#8 AP

[OrangeXtreme]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

 

[Upstate]

I have no problem with that

 

[tbonezone]

6 teams ranked in the top 25. say what you will but the BE is still pretty damn good.

 

[texascpa]

that loss didn't sting as bad as it could have, though that's more to do with other teams losing than anything.

Not sure if anyone has been watching Gonzaga this year, but this may be the best Mark Few team ever. Olynyk is a stud.

 

[tbonezone]

interesting to see how miami finishes out. no real tests except at duke and va tech (who i think is pretty good) at home.

 

[jordoo]

Its hard to think that we are a top10 team when I watch us . . . . . . . but when I look at the rankings and watch the other teams its pretty obvious that we are. Still we have a lot of issues as most teams do.

 

[jncuse]

that loss didn't sting as bad as it could have, though that's more to do with other teams losing than anything.

Not sure if anyone has been watching Gonzaga this year, but this may be the best Mark Few team ever. Olynyk is a stud.

Olynyk as National Player of the Year is starting to gain some traction in some circles of the media. 18 PPG, in 26 Minutes, on 64% shooting. The guy had little inside game two years and was more of a stretch shooter. Gave him a redshirt year last year, he fills out, redefines his game, and all of a sudden he is a stud inside.

 

[texascpa]

Olynyk as National Player of the Year is starting to gain some traction in some circles of the media. 18 PPG, in 26 Minutes, on 64% shooting. The guy had little inside game two years and was more of a stretch shooter. Gave him a redshirt year last year, he fills out, redefines his game, and all of a sudden he is a stud inside.

Yep, everyone knew about Pangos, Harris and Stockton, then Olynyk starts dominating. It's like, where the hell did this kid come from?

 

[Madbiker]

that loss didn't sting as bad as it could have, though that's more to do with other teams losing than anything.

Not sure if anyone has been watching Gonzaga this year, but this may be the best Mark Few team ever. Olynyk is a stud.

Maybe but how would anyone know. Since playing OK State on Dec. 31 they have played only 1 good team in their last 17 games...a 1 pt. loss to Butler. All they're doing is beating up weak teams in the WCC that are not at a high level. And over rated St. Mary's is the same only without the quality OOC wins that the Zags have. The Zags may prove to be the real deal in the tourney, they'll get their chance. I just have a problem ranking these low level conference teams so high based on compiling two months of junk wins.

 

[Orangemen]

I'm still not buying Miami. They are good, sure, but a #1 seed? A #1 ranking? My guess is that they are the first top seed to flame out in March.

Their main accomplishments this year are waxing Duke (nice), and not losing any games they shouldn't lose (since losing to Florida- Gulf Coast and Indiana St.- Miami was down a guy or 2 at the time). But the ACC is incredibly weak this year. It's a 2 team league, then a bunch of average to bad teams.

Credit where credit is due, Miami is not losing right now, while everyone else is dropping games here or there. But I'm not betting on them making the elite 8.

 

[texascpa]

Maybe but how would anyone know. Since playing OK State on Dec. 31 they have played only 1 good team in their last 17 games...a 1 pt. loss to Butler. All they're doing is beating up weak teams in the WCC that are not at a high level. And over rated St. Mary's is the same only without the quality OOC wins that the Zags have. The Zags may prove to be the real deal in the tourney, they'll get their chance. I just have a problem ranking these low level conference teams so high based on compiling two months of junk wins.

Saint Mary's (2x) and BYU are not junk wins, both teams have legitimate shots as at-large teams. And they've beaten KSU, Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. They know they don't play in a high-rpi conference, so they make it up in OCC, which they've done very well this year. Even with "junk wins" their RPI is 12. Gonzaga has proven time and time again that they are a very good team and would be very competitive in any conference, imho.

 

[jncuse]

Maybe but how would anyone know. Since playing OK State on Dec. 31 they have played only 1 good team in their last 17 games...a 1 pt. loss to Butler. All they're doing is beating up weak teams in the WCC that are not at a high level. And over rated St. Mary's is the same only without the quality OOC wins that the Zags have. The Zags may prove to be the real deal in the tourney, they'll get their chance. I just have a problem ranking these low level conference teams so high based on compiling two months of junk wins.

Winning at St. Mary's is definetely a quality win. All month top 10 teams have been struggling to beat teams of St. Mary's caliber on the road, and the Zags whipped them.

This is where a schedule adjusting ranking system like KenPom comes in handy. Is it perfect? No. But W-L record will not help us, and I don't really trust RPI in comparing the quality of teams. They are #6, which seems about right. Are they #3? Perhaps a tad high, but not much difference between 2-10 IMO,

 

[jncuse]

I'm still not buying Miami. They are good, sure, but a #1 seed? A #1 ranking? My guess is that they are the first top seed to flame out in March.

Their main accomplishments this year are waxing Duke (nice), and not losing any games they shouldn't lose (since losing to Florida- Gulf Coast and Indiana St.- Miami was down a guy or 2 at the time). But the ACC is incredibly weak this year. It's a 2 team league, then a bunch of average to bad teams.

Credit where credit is due, Miami is not losing right now, while everyone else is dropping games here or there. But I'm not betting on them making the elite 8.

I was surprised to see they got 1/3 of the first place votes after last night. I would have thought the split for Indiana would have been a little higher,

 

[Marsh01]

Maybe but how would anyone know. Since playing OK State on Dec. 31 they have played only 1 good team in their last 17 games...a 1 pt. loss to Butler. All they're doing is beating up weak teams in the WCC that are not at a high level. And over rated St. Mary's is the same only without the quality OOC wins that the Zags have. The Zags may prove to be the real deal in the tourney, they'll get their chance. I just have a problem ranking these low level conference teams so high based on compiling two months of junk wins.

Gonzaga is a good team. Elias Harris would start for any BE team and so would Kelly Olynyk.

I shudder at the thought of what Olynyk would do against us.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Gonzaga is a good team. Elias Harris would start for any BE team and so would Kelly Olynyk.

I shudder at the thought of what Olynyk would do against us.

Harris would sit on the foul line and pick a part our zone. Not sure why people in the past have said they aren't afraid of Gonzaga. Makes no sense.

Good coach + decent talent + players who can score from the foul line = SU loss.

 

[Marsh01]

Harris would sit on the foul line and pick a part our zone. Not sure why people in the past have said they aren't afraid of Gonzaga. Makes no sense.

Good coach + decent talent + players who can score from the foul line = SU loss.

Its because people just look at who they have played and have never seen them play. I have watched probably 8 Gonzaga games this year and I can tell you that this team can get to the FF. This is Mark Few's best team he has ever had.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Olynyk as National Player of the Year is starting to gain some traction in some circles of the media. 18 PPG, in 26 Minutes, on 64% shooting. The guy had little inside game two years and was more of a stretch shooter. Gave him a redshirt year last year, he fills out, redefines his game, and all of a sudden he is a stud inside.

Wow. Only 26 minutes per game? Those are incredible numbers, especially when you think that Fair is playing like 36 minutes a game.

 

[jncuse]

Gonzaga would pose problems with their offence. But they are not a good defensive team either. They are a team prone to being beat in transition. And I think we could get looks inside -- based on the stone hands we have lets hope most of them are dunks rather than 3 or 4 foot chippies.

 

[CorduroyG]

Gonzaga is better than miami, I'm not sold on the canes at all. I would love to get the 2 in their region assuming they're a 1. One year wonders like them usually don't do well in the tourny, march madness is a whole new ballgame and id bet they'll be in a close game against the 8/9 winner.

Sent from my SCH-R720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jncuse]

Wow. Only 26 minutes per game? Those are incredible numbers, especially when you think that Fair is playing like 36 minutes a game.

Gonzaga has a deep front line. Harris, Olynyk, Sam Dower, and some Polish Kid who is really slow but has nice touch inside. They are thin on the wings.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Gonzaga would pose problems with their offence. But they are not a good defensive team either. They are a team prone to being beat in transition. And I think we could get looks inside -- based on the stone hands we have lets hope most of them are dunks rather than 3 or 4 foot chippies.

^ LOL. Comedic gold.

 

[Orangemen]

^ LOL. Comedic gold.

In fairness, he did say could, not would...

 

[NineOneSeven]

In fairness, he did say could, not would...

True.

Rak could be playing a bunch of stoned jockeys in the paint and he still wouldn't get the ball passed to him.

 

[Maxsumm]

I agree with the sentiment that SU does not look like a top 10 team right now, but we'll find out soon enough.. of the 6 games left 2 are against #11, one is against #10 and another is @ #17

If this team wins more than 2 out of those 4 then I'd say they belong in the top 10 no doubt go .500 and they prolly should be about 15 or so, go 1-3 or worse and those saying this a fringe top 25 team are right.. Big 2-3 weeks ahead...

 

[jncuse]

^ LOL. Comedic gold.

I'm thinking more of the garbage variety type looks. I think we can get more than normal against Gonzaga