Connecticut News, Marquette News, Notre Dame News, Ray Mernagh, Seton Hall News

BELLY OF THE BE-AST: THE QUESTIONS EDITION (PART II)

by RAY MERNAGH

Yesterday we looked at questions surrounding the programs at Syracuse, Rutgers, West Virginia and Villanova (see article here).

Today we’ll focus on Connecticut, Seton Hall, Marquette and Notre Dame.

Is Stanley Robinson the leader that UConn is looking for?

In short, no, but that’s okay. If Robinson can just provide consistent effort and start to tap his profound potential, UConn will be fine. Look for leadership to come from Young Kemba (Walker) and silky Jerome Dyson. Robinson just needs to play hard and adapt the attitude of a killer and that will be more than enough. Jim Calhoun needs Robinson scoring, running the floor, blocking shots, playing through any rough stuff other teams might throw at him and rebounding every night. If he does that, UConn’s ceiling is the sky come March. If he doesn’t do that there will be some struggles.

Will Seton Hall be able to co-exist with each other enough to have success?

The additions of Herb Pope and Keon Lawrence should be HUGE for Seton Hall. After all you’re talking about adding a probable double-double in Pope and a proven high-major guy in Lawrence. This might sound crazy, but at least on the court, I think the ability for the Pirates to mesh offensively will fall on Jeremy Hazell and Stix Mitchell. Both players are more than likely going to see their shot attempts go down and they’re going to need to handle that the right way for the Hall to be a tournament team –which they should be with their talent and schedule. Pope and Lawrence should be fine on the court (Bobby Gonzalez, as every coach does, is praying they’ll be okay off the court as well). News broke this morning that Lawrence was involved in an accident while driving on a suspended liscense while allegedly drunk, so things aren’t so good right now with Lawrence off-the-court). But I truly believe the Hall’s success this season will be determined by the way Hazell and Mitchell respond to Pope’s presence (Lawrence’s seems to be in doubt obviously).

How tough will this season be for Marquette?

Likely very tough. Injuries haven’t helped but the Warriors Golden Eagles were going to be young, and thin, no matter what. It’s a result, in part, of the last regime getting while the getting was good. Buzz Williams and staff have done an incredible job both coaching and recruiting. Those efforts will be rewarded very soon, but this season Marquette should be the team that everybody hates to play. They’ll battle every night and might surprise some with their results, but in all honesty they’re probably a year away due to their youth and some holes in the backcourt. Vander Blue arriving next year, along with a healthy Junior Cadougan, will bring a lot of wins when they join the young kids that will learn a lot this year. Lazar Hayward — game on!

How big a hit was losing Scott Martin to Notre Dame?

I’m not sure if you can even measure how big it was. When I heard Martin had decided on Notre Dame as his transfer destination I thought “that kid’s exactly what they’ll need” and that was before last season’s struggles. Adding Martin and Ben Hansbrough would’ve been an instant but seismic change to the Notre Dame program. Martin is just a player. He played best in big games for Purdue as a pup. I was amazed at some of the whispers coming out of West Lafayette about his toughness when he finally left the program. I saw him compete better than each of his teammates in the NCAA Tournament, so that tells me all I need to know about his “toughness” — he’s plenty tough (plus he has a lot of skills). Martin would’ve given them another guy that makes plays and would’ve taken some pressure off guys like Tory Jackson (who struggled last year). Losing Martin was huge. ND could still have a good year but I think Martin would’ve made a great year a distinct possibility.

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