The Hall had a tough time of it last year. Close losses……. big losses…. but mostly losses. 4-12 is not a typical Seton Hall record. The Pirates return 3 starters from last year and they are all in the backcourt. That is, if you consider SF a backcourt position.

Frontcourt - John Garcia returned from an injury to have a strong finish (4.4ppg, 3.8rpg) last year. He should man one of the frontcourt positions this year. After Garcia the Pirates have no one. Mike Davis, a 6-11 freshman, may start unless Bobby Gonzalez wants to use four guards. Garcia and Davis will be backed up by 6-10 freshman Augustine Okosun, 6-9 Brandon Walters (another frosh) and maybe 6-6 Michael Glover. This is one of the weakest frontcourts the Hall has had in years. GRADE - D

Backcourt - If we suppose that Brian Laing at SF should be listed with the backcourt, the Pirates have a real nice threesome here. Laing (16.5ppg, 6.7rpg) might even be moved to the PF position which would strengthen the frontcourt and allow Paul Gause (8.7ppg, 3.3rpg) or Larry Davis (7.5ppg, 3.4rpg) to start at SF. This might be what Gonzalez will do to bring the frontcourt up to Big East standards. If Laing starts at SF, the backcourt is still a very good one with Jamar Nutter (12.3ppg, 3.2rpg) at SG and Eugene Harvey (16.5ppg, 4.2apg) at the point. Any way you look at it, this is a very strong backcourt. GRADE - A-

Depth - Depending on what happens up front, the depth at the three backcourt positions is tremendous. Who wouldn’t want a hustler like Gause coming off the bench? Or a scorer like Davis? With 6.7 rpg, moving Laing to PF would still allow Gonzalez to have a better than average depth situation here. GRADE - B

Outlook - This has to be a time of many decisions for Gonzalez. A frontcourt of Laing and Garcia along with Nutter, Gause and Harvey in the backcourt seems like a nice mix. That still saves Laryy Davis to come off the bench. There seems to be no reason to sit both Gause and Davis while starting freshman Mike Davis. GRADE - C

Categories: Coach O, Commentary, Seton Hall