2016-2017 Season

[prancer]

Thanks. This year I'm going to save a few well known top 25 preseason rankings. AP coaches poll ESPN. Then I will compare them to the end of the season pre and post tournament.

Some overachieve with less talent in the regular season, but the cream usually Rises to the top later in the tournament. Talent wins.

Also curious how we think our team will do next year vs the prognosticators. I think they don't know all of the subtle details we know but they have a good idea of our overall Talent level without the fan bias.

Also wanna compare this year's preseason rankings to the final results. Just had my hopes too high this past year. Only to come Crashing Down

No need to save them, you can always access them. I just looked up NOVA on ESPN:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

You can look up the rankings for every week of the season going back over 10 years. I'm sure other websites have even more.

 

[indydoug]

I think if you take some of the reputable top 25 preseason rankings, average them, that is a reasonable predictor. We tend to over analyze our "inside" information. For example pictures of the weight lifting, stories of how Shaquille was bummed out after losing to Kentucky etcetera. I'm just me being more cautious going forward.

We also know that the top four from the preseason top 25 is a pretty good predictor of NCAA tournament success. There are exceptions. Like Michigan State. I'm not sure what Villanova was ranked preseason.

Syracuse was the obvious outlier. Didn't receive a single vote in either poll and 45-50 teams did.

 

[ZCat]

Honestly we weren't that far from being the team a lot of people were expecting. If we split the buzzer beater games (2 pt games and overtime games we lost all 7) if we manage to win 3-4 of those we would have been ranked about where I thought we would be as a team coming into the season.

So there was reason for optimism...but there was an IT factor that we just didn't seem to have. That factor is so small it only needed to account for 2-3 points in 3 or 4 games. I think that IT factor is having a guy that can reliably create plays in crunch time whether it's making a clutch shot or a great pass.

Hopefully next year Troy and Jacob can do some of that when we need it. We haven't had that IT factor since SK and he had a very average (at best) supporting cast. Put an SK on the wing on this year's squad and we are an elite 8 or final 4 team. We don't need an all American but we do need someone who can create plays reliably.

Yeah we were close. That's where better talent really helps. If not we need to play to our potential/ less room for error.

 

[ZCat]

No need to save them, you can always access them. I just looked up NOVA on ESPN:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings

You can look up the rankings for every week of the season going back over 10 years. I'm sure other websites have even more.

Thanx. Good reminder

 

[prancer]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...ve-potential-breakout-players-for-next-season

Rothstein has Evans as one of his top 5 breakout players for next year too.

 

[justinhub2003]

I compiled some quick stats for what will be next years proposed roster. Hopefully we add someone as well, preferably another shooter.

A few things stand out to me from doing this:
1. Last year we had 5 guys with shooting percentages over 40%, and we are losing 4 of them. Only Clark is returning, thus we have 1 player on the team who shot over 40%
2. With the above said, we need significant improvements over last year in the shooting department in all aspects of the team. IF not, we could be very shooting 38% or so as a team and again will rely on defense only and even more so this year.
3. Our two big men in the starting lineup both can shoot the 3
4. But as a whole, we are a very terrible 3 point shooting team after losing Cobb.

All those things said, Im excited about next year. And I expect improvements from everyone.

Also attached below is the project roster for the 2017-18 season.

 

[Ryno99]

I get what you're saying on the percentages, but if you look at Evans last third or second half of the season, I think we can expect a lot of improvement from him to help with the shooting percentages next season. I would hope at least.

 

[justinhub2003]

I get what you're saying on the percentages, but if you look at Evans last third or second half of the season, I think we can expect a lot of improvement from him to help with the shooting percentages next season. I would hope at least.

Sure Im 100% an optimist about next years team. Im just saying, on paper with out improvements, it looks pretty bleak offensively but I expect Evans to shoot 45% or so next year and Maybe even the same for Caupain.

 

[rogerOH]

I think next year Tre Scott and Cumberland are going to have to be major contributors . Scott has to be able to rebound and defend out on the floor like Justin Jackson did. Cumberland has to be able to score.

 

[UCalum08]

https://twitter.com/Ucalum08/status/720217927379771396

Iowa St game is Dec 1st which is on a Thursday.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Troy Caupain needs to decide once and for all that's he's done losing. We've lost 22 times in the last 2 years. That's is a ton of losses, especially for an AAC team. I know it would drive Bulldog nuts when Caupain would smile after making critical mistakes. To me, it's a sign of immaturity. Hopefully with his career dwindling down, we see a more cold-blooded, methodical leader in Caupain. We saw it more towards the end of the year, but he has to play with those kind of guts in every game. And he needs to demand it from his teammates as well.

I think we might see Kyle Washington as this kind of leader as well. He doesn't seem like he's messing around.

 

[coachpipe]

Troy Caupain needs to decide once and for all that's he's done losing. We've lost 22 times in the last 2 years. That's is a ton of losses, especially for an AAC team. I know it would drive Bulldog nuts when Caupain would smile after making critical mistakes. To me, it's a sign of immaturity. Hopefully with his career dwindling down, we see a more cold-blooded, methodical leader in Caupain. We saw it more towards the end of the year, but he has to play with those kind of guts in every game. And he needs to demand it from his teammates as well.

I think we might see Kyle Washington as this kind of leader as well. He doesn't seem like he's messing around.

I personally dont see it that way. When troy makes a bad pass or gets a bad foul he usually smiles yes. But I see him smiling because of what he saw to do the thing he did. If its a bad pass, its usually because it was a second late or early. Which means he saw something that would have been really nice, and just missed it by a second. I believe he is smiling because of what he almost had, not because he messed it up.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I personally dont see it that way. When troy makes a bad pass or gets a bad foul he usually smiles yes. But I see him smiling because of what he saw to do the thing he did. If its a bad pass, its usually because it was a second late or early. Which means he saw something that would have been really nice, and just missed it by a second. I believe he is smiling because of what he almost had, not because he messed it up.

Agree completely. A smile a smirk whatever. Have no issue with his effort. NONE!!!! Are we really going to start judging players by body language and facial expressions? The Kid shows up every game.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Agree completely. A smile a smirk whatever. Have no issue with his effort. NONE!!!! Are we really going to start judging players by body language and facial expressions? The Kid shows up every game.

Yes Waite. I am. Show me a guy who smiles, and I'll show you a guy who loses. It's about the level of intensity and confidence. The only time he should be smiling on the court is when he clinches a conference title. I'd be willing to bet that Evans and Washington won't smile a single time after a mistake.

 

[coachpipe]

Yes Waite. I am. Show me a guy who smiles, and I'll show you a guy who loses. It's about the level of intensity and confidence. The only time he should be smiling on the court is when he clinches a conference title. I'd be willing to bet that Evans and Washington won't smile a single time after a mistake.

You will have a hard time getting recruits if you make it known they arent allowed to have fun playing the game they love. And watch troy when he smiles after a mistake. He usually always yells my bad and usually, like I said above, its usually a smile of...Damn, so close to being a nice play.

But to judge someone based on how they react to situations you have never been in is something i tend to try and not do. Since, I cannot say how I would react in a situation I have never been in, nor never will be in

Not to mention, why nit pick the best player on the team? Not saying Caupain will ever be the Joey Votto, but thats like saying Joey should never smile after a strikeout, you would never see Jay Bruce do that. People react to situations differently, it really has no effect on how they play, and really doesnt mean anything. Sometimes they smile because they didnt like the call, sometimes they smile because it was a great pitch, sometimes they break their bat, sometimes they chest bump an umpire.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

You will have a hard time getting recruits if you make it known they arent allowed to have fun playing the game they love

No man. It's not about that at all.

 

[waterhead]

Troy Caupain needs to decide once and for all that's he's done losing. We've lost 22 times in the last 2 years. That's is a ton of losses, especially for an AAC team. I know it would drive Bulldog nuts when Caupain would smile after making critical mistakes. To me, it's a sign of immaturity. Hopefully with his career dwindling down, we see a more cold-blooded, methodical leader in Caupain. We saw it more towards the end of the year, but he has to play with those kind of guts in every game. And he needs to demand it from his teammates as well.

I think we might see Kyle Washington as this kind of leader as well. He doesn't seem like he's messing around.

I don't look at the smile as Troy thinking it's okay to make mistakes at all. I see it has him recognizing he can do better. Personally I love his attitude on the court. I think he cares about winning more than anyone I can think of on the team.

 

[Ryno99]

Really, is this what we've got to argue about now? Different people react to things differently, who knows what is in his head. Who cares what his face shows, what is important is what he does going forward, and learning from the situation.

 

[coachpipe]

I don't look at the smile as Troy thinking it's okay to make mistakes at all. I see it has him recognizing he can do better. Personally I love his attitude on the court. I think he cares about winning more than anyone I can think of on the team.

Agree. No player wants to lose

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I don't look at the smile as Troy thinking it's okay to make mistakes at all. I see it has him recognizing he can do better. Personally I love his attitude on the court. I think he cares about winning more than anyone I can think of on the team.

I'd argue very hard that Evans was the most competitive player on the team last year and I don't think it's even close.

I'm not saying he thinks mistakes are okay. I'm saying it shows a lack of confidence/swagger/whatever you want to call it. A Bearcat senior leader needs to be an a**hole on the court. Excuse my language, but that's just how I see it. I know Caupain has an outgoing personality and is a good kid. I'd just like to see the late-season mean streak all the time.