Johnnies-Marquette

[Box and one]

Will post this game on Tuesday nite for Thur opener.
Can't believe the season is already starting.It is hard to capp early on esp if your top players graduated.
Marquette lost Wade and Jackson and of course the Johnnies lost one of my favorites Marcus Hatten.
But the Warriors[I cannot call them the Golden Eagles] return my favorite gd with Delonte West of St Joes in Travis Diener.I love those 2 guys.I would take them over any gd tandem in the country.
Marq has played together more coming from a Central American trip playing Costa rica,Nicaragua,etc
Johnnies have a new superstar on the rise in Darrly'showtime"Hill.He is so fast that if he and TJ Ford had a race with a basketball it would be no contest.Thats how fast he is.A great passer and will have the garden fans jumping in your seats.Unfortunalty he is 5'10 and his partner Elijah at the pt is 5'11.Johnnies problem will be nobody on this team can create a jump shot on their own.
Will get into it later.

 

[vinnie]

HOOPS BABY!!!

Good Luck this season Box
I will be on them Luv plays for sure

 

[Scott4USC]

Box and one

You seem to know your stuff about NCAA Hoops. I am curious if NCAA Hoops is your best sport to cap? How have you done the last few years?

The only sport I know/cap is football. I do some fun betting in NCAA Hoops and each year bet little more.

Thanks and good luck this season.

 

[Box and one]

Scott,yes college hoops is definaltly my favorite.I like college football too but coached b-ball many yrs.Know many,many of the coaches in the east.Had many kids recruited by them.Worked summer camps with hundreds of them.That is where you really get to know people.But knowing them doesn't make me any better then many of the cappers here.
I have done very well the past 3 or 4 yrs.Esp. in certain conferences.I get"mad" stupid and spread myself out to much though.Being knowlegible and capping are two different things.I know my baseball and NBA basketball inside out.I could probaly tell you who starts for every team,be close to everyones batting avg or scoring avg.
But I couldn't capp a baseball game or NBA for the life of me.
College hoops is the best by far.And emotion,injuries and home court have such a factor in capping.Types of defenses,offensive sets,pt gds,outside shooting teams,inside players,rebounding,and rebounding,and rebounding.In my system that is a big factor.And the team that gets more rebounds doesn't have to win the game.Stats are misread all the time.It's when you get the rebound.Mich St is a perfect example.
There are so any good cappers here.Steal something from everyone esp if you capped a game yourself.
Thats what nice about this forum.Everyone from all over contributes.Esp people that have some regional information.I remember lyr or 2 yrs ago I liked San Francisco Dons over Portland or somebody.I liked the Dons 6'9 Tucker.I played them only to see someone from the West coast informed me Tucker was hurt or sick.Info of that was late but it made the forum thank god and saved me.
Anyway good luck...

 

[superbook]

Box --- good to see you here; look forward to your posts this season.

Showtime should be good, but he won't be any replacement for Hatten in his first college game.

I believe Johnnies also have a decent big man who is Juco transfer but it will take them a few games to integrate all of these new players.

I look for St Johns to play tough D in the early going, which is how they finished up last year.

Without Hatten who is going to score? No team leaders in this bunch.

Without knowing the number, I'll lean to the Under.

- Jon

 

[superbook]

No Total up yet, I took MARQ -1.5

 

[Box and one]

Marquette -1.5 over St Johns
Marquette loses Wade,Johnnies lose Hatten.Both impact players.Marq also loses Johnson a big front court player.It's a 2-1 deal but the Johnnies will be hurting more because Marq has better all around talent.
Darrly Hill a 5'10 waterbug could be an impact player.He can shoot,dribble,penetrate,pass and score.He makes everyone around him better.he can play pt or the 2 gd.Ingram the 5'11 pt gd is solid.He can stick the 3 and do everything "showtime Hill" can do but a notch below.
Johnnies lose their top rebounder in Glover.Johnnies front line of Cuffe,Reynolds,Keita,and Shaw are 6'5,6'6,6'7 and 6'9.All are ectomorphs in body size.Only Shaw can shoot.No of them have moves to the basket and can create their own shot.All were highly touted coming out of HS.Cuffe and Shaw have been major disappointments and have been in Jarvis's doghouse lyr.
Johnnies can win if they run and play transition b-ball with secondary breaks.Hill and Ingram have their jobs cut out.
Johnnies will have trouble in half court offense.They have no post scorers.
On defense they will be scappy and hit the bds but with two small gds that could spell trouble.Jarvis will play his 3-2 defense more then he wants to so he can protect his gds.

Marquette has one of the best pt gds in the country in Diener.He does everything at the pt and can stop on a "dime" and hit a jumper.One of the best in running transition.He'll miss Wade big time but Crean has a lot of talent around him.Novak is probaly the best outsiding shooting power fd in the country and he is 6'10.He can nail them from beyond the arc.He led Conf USA in 3's.Merrit is a 6'10 center who can handle the ball and score inside or outside.Crean has talent everywhere.Sanders can shoot and he is 6'8.Bell, Bradley,Chapman,and super frosh Mason have no place to play.Crean is loaded with talent and depth.Marq's frontline is 6'10,6'10,6'8,6'8, and talented Townsand at 6'7.
They have size,can score,rebound and play defense.Crean was an asst at Mich St.Need I say more.That is what Marquette does.They rebound and play D.
Johnnies will have big time matchup problems tomr nite.They are playing at the Garden so it is a home game.Johnnies did go on and win the last 5 games in the garden and win the NIT's.But Marquette is a different breed.This team has a lot of talent that got tested in the Final 4."Showtime" will shine but Diener will glow out there.Crean will force the Johnnies into a half court game and Marq will control the bds.
I had the line at Marq -6 or 7 so -1.5 is a gift.
Strong play for Marquette... 4 boxes

2nd game Wake -3 over Memphis
Will come back later.To many injuries to get real value

 

[superbook]

Nice write-up.

Last time the Johnnies beat Marquette they were the Warriors (2/26/66).

FWIW 7'3" 300lb Curtis Johnson will start at Center for St. Johns; he's a grad student and it's his first career start. Obviously he's huge but from what I've heard he can't move or shoot.

 

[I'm Storming]

Johnson once weighed near 400 lbs.. He has worked real hard and burnt it off... He had all the bones in his feet broken as a child, so he has a lot of trouble moving.


SJU has two impact and athletic big men coming in... Hamilton and Jones.. Both athletic and can run the floor.. Don't know much else about them yet... We shall see.

 

[Box and one]

superbook,are you sure about Curtiss starting.That has to be a mistake.Maybe let him jump ball and then take him out.He cannot move.He has that leg problem.One leg or foot is longer then the other.He "lumbers" up and down the floor.Has no hands.Cannot shoot and cannot get off the ground.He is 7'2 though.But Keita should start.
Johnson's game high lyr.was vs Fairfield.He had 2 rebounds,2 blocked shots and 2 pts.

Memphis-Wake forest[-3]
To many injuries on both teams.Hunter is out for Memphis.Downey is out for WF.Calipari has Burks a great gd.And NJ superfrosh Sean Banks makes his debut.Wow.he will be great.Memphis lost their whole front line,Masse,Baron and co.But they are athletic and fast.WF has frosh Paul who is susposed to be something.Will pass on this game.

Will be gone for a few days.Going to take my son to visit East Carolina U in Greenville.Am going to the Maryland-UVA game tomr nite.Then its on to ECU.
Won't be here to capp any games.

St Joes-Zaga..should be a great game.West and Nelson are the best tandem in the US.Carroll is the best shooter in the nation.He can hit those bombs from row 5.Mallon is out so Joes frontline will be tested. Jones is not a scorer at 6'10.Zaga has Stepp.What a great pt gd matchup.But Zaga has some 6'5,6'6,6'8 players in Knight,Skinner,and Violette.Turiaf is still hurt I think but talk about a "bonza" player.This game goes down to the wire.Two yrs ago Dickeau hits a shot at the buzzer and wins it.Lyr Nelson hits a shot in OT to win at the 'Kennel".
As of right now I don't have any idea what the line is.But if its more then 2 pts take the dog.

Pitt-Bama..no idea what the line is.
Like Pitt if its -3 or 4.Anything above that I would pass.Page,Trout,Krauser,Morris and co play tough D,can rebound and will score.Plus 4 players are playing in NYC where they live.Homecoming to them.Bama is athletic and has greyhounds.All those guys are 6'6,5'7,6'8 and can fly.Shelton is awesome.They will miss "mo" and Dudley more then Pitt misses Knight.Small lean to Pitt.
Only one play..Marq -1.5
See you guys back here on Monday..GL

 

[ND2002HORNS]

I was leaning to Mar. and you sold me. GL tonight!

HORNS

 

[pt1gard]

hery box will CT on Marq

hery box will CT on Marq

love diener too, curious how he plays w/o wade who was unguardable

as for Zags, watch Errol Knight, super talent from chief sealth HS in our metro league here, good kid but left UW b/c of knuckleheads there ... KS offered him full ride, Roy wanted him ... also adam morrison frosh 6'7 gangly scoring machine in HS LY, hit 29 off bench in x-game--they are 2 new faces with solid Zags, team might end up being as good as theyve had ... 6'9" sean mallon off RS year is on team, i noticed U said he was inj, didnt know that; Turiaff being out a killer, closest thing to rodman like rebounder ive seen in a while


gl, gregg

 

[superbook]

Box -- Johnnies official game notes have Johnson starting. Not sure if Keita is in trouble with Jarvis or hurt...he only played 7 minutes in last pre-season game while Johnson started and played 17 minutes due to his hard work in practice. After the game, Jarvis went out of his way to praise Johnson's offensive performance...which was 2-2 from the field???

Diakite is also back this year to play Center; he sat out last year with a back injury. Didn't play much in two pre-season games.

I'm Storming -- now I remember Johnson from last year...he certainly looked bigger than 300 lbs...the doctors broke the bones in his feet when he was kid because he grew too fast or something like that????

- Jon

 

[I'm Storming]

Jon-

I think his bones just grew incorrectly, not really sure... But he's had to overcome a lot.. Just to be in NCAA Basketball is a huge accomplishment.

 

[Box and one]

In Chevy Chase Md.Am leaving for the game in an hour.The wind is unreal.Tree's down.I know this is the b-ball forum.But I would bet the under if there is a number.Nobody can pass tonite.UVA throws those short ones.But FG's will be tough from 20 yds out.
I like Va.tonite.Lyr Vir beat maryland and Maryland went to a better bowl.Vir is still upset.It's senior nite here.
Maybe someone can paste this to the football.sorry.
Like marquette a lot tonite.
upping my boxes to 4 more

Marq -2 now.I got 4 boxes at -1.5 and 4 more at -2.
Strong play tonite.Gl

 

[chuckles]

Marquette up to -3 1/2 at Infinity. I took it for 1 unit. I think the Johnnies are in trouble here.

 

[NySportsfan]

good call box buddy! gonna definitely hit up Denton we decided when we are in TX, so if you have anything on that end elt me know, and NTex is in the mix to see good analysis tonight, the game was putrid to watch, sju has no offense, "showtime" Hill didnt look like it, but he's young, sju misses glover inside badly, they're guys now can't buy a bucket, good way to start your year

Mike

 

[thomasj19]

Nice call and good writeup. Enjoy your weekend.

Tom

 

[Box and one]

Missed all the games this week.Caught the last 5 minuts of the Johnnies game.Hill didn't show much I guess.I knew Novak and Dierner with a few pt lead will hit their FT's.I guess it was sloppy with such a low score. Johnnies have no half court offense.Could you see that in the game?
But a win is a win no matter how bad teams look.Liked the dog in St Joes.Passed on Pitt because didn't know the line.Was the game close??

Went to the maryland-Vir game thur nite.Froze my ass off with the high winds.Sat in the UVA student section.Wow.I forgot what it was like being in college.I'm used to the Army games at the Point.The freak'in wind was blowing so hard and we were up in the highest pt in the corner of the stad.Windchill was about 5 degree's.I learned to sing the UVA song and yelled my Wahoo cheers.When UVA scores everyone grabs each others shoulders and sways back and forth sings a song like Auld X.
had UVA +6 so I knew i was in trouble.But had the under at 44.5.Won that play by a half pt.Under was 44...

Saw East Carolina with my son.What a beautiful school.Think he might go there next year.Ate in the cafeteria and saw the football and b-ball teams.ECU Qb is out and his replacement was right behind us.His head is swollen so they might have their 3rd string qb playing vs Tulane.
Man,how low can I go when I get info from the college cafeteria.

Was going to come home on Sunday but deceided to drive home sat.It was a 10 hour drive from Greenville,NC.Called home to warn l'box who came back from college for the weekend to babysit my 14 yrs old.My wife is in Texas with my other daughter.
When I pulled in the driveway I saw 5 empty boxes of 24 beer cases,about 3 or four bottles of Bicardi,etc.
The garbage cans outside were filled.
L'box met me and my son at the door.She said she had a few people over last nite. I'm susposed to be stupid and say OK.
But the problem was another party was set up for tonite.As I'm getting out of my car 2 cars drive up and are beeping and screaming "l'box,whats up..yeaaaa....then they see me...hello Mr box...L'box made many phone calls calling off Party 2 when she found out we were coming home. ha

This morning I take my dog out and my neighbor tells me'You and your wife had some party last nite"...Somehow I think I'll hear more about this.Thank god she's going back to school today.
But I did a lot worse in my days.It's just different when your the head coach.....
Thanks for all the nice comments
Superbook...w/o Hatten Johnnies on offense will struggle.But they play tough defense...

 

[UT-Longhorn]

Glad to have you back BOX, just wondering, any leans for tonite's semifinals in Ohio?
thanks