It's 2023. What have we learned?

[shizzle898]

Home court matters. That is what we have learned. UConn and Providence are both 10-0 at home this season. The top five teams in the league (UConn, Providence, Xavier, Marquette, and Creighton) are a combined 44-3 at home this year.

[stever20]

Home court matters. That is what we have learned. UConn and Providence are both 10-0 at home this season. The top five teams in the league (UConn, Providence, Xavier, Marquette, and Creighton) are a combined 44-3 at home this year.

So far in conference play, home teams are 20-11. .645 winning percentage. Would be best conference home record percentage since 2007.

And that's with Georgetown at 0-3 at home.

[BEXU]

Freemantle is a stud:

https://goxavier.com/news/2023/1/9/mens ... honor.aspx

[Jasper67]

One thing I’ve learned/been reminded of is the importance of injuries. We’ve already seen the effect that missing players from the lineup has had. Some teams are still waiting for players to get healthy. And I doubt that we’ve seen the last of injuries to key players. With such parity, keeping players healthy will be crucial. And for teams whose records have been damaged by being at less than full strength, the BE opportunity will be a big opportunity to pull off a surprise if they’re fully healthy. It should all make for an exciting season.

[Omaha1]

One thing I’ve learned/been reminded of is the importance of injuries. We’ve already seen the effect that missing players from the lineup has had. Some teams are still waiting for players to get healthy. And I doubt that we’ve seen the last of injuries to key players. With such parity, keeping players healthy will be crucial. And for teams whose records have been damaged by being at less than full strength, the BE opportunity will be a big opportunity to pull off a surprise if they’re fully healthy. It should all make for an exciting season.

Great point. Nova and Creighton have had a dramatic drop because of injuries. I am glad that CU accomplished a little in the non-con to help make earning an NCAA bid a possibility despite the rough stretch.

[xusandy]

We began the season with Creighton and Nova ranked -- nobody else. We knew Nova had missing pieces during the pre-conference, but we all expected they'd do better in 2023 than they were likely to do in November and December.
Then we lost in the Gavitt games to the Big 10, and also to the Bg 12 in that inter-conference series (does it even have a name?) And then Creighton lost Kalkbrenner for a couple of key games, and the Nova studs didn't come back as soon as hoped. So, OH NO!! DOOM AND GLOOM. It's the first truly off-year since we came together as the new BEAST.

But, wait, wait, don't tell me. X (elite offense, no defense) started playing good D under Miller; Ed Cooley has somehow worked his magic AGAIN with the Friars; Shaka now has the kind of havoc team he's been famous for, and most impressive of all (for me at least), Hurley's UConn team came together instantly with a GREAT freshman class that got it right away.

So here we are today (1/9/23) with 4 ranked teams in both major polls, including NEITHER Creighton nor Villanova, and only the Big 10 and Big 12 ahead of us in the Sagarin conference rankings. OMG, we're a top 3 conference again! And 6 of our teams have a pretty reasonable shot at the Big Dance (4 ranked, plus Jays and Nova.) And The Hall and Butler are no slouches either; both still have hope.

Bottom Lines: (1) We have no idea whose gonna come out on top in BEAST conference standings this year, but we have CLEARLY identified ourselves as top conference AGAIN. (2) Here's a toast to our collection of GREAT coaches. I can hardly wait for the rest of the season.

[MUBoxer]

We began the season with Creighton and Nova ranked -- nobody else. We knew Nova had missing pieces during the pre-conference, but we all expected they'd do better in 2023 than they were likely to do in November and December.
Then we lost in the Gavitt games to the Big 10, and also to the Bg 12 in that inter-conference series (does it even have a name?) And then Creighton lost Kalkbrenner for a couple of key games, and the Nova studs didn't come back as soon as hoped. So, OH NO!! DOOM AND GLOOM. It's the first truly off-year since we came together as the new BEAST.

But, wait, wait, don't tell me. X (elite offense, no defense) started playing good D under Miller; Ed Cooley has somehow worked his magic AGAIN with the Friars; Shaka now has the kind of havoc team he's been famous for, and most impressive of all (for me at least), Hurley's UConn team came together instantly with a GREAT freshman class that got it right away.

So here we are today (1/9/23) with 4 ranked teams in both major polls, including NEITHER Creighton nor Villanova, and only the Big 10 and Big 12 ahead of us in the Sagarin conference rankings. OMG, we're a top 3 conference again! And 6 of our teams have a pretty reasonable shot at the Big Dance (4 ranked, plus Jays and Nova.) And The Hall and Butler are no slouches either; both still have hope.

Bottom Lines: (1) We have no idea whose gonna come out on top in BEAST conference standings this year, but we have CLEARLY identified ourselves as top conference AGAIN. (2) Here's a toast to our collection of GREAT coaches. I can hardly wait for the rest of the season.

See now this is an accurate assessment of what we've learned in 2023 given the games the "top tier" has played thus far. Though I might not be as bullish on Butler and Hall as you are.

[MUBoxer]

Hahahahaha

I'm sure it'll happen to us to but man how's all that 2023 knowledge treating yah?

[admin]

What have we learned?

The Big East Tournament is going to be awesome.

[Wizard of Westroads]

1. Chaos reigns.
2. League winner will have 6 losses.
3. Grades on new coaching hires: Xavier A+, Hall A+, Butler A+ (Motta is going to get some big wins IF Manny Bates comes back quickly).
4. Georgetown will win 2 games in conference. I'm a Knicks fan, what can I say?