SETON HALL (1-0)Last Game with SBU: Seton Hall 60, Stony Brook 59 on 12/28/12; Dave Coley game-high 21 points; Anthony Jackson misses potential GW three
Checkmate Unofficial Line: Seton Hall -16.5
Net Ranking: TBD
KenPom RPI: Stony Brook 234, Yale 19
KenPom Prediction: Seton Hall 82, Stony Brook 61
Listen/Watch:TV:
http://bit.ly/FSGo_11-9Radio:
https://player.siriusxm.com/welcomeNotables:6-2/195 sr G Myles Powell 27.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.0 spg, .538 FG%, .444 3-pt FG%, .818 FT%
6-6/210 so F Jared Rhoden 12.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.0 spg, .667 FG%
6-11/240 jr F Sandro Mamukelashvili 11.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, .500 FG%
7-2/265 so C Ike Obiagu 11.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 3.0 bpg, 1.000 FG%
6-4/185 sr G Quincy McKnight 10.0 ppg, 7.0 apg, .500 FG%, .500 3-pt FG%
6-6/210 jr G Myles Cale 6.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .500 FG%
This might be a really, really good Seton Hall team that has a deep March run in them – maybe not Terry Dehere deep but it’s not out of the question.
They’re big, tough, deep and experienced. Almost their entire roster from last year’s 20-win season is back. We’ll most certainly have our hands full.
I really like what Seton Hall did in the preseason. It scheduled two exhibition games against Bloomfield and Misericordia as tuneups for their opener on Tuesday. They certainly appear to have been ready, having curbstomped Wagner and hanging up 105 points in doing so. Three times, they got their entire bench a significant number of minutes.
Any hopes of winning has to start on the defensive end. We stayed in a lot of games last year because of our on-ball defense and our energy going after loose balls and on the glass. I can’t say that I saw that level of intensity on Tuesday night. Seton Hall has VETERAN guards, such a luxury for a high-major team. They won’t be easily flustered. Powell is a flatout baller – a cold-blooded scorer at all levels. He hit over 100 threes a year ago and isn’t afraid to go inside and draw contact. He’s built like a strong safety – not rangy but thick, having come to Seton Hall at 240 pounds. All he’s done since is become a unanimous first team all-Big East selection a year ago and get named Preseason POY in the conference this fall. A great read if you have time:
https://nypost.com/2019/11/02/myles-powells-unforeseen-seton-hall-rise-goes-beyond-the-court/Cale and McKnight are no slouches, the former coming off a season in which he was second behind Powell in scoring and the latter having torn up the NEC for two seasons at Sacred Heart before transferring to the Hall.
Rhoden’s an island kid who was just out of our reach out of high school. He won a state title with Baldwin and then reclassified as a 2018 grad and went to Our Saviour Lutheran in the Bronx. That elevated his recruiting profile and helped him land at a power conference school. He was a marginal contributor as a freshman but is threatening to join the Pirates starting lineup, or at least be their top offensive weapon off the bench.
Offensively, we will be hard pressed to score much inside with our present roster and not with theirs. We’ll be bold if we dare to try. 7-2/265 Obiagu is a Florida State transfer who was inserted into the starting lineup and has been touted as the team’s best shot blocker since Sam Dalembert (a 13-year pro BTW). Pair him with a good passing big in Mamukelashvili and FOUR other THICK pivots at 6-9 or better (including 7-2/255 Romaro Gill). I expect Christie to make his debut and for Ochefu to get a little more burn than we saw on Tuesday.
Last thing about Seton Hall: They have a fantastic message board.
https://setonhall.forums.rivals.com/forums/pirate-hoops-chat.14/Let’s lay it all on the line and keep it respectable.