The top 3 are pretty clear. After that, the next six is pretty wide open. Injuries will play a big role in determining which teams in that group surprise, and which which disappoint. 10-13 are all early in their rebuilds, and Fordham seems hopeless.

I do believe that without a true home court, this will be an extremely challenging season. I am not suggesting that the team can't improve on last year's record, but it will require a huge effort given no Palumbo. Wondering what others think.

Sincere has bad knees - no other way to say it.  Until he can get through an entire season without missing more than 3-5 games he will not be in a list of the best players.

Coach D needs to think about playing him sparingly in the OOC games and when games are either in hand or out of hand, taking him out.  Otherwise...GroundHog Day

Excellent point duq81 but I still do believe that there are other things that factor into the home court advantage, i.e.. more familiarity with the court, shooting background, hoop tension, just a general feel for the arena. We don't play at PPG enough to have developed that kind of symbiotic relationship with that venue IMO. Just my 2 cents.

CLK wrote:

Atlantic 10 Offseason Power Rankings

1. VCU
2. Davidson
3. Dayton
4. Rhode Island
5. St. Bonaventure
6. Saint Louis
7. Richmond
8. Duquesne
9. George Mason
10. La Salle
11. St. Joe’s
12. UMass
13. GW
14. Fordham

My opinion too low



Atlantic 10 Preseason First-Team:

Marcus Evans, VCU
Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Davidson
Kellan Grady, Davidson
Obi Toppin, Dayton
Cyril Langevine, Rhode Island

Carry disrespected AGAIN

I think 8th is also a little low for us but preseason rankings mean 0 so I’ll take that with a grain of salt.

Carry has the chance to make that first team this year if he can stay healthy and continue to improve on his great play we saw last year. If they only have 2 guards listed as Rothstein has it now, it will be tough for Carry to break into that top two of Grady and Evans. Grady tested the waters this year and came back but will be an NBA player and Evans is a legit NBA prospect as well. Evans was just actually invited to Chris Paul’s Eite PG camp which invites the top 20 college guards every year. If you look at body of work and full careers, both of these guys are ahead of Carry RIGHT NOW. He could change all that this year on the court, I think he is that good.

As far as PPG I agree with the potential downsides other posters highlighted but I think some good could also come of it. This team will play basically all road/neutral games and if they come out of the OOC and start A10 play well, look out. They will be battle tested and will have won a lot of games in less than ideal situations.

Another benefit is that they will have a ton of experience shooting in a big arena like PPG, hopefully this will be a factor if we are sniffing some higher level post season tourneys towards the end of the year. We have posted about our shooting falling off in big gyms in the past.

All things considered this is the most excited I’ve been for an upcoming season in a long time. The roster is extremely solid top to bottom and the schedule will be exciting if the team does well. Anxious and optimistic!

A couple of replies.  

My assumption, and hope, is that Carry will be healthy this season.  We already have seen how good he is when he was not healthy.  I also see us finishing in the top 5.    

I actually think Norman actually started the "break out" process by showing what he capable of against St. Joe after given the chance to start.  Certainly there will be a lot of competition, but I am very high on this kid.  I also think that Maceo will play a lot of time at the 3 and KD will play three guards with Carry Norman and Maceo starting together and getting a lot of minutes.  Frankie will certainly play a lot, and a lot to say about who starts, but I think he will mostly be pushing Maceo at the 3.

I am looking forward to August 5th.  I really hope that DU streams those games, or at least takes Ray and get a radio feed.   

I don't really see KD as disciplined enough to bench players for making defensive mistakes. TDM & Weathers are constantly out of rotation & confused on their help assignments. Mhughes is mostly in that boat as well. No objective pundit would say the Dukes were a smart defensive team.

I do think KD rewards effort & keeps the highest total contribution players on the floor as much as he can.

Maybe the accountability will change in years 3 & 4 when the quality of the players & their experience improve.

duq81 wrote:

CLK wrote:

A couple of replies.  

My assumption, and hope, is that Carry will be healthy this season.  We already have seen how good he is when he was not healthy.  I also see us finishing in the top 5.    

I actually think Norman actually started the "break out" process by showing what he capable of against St. Joe after given the chance to start.  Certainly there will be a lot of competition, but I am very high on this kid.  I also think that Maceo will play a lot of time at the 3 and KD will play three guards with Carry Norman and Maceo starting together and getting a lot of minutes.  Frankie will certainly play a lot, and a lot to say about who starts, but I think he will mostly be pushing Maceo at the 3.

I am looking forward to August 5th.  I really hope that DU streams those games, or at least takes Ray and get a radio feed.   

I too expect to see a lot of 3 guards on the floor, at least until Rotroff comes back. After that, it might depend on how well 3 guards has worked out. I actually thought Norman should have been in there earlier, but it may have possibly been defensive issues that kept him out. You know KD won't play you if your making mistakes on defense.

Phil95,
My thoughts exactly.  Out of everything written, the thing that has me wondering is how he has Ellis where he is...is it wishful thinking...is it based on his size...I am interested to see how this plays out.  Of course I hope he is right.

If Osun Osunniyi breaks out this year, will he have 40 rebounds against us?