(07-07-2017 03:18 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 03:06 PM)JCMiner Wrote:  Two new assistant coaches?

Whole new asst coaching staff from last year. Only one was by their own choice. One is being hinted at as being mutual.

All I know ....

I'm a Western fan and a fan of any of the kids that make it on the court. Coaches come and go and as long as they are at Western. They are part of the family. Only a few matters to me once they leave. Come Oct 15th, there about, I will be at HH watching them play and in my seat for every home game and a few road ones.

Yep... agreed. I was starting to get a little excited once summer hit but who knows who will be playing for us. I just don't want Lamonte bearden to go anywhere.

(07-07-2017 07:33 PM)Jack Bauer Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 03:18 PM)WKUYG Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 03:06 PM)JCMiner Wrote:  Two new assistant coaches?

Whole new asst coaching staff from last year. Only one was by their own choice. One is being hinted at as being mutual.

All I know ....

I'm a Western fan and a fan of any of the kids that make it on the court. Coaches come and go and as long as they are at Western. They are part of the family. Only a few matters to me once they leave. Come Oct 15th, there about, I will be at HH watching them play and in my seat for every home game and a few road ones.

Yep... agreed. I was starting to get a little excited once summer hit but who knows who will be playing for us. I just don't want Lamonte bearden to go anywhere.

.
Regardless of who stays or ends up leaving WKU will be a better basketball team. Last season was one of the worst ever. Not necessarily on a talent level but just with the fresh start and no point guard.

You guys are seriously underestimating Charlotte. Price had one year with literally 6-7 true scholarship players and then last year we played the entire season with no D1 quality player bigger than 6'6". This will be his first season with a balanced and full roster. Imagine most of your team's playing without any of your big guys all last season. I was actually impressed that we were competitive most nights. I expect a top 4 finish for Charlotte.

(07-07-2017 08:28 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  You guys are seriously underestimating Charlotte. Price had one year with literally 6-7 true scholarship players and then last year we played the entire season with no D1 quality player bigger than 6'6". This will be his first season with a balanced and full roster. Imagine most of your team's playing without any of your big guys all last season. I was actually impressed that we were competitive most nights. I expect a top 4 finish for Charlotte.

I have Charlotte at 7 because I have no clue where to put them. Mark Price seems like a good coach and decent recruiter, but your best recruit in the last 2 classes have transferred in Corran Scott (TR Tulsa) and Quentin Jackson.

First of all... After some research (minimal though it may be) I am struck by the number of teams that can make an reasonable claim to be improved (return most of their key players and / or have good talent coming in). If that plays out the conference could be significantly improved top to bottom. The only team that really stuck out to me as not having much potential to improve or at least hold steady was FIU. Who knows... maybe a two bid league this year? Or maybe this will just be a tougher one bid league to win.

Looks like to me there is no runaway favorite. This season could play out a lot different ways and there could be a dark horse or two to make a push.

Disclaimer, this is just one man's opinion and I'm sure the information I found was incomplete.

Anyway... the team that really checked all the boxes for me was Old Dominion.

1. ODU. Finished 3rd last year and returns basically everyone. Caver is injured but it should not affect the conference season.

2. La Tech had a big loss with McCree but returns all the other major pieces.

3. I like MTSU's chances a lot. Potts is an assist machine, they have a couple of nice transfers coming in that will soften the blow of Williams and Upshaw. Wouldn't shock me at all if they 3 peated. But those are two huge losses. And with so many other teams figuring to be improved... I think this will be a huge task for the Blue Raiders to hold on to the throne.

4. WKU is turning over its entire roster. Normally that would be enough to disqualify a team from title talk but the influx of talent that is coming is absolutely insane. Hard to know where to place us.

5. UAB returns their top two players but loses Dirk Williams and a good bit of their bench. I think it will be enough to move up in the standings but the competition will be very tough at the top this year.

6. Rice returns 4 out of their top 5 players. I actually think they will be improved this year but it may not show in the results because of other teams improving as well.

7. Marshall returns Elmore and he is the guy you can build a team around. But if I am reading correctly they lose their next THREE best scorers? That's a big hit. With so many other teams looking strong what am I missing here?

8. UTEP loses their #2 scorer and their #4 scorer. Artis will be a big hit as they will be starting a freshman point guard which is the most important position on the floor. They do have one of if not the best home court advantage in CUSA.

9. UTSA loses their #2 and #5 scorers. They do return their point guard and could be a sleeper to finish higher.

10. Charlotte returns most all of the key players which could propel them to a big improvement. They are losing some of their bench to transfers but if Davis can cut down on the turnovers they will finish higher.

11. USM loses their top scorer Campbell and the #4 scorer Price. I think they will be hard pressed to move up too much.

12. UNT loses their #2 and #5 scorers. I think the new coaching staff has them moving up the list a little bit this year but with a tough league they are probably a year away from bigger improvement.

13. FAU loses their top scorer from last year. Could finish higher if things break right.

14. FIU churning their roster and largely starting over. They will be hard pressed to make it to Frisco.

(07-07-2017 08:28 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  You guys are seriously underestimating Charlotte. Price had one year with literally 6-7 true scholarship players and then last year we played the entire season with no D1 quality player bigger than 6'6". This will be his first season with a balanced and full roster. Imagine most of your team's playing without any of your big guys all last season. I was actually impressed that we were competitive most nights. I expect a top 4 finish for Charlotte.

I hope you guys have a good season ooc and have a top 100 RPI. It will be good if you're competing for a top four finish in conference.

That reminds me of UTEP two seasons ago. We had to turn to small ball due to injuries. We started four guards 6'3", 6'4", 6'2", and 6'4".

(07-07-2017 10:06 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  7. Marshall returns Elmore and he is the guy you can build a team around. But if I am reading correctly they lose their next THREE best scorers? That's a big hit. With so many other teams looking strong what am I missing here?

Ive covered this before but here in goes.

Marshall loses Ryan Taylor, Austin Loop and Stevie Browning, that was 41% of Marshall's production last year. Everyone before last year was "Yeah but you lost James Kelly". And I'll say to that what I said with the loss of Kelly. I think we will be better come next year.

We gain:
Freshman PG 5'11 Jarrod West
West is the reigning West Virginia Bill Evans Award winner, which is the WV Player Of The Year. He is just as good as Elmore is and he is a ball hawk. His defense is just as good as his offensive skills are. Hopefully we have Elmore 2 more years, but if Elmore is told he would be drafted next year, I don't think we would lose a beat at the PG position.

Red Shirt Freshman PF/SF 6'8 Jannson Williams
Williams was a 2016 recruit with Ky're Allison (Transferred out) and Phil Bledsoe. D'Antoni reshirted Williams hoping to add some bulk which he did. He came in at 6'7 185 pounds, he is now 6'8 210 pounds. The kid is still raw and may take a few games to settle him down but by the end of the year I think he will be getting some good minutes.

Transfer (Wake Forest) Junior SG 6'4 Rondale Watson
Watson transferred to Marshall from Wake. Watson is a 6'4 SG that just got buried in the Wake transition of new coach Danny Manning. Watson was 3rd in voting for the Bill Evans Award in 2014, behind Jon Elmore and CJ Burks.

Junior College Junior PF 6'8 Dani Kolginin
Kolginin is only D'Antoni's second JuCo signee, Terrence Thompson was his first in his second class. Kolginin may start the season as a starter if he can get past Penava. He fits D'Antoni's system almost perfectly.

Freshman SG 6'7 Darius George
The original plan was to red shirt George who is 6'7 180 to bulk him up. And that might still be done but its not a fore gone conclusion now. The kid is long and smooth and just glides down the court. He was set to go to Hargrave this year but when Aleksa Nicloic didn't return Dan brought him to Marshall instead. Probably a wise move, we may have lost him if he would have ended up at Hargrave, VA Tech had already come in and offered him after committing to Marshall also UVA, Georgia and Indiana was showing interest in him.

Then there is Iran Bennett, who may or not play this year. He still has yet to be ruled on by the NCAA.

Freshman 6'10 Iran Bennett
I'm just going to put this out there because I know it and everyone else is thinking it. Yes Bennett wouldn't be at Marshall if his eligibility wasn't in question this season. Bennett is a massive player and yes raw as all get out. But if it be this year or next when he gets college game experience under his belt I don't see him being stopped. No one will dislodge him for a pick and if you try and drive into him you will lose.

Freshman 6'8 220 Tanner Robinette
Tanner will set out this year as a NQer.

Also from those who have regularly attended practice this summer say that CJ Burks will take off this year similar to what Elmore and Browning done and will most likely be in the starting line up. It will all depend on the development of Bledsoe and Thieneman if Williams red shirts. If those 2 can come of the bench and give 14-17 mins each then that would be huge.

Also those that go to practice say that by the middle of the nonconference schedule Ajdin Penava will be the starting PF. Which may slide Koljinin to the SF. Those that go to practice say he has finally transformed his body to fit the American style of basketball and not the body he has to play the finesse game the Europeans play. If true then if he can stay out of foul trouble then this is why D'Antoni recruited him.

Just like when we lost Kelly, we became a much faster and more efficient team without losing Kelly's production. With the addition of these guys and the loss of Taylor, Loop and Browning I expect us to be stronger, even faster and better deffencivly. We may not be bombing 3s from all over the floor in the 1st part of the season, Rondale Watson is more of a slasher to the rim. But it will pick up through the season.

(07-07-2017 10:06 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  6. Rice returns 4 out of their top 5 players. I actually think they will be improved this year but it may not show in the results because of other teams improving as well.

You've got it backwards - 4 out of the top 5 left (to Florida, VCU, Nevada and UCSB). We've got more talent on the roster than people would expect, but realistically we're back to being picked no better than 10th or 11th in preseason polls. And that may be generous.

I think some of your other capsules are wrong too. I think UTSA's best player transferred too as an example.

College basketball comings and goings are crazy. You need a new scorecard for every game. We lost 2 graduate transfers and gained 2 graduate transfers. Lost 4 other transfers and gained 1 regular transfer. And then we signed three other true freshmen recruits.

(07-07-2017 10:06 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  First of all... After some research (minimal though it may be) I am struck by the number of teams that can make an reasonable claim to be improved (return most of their key players and / or have good talent coming in). If that plays out the conference could be significantly improved top to bottom. The only team that really stuck out to me as not having much potential to improve or at least hold steady was FIU. Who knows... maybe a two bid league this year? Or maybe this will just be a tougher one bid league to win.

Looks like to me there is no runaway favorite. This season could play out a lot different ways and there could be a dark horse or two to make a push.

Disclaimer, this is just one man's opinion and I'm sure the information I found was incomplete.

Anyway... the team that really checked all the boxes for me was Old Dominion.

1. ODU. Finished 3rd last year and returns basically everyone. Caver is injured but it should not affect the conference season.

2. La Tech had a big loss with McCree but returns all the other major pieces.

3. I like MTSU's chances a lot. Potts is an assist machine, they have a couple of nice transfers coming in that will soften the blow of Williams and Upshaw. Wouldn't shock me at all if they 3 peated. But those are two huge losses. And with so many other teams figuring to be improved... I think this will be a huge task for the Blue Raiders to hold on to the throne.

4. WKU is turning over its entire roster. Normally that would be enough to disqualify a team from title talk but the influx of talent that is coming is absolutely insane. Hard to know where to place us.

5. UAB returns their top two players but loses Dirk Williams and a good bit of their bench. I think it will be enough to move up in the standings but the competition will be very tough at the top this year.

6. Rice returns 4 out of their top 5 players. I actually think they will be improved this year but it may not show in the results because of other teams improving as well.

7. Marshall returns Elmore and he is the guy you can build a team around. But if I am reading correctly they lose their next THREE best scorers? That's a big hit. With so many other teams looking strong what am I missing here?

8. UTEP loses their #2 scorer and their #4 scorer. Artis will be a big hit as they will be starting a freshman point guard which is the most important position on the floor. They do have one of if not the best home court advantage in CUSA.

9. UTSA loses their #2 and #5 scorers. They do return their point guard and could be a sleeper to finish higher.

10. Charlotte returns most all of the key players which could propel them to a big improvement. They are losing some of their bench to transfers but if Davis can cut down on the turnovers they will finish higher.

11. USM loses their top scorer Campbell and the #4 scorer Price. I think they will be hard pressed to move up too much.

12. UNT loses their #2 and #5 scorers. I think the new coaching staff has them moving up the list a little bit this year but with a tough league they are probably a year away from bigger improvement.

13. FAU loses their top scorer from last year. Could finish higher if things break right.

14. FIU churning their roster and largely starting over. They will be hard pressed to make it to Frisco.

You are correct that UTEP has to replace the PG and that will be the most interesting position to watch in the OOC schedule, to see how it develops. But UTEP does not lose it's number 4 scorer, only the number 2, the PG. 6 of 7 top players and scorers return, including 4 starters. Looking forward to an exciting basketball season.

(07-07-2017 10:06 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  Anyway... the team that really checked all the boxes for me was Old Dominion.

1. ODU. Finished 3rd last year and returns basically everyone. Caver is injured but it should not affect the conference season.

Due to their offensive limitations, it is easy to overlook the contributions of graduated seniors Denzel Taylor and Jordan Baker. But their defensive prowess is going to be missed -- especially if Coach Jones insists on making us a defense-minded-first team this year. We may not have the pieces this year to play that style, especially with our thin front court.

The loss of Talley, for disciplinary reasons, will also hurt in a big way.

I'm excited for this coming season -- especially with some of our incoming back court and wing players, who reportedly are superb. But placing us as the number one conference team is more optimistic than pretty much any of our fans are prepared to go.

Thanks for the number one vote, though.

(07-08-2017 07:39 AM)MinerInWisconsin Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 10:06 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  First of all... After some research (minimal though it may be) I am struck by the number of teams that can make an reasonable claim to be improved (return most of their key players and / or have good talent coming in). If that plays out the conference could be significantly improved top to bottom. The only team that really stuck out to me as not having much potential to improve or at least hold steady was FIU. Who knows... maybe a two bid league this year? Or maybe this will just be a tougher one bid league to win.

Looks like to me there is no runaway favorite. This season could play out a lot different ways and there could be a dark horse or two to make a push.

Disclaimer, this is just one man's opinion and I'm sure the information I found was incomplete.

Anyway... the team that really checked all the boxes for me was Old Dominion.

1. ODU. Finished 3rd last year and returns basically everyone. Caver is injured but it should not affect the conference season.

2. La Tech had a big loss with McCree but returns all the other major pieces.

3. I like MTSU's chances a lot. Potts is an assist machine, they have a couple of nice transfers coming in that will soften the blow of Williams and Upshaw. Wouldn't shock me at all if they 3 peated. But those are two huge losses. And with so many other teams figuring to be improved... I think this will be a huge task for the Blue Raiders to hold on to the throne.

4. WKU is turning over its entire roster. Normally that would be enough to disqualify a team from title talk but the influx of talent that is coming is absolutely insane. Hard to know where to place us.

5. UAB returns their top two players but loses Dirk Williams and a good bit of their bench. I think it will be enough to move up in the standings but the competition will be very tough at the top this year.

6. Rice returns 4 out of their top 5 players. I actually think they will be improved this year but it may not show in the results because of other teams improving as well.

7. Marshall returns Elmore and he is the guy you can build a team around. But if I am reading correctly they lose their next THREE best scorers? That's a big hit. With so many other teams looking strong what am I missing here?

8. UTEP loses their #2 scorer and their #4 scorer. Artis will be a big hit as they will be starting a freshman point guard which is the most important position on the floor. They do have one of if not the best home court advantage in CUSA.

9. UTSA loses their #2 and #5 scorers. They do return their point guard and could be a sleeper to finish higher.

10. Charlotte returns most all of the key players which could propel them to a big improvement. They are losing some of their bench to transfers but if Davis can cut down on the turnovers they will finish higher.

11. USM loses their top scorer Campbell and the #4 scorer Price. I think they will be hard pressed to move up too much.

12. UNT loses their #2 and #5 scorers. I think the new coaching staff has them moving up the list a little bit this year but with a tough league they are probably a year away from bigger improvement.

13. FAU loses their top scorer from last year. Could finish higher if things break right.

14. FIU churning their roster and largely starting over. They will be hard pressed to make it to Frisco.

You are correct that UTEP has to replace the PG and that will be the most interesting position to watch in the OOC schedule, to see how it develops. But UTEP does not lose it's number 4 scorer, only the number 2, the PG. 6 of 7 top players and scorers return, including 4 starters. Looking forward to an exciting basketball season.

Yeap we replaced Terry Winn last season during the ooc. He played in three games and averaged 22 minutes. Tim Floyd seems to be high on the pg's coming in. He practically let Barret walk out cuz he is convinced the incoming class of guards will be an upgrade. If he evaluated the talent correctly and with the addition of Williams taking over the forward position (we had a freshman center playing in) then this upcoming team should be as good as last year or better.

(07-08-2017 07:26 AM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 10:06 PM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  6. Rice returns 4 out of their top 5 players. I actually think they will be improved this year but it may not show in the results because of other teams improving as well.

You've got it backwards - 4 out of the top 5 left (to Florida, VCU, Nevada and UCSB). We've got more talent on the roster than people would expect, but realistically we're back to being picked no better than 10th or 11th in preseason polls. And that may be generous.

I think some of your other capsules are wrong too. I think UTSA's best player transferred too as an example.

College basketball comings and goings are crazy. You need a new scorecard for every game. We lost 2 graduate transfers and gained 2 graduate transfers. Lost 4 other transfers and gained 1 regular transfer. And then we signed three other true freshmen recruits.

Information is hazy this time of year. Hard to make any kind of informed decision. Thanks for the info / responses everyone.

Can I revise my order?

You know what might be neat to do in the off season is have every team to have their own threads (one for basketball and another for football) with something of a capsule showing what they will look like next year. Then you would have a separate pinned thread with links to each of the individual teams' basketball and football threads so that you could always find information about that team. Fans of each school could post links to news stories and updates in their team's threads. What do you all think about that?

I really like our roster, but our biggest question marks are:

-Does Coach Ehsan make improvements in his coaching from the first year?
-Does Nick Norton return full strength or will he have lost a step? (all indications are he'll be back to normal)
-Does our lack of true center present too big of an obstacle?

I think with Norton back, it being Lee & Cokely's senior year, and our incoming talent I think we finish at least in the top 3.

C-USA basketball about to experience a renaissance?

Sent from my SM-G930R7 using CSNbbs mobile app

(07-08-2017 09:53 AM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  Can I revise my order?

Sure.. but (though I'm in the minority) I would not be surprised if we go 6th, or higher, next year due to a strong incoming group.

(07-08-2017 10:00 AM)Hilltopper2K Wrote:  You know what might be neat to do in the off season is have every team to have their own threads (one for basketball and another for football) with something of a capsule showing what they will look like next year. Then you would have a separate pinned thread with links to each of the individual teams' basketball and football threads so that you could always find information about that team. Fans of each school could post links to news stories and updates in their team's threads. What do you all think about that?

Not a bad idea, I like it.

1- Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
2- Rice Owls
3- Old Dominion Monarchs
4- Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
5- Texas/El Paso Miners
6- Charlotte Forty Niners
7- Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
8- Marshall Thundering Herd
9- Alabama/Birmingham Blazers
10- Florida Atlantic Owls
11- Texas/San Antonio Road Runners
12- Florida International Panthers
13- Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
14- North Texas Mean Green

If Rice finishes in the top half, Scott Pera is c.o.y.

(07-07-2017 09:12 PM)HerdZoned Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 08:28 PM)PSCNiner Wrote:  You guys are seriously underestimating Charlotte. Price had one year with literally 6-7 true scholarship players and then last year we played the entire season with no D1 quality player bigger than 6'6". This will be his first season with a balanced and full roster. Imagine most of your team's playing without any of your big guys all last season. I was actually impressed that we were competitive most nights. I expect a top 4 finish for Charlotte.

I have Charlotte at 7 because I have no clue where to put them. Mark Price seems like a good coach and decent recruiter, but your best recruit in the last 2 classes have transferred in Corran Scott (TR Tulsa) and Quentin Jackson.

Not true

(07-08-2017 02:34 PM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote:  If Rice finishes in the top half, Scott Pera is c.o.y.

And BTW James Harden just re-upped for the Rockets. Pera's basketball progeny (and Rice fan) will be staying local.
Also- I get your point, but I don't see Pera getting serious COY consideration unless we make the top four.