Where will we end up ranked next year roughly

[slufanskip]

7 hours ago, majerus mojo said:

Managing your expectations doesn't really make them expectations at all. If I think the Bills are going to be great, and they are, I'm not "satisfied"... I'm still just as "ecstatic" as the guy who convinced himself they were only going to be mediocre.

The "if you don't talk with your friends about SLU potentially being good this season, you will never be disappointed" angle is lol funny... if my friends were only so lucky

+1  I'm not less ecstatic if I expect them to be great and they are than I would be if I expected them to be good and they were great. Either way the were great, I'm ecstatic. I don't want to temper my expectations. I want to be excited, even overly excited and then enjoy the ride. Sure I'm disappointed if it doesn't turn out great but why trade that to just feel so-so if that's where they end up. I love sports and my teams for the ride. I love to believe. I go into every Cardinal season truly believing every Card will have their best year and play as well as they can. I believed the Cards were a 92-93 win team this year. I'm disappointed, however, if I started the year believing they'd win 75-80, I'd still be equally disappointed because 75-80 sucks. I'm not less disappointed because I expected it

[bauman]

5 hours ago, slufanskip said:

+1  I'm not less ecstatic if I expect them to be great and they are than I would be if I expected them to be good and they were great. Either way the were great, I'm ecstatic. I don't want to temper my expectations. I want to be excited, even overly excited and then enjoy the ride. Sure I'm disappointed if it doesn't turn out great but why trade that to just feel so-so if that's where they end up. I love sports and my teams for the ride. I love to believe. I go into every Cardinal season truly believing every Card will have their best year and play as well as they can. I believed the Cards were a 92-93 win team this year. I'm disappointed, however, if I started the year believing they'd win 75-80, I'd still be equally disappointed because 75-80 sucks. I'm not less disappointed because I expected it

Skip and Mojo on the glass half full bandwagon with me!

[cgeldmacher]

6 hours ago, slufanskip said:

+1  I'm not less ecstatic if I expect them to be great and they are than I would be if I expected them to be good and they were great. Either way the were great, I'm ecstatic. I don't want to temper my expectations. I want to be excited, even overly excited and then enjoy the ride. Sure I'm disappointed if it doesn't turn out great but why trade that to just feel so-so if that's where they end up. I love sports and my teams for the ride. I love to believe. I go into every Cardinal season truly believing every Card will have their best year and play as well as they can. I believed the Cards were a 92-93 win team this year. I'm disappointed, however, if I started the year believing they'd win 75-80, I'd still be equally disappointed because 75-80 sucks. I'm not less disappointed because I expected it

I think everyone who commented both interpreted my comments correctly and incorrectly.  That's probably my fault for how I worded it.

My point is that some people are already celebrating a successful season.  Comments like "we should be in the top 3 in the A-10" or "we should be a tournament team this year" are misguided.  Celebrate success when it happens, not now.  If people tell themselves that a certain level of success will occur without acknowledging the challenges of this season, they are setting themselves up for a fall later.  If that happens, those guys won't recognize their excessively high expectations as the true culprit.  They'll blame Ford's in game coaching or take it out on a scapegoat player (this board loves that one).  The program is heading in a great direction.  Let's not submarine that progress by proclaiming that this team should be a top A-10 team or a tournament team this year to everyone that will listen and then hurting the program's momentum when/if that doesn't occur.

[bauman]

14 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I think everyone who commented both interpreted my comments correctly and incorrectly.  That's probably my fault for how I worded it.

My point is that some people are already celebrating a successful season.  Comments like "we should be in the top 3 in the A-10" or "we should be a tournament team this year" are misguided.  Celebrate success when it happens, not now.  If people tell themselves that a certain level of success will occur without acknowledging the challenges of this season, they are setting themselves up for a fall later.  If that happens, those guys won't recognize their excessively high expectations as the true culprit.  They'll blame Ford's in game coaching or take it out on a scapegoat player (this board loves that one).  The program is heading in a great direction.  Let's not submarine that progress by proclaiming that this team should be a top A-10 team or a tournament team this year to everyone that will listen and then hurting the program's momentum when/if that doesn't occur.

cg, I didn't misinterpret your comment at all.  Nor do I feel that those of us who feel the team can be top-3 in the A 10 and/or a tournament team are MISGUIDED.  Do you feel that the two media members who see us as top 3-4 are also misguided?

 I don't think you need to set low expectations to feel good about the team at the end of the year.  I plan on feeling good about them throughout the year but also understand that there can be a few bumps in the road.  Will I be disappointed if we finish in the middle of the A 10-I guess I will because I think we are going to be better than last year when that's where we wound up.  But that doesn't mean I can't feel optimistic going into the season.  Get on the bandwagon-it's more fun there!

[Quality Is Job 1]

21 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I think everyone who commented both interpreted my comments correctly and incorrectly.  That's probably my fault for how I worded it.

My point is that some people are already celebrating a successful season.  Comments like "we should be in the top 3 in the A-10" or "we should be a tournament team this year" are misguided.  Celebrate success when it happens, not now.  If people tell themselves that a certain level of success will occur without acknowledging the challenges of this season, they are setting themselves up for a fall later.  If that happens, those guys won't recognize their excessively high expectations as the true culprit.  They'll blame Ford's in game coaching or take it out on a scapegoat player (this board loves that one).  The program is heading in a great direction.  Let's not submarine that progress by proclaiming that this team should be a top A-10 team or a tournament team this year to everyone that will listen and then hurting the program's momentum when/if that doesn't occur.

I'm sorry, but I really don't think the expectations or opinions of a program's fans (or haters) have any significant impact on the program's trajectory; that falls on the coaching staff and players.  Whatever we "tell ourselves" has no effect on the team's performance.  The "buzz" surrounding the program, though, might affect attendance a bit during the first few to dozen games or so, until the results speak for themselves.

[cgeldmacher]

I'm excited about this year's team.  If I conveyed otherwise with my comments, that's on me.  I just worry that the reasonable end result for this year's team is not what many are setting up.  I'm worried that some will be down on the team by the end of the season simply because they set their sights too high.  I don't want that to happen.  I believe that our true success is a season or two away.

[billiken_roy]

20 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I'm excited about this year's team.  If I conveyed otherwise with my comments, that's on me.  I just worry that the reasonable end result for this year's team is not what many are setting up.  I'm worried that some will be down on the team by the end of the season simply because they set their sights too high.  I don't want that to happen.  I believe that our true success is a season or two away.

+1

I still question the quality of our bench.  If the bench comes through we will be very good.  If not, I agree we may still be a year or two away.   That said we should be over 500 which after the last three seasons will be a nice breath of fresh air.   

[cheeseman]

3 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

+1

I still question the quality of our bench.  If the bench comes through we will be very good.  If not, I agree we may still be a year or two away.   That said we should be over 500 which after the last three seasons will be a nice breath of fresh air.   

Watch it Roy - the expectations police are watching!

[ACE]

1 minute ago, billiken_roy said:

+1

I still question the quality of our bench.  If the bench comes through we will be very good.  If not, I agree we may still be a year or two away.   That said we should be over 500 which after the last three seasons will be a nice breath of fresh air.   

We will have the best bench in the A-10. The question is do we have a player or two who can step up to be all-conference type players like URI has with Mathews and Bonawelding has with their backcourt.

[3star_recruit]

Ford thinks AD is that guy. I'll admit I'm skeptical based on his career averages at UCF. He will get the green light here, though.

[willie]

28 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

+1

I still question the quality of our bench.  If the bench comes through we will be very good.  If not, I agree we may still be a year or two away.   That said we should be over 500 which after the last three seasons will be a nice breath of fresh air.   

I think this will be the best and deepest bench a SLU team has ever had. 

[ACE]

52 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Ford thinks AD is that guy. I'll admit I'm skeptical based on his career averages at UCF. He will get the green light here, though.

How do you think AD stacks up to Charles Cooke or Jordan Sibert when those guys transferred to Dayton? It is my hope AD can make that type of impact after sitting out a year. 

[kshoe]

We've got 8-9 guys that legitimately could start for this team. The question isn't the bench. The question is whether 4-5 of these guys can separate themselves from the others and be a top level team. The other 4 or so will still be very solid players. I'm not worried about the bench. I worry about whether we are top heavy enough. 

[3star_recruit]

5 hours ago, ACE said:

How do you think AD stacks up to Charles Cooke or Jordan Sibert when those guys transferred to Dayton? It is my hope AD can make that type of impact after sitting out a year. 

Cooke put up nearly the same numbers at Dayton as he had at James Madison.  Sibert was a top 50 player languishing on the bench at a much better progam (Ohio State). Henriquez averaged less than 11 ppg at a bottom feeder AAC program.  If Coach Ford wasn't raving about him, I would put AD down for 13-14 ppg.  I'll defer to Coach on this one.

[majerus mojo]

42 minutes ago, kshoe said:

We've got 8-9 guys that legitimately could start for this team. The question isn't the bench. The question is whether 4-5 of these guys can separate themselves from the others and be a top level team. The other 4 or so will still be very solid players. I'm not worried about the bench. I worry about whether we are top heavy enough. 

This is a good post 

[bauman]

45 minutes ago, kshoe said:

We've got 8-9 guys that legitimately could start for this team. The question isn't the bench. The question is whether 4-5 of these guys can separate themselves from the others and be a top level team. The other 4 or so will still be very solid players. I'm not worried about the bench. I worry about whether we are top heavy enough. 

I agree with you.  Let's look at how we can get to 9 very good players meaning a bench of 4.  1-4  the 4 transfers; 5 & 6 the two Freshmen; 7-Roby; 8-Bishop; 9 - Johnson  and we still haven't included Anthony and Welmer.  The bench is not a problem.  I don't ever remember having that type of quality depth since I have had season tickets. (35+ seasons.)

[moytoy12]

2 hours ago, kshoe said:

We've got 8-9 guys that legitimately could start for this team. The question isn't the bench. The question is whether 4-5 of these guys can separate themselves from the others and be a top level team. The other 4 or so will still be very solid players. I'm not worried about the bench. I worry about whether we are top heavy enough. 

To me the question is our interior presence on offense and defense.  We have what appears to be some formidable 6'7" guys, but I still question how stout we'll be up front.  

[3star_recruit]

8 hours ago, moytoy12 said:

To me the question is our interior presence on offense and defense.  We have what appears to be some formidable 6'7" guys, but I still question how stout we'll be up front.  

We're in the A10.  The combination of Foreman, French and Welmer already makes us one of the better frontcourts in the conference.  Welmer would be the best big on Richmond or GW's entire roster.

[Old guy]

That is, assuming Welmer will be ready to play when the season starts.

[moytoy12]

1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

We're in the A10.  The combination of Foreman, French and Welmer already makes us one of the better frontcourts in the conference.  Welmer would be the best big on Richmond or GW's entire roster.

Although I disagree about Welmer being the best big on any A-10 team, your point about frontcourts in the A-10 is a good one. 

[ACE]

13 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

Cooke put up nearly the same numbers at Dayton as he had at James Madison.  Sibert was a top 50 player languishing on the bench at a much better progam (Ohio State). Henriquez averaged less than 11 ppg at a bottom feeder AAC program.  If Coach Ford wasn't raving about him, I would put AD down for 13-14 ppg.  I'll defer to Coach on this one.

I would contend Cooke was a better player putting up those numbers against better competition at Dayton than he was at JMU. Getting 13-14 ppg out of AD would be solid and maybe good enough if we have a team with balanced scoring (several other double digit scorers). But if you bump AD up to 15-16 ppg, we're talking about a likely 2nd, 3rd team all-conference player.

Bess is more like a Sibert situation. Highly rated player out of hs in the Big 10 who doesn't do much, but makes an impact after transferring to the A-10.

For me the questions are can we have at least one of the top 10 players in the A-10 and can Goodwin or French be the top freshman in the league... to be able to make an impact like Bembry did a few years ago. If those two things happen, combined with our depth, we'll be contending for a spot in the Dance. Without high level players emerging, it won't happen.

[cgeldmacher]

Agree about needing a guy or two to be near all-conference level to be successful.  Remember when Ash sat out his transfer year and all we heard was that he was going to be the best player on the court.  He was, but he didn't light it up and carry the team like we thought.  The difference with the team this year is that we have a group of guys who have the potential to be that star player.  If one does, we'll be doing okay.  If two do, then we're talking competing for the A-10.  If none do, then we have a problem.  We'll still be better than last year, but we'll have a problem.

[TFord and TRavs]

30 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

Agree about needing a guy or two to be near all-conference level to be successful.  Remember when Ash sat out his transfer year and all we heard was that he was going to be the best player on the court.  He was, but he didn't light it up and carry the team like we thought.  The difference with the team this year is that we have a group of guys who have the potential to be that star player.  If one does, we'll be doing okay.  If two do, then we're talking competing for the A-10.  If none do, then we have a problem.  We'll still be better than last year, but we'll have a problem.

Uh this next years team is like having 5 Ash's on the team (AD, Bess, Foreman, Goodwin, French)

[bauman]

5 minutes ago, TFord and TRavs said:

Uh this next years team is like having 5 Ash's on the team (AD, Bess, Foreman, Goodwin, French)

Although not a new player like the 5 you list, I am expecting (hoping) for big things from JJ this year.  Of the 5 you list, only AD is a shooter, so we will need JJ to be on the court quite a bit at the 3 or 4.  I think he can be an exceptional shooter and showed, at the end of last year, that he could be aggressive on the boards.  My only JJ concern is that he did not look, to me, to be extremely athletic. 

[TFord and TRavs]

46 minutes ago, bauman said:

Although not a new player like the 5 you list, I am expecting (hoping) for big things from JJ this year.  Of the 5 you list, only AD is a shooter, so we will need JJ to be on the court quite a bit at the 3 or 4.  I think he can be an exceptional shooter and showed, at the end of last year, that he could be aggressive on the boards.  My only JJ concern is that he did not look, to me, to be extremely athletic. 

I only meant with new players coming in like ash who were highly ranked like him