2019-20 Season

[Clock_Tower]

Maybe we can start a new thread, but Davidson ended last season w a 33 point loss to us and then another loss to Lipscomb.  Yes, they did have a good A10 record but not the greatest overall record.  And yes they beat other good A10 teams but they didnt play us so good in that they squeeked a fortunate 54-53 win over us (believe that was us giving away that game at the end/FT line) and then a 33 point loss to us in the A10 Tournament.  Yes, they return nearly their whole team but they had trouble w our 6 guys - 3 of whom are returning as well.  #23 in County?

[billikenbill]

7 minutes ago, Clock_Tower said:

Maybe we can start a new thread, but Davidson ended last season w a 33 point loss to us and then another loss to Lipscomb.  Yes, they did have a good A10 record but not the greatest overall record.  And yes they beat other good A10 teams but they didnt play us so good in that they squeeked a fortunate 54-53 win over us (believe that was us giving away that game at the end/FT line) and then a 33 point loss to us in the A10 Tournament.  Yes, they return nearly their whole team but they had trouble w our 6 guys - 3 of whom are returning as well.  #23 in County?

Correction, we beat Davidson by 23. Also, I saw Lipscomb go on the road and destroy a very good UNCG team in the NIT. Lipscomb led 84-55 before getting outscored 14-2 in mop-up time. In 2019, Davidson getting nipped by Lipscomb was no mark of shame.

[3star_recruit]

Davidson will get the benefit of the doubt based on the track record of their coach with veteran teams. But I agree with you, they look more like a top 40 team to me. Double digit seed in the tournament.

Davidson has always been susceptible to dominant rebounding teams who can limit them to one shot. We are a tough matchup for them.

[wgstl]

3 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Davidson will get the benefit of the doubt based on the track record of their coach with veteran teams. But I agree with you, they look more like a top 40 team to me. Double digit seed in the tournament.

Davidson has always been susceptible to dominant rebounding teams who can limit them to one shot. We are a tough matchup for them.

Yep. unless one of their bigs takes a big step from last season, that front court is a joke. 

[slu72]

Fred on Gundmonson and JGood on Grady, game over, Bills win. 

[Littlebill]

1 hour ago, Clock_Tower said:

Maybe we can start a new thread, but Davidson ended last season w a 33 point loss to us and then another loss to Lipscomb.  Yes, they did have a good A10 record but not the greatest overall record.  And yes they beat other good A10 teams but they didnt play us so good in that they squeeked a fortunate 54-53 win over us (believe that was us giving away that game at the end/FT line) and then a 33 point loss to us in the A10 Tournament.  Yes, they return nearly their whole team but they had trouble w our 6 guys - 3 of whom are returning as well.  #23 in County?

Are we really using the NIT as a predictor of what they'll be next year?

[Pistol]

Pulling this from another thread. I put the league into tiers heading into this season. I'm putting SLU in the second tier. This is also my current projected order of finish. There is nothing scientific about my process and I update it once in a while as things change.

The tl;dr version: VCU is excellent, Davidson and Dayton should be Tournament teams, Rhody is our shot at a fourth Tournament team if everything breaks right, Duquesne, SLU, Bonaventure, Richmond, and GMU could all be in play for anywhere in the 5-9 middle section, and the other five teams are rebuilding but UMass' talented young freshmen probably make them the best of that bunch.

Strong
VCU - Year three under Mike Rhoades. The team that just won the A10 with a 16-2 record graduated two guys who averaged less than 3 points combined. They'll have a 5-man senior class led by their top two scorers, Marcus Evans and De'Riante Jenkins. There's a drop-off after the top four, but they play a 9-man rotation and 8 are back after one outgoing transfer (Sean Mobley). They've got four guys coming in, and arguably the best incoming freshman class in the conference. This is very much the same team this season with another year of experience. They're the favorite to win the league.
Davidson - Year 31 under Bob McKillop, who just signed a five-year contract extension. They only graduated Nathan Ekwu, the guy just outside the 6-man rotation. Kellan Grady and Jon Axel Gudmundsson return after testing the NBA draft waters, so they keep the entire 6-man rotation intact. Dusan Kovacevic transferred out but battled injuries so he's never played much and won't be a big loss. They've got two incoming freshmen and two open scholarships. They're running out of time to use those, so assuming the roster is set, the main issue here is depth, particularly in the frontcourt. If they stay healthy, they should be VCU's strongest challenger.
Dayton - Year three under Anthony Grant. UD had a losing record in his first season and made the leap to 21 wins and an NIT appearance in year two. They graduated Josh Cunningham but Obi Toppin is returning after exploring the NBA draft. They've also got four transfers who will be eligible this season - Jordy Tshimanga (Nebraska), Chase Johnson (Florida), Ibi Watson (Michigan), and Rodney Chatman (Chattanooga). There's also a freshman big on board. Jordan Davis and Frankie Policelli transferred out so they're losing a top-two guy and their fifth guy but gaining a lot of depth and experience overall. They're a clear top-three team but I'd put them behind VCU and Davidson because VCU and Davidson have better coaches, UD has a lot of guys who haven't played together yet, and with two unused scholarships, they have some depth risk if there are injuries. They are looking like the 2020-2021 preseason favorite, though, if they stay relatively intact.
Rhode Island - Year two under David Cox. They were the only .500 team in conference this year and graduated their 8th and 10th leading scorers. They lost a surprising number to transfers: Christion Thompson (5th leading scorer), Omar Silverio (9th), Michael Tertsea (11th), Aris Tsourgiannis (13th), and Marial Mading, who didn't play last season. They bring in two juco transfers and three freshmen, including Obi Toppin's younger brother Jacob. Jeff Dowtin and Cyril Langevine will be seniors, and Fatts Russell will somehow only be a junior. They have a Georgetown transfer (Antwan Walker, a former SLU offer who was dismissed from GU) now eligible. Despite the attrition and relative lack of frontcourt size and depth, the core is mostly intact here and they could be a threat to the top three.

Question Marks
Duquesne - Year three under Keith Dambrot. They outperformed expectations this past year before losing three straight to end the season, but they didn't have any seniors graduate and have only one senior this year, transfer big man Baylee Steele. They were looking like a top-tier team until the transfers of leading scorer Eric Williams and three outgoing freshmen who didn't play much, if at all. They have four incoming freshmen (including a former walk-on who redshirted). So while most of the rotation is intact, the question is who will replace Williams' scoring load.
Saint Louis - Year four under Travis Ford and yet another year of serious roster turnover, with only five returning players. There are five freshmen, a juco junior, and a grad transfer guard forming a deep, balanced class for Ford. There's plenty of talent but it remains to be seen how good the newcomers are and how well the team will come together. In that regard, it's a similar situation to last season - but with a lot less experience. After Jordan Goodwin and Hasahn French, there are a lot of question marks. Sophomore Fred Thatch needs to make a big leap offensively. The addition of Tay Weaver should help spark the offense and allow them to play faster than last season. If the freshmen play to their potential and the team comes together early, this should be a top-half team that will frustrate the best teams in the league. If they're slower to catch on and the offense struggles again, they'll be battling for a .500 finish.
St. Bonaventure - Year 13 under Mark Schmidt, now the winningest coach in school history. This was the streakiest team in the A10 all season and underachieved in non-conference play before finishing 12-6 and fourth in the conference. They graduated their first (Courtney Stockard) and third (LaDarien Griffin) scorers along with the senior PG (Nelson Kaputo), who was already being edged out by talented freshman and second-leading scorer Kyle Lofton. Jalen Poyser, Melkisedek Moreaux, and Tshiefu Ngalakulondi transferred out, but none were major contributors. They have a Mt. St. Mary's transfer becoming eligible, two juco signees, and three signed freshmen, including former SLU recruit Robert Carpenter. Lofton and Osun Osunniyi were two of the best freshmen in the league and Dominick Welch wasn't far behind. There isn't any frontcourt depth behind Ikpeze and Osunniyi, so look for Carpenter to play up a position this season as a Dwayne Evans-type. A lot of newcomers have to learn to play together, but with a good coach and a sneaky good level of talent, this is an intriguing squad.
Richmond - Year 15 under Chris Mooney, despite pressure from Richmond fans. On paper, they're a strong pick to make a leap because Jacob Gilyard and Grant Golden will be juniors and their talented 5-man freshman class will have a year of experience under their belts. After Noah Yates' appeal for another season of eligibility was denied, they only graduated Julius Johnson, the 7th or 8th player off the bench. Keith Oddo and Bryce Schneider transferred but neither were contributors. They've got a Wagner transfer now eligible and they've got two new guys signed (one Tulane transfer who won't be playing this fall) with one scholarship open. Continuity is going to be a big boost here and they need Nick Sherod to stay healthy so that he and Nathan Cayo give Gilyard and Golden enough help to be competitive.
George Mason - Year five under Dave Paulsen. Mason was a hot pick as an A10 title contender in the preseason, then got off to a disastrous start in non-conference play before putting together a respectable A10 record (11-7). They graduated Otis Livingston, one of the best PGs in the league. Jarred Reuter transferred, and they also lost Jaire Grayer, who received a medical waiver after playing only 8 games and will finish at TCU. They'll look for Justin Kier to make a big leap as a senior with Livingston gone. They've got three incoming freshmen - a big, a scoring guard, and a PG - and they've got decent depth, but losing the second, fifth, and sixth-leading scorers will be hard to replace in terms of production. A .500 finish would be a reasonable outcome this season.

Rebuilds
UMass - Year three under Matt McCall, and it's a big one. UMass has finished 13th in the A10 in back-to-back seasons and needs to make a jump. McCall knows it, too, and decided to overhaul the program. Rashaan Holloway is the only guy who graduated, but Luwane Pipkins, Kieran Hayward, Tre Wood, Curtis Cobb, Jaylen Franklin, and Unique McLean all transferred. Six scholarship players are returning, a Cleveland State transfer will sit out this season, and seven incoming freshmen are signed, so the roster is full and more than half new. McCall also replaced three assistant coaches. The overall talent level has been upgraded but the team is young, with just one scholarship senior (Djery Baptiste) in addition to the big freshman class and returning sophomores and juniors. With the learning curve as they gain experience in college and playing together, it's hard to see where they can make much of a leap next season, especially given the relative strength of the league, but McCall probably bought himself some time.
George Washington - Year one under Jamion Christian. They didn't graduate anybody but since Christian was introduced, three players transferred (Terry Nolan, Marcus Littles, and Shandon Brown). Littles and Brown played single-digit minutes but Nolan was the third-leading scorer. Christian managed to keep both signed incoming freshmen, Chase Paar and Jamison Battle, and land two more incoming freshmen, Shawn Walker and Jameer Nelson, Jr. He also signed two transfers - Amir Harris (Nebraska) and Sloan Seymour (Siena) - who will sit this year. Year one for Christian could be a struggle but he had some success at Siena and might be able to get GW back on track sooner than later.
La Salle - Year two under Ashley Howard. Star senior Pookie Powell graduates along with Cheddi Mosley. Miles Brookins, Traci Carter, Jamir Moultrie, Jayson Brower, and Cian Sullivan transferred. Four incoming freshmen are signed, with one incoming transfer (Clifton Moore, Indiana) who won't play this season. Isiah Deas and Saul Phiri were the second and third-leading scorers this season and will be seniors. They had a brutal non-conference schedule in 2018-2019, so expect their overall record to improve but their A10 record to be similar. They could make a jump the following season, though.
Fordham - Year five under Jeff Neubauer. Perpetual rebuild. Jesse Bunting and David Pekarek graduate, and a senior transfer will become eligible. They lost just one of the six freshmen from last year's class, but unfortunately it's their leading scorer, Nick Honor, who is departing. They've got a juco junior PG coming in along with three freshmen. They finished last this past year and with new coaches at GW and St. Joe's they would look poised to make a step up, but Honor's departure stings. They're still a bottom-four team and 11th would be a good outcome.
St. Joe's - Year one under Billy Lange. Biggest disappointment in the A10 this past year because of injuries and underperformance. Markell Lodge, Mike Muggeo, and Chris Clover graduated, and Charlie Brown went pro. LaMarr Kimble, Jared Bynum, Lorenzo Edwards, and Troy Holston transferred. Incoming freshman Kenan Sarvan opted out of his LOI and Jameer Nelson, Jr. is heading to GW after Phil Martelli was fired the head coaching job wasn't given to his dad. Lange has landed three incoming freshmen, a grad transfer (Dennis Ashley, Maine), and two regular transfers - Myles Douglas (UCF) and Greg Foster (Gonzaga) - who will sit out. The Hawks return just four players, one of whom sat out last season and a former walk-on, and have ten total scholarships used this season. It's a total rebuild it'll be an achievement if they don't finish last.

[slu72]

Good assessment, Pistol. Although, I think Dayton, because of depth, is better than Davidson. If either of Davidson's big 2 miss time w/ an injury, they're gonna struggle. 

[Old guy]

We will see, won't we

[slu72]

1 hour ago, Old guy said:

We will see, won't we

It's why we call you Captain Obvious. 

[Quality Is Job 1]

2 hours ago, slu72 said:

It's why we call you Captain Obvious. 

No, our Old Guy has been promoted to 5-star General Obvious!

[Clock_Tower]

12 hours ago, billikenbill said:

Correction, we beat Davidson by 23. Also, I saw Lipscomb go on the road and destroy a very good UNCG team in the NIT. Lipscomb led 84-55 before getting outscored 14-2 in mop-up time. In 2019, Davidson getting nipped by Lipscomb was no mark of shame.

Bill. You're correct about the score.  My mistake.   As to Lipscomb, not saying they are bad, but they did end the season with an RPI of 70 and a record of 29-8.   But how does Davidson end last season with a record of 24-10, an RPI of 50, an embarrassing loss to SLU by 23, a loss to Lipscomb by 8, the return of their guys but little addition and end up at #23?   

3 Star.   VCU was strong last year and will be again this year.  Fine, put us down for 2 losses to them this year -- home and away.   And fine, let's assume that Dayton will be strong with their 4 new transfers and not have any issue getting use to each other, but I just don't see much else in the A10.   Just not buying how strong the A10 will be.   Stronger than last year?   and the year prior?   Probably, but the A10 has been historically average here recently. 

Pistol.  Excellent update on the A10.  Thank you.  Maybe we have too many questions to make a pre-season "strong" tier of the A10, but other than VCU, it sure seems like a lot is up for grabs this year   Not seeing the quality of the A10.

[drkelsey55]

4 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

Bill. You're correct about the score.  My mistake.   As to Lipscomb, not saying they are bad, but they did end the season with an RPI of 70 and a record of 29-8.   But how does Davidson end last season with a record of 24-10, an RPI of 50, an embarrassing loss to SLU by 23, a loss to Lipscomb by 8, the return of their guys but little addition and end up at #23?   

3 Star.   VCU was strong last year and will be again this year.  Fine, put us down for 2 losses to them this year -- home and away.   And fine, let's assume that Dayton will be strong with their 4 new transfers and not have any issue getting use to each other, but I just don't see much else in the A10.   Just not buying how strong the A10 will be.   Stronger than last year?   and the year prior?   Probably, but the A10 has been historically average here recently. 

Pistol.  Excellent update on the A10.  Thank you.  Maybe we have too many questions to make a pre-season "strong" tier of the A10, but other than VCU, it sure seems like a lot is up for grabs this year   Not seeing the quality of the A10.

We only play VCU once this coming season, at home. Always like our chances at home.

[3star_recruit]

5 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

Bill. You're correct about the score.  My mistake.   As to Lipscomb, not saying they are bad, but they did end the season with an RPI of 70 and a record of 29-8.   But how does Davidson end last season with a record of 24-10, an RPI of 50, an embarrassing loss to SLU by 23, a loss to Lipscomb by 8, the return of their guys but little addition and end up at #23?   

3 Star.   VCU was strong last year and will be again this year.  Fine, put us down for 2 losses to them this year -- home and away.   And fine, let's assume that Dayton will be strong with their 4 new transfers and not have any issue getting use to each other, but I just don't see much else in the A10.   Just not buying how strong the A10 will be.   Stronger than last year?   and the year prior?   Probably, but the A10 has been historically average here recently. 

Pistol.  Excellent update on the A10.  Thank you.  Maybe we have too many questions to make a pre-season "strong" tier of the A10, but other than VCU, it sure seems like a lot is up for grabs this year   Not seeing the quality of the A10.

Davidson had two freshmen who averaged double figures and those guys will now be sophomores.  They brought in a 6'7 sharpshooter to add to their depth.  It's a natural progression to top 40 status but I think top 25 may be a bridge too far.

[Pistol]

16 hours ago, slu72 said:

Good assessment, Pistol. Although, I think Dayton, because of depth, is better than Davidson. If either of Davidson's big 2 miss time w/ an injury, they're gonna struggle. 

I agree that if Davidson suffers a key injury, they're toast. Assuming they stay healthy, the difference to me is the coach. McKillop is miles ahead of Grant.

[Cowboy]

-nice write up Pistol, it won't be long until we are seeing what we and others have as a bball team

[3star_recruit]

1 hour ago, Pistol said:

I agree that if Davidson suffers a key injury, they're toast. Assuming they stay healthy, the difference to me is the coach. McKillop is miles ahead of Grant.

Is he? Dayton beat Davidson at Davidson last year.

[Pistol]

17 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Is he? Dayton beat Davidson at Davidson last year.

One game.

Just ask Dayton fans, don't take my word for it.

[3star_recruit]

Dayton fans are a strange bunch. Anybody who is not Archie sucks.

[bauman]

My fondest memory of Grant is a game two years ago (or was it last year?) when the game was getting out of hand and Grant stood like a statute and never called a time out. 

[brianstl]

3 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

Dayton fans are a strange bunch. Anybody who is not Archie sucks.

And they acted like Gregory was a god way past his expiration date

[Aquinas]

On 8/22/2019 at 1:41 PM, Clock_Tower said:

Maybe we can start a new thread, but Davidson ended last season w a 33 point loss to us and then another loss to Lipscomb.  Yes, they did have a good A10 record but not the greatest overall record.  And yes they beat other good A10 teams but they didnt play us so good in that they squeeked a fortunate 54-53 win over us (believe that was us giving away that game at the end/FT line) and then a 33 point loss to us in the A10 Tournament.  Yes, they return nearly their whole team but they had trouble w our 6 guys - 3 of whom are returning as well.  #23 in County?

We blew Davidson out, but it was an exceptional shooting game for us.  We were 8 for 17 from 3 point range, 47%. and 75% from the FT line.  When we hit our ouside shots, we were a very good team last year and capable of soundly beating anyone we played.  The problem as we all know, is that was a rare occurance.   

[Pistol]

One thing I noticed when going through every team's roster heading into this season: There isn't much size at all in the league. Clearly Ford has seen an opportunity to go big, signing both Bell and Diarra in the spring, and we continue to pursue another big for the 2020 class.

We've been worried about our own frontcourt depth because we've got French and a couple unproven freshmen, and even if Ford has been raving about one, he hardly mentions the other (although I think Diarra was a long-term play from the start). So we're going to see guys like Hargrove and Hankton supporting French at times. There are a few teams we'll struggle with down low:

Dayton might have the most talented lineup of bigs, with Toppin, two transfers (Tshimanga and Johnson), and a freshman named Moulaye Sissoko.
Duquesne might have the deepest frontline, with Steele, Hughes, Rotroff, Kelly, and a redshirt freshman named James Ellis.
GW has four guys who stand 6-9, one in each class and two of whom are new. Toro, the senior, averaged 10 and 9 last season and is by far the biggest threat here. Langarica, a junior, averaged 5.6 and 5.3. They have a couple walk-on bigs, as well. It's a surprisingly decent frontcourt for a team that won't be very good.
VCU has Santos-Silva, Douglas, a freshman named Hason Ward, and can call on Jenkins and Williams to guard bigger players. They're never huge and they make it work.

But the rest:

Davidson has Brajkovic, a nice player and their third-leading scorer, with a 6-10 freshman and 6-8 sophomore who didn't play much last season.
Bonaventure has a strong starting frontcourt with Ikpeze and Osunniyi, but literally no depth behind them.
Fordham has two 6-10 players, a sophomore and a freshman, and then they have a couple lean 6-7 guys. Ohams, at 6-7, was the leading rebounder last year and highest-scoring returning big (6 PPG).
George Mason returns Greg Calixte and will need Goanar Mar to play big. The only other big is Josh Oduro, a freshman.
La Salle's top 7 scorers last season were guards. The next two - Kimbrough and Croswell - are the bigs and combined to average 10 and 12. They'll get some help from a freshman named Brandon Stone but they have a transfer big sitting this season.
UMass returns Djery Baptiste, a load inside but not that productive last season, along with Khalea Turner-Morris, but both were outproduced by Sy Chatman (6-8, 200, 3.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG). Tre Mitchell might leap past them all immediately. He's a talented and large (6-9, 250) freshman.
Rhode Island has Cyril Langevine as a senior, which is arguably enough to put them in the other category, and he's got Jermaine Harris as the other big forward. Dana Tate, a couple transfers, and a couple freshman are all SF types who could play a little bigger as needed.
Richmond's Grant Golden was the leading scorer and rebounder but there's not much of a frontcourt behind him. Matt Grace is back but barely played. The rest of the rebounding all came from guards, and they can use smaller forwards with length like Soul Koureissi and incoming freshman Tyler Burton to guard opposing PFs.
St. Joe's has Longpre and Funk back, and the next tallest guy is 6-5. With an injury or foul trouble for one or both of them, they're small and have the shortest bench in the league.

tl;dr - We don't have much depth down low and we're relying on undersized guys to guard the 4 or freshmen to guard the 5, but that's not going to be a problem every night in this league.

[Clock_Tower]

59 minutes ago, Aquinas said:

We blew Davidson out, but it was an exceptional shooting game for us.  We were 8 for 17 from 3 point range, 47%. and 75% from the FT line.  When we hit our ouside shots, we were a very good team last year and capable of soundly beating anyone we played.  The problem as we all know, is that was a rare occurance.   

Yes.   But the earlier game was a close one, at home, which we should have won.   I don't recall being too impressed with Davidson that game either -- and we did not play all that great either.  In fact, I suggest that we played poorly.   We had been winning but lost to them by 1 point, and if that is the game I remember, we had misses and mistakes and we gave the game away at the end, Goodwin missed those 2 FT's.  As per the attached, we played that game without Gordon,  our two highest scoring players that day were French and Goodwin, I recall Bess playing a stellar defensive game and still apparently scoring 10 points, Isabell was still Isabell with only 9 points despite all the minutes played shots/FT shots attempted, we got only 2 points from Senior Center DJ Foreman and Wiley came off the bench with 5 points in 17 minutes.  Not intending to rip or our former players, whom I thank for their service, acknowledge they played hard and some played injured, but this not exactly the greatest Senior Billiken class need to replace this year.   Bess will be tough to replace - but not the others.    

 

 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401085584

[Clock_Tower]

On 8/23/2019 at 6:59 AM, 3star_recruit said:

Davidson had two freshmen who averaged double figures and those guys will now be sophomores.  They brought in a 6'7 sharpshooter to add to their depth.  It's a natural progression to top 40 status but I think top 25 may be a bridge too far.

What?  Not just 1 Freshman but 2 who each scored in double digits?   And help lead them to the top tier of the A10 last year? And they did it all with only 1 role playing Senior like e now have in Weaver?   How unusual this must be!!  And this year, they will add a Freshman who might also be able to make the jump from high school to the top tier of the A10 and actually contribute?  Wonder if Davidson had any returning veterans (French & Goodwin) to help their new faces make the jump to D1?  But any in any event, freshmen are making a big impact at Davidson and around the A10?  Like Goodwin and French did for us as Freshmen?   I wonder if Davidson was not given much of a chance considered too inexperienced and too young at the start of last year by their fan base?

Wait... I think I get it, natural progression means that Seniors, both team/scoring leaders like Bess and role players like Foreman move on, create opportunity for the new faces to sink or swim with the opportunity given.  And the good news for us is that we have 7 new faces plus 2 more in Jacobs and Hankton so we won't need to rely on only 1 or 2 to step up and swim, and swim well, as new faces at SLU. 

Sorry, but my blue ink ran out....