Seton Hall Pirates Basketball Preview

Seton Hall is the sexy pick to make a move up the Big East standings after the league's well-documented departures.  There are good reasons for this, as the team certainly doesn't lack talent and experience.  Jeremy Hazell may be the best player in the Big East; he is one of only two returning players in the league to average .600 or better in points per minute (.625).  The other is Notre Dame's Luke Harangody (.681) picked by most publications as the league's preseason POY.  There is other returning talent as well, and two transfer students from other division one schools add to the depth and experience.  Only one true freshman is on this roster, a forward with good upside who may contribute off the bench.  There are critics of coach Bobby Gonzalez, though, who wonder if he can bring this team together.  Some of the newcomers ride in with a trail of problems that will need to be put aside.  Part of being a talented team in the Big East is that you have company.  As usual, there are about ten other teams that could be described as talented and who have a real shot at NCAA Tournament play.  A good team is going to finish in eleventh place in this year's standings...can Seton Hall avoid that fate?


Team Info

Head Coach:
Bobby Gonzalez, 4th season

'08-'09 Results:
17-15 Overall, 8-12 Big East
no postseason

Departing Players:
F-C John Garcia
G Paul Gause
G Pete Peregrin

Returning Players:
G Eugene Harvey (Sr.)
F Robert Mitchell (Sr.)
G Darnell Gatling (Jr.)
G Jeremy Hazell (Jr.)
F Matt Cajuste (So.)
F-C Mike Davis (So.)
F Jeff Robinson (So.)
G Jordan Theodore (So.)

Newcomers:
G Keon Lawrence (transfer, Missouri)
F Herb Pope (transfer, New Mexico State)
G Jamel Jackson (JUCO)
C Melvyn Oliver (RS)
F Ferrakohn Hall

(Full Roster)

Nonconference Slate:  St. Peter's, @ Monmouth, @ Cornell, Long Island, NJIT, Hartford, Massachussetts, VMI, Temple, Navy, @ Virginia Tech

Big East home-and-home:  Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia

Big East Home Opponents: Syracuse, Cincinnati, Louisville, Notre Dame, DePaul, Marquette

Big East Road Opponents: Connecticut, Georgetown, South Florida, Villanova, St. John's, Providence

Coaches' Pick: 10th, Big East


Outlook

The Skinny:

Talent is the word of the day here.  The backcourt is stacked: Hazell is superb; Lawrence and Harvey are very good; Theodore and Jamel Jackson should give quality minutes.  The frontcourt isn't as deep but features known talents in Mitchell and Herb Pope and possibly emerging talents in Ferrakohn Hall and Melvyn Oliver.  The team should run nine deep and get a few minutes out of Mike Davis, Jeff robinson, and Matt Cajuste to boot.  The other word of the day, expectations, may be harder to satisfy.  The ceiling is pretty high, and the floor isn't especially low, but there is a reason the coaches picked them tenth.  That reason is simple: the depth of the league.  They could easily be proved wrong, but that could be said no matter which team they placed there because there are more than ten teams with talent in the conference.  So, the task of Bobby Gonzalez is to get the talent from multiple sources to work together and live up to its potential.  This is his all-important fourth season, the players are his recruits, and missing the NCAA Tournament could raise questions about his job.

Best Case:

There's not a single unwinnable game on the nonconference schedule, although even an undefeated mark before Big East play will not feature any real signature wins (except perhaps for @ Va Tech).  The home-and-home set will be huge, but if they get it together they could do as well as 5-1 losing only at West Virginia.  What's scary is that they could realistically pull off 5-1 in the six remaining home games, as well.  Given the way teams play at home, 3-3 on the rest of that road slate is probably the best to hope for.  Still, that puts their best possible run at 24-5, 13-5 and a sure thing for the NCAA tournament.  That would probably be good for fourth or fifth place in the league and a decent seed.  They would of course have the chance to improve on that seed in the Big East Tournament.

Worst Case:

Even if Gonzalez doesn't mesh his transfers and freshmen with his returning roster well, they shouldn't lose more than three or four nonleague games.  The challenges will abound, though, in league play.  They're too talented to lose to Rutgers, but could be swept by Pitt as easily as they could sweep them.  Four teams capable of winning on their court visit, and there are four tough road opponents as well.  That would put them at 6-12 in conference and as low as eleventh or twelfth place.  Even an NIT berth would be hard to justify, and it would leave them with a second straight disappointing season and with a decision to make regarding Gonzalez's future.

My Best Guess:

17-12 Overall, 8-10 Big East (10th place) plus one and posibly two wins in MSG.  I do like the talent level, but figure them for this year's Cincinnati.  They could prove me very wrong but any team I were to place here could.



Jeremy Hazell image from themoshpitt.blogspot.com
Pirates logo from blog.Syracuse.com
Keon Lawrence image from mutigers.com
NCAA tournament logo from hsbcarena.com