Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big East Basketball: Creating the conference’s All-NBA bracket for 2018

By Brian Foley

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 26: Gordon Hayward #20 of the Utah Jazz dribbles around Otto Porter Jr. #22 of the Washington Wizards in the second half at Verizon Center on February 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 26: Gordon Hayward #20 of the Utah Jazz dribbles around Otto Porter Jr. #22 of the Washington Wizards in the second half at Verizon Center on February 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Isaiah Whitehead #15 and Angel Delgado #31 of the Seton Hall Pirates celebrate in the second half against the Creighton Bluejays during the quarterfinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament on March 10, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Isaiah Whitehead #15 and Angel Delgado #31 of the Seton Hall Pirates celebrate in the second half against the Creighton Bluejays during the quarterfinals of the Big East Basketball Tournament on March 10, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

First Round

In a 10-team, single-elimination bracket, the 8-seed and the 9-seed face off in the first round, as do the 7-seed and 10-seed. The winners move on to play the one and two seeds, respectively.

7. Providence vs. 10 St. John’s

PC: Dunn, Brooks, Cotton, Ledo, Henton

STJ: Harrison, Pointer, Harkless, Sampson, Brownlee

Yikes. This 7-10 matchup includes just five players currently in the NBA or the G-League. This game also features two teams with totally different styles, as the Johnnies’ top two players work on the wing and in the frontcourt, while the PC squad has Dunn, Brooks, and Cotton at the top of the key and on the perimeter.

Harkless is in the middle of a $42M NBA contract, but he has shown little ability to lead an offense by himself. Dunn, on the other hand, at least took a leap forward for the rebuilding Bulls in 2017-18 after scuffling as a rookie in Minnesota. Give him a couple of scoring guards in Brooks and Cotton, and his former teammate in Henton, and the Friars Alumni unit should be able to move past this haphazard St. John’s team.

Winner faces 2. Villanova

8. Seton Hall vs. 9. DePaul

SHU: Whitehead, Carrington, Rodriguez, Edwin, Delgado

DPU: Garrett Jr., Young, Chandler, Henry, Koshwal

The Pirates are essentially using their 2015-16 team, which captured the Big East tournament championship and adding Edwin, who played 35 games for the Raptors 905 G-League team this past season. Meanwhile, DePaul has Chandler, an 11-year pro who has averaged 13.5 points per game for his career, and… not much else.

So, can Chandler and four guys take down the 2016 Big East tourney champs? I say yes! The Pirates featured an excellent defense that season – 10th in adjusted defensive efficiency – but they did get bounced by 11-seeded Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA tournament as well. Gonzaga may have been better than the average 11 seed, but its not like the Bulldogs were oozing with NBA talent either. Give me Chandler and Friends (no, not this Chandler and Friends) over Seton Hall’s five fringe NBA-ers.

Winner faces 1. Marquette

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