2011 Seton Hall Pirates Basketball
Written by James Zerfoss - Google +
2010-11 Results:
Overall: 13-18 (Home 8-7 Road 4-7 Neutral 1-4 Post-season 0-1)
Big East: 7-11
Conference Tournament: Lost in the first round of the Big East Tournament
Postseason: Not selected for the NCAA Tournament
Kevin Willard guided Seton Hall to a 13-18 record last season and 12th place finish in the Big East. Last year Seton Hall had a lot of veteran leadership that has now departed. The Pirates struggled early last season though their schedule was difficult. Seton Hall won seven games in the conference and upset Syracuse in January and also beat Marquette and St. John’s.
Seton Hall will kick off the season on November 12 against St. Francis. The Pirates will have the challenge of replace 52% of last season’s minutes. Those minutes will mainly be taken by incoming freshman so Seton Hall will have to learn to play together quickly or it could be a long season. Another challenge that the Pirates will face is that they lost 63.1% of their three-point shooting and 53.9% of their overall scoring. Look for Aaron Crosby to step up and fill a scoring role that the team lacks.
The Pirates ranked 13th in the Big East in scoring last year at 67.5 points per game and 10th in scoring defense at 65.8 points per game. The freshman class will make our break Willard’s 2011-2012 squad though veteran Herb Pope will be a strong contributor. Seton Hall will need someone to step up as a scoring option. The loss of Jeremy Hazell was bad enough but the team lacked scoring even with him in the lineup last year.
Roster
Returning Starters
Herb Pope
Jordan Theodore
Fuquan Edwin
Other Returning Players
Patrikl Auda
Peter Dill
Aaron Geramipoor
Newcomers
Aaron Cosby
Brandon Mobley
Kevin Johnson
Sean Grennan
Haralds Karlis
Freddie Wilson
Head Coach
Kevin Willard
Key Losses
Seton Hall lost a lot of seniors from last year’s team that finished tied for third in the Big East. Jeremy Hazell and their second leading scorer Jeff Robinson are gone. Hazell averaged 19.8 points per game last year and 3.5 rebounds. He will be difficult to replace in the Pirates’ starting lineup.
2011-12 Preview
Not only will the Pirates need to rely on six incoming freshman to play key minutes, they will face six teams that are in the AP preseason Top 25. Those teams include #5 Syracuse twice, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Marquette, and Louisville.
Backcourt
Senior Jordan Theodore will be the floor general once again after averaging 11 points per game last year and 4.4 assists. Willard will have a tough job rounding out his backcourt and replacing Hazell. He will call upon Aaron Crosby to do so at shooting guard. Crosby has a great shot and will be able to replace some of the scoring punch that the Pirates will lack without Hazell. Freddie Wilson and Sean Grennan both new comers will compete for time at point guard.
Haralds Karlis can play anywhere from small forward to point guard. He is Seton Hall’s most versatile player. He is an excellent shooter and will try to earn Willard’s respect and the minutes that go along with it.
Frontcourt
Herb Pope will return to lead the frontcourt after finishing third in the Big East in rebounding last year with 7.9 boards a game. He also chipped in 9.8 points per game. Six-six Fuquan Edwin will return at small forward after averaging 7.9 points a game last year. Patrick Auda will try to earn more playing time after averaging 15.3 minutes per game last year as a freshman.
Freshman Brandon Mobley and center Kevin Johnson will look to earn a spot in the rotation. Johnson is a center and has the skill set to develop into an excellent player. Though, he needs to work on his offensive game.
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