Bilas Picks Billikens 5th in A-10

[TheBand]

http://espn.go.com/ncb/notebook/_/page/notebooksummershootaround100818/atlantic-10

[Westy03]

Here is a best case/ worst case for each team in the A-10. Its pretty accurate regarding SLU. http://espn.go.com/blog/CollegeBasketballNation/post/_/id/14450/best-caseworst-case-atlantic-10

I pretty much agree with Bilas regarding SLU. He probably just looked at the stats but our free throws and rebounding need to make a big improvement if we want to contend for a top spot in the A-10.

[lawyerbilliken07]

I initially thought 5th seemed low, but I can't really argue about any of the teams picked in front of us. Of those teams, I'll be most interested to see what Xavier does this year. I think the loss of Crawford and Love may be fairly significant, and I'm by no means sold on Chris Mack as a big time coach. They still have plenty of talent, but maybe not as much as in years past.

[Westy03]

I initially thought 5th seemed low, but I can't really argue about any of the teams picked in front of us. Of those teams, I'll be most interested to see what Xavier does this year. I think the loss of Crawford and Love may be fairly significant, and I'm by no means sold on Chris Mack as a big time coach. They still have plenty of talent, but maybe not as much as in years past.

I agree but I still dont get the national media's infactuation with Brian Gregory and Chris Wright. You hold Gregory and Wright to a half court game and you have a very good chance of beating them. Wright is deadly in transition but average in the half court. Juwan Staten better be the second coming if Dayton expects to finish 2nd.

[Archy McNally]

I think 5th is a touch low - I thought we would be 4th and I am hoping we finish in the top 3.

I am shocked that Dayton is at the top. I know they won the NIT but they were 8-8 in the conference and lose 4 guards who played a total of 80 minutes a game + the starting center. They have a recruiting class that is a little better than SLU's, so I am not sure why they are going to make a huge difference. None of them are McD all-americans where you can rely on a big impact right now, although they might be great players down the line. Isn't this the teame SLU beat twice. Not seeing it although Chris Wright is a heck of a player.

I am somewhat surprised that Xavier is ranked 2nd. Unlike Dayton, they were at the top of the conference last year, but losing Crawford and Love are huge, especially Crawford. I think SLU should at least be considered in the same ballpark as Xavier next year, although I can see why someone would give them the benefit of the doubt due to past perfomance.

Now you have SLU that was all freshmen and sophmores and finished 4th and they are supposed to drop a spot. Seems weird to me. You would think they would only get better not worse.

My top 6 in the A10:

Temple

Richmond

SLU

Xavier

Dayton

Rhode Island

[thetorch]

I agree but I still dont get the national media's infactuation with Brian Gregory and Chris Wright. You hold Gregory and Wright to a half court game and you have a very good chance of beating them. Wright is deadly in transition but average in the half court. Juwan Staten better be the second coming if Dayton expects to finish 2nd.

A 5th place finish for us means we didn't get any better. I think the only contending team with as much potential as we have is Temple. Right now I think we are ahead of RI, Dayton, and Richmond. Temple and Xavier are still the teams to beat but we are very close to both of them.

[RiseAndGrind]

If the Bills finish below 2nd place this year will be a disappointment. This is the year that we need to get over the hump. No more expecting to finish below Dayton, Xavier, Temple, or Richmond.

[NH]

A 5th place finish for us means we didn't get any better. I think the only contending team with as much potential as we have is Temple. Right now I think we are ahead of RI, Dayton, and Richmond. Temple and Xavier are still the teams to beat but we are very close to both of them.

I think Xavier has the most potential of any team in the league. They just stack recruiting class after recruiting class.

But I think we can definitely win the A-10 and anything outside of the top four would be a disappointment.

[doowop]

Just because Bilas predicts this finish does not make it so. Did he predict us to finish in the top five last year? I don't think so.

[Band Legend]

Bilas says, "If Dayton gets good guard play, they'll be in the A-10 hunt and the NCAA tournament." Did he watch last season? They didn't get good guard play; as a matter of fact I would describe their guard play as offensively challenged and overly frenetic. What's going to change in that regard? As for his description of Gregory as one of the best coaches in the country, what has he been smoking? If you told most Dayton fans that he was one of the best they'd laugh in your face.

[For-DaLove]

Bilas says, "If Dayton gets good guard play, they'll be in the A-10 hunt and the NCAA tournament." Did he watch last season? They didn't get good guard play; as a matter of fact I would describe their guard play as offensively challenged and overly frenetic. What's going to change in that regard? As for his description of Gregory as one of the best coaches in the country, what has he been smoking? If you told most Dayton fans that he was one of the best they'd laugh in your face.

Which is probably why he said, "IF Dayton gets good guard play". IF they would have last season in the late part of conference play, they would have been dancing. His statement was fair and correct.

He is smoking the good stuff if he actually feels that way about Gregory lol.

[kshoe]

A 5th place finish for us means we didn't get any better. I think the only contending team with as much potential as we have is Temple. Right now I think we are ahead of RI, Dayton, and Richmond. Temple and Xavier are still the teams to beat but we are very close to both of them.

I disagree with that. The A-10 COULD have had 6 NCAA teams last year if RI, Dayton and Charlotte hadn't collapsed down the stretch. 5 looked likely in early February. Its not hard for me to envision a scenario where the A-10 gets 5 next year, we just need to take care of business in the non-con portion of the season and beat teams like Portland, Missouri St, Georgia, Cancun etc.

I'd take a strong non-con season and a 5th place finish over a crap non-con like we had last year followed by a 4th place conference finish.

[TheA_Bomb]

X

SLU

Temple

URI

Dayton

That is the order of finish of the top 5. SLU finishing 5th ain't gonna happen. Return all the key players plus we add depth. I don't know if I can go another season without making the tournament it is adversely affecting my health.

[thetorch]

I disagree with that. The A-10 COULD have had 6 NCAA teams last year if RI, Dayton and Charlotte hadn't collapsed down the stretch. 5 looked likely in early February. Its not hard for me to envision a scenario where the A-10 gets 5 next year, we just need to take care of business in the non-con portion of the season and beat teams like Portland, Missouri St, Georgia, Cancun etc.

I'd take a strong non-con season and a 5th place finish over a crap non-con like we had last year followed by a 4th place conference finish.

Barring a complete collapse of two BCS leagues the A-10 never gets more than 4 bids. To have a solid chance at a bid we must be top 3. Unless we go undefeated in non con a 5th place finish in league doesn't get us an at large bid and even then we would be on the bubble.

[For-DaLove]

X

SLU

Temple

URI

Dayton

That is the order of finish of the top 5. SLU finishing 5th ain't gonna happen. Return all the key players plus we add depth. I don't know if I can go another season without making the tournament it is adversely affecting my health.

Pretty much exactly how I feel. We will be in the top 3 when it's all said and done. Idk where, but we'll be there.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Hmm. Apparently, SLU = Rodney Dangerfield.

[Bizziken]

I think the 5th place prediction is ludicrous.

- Dayton lost FOUR PLAYERS who averaged 20+ minutes last year (and 1 who averaged 18)...there is a HUGE question mark as to how they will respond...and I don't care if Wright and Johnson came back, they still don't have a point guard (unless Staten can light it up)

- Both Richmond and Xavier lost two SOLID starters a piece, and Temple lost 2 players who averaged 30+ minutes a game...

To me, SLU was a 'safe' pick (at least to put in the top 4)...we return virtually the same team, plus add Cody for a full year AND have a seemingly 'ready to rock' recruiting class...

I know that pre-season predictions mean NOTHING, but they do impact how the media, public, and yes, the NCAA selection committee perceives a team...

Maybe we can use predictions like Bilas's and 'surprise' people when we finish 2nd in the A-10.....However, I would rather have SLU predicted to do well and then validate that prediction with a KICK-A$$ season, if only to let all of the BCS schools know that we were 'supposed to be good' and aren't trying to 'steal' an NCAA Tourney spot from the 13th Big East team...

[slu72]

He is right when he cites poor FT shooting and rebounding as problems. Rebounding problem can be fixed by adding Mr. Kowal, a stronger CE and CR, and a more experienced WR. The fact he didn't mention RL at all leads me to think we're again flying under everyone's radar again and some folks haven't done their homework. Wasn't RL being recruited by Pitt, AZ, and Wake as well?

[BillikenROAR]

I think it is funny that of all the things they could have said about willie, they picked free throws..

Dayton will be very very good. the point guard they have coming in is legit. oak hill prep and he was ranked as one of the best pg's in the country in a very deep pg class. They also have the shooting guard coming in from simeon who is very good, and if we expect mccall to be a big part of our team, this kid will do the same for dayton.

Chris Johnson is a freak and I think chris johnson will come back as a player with a lot to prove. Add that with gregory and you will see them in the top 3.

i dont buy xavier being on top of the league. crawford was too good for them to rebound back to best team in conference in one year. richmond is good, but don't see them matching up with us after anderson. gonzalvez was a good player that will be missed.

Temple is going to be very good. I pick them to win the league. They have the experience and lavoy fake bake allen that will be very hard to beat. They will also have a chip on their shoulder after last years upsetting 1st round loss to cornell.

I pick us 3rd. We have the depth, experience, athleticism and now size to compete with anyone. We CAN NOT lose to junk teams this year. No more GW or Charlotte losses. If we get on a roll early in the pre-season hopefully it will carry over into the conference season. I believe we will come out with 4 losses this year (@x @dayton @temple @richmond) i know i said we are better than richmond but i also remember how bad we play on the road. 3 losses will win this conference this year because it is so deep and the teams at the top will have to win all the home games.

I pick Rhode Island to be the sleeper and finish 4th. The only lose 1 player, but I believe they have enough left to compete and will be over-looked by a lot of teams and that will play in their favor.

Temple

Dayton

SLU

R.I.

X

Richmond

It will be crowded at the top and I look forward to seeing how all of this plays out.

[slufanskip]

I'll go

Temple

Dayton

SLU

X

Richmond

RI

with the top 4 teams dancing. Yes, Yes, I know.

[brianstl]

Who cares where Bilas picks us. We take care of business and it doesn't matter.

The video preview on that page with Katz and Gottlieb gives the A10 a lot of respect.

[SShoe]

Temple

X

Richmond

SLU

Dayton

RI

Our POD will be an issue for us finishing any higher than third in the league. I believe we've got Temple, X, Richmond, RI, and Dayton on the road. Those are five very tough road games. That being said, when it's all said and done, we'll be in a better position for an NCAA bid because of our improved schedule and hopefully our better non-con record. As we saw last year, where you end up in the A-10 standings does not necessarily dictate your postseason chances.

[JMM28]

Pass the blue kool-aid

1. SLU

2. Temple

3. Richmond

4. X

5. Dayton

6. Duquesne

7. URI

8. Charlotte

9. GW

10. St Joes

11. StB

12. UMasss

13. Lasalle

14. Fordham

[billiken_roy]

first i want to state that all in all, i agree we should finish higher than 5th place. without seeing newcomers and seeing non conference results, i consider it silly to try to predict a conference standings at this point though. especially with our (the typical fan's) limited knowledge of all things to consider.

i am amused though with the indignant tone of some of the billikens.com posters that just assume "we finished 4th last year didnt lose anyone and recruited well so should win the world championship this year". first off, dont forget we snuck up on the conference last year. how many times did teams look past us to the next game? i would venture to guess we won 3 games in conference last year on surprise factor alone. second, while the likes of xu did indeed lose the top player in the conference, xavier has shown they have the ability to reload year after year. and while richmond and temple indeed lost players, they return their best players and also had decent recruiting classes. nobody was sitting around waiting for the billikens to take over the conference.

i think this year it will be just the opposite from last year. underdogs will be looking to make a mark against the touted billikens and i expect an unexpected loss somewhere. the richmonds and dayton's will be more prepared and wont necessarily look past us so those arent gimmee wins either. and last, just reading the other team reports at espn last night, it appears the conference only got better. granted this year we might offset the above with an unexpected win vs xu or temple, but we'll see how the overall shakes out. i hope we finish top 2 or 3 but it wouldnt surprise me to see a 500 conference record and finishing somewhere in the top 8 as well.

my point is any conjecture at this point is really akin to reading a nice novel imo. entertaining, but not necessarily the accurate picture of what's going to happen.

[Pistol]

Roy makes a lot of good points. The element of surprise is gone for our squad now. There are a lot of teams returning a lot of players in our conference. We don't know how good our freshmen are going to be. We don't know if we're going to have Kowal or if Remekun is going to redshirt. It's probably stupid to make predictions but it makes for good conversation, so I'll bite:

1. Temple: Loses Brooks but returns Allen, Fernandez, and the one of the strongest defensive squads in the country. They have all the right pieces to win this league.

2. Xavier: Every year, we speculate how they'll recover from the loss of one or more players; last year, it was Derrick Brown, and we didn't realize Crawford would be a first-round stud. This year, it's Crawford and Love, with no certainty on who will pick up the slack. They've got a lot of nice players coming back and a strong freshman class (with a probably even stronger 2011 class on the way). I think they're weak at center unless Frease finally 'gets it', but this team has shown that it reloads every year and I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until they finally don't finish 1 or 2 in this league and make a Tournament run.

3. Richmond: Returning A10 POY Anderson is a stud, Geriot has another year of healing under his belt even though he's never going to be what he could have been, and they have enough depth to replace Gonzalvez. Experienced team, and stout defensive play- they'll give us fits again.

4. Dayton: I hate to say it, but they're not going 8-8 again. If they do, Gregory is a horrible coach. Wright is overrated, as most athletic wings with no jump shot are, but they return a ton despite graduating 6, and they're way better at PG with Staten. Just have too much talent to underperform...right?

5. SLU: It's more crowded at the top this year and we have a lot of question marks. I'm optimistic we can sneak into a higher finish if things pan out right but I've been a SLU fan for too long to count on everything going right. 1-5 in this conference this year could shake out in a lot of different ways. I'm just being cautious.

6. Rhode Island: The defense has to step up if they're going to compete with some seriously defensive-minded teams in the top half of the A10, but James could be an all-conference player and they have a lot of intriguing pieces. I could see them finishing higher, but also bombing.

7. Charlotte: Spears is a monster, and they return their entire core. I'd pick them over URI if not for the new coach.

8. Duquesne: Seems like every year for the past 6 years or so I've expected them to break out. Now I just expect more of the same.

9. LaSalle: Loses leading scorer but has an NBA prospect in Murray, who will be a tough matchup for A10 bigs. I just don't see how they're going to score much.

10. St. Joe's: Didn't have much talent on a young team last year. Will be just as young this year but finally have a good freshman class again; I'll give Martelli enough credit to squeeze wins out of them.

11. St. Bonaventure: Nicholson will be a big scorer, but this is another team with one guy to worry about and a lot of question marks.

12. UMass: Probably the team I know the least about in the A10. Lost leading scorer, and someone needs to step up.

13. GW: Hollis is gone, and who's left? They'll play another weak non-con schedule and get whooped by the top half+ of the conference.

14. Fordham: duh.