08-15-2013, 07:18 AM
#6 - Louisiana
First: from here on out the order could very easily be reversed. Really hard to pick with any degree of confidence. Given the teams that we lost, the top part of the league looks to be surprisingly strong.
The Cajuns return five starters, and that is always a good sign. The only significant casualty is Alan-Michael Thompson, who was a good 3-point shooter. They shot fairly well from the arc as a team. Shawn Long averaged a double/double last year as a freshman, which is pretty remarkable. His upside would appear to be very high. So, the Cajuns ought to be better this year than they were last.
Their defense was not too impressive on the perimeter, however, and they got hammered pretty well on the boards, notwithstanding Long's efforts. Furthermore, for a man who averages double-figure rebounds, Long apparently spends a lot of time shooting 3-pointers (127 attempts on the year), and he does not shoot them very well (31.1%). Plus he only shot 43% overall. So obviously he is going to have to be more selective in his shots. They will need to get Long some help on the boards, which they appear to have tried to address.
If Long's game matures, and if they get him some help inside, this could be a nice team this year. This prediction could easily end up being several slots too low.
First: from here on out the order could very easily be reversed. Really hard to pick with any degree of confidence. Given the teams that we lost, the top part of the league looks to be surprisingly strong.
The Cajuns return five starters, and that is always a good sign. The only significant casualty is Alan-Michael Thompson, who was a good 3-point shooter. They shot fairly well from the arc as a team. Shawn Long averaged a double/double last year as a freshman, which is pretty remarkable. His upside would appear to be very high. So, the Cajuns ought to be better this year than they were last.
Their defense was not too impressive on the perimeter, however, and they got hammered pretty well on the boards, notwithstanding Long's efforts. Furthermore, for a man who averages double-figure rebounds, Long apparently spends a lot of time shooting 3-pointers (127 attempts on the year), and he does not shoot them very well (31.1%). Plus he only shot 43% overall. So obviously he is going to have to be more selective in his shots. They will need to get Long some help on the boards, which they appear to have tried to address.
If Long's game matures, and if they get him some help inside, this could be a nice team this year. This prediction could easily end up being several slots too low.