OBW Catch-All Thread

[bosiydid]

Originally Posted by PatrickGymRat

Hey Bosiydid, I see your point. My post was confusing. What I should have said is the top 4 are basically interchangable. Albany could easily be #1. Things are that close. I think any of those top 4 teams could win it.

The disagreement I basically have is OBW placing Hartford ahead of BU. Just can't see that at all. Albany #1 - I could see that easily. When you have ordinal rankings, you have to put someone #1 and someone else #4.

Fair enough...I don't think UA is the runaway leader but they are somewhere in the top three...personally without sandbagging, I see UA/SBU/UVM basically interchangeable.

[PatrickGymRat]

Originally Posted by bosiydid

Fair enough...I don't think UA is the runaway leader but they are somewhere in the top three...personally without sandbagging, I see UA/SBU/UVM basically interchangeable.

Agreed - but then again, I think BU which has no seniors will get only better as the year progresses and will probably be in the mix for the America East regular season title.

We are lucky Jack O'Brien transferred because BU with outstanding Freshman Watson and Papale would have been very tough in my eyes. They are badly missing a post game.

UVM has no weaknesses this year but that loss to URI was particularly disturbing since we didn't shoot the ball well from the outside. I went to the game and would hardly call URI a good team.

[LittleMike]

Originally Posted by UVM Hoop Cat

I think Albany is the clear-cut #1 performer thus far, and flip a coin for 2/3 between UVM & SBU.

I would put BU 4th as well. They lack size, depth, and I think DJ Irving is not the ideal SG- but they have quite bit of talent. If they had a Brenton/Voelkel on their team they would be far and away the best in the conference- of course, adding Brenton/Voelkel would make anyone in AE a contender. But they're really missing "someone like that"or even a level down from that.

This is an unfortunate situation for the conference to be losing a team like BU- with good young talent.

I think they will take the PL by storm in first season and finish Top 3 at minimum if Jones adds some additional size.

Excellent post and analysis.

I just want to add that the shooting and play of Travis Robinson will be a very important factor in where the Terriers finish this year. Teams will front maybe even double Papale leaving Robinson wide open in the opposite corner. He has to knock down that wide open three with consistency for the Terriers to contend for the top spot.

[usslider]

Originally Posted by LittleMike

Excellent post and analysis.

I just want to add that the shooting and play of Travis Robinson will be a very important factor in where the Terriers finish this year. Teams will front maybe even double Papale leaving Robinson wide open in the opposite corner. He has to knock down that wide open three with consistency for the Terriers to contend for the top spot.

I have no problem slotting BU at #5 right now. Results matter. That said, I think they'll improve.

T-Rob is indeed a key for them. Without any size, they'll need to shoot better from outside, and with defenses sticking to Papale, Travis will often be the one who is open. So far he has been good in spurts, such as the George Mason game which he seemed to shoot very well (don't have the stats in front of me, but that's what I remember). And the Coastal game of course

[uvm4life20]

Originally Posted by farfromtheshow

Reed and Warney were the last two left off the fab 5 list - a pretty darn good sign for the long term prospects of the league.

With that said, Reed is a wonderful player, but it's always hard to compare a talented player who is surrounded by nothing (other than, of course, the unstoppable Juggernaut who is Mike Horn) and thus gets a tremendous amount more touches on offense, versus a talented player who is playing within a scheme with some other real players... which will cut down a bit on his own touches... Interesting to think about what Reed's numbers would be on Maine, and what Fraser's would be in Bing... Either way, it was a very, very close call between the final two on the team, and the last 2 off the team this week.

I would say that I think UVM fans are a bit biased against Fraser because he's never seemed to bring his A-game against UVM, but he really can play, and has been bringing it again so far this year.

With that said, I'm not going to be justifying a lot on here anymore, but I've been cooped up for going on 4 days now with a 102 fever, so some human interaction on here is nice.

I see a lot of UVM players falling under the don't get enough touches on a talented team and play in the system. I dont think they get enough respect when considering this. UVM though this season is lacking a player who has stepped up to the next level. I think Apfeld could be if he starts hitting more shots. His efficiency right now is still good with his bad fg %

[farfromtheshow]

Originally Posted by uvm4life20

I see a lot of UVM players falling under the don't get enough touches on a talented team and play in the system. I dont think they get enough respect when considering this. UVM though this season is lacking a player who has stepped up to the next level. I think Apfeld could be if he starts hitting more shots. His efficiency right now is still good with his bad fg %

UVM is a terrific system team. I'm a big fan of several of their players this year (I'm very high on Carissimo and Apfeld, and Voelkel's value goes without saying), but we can't pick players based on how they might do if they had more touches; then it becomes a team of hypothetical's - all we can go on is what we have tangibly at hand.

[VT Cats Fan]

Originally Posted by farfromtheshow

UVM is a terrific system team. I'm a big fan of several of their players this year (I'm very high on Carissimo and Apfeld, and Voelkel's value goes without saying), but we can't pick players based on how they might do if they had more touches; then it becomes a team of hypothetical's - all we can go on is what we have tangibly at hand.

I'm pretty sure most if not all of the guys have bought into the team concept. The only accolades they are interested are the ones that involve hoisting a banner to the rafters at Patrick Gymlette.

I do not care at all if none of the guys win any individual recognition. I think we do have some very talented guys individually, but they subordinate themselves for the team. I wouldn't want it any other way, because I think the system breaks down if one or two guys think they are stars, and play accordingly. Those who understand the team, and it's coaches, I think understand that very well. Unfortunately there are a lot of UVM fans who don't.

[drbell]

Originally Posted by usslider

I have no problem slotting BU at #5 right now. Results matter. That said, I think they'll improve.

T-Rob is indeed a key for them. Without any size, they'll need to shoot better from outside, and with defenses sticking to Papale, Travis will often be the one who is open. So far he has been good in spurts, such as the George Mason game which he seemed to shoot very well (don't have the stats in front of me, but that's what I remember). And the Coastal game of course

and he was 5-6 against st peter's. he is 12-20 in the last 3 games and 18-35 on the year.

[farfromtheshow]

Originally Posted by PatrickGymRat

Farfromtheshow - Albany #1? What are you smoking in that pipe brother?

Vermont #1
BU #2
Stony Brook #3
Albany #4

You have Hartford ranked over BU???

You think Hartford could come within 2 points at George Mason and Rutgers? THINK AGAIN!!!!

So, yeah, Hartford takes Arizona State to the limit despite the hawks best player playing his worst game of the year, but they couldn't keep it close with Rutgers or George Mason... Yeah, I'd have to be hitting the pipe to think that...

[farfromtheshow]

Originally Posted by drbell

having any team besides UVM, SBU, Albany, or Boston U in the top 4 is absurd.

Yep, having Hartford in the top four was absurd, taking Arizona State to the wire was nothing...

[UVM Hoop Cat]

Hartford played well tonight but don't act like Arizona State is a good team. They have 1 decent win and have played nobody besides Creighton.

I watched the second half and was not impressed. I feel like a lot of AE teams could give them a game.

[farfromtheshow]

Originally Posted by UVM Hoop Cat

Hartford played well tonight but don't act like Arizona State is a good team. They have 1 decent win and have played nobody besides Creighton.

I watched the second half and was not impressed. I feel like a lot of AE teams could give them a game.

I don't think one close game makes Hartford world beaters, but I am using it to counter the inference that it would be impossible for Hartford to have stayed in games against George Mason and Rutgers as seems to have been inferred (or outright stated on this thread).

Arizona State certainly isn't anything to write home about, but they're certainly just as much of a middling high-major as Rutgers.

[UVM Hoop Cat]

Originally Posted by farfromtheshow

I don't think one close game makes Hartford world beaters, but I am using it to counter the inference that it would be impossible for Hartford to have stayed in games against George Mason and Rutgers as seems to have been inferred (or outright stated on this thread).

Arizona State certainly isn't anything to write home about, but they're certainly just as much of a middling high-major as Rutgers.

Agree, and that's fair. I'm simply pointing out that from what I saw of ASU every team save for maybe Bing could have stayed within 8 against them.

Great job by Hartford anyways though

[LittleMike]

Originally Posted by farfromtheshow

So, yeah, Hartford takes Arizona State to the limit despite the hawks best player playing his worst game of the year, but they couldn't keep it close with Rutgers or George Mason... Yeah, I'd have to be hitting the pipe to think that...

OBW, PatrickGymRat and Bosiydid happen to be right. Picking Hartford over BU is a real stretch. Like I said, if T-Rob can hit the open 3 with consistency this year, BU could very easily be top 3. 5th is just plain ridiculous. Sorry , but not really sure what a smart basketball guy like you is watching here. You are much better than this.

[farfromtheshow]

Originally Posted by LittleMike

OBW, PatrickGymRat and Bosiydid happen to be right. Picking Hartford over BU is a real stretch. Like I said, if T-Rob can hit the open 3 with consistency this year, BU could very easily be top 3. 5th is just plain ridiculous. Sorry , but not really sure what a smart basketball guy like you is watching here. You are much better than this.

The power rankings are where the team's stand RIGHT NOW, not predictions of where the teams could/will finish.

It is not "plain ridiculous" to think Boston University is 5th out of a very close top-5 field at this point in the season: The Terriers have zero depth, none. niet, zilche, zero. They have no interior size, and when Dom Morris is your sole inside presence, that means interior play is a weakness (I'd rank BU's post play 8th out of nine teams in the conference). Yes, they have a lot of talent, but not a lot of experience, depth, or size.

Their best win is St. Peters. I think that 1-5 are very close right now, but right now (not based on projecting the end of the season) I think Hartford was (as of Monday, when the power rankings were released) slightly better than BU. I haven't seen BU hang around in any games that I don't think Hartford could have, especially in light of Arizona State (a team that I see BU having an extremely hard time against considering their size).

My 2 cents...