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Other A-10 Action


almaman

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Six or seven more conference wins would be a best-case scenario, but I would consider three more close to a worst-case scenario. Look at the chances coming up--SJ, Mason, LaSalle, and Bonaventure all at home. Mason, Duquesne and Fordham on the road. I wouldn't bet on winning any of the others, but if we can't go at least 3-4 in those seven games, I will be very disappointed.

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I've started delving into more and more A10 games on off nights from the comfy couch in MD as is my MO for January, post pro football. What I have seen so far, given our remaining schedule:

VCU --- same ol' same ol. Their so-called "Havoc" defense is not so much defense as offense. They still have to use the helter-skleter style to up the speed of the game and get more possessions plus more possessions that lead to easy lay-ups. Graham and Johnson can and will shoot it and make it but are streaky at times. Lewis and Burgess and Brooks are also not shy about launching things but their rate of return is not the same as the first two. Any offense from Weber in terms of scoring outside of layup/steals is a bonus. Mo Allie-Cox is a beast and Justin Tillman and Terry Larrier have added to the back line size to defend the rim. Tonight will be "interesting." I expect our "kids" to get bullied. I find it hard to foresee a win here. And it will be doubly worse in Richmond in mid-February.

Mason --- have not seem much of the Patriots this year. They return everyone from last year except the two senior guards, and those losses hurt. But it took us overtime in both games with a senior laden group to beat them last year so who knows. Currently they are 6 and 11 with 1 and 4 in conference having beat only La Salle but at home. Their lead scorer is a 6'11" freshman but Holloway and Jenkins remain. I think we beat them at home. Not sure on the road. By the way, freshman Therence Mayimba hasn't played a game or minute there. Anyone know why? We wanted him pretty badly as I recall.

Umass -- good news, it's at home. I watched them with great interest against St. Joe's the other night in Philly. Their returning cast is familiar -- Esho, LaLanne, Gordon, Davis. Not a whole lot to write home about. But we made LaLanne a star two years ago and Esho is a similar player. Davis runs the point instead of Chaz and is not the same player. He also has a very funky shot release. Gordon is their go-to guy and their whole offense seems to be dictated by Gordon's drives. He either finishes or not and if its not, the bangers of LaLanne, Esho and 6'7" freshman Zach Coleman crash the offensive boards. Which, as we all know, is not our strong point in terms of defensive rebounding. Did not see much in the way of a perimter game.

Saint Joe's ---- a few weeks ago, I would have said one word -- "DeAndreBemby." The games I have seen, this kid is fantastic. And we usually make stars out of 6'7" guys like this. In the second half of the Umass game, after tied at half at 27, Bembry matched Umass' second half output for the first 15 points. He was a one man wrecking crew. Dunks. Steals. Breakaway. Clock-beating 30-foot threes. Drives. Stop-n-pops. You name it, he did it. Something like 25 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists, five steals and three blocks. I don't know who on our roster is going to cover this guy and can't wait to see what goes. Now, since the begining of the year, Isaiah Miles, also 6'7" has started to develop. Javaun Baumann, who sports a "Sideshow Bob" haircut, is a space eater in the lane but not much offensively. But James Demery and Shavar Newkirk are starting to come along as our freshman guards are. Martelli may survive the year, although he still has a six-man team and nothing of note from the bench support. I had this as a win at our place but now, if Bembry goes off and Miles counters, hoo-boy! Can't wait.

Fordham --- I don't know. I've seen them a few times this year and they have some nice players. Jon Severe is back and seems to be playing within his means. Eric Paschall is being touted as the A10 rookie of the year along with the likes of MY. Christian Sengfelder, also a 6'7" freshman, is also being touted as a great complimentary player. And they still have Mandell Thomas, Ryan Rhoomes and Ryan Canty. What I have seen from the three or four games is the fact they seem to always start slow. Of course, so do we especially on the road where we will get them. This could be a real drag out affair. And I think I'm going to it (check Rose Hill off the bucket list). Nothing is certain with our guys right now. I am not so quick to chalk a game against Fordham on the road with our roster in the win column as quickly as I used to.

Dayton --- I think this will depend on what is trending at the time. i fully expect Dayton to plummet. Six real scholarship players, no one over 6'6", a back-end heavy schedule, one injury here, foul trouble there...... and I know some disagree and that's okay by me. A good game by us, a nice Hate-S-V-U crowd, revenge factor applied and we could do it. An opportunity.

Rhode Island -- on the road. Not confident in the least.

La Salle --- at home. Should be a winner. Jordan Price is doing well. This is the kid who transferred in from Auburn after his freshman year there. Plus they still have senior-dominated leadership in Zack, Wright and Petersen. They play Jekyl and Hyde though -- a tougher test at home (beat Geedubya easily in January) than on road (lost at Mason). An opportunity again.

Duquesne --- do we rain threes again? Do they miss so many free throws again? Does their three point game stay dormant in Pittsburgh? Can we solve a zone? An offensively-challenged Bonaventure team scored 100 there last night in an OT win. Questions, questions,questions. An opportunity.

Then Mason at home followed by the Bonnies --- the Bonnies currently are 11 and 6 and always give us fits no matter where we play them. Yassou Ndoye is a true seven-footer and quite a load. I think Manning can handle him but doubt either Gillmann or Jolly stand a chance. Dion Wright is a nice complimentary player and Marcus Posley is a savvy guard. Plus they have five guys all averaging in double figures. But they are weird too -- Dayton destroyed them in Olean but they handled Bembry and St. Joe's there relatively easily. Don't know.

Closing out in Richmond --- where they just handled Davidson by 26 points last Saturday. Are we just playing out the string then?

So .... if all the positives come true, best I could see is a 9 and 4, blue-kool-aid infused final kick projected. Then the blue kool-aid will wear off and reality will set in. At this moment/snapshot in time, I don't feel confident in predicting any wins in the future. I do think we'll get some, but each game has "adventure" written all over it. Every game is a new chapter. I love this feeling ------ for now.

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But moy, in the prediction thread, you had us for 24 wins. Another four wins would only raise us to 13 wins on the year. Only jimmychitwood, with 15, was close. But he would not win based on "closest without going over."

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