WH Preseason all-coference picks from the A-10 Board

[brianstl]

http://www.basketballboards.net/forum/show...ad.php?t=308263

I don’t know if the A-10 is going to stick to its goofy method of selecting preseason All-Conference players (10 on the first team, 10 on the second). I break my list down into four teams. If the league organizes its list the same way, my first and second teams would compose the First Team and my third and fourth teams would compose my Second Team.

I think almost all of these players will show up on the league list, though a few are questionable (Forbes, Salisbery, Achara, Nivins) based on pure stats or their absence from last season. The order obviously could be different. There’s so many good guards in the league it’s hard to separate them (Rice, Burrell, Harris, Roberts, Lisch, Goldwire, etc).

Picking player of the year is difficult. A lot of good players. Still, I think Ian Vouyoukas is the toughest player for any team in the league to defend. He’s also a much improved defender who clogs up the middle.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Ian Vouyoukas, St. Louis (see below)

FIRST TEAM

*Ian Vouyoukas, St. Louis – Immovable object is an “unâ€-resistable force down low.

*D’Angelo Alexander, Charlotte – If the league’s top returning scorer continues to shoot above 40% plus on treys, he’ll earn the moniker “The Great.â€

*Bryant Dunston, Fordham – Skilled low-post operator can now dial up treys (19-39, 48.7%) when the paint gets clogged.

*Rashuan Freeman, Massachusetts – League’s top returning rebounder will be free to score more inside with better help on the perimeter.

*Justin Cage, Xavier – The best player on Xavier is also the best all-round player in the A-10. Cage, who boxes up opponents on defense, was uncaged offensively after Brian Thornton went down.

SECOND TEAM

*Maureece Rice, George Washington – Call him “Minute Rice†on offense. He stirs GW’s pot and puts up points in a hurry.

*Stanley Burrell, Xavier – Stan is the Man when the Musketeers need a burst of offense.

*Tommie Liddell, St. Louis – Fabulous as a freshman, this point guard/quick forward is about to become a sensational sophomore.

*Rob Ferguson, St. Joseph’s – Quiet forward makes a loud statement with his good all-round play.

*Carl Elliott, George Washington – Point guard with a football player’s body passes like a quarterback, drives to the rim like a tailback and patrols the passing lanes like a free safety.

THIRD TEAM

*Brian Roberts, Dayton – Smooth as Ben & Jerry’s vanilla ice cream, scoring guard can scoop the ball into the “bowl†from any number of spots.

*Gary Forbes, Massachusetts – Ford the coach says Forbes the player earns his namesake: he’s a richly skilled scorer.

*Leemire Goldwire, Charlotte – Leemire can go haywire from outside.

*Ahmad Nivins, St. Joseph’s – Gifted 6-9 sophomore set to become center of attention for reloading Hawks.

*Stephane Lasme, Massachusetts – Shotblocker deluxe keeps the ball from going in at one end but he is increasingly putting it in at the other.

FOURTH TEAM

*Justin Doellman, Xavier – The 6-10 bigman with an outside game has also become tougher to handle inside the paint.

*Monty Scott, Dayton – The Flyers found out last year that a Scott-free offense is a low-scoring one.

*Darnell Harris, LaSalle – The Explorers don’t have to search far and wide for one of the deadliest 3-point rainmakers in the league.

*Kevin Lisch, St. Louis – Hard-nosed defender is a baby-faced assassin from behind the arc.

*Kieron Achara, Duquesne – Forgotten after an injury-induced redshirt season, the Scottish center still remembers how to score, rebound and block shots.

*Dustin Salibery, Temple – Wingman is a good scorer, but sometimes he plays more like Salisbury steak than filet mignon.

Honorable Mention:

Norm Plummer, Dayton

Marcus Stout, Fordham

E.J. Drayton, Charlotte

Regis Koundjia, GW

Will Daniels, Rhode Island

Jim Baron Jr., Rhode Island

Gaston Moliva, Richmond

Paul Williams, St. Bonaventure

Michael Lee, St. Bonaventure

Tyler Relph, St. Bonaventure

Mark Tyndale, Temple

Josh Duncan, Xavier

Drew Lavender, Xavier

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Stephane Lasme, Massachusetts

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Stephane Lasme, Massachusetts

Justin Cage, Xavier

Bryant Dunston, Fordham

Carl Elliott, George Washington

Kevin Lisch, St. Louis

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

Pat Calathes, St. Joseph’s

Honorable mention:

Chris Bethel, Fordham

Gaston Moliva, Richmond

[slufanskip]

Alot of respect from WH. I'd be curious as to how he fared with his picks last year. I don't know of anyone though with more information on the A10 than WH. The guy knows his stuff.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman

[slu72]

WH is a student of the A-10. Good to see some love thrown our way for TL, IV, and KL. Can't wait to get this season going.

[thetorch]

He may have overcompensated for SLU due to his low pick for us last season.

[WH]

Hi fellas. Thanks for the nice words.

I did pretty good overall on my picks last year. Someone posted a recap on the A-10 board comparing my predictions to reality, but I cant find it. Of course, I got a few teams quite wrong in terms of predicted records, namely St. Louis and LaSalle. Such errors are to be expected. The forecasting business is basically an impossible one.

But no, Torch. I am not overcompensating. I don't do that. What happened was, I just watched 60 A-10 games I taped last year on my very large harddrives, and St. Louis really impressed me. After all, the Bills really were one of the best teams in the league last season.

So long as the sophs avoid the dreaded second-year jinx, the Bills will again be one of the best teams in the league. But we'll get to that preview in due time. (-:

[davidlee]

WH

Please come back and post again. I know everyone enjoys your thoughts.