MHettel
03-08-2008, 06:09 PM
It looks pretty bleak for the league.
After a GREAT non-con season across the league, we were the talk of the town. 5 teams emerged with what looked like "pre-tickets" to the dance.
Then it all fell apart.
UD had injuries. 2 key guys at the same time for an extended period. Some of the "talent" they put on the court made them terrible. I think a healthy UD team is a pretty good team. Hate'em if you want, but that was probably a 25 win team if all went well.
URI was a nice surprise. We knew they had been getting better. Top 25 at one point, and a 13-1 record! It was all coming together so fast for them. Then, in 2 weeks, it was all flushed. All of it. No more bubble. We were their first loss in what was it, 5 in a row?
SJU. First of all, I freakin HATE playing these guys. Their style of play is just so low grade. They make our atheletes stand around. They bump our guys off balance with their hips, and set moving screens. I hate em! Anyway, they just managed to completely play their way off the bubble today by losing to Dayton. Good god. I thought our loss on Thursday had a silver lining because I felt SJU might have played their way in. They've been doing this for weeks now. Hate those guys.
Duquesne made it out of the non-con schedule with a nice pre-resume for the dance. i had my doubts about them and ultimately they fizzled in conference, but it was nice to see SOME success out of Pittsburg. They were a longshot in my mind, and of course they proved me right.
UMass looks like they are in. I was worried for awhile, but they have finished strong.
And by the way, what's the deal with Charlotte and SLU. Weren't these teams supposed to come right in and compete for championships? Both these programs have good foundations. It's about time to get some results.
I said watch Temple about a month ago. They are finishing strong, and are gonna finish at 11-5 in conference. I think they COULD sneak in if they get to the A-10 finals. That said, they did have ANOTHER poor non-conference record. Remember when Temple would go knock down a couple big teams every year?
Bottom line to me is that makes the load XU has to carry a little heavier. If the A-10 fizzles out in the first 2 rounds it's a nightmare ending to a season that could have been really important for the league. We coulda had 4-5 bids! If we had 4 teams clearly at the top of the league, we coulda done it. But all these chokers beat the crap out of each other.
XU needs to make a REAL deep run in the tourney. Salvage this season for thie crappy ass league.
By the way, Drew's ankle is NOT going to get better. It's bad, and it's obvious. We're gonna see real small doses of Drew for the rest of the year.
BUT, we are also gonna get to see Stanley Burrell run this team. He's gonna be the PG. and you know what else? His apprentice, Dante, is gonna get some quality minutes in some meaningful games. These guys will push each other to complete excellence defensively. The Master and the Student. That could be a REAL X-Factor for us in the dance.
After a GREAT non-con season across the league, we were the talk of the town. 5 teams emerged with what looked like "pre-tickets" to the dance.
Then it all fell apart.
UD had injuries. 2 key guys at the same time for an extended period. Some of the "talent" they put on the court made them terrible. I think a healthy UD team is a pretty good team. Hate'em if you want, but that was probably a 25 win team if all went well.
URI was a nice surprise. We knew they had been getting better. Top 25 at one point, and a 13-1 record! It was all coming together so fast for them. Then, in 2 weeks, it was all flushed. All of it. No more bubble. We were their first loss in what was it, 5 in a row?
SJU. First of all, I freakin HATE playing these guys. Their style of play is just so low grade. They make our atheletes stand around. They bump our guys off balance with their hips, and set moving screens. I hate em! Anyway, they just managed to completely play their way off the bubble today by losing to Dayton. Good god. I thought our loss on Thursday had a silver lining because I felt SJU might have played their way in. They've been doing this for weeks now. Hate those guys.
Duquesne made it out of the non-con schedule with a nice pre-resume for the dance. i had my doubts about them and ultimately they fizzled in conference, but it was nice to see SOME success out of Pittsburg. They were a longshot in my mind, and of course they proved me right.
UMass looks like they are in. I was worried for awhile, but they have finished strong.
And by the way, what's the deal with Charlotte and SLU. Weren't these teams supposed to come right in and compete for championships? Both these programs have good foundations. It's about time to get some results.
I said watch Temple about a month ago. They are finishing strong, and are gonna finish at 11-5 in conference. I think they COULD sneak in if they get to the A-10 finals. That said, they did have ANOTHER poor non-conference record. Remember when Temple would go knock down a couple big teams every year?
Bottom line to me is that makes the load XU has to carry a little heavier. If the A-10 fizzles out in the first 2 rounds it's a nightmare ending to a season that could have been really important for the league. We coulda had 4-5 bids! If we had 4 teams clearly at the top of the league, we coulda done it. But all these chokers beat the crap out of each other.
XU needs to make a REAL deep run in the tourney. Salvage this season for thie crappy ass league.
By the way, Drew's ankle is NOT going to get better. It's bad, and it's obvious. We're gonna see real small doses of Drew for the rest of the year.
BUT, we are also gonna get to see Stanley Burrell run this team. He's gonna be the PG. and you know what else? His apprentice, Dante, is gonna get some quality minutes in some meaningful games. These guys will push each other to complete excellence defensively. The Master and the Student. That could be a REAL X-Factor for us in the dance.