Definitely agree with most of that take. The young guys look ready to go which was the biggest question mark. Very pleased with how Holden stepped in and facilitated the offense last night. Justin Davis the redshirt freshman also had a good game yesterday and played a lot of minutes. CSUB will never be a team that shoots well and dominates offensively. Their defensive will carry them and single handedly win them games. However add Joiner, more minutes for Briggs and more minutes for Durham and things get more interesting. I think there is just as much offense here as there was last year. Probably even deeper off the bench in my opinion. This is a very long and athletic group of guys. Barnes has set this team up to be sustainable, next man up will always do a similar job. CSUB isn't going to go away anytime soon. Can't wait!

Nice start to the season. And damn this is early.

Early, but heres hoping the WAC can keep up their level of last year. Weren't we basically the middle of D1 in conference RPI?

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(10-31-2017 10:10 PM)RunnerBall Wrote:  Early, but heres hoping the WAC can keep up their level of last year. Weren't we basically the middle of D1 in conference RPI?

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Yes sir we were. 17 of 32

Sagarin's rankings put the WAC 23rd (MAC is broken into two divisions). The 6 Major conferences will likely get 32 of the 36 at-large, the 4 "high Mids" will probably get the other 4.

CONFERENCE CENTRAL MEAN SIMPLE AVERAGE TEAMS WIN50%
Majors
1 BIG 12 = 86.36 86.73 ( 1) 10 86.65 ( 1)
2 ATLANTIC COAST = 84.75 84.83 ( 2) 15 84.81 ( 2)
3 BIG TEN = 83.37 83.05 ( 4) 14 83.14 ( 4)
4 BIG EAST = 83.31 83.30 ( 3) 10 83.30 ( 3)
5 SOUTHEASTERN = 81.74 82.02 ( 5) 14 81.90 ( 5)
6 PAC-12 = 80.76 80.85 ( 6) 12 80.83 ( 6)
"High" Mid-Majors
7 AMERICAN ATHLETIC = 78.64 78.58 ( 7) 12 78.63 ( 7)
8 ATLANTIC 10 = 75.79 75.86 ( 8) 14 75.85 ( 8)
9 MOUNTAIN WEST = 74.73 74.67 ( 10) 11 74.72 ( 9)
10 WEST COAST = 74.05 74.77 ( 9) 10 74.25 ( 10)
borderline High Mid-Majors
11 MISSOURI VALLEY = 73.64 73.34 ( 11) 10 73.40 ( 11)
12 MID-AMERICAN(east) = 72.49 72.13 ( 12) 6 72.21 ( 12)
13 COLONIAL = 72.08 71.94 ( 13) 10 71.96 ( 13)
14 MID-AMERICAN(west) = 71.57 71.46 ( 14) 6 71.46 ( 14)
"Low" Mid-Majors
15 IVY LEAGUE = 70.67 70.64 ( 15) 8 70.64 ( 15)
16 SUMMIT LEAGUE = 70.59 70.38 ( 16) 8 70.42 ( 16)
17 SUN BELT = 69.88 69.95 ( 17) 12 69.93 ( 17)
18 CONFERENCE USA = 69.16 69.43 ( 18) 14 69.34 ( 18)
19 METRO ATLANTIC = 69.10 69.12 ( 19) 11 69.12 ( 19)
20 SOUTHERN = 68.97 68.55 ( 21) 10 68.69 ( 21)
21 HORIZON = 68.77 68.94 ( 20) 10 68.89 ( 20)
22 OHIO VALLEY = 68.04 68.08 ( 22) 12 68.06 ( 22)
23 BIG WEST = 68.00 68.06 ( 23) 9 68.03 ( 23)
24 WESTERN ATHLETIC = 67.60 67.49 ( 24) 8 67.55 ( 24)
25 PATRIOT = 67.38 67.46 ( 25) 10 67.44 ( 25)
"bottom" mid-Majors ... "first four" competitors -- which is actually a bonus since it's 50-50 you win a game
26 AMERICA EAST = 65.89 65.96 ( 27) 9 65.91 ( 27)
27 BIG SKY = 65.86 65.65 ( 28) 12 65.71 ( 28)
28 ATLANTIC SUN = 65.68 66.01 ( 26) 8 65.94 ( 26)
29 BIG SOUTH = 64.85 64.65 ( 29) 10 64.74 ( 29)
30 SOUTHLAND = 64.08 64.21 ( 30) 13 64.16 ( 30)
31 NORTHEAST = 63.38 63.12 ( 31) 10 63.17 ( 31)
32 MID-EASTERN = 58.99 58.95 ( 32) 13 58.97 ( 32)
33 SOUTHWESTERN = 58.13 58.28 ( 33) 10 58.21 ( 33)

WAC Schools (GCU and NMSU have "High Mid-Major" rankings, would be middle of such conferences)

109 Grand Canyon = 75.60
115 New Mexico State = 75.08
163 CSU Bakersfield = 71.67
206 Utah Valley = 69.22
267 Seattle = 65.62
294 Kansas City (UMKC) = 63.38
311 UTRGV = 62.42
341 Chicago State = 56.92


https://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/sagarin/

(10-31-2017 02:37 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  It looks like Holden is capable of replacing Basile. Durham will step into Airington's role. And, Joiner will replace Durham as the instant offense off the bench. Already, last season in the NIT, Briggs showed he was capable of being a major offensive impact. So, he will seamlessly step into Smith's role. This CSUB team looks to be deeper, longer, and more athletic than a season ago.

I don't think CSUB has a lot of dependable scorers but Barnes' teams are known for winning ugly. They shot a horrendous percentage last night but their tenacious defense will always keep them in games.

Oddly, I think CSUB and NMSU have similar personnel. NMSU might not be as long or as athletic in the post as CSUB but I think NMSU is quicker and has more (quantity) dependable scorers.

Last season, I always felt CSUB quickness and aggressiveness at the guard positions was NMSU's Achilles heel when attacking Barnes' defense. However, I think with AJ Harris, Sidy Ndir, and Shunn Buchanan, NMSU now has the type of ball handlers who could cause CSUB trouble. Just an opinion. I am looking forward to this season.

Arrington was a 3-4, Durham is a 2-3. I'm worried about the runners bigs, but I haven't seen the new guys yet obviously

Barnes has been mainly playing with a 3 guard lineup these exhibitions so expect that. He even experimented with a little two towers with Aly and Ndoye on court at the same time. Briggs holds down the post well and Aly/Ndoye are great defenders. Durham has improved a lot defensively and is lengthy enough to keep up. I feel very good about the team.