NCAA Basketball: San Diego State, Baylor exposed and more takeaways
By Brian Rauf
3) Seton Hall’s lineup-driven weakness
Seton Hall, the sixth-tallest team in the nation, found success using that size advantage around the basket and on the defensive end this season. The breakout play of 7-2 big man Romaro Gill played a huge part in that, as he was arguably one of the nation’s best players during the month of January.
Gill’s offensive hot streak somewhat subsided naturally, but he was still a major factor defensively, ranking third nationally in blocks in sixth in block percentage (not to mention how many more he alters). He’s a deterrent around the rim that makes opponents think twice before penetrating, which allows Seton Hall’s already stingy perimeter defense to play even tighter and more aggressively.
Of course, as you can imagine with someone who is 7-2, Gill is not the fastest or most mobile player in the world. Villanova took advantage of that in their win over the Pirates on Wednesday by spacing the floor with their small lineup to force Gill to defend on the perimeter where he isn’t as good and can’t defend the rim.
The Wildcats took advantage of his struggles by making 13 three-pointers. Eventually, Kevin Willard took Gill out of the game for good late in the second half when it felt like the game was starting to slip away from Seton Hall. They eventually clawed their way back and nearly won the game, but Gill was on the bench.
In the loss to Creighton on Saturday, the Bluejays made 14 three-pointers and Gill had minimal impact as well.
And there lies the conundrum. The Pirates are at their best when Gill is on the court and is a factor around the rim on both ends. They’re still a quality team with him off the court, but their ceiling is much lower.
Matchups always matter in the NCAA Tournament, but it may matter more for Seton Hall for this reason. They could be in trouble if they get put in a pod or region with smaller, more perimeter-oriented teams like Dayton, but it won’t be an issue if they’re paired with teams that use traditional bigs like Kansas or Duke.