A10 preseason picks
- Thread starter Ulla1
- Start date
Even 97 thinks those picks are good.
https://richmond.forums.rivals.com/threads/a10-media-day.11035/
https://richmond.forums.rivals.com/threads/a10-media-day.11035/
Picked 10th - if we finish there, then everyone on this board I think will agree its time to move on from Mooney. Interesting to see St. Louis and St Joes on top since they have endured some rough seasons recently, but seem to have rebuilt. I think Davidson will be good. Grady might be POY as a Soph. - he just has that Steph Curry feel to him down in Davidson where I could see him having some 40 point games down there and leading them in what many will likely consider a weak year for the A10.
Grant is obvious first team - but it will be interesting to see how teams handle him this year. Last year he was an unknown and I think teams were more worried about stopping our guards, but since 2 of them have left and we have a lot of question marks in young players - I can see a lot of teams focusing on him and wondering how the coaching staff creates plays to get him good looks as well as how Grant handles this increased focus.
Grant is obvious first team - but it will be interesting to see how teams handle him this year. Last year he was an unknown and I think teams were more worried about stopping our guards, but since 2 of them have left and we have a lot of question marks in young players - I can see a lot of teams focusing on him and wondering how the coaching staff creates plays to get him good looks as well as how Grant handles this increased focus.
And if they miss those shots our guys will be there to get the offensive reb....
And who are the great shooters? Cayo is not an outside threat. JJ Johnson is an erratic, non-consistent outside threat. Sherod has been most effective going to the basket, not nearly as much outside. And, a whole bunch of freshman and sophomores who have never played. Golden himself may actually be the biggest outside threat.
Yes, we the faithful, are hopeful that one or more of the unproven freshman are good enough to relieve some of the pressure. A much more likely reality is that the freshman and rookie sophomores will play like freshman. This means learning, adjustment, and consistent inconsistency.
That leaves Gilyard. Gilyard looks like a pretty good outside shooter to me. However, his height is an issue regarding his outside shot. He must be wide open (by feet) in order to get his outside shot off. If he has a good defender near his position, then his outside shot is rendered almost non-existent. I am not saying that Gilyard doesn't have plenty of positive aspects to his game (I have been a big fan of his from day 1), my comment relates to his ability to make consistent 3's with a kick-out from Golden. If you can get him wide open, okay, but ....
Glad that some have such confidence in this Spider team's outside threat, but I suspect that the reality is not going to be nearly as rosy. If Wojcik, Sal, Schneider, Verbinski, or anyone else plays well above what can be normally expected, then the wishful thinkers could be right.
If you are defending this team, you strategize about taking away what you can from the big 3. You take your chances with 2 of the 5 positions on the floor because you don't think that they can beat you.
Sherod shot 41 percent from 3 in A10 play, that us good. Hopefully Woj can be that shooter too. But yes, that has been an issue with Mooney recruiting, our offense needs 4 3pt shooters on the floor but never sewm to have those guys. Maybe Verbinski when healthy too.
I find it interesting that a number of people on this board said Gilyard was a liability on defense because of his size. Now that he is 1st team all defense in the A10 people are saying he is too short to make 3s if guarded by a good defender.
The dude has got game on both sides of the court. He may be 1st team A10 multiple years. We will see.
The dude has got game on both sides of the court. He may be 1st team A10 multiple years. We will see.
Teams were not more worried about stopping our guards last year, especially the two that left. Teams played off those two all the time, clogged the lane, and let them shoot wide open shots from outside. I look forward to seeing better fits out there this year, and I think Grant's game will benefit from this.
Gilyard and Sherod are both good 3pt shooters. We don’t need 4 or 5 on the floor at the same time to be effective.
I also think it’s difficult to gameplan to stop three guys. One guy yes, maybe two. I don’t think we are going to be forced to win through players 4-5, although I am admittedly worried about how we perform at those spots.
Ties and shaving are overrated.Mooney again forgot to bring a tie to A10 Media Day. Or maybe he can't afford one
I think simplifying gilyard’s height as an issue is really under estimating the young man. Yes, he’s a solid 6-8 inches shorter than other guards covering him. But his quickness creates the space he needs to get his shot off. Close him down on a kick out, he’s by you in a flash. Give him space, he’ll hit the 3. I think he’s hands down our best player (sorry grant).
And I remember shawndre, K0, and KA hitting plenty of 3’s. Not worried about his height on offense. On defense, Mooney and the other 4 players on the floor just have to be smart and not let him get isolated in the post. Because otherwise he’s an absolute menace on defense.
And I remember shawndre, K0, and KA hitting plenty of 3’s. Not worried about his height on offense. On defense, Mooney and the other 4 players on the floor just have to be smart and not let him get isolated in the post. Because otherwise he’s an absolute menace on defense.
The guy that Gilyard will be compared against for the next 3 years is Fatts Russell at URI. Fatts is very good and more highly recruited, and had a good year last year but playing behind a pro back court. Gilyard had more opportunity and produced more his 1st year. Both smaller guards but very good.
This is absolutely true and the reason that I like Gilyard as an offensive threat. As stated, my comment was in relation to the expressed idea that the Spiders have a lot of good options when it comes to kick-out (from Grant) 3-point specialists
Gilyard got all defensive because of his steals. He is fantastic at generating steals. He is fantastic in a press situation and he is fantastic when we they are bringing the ball up the court. Were his liability comes in is in our half court defense. Mooney will have to do a better job than in years past of making sure Gilyard does not get exploited off of switches. Good A-10 coaches will exploit his small size and stature with regularity if he doesn't.
Offensively, I have no qualms about Gilyard's game. He has a pure stroke, he can penetrate, he can distribute, he is fast. He will be an all A-10 player if he can learn how to finish with a bit more regularity. Developing a floater like KA would be a welcome addition to his arsenal. He used it a few times last year, if he starts using and hitting that with more regularity, look out.
Offensively, I have no qualms about Gilyard's game. He has a pure stroke, he can penetrate, he can distribute, he is fast. He will be an all A-10 player if he can learn how to finish with a bit more regularity. Developing a floater like KA would be a welcome addition to his arsenal. He used it a few times last year, if he starts using and hitting that with more regularity, look out.
never said anything about 3 point specialists. just saying you can't leave anyone wide open to constantly double. nobody does that and they won't with Grant either. because if you do it sends the whole defense into scramble mode. that's not the way to be successful defensively.
switching isn't perfect. it does lead to some mismatches that really bother some here. but while those look bad, when done right switching also takes away a ton of open shots caused by ball screens. watch how often teams screen on the ball to create that problem when defenses don't switch.
I think a lot of has to do with personnel. When you have big guards and a deep athletic bunch of big men this switching works great because it shuts down those open shots because your defensive players are interchangable enough to not have a mismatch.
The problem as I see it, is we have some really small guards and have one good big man who has to stay out of foul trouble, so other teams are able to exploit, two positions with regularity when we switch.
Our coaches need to fix this. They need to find a defense that is not often putting our best players in bad situations on defense.
Yes, as Ulla has repeatedly said, our ideal line up is a bunch or 6-7 to 6-9 guys that can play positionless basketball. Back circa 2010 when we had the K Smith, Garret's, Martel, Harp, Brothers, Robbins, we had some big athlete's that could bring it on D. That is the type of roster we need to get back to. I do think Tyler Burton fits into that type of group. We need more Tyler Burton types.
There was a long thread on this two season ago (I think). The switching D absolutely creates mismatches but it also minimizes open shooters and open looks to the rim. My personal observation is that you don't get abused as much with this when you have guards who are 6'+ and can still put up some semblance of defense against a 6'6" or bigger guy. In our recent history, we've had 1 or even 2 sub-6' guards and I think it's had a more egregious effect on our ability to handle switching. I think this is where coaching has to be observant for when we are getting abused and be ready to switch into a traditional zone or man D and cut down on that exploitation.
Sometimes CM has shown a capability to switch out of the base D, but he also seems reluctant to swap out at times.
we have one small guy this year, but we're going to run 2 out together a lot in the 2 years after. switching or not, that's never an advantage defensively. we'll have to deal with it to reap the offensive benefits. Coach will have to figure out how to hide it best.
I think his quickness comes in to play there. On a kick out, a defense normally closes out hard on a shooter. But because gilyard can get by someone in a flash, defenses can’t close out hard (or he’ll be by you) meaning gilyard has more time to get his shot off even though he’s not as tall.
From the perspective of shooting 3's on a kick-out, quickness is not the shooter's most important weapon. If you are open, the shooter buries the 3. If not, quickness absolutely helps regarding blowing by (taking it to another spot on the floor), and it absolutely helps if one is taking it to the rim.
A taller player with a high release point could have more luck sidestepping a defender and still shooting the 3 over the top, but the percentage of makes (on the 3-point shot) is going to be less when the average shooter releases the shot while moving side-to-side. Long ball percentages go up when most shooters are standing still or stepping into the shot.
It will be much less effective (and less likely) that a short shooter with a low release point would use quickness to sidestep a defender a few feet and then (still) shoot a 3. It is normally not going to be his best choice, especially if this player is sidestepping to his non-shooting hand side.
My comment isn't meant to say that it can never happen, because some shooters (even small ones) can sometimes make that 3-point shot. Anyone who wants to continue to beat this philosophical point to the death is free to do so, but I have said my last on it.
FYI, note that this point is less in play if you are playing UR because the Spider defenders like to fly by, where even a simple shot fake opens the shooting lane for the shooter. Different point.
Homer, I'm surprised with your insistence on the height factor in shooting 3's. many of our all time great 3 point shooters were/are smaller guys. Gilyard shot 38.4%. Francis shoots over 40%. Kendall.
height is almost irrelevant if you have a quick release. and they get enough space because as Nathan said ... defenses can't play out on them too aggressively or they get blown by.
height would be a factor shooting highly contested 3's, but who wants highly contested 3's?
height is almost irrelevant if you have a quick release. and they get enough space because as Nathan said ... defenses can't play out on them too aggressively or they get blown by.
height would be a factor shooting highly contested 3's, but who wants highly contested 3's?
And don't forget Shawndre' at 38.6, barely behind Kendall's 39.2.
This thread dates back to before the exhibition game, but it raises several relevant questions about our 3-point shooting, and about our defense.
This may be a good time to revive the thread, because we now are starting to see possible answers to some of the questions that hae been posed.
For one thing, we now have added two guys who are listed at 6-4, and both (Woj and Dre) play guard. That automatically increases our guard height and reduces defensive size mismatches.
Note also that at least one of those guys is an outstanding 3-point shooter and the other is at least a good 3-point shooter. The guy we had playing a lot of minutes at 2-G last season (Khwan) was not a very good outside shooter, and he was also not nearly 6-4. Our new guards will not be at a height disadvantage in getting off their 3-point shots.
Finally, we may now be able to play a line-up with either 4 or 5 strong outside shooters, and when in the past could we say that? If we make the extra pass, and if Grant passes out of double-teams, then we have a chance to take lots of open 3-s, and we have players who can sink those open threes, rather than pass them up.
The fact that we have two new freshman guards who are much better shooters than Khwan, and much taller, bodes well for both our offense and our defense, but we have still not seen this team play defense against top-flight competition. Until we see this bigger (and better-shooting) team come together in tough game situations, the jury will still be out.
This may be a good time to revive the thread, because we now are starting to see possible answers to some of the questions that hae been posed.
For one thing, we now have added two guys who are listed at 6-4, and both (Woj and Dre) play guard. That automatically increases our guard height and reduces defensive size mismatches.
Note also that at least one of those guys is an outstanding 3-point shooter and the other is at least a good 3-point shooter. The guy we had playing a lot of minutes at 2-G last season (Khwan) was not a very good outside shooter, and he was also not nearly 6-4. Our new guards will not be at a height disadvantage in getting off their 3-point shots.
Finally, we may now be able to play a line-up with either 4 or 5 strong outside shooters, and when in the past could we say that? If we make the extra pass, and if Grant passes out of double-teams, then we have a chance to take lots of open 3-s, and we have players who can sink those open threes, rather than pass them up.
The fact that we have two new freshman guards who are much better shooters than Khwan, and much taller, bodes well for both our offense and our defense, but we have still not seen this team play defense against top-flight competition. Until we see this bigger (and better-shooting) team come together in tough game situations, the jury will still be out.
Looks like Mooney's team ended one spot lower than the A10 predictions. Here's a preseason site regarding the Spiders .....
12. Richmond
Key Returners: Grant Golden, Nick Sherod, Jacob Gilyard
Key Losses: De’Monte Buckingham, Khwan Fore
Key Newcomers: Jake Wojcik, Souleymane Koureissi, Noah Yates (Yale), Andre Gustavson, Tomas Verbinskis (redshirt), Bryce Schneider (redshirt)
Outlook: Let’s start with the elephant-sized spider in the room: the #FireChrisMooney movement is real, and it is rabid. Whether it’s on Spider forums, a Twitter account, or actual interviews on reputable A-10 websites, the portion of the Richmond fanbase that wants to see its coach launched to the Moon(ey) is out for metaphorical blood (I hope). Bringing back Mooney after last year was a complicated decision. In his defense, they were one of the youngest (343rd in experience) and thinnest (342nd in bench minutes) teams in the country, so the 12-20 record isn’t as egregious as one might think. Plus, he swept archrival VCU! On the other hand, two key players transferred (one of whom was dismissed), and Mooney has only made two NCAA Tournaments in 13 years. Starting over with a young, blank-slate roster might have made sense.
Regardless, he’s back, and he’ll need to scratch and claw this season to save his job. He’ll rely on a budding “Big Three,” the members of which are good enough to drag the Spiders to respectability on the offensive end. Skilled big man Grant Golden, point guard Jacob Gilyard, and burly wing Nick Sherod all bring complementary games to the table, but they’ll need some other diners to join them to avoid the meal being a complete waste. Everyone outside of those three is extremely unproven, meaning their burdens may be even larger than last season.
Mooney’s offenses traditionally play through a skilled big as a hub, and the freshman Golden did a wonderful job stepping in for Spider star TJ Cline. As he grows more accustomed to the speed of the game, his passing will continue to improve and open up more of the system. Gilyard and Sherod can both shoot, and each has potential as a driver due to his quickness and strength, respectively. Julius Johnson played some minutes last year, but he’s not an offensive weapon, so Mooney will look to newcomers like freshmen Andre Gustavson and Jake Wojcik (former SJSU coach Dave Wojcik’s son), Yale grad transfer Noah Yates, and redshirt freshman Bryce Schneider for supplemental scoring.
Even if the youngsters emerge as complementary weapons, Richmond has dire issues on the defensive end. The total lack of depth forced them to play even softer than normal, and the Spiders were crushed at the rim. Despite Golden’s best efforts, opponents shot an appalling 67.9% at the rim, per hoop-math, 12th-worst in the country. Because the Spiders often focus on running opponents off the three-point line, it was relatively easy to get to the rim via drive or post up (and easy to finish once there). Until Mooney tweaks the scheme or finds more players, that’s going to continue to happen.
Part of the issue was Mooney’s insistence on playing man-to-man despite lacking size and depth. The players had to avoid fouls to stay on the court, which in turn allowed for easy driving lanes and weak challenges at the rim. Unless more depth emerges – Mooney needs you immediately, Souleymane Koureissi and Nathan Cayo – the Spiders will be dangerously thin once again, so they may need to play zone more than just 10% of the time, as they did in 2017-18.
Bottom Line: Mooney has his work cut out for him, as he’ll be battling his own fanbase along with the traditional challenge of, ya know, trying to defeat other basketball teams. He’s brought young talent to campus, but too much of it hasn’t stuck around, and if this year’s young squad fails, the rain may wash this coach/Spider out.
Sounds like writer was close to the bullseye with his UR take. Except he had Mooney's team one worse than 11th.
12. Richmond
Key Returners: Grant Golden, Nick Sherod, Jacob Gilyard
Key Losses: De’Monte Buckingham, Khwan Fore
Key Newcomers: Jake Wojcik, Souleymane Koureissi, Noah Yates (Yale), Andre Gustavson, Tomas Verbinskis (redshirt), Bryce Schneider (redshirt)
Outlook: Let’s start with the elephant-sized spider in the room: the #FireChrisMooney movement is real, and it is rabid. Whether it’s on Spider forums, a Twitter account, or actual interviews on reputable A-10 websites, the portion of the Richmond fanbase that wants to see its coach launched to the Moon(ey) is out for metaphorical blood (I hope). Bringing back Mooney after last year was a complicated decision. In his defense, they were one of the youngest (343rd in experience) and thinnest (342nd in bench minutes) teams in the country, so the 12-20 record isn’t as egregious as one might think. Plus, he swept archrival VCU! On the other hand, two key players transferred (one of whom was dismissed), and Mooney has only made two NCAA Tournaments in 13 years. Starting over with a young, blank-slate roster might have made sense.
Regardless, he’s back, and he’ll need to scratch and claw this season to save his job. He’ll rely on a budding “Big Three,” the members of which are good enough to drag the Spiders to respectability on the offensive end. Skilled big man Grant Golden, point guard Jacob Gilyard, and burly wing Nick Sherod all bring complementary games to the table, but they’ll need some other diners to join them to avoid the meal being a complete waste. Everyone outside of those three is extremely unproven, meaning their burdens may be even larger than last season.
Mooney’s offenses traditionally play through a skilled big as a hub, and the freshman Golden did a wonderful job stepping in for Spider star TJ Cline. As he grows more accustomed to the speed of the game, his passing will continue to improve and open up more of the system. Gilyard and Sherod can both shoot, and each has potential as a driver due to his quickness and strength, respectively. Julius Johnson played some minutes last year, but he’s not an offensive weapon, so Mooney will look to newcomers like freshmen Andre Gustavson and Jake Wojcik (former SJSU coach Dave Wojcik’s son), Yale grad transfer Noah Yates, and redshirt freshman Bryce Schneider for supplemental scoring.
Even if the youngsters emerge as complementary weapons, Richmond has dire issues on the defensive end. The total lack of depth forced them to play even softer than normal, and the Spiders were crushed at the rim. Despite Golden’s best efforts, opponents shot an appalling 67.9% at the rim, per hoop-math, 12th-worst in the country. Because the Spiders often focus on running opponents off the three-point line, it was relatively easy to get to the rim via drive or post up (and easy to finish once there). Until Mooney tweaks the scheme or finds more players, that’s going to continue to happen.
Part of the issue was Mooney’s insistence on playing man-to-man despite lacking size and depth. The players had to avoid fouls to stay on the court, which in turn allowed for easy driving lanes and weak challenges at the rim. Unless more depth emerges – Mooney needs you immediately, Souleymane Koureissi and Nathan Cayo – the Spiders will be dangerously thin once again, so they may need to play zone more than just 10% of the time, as they did in 2017-18.
Bottom Line: Mooney has his work cut out for him, as he’ll be battling his own fanbase along with the traditional challenge of, ya know, trying to defeat other basketball teams. He’s brought young talent to campus, but too much of it hasn’t stuck around, and if this year’s young squad fails, the rain may wash this coach/Spider out.
Sounds like writer was close to the bullseye with his UR take. Except he had Mooney's team one worse than 11th.
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