Big East Play Begins With DePaul Hosting Seton Hall

Seton Hall is coming to Chicago to mark the beginning of Big East play.  The Blue Demons and Pirates had two epic match-ups last year with DePaul winning both times.  The Demons’ size is what put them over the top with Femi Olujobi, Paul Reed and Jaylen Butz dominating both games.  In the first one, DePaul won 75-74 in Chicago as Max Strus had 21, while the 3 big men all scored double figures.   The second match-up was one of the most offensively efficient games by the Demons in a 97-93 victory in New Jersey behind Olujobi’s 22, Strus’s 22, and Reed’s 21.  DePaul scored at a 1.31 points per possession, one of their highest of the season.  Let’s hope for an encore this season.

The Setup

DePaul takes on Seton Hall Monday, December 30th at 7:30PM at Wintrust Arena.  The game will be no FoxSports Channel 237 on Comcast and on Radio 670AM.

 

DePaul Trends

Jalen Coleman-Lands, the Catch and Shoot King

I took a deep dive over the past few days watching only Jalen Coleman-Lands.  If you have been watching JCL for the past 2 months, the eye test has been telling me that he is an extreme catch and shoot shooter.  So of course, I had to verify it by viewing footage.

I have recorded eight of the 12 Blue Demons’ games from this year.  Boston College was not on Comcast period, Cleveland State was only viewed from ESPN3, and I may have deleted both Alcorn State and the University of Chicago games.

So that left Iowa, Cornell, Central Michigan, Texas Tech, Buffalo, UIC, and Northwestern.

Catch and Shoot was defined by the following, did JCL catch a ball and shoot without hesitation?  If yes, it was ‘Catch and Shoot’.  If he hesitated, took a dribble, took several dribbles, it would be considered a ‘Dribble and Shoot’.

I broke down JCL’s shooting into 4 categories.  Catch and Shoot 2s, Catch and Shoot 3s, Dribble and Shoot 2s, and Dribble and Shoot 3s.

The data does not lie, JCL is an extreme Catch and Shoot guy.  On Catch and Shoot 3s, he is 23 for 45 for a whopping 51.5% in the eight games I analyzed.

On Dribble and Shoot 3s, he is 4 for 20 or 20%.

In contrast, he is 0-3 on Catch and Shoot 2s and 14 for 30 on Dribble and Shoot 2s for 46.7%.

For the Season, including all D1 games JCL is shooting 38% from 3.  In the games I evaluated, he shot 41.5%.

With the exception of the Buffalo game, which was a weird game, Coleman-Lands has made at least 40% of his Catch and Shoot 3-Pointers.  Set the man up and good things happen.

You can bet that in Big East play, the Blue Demon opponents will be trying to run him off the line, or denying the pass to JCL.

 

Tale of the Tape

Sandro Mamukelashvili is definitely out with a broken bone, while Myles Powell is questionable due to concussion symptoms.  Odds are Powell will play.

This one of the most even ‘Tale of the Tape’ sections we have seen this year.

Seton Hall wins out by one category, in that the Pirates have a better team free-throw shooting.  This should be a rock fight similar to the Texas Tech game.  Both teams identity is based off of their defense.

DePaul’s offense is slightly better than the Hall’s offense, and the Hall’s defense is slightly better than the Demon’s defense.

On paper this is a push, especially when you take in account who Seton Hall will be missing and might be missing.

 

Winner of the Tape:  Push with Powell,  slightly towards Demons without Powell.

Who Can Hurt the Demons?

Myles Powell

If healthy, Seton Hall has Myles Powell, old school yard buddy of former Blue Demon, Eli Cain.  Powell is recovering from a concussion and may not be available against DePaul.  However, if he does play, Powell has an incredible usage rate of 35%, which means that possessions go to him to die.  Only 6 other players in the nation use more possessions than Powell.  He puts of the 4th most shots in the country.  He shoot 38% from 3 and puts you on the horns of dilemma between his shooting from the outside or driving inside with his man.

If Powell Doesn’t Play, who Picks up the Slack?

Quincy McKnight

6′ 4″ Senior guard took 14 of the Pirates’ shots against Maryland.  He also had 6 assists and only 2 turnovers.

Myles Cale and Jared Rhoden took 10 shots each both having below average offensive ratings.

This teams plays for each other, and with Powell and Mamukelashvili potential out they are screaming to the clouds that nobody believes in them.  The took out Maryland after regrouping from the Powell injury.  Anything is possible.

What is Going to Happen on Wednesday?

Loud crowd mostly DePaul crowd.  Most of the lower bowl will be filled.  DePaul will not take Seton Hall lightly.  It will be a physical battle like both of last year’s games.  I will be there, and I have a feeling that the Blue Demons will pull it out lead by Paul Reed and Jaylen Butz.