Reddy: Around the Big East – Week 2

College basketball began one week ago today, and after two games for the Big East teams (one for St. John’s as of this writing), it would be ridiculous to try and make season-long judgments on the teams. Having said that, here are my season-long judgments on each team in the conference. I’m just kidding, sort of.

It is probably a sign of how high expectations are for Marquette this year that two blowout wins against KenPom 200 level teams does not make much of an impression. Kam Jones looks ready to take another leap forward, Chase Ross appears to have stepped up, and the rest of the lineup is almost plug and play from last year.

I have been high on Creighton and the roster changes they’ve made, and still see them as having the talent to be playing in April. Their offense appears to be at least at the level of the 2016-2018 teams, with a defense comparable to the past three seasons anchored by Ryan Kalkbrenner. Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman seem more confident, and Steven Ashworth and Isaac Traudt are the perfect additions to a potent roster.

Last week I mentioned that the return of Tristen Newton and the addition of transfer Cam Spencer greatly improved their chances. Newton especially appears to have taken his game up another level. He was inconsistent last season, but his play early has allowed freshman Stephon Castle to simply do his thing without too much pressure. A sign of Castle’s ability is that the guard has already gotten to the line 15 times in his first two games.

It is difficult to judge the Wildcats (prior to their game against Penn as of this writing) after systematically pounding two sub-300 teams, including LeMoyne, a contender for worst team in the country in their first ever season of Division 1. They look to return to the Jay Wright style of play and are averaging over 30 three point attempts through the first two games. The eight players forming the core of their lineup are all between 6’4” and 6’8”, with Tyler Burton working down low to take some of the rebounding pressure off Eric Dixon. The top 8 players also have 23 combined years of college experience coming into the season, which should help Kyle Neptune in his second season as the head coach at Villanova and just his third season in the big chair overall.

The Red Storm have only played one game (as of this writing), but the media hype has played out all over the local and national media. This is all because of arguably the top coach in the game today, former Friar coach Rick Pitino. Joel Soriano looked noticeably quick in his only outing, and Daniss Jenkins is a leader in the mold of point guards Pitino has developed going back to Billy Donovan. While a roster of 14 would be an issue for most teams, Pitino is a master at managing lineups.

The Friars started 2-0 with comfortable victories over Columbia and Milwaukee. While these were not high-level opponents, Columbia had the advantage of returning virtually their entire roster from last season and Milwaukee is one of the favorites in the Horizon. Bryce Hopkins has struggled shooting to start the year, like his first two games last season. His rebounding has been there, and he seems more comfortable on the defensive end. Devin Carter has been filling out his entire stat sheet in the first two games, picking up where he left off last year. Josh Oduro and Ticket Gaines have shown why Kim English wanted them to join him from George Mason. They are both prototypical hard-nosed players who do the little things a coach loves. After re-watching the game against Columbia, I felt better about Corey Floyd’s performance than I did seeing it live. Other than his three-point shooting, he was aggressive taking the ball to the basket and showed off much more of his game than we ever saw last season. Similarly, Jayden Pierre continues to develop his game and now has the luxury of playing through mistakes, unlike last year. Finally, after worrying about the preseason hype given to Garwey Dual, he showed Saturday night against Milwaukee that he is deserving of the recognition. There will surely be growing pains as the season progresses, but he is one of those players who appears to see the game more clearly than most. My guess is that he and Castle will play a similar role on their teams, and that role will expand for both as we progress toward March.

Due to injuries, Xavier really only has one guy that played a significant role on last year’s team in the mix and that’s Desmond Claude. Through the first two games, Claude has stepped up his game and his leadership. Between the portal and recruiting, they have significant talent with Quincy Olivari, Abou Ousmane, Dailyn Swain, Dayvion McKnight, and Gytis Nemeiska all ready to contribute. If they had a healthy Jerome Hunter and Zach Freemantle, this could have been a top 15 team, but I suspect Sean Miller will have then competing for an NCAA bid anyway.

The Pirates have looked solid through the first two games, and Kadary Richmond is showing the possibility of being the player he was expected to be for the last three years. He was  under control early and played elite-level defense without fouling. Dre Davis, Al-Amir Dawes, and Dylan Addae-Wusu all have more freedom with Richmond leading the way.

There’s a long way to go and they haven’t played much competition (through two games as of this writing), but Butler has looked like a different team than the previous few seasons. Pierre Brooks looks closer to the top 50 recruit he was coming out of high school, and DJ Davis, Jahmyl Telfort, and Andre Screen all appear to fit into Thad Matta’s system. The key though is Posh Alexander, who is the player we expected him to be after his freshman year. He seems to have renewed interest in leading a team, and his increased quickness will help him return to his DPOY form of his freshman year.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times in Hoyaville last week. Feeling like they were back after drubbing a poor LeMoyne team on opening night, reality hit them like a right (Holy?) cross Saturday, with a late collapse against the sub-300 Crusaders. I suspect the Hoyas will have their moments over the course of the season, but this could be a long year for Ed. My guess is that he hopes Jayden Epps, Dontrez Styles, Rowan Brumbaugh, and Drew Fielder are building blocks for next year, and they can steal a few wins in conference play. That would have them on the right path, but he is not out of the woods yet. [Editor’s note: Go Crusaders!]

It was the worst of times, … that’s it. Losing on opening night before fewer than 1,000 fans is never a good sign and following it up with a lackluster effort against a mediocre team is worse. They have 3 games this week against South Dakota, South Carolina, and either Grand Canyon or San Francisco. Lose all three (a definite possibility) and this could get ugly. On the bright side, Tyon Grant-Foster and Philmon Gebrewhit are both off to good starts at GCU and Northern Illinois, respectively.

Nothing I have seen dampens my belief that the Big East will be a monster conference, with 8 or 9 teams capable of winning on most nights. The key to how high up the conference finishes will be Providence, Villanova, St. John’s, and Xavier, and whether Butler or Seton Hall can step up to a higher level. The Gavitt Games kicking off this week and the start of MTE events will give us a better picture of where things stand. I can’t wait.