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I like him cus he loves SLU

This may seem like a bit of a stretch today, but I can see where he's coming from. It all depends upon the coaches in each league. If Travis stays at SLU, I can see him building us into a Zaga maybe even a Nova. As for the rest of the two leagues, it's not like the A10 is competing against the SEC or B10. The schools in the league are very similar in size, mission, endowments, facilities, and locations. What the Beast has going for it, besides a red hot Nova program right now, is the big TV contract and a tradition of great hoops. However, a lot of the teams that made the Beast great are gone. I'd maintain that some of the hot Beast programs in the recent past may be facing tougher futures. Will X be able to continue w/ their next man up coaching tradition? If not they could stumble and take time to recover. If Butler has a few mediocre seasons or continued coaching turnover will they be able to maintain their high level of recruiting? Seton Hall is a relative newcomer to relevance. MU is struggling since Williams left. St. John's is a gem in the rough but can't seem to be mined, much like our own Fordham. GU is going thru a rough transition from the Thompson family. Creighton's hanging in there. They can be compared to Dayton. My point is there is no reason given all the factors that are pretty much equal and discounting the A10 for the strong Beast tradition that the A10, if it makes the right moves, could be on an equal basis w/ the Beast. Get Loyola of Chicago and drop LaSalle. Or if UMass leaves for the AAC replace them w/ Loyola. Keep Fordham for the NYC market. Just get them to hire a good coach. Dayton and VCU won't struggle for long. They'll make the necessary changes to stay relevant just like we have. Bring in Belmont if they continue to stay strong. Nashville would be a good market. The schools are not all that different. It's the perception and that could change in a heartbeat.

Why are we looking a gift horse in the mouth? We're always whining about never getting any respect or pub. Well, Rothstein's giving it to us in spades. The guy's probably as "expert" as one can get when it comes to college hoops, and I'm thinking he really thinks the Bills can be one of the bigger surprises of the upcoming season. As Ford says, though, no team's gonna give a hoot how much Rothstein builds us up in July, December, or March we have to earn it. Still, on paper we're looking pretty pretty good, as Larry David would say.

Out on all of those

Yeah, I've already finished it. Excellent stuff.

If you want a great sports podcast American Fiasco is unbelievable

I can see why people find him annoying. I kind of like how he tweets out the same positive message every morning (instead of scheduling them) and he obviously could not give a flying F about what people think of him on social media. That's pretty rare in a time when most people are concerned with racking up as many followers on social media as possible. I think that's why I kind of like him....he's kind of a nerd. Now, none of that has anything to do with his abilities as a college basketball insider but give me a high energy, hard-working goofball with a positive message that accidentally calls us "St. Bonaventure" once or twice during a 20 min interview over an insecure loudmouth know-it-all that argues with his social media followers and is more concerned with public perception than their ability to do their job . But that's just me...

I’ve seen Marble play. He was hurt the last half of the season. He played on a great dallas Jesuit team who lost to Tyreese Maxey (Kentucky signee). Marble needs to add weight but would be a nice player for SLU. He has a very good point guard playing with him this season and dfw is loaded with talent this upcoming year. I’m with pistol in that he will hold out for big 12 offers. Def worth watching, he’s way better than the last dfw billiken Remekun.

This is not about the Rothstein podcast but I think it is worthwhile to check out. It is a primer on the new players at SLU with comments on the players and (for most players video clips). The link is here and also in the front page of billikens.com https://www.a10talk.com/saint-louis-basketball-newcomer-primer/ I really liked the clips showing Gordon, Isabell and Jacobs. If this was posted in this board already I apologize.

EJ got an offer from Wisconsin. Our guy Terrence Hargrove RT it as well. If you understand UW recruiting, they don't just send out shotgun offers so there is a good indication he might go there.

You play 5 guys at a time.. so the notion of 6/12 is a little preposterous. UK would sub 5 off/on in keeping with the "platoon" notion.. of course it wasn't an exact science.. https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-men/article196686859.html

Ford was on a radio show last season and said his preferred rotation was, in fact, 8 + 2, as you have wisely pointed out. He said the 8 all get heavy minutes and then the 2 were to 'hold the fort'. I won't speculate if he will have use type of rotation this upcoming season nor whom the 8 and the 2 might be. I might even vary game to game depending on the opponent. It is a safe assumption that there will be players who are primarily bench warmers.

It was the initials for divine damnation, not the initials for a name.

This team is the deepest we've had in my lifetime, there is no real doubt about that. And depth is nice but it's not the end-all be-all for how good a team is. Id' rather have 8 excellent players than 12 really good players any day. Tell me how good the top 8 are going to be on this team and then I'll tell you how many games clear of the 2nd place A-10 team we'll be! I also tend to believe that the depth will work itself out as a player or two may get hurt, suspended, whatever.

We all have to graduate sadly. "Congrats" on entering the real world. I do think this would be a dope tradition though.

maybe hes a Phillips and they needed a Flathead

Ford, "I think in the next few years people will be talking about the Atlantic 10 in the same terms (as the Big East)."

Okay, on to Ukraine tomorrow. Perhaps a better match-up for the Icelanders? Ukraine lost a 'buzzer beater' today versus Turkey, 104-46. (Oops, that buzzer was for the tip off.)