Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook - Basketball Forum : Professional and College Basketball Forums

DistrictBaller · 09-10-2012, 06:23 AM

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/09/...ason-notebook/

Quote:

ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON POWER RANKINGS

1. SAINT LOUIS

THE SKINNY: The Billikens will miss Rick Majerus but they’ve still got all the pieces.

2. ST. JOSEPH’S

THE SKINNY: This will be Phil Martelli’s best team since 2004.

3. TEMPLE

THE SKINNY: There are three constants in life — death, taxes, and Fran Dunphy.

4. VCU

THE SKINNY: “HAVOC” hits the Atlantic 10.

5. UMASS

THE SKINNY: Minutemen could reach NCAA Tournament for the first time in over a decade.

6. LA SALLE

THE SKINNY: Dr. John Giannini has all the requisites for a big time year.

7. BUTLER

THE SKINNY: A deep front court should help the Bulldogs transition to a new conference.

8. RICHMOND

THE SKINNY: Chris Mooney returns his four top scorers from last season.

9. CHARLOTTE

THE SKINNY: Virginia Tech transfer J.T. Thompson is the 49ers’ X-Factor.

10. XAVIER

THE SKINNY: Chris Mack will have five new starters after reaching the Sweet 16.

11. DAYTON

THE SKINNY: Point guard Kevin Dillard is terrific — but who will be his running mate?

12. FORDHAM

THE SKINNY: Tom Pecora finally has a legitimate Atlantic 10 roster.

13. ST. BONAVENTURE

THE SKINNY: The Bonnies are in full transition mode after losing Andrew Nicholson.

14. RHODE ISLAND

THE SKINNY: Danny Hurley will get the Rams to do what his teams always do — overachieve.

15. GEORGE WASHINGTON

THE SKINNY: Villanova transfer Isaiah Armwood should have a big role.

16. DUQUESNE

THE SKINNY: It’s a complete rebuild in year one for Jim Ferry.

BM-GW · 09-10-2012, 06:41 AM

None of the GW freshmen in the top 20? OK. Noted.

DistrictBaller · 09-10-2012, 07:22 AM

It's one man's opinion. Don't get too worked up about it. He had VCU in his top 25 after the season at the end of April and once we go to the A-10 we're an upper mid-pack squad. I have no problem with that, but either way, one of his predictions was BS. The guy flip-flops based on whatever coaches or program contacts that talk to him tell him. He has no real opinion of his own when it comes to this stuff.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/04/...etball-season/

Quote:

23. VCU

THE SKINNY: No Bradford Burgess? No problem. The Rams may be without a key member of their success during the last two years but they will return nearly every piece that took Indiana to the brink in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. Look for Darius Theus to continue to emerge as a point guard while Juvonte Reddic becomes nearly unguardable in the low post. How will Shaka Smart replace Burgess? His brother Jordan — a Top 100 recruit in most services along with sharpshooters Treveon Graham and Troy Daniels, who both figure to be better than they were in 2011-12.

It should be noted that Saint Louis was listed as 'on the cusp' here. We go on to add a 2nd top 100 recruit in Melvin Johnson since then and move to the A-10 and now we're a 4th place A-10 team in his mind while adding Keith Carter to a team that won 26 games last year 'should count for something'; for Saint Louis. What changed? Nothing except that we moved leagues. Either we're the top 25 team he thought we were or we're not. I'm fine with the latter, but it does make everything he says look ridiculous when he flip-flops the way he does. This is what he's saying now:

Quote:

We’re all going to find out really soon. Shaka Smart’s “HAVOC” style has made VCU national darlings during the past two seasons. Will it work in the Atlantic 10? To be determined. While the Rams’ opponents won’t be used to VCU’s relentless pressure, the quality of point guard play in this league will be vastly better than the CAA. Better point guard play means fewer turnovers and that could make it harder for the Rams to run away from their opponents. Still, Smart has his program on an upward trajectory and added a big time talent late in the summer in Top 100 shooting guard Melvin Johnson. Had VCU made one free throw last year late in the game against Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Rams would have advanced to the Sweet 16 and played Kentucky. For the record, we think this Rams outfit is deeper and hungrier than the group we saw last March. Are they better? We’ll talk about it in a few months.

Either way, this is all preseason blabber meant to get hits and nothing more. If he hits on the thousands of darts he throws, he'll go back and say 'see? I said this' and if he completely misses, no one will care. It's all a game.

DukesDan · 09-10-2012, 07:24 AM

On one hand he has Duquesne at 16 so that makes me frown. He does have Derrick Colter as #3 under the radar freshman and Quevyn Winters as the #5 impact freshman. I think Jerry Jones will be a breakout player. Probably good 5-8 on that list IMO.

ace93 · 09-10-2012, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BM-GW

None of the GW freshmen in the top 20? OK. Noted.

I don't think that's a top 20. He has a top 10 and then 10 others who are under the radar. In my view one can miss out on the second list because you are not really under the radar and just not good enough to make the top 10.

He leaves Fordham's Ryan Rhoomes off both lists despite Rhoomes being much more highly touted than Fordham's Leonard. I'm just hoping that it's not because Rhoomes has failed to qualify which last I heard is still a possibility.

waldo027 · 09-10-2012, 08:35 AM

Xavier at #10, Dayton at #11? That will rustle some feathers.

Knobby · 09-10-2012, 08:49 AM

X #10 and Dayton #11?

INVALID - NO CREDIBILITY - INVALID - CLEARLY THIS GUY IS CRAZY!

Flyer75 · 09-10-2012, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knobby

X #10 and Dayton #11?

INVALID - NO CREDIBILITY - INVALID - CLEARLY THIS GUY IS CRAZY!

Do you think X will finish ahead of Dayton?

Knobby · 09-10-2012, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flyer75

Do you think X will finish ahead of Dayton?

I think they are about the same - therefore a tie at 8-8.

Bona Wolf for Pope · 09-10-2012, 11:03 AM

That's as high as I've seen Charlotte, I think. No way to tell as their posters haven't been super active lately, but I didn't think they were supposed to be dangerous.

Also, Fordham over Bonas...we'll see. I can get why this Bonnies team is a crapshoot.

TrainingDay · 09-10-2012, 11:31 AM

Fordham will suck like they always do because they're horribly coached and don't run any sets. They'll probably finish above Duquesne and that's it. Charlotte should be better but we've been saying for four years that Braswell would help and he hasn't. GW has some good freshman but they really don't return too much. I'd say Bonnies, Charlotte and GWwill fight to make the A10s and URI, Fordham and Duquesne won't be close.

SpiderDave19 · 09-10-2012, 12:01 PM

I think Bonnies will be a notch better than those others you list. I'd also be surprised if URI and Duquesne aren't the bottom two teams this year.

Bona84 · 09-10-2012, 12:40 PM

This is going to be some league if a team on the cusp of a national championship like UMass is picked 5th. Add to that a team that is likely to go 24-6 and 13-3 being picked 11th. Wow!

Who knows what will happen until they play the games. Having said that, I do think that this guy, and the other experts that only mention the loss of The Professor in their analyses/predictions for the Bonnies are simply lazy. I'm not predicting another conference championship or anything like that. I do think you'll see a much different Bona club, with Conger in particular jumping out from the large shadow cast by Nicholson. Questions exist regarding the frontcourt which will be young and counting on a healthy return of Marquis Simmons. But, the Bonnies look to be deep and talented in the backcourt for a change.

ace93 · 09-10-2012, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bona Wolf for Pope

Also, Fordham over Bonas...we'll see.

Agreed. I think part of it is that he has been to a good number of Fordham workouts according to his tweets, so he is seeing what he thinks is an improved team. What he might not be accounting for is that the newcomers are practicing against the two-time defending last place team.

What surprises me about his pick of Fordham, as I mentioned above, is that he does not include Ryan Rhoomes in the impact freshmen and without him many of us Fordham fans think we are doomed...or more doomed than we would have been anyway.

Bona Wolf for Pope · 09-10-2012, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ace93

Agreed. I think part of it is that he has been to a good number of Fordham workouts according to his tweets, so he is seeing what he thinks is an improved team. What he might not be accounting for is that the newcomers are practicing against the two-time defending last place team.

What surprises me about his pick of Fordham, as I mentioned above, is that he does not include Ryan Rhoomes in the impact freshmen and without him many of us Fordham fans think we are doomed...or more doomed than we would have been anyway.

I think Fordham is tremendously improved, and I root for them over most A-10 schools because I love an underdog, but Nicholson was not the only thing happening on this Bonnies team. He is going to be very missed, no doubt, but we have a pretty easy OOC schedule so the team can get some confidence and figure out that they are talented as well.

09-10-2012, 06:41 AM	#2 (permalink)
BM-GW Player Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Arlington, VA Age: 49 Posts: 634 Rep Power: 4813	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook None of the GW freshmen in the top 20? OK. Noted.

09-10-2012, 07:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
DukesDan Veteran Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Columbus, OH Posts: 1,135 Rep Power: 15970	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook On one hand he has Duquesne at 16 so that makes me frown. He does have Derrick Colter as #3 under the radar freshman and Quevyn Winters as the #5 impact freshman. I think Jerry Jones will be a breakout player. Probably good 5-8 on that list IMO. __________________ Duquesne Dukes: 2012 A10 tournament qualifier!! 2012-2013 Locks of the Day TBA 2011-2012 Locks of the Day NIT participant 29-26-0...... .527 2010-2011 Locks of the Day Regular Season Champion 31-20-4 ..... .600 #15 Cooper #11 Green #10 Nixon #12 Ricketts #24 Somerset

09-10-2012, 08:35 AM	#6 (permalink)
waldo027 6th Man Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 382 Rep Power: 155570	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook Xavier at #10, Dayton at #11? That will rustle some feathers.

09-10-2012, 08:49 AM	#7 (permalink)
Knobby Veteran Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Western Mass Posts: 1,810 Rep Power: 247596	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook X #10 and Dayton #11? INVALID - NO CREDIBILITY - INVALID - CLEARLY THIS GUY IS CRAZY! __________________ Well, we were smaller, but at least we were slower!

09-10-2012, 11:03 AM	#10 (permalink)
Bona Wolf for Pope Player Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 818 Rep Power: 265738	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook That's as high as I've seen Charlotte, I think. No way to tell as their posters haven't been super active lately, but I didn't think they were supposed to be dangerous. Also, Fordham over Bonas...we'll see. I can get why this Bonnies team is a crapshoot. __________________ "Careful reading comprehension is crucial to an online forum discussion."

09-10-2012, 11:31 AM	#11 (permalink)
TrainingDay Benchwarmer Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 130 Rep Power: 0	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook Fordham will suck like they always do because they're horribly coached and don't run any sets. They'll probably finish above Duquesne and that's it. Charlotte should be better but we've been saying for four years that Braswell would help and he hasn't. GW has some good freshman but they really don't return too much. I'd say Bonnies, Charlotte and GWwill fight to make the A10s and URI, Fordham and Duquesne won't be close.

09-10-2012, 12:01 PM	#12 (permalink)
SpiderDave19 Player Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 912 Rep Power: 48590	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook I think Bonnies will be a notch better than those others you list. I'd also be surprised if URI and Duquesne aren't the bottom two teams this year.

09-10-2012, 12:40 PM	#13 (permalink)
Bona84 Star Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Westchester County, NY Posts: 2,760 Rep Power: 261039	Re: Rothstein Files: Atlantic 10 Offseason Notebook This is going to be some league if a team on the cusp of a national championship like UMass is picked 5th. Add to that a team that is likely to go 24-6 and 13-3 being picked 11th. Wow! Who knows what will happen until they play the games. Having said that, I do think that this guy, and the other experts that only mention the loss of The Professor in their analyses/predictions for the Bonnies are simply lazy. I'm not predicting another conference championship or anything like that. I do think you'll see a much different Bona club, with Conger in particular jumping out from the large shadow cast by Nicholson. Questions exist regarding the frontcourt which will be young and counting on a healthy return of Marquis Simmons. But, the Bonnies look to be deep and talented in the backcourt for a change. __________________ Bona84

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