Gonzo Ball Previews Cornell vs. Seton Hall

Below, a pair of posts from the Seton Hall fan blog, Gonzo Ball.

Around the Hall: Gonzo: "I'm Probably Nuts For Playing This Game"

The Ithaca Journal catches up with upstate New York native, Bobby Gonzalez, who graduated form Binghamton North High School in 1981. Gonzalez is well aware of the challenge and disadvantage that face the Pirates on Friday.

"It's probably the worst scheduled game in the history of college basketball," semi-joked Gonzalez during a phone interview Wednesday. He later added: "I'm probably nuts for playing the game, but hey, we're going to do it."

"It's kind of a no-win situation for us because if we go up there and win, we did what we're supposed to do," he added. "If we go up there and lose, everyone says it's a bad loss, which in essence, that's not true."

To read more on how dangerous Cornell actually is, check out our preview of Friday's game here.

Gonzalez is correct in his notion that this is an awful game for Seton Hall to play. The "worse scheduled game in college basketball history" may be a stretch, but Gonzo has a valid point. For the Pirates to go on the road for Cornell's home opener really puts them in the aforementioned no-win situation.

If the Pirates win, well, they were "supposed" to and they won't get any love from the AP when they sit down to decide next week's top 25. Likewise, a victory would be considered with the NCAA selection committee, however, a road victory at Cornell isn't exactly enough to push a bubble team into the dance. However, if the same team were to lose at Cornell, it may be enough to keep them out.

Looking Forward to Cornell

When Friday's game was originally scheduled against Cornell, it was thought to be the first non-conference test this Seton Hall squad would face. Obviously, after the close-call Friday night, this will actually be the second test, in three games. It will not be an easy task for the Pirates as they will travel to Cornell, home of the back-to-back defending Ivy League Champions who by all accounts, should three-peat this season.

Cornell can flat out shoot, they are coming off a 50% FG and 55% 3PT performance spoiling Alabama's home debut in a 71-67 victory. They will play at UMass tomorrow night, before returning to Cornell for their home opener against the Pirates on Friday. If winning on the road against the Big Red was difficult to begin with, consider the Hall will need to beat a veteran Cornell team on their opening night as they raise another conference championship banner.

You could say this has all the making of a trap game, however, it is far from that. Just last season they held a five point half-time lead in Syracuse before the Orange eventually took control in the second half. Cornell is a talented and veteran team, returning all of it's starters from last year, along with adding a pair of transfers from Kentucky and UMass in Mark Coury and Max Groebe. They have the potential to shoot lights out from long distance and if the Pirates play lazy defense around the perimeter, which they've shown the propensity to do, Cornell may very well pull off the upset.

If the shots aren't falling Friday, it would be beneficial for Gonzo to move away from the run-and-gun offensive strategy as the Big Red would gladly be content trading field-goal attempts. Instead, on both sides of the ball, Pope, Garcia, Hall and even Oliver will need to outmuscle the Cornell big men, including the 7-foot Jeff Foote. Just as important, the Seton Hall guards must remain committed to playing strict perimeter defense for 40 minutes if they expect to leave Ithaca with the victory.