Next year

[Long Time Spider Fan]

I think having, "bigs to draw double teams" is the question. I'm hoping Beagle is just that. And i'm hopeful Walz can step up but not holding my breath.

First, let me say that I'm sorry that I have essentially the same username as you. When I signed up I did not know you had this username, and apparently the site allowed me to essentially have the same name as you because I put spaces between the words.

Back on topic, I think we will be pleasantly surprised with the scoring and passing ability of Beagle and Walz. And hopefully Mooney will turn them both loose to rebound, I believe both of them have the ability to be better rebounders than Quinn and Grant.

 

[urfan1]

First, let me say that I'm sorry that I have essentially the same username as you. When I signed up I did not know you had this username, and apparently the site allowed me to essentially have the same name as you because I put spaces between the words.

Back on topic, I think we will be pleasantly surprised with the scoring and passing ability of Beagle and Walz. And hopefully Mooney will turn them both loose to rebound, I believe both of them have the ability to be better rebounders than Quinn and Grant.

So it's spacey vs solid? /s

 

[spiderman]

Now u just made me get into a position numbers debate with you again....teams don't really play a "4" anymore.

not saying the 4 has to be a Kevin McHale, but most still distinguish between the 3 and the 4. In fact, Blue Ribbon's Richmond preview is all based on conversations and quotes from Mooney, says "Mooney likes the long term potential of 6'8" freshman Bryson McGlothin and 6'6" freshman Jaylen Robinson. McGlothin has great length, and while thin, projects as a capable small forward, while Robinson is an excellent leaper with quickness who is likely to settle in as a four at the college level".

Why would we limit ourselves with your lineup necessities when other teams don't do that?

they do.

Why couldn't Dusan, Beagle, and Walz play together?

they could. it's one of the options I don't really like much, but I mentioned it. I don't love those 2 bigs together because neither is a threat outside, but maybe it works if Beagle is a good ball handler. maybe I'm just hopeful the other big forward types (Dusan and AP) are so good we don't decide to have a 5 playing forward.

If Dusan, AP, and Walz, or Dusan, AP, and Beagle play together, who cares who is the so called 3 or the so called 4?

those groups certaintly fit together. doesn't matter which one is the 3 or the 4. I probably wasn't clear. I think we all expect Dusan is a starting forward. I don't care which spot. not sure if Dusan or AP is more able to defend a bigger forward or a quicker forward.

And, why say Dusan is a "4" (whatever that means anymore) when he has never averaged more than 4 rebounds a game? He was 42-99 (42.4%) and 49-135 (36.3%) from the 3 the past 2 seasons. Yet, you would play AP over him at the "3" just because he might be 1 inch taller than AP?

we measured both at 6'8". play them where they match up better.

Back to your original post about Roche, AP, or Tanner having to play the 3, why couldn't Dusan play with 3 guards and either Walz or Beagle?

same answer. Dusan can certainly play the 3 if we're playing 2 bigs. I just hope we don't.

I'm mainly saying, while I hope Tanner, Roche, and AP will all be huge factors for us, I hope the coaching staff is not limiting our lineup possibilities like you are by saying Tanner, Roche, and AP will combine for 40 minutes each game and never play together. Maybe I am reading you wrong, but when you say you only have those 3 penciled in at the 3, it seems like you are doing exactly that.

not saying they add up to 40 minutes. Roche could play minutes at the 2, but I think we have better guard options there. AP could play 4 and Dusan 3. those 2 are likely interchangeable.

 

[VT4700]

Thanks for taking the time to explain all of that. I understand your thoughts a lot better now. Was that an actual Mooney quote that said Robinson, at 6'6, will likely settle in at the 4? That would surprise me he would say that. I could see that if he were a Peter Woolfolk or DWil type, but I don't think he is anything like that.

I agree we hear "stretch 4" sometimes out there, and that means a guy with size who can hit the 3. But, I don't think we or any team really bases lineups on having to have a 1,2,3,4, and 5 out there. There are just way too many times teams go big or small with all kinds of different lineups, and IMO the one thing coaches don't worry much about lineup wise is having to have a "4" out there. But, all good Sman. I see where you are coming from here.

 

[spiderman]

re: Robinson "settling in as a four" ... was not a Mooney quote. more a paraphrase by Blue Ribbon. there are 6 contributiong editors handling the A10. (nobody I've heard of ... i.e. no JOC). I assume they didn't come up with that sentence themselves, though. all the detailed team info came from Mooney.

my understanding is that while you don't have to have a true 4 type, someone does play the 4.
there are roles to play in the offense and with out-of-bounds plays that are designated by positional number. we don't freelance out there. many guys do play more than one spot. not guys like B Artis or Walz, typically. but certainly Dji was playing guard and then Mooney talked about the decision to play him at the 3 last year.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

Yes like sman, my comments were limited to guys I see as guards/guard adjacent. I.e. guys we know will get/take lots of outside shots.

Dusan being a shooter certainly helps and is why he seems a good fit at what I’ll call the Bigelow forward spot - a forward who can play inside/outside and space things while being physical enough to defend big forwards on defense. AP may fit more in the Dusan mold / positionally than the Roche / Tanner spot - dunno until we see how the lineup configs look. And again, Robinson/McGlothin as wildcards.

 

[spider23]

Lot of unknowns heading into the season. Which is the norm for a lot of programs.
Dusan - Feel good about his ability to score the ball at our level. Big question to me can he guard a wing or big forward? Is he athletic enough to guard a wing, or strong enough to guard a bigger forward (notice no number positions )- but despite positions or numbers - you have to be able to guard a position or two on the court. Bigelow was a great rebounder - got a TON of boards outside his radius. Lot of rebounds floating around that he willed himself into position or out athleted/ out willed his man to possess. So that is a lot to replace whoever fills the "Bigs" Forward spot - salute to Brooklyn.

Similar thoughts on Glou. Though his offense is very much unknown at this point. We have folks saying he is a shooter, but in the last 4 years of organized ball - two with Uconn and two with PAOK FC, hardly any stats. So despite the potential, in 4 years no stats. If he is as good as advertised, we really need him to be tough, defend, and rebound from the wing spot. While I think Dusan can be very good on O, I do think it is most likely a downgrade on D and rebounding from Bigs. And Dji was super on D and boards. So we need Glou , or Tanner or whover is a wing / forward to play with athleticsm, defend and board.

 

[spider23]

And on a side/ off topic note - I am realizing that basketball season keeps the last shred of sanity I have intact. Can't wait for the season.


Now off to Blackies for a few rounds.

 

[spiderman]

agreed, 23. last year's team was one of the best defensive teams we've had. and with a strong defensive team, we exceeded expectations.
we know we'll be strong at guard defensively ... at least with Hunt and Tyne. I'm comfortable defensively going from Quinn to Walz, and we know Beagle rebounds so there's that. but it'll be tough to match Dji and Bigelow defensively on the wing. they were really good.

 

[GKiller]

agreed, 23. last year's team was one of the best defensive teams we've had. and with a strong defensive team, we exceeded expectations.
we know we'll be strong at guard defensively ... at least with Hunt and Tyne. I'm comfortable defensively going from Quinn to Walz, and we know Beagle rebounds so there's that. but it'll be tough to match Dji and Bigelow defensively on the wing. they were really good.

we were also good at 3 pt %. #53 in D1. Now that's a level I think we need to be at consistently with how we recruit and play. We really struggled there the prior 3 years. 19-20 we were good. So yes defense was better but we also need to keep up the 3 ball shooting.

 

[urmite]

I’m just hoping for AP to scale.
180 Orating and 56% from 3 like last year with 15x the minutes…

 

[plydogg]

And on a side/ off topic note - I am realizing that basketball season keeps the last shred of sanity I have intact. Can't wait for the season.


Now off to Blackies for a few rounds.

Funny how that works. Usually basketball season is when I lose all my sanity

 

[RichmondNative]

3 Man Weave podcast on A10 out and they also picked Spiders 8th. The Broad St boys 1st followed by SLU. Think A10 is a 2 bid league with a small possibility of a third team. With the A10 OOC schedules, I think 3 is a very long shot.

Decent rationale on why 8th as don’t believe in the D and think that a key part of CM’s system, the versatile 5, is not going to be there.

 

[spiderman]

I was looking at Torvik's T-Rank and it has all 15 A10 teams in the top 165 but only 1 in the top 65.
that's how I see the league this year. very deep and competitive every night ... with no easy wins but with nobody outstanding.

it should be a really fun season but we might be fortunate to land multiple bids. could have a lot of teams hovering within a game or two of 9-9 in conference. a couple wins might separate the team seeded 10th and the team seeded 4th.

2024-25 Projections - - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank

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

barttorvik.com

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

I was looking at Torvik's T-Rank and it has all 15 A10 teams in the top 165 but only 1 in the top 65.
that's how I see the league this year. very deep and competitive every night ... with no easy wins but with nobody outstanding.

it should be a really fun season but we might be fortunate to land multiple bids. could have a lot of teams hovering within a game or two of 9-9 in conference. a couple wins might separate the team seeded 10th and the team seeded 4th.

2024-25 Projections - - Customizable College Basketball Tempo Free Stats - T-Rank

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

barttorvik.com

this is same as last year and recipe for 1 bid if a team like Dayton doesn't emerge OOC/NET-wise, and then lose in the A10 tourney. Doesn't matter if you go 15-3, if you have a weak OOC and win a lot vs a league of Q2/3 teams, you're out. A10 leadership and ADs and coaches need to rectify this asap.

 

[GKiller]

3 Man Weave podcast on A10 out and they also picked Spiders 8th. The Broad St boys 1st followed by SLU. Think A10 is a 2 bid league with a small possibility of a third team. With the A10 OOC schedules, I think 3 is a very long shot.

Decent rationale on why 8th as don’t believe in the D and think that a key part of CM’s system, the versatile 5, is not going to be there.

is this ANOTHER vcu fan site picking vcu? must be. I took some flak on here back in May for calling vcu the favorite and saying most of the prognosticators would do the same.

 

[spiderman]

is this ANOTHER vcu fan site picking vcu? must be. I took some flak on here back in May for calling vcu the favorite and saying most of the prognosticators would do the same.

getting Shulga back was huge. I still don't think they're that good, but nobody stands out as much better.

 

[urmite]

getting Shulga back was huge. I still don't think they're that good, but nobody stands out as much better.

Yes, I can’t recall if GKiller had VCU first in A10 before 5/22 or not.

Top 4 before that date seemed more than reasonable. Likely for them to find a way to win the A10? Perhaps. Consensus #1 before then seemed a bit of a stretch.

 

[GKiller]

Yes, I can’t recall if GKiller had VCU first in A10 before 5/22 or not.

Top 4 before that date seemed more than reasonable. Likely for them to find a way to win the A10? Perhaps. Consensus #1 before then seemed a bit of a stretch.

What I said & the responses to it were soon after Shulga returned to VCU. Without Shulga I wouldn't have #1. But he's a A10 POY candidate of course he's going to up their chances.

 

[urmite]

What I said & the responses to it were soon after Shulga returned to VCU. Without Shulga I wouldn't have #1. But he's a A10 POY candidate of course he's going to up their chances.

I suspected as much but you post too much, search of your posts seems to only go back to July. 10 page limit?

 

[spider23]

Really interested to see how this plays out for playing time. Mooney gets high grades for last season portal work and then forming those new players into a unit with well defined roles. Excellent work.

This offseason, did really well in the portal - identified top prospects early and landed Beagle and Dusan. Then landed three more really good looking prospects in White, GW3, and Glou.

Last season - only real decision he had to make about PT was switching out Noyes for Dji. And Noyes got hurt.

This season, there are a ton of minutes for a few spots. Mooney has done pretty well in the past with balancing, but prior to this portal era - it was easy - due to the recruiting misses and massive roster holes - as I have discussed much in past. I think the big challenges for Mooney this season are 1) identifying the top guys and roles, and 2) instilling the defensive mindset that carried us last season. I think we have top 4 talent in the A10 (no can't lean on the media crutch b/c in this portal era they are worse than usual at predicting order and top teams). It's up to Mooney to manage it correctly.

Here is the minutes/role challenge:

Guard - Hunt - pen him in for 30 minutes. That leaves 50 to split between White, GW3 and Tyne. This is assuming Tanner and Roche are wings/forwards in our scheme.
Center - Walz and Beagle splitting 40. Possibly one or the other grabbing a few a the Bigs Forward position.
Wing/Forward - This is a true wing and a stretch 4. Here is where the minutes get very challenging. A lof of legit , if unproven (at our level) talent here. 80 minutes. Glou, Dusan, Tanner, Roche, McGlothin, Robinson, and Soulis. Going to be a lot of guys possibly not getting minutes they want.

 

[spiderman]

agreed. I can't find the 3-4 guys who won't play regularly. heck, I'm not even 100% sure D'Entremont won't earn time.
do we know if everyone is healthy and working out? (specifically Soulis)

 

[spider23]

agreed. I can't find the 3-4 guys who won't play regularly. heck, I'm not even 100% sure D'Entremont won't earn time.
do we know if everyone is healthy and working out? (specifically Soulis)

Ha, I was almost going to throw D'Entremont in their too - I like what I have seen from him on tape.

 

[GKiller]

agreed. I can't find the 3-4 guys who won't play regularly. heck, I'm not even 100% sure D'Entremont won't earn time.
do we know if everyone is healthy and working out? (specifically Soulis)

The two freshman, Soulis & Tanner. That's my guess. But enough unknown that expect to be wrong on 1 of those.

 

[spiderman]

The two freshman, Soulis & Tanner. That's my guess. But enough unknown that expect to be wrong on 1 of those.

I think we're all kind of ruling out the freshmen ... because they're freshmen. but not based on anything else.

 

[spider23]

The Freshman. It's a weird new portal / NIL world. I think on one hand, one may feel a need to provide some PT so as not to push a guy into the portal. On the other hand, if not getting minutes at Richmond, there are many college productive guys to fill out your roster now instead of take a chance on an unknown.

Love the look of McGlothin's game. But on the other hand, think Jaylen has some college ready strength and athleticism that maybe could gain him some minutes. I think the past 3 years we have had some really good/strong athletes on the wing/Big Forward (Bigs, Dji, Burton). This year, I don't know. Hoping AP is that guy. Dusan, like the looks of his game and scoring, but don't think he is comparable to a Bigs or Dji on D, hope to be proven wrong.

 

[spiderman]

the portal really makes it tough on freshmen.
a few years ago if a team graduated a group of guys like we just did, good freshmen would have a great opportunity to play. now you hit the portal and grab a few 22 year olds.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

I honestly think Roche's time dwindles significantly during the course of the year, if he hasn't made himself more multidimensional on offense.

 

[SpiderDogg]

Robinson is gonna be good right out the gate

 

[97spiderfan]

I honestly think Roche's time dwindles significantly during the course of the year, if he hasn't made himself more multidimensional on offense.

Agreed. Too much talent on this roster for Roche to significant minutes, unless he is just knocking down a bunch 3 balls every game.

 

[spider23]

Robinson is a really interesting case. I feel like he is a top 5% type of quick twitch / jump athlete we get a couple every 10 years (Garrett, Smitty) maybe a Burton (though looks more explosive than Burton in HS). So I could see a potential role if we are getting housed on the boards and quick forwards are beating us on the bounce and inside - he could have a role. Really hope he and McGlothin can have positive years - if not big roles at least get comfortable and hopefully see a good future at Richmond. Its a consideration now with the portal and I would rather build from within if and when its possible.

 

[spiderman]

Robinson is a really interesting case. I feel like he is a top 5% type of quick twitch / jump athlete we get a couple every 10 years (Garrett, Smitty) maybe a Burton (though looks more explosive than Burton in HS). So I could see a potential role if we are getting housed on the boards and quick forwards are beating us on the bounce and inside - he could have a role. Really hope he and McGlothin can have positive years - if not big roles at least get comfortable and hopefully see a good future at Richmond. Its a consideration now with the portal and I would rather build from within if and when its possible.

I hope they're the two best players on the roster right now and they stay for 4 years!