Thursday, February 8, 2018

Deep Thoughts Thursday

- What to make of St. John’s is a question being asked this morning after they beat Duke at MSG and Villanova in Philly. There’s a bit of an asterisk with last night’s win as Nova was without Eric Paschall and Phil Booth. Still, that’s a hell of a week for a team that entered it on an 11-game losing streak. The Johnnies are a wildly talented squad, like they basically have been for over a decade but haven’t put it together. A lot of blame is being directed at Chris Mullin and he certainly deserves some but not all. The Johnnies have lost a lot of close games in league. Luck also plays a part in that. Not having Marcus LoVett doesn’t help, either. Marquette travels to NYC on Saturday. A loss to the Golden Eagles sort of null and voids the results. Either way, it has been a week unlike any in recent history for St. John’s.

- Texas A&M got a huge win at Auburn last night. The Aggies are still 23rd in KenPom. They’ve been a disappointment in my view this year but they can still be a problem.

- Ohio State’s win at Purdue is as impressive a conference win as there has been this year. I’ve been guilty of pimping Sparty and Purdue as the only threats in March for the Big 14. I was wrong. Ohio State is capable of a deep run. They’re 13th in KenPom. A regional final shouldn’t surprise anyone. The talent was there for Chris Holtmann but he’s done a tremendous job making it come together.

- A brief kudos to Marvin Menzies who is quietly doing a great job at UNLV. The Rebels can only make the tournament by winning the conference tournament. Well, it is in Vegas and after their win over previously 9-1 Nevada, it may not be that far-fetched.

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