Sloth84 wrote:
ToledoRambler wrote:
If we get Pride - and obviously a big "if" -- would be considered an A-10 contender next year?
No. Pride would be a very nice pick up. But even with him we have not done enough to be considered a top A10 team. We are still too small - lacking athletes with real length. But most of all - our moves have not happened in a vacuum. Other teams have made moves or will make moves - some teams considerably better than ours. Have we added some nice players? Sure. We will be deeper. But have we secured anybody that moves the needle to the top? Hope I am wrong but I don't see it.
Generally I have always admired the fans who say we're going to be god awful. It takes guts to say it. I've tried to be super pessimistic as much as possible.
I think we're going to be pretty good. Top four, I think.
The key player is going to be Rubin. He alone will add several points to defensive efficiency. Might average 2 blocks a game playing only 18-22 minutes per game. I think the way Rubin has to be prepared for his freshman year is confidence building, and weight/strength training.
The other adds are really good-- Dame, Des, and Dolan. But Dawson and Quinn should be primed to make a huge leap up. Edwards likely to be used better. The year's experience in the A 10 should show dividends.
But let's face it-- the league has been ravaged by transfers. English leaving Mason and Rhodes leaving VCU (and taking players with them) is going to set those programs back. Dayton lost Camara (who I thought was the best player in the league), and SLU lost 60-80% of their guys.
Last year there were 7 (?) First-year coaches in the A10, and the only one who did well was Urgo at Fordham. The bottom four teams in the league were all coached by guys who took teams to the tournament who were coaching their first year in the league.
We did get better in the ways we were deficient last year.