Around the AAC

[jacobkdoyle]

Just saw that Landry Shamet for Wichita State broke his foot and is out for a while. That's a huge blow for them. Hopefully he comes back by the start of the season, or conference play at worst.

 

[NKY Bearcat]

Just saw that Landry Shamet for Wichita State broke his foot and is out for a while. That's a huge blow for them. Hopefully he comes back by the start of the season, or conference play at worst.

I saw yesterday that he likely will be back for the season opener. I doubt he misses Maui for Wichita.

 

[Queens_NYC]

For anyone that's interested, Jon Rothstein visited SMU's practice last week. Here are some of his Twitter comments...

Greetingsfrom Dallas. Here for SMU practice. Ponies are aiming for back-to-back NCAA bids. https://t.co/JYOhMovscF

The biggest area of focus at SMU practice? Offensive rebounding. Undersized Ponies need extra possessions. Limited size yet again.

Arkansas transfer Jimmy Whitt will give SMU a new dimension at PG. Should allow Shake Milton to move to wing and focus on scoring at will.

SMU won't have Jahmal McMurray until December. The games without him: Battle 4 Atlantis, USC, and TCU. Epitome of brutality? Indeed.

Early prediction on SMU's starting five: Jimmy Whitt, Shake Milton, Ben Emelogu, Jarrey Foster, Akoy Agau.

Similar to last year, expect SMU to focus on a "5-out" alignment. Positionless basketball a major theme at practice today. Interchangeable.

SMU has NCAA caliber talent 1-4. Big question is if there's anything else after that. Ponies lost three guys that will play for money

Biggest surprise I saw after the past few days? SMU freshman Ethan Chargois. 6-9 and SKILLED. Needs to change body, but could help Ponies.

Think with McMurray, SMU can get an NCAA bid. Could be tough sledding without him in November though.


Seems like SMU will be another tough out during conference play regardless of how they fair during McMurray's absence.

 

[ThomasMac]

For anyone that's interested, Jon Rothstein visited SMU's practice last week. Here are some of his Twitter comments...

Greetingsfrom Dallas. Here for SMU practice. Ponies are aiming for back-to-back NCAA bids. https://t.co/JYOhMovscF

The biggest area of focus at SMU practice? Offensive rebounding. Undersized Ponies need extra possessions. Limited size yet again.

Arkansas transfer Jimmy Whitt will give SMU a new dimension at PG. Should allow Shake Milton to move to wing and focus on scoring at will.

SMU won't have Jahmal McMurray until December. The games without him: Battle 4 Atlantis, USC, and TCU. Epitome of brutality? Indeed.

Early prediction on SMU's starting five: Jimmy Whitt, Shake Milton, Ben Emelogu, Jarrey Foster, Akoy Agau.

Similar to last year, expect SMU to focus on a "5-out" alignment. Positionless basketball a major theme at practice today. Interchangeable.

SMU has NCAA caliber talent 1-4. Big question is if there's anything else after that. Ponies lost three guys that will play for money

Biggest surprise I saw after the past few days? SMU freshman Ethan Chargois. 6-9 and SKILLED. Needs to change body, but could help Ponies.

Think with McMurray, SMU can get an NCAA bid. Could be tough sledding without him in November though.


Seems like SMU will be another tough out during conference play regardless of how they fair during McMurray's absence.

Good info. Thanks for sharing.

I feel if we don't take care of SMU fairly easily this year, then we'll have severely underachieved this year.

 

[Bearcat513]

Good info. Thanks for sharing.

I feel if we don't take care of SMU fairly easily this year, then we'll have severely underachieved this year.

Our depth will help us win a lot of games and the games versus SMU especially.

 

[Alum2013]

Our depth will help us win a lot of games and the games versus SMU especially.

They've beat us with only 5 or 6 players multiple times. Depth in college ball is pretty over rated when you have a good starting 5.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

They've beat us with only 5 or 6 players multiple times. Depth in college ball is pretty over rated when you have a good starting 5.

Yeah our pace has allowed teams with no depth to stay in the game in the past. Will that change? Time will tell.

 

[UCalum08]

Yeah our pace has allowed teams with no depth to stay in the game in the past. Will that change? Time will tell.

Not to mention, sometimes our defense wasn't the right plan for teams like SMU. They were and are great shooters. Don't let them take good looks from 3. Make them beat you with 2 pointers...what'd we do? Over help, allow them to drive and dish.

 

[Bearcat513]

They've beat us with only 5 or 6 players multiple times. Depth in college ball is pretty over rated when you have a good starting 5.

Agreed but their starting 5 is not as good as last years. Semi was the MVP based off of ORtg for each of the games we lost to them last season.

I agree with Jacob, depth really comes into play when you can press and play a quicker pace. It's assumed we will with Broome and Jenifer running the point. But, we shall see.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

Agreed but their starting 5 is not as good as last years. Semi was the MVP based off of ORtg for each of the games we lost to them last season.

I agree with Jacob, depth really comes into play when you can press and play a quicker pace. It's assumed we will with Broome and Jenifer running the point. But, we shall see.

It's also important to have quality depth vs a team like SMU instead of just having bodies. A quicker pace could certainly have tired them out...but on the flip side, guys like Jenifer, Q Moore, Brooks, and Scott didn't really belong on the floor against their guys. Brooks had a tough time in the AAC Title game.

Against the South Florida type teams though, you can get away with using your depth no matter what bc even our young bench guys are better than their starters. It's a fine line.

Luckily, this year we seem to have the best of both worlds. We can use our depth vs anyone without feeling like we're vulnerable.

 

[waterhead]

It's also important to have quality depth vs a team like SMU instead of just having bodies. A quicker pace could certainly have tired them out...but on the flip side, guys like Jenifer, Q Moore, Brooks, and Scott didn't really belong on the floor against their guys. Brooks had a tough time in the AAC Title game.

Against the South Florida type teams though, you can get away with using your depth no matter what bc even our young bench guys are better than their starters. It's a fine line.

Luckily, this year we seem to have the best of both worlds. We can use our depth vs anyone without feeling like we're vulnerable.

I think this is one of the keys to having a great season. We can't lose TOO MUCH when we sub in the bigger games. I am comfortable running with Jenifer for 10+ minutes at point since he will have plenty of options to distribute to. I am comfortable with Brooks as the primary backup for Washington and Clark especially when we can keep the other one on the floor.

Hopefully Williams can be ready to contribute on the wing at a level close to Evans or Cumberland (as frosh) by mid season. That would take care of our primary backups at each position and be a solid 8 man rotation.

We should have plenty of bigs to compete for emergency minutes if we need it. If T Moore can drain some 3's he should also be okay in a pinch. They will all get a chance to show what they can do in the easier games but we need to be able to trust them to put them in bigger situations.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I think this is one of the keys to having a great season. We can't lose TOO MUCH when we sub in the bigger games. I am comfortable running with Jenifer for 10+ minutes at point since he will have plenty of options to distribute to. I am comfortable with Brooks as the primary backup for Washington and Clark especially when we can keep the other one on the floor.

Hopefully Williams can be ready to contribute on the wing at a level close to Evans or Cumberland (as frosh) by mid season. That would take care of our primary backups at each position and be a solid 8 man rotation.

We should have plenty of bigs to compete for emergency minutes if we need it. If T Moore can drain some 3's he should also be okay in a pinch. They will all get a chance to show what they can do in the easier games but we need to be able to trust them to put them in bigger situations.

You may be writing Tre Scott off a bit early. He had some moments last year good and bad but I expect him to grow from the PT he got and be better this year.

 

[waterhead]

You may be writing Tre Scott off a bit early. He had some moments last year good and bad but I expect him to grow from the PT he got and be better this year.

I certainly hope he continues to improve but he was losing time to Brooks as the season wore on. I don't think he was getting worse...I think Brooks was becoming the better option. Scott also has to deal with Diarra and Moore for playing time. He will need to work his butt off if he wants to play significant minutes. I hope the best for him.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

I certainly hope he continues to improve but he was losing time to Brooks as the season wore on. I don't think he was getting worse...I think Brooks was becoming the better option. Scott also has to deal with Diarra and Moore for playing time. He will need to work his butt off if he wants to play significant minutes. I hope the best for him.

I hope Scott runs around like a maniac for 10 minutes a game and fills the stat sheet. I don't think he'll ever be a focal point on offense, but he can do a lot of the little things that Coach Cronin demands out of his teams. If he can become a defensive captain by his SR year, that'd be awesome. He and Brooks might not put up 10+ ppg at any point, but they can definitely make an impact in terms of deflections and rim protection. It'll be interesting to see how Diarra does offensively bc he and Scott could actually end up being a great compliment to each other.

 

[waterhead]

I hope Scott runs around like a maniac for 10 minutes a game and fills the stat sheet. I don't think he'll ever be a focal point on offense, but he can do a lot of the little things that Coach Cronin demands out of his teams. If he can become a defensive captain by his SR year, that'd be awesome. He and Brooks might not put up 10+ ppg at any point, but they can definitely make an impact in terms of deflections and rim protection. It'll be interesting to see how Diarra does offensively bc he and Scott could actually end up being a great compliment to each other.

Agreed!

Justin Jackson played 3 years averaging about 4 ppg. He shot FT's at a career rate of under 50%. His soph and junior year he saw an average of 20 mpg.

This is the type of maniac play Scott needs to try to emulate if his offensive skills don't improve much. There is nobody on the bench at his position that he can't play more than if he puts in 100% effort when he's out there. You can't ever be lazy out there if you're time is limited.

 

[waterhead]

Agreed!

Justin Jackson played 3 years averaging about 4 ppg. He shot FT's at a career rate of under 50%. His soph and junior year he saw an average of 20 mpg.

This is the type of maniac play Scott needs to try to emulate if his offensive skills don't improve much. There is nobody on the bench at his position that he can't play more than if he puts in 100% effort when he's out there. You can't ever be lazy out there if you're time is limited.

The bottom line is that Jackson didn't care if he wasn't scoring 10ppg. He was happy with his role on the team as a dirty work guy. He relished that role. It was his identity. MEAN FACE!! Not all players are happy with that.

Jackson is one of my favorite players all time and his block on Shane Behanan is still my screensaver. You don't have to be an All American to be a favorite.

 

[ZCat]

Not to mention, sometimes our defense wasn't the right plan for teams like SMU. They were and are great shooters. Don't let them take good looks from 3. Make them beat you with 2 pointers...what'd we do? Over help, allow them to drive and dish.

Alum08 - I'm with u. I can see it still bothers you. I feel the same way.

 

[UCalum08]

Alum08 - I'm with u. I can see it still bothers you. I feel the same way.

Lol, it still burns

 

[justinhub2003]

Yeah our pace has allowed teams with no depth to stay in the game in the past. Will that change? Time will tell.

It wasn't our Pace that kept SMU in the games. They play slower than we do and they do a damn good job of slowing you down to their level.

They used 19.4 seconds per offensive possession and we used 18.7.

They try even harder than we do to slow the pace down. I also think Depth is pretty overrated when you have 6 interchangeable parts that basically can play anywhere. the 2nd time we played them, their was 25 fouls called, add in TV timeouts and coach timeouts and you have plenty of time to stay rested.

 

[justinhub2003]

I'd say the AAC is going to be one of the toughest leagues in the country to preseason predict. Sure, its UC and WSU at the top but then its a blur. Here is how I will go with it.

1. UC: I think we are the best team in the league and until WSU beats someone other than Dayton, Im not changing my mind
2. WSU: UC and WSU could be interchangable. I just hope not. But i do hope WSU is worth the hype
3. UCF: BJ Taylor is the leagues most underrated player, Tacko is a zone defense by himself and they add shooters via Aubrey dawkins and the other transfer
4. SMU Shake Milton might average 20 a game, McMurray can score in any league, Foster is good. But if they get killed on the glass, this could be a bust
5. UCONN Every thing in me says not to put them in the top 5, but Adams, Gilbert, Vital, And Larrier are as talented as any other 4 in the league. They just need production from a big. Bad thing is Ollie sucks at big development
6. Temple: I think Rose has a breakout year, add that with all the young guys plus the experience of Josh Brown and Obi, they could be tough to beat. I dont want to go to Philly to play them.
7. Houston: Rob Gray will score 22 or more PPG but they have so many new comers that Its hard to gauge them. Houston fans will tell you Devin Dotson is easily replaceable. I think their insane
8. Tulsa: Bring back most all of their new comers from last year. Not a ton of talent but enough to get hot one night and beat some one. Thank God for Troy Caupain last season.
9. Memphis: Nothing will surprise me about Memphis, if they finish 4th I would be surprised, if they finish last I wont either. Its a dumpster fire that actually has a lot of mid level talent, I just think they are a year or 2 away.
10. Tulane: They only won 6 games last year but I felt they got better and better as the season wore on. They will play tough but they still Suck ass
11. ECU: they could finish ahead of Memphis and Tulane because Barkley maybe a better player than both those teams have but they lose 3 starters from a shitty team so I Dunno
12. USF: POOOOOP SHOW for years to come




My confidence in these picks is about 10%. 3 thru 7 is anyones game. 8 and 9 are interchangable and 10-12 are the battle for the bottom. I really only have absolute confidence in UC this year, as even WSU gives me some doubts.

This could be a crazy good year or it could be the same as last year.