ESPN Chooses Top BE: 'Cuse no love

[arbitragegls]

:blah:dont know what to make of this...but Uconn and Pitt get all the love...'Cuse an almost but too many questions on court....this should motivate!

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7190072&categoryid=2378529

(if doesnt work use browser)

 

[BleedsOrange44]

Gottlieb is always the contrarian. Look at who he ranks in his top 25 during the season. He always picks 3 or 4 teams where you're like "who??" He does it because otherwise he'd just be an annoying guy with no insight. Plus, he hates SU, which is well documented. So of course he's going to pick other teams.

 

[arbitragegls]

well that included Gottlieb, Doris, Katz and one other...none picked the Orange

 

[slidingdown]

And yet they picked us preseason #5 overall...

 

[Flacusian]

Gottleib is such a smarmy weasel and Dana wrote that Fab gained 30 lbs of bulk and muscle in the off season. It's amazing that ESPN holds those two out as competent analysts.

 

[stuckinbig11]

So, really. Who cares what they predict. One of the ESPN scribes claimed that Melo gained 30 pounds over last year. They are most in tune with their own egos, especially Gottlieb.

 

[Dick_in_MI]

:blah:dont know what to make of this...but Uconn and Pitt get all the love...'Cuse an almost but too many questions on court....this should motivate!

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7190072&categoryid=2378529

(if doesnt work use browser)

Who cares what they think?

Actually, I'm of the opinion that we might be a little over-ranked by most folks. I hope I'm wrong and I'll certainly defer to JB's assessment, which seems to be very positive.

 

[Gotothehole]

Saw that to. Did they forget how good Kemba was? Just being objective, hands down will be the best team in be this year

 

[orangedave]

And yet they picked us preseason #5 overall...

They also picked UConn #4 overall

 

[marz09cuse]

Saw that to. Did they forget how good Kemba was? Just being objective, hands down will be the best team in be this year

Yeah I'm not sure I get their assessment when you compare UConn and Syracuse. UConn lost Kemba Walker, who was virtually their entire offense for most of year. Yet somehow that is not a question mark for them. But when it comes to Syracuse, the biggest question mark is how Syracuse will replace Rick Jackson. If anything, both teams have question marks in these areas with replacing stars. But who doesn't have these question marks in college? I'm just not so sure how these guys just ignore the major loss of Kemba Walker while making it a point to say 'Cuse has question marks because of the loss of Rick Jackson, when Kemba is clearly the bigger loss. But I guess we're just nit picking here.

 

[Knicks411]

We are nit picking, but I feel like UConn is overranked. They did win the title last year, and that was a great run, but they finished 10th in the Pom rankings, for instance. We finished 11th. And they're losing a player of the year type guy.

 

[SU8888]

We are nit picking, but I feel like UConn is overranked. They did win the title last year, and that was a great run, but they finished 10th in the Pom rankings, for instance. We finished 11th. And they're losing a player of the year type guy.

Agreed I think uconn is overrated also. You do not replace a 1st all american and national poy. Even if you add other talented players a 1st all american takes over games and wins you games in the clutch. I am very curious to see how lamb and oriaki respond when they are now the focus and gameplan for other teams defenses.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

He got you to post about it and talk about it, getting others to click the link. ESPN wins again.

 

[EastCoast2]

Gottleib is such a smarmy weasel and Dana wrote that Fab gained 30 lbs of bulk and muscle in the off season. It's amazing that ESPN holds those two out as competent analysts.

She also said Keita is a freshman... she must get her info from the syracuse.com board

 

[Knicks411]

I think the ranking for UConn would be more reasonable if they were legit one of the 5 or so best teams last year. But they were closer to 10th than first, despite winning the title.

I mean, we were one of the 3 or 4 best teams (at worst) in 2003, we lost Melo, and I believe we were preseason in most people's top 10's or so.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

I think both teams are appropriately ranked for B.S. meaningless preseason rankings. SU has experience but no true go-to player. UCONN lost Kemba but gained Drummond and have an even more experienced Lamb and even Nappier.

Of course both teams have the talent to be great but both teams could have chemistry issues. I still believe Ohio State is the best team while UNC has the best players.

 

[Garbs]

UConn and Cuse both have questions and who know if either deserve their top 5 preseason ranking

it is pretty funny how Dana thinks losing Rick Jackson is a bigger deal than Kemba, I guess she thinks Rick>Kemba

 

[Madbiker]

Most of the talking heads know that when JB has a team with high expectations it usually disappoints. When they are off the radar they usually do well. So I don't blame them for being gun shy on us. I agree that UConn has a serious question mark in that Kemba was their offense especially against the better teams. They seem over-ranked. But JC gets a lot of respect from the media because of the 3 titles.

 

[AZOrange]

They also picked UConn #4 overall

I think Uconn is going to suck (at least early). Replacing Kemba will be nearly impossible. He was that good. And even with him, they were middle of the pack in conference.

 

[Garbs]

I think Uconn is going to suck (at least early). Replacing Kemba will be nearly impossible. He was that good. And even with him, they were middle of the pack in conference.

yea I wouldn't be surprised if they drop a head scratcher early, especially with a lot of young guys coming off a championship

 

[Orangemen]

UConn was a very unconventional NC last year, I don't think most of the media is adjucting for that.

Typically, a defending NC gets a nice top 5/top10 ranking out of reflex, especially when they have a gold plated name like UConn.

Kemba was their entire team last year. They don't make the tourney without him. You lose him, and you're essentially starting over.

They'll be good, I'm sure, but their ranking is inflated right now, and they'll probably take a few more hits than most expect them to.

 

[Upstate]

They may not drop many early ones...considering they're playing a RU Football-esque schedule.

 

[alexd.]

Because of the loss of Walker, Napier is really the key for UCONN this year. Lamb was tremendous this summer playing for Team USA. And keep an eye on forward DeAndre Daniels. The "gurus" had him ranked anywhere from #30 to #10 in the 2011 class. The kid can handle the ball and has a sweet stroke. And Drummond will allow Oriakhi to slide over to the 4 spot.

 

[PoppyHart]

Pre-season rankings are not meant to reflect how a team will do in November. They are more of a projections of where teams will finish the year.

Thus, the inherent conflict of pre-season rankings, which create a terrible baseline for polls once the season has actually begun.

 

[alexd.]

UConn and Cuse both have questions and who know if either deserve their top 5 preseason ranking
it is pretty funny how Dana thinks losing Rick Jackson is a bigger deal than Kemba, I guess she thinks Rick>Kemba

He says he "has a lot more questions about Syracuse than UCONN right now." There's more to that point than just the players that left from last season. Maybe he thinks UCONN has a better supporting cast returning plus the frosh???