4th West - Little Rock

WHAT I LIKE: 1. Big men who can shoot the three. 2. Steve Shields. One of the better coaches in the league. 3. The best recruiting class in at least a decade. 4. Finally - some legit D1 height. 5. D'Andre Williams. Possibly the best point in the league this year.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE: 1. A ton of offensive firepower gone. 2. Leading returning scorer at only 6.7 ppg. 3. A lot of new faces to get in sync with the program.

Just for the record, I tried to rate the Trojans as if I knew no more about them than I do about other programs. I honestly think they will finish higher than this, but most of that is based upon the incoming talent and Shields' ability to mold it into a team. If Javes qualifies, the talent on this team could be the best I have seen on a Trojan squad. Might be - and so I don't rate them any higher. There are a lot of IF's about this team to be answered yet. If most of them fall on the positive side of the ledger, pencil this squad in toward the top of the SBC. If not, wait till next year.

Good pick, all objective things considered. But like you, I feel like we will do much better when all is said and done.

(08-23-2011 06:55 PM)eh9198 Wrote:  I feel like we will do much better when all is said and done.

Especially after today.

I just don't see any way you guys finish 4th. I'll be amazed if you're not in the top half of the West, and the only way you don't finish top 2 is if a couple of teams overachieve.

(08-23-2011 08:13 PM)thetastygreek Wrote:  I just don't see any way you guys finish 4th.

I could be sandbagging, but I am just trying to be consistent in how I look at the information I have. With Javes on board as of today, I feel a lot better about our situation. Still, even optimistically, our incoming class probably does not match with NT's.