The other thread got me thinking.

To recap 2014-2015

Team Record [Conference] (Overall)
Wofford [16 - 2] (28 - 7)
Chattanooga [15 - 3] (22 - 10)
Mercer [12 - 6] (19 - 16)
Western Carolina [9 - 9] (15 - 17)
ETSU [8 - 10] (16 - 14)
VMI [7 - 11] (11 - 19)
Samford [6 - 12] (13 - 19)
The Citadel [6 - 12] (11 - 19)
UNCG [6 - 12] (11 - 22)
Furman [5 - 13] (11 - 22)

Wofford had 28 wins, but they played 35 games.

Given a balance between our new program and reality...plus that we will have 2 throwaway Tusculum-type games, I'm going to place the over/under for wins next year at 22.5. Anyone want to go on the record with your prediction?

I'm cautiously taking the over.

UNDER

Need the schedule and # of games before proceeding rationally. But my heart says drive that train towards 25+, Forbes! Blitzkrieg the SoCon! Leave no one in the nation wondering who ETSU is, or who their Buccanneer represents!

i think UTC, Wofford and ETSU should all have a good chance to go over 20 wins..We know that Mercer will probably be good too based on recent years.. I just hope we are together as a team and ready to win the tourney in Asheville.. If we keep everyone healthy I think we have a good chance to do that and be able to cut down the nets and go back to the big dance..

Over.

I'm wondering who'll provide the bulk of our points.

I'd like to see the non-conference schedule in stone before I start prognosticating a win total, but, looking at the talent Forbes has brought in, ETSU should go at least 13-5 in league play this season. I think Wofford could still beat us both times, and I think we split with UTC, Mercer, and one school we probably should take both games from (either VMI or WCU, not sure which).

The Bucs have a chance to win the SoCon, and if everyone plays to their potential, they could win it going away. It's a wide-open league this year, though. I'm excited!

I just feel that Forbe's head coach juco experience is about to replay in DI form. His team at NFS went 62-6 on back-to-back national runner-up finishes. He already knows DI talent as a head coach, and as an assistant under the auspices of preeminent coaches. My gut feeling is that Forbes steals the title from Wofford - possibly splitting - and punches UTC in the nose, a straight sweep.

I don't really think Forbes needs any time to adjust. He's already bringing the 3 and 4 star players that fit his system. The man has experience walking into a program and catalyzing it immediately to national success, competing against other high level DI talent.

(06-26-2015 06:03 PM)squeak Wrote:  I'm wondering who'll provide the bulk of our points.

I think this is the heart of the matter. With the late start in recruiting, Coach Forbes has mostly gone away from his stated preference of recruiting offense and teaching defense. If the Bucs are going to win 20+ games, a lot of people are going to have to come through on the offensive end.

Cromer is going to have to hit the ground running -- not always easy for a juco transfer. Wilson is going to have to be more consistent than last year. And Banks, Merriweather, and Bradford need to show significant improvement on offense. Of those three, Desonta showed the most potential for scoring.

It will be very interesting to see how much improvement Coach Forbes can coax out of these players.

With a bunch of new players, it may take 8 to 10 games to find the right chemistry. I think we will probably lose a couple of games early on that, on paper, we should win. But we certainly have a chance to be the best team in the SoCon by midway through the conference schedule if everything progresses.

This year would be a great year to have done one of the summer tours or fall back-to-school events like we did in 2008-09 with the Toronto trip (and that team went on to gel pretty well and win the championship).

I'm going to wait until I see the schedule before I pick my win count. Right now I'm thinking right around 22 or 23 wins, about what Chattanooga did last year, but that may change once I see the full schedule.

The wins will be there. I'm more excited about watching a team that may actually play some tough defense and be coached up offensively. I'll be tickled when the Bucs go up by a big margin, and not worry on how and when they'll start blowing that lead.

I think it will be nice to see a kid who misses a shot not being jerked out of the game and sat on the bench as punishment. Let them find a flow and rhythm.

And, on the flipside, other kids not run dog tired, getting sick or injured because coach can't recruit, develop, or implement depth.

(06-26-2015 03:51 PM)CaptainJackAubrey Wrote:  The other thread got me thinking.

To recap 2014-2015

Team Record [Conference] (Overall)
Wofford [16 - 2] (28 - 7)
Chattanooga [15 - 3] (22 - 10)
Mercer [12 - 6] (19 - 16)
Western Carolina [9 - 9] (15 - 17)
ETSU [8 - 10] (16 - 14)
VMI [7 - 11] (11 - 19)
Samford [6 - 12] (13 - 19)
The Citadel [6 - 12] (11 - 19)
UNCG [6 - 12] (11 - 22)
Furman [5 - 13] (11 - 22)

Wofford had 28 wins, but they played 35 games.

Given a balance between our new program and reality...plus that we will have 2 throwaway Tusculum-type games, I'm going to place the over/under for wins next year at 22.5. Anyone want to go on the record with your prediction?

I'm cautiously taking the over.

I'm amending the prediction to ENTHUSIASTICALLY taking the over. WAY OVER.

OVER

We won 16 last year .. and probably would have been near 20 if our center had not gone down early on.. so, I am going to say OVER!!!!!

Sneak peak of the Bucs this Saturday (10/03) from 10:00-11:00 a.m.!! I can't wait for this. Very cool of Forbes to open a practice to everyone. That guy simply gets it.


https://twitter.com/etsu_mbb/status/648498144158842880

Nice. Hopefully you will give us out of towners a report?