Ray Mernagh, Rutgers News, Syracuse News, Villanova News, West Virginia News

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

by RAY MERNAGH

It’s that time again, the first day of the regular season. Which means it’s also time for the first edition of the 2009-10 Belly of the BE-ast.

And while a lot of Cats, Cats being my set-in-stone moniker for other college basketball writers during the 09-10 season — are wondering why the season can’t start off with more of a bang — I’m trying to increase my level of acceptance on the grounds that I can’t do shinola about it anyway, so why fret?

Better yet, why not start this season off with a set of questions relevant to the 16 programs we cover here better than anyone else. As always, I ask them while trying to channel the brains of our faithful readers in order to give you what nobody else does (a little depth while still trying to use brevity). No better place to start than Syracuse, seeing as how the Orange entertain Albany this evening, and the last time they took the floor at the Carrier Dome they got beat by LeMoyne. A loss that prompted a lot of “it doesn’t really matter” responses from most of those “Cats” out there.

Question: Did the loss to LeMoyne mean anything?

We’re about to find out, quickly. Tonight Syracuse will play a team, Albany, that has size on the front-line (6-8 and 6-11) and talent/strength/athleticism on the wing and at the two guard spot. Shooting guard Tim Ambrose carries 220 pounds on his 6-foot frame, while Will Harris is a load on the wing at 6-5 and 230. Both, if they catch you slipping, are more than willing to bang on you. The Great Danes also have some size and skill coming off the bench. It would concern me, and I’m sure it does Orange fans, that Wes Johnson shooting 12-23 and scoring 34 points wasn’t enough to get a DUB against a good D-2 team in LeMoyne. Yes, it was only an exhibition and yes, this has happened a couple of times over the past few seasons (D-1 “powers” losing to D-2′S in exhibition play)…but it’s way too early to say it means absolutely nothing. Tonight, Wednesday’s game (Robert Morris), and the November 19th tilt against a guard-centric Cal team will tell us how much work the ‘Cuse needs… and whether that exhibition truly meant something besides the boys in Orange not bringing it against a foe they took for granted. My focus while watching tonight will be on the back-court. If Syracuse wins it will be Jim Boeheim’s 800th, putting him in the company of K and Cutty Calhoun (the only other active coaches with that many DUBS).

Question: Can Rutgers improve enough to instill some faith/hope in their fan base that the Fred Hill Era wasn’t a tragic mistake?

It has to happen this year if it’s ever going to happen. I saw Hill already selling the future, mentioning how Mike Rosario and Greg Echenique’s junior season should be a pivotal one on an interview with SNY and I almost spit my drink all over my keyboard. If Rosario has the kind of season I expect him to, meaning he increases his shooting percentage and his points per game significantly, does anyone think he won’t explore every single professional option available to him? He’ll have to, given his ability and his background. Hill already pointing to a season that’s twelve months away can’t be uplifting for Rutgers supporters.

Question: Is there a better proven combo in the Big East than Devin Ebanks and Da’Sean Butler?

No, and there might not be a better one in the country either. Butler scored big in a lot of games last season, while I truly believe Ebanks will emerge this season as an All-American. How good is Ebanks? So good that Bob Huggins is telling elite recruits that they can come in and do what Ebanks does for him next year, meaning both Huggs and Ebanks will be shocked if the New York native isn’t having his name called quite early come the NBA Draft in June. West Virginia can make a big run if all the players stay healthy, out of trouble and fresh enough to have something left come March (always a concern for a Huggins-coached team).

Question: Can Villanova live up to the expectations?

Right now I’m split on whether they will or not. Guards can dominate college basketball and Jay Wright will have no problem playing four at one time if that gives him the best chance to win. But the young kid in the middle, Yarou, must give them some kind of presence and Pena must step his game up as well. Wright loves guards and wings, and he always gets them to play extremely hard defensively… but I wonder if this might be the season when suddenly there’s not enough balls for all that perimeter talent on offense? Villanova has a target on their back with the Final Four on their resume and it will be interesting to see how they deal with it.

Bonus Question: So would LeMoyne beat Coker?

Most definitely.

I’ll be back with four questions each day until Thurday, meaning I’ll cover a question for every Big East squad (at minimum).

One final thought: Every game now matters!

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