WH Begins his Season Previews On The A-10 Board

[WH]

Nothing wrong with vehemently well argued points, Taj!

Besides, doing previews for a decade now has made me humble about the whole prediction business. I emphatically reject any claim of any expertise.

What makes predictions harder this year is the seeming parity. I don’t see a whole lot separating teams. Not sure that’s a good thing, either. It could cost us some at-large bids.

Like you, I believe religiously that college basketball is more of a guard’s game. Great forwards or true centers are hard to find. Because of their scarcity, however, good bigmen can have an outsized impact on their team’s performance. Lasme was a good example. He didn’t play well against the Bills, but he had a great senior year and was dangerous on offense and defense. Dangerous enough to get picked in the NBA second round.

I think Chris Wright can have that kind of impact on Dayton. I think he’s that good. I also think Dayton’s guards are talented enough to play a complementary role. (Warren has been wildly inconsistent, but he’s better than Polk.)

Put it this way: If I were given a choice of getting Roberts back for one year in exchange for dropping Wright, I would decline. Wright has the ability to take this team farther than Roberts ever could have.

The Flyers have a veteran team and the players rebound and defend. Scoring might be an issue early on, but a team can go far with Dayton’s particular strengths, especially when there’s a stud on the roster. Larry Hughes did the same for the Bills once upon a time.

Re: A-10 tourney. I haven’t gone since my kids were born. I was hoping to go last year but my wife was traveling. AC is less than three hours from my house and I would like to go next March. I am planning on it.