Last season, Seton Hall played much of its schedule using six players – and that’s including John Garcia, who gamely struggled through most of the season while basically playing on one leg.
That’s why seeing this year’s team, which goes at least eight players deep, playing like it did in last night’s 86-68 victory over Massachusetts at the Prudential Center leaves Bobby Gonzalez smiling from ear to ear.
“I’ve coached with talent, and I’ve coached without talent, and obviously I’d much rather coach with talent,” Gonzalez said after last night’s game. “People have been saying to me, ‘How are you gonna keep everybody happy? How are you gonna do this? What are you gonna do when Keon Lawrence and Jeff Robinson get eligible?’
“Listen, it’s a good problem to have.”
That it is. And it is becoming a legitimate problem for Gonzalez’s team. Once Lawrence and Robinson do become eligible, starting next Saturday when the Pirates host Temple at the Prudential Center, Seton Hall will have a legitimate 10 players – ball handlers in Lawrence, Eugene Harvey and Jordan Theodore, wings in Jeremy Hazell, Robert Mitchell, Farrakan Hall and Jamel Jackson, and big men in Robinson, Herb Pope and Garcia. That, combined with the fact that Gonzalez likes to run up-and-down the court, should result in the Pirates being able to match up, in terms of athletes, with its Big East opponents in ways they haven’t been able to in the past under Gonzalez, who is in his fourth year with the Pirates.
“I think we could be two-deep at every position once we get everbody on the same page,” he said. “I think it will still take awhile to get cohesive, but I think we’re going to be a fun, exciting team to watch.”
Speaking for Robinson and Lawrence, they both will be eligible against Temple for different reasons. For Robinson, it was because he transferred last winter from Memphis. For Lawrence, it’s because he was suspended for the first eight games after driving drunk and in the wrong direction on the Garden State Parkway early last month, which resulted in an accident.
“I think (the university) looked at it and it’s a semester, it’s eight games, it’s a pretty big blow to the kid, considering he’s a transfer that sat out all of last year, and he only has a year and a half of eligibility left,” Gonzalez said. “Now, obviously he had that coming, he did that to himself. Nobody’s justified anything or lessened the seriousness of what happened … but I think it was discussed on all levels and that he’d completed the sanctions the university felt comfortable with, and we all kind of got together and decided it was time, and that it was the right thing.
The question left then is what role will Robinson and Lawrence play when they’re ready to step onto the floor? Gonzalez hinted that Lawrence will slide back into the starting two-guard spot he was expected to occupy before his incident, while Robinson would likely come off the bench.
“I think Jeffm because of how well Herb and John play together, I think Jeff will be better as a guy who comes in off the bench,” Gonzalez said. “I think Keon’s a guy that can slide in there and move Jeremy to the three and slide Robert off … I think he gives us more flexibility there.”
*******
More trouble for Fordham
Things didn’t get better for Fordham in Jared Grasso’s first game on the sidelines as the team’s head coach Saturday night, with the Rams droppinga 67-46 decision to Bowling Green. Then they got worse yesterday, when star Jio Fontan was officially granted a conditional release by the university.
My reading of the situation last week was that Grasso, the man who recruited Fontan to Fordham, replacing the fired Dereck Whittenburg gave the Rams a very good shot at convincing Fontan to reconsider his decision, and to stick out the year. But, in the end, he still chose to leave, and reportedly could end up at Oklahoma Sate, USC or Miami, among other places.
But his departure leaves Fordham without a leader, and Grasso in a very difficult position. He told me last Friday that he hopes to play an up-tempo style; but with his star point guard gone, how exactly is he going to be able to do that? We’ll see starting tonight, when the Rams take on Stony Brook at Rose Hill Gym.
*******
How good is Louisville?
Rick Pitino’s Cardinals entered the season ranked fourth in the Big East’s preseason coaches poll. But through their first seven games, they have looked like anything but a top-four team in the nation’s toughest conference.
Louisville has played two opponents worth nothing so far, UNLV in Las Vegas and Charlotte at home. The result? Two losses – a 76-71 setback against the Runnin’ Rebels and an 87-65 loss to the 49ers. Unfortunately for those of us trying to figure out just how good the Cardinals are, it’s going to be awhile before we can get a true reading on it. Their next six opponents? Western Carolina, Oral Roberts, Western Kentucky, Louisiana-Lafayette, Radford and South Carolina. Yawn.
Tune in to Louisville again Jan. 2 when Pitino-Calipari I takes place in Lexington. There may be a BCS bowl or two that day, but that’s easily the must-watch two hours for me.
*******
Conference Power Rankings
Each week, I’ll give my power rankings for each of the three conferences with the most local flavor – the Big East, Atlantic 10 and the MAAC. Here is the initial breakdown, with the team’s overall record this season in parentheses:
***
Big East
1. Villanova (8-0)
2. Syracuse (8-0)
3. West Virginia (5-0)
4. Cincinnati (5-1)
5. Connecticut (6-1)
6. St. John’s (6-1)
7. Georgetown (6-0)
8. Seton Hall (7-0)
9. Louisville (5-2)
10. Marquette (6-2)
11. Notre Dame (8-1)
12. Pittsburgh (7-1)
13. South Florida (7-1)
14. DePaul (5-2)
15. Providence (6-3)
16. Rutgers (5-2)
***
Atlantic 10
1. Richmond (7-1)
2. Dayton (5-2)
3. Charlotte (6-1)
4. Temple (6-2)
5. Xavier (5-2)
6. Rhode Island (5-1)
7. Duquesne (6-2)
8. La Salle (5-2)
9. George Washington (6-1)
10. Saint Louis (5-3)
11. St. Bonaventure (4-3)
12. Saint Joseph’s (3-4)
13. Massachusetts (4-5)
14. Fordham (1-5)
***
MAAC
1. Siena (6-3)
2. Rider (6-3)
3. Niagara (6-3)
4. Fairfield (6-2)
5. Manhattan (5-3)
6. Iona (4-4)
7. St. Peter’s (3-4)
8. Canisius (4-3)
9. Loyola (4-4)
10. Marist (0-6)
***
Games of the Week
Tonight: Butler vs. Georgetown, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
The Bulldogs and Hoyas will square off as part of the Jimmy V Classic in a game that will say a lot about where both teams are at the moment. This is especially true of Georgetown, whose only difficult opponent so far has been Temple at home – and Georgetown only won by a point.
Wednesday: Connecticut vs. Kentucky, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)
As part of the SEC/Big East Invitational, Connecticut and Kentucky will square off at the Garden tomorrow night. For anybody who hasn’t seen Kentucky point guard John Wall yet, this game is, to borrow a phrase, “Must See TV.”
Thursday: Syracuse vs. Flordia, 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Both teams have picked up big early season wins on neutral courts (Syracuse over California and North Carolina, Florida over Michigan State in Atlantic City), and now will play each other in Tampa as another part of the SEC/Big East Invitational. I will be very impressed with the Orange if they can go out on the road and win in what will be at least a slightly hostile environment, if not a complete road game.
Friday: Old Dominion at Dayton, 7 p.m.
Dayton had a rough start to its season, losing a close game to Villanova and then dropping a disappointing game to Kansas State in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament. Old Dominion represents one of the few tests on the Flyers’ schedule – the other being at New Mexico – before Atlantic 10 conference play begins.
Saturday: Georgetown at Washington, 2 p.m. (Fox Sports Net)
This is a big week for the Hoyas, who first take on Butler and then travel all the way across the country to take on the 10th ranked Huskies. Wins in both games could push Georgetown up to at least third in my Big East power rankings, and would send a clear statement to the rest of the league that last year’s struggles were only a temporary problem.
Sunday: Cincinnati at Xavier, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
The bitter rivalry for bragging rights in Cincinnati has Xavier’s way quite often in recent years. However, this year could be different, as Lance Stephenson and the Bearcats look like they could be one of the better teams in the Big East, based upon their very strong showing in Maui.
*******
Loose Balls
– I’ve said it here before, but I think it’s official now – with last week’s loss at Georgia Tech, combined with previous losses to St. John’s and Temple, I don’t know how Siena makes the NCAA Tournament if they fail to win the MAAC’s conference tournament. They just haven’t done enough, in terms of signature wins, in the non-conference schedule to get it done.
– There has been talk this week, first reported by my friend John Ourand at Sports Business Journal, of expanding the NCAA Tournament to 96 teams. While I prefer it to stay just the way it is (I’d actually prefer it to eliminate the play-in game and go back to 64 teams), I think it’s definitely going to happen, and sometime fairly soon at that. Given the NCAA has the option to opt-out of its television contract with CBS after this year’s Final Four, and that an extra 32 teams would mean a lot more money in their pockets, the guess here is that this could be in place as soon as next season.
– Props to Norm Robets and St. John’s for keeping things competitive against Duke at Cameron Indoor Saturday. If the Red Storm can fight that hard throughout the Big East conference schedule, they are going to be in the mix for an at-large bid right up until Selection Sunday.
– Marist is the only team from the Big East, Atlantic 10 or MAAC yet to win a game. So when will the first win for the Red Foxes happen? The bet here is when they host Binghamton Dec. 20.
– Finally, speaking of the Bearcats, props to former Temple great and current interim head coach Mark Macon for keeping his team competing at a respectable level amid absolute chaos, including the reassignment of an assistant coach last week. The Bearcats picked up their first Division I win of the season when they defeated Bucknell last week, 64-60, and fought gamely at Rider and at home against Marshall before losing.
tbontemps@nypost.com
