spiderman said:

1, 2 & 3 will be SLU, VCU and Dayton so best case we're projected #9 in conference.
so are we totally delusional with our outlook and worrying about how our schedule sets us up for an at-large bid?

I do think we're better than 9th. nobody picked us to win the league last year either. that's why they play the games.

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of course we could be delusional. fwiw Mooney also tells us we're "one of the top basketball programs in the nation". But I think we should go after a real national schedule no matter what. As others have said in portal era now u don't always know what u have, u can't squander that on a weak ooc if u r even better than expected. and if u it's too much 1 year that's ok, it helps the program visibilty, the players like it, the fans like it (most of them). a school like Richmond should never have this year's schedule.

I like looking at predictions they have some value imo, eve tho ultimately every year teams make a big jump up or down like us.

urmite said:

T-Page for Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank

T-Rank College Basketball Ratings and Rankings. And fun.

barttorvik.com

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yeah I'd go with Torvik over CSM every single time. Torvik gets crushed sometimes bc he shows a lot of incomplete data early on. But his metrics are now part of ncaa committe. obviously it's still good Marist is expected to a MAAC contender.

yeah, I bet it's crazy exciting to them ... and nerve racking. they have to make by far the biggest decision of their young lives.
every coach calling is really good at recruiting. they all seem like great guys. they all have big plans for you in their program.
it's an awesome problem to have of course, but it's got to be stressful too.

Maybe his name is really Witherspoon of Omari and I screwed up too.

from that site the A10 rankings are:
1) ?
2) ?
3) ?
4) St Joe's - #77 overall
5) LUC - #87
6) GMU - #92
7) Duquesne - #105
8) UMass - #118

1, 2 & 3 will be SLU, VCU and Dayton so best case we're projected #9 in conference.
so are we totally delusional with our outlook and worrying about how our schedule sets us up for an at-large bid?

I do think we're better than 9th. nobody picked us to win the league last year either. that's why they play the games.

Well, it is what we expected. Is the worst OOC schedule ever under Mooney.

We need everything to be damn near perfect to put us in consideration for an at large, so shooting ourselves in the foot with a non-competitive OOC schedule shouldn't sit well with any Spider fan.

UR Fan 2 said:

Marist #121

#121 Marist Men's Basketball 2024-2025 Preview

www.collegesportsmadness.com

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AnnapSpider said:

He didn’t even know the name of our school. Forget him.

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LOL

To be recruited to play the sport you love and have dedicated your entire cognizant life to? It's exciting, and rewarding, and relieving, and in some cases where kids come from very little means, life-changing for the kid and likely the family. So I don't begrudge them a single second of it.

Not sure if that was a genuine question or you were being snarky.

I think Philly hit on the big area of concern, the identity and defense. That carried us last year. I do think Hunt and Tyne are + defenders and that is a very good start at the top of defense. But last season with Dji, Bigs and Harris we had three tough strong and quick defenders that would also rebound. Of all the newcomers I think Jaylen Robinson might have the most potential in theses areas.

Marist #121

He didn’t even know the name of our school. Forget him.

Obviously knew about the Weir connection for FGCU (though he's since moved on to Kennesaw), but I did not realize GW III's brother plays for FGCU. There's a third brother who is a 2026 PG and seemingly reasonably well regarded. FGCU has offered him.

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If you’re an 18 y.o. kid, do you get tired of grown men kissing you butt? Or do you
suppose it’s exciting to them?

Singleton cut his list to eight a month ago...Clemson, Northwestern, Butler, UVA, Xavier, Lousiville, Notre Dame, and Purdue. Taking official visits to some of them now.

Witherspoon is down to Maryland, Pitt, and Vandy.

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We saw last year that transfers can come in and immediately perform at an all A10 level. Will be interesting to see if Mooney can keep that up, his system had a reputation on this board for taking years to learn in the past.

spiderstudent17 said:

This schedule confirms our suspicions and sadly is not very good at all. I give it a C-/D+. @Charlotte and @Auburn are the only reasons why its not an F.

Trying to be a bit more optimistic, we can hope for the following breakdown of NET games:

Q1 - @ Auburn
Q2 - @Charlotte, 1 MTE
Q3 - Belmont, @ William & Mary (should be much better this year), 2 MTE games depending on match up
Q4 - Marist, @ Bucknell, Maine, VMI, FGCU

So looking at Q1 games we are for sure getting one @Auburn. As far as Q2 we may get 2 chances if we're lucky, assuming Charlotte does as well as they were predicted in AAC and maybe 1 given a matchup in Gulf Coast Showcase, but likely 1 Q2 game.

Belmont should be Q3 for us and I think William and Mary will surprise and be a better game this year than expected, but an improvement compared to last year may still put them in Q4 category under their first year with a new coach. Our other 2 MTE's will be Q3 games or maybe a Q4. Marist, @ Bucknell, Maine, VMI, FGCU should all be Q4s.

The way I see it, best case scenario:
Q1 - 1 game
Q2 - 2 games
Q3 - 4 games
Q4 - 5 games

Worst case scenario
Q1 - 1 game
Q2 - 0 games
Q3 - 3 games
Q4 - 8 games

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Anything below 76 NET (to 160) at home is Q3 I think.

Belmont was 117 last year, may be 191 this year in some predictions, so…

spiderstudent17 said:

This schedule confirms our suspicions and sadly is not very good at all. I give it a C-/D+. @Charlotte and @Auburn are the only reasons why its not an F.

Trying to be a bit more optimistic, we can hope for the following breakdown of NET games:

Q1 - @ Auburn
Q2 - @Charlotte, 1 MTE
Q3 - Belmont, @ William & Mary (should be much better this year), 2 MTE games depending on match up
Q4 - Marist, @ Bucknell, Maine, VMI, FGCU

So looking at Q1 games we are for sure getting one @Auburn. As far as Q2 we may get 2 chances if we're lucky, assuming Charlotte does as well as they were predicted in AAC and maybe 1 given a matchup in Gulf Coast Showcase, but likely 1 Q2 game.

Belmont should be Q3 for us and I think William and Mary will surprise and be a better game this year than expected, but an improvement compared to last year may still put them in Q4 category under their first year with a new coach. Our other 2 MTE's will be Q3 games or maybe a Q4. Marist, @ Bucknell, Maine, VMI, FGCU should all be Q4s.

The way I see it, best case scenario:
Q1 - 1 game
Q2 - 2 games
Q3 - 4 games
Q4 - 5 games

Worst case scenario
Q1 - 1 game
Q2 - 0 games
Q3 - 3 games
Q4 - 8 games

Click to expand...

Anything below 76 NET at home is Q3 I think.

Belmont was 117 last year, may be 191 this year in some predictions, so…

Away 136 NET is Q3…

This schedule confirms our suspicions and sadly is not very good at all. I give it a C-/D+. @Charlotte and @Auburn are the only reasons why its not an F.

Trying to be a bit more optimistic, we can hope for the following breakdown of NET games:

Q1 - @ Auburn
Q2 - @Charlotte, 1 MTE
Q3 - Belmont, @ William & Mary (should be much better this year), 2 MTE games depending on match up
Q4 - Marist, @ Bucknell, Maine, VMI, FGCU

So looking at Q1 games we are for sure getting one @Auburn. As far as Q2 we may get 2 chances if we're lucky, assuming Charlotte does as well as they were predicted in AAC and maybe 1 given a matchup in Gulf Coast Showcase, but likely 1 Q2 game.

Belmont should be Q3 for us and I think William and Mary will surprise and be a better game this year than expected, but an improvement compared to last year may still put them in Q4 category under their first year with a new coach. Our other 2 MTE's will be Q3 games or maybe a Q4. Marist, @ Bucknell, Maine, VMI, FGCU should all be Q4s.

The way I see it, best case scenario:
Q1 - 1 game
Q2 - 2 games
Q3 - 4 games
Q4 - 5 games

Worst case scenario
Q1 - 1 game
Q2 - 0 games
Q3 - 3 games
Q4 - 8 games

I'm hoping that we have like 5-6 guys who can come on the court and be a threat to hit 3+ from deep in any stretch of play, thus opening up the floor considerably for the way we like to run the offense.

As for defense, Tyne and Hunt are pretty well known up top and stopping ball penetration is always facet #1 for avoiding the scrambling and resulting flying dutchmen when things are falling apart. Having multiple bigs inside helps for foul issues (thinking of our last Auburn game in Brooklyn...) As always, hopeful (but unsure) that we will rebound with Beagle, Walz, Nescovic, Glu all having size and Tyne and Hunt unafraid to mix it up.

Ready to talk this after months of schedule.

urmite said:

Auburn, Charlotte, and William & Mary…

It was a joke…I hope…

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gotcha, was scrolling through posts and just thinking that anything worse than 12-1 is basically a non-starter, missed the W&M/3rd best joke.

Our transfer situation and who will and won't play and how much they can contribute is really very interesting Two distinct groups of transfers. Three guys (Beagle, White, Nescovic) who were solid (but not spectacular) at lower levels and two guys who basically have no track record but come from blue blood programs. I really have no idea what to expect from any of them.

Can the three upward guys even be the same guys they were at last stops (much less pull a King and actually improve?) Can either of the downward two be an impact player at this level after doing zero at the last? No idea on any of it to be honest! And I'd say almost anyone on here who has an opinion - it isn't going to be the most well informed opinion because its really all guess work! Lots of hoping!

Beagle to me is probably the easiest to see his game translate. Assume he will rebound, shoot a good percentage and score a bit. Not sure at all about his defense or passing. But he's the easiest to me to see him being at least decent. But not even with that is it clear to me how much he contributes because I don't know that I see him being better than Walz. This is the one where I'd venture an educated guess that these two come pretty close to splitting time.

Nescovic probably has the best track record, but even that is hard to say. Predominately a shooter and that can sometimes not translate up against bigger and more athletic competition. I'd feel better about him if I knew he could just be a complementary scorer and play off a primary scorer. But I am still squinting trying to see a primary scorer for us! But if I am guessing (and to be clear we are all guessing) he's the one I'd slot for 30+ minutes.

White is the hardest of the experienced three to see how it will go. His best year was back in 20-21. He's had 5 seasons of college ball and they seem sorta all the same. No big step up, but seemingly solid. Just don't know how that translates when now he is in a new system for 1st time in 6 years and playing against better competition. He's the toughest for to see being a big contributor. The guard room is crowded. Hunt is clearly going to get good minutes. I also love Tyne. Think he has a chance to join the UR small PG legacy. He can (really!!) defend, he's tough, can handle etc. If he can step up his shooting and add a little bit of finishing, he can be really good and I think he can and will take a big step this year. If he does, White's opportunity will be limited.

And the downward two i have literally no idea. But I think we need to really hit on one! Walz and beagle should be OK in the middle. Neskovic will (hopefully) hold down a forward slot and there are options in the backcourt such that we should be ok - albeit lacking a King kinda guy). But we need a wing and we need a dynamic player of some sort. Tyne has a chance to be dynamic but might still be a year away from that and not sure anyone else of those mentioned is going to ever be dynamic. One of these guys two transfer down guys needs to be good for us IMHO. No idea which, but ideally its Roumoglu because of his size.

Mostly about the uncertainty surrounding the new transfers and I think we will live and die with how they do, but a big step from Tanner would go along way too. I am not mentioning Roache here because I just don't see him as part of a successful season. He is so limited (even when healthy) that I think its a bad sign if he is getting many minutes!

Also not sure what kind of identity we can create with this group. We were good last year because we were surprisingly really good on defense. We won with our defense. Quinn was a really good post defender, king was solid and Hunt, DJI and Harris were all excellent and Bigs was solid too. Not sure we can muster of that level of defense from amongst this group. This group I think is going to need to "old school" UR and be really efficient and smart on offense and probably need to have everyone be a threat and hope we can find a defense we can get by with. I am not so sure it will be the same version of man-to-man we saw last year - might need to a little more pack line style man and try to outsmart and outlast guys on our defensive end.

Biggest thing to me is what has already been mentioned a lot on the boards - - we don't appear to have a real dynamic player (an alpha in some other posts) and its going to be really hard to win a bunch without one emerging! Pretty sure its not any of the transfer up three. But, could be (and hoping it is) one of the transfer down guys and think it might be Tyne by seasons end if he doesn't end up being beaten down too much by having to be it too early!