ACE

I wish we would generate more steals. Not having Thames doesn't help, but with as many athletic guys as we have, it seems that we should generate more steals. We didn't do it a lot last year either, but I chalked it up to a lack of depth and athleticism.

They will - in many preseason projections they were top 4 or 5. They will mess some things up for some A-10 teams.

There’s no reason to join the AAC - it’s just another one bid league.

Remember the end of the Davidson game So glad to see him have this success. A great Billiken who has worked extremely hard to get to where he is.

The ranking of 12 was before his ill fated COVID party. The season went downhill after that.

Yep! I've been talking about this for quite a while. Every fan of "mid majors" should be advocating for this. And when I'm talking about "mid majors" I'm not talking about programs that should be more accurately called Low D1 - they get plenty of spots to the Dance. Currently there is nearly no opportunities for teams outside the power conferences to earn at large bids like there used to be. If you are a non power conference team who is in the 30-50 NET range, you should either be in the Dance or at least knocking on the door - even if it means playing a play-in game. You would have more meaningful regular games in mid to late February with teams fighting for potential at large bids. Way too much is weighted on the conference tournaments and not enough on the regular season.

My favorite play last night was nothing flashy. Dunlap received a cross court pass and had an open look at 3, but a defender was running at him. He had time to get off a good shot, but he decided to swing it to Green who had an even better shot - a WIDE open shot. Schertz talks about being able to pass up a good shot for a great shot. That was a prime example and it's been happening with more frequency. We have a lot of good snipers, but we have to keep being unselfish. The ball movement and sharing of the ball has gotten progressively better as the season has progressed which is very encouraging.

How about Amari going 3-3 on 3-pointers! Glad he's not giving up on it. The shot selection is key for him. The first one was caught in rhythm following great ball movement and he had an open shot at the top of the key straightaway - which is typically the easiest 3. The second one was a kick out off a rebound which Schertz says is the best one to take. And the third one, I recall was a bit contested, but after making the first two, he didn't hesitate and he shot it with confidence.

Always the tool for the power conferences

The problem is not necessarily the NET... the bigger problem is what the Committee does with it on Selection Sunday. Not all NETs are created equal - if an Indiana State gets a NET of 28, all of the sudden the Committee will start interjecting a bunch of other metrics to justify keeping them out. A power conference team with a 28 NET gets in, no questions asked. And VCU, just last year with a 31 NET last year, was going to be on the outside looking in if they had lost the conference tournament final. Both of these two scenarios could be us this year - that's why there is some concern.

Correct, that was alluded to in interviews with the coaches. His free throws were the equivalent of a golfer who has the yips putting.

I'm of the belief in this offense, we need all 9 players in the rotation taking 3s - some a lot more than others of course, but I'd still like to see McCottry, Thames and even Otieno take a 3 if it's open, and in the rhythm of the offense. We need them to at least be threats that defenses have to account for so teams don't start sagging like USF did. Besides, we are a very good rebounding team, so even a missed shot can create scoring opportunities for us and over time will create more driving lanes. I don't want them to have the same volume as the others, but I don't mind averaging 1 attempt/game. Amari made 38% from 3 last year, taking almost 1/game. Otieno made 37.5% last year while averaging exactly 1 attempt per game, and Thames averaged a little over one attempt/game the previous two season, making 34%. Let one fly once/game fellas!

Agreed, I was simply responding to the comment that being in the low 30s in the NET would be a good place to be on Selection Sunday.

Unfortunately I'm not so sure that's a good place to be. VCU had a NET of 31 heading into the A-10 tournament final last season and conventional wisdom was they STILL had to win that game to get into the Dance. Is that fair, of course not. But such is life for the non-power conference teams in 2025-26.

As the founder of the Dion Brown fan club - you’re welcome not too shabby from Thames either- 10 points, 5 boards and 3 assists in 19 minutes. What a weapon coming off the bench. Oh, and he was our best defender too! Schertz put him on their best scorer and he slowed him down.