Top 144

[majerus mojo]

22 minutes ago, SShoe said:

Will be interesting to see how his career goes.  I always felt that he could have been a special player under a good coach.  Could also see a scenario where he flames out completely.

Lance Stephenson 

[Old guy]

42 minutes ago, SShoe said:

Will be interesting to see how his career goes.  I always felt that he could have been a special player under a good coach.  Could also see a scenario where he flames out completely.

Agree, I always liked Milik even though he had a lot of bad moves. A different coach might have made the difference with him.

[3star_recruit]

Playing in a conference where being 6'6 is not undersized at power forward will help him out a lot. 

[almaman]

I think we all know his story could end up almost anywhere. Flame out to All Valley. There sure seemed to be a bit of physical ability. May turn out all transfers were held back by JC 

[kmbilliken]

I always thought Malek's best position was underneath, but he wanted to be a point guard. He perfected the bowling ball drive knocking down how ever many pins where in his way on his drive to the hoop.

[Old guy]

Except that oftentimes his bowling ball drive did not work and the bowling pins stopped him and made him lose the ball or miss. He was persistent you can say that.

[cheeseman]

11 hours ago, Old guy said:

Except that oftentimes his bowling ball drive did not work and the bowling pins stopped him and made him lose the ball or miss. He was persistent you can say that.

Not sure kmbilliken liked the move - it was more a charge or simply a walk.

[slu72]

Here's wishing Malik well. I thought he had talent but needed a lot of coaching and discipline to maximize it. It does make you wonder what he and Travis discussed before he made his decision to transfer. I can understand him, and the other transfers, not wanting to play any longer for Crewsplatt, but evidently they weren't excited about playing for Travis either. Not that that bothers me in the least, since I think the roster got a major upgrade in talent. Out of the transfers, Malik appeared to be the most talented.

[TFord and TRavs]

19 minutes ago, slu72 said:

but evidently they weren't excited about playing for Travis either. Not that that bothers me in the least, since I think the roster got a major upgrade in talent. Out of the transfers, Malik appeared to be the most talented.

Travis needed a clean roster so he could get transfers. The problem wasn't really Crews, but Crews recruits. Don't think for a second that Ford is too good to tell people to leave in one way or another 

[Taj79]

I thought Yarbrough announced his intent to transfer just after the season ended?   [dead] to got fired like on March 11, 2016 and Ford was hired March 30.  Did Ford evaluate Yarbrough and Reynolds and then they left?  I recall Jolly wasn't too happy and Bartley was a late transfer.  Leaving only Roby and Gillmann and now we are down to Roby as the sole survivor. 

[cheeseman]

1 hour ago, Taj79 said:

I thought Yarbrough announced his intent to transfer just after the season ended?   [dead] to got fired like on March 11, 2016 and Ford was hired March 30.  Did Ford evaluate Yarbrough and Reynolds and then they left?  I recall Jolly wasn't too happy and Bartley was a late transfer.  Leaving only Roby and Gillmann and now we are down to Roby as the sole survivor. 

You forgot Neufeld

[Aquinas]

I thought he had a lot of natural talent, but struggled to work within a system.  In other words it seemed like he preferred undisciplined street ball. Sometimes he looked awesome, but at other times I just wanted to pull my hair out. 

[bauman]

Congratulations guys.  We ALMOST made it to page 2,sticking to the thread topic.

Can the mods change the thread title to "Milik and other Crews recruits"

[Quality Is Job 1]

34 minutes ago, bauman said:

Congratulations guys.  We ALMOST made it to page 2,sticking to the thread topic.

Can the mods change the thread title to "Milik and other Crews recruits"

Feel free to post a quote of another semi-relevant -- or even downright irrelevant -- team from the Top 144 listing to get the thread "back on topic."  Yarbrough was brought up only because he transferred to Illinois State, which has come up in the Top 144 listing; it seems natural to me for the topic to take that detour for a little while.  Eventually another A-10 team or other future SLU opponent will come up in the list and the thread will steer in that direction.

[kshoe]

1 hour ago, cheeseman said:

You forgot Neufeld

Neufeld wasn't in that class of 6. He was the next year

[bauman]

2 hours ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

Feel free to post a quote of another semi-relevant -- or even downright irrelevant -- team from the Top 144 listing to get the thread "back on topic."  Yarbrough was brought up only because he transferred to Illinois State, which has come up in the Top 144 listing; it seems natural to me for the topic to take that detour for a little while.  Eventually another A-10 team or other future SLU opponent will come up in the list and the thread will steer in that direction.

Thanks you so much sir.  I'll be sure to try to follow your advice.

[3star_recruit]

In the spirit of getting the thread back on topic, I expect the following A10 teams to appear in the top 144.

1. Rhode Island
2. VCU
3. St. Bonaventure
4. Davidson
5. Dayton
6. Richmond
7. Saint Louis

I'm walking back by earlier 8th or 9th comment and sticking is in at 7th. I think St. Joe's will be significantly improved with 3 injured players returning including a 20 ppg scorer but we finished ahead of them last year playing what will be our bench this year. 7th should be high enough to get us in the top 144.

[bauman]

2 hours ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

Feel free to post a quote of another semi-relevant -- or even downright irrelevant -- team from the Top 144 listing to get the thread "back on topic."  Yarbrough was brought up only because he transferred to Illinois State, which has come up in the Top 144 listing; it seems natural to me for the topic to take that detour for a little while.  Eventually another A-10 team or other future SLU opponent will come up in the list and the thread will steer in that direction.

Following up on your sage advice, Jacksonville State came in at  #140.  I thought that might be "semi-relevant" or even "downright relevant" enough to meet your suggested standard.  Thank you.  I am honored to join the ranks of the many posters you have taken it upon yourself to correct since you are clearly the smartest man in the room.

If I can be bold enough to make a suggestion to you, It would seem that one main role of a moderator is to try to keep threads somewhat on topic, but that's just a thought.

[bauman]

9 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

In the spirit of getting the thread back on topic, I expect the following A10 teams to appear in the top 144.

1. Rhode Island
2. VCU
3. St. Bonaventure
4. Davidson
5. Dayton
6. Richmond
7. Saint Louis

I'm walking back by earlier 8th or 9th comment and sticking is in at 7th. I think St. Joe's will be significantly improved with 3 injured players returning including a 20 ppg scorer but we finished ahead of them last year playing what will be our bench this year. 7th should be high enough to get us in the top 144.

Good list 3star.  That is likely close to what 144 writers will do.  However, I think we finish the season ahead of VCU, Dayton , Richmond and either the Bonnies and/or Davidson.

[Quality Is Job 1]

59 minutes ago, bauman said:

Following up on your sage advice, Jacksonville State came in at  #140.  I thought that might be "semi-relevant" or even "downright relevant" enough to meet your suggested standard.  Thank you.  I am honored to join the ranks of the many posters you have taken it upon yourself to correct since you are clearly the smartest man in the room.

If I can be bold enough to make a suggestion to you, It would seem that one main role of a moderator is to try to keep threads somewhat on topic, but that's just a thought.

Snark much?

I thought I was making it clear that I don't feel that some sidebar discussion of a player who used to play for SLU, because the school he transferred to was mentioned in the list, is "off topic."

Perhaps I would be wise to query you on what is truly relevant, oh wise Bauman.

[almaman]

5 hours ago, bauman said:

Congratulations guys.  We ALMOST made it to page 2,sticking to the thread topic.

Can the mods change the thread title to "Milik and other Crews recruits"

The same way the 1 2 3 4 5 constrict is hard to stick to or even keep track of on the court is similar to the way our threads run on. I for one could care a less and may even be guilty of aiding drift. I just go from one unread thread to the next and keep track of the conversations without paying heed to what the title is. If we had 80 threads going on with 100's of regular posters than it would bother me but there's never too much to read on here imo

[kwyjibo]

I am not sure why college basketball fans are moths to the flame of Joel Welser but as many people have shown throughout the years the predictions are not very accurate (he also does draft projections and does even worse there).

I know people defend this CSM inaccuracy with "predicting is hard" (which is it is) but I honestly think several people on this board have more interesting projections.  As far as the media goes--Sports Illustrated has been doing the best job the last few years but Pomeroy, ESPN BPI,  and TeamRank do an acceptable job.  Those predictions all use computer models and that is where the accuracy comes from.  CBS probably does the best human job at ranking but it is not as accurate as the computer rankings. (There is someone who has been tracking College Football preseason predictions for 18 years and it is fascinating--the polls are way worse than most mags and other predictors).

I gave up on the top 144 even as entertainment or reference when the predicted the ultimately 10-21 (4-14) Fordham 144th and did not include A10 conference winner Davidson at all (nobody predicted them to be that good but they were good enough for top 144.  Marquette was forecast at 64th that year and were not a top 144 team.  I am a proud avoider of that clickbait since 2014.

[Taj79]

I don't know or care who Joel Welser is or what his accuracy record is.  My interest is rooted in the past ----- back in the olden days, all we had to go on was these preseason college mags like Athlon's, Street & Smith, the Sporting News,  Sports Illustrated and the like.  I could not wait for August/September/October to come around and the mags to hit the newsstands.  It was like the swallows to Capistrano, the buzzards to Hinckley, etc., etc.  For the most part, it was light reading but to this day, I still buy one magazine to have the rosters and schedules and other information at my fingertips.  I usually toss them now after selection Sunday if only to see how many teams they got right and into the dance.  Otherwise, they are mere conversation pieces and keep the discussion going.  They are measures by which to take stock of our team, to get second and tertiary reviews backing or sinking our own thoughts and projections.  Even if they were 100% accurate ... who would really care? 

On the above post, I think 3-star is right on his numbers 1, 2, 3, and 5.  I am not so sold on either Richmond and I think Davidson is 50/50.  I guess with Davidson's returning cast, maybe 52 to 48 for inclusion.  I second the thought St. Joe's could get in.  I'll defer on us (I say yes) but I think most are missing La Salle.  Again we shall see but who really cares?  It's all about the conversation really ......

[cgeldmacher]

I think we need to temper our expectations, or this season will be set up for a perceived failure.  That will be unfair to the players and the coaches who have been doing a good job recruiting them.  This season's team will be made of the following groups:

5 transfers - Good players, but not good enough to be successful with their last program.

2 Freshman - Highly thought of, but haven't played a single college game.  One is coming off of a surgery.

Guys from last year's team - Don't need to say any more about that.

I predict a finish between 4 and 8 in the conference.  Anyone predicting us coming in 1st or 2nd is doing a disservice to the program.  Let's not even talk about the T word until the following season.

[kwyjibo]

2 hours ago, Taj79 said:

Even if they were 100% accurate ... who would really care? 

On the above post, I think 3-star is right on his numbers 1, 2, 3, and 5.  I am not so sold on either Richmond and I think Davidson is 50/50.  I guess with Davidson's returning cast, maybe 52 to 48 for inclusion.  I second the thought St. Joe's could get in.  I'll defer on us (I say yes) but I think most are missing La Salle.  Again we shall see but who really cares?  It's all about the conversation really ......

If the forecasts were 100% accurate everyone would care (you need to read/watch Ursula LeGuin's "Lathe of Heaven".

You cannot have it both ways and say these predictions do not matter and then spend all your time talking about whether Joel Welser likes you ("Oh my god, oh my god is Joel like looking at me?  I don't care about Joel really but like does he talk about me and stuff?").  If you want to talk about who the better teams of the A10 are or likely to be--that is an interesting discussion and I value the opinions posted here--its framing them in the context of Joel Welser that is totally ridiculous (that is Plato's cave--shadows of shadows and its going to be tough adjusting to reality later).