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I have not completely finished up off-season junk and waiting on a few of these exhibition games to play out for a bit more info before I completely wrap that up and go full steam. Had some time today to actually get away from season outlooks and look at some matchups. Yes, I’m way too early but I needed a break from all the other garbage. So, we’ll get it started. As always, time permitting, hope to post as often as I can, answer any and all questions as I can, and enjoy some nice back and forth on the game. All of November will be found here, will start a new thread monthly.
2K Classic Field
11/7-11/18
Initial Thoughts: Weak field and I hate the way this is set up. Regardless of initial series of games, the four teams for MSG are set, which pretty much deems the earlier games pointless (in a tiny way).
St. John’s: I would probably rate them anywhere from the 3 to the 6 in the field. I think it’s one of those “back-to-reality” type settings for the squad this year. Last year, they played quite a few close ball games and came out on top in a majority of those. They played unreal at MSG (believe they were 7-1), and they played out of their minds against top level talent. They lost a ton from last year, although Lavin does bring in a really, really, really good recruiting class. They’ll have the talent to compete in the Big East, but I’m eyeing probably a bottom to mid-level BE trip. There are really two things I’m looking to avoid early with St. John’s, and that’s the youth movement (especially in the Big East), and coaching. Lavin had surgery for prostate cancer and is recovering still. He has yet to attend an exhibition, although he is getting film from practice on a daily basis. Having a familiar staff or not, Lavin is one of those coaches that needs to be there to get his point across. This is probably a team I look more after mid-season, and try to avoid or fade early. I just don’t believe the chemistry will be there, but then again, they’ll be in the Garden here in this setting. In the Queens regional here, I don’t really sense any competition from William & Mary or Lehigh, but they do get the luxury of playing two similar teams prior to heading off to MSG. The results should be pretty similar in both games, assuming there is no youth movement look-ahead to the big stage in game #2.
Arizona: I would probably rate them top 2 in this field. The problem is, they have the toughest draw of any team here, even though they’ll get two of those regional games at home. With that said, there might be some value once they hit the Garden. In the regional games, they’ll get Valpo game #1, and Duquesne #2. In terms of how they rank, I’m probably looking at Valpo mid-tier Horizon league and Duquesne upper quarter of the A-10. Both teams travel West for the regional, so slight advantage to Arizona, also noting Duquesne’s style of play and the travel setting in probably after the first few days. As for Zona, they should contend for the Pac title with Washington. They return a ton, lost the stud, but the pieces should be in place in a weak conference to contend, and they also had a strong recruiting class. I could care less the results of the first two regional games, I will be eyeing the value when they draw St. John’s in the Garden. They have an almost perfect matchup against the St. John’s zone, and have the perfect mix of talent to beat it. Granted, this is probably a top 25 team for sure with Parrom, and it sounds like he will be back sooner, rather than later, perhaps by conference season. He was shot in the leg while visiting his mother, who had cancer at the time about a month ago. She’s since passed (over the weekend). Rough month for this kid. They have the talent to replace him though. This team is good, just to give you an idea, they sold out their inner-squad scrimmage....
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lets get ready to rumble!!
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