(10-08-2021 08:04 AM)wmmii Wrote:  Interesting that the article mentions our transfer Carroll plus Rice and Hatton but not Lewis.

I think I'd chalk it up more to lazy reporting than any meaning behind it

Agreed. The reporter took snippets and meshed them together.

Yep, he's still on the roster.

I'm excited about this team. Losing Lowe hurts, but we had a lot of freshmen getting a lot of minutes last season and I expect to see very strong play from our sophomores this year.

In fairness, the article didn’t purport to be a complete analysis of the team. Most of the returning players weren’t mentioned either.

It was more of a “Here are a few interesting thoughts about several different area teams” piece. I used to write them back in my (long ago) sports journalist days. You just can’t include everybody.

(10-08-2021 08:04 AM)wmmii Wrote:  

(10-08-2021 03:56 AM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  Three storylines for WM:

https://www.pilotonline.com/sports/colle...ssion=true

Interesting that the article mentions our transfer Carroll plus Rice and Hatton but not Lewis.

If you check out the pictures of the team's first day of practice you will see some that include Lewis. Speaking of those pictures, Hatton's physical appearance does not remind me of the typical Freshman big man that we bring into the program. And I mean that in a good way.

The article got me wondering: Will Carroll start? Will it be Rice over Covington at PG?

Too bad there isn't a scrimmage at homecoming this year.

Something I've noticed consistently from the national and CAA basketball social media crowd. Most agree that the CAA is wide open for everyone. Everyone but W&M. They all have us squarely in the 10 spot. I am absolutely a homer, but, I just don't see that. Too much depth returning. True, our one loss was a major one in Luke Loewe, but many teams lost significant contributors. We may not have the all-conference names, but we bring back a lot of experience. I believe plenty to compete with most teams each night. Are my green and gold glasses distorting my perspective?

(10-08-2021 11:03 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Something I've noticed consistently from the national and CAA basketball social media crowd. Most agree that the CAA is wide open for everyone. Everyone but W&M. They all have us squarely in the 10 spot. I am absolutely a homer, but, I just don't see that. Too much depth returning. True, our one loss was a major one in Luke Loewe, but many teams lost significant contributors. We may not have the all-conference names, but we bring back a lot of experience. I believe plenty to compete with most teams each night. Are my green and gold glasses distorting my perspective?

Athlon has us 7th I think. UNCW was last.

(10-08-2021 11:51 AM)Sitting bull Wrote:  

(10-08-2021 11:03 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Something I've noticed consistently from the national and CAA basketball social media crowd. Most agree that the CAA is wide open for everyone. Everyone but W&M. They all have us squarely in the 10 spot. I am absolutely a homer, but, I just don't see that. Too much depth returning. True, our one loss was a major one in Luke Loewe, but many teams lost significant contributors. We may not have the all-conference names, but we bring back a lot of experience. I believe plenty to compete with most teams each night. Are my green and gold glasses distorting my perspective?

Athlon has us 7th I think. UNCW was last.

5-7 sounds about right to me

To me, last year was impossible to evaluate given all the new faces and Covid (no fans). The team couldn't practice as a whole team for most/all of the season and there was really no off season going into the official practices. It appears that we've again increased our athleticism from the prior year. Nothing would surprise me this year. I could see this team being very deep at the guard and small forward positions which could allow us to increase the pressure on defense and press/trap more. I don't think we have anyone on offense that is unstoppable or that we can count on for points in a crunch, but we have a LOT of players who can score and drive to the basket. Three point shooting may be lacking.

(10-08-2021 02:25 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  To me, last year was impossible to evaluate given all the new faces and Covid (no fans). The team couldn't practice as a whole team for most/all of the season and there was really no off season going into the official practices. It appears that we've again increased our athleticism from the prior year. Nothing would surprise me this year. I could see this team being very deep at the guard and small forward positions which could allow us to increase the pressure on defense and press/trap more. I don't think we have anyone on offense that is unstoppable or that we can count on for points in a crunch, but we have a LOT of players who can score and drive to the basket. Three point shooting may be lacking.

I agree with all your takes. The biggest glaring hole is, IMO, who is "the guy"? Who is the guy this offense is designed to get clean looks for? Who's the guy you feed in crunch time? Connor Kochera perhaps? Save someone else emerging, he is the obvious guy. Other than that, I see us platooning guys in and riding the hot hand and best matchups on a game by game basis. At least until we get into conference play and more regular lineups are ironed out.

It's still a super young team, 7th is a fair projection, but I think in a season or two we should be real contenders for the title. I like the direction the program is headed in a lot.

(10-08-2021 03:14 PM)mrjoolius Wrote:  

(10-08-2021 02:25 PM)Tribe32 Wrote:  To me, last year was impossible to evaluate given all the new faces and Covid (no fans). The team couldn't practice as a whole team for most/all of the season and there was really no off season going into the official practices. It appears that we've again increased our athleticism from the prior year. Nothing would surprise me this year. I could see this team being very deep at the guard and small forward positions which could allow us to increase the pressure on defense and press/trap more. I don't think we have anyone on offense that is unstoppable or that we can count on for points in a crunch, but we have a LOT of players who can score and drive to the basket. Three point shooting may be lacking.

I agree with all your takes. The biggest glaring hole is, IMO, who is "the guy"? Who is the guy this offense is designed to get clean looks for? Who's the guy you feed in crunch time? Connor Kochera perhaps? Save someone else emerging, he is the obvious guy. Other than that, I see us platooning guys in and riding the hot hand and best matchups on a game by game basis. At least until we get into conference play and more regular lineups are ironed out.

Strength and a weakness, right? On one side the opponents don't know who we're going to, but we might not either. This current team would be well-equipped to run Coach Shaver's offense where everyone got looks in the offense and nobody was favored, except for the lack of 3 point shooters. I expect to see some kind of variant where we have non-stop pick and rolls and drive and kicks, but we'll have to prove we can knock down the 3 pointer off the kick.

Personally, I like having a go to guy that can score or get fouled on the regular. Without that defined guy I've seen a lot of offense that reverses the ball back and forth only to settle for a not so great look at the end of the shot clock. Without that defined top scorer, there tends to be a lot of deferring when aggressiveness is the better play.

(10-08-2021 11:03 AM)mrjoolius Wrote:  Something I've noticed consistently from the national and CAA basketball social media crowd. Most agree that the CAA is wide open for everyone. Everyone but W&M. They all have us squarely in the 10 spot. I am absolutely a homer, but, I just don't see that. Too much depth returning. True, our one loss was a major one in Luke Loewe, but many teams lost significant contributors. We may not have the all-conference names, but we bring back a lot of experience. I believe plenty to compete with most teams each night. Are my green and gold glasses distorting my perspective?

It's more likely this team finishes dead last than .500 in conference play.

We are indeed bringing back a lot of minutes (moreso than experience), but, uh...no one we're confident is good besides Kochera.

If Towson is still bad, Charleston is fully rebuilding, a mid-pack team or two stumbles, several players make big strides forward, and the team stays relatively healthy, then the team can aspire to 6th and ducking the play-in, which to me is roughly the 90th percentile outcome.

(10-08-2021 10:27 AM)WillaMary08 Wrote:  The article got me wondering: Will Carroll start? Will it be Rice over Covington at PG?

I am expecting Covington/Kochera/Carroll/Blair/[Harvey or Wight] at the beginning. If everyone is healthy would be surprised (but not shocked) to see something different.

(10-08-2021 11:03 AM)Tribe32 Wrote:  Too bad there isn't a scrimmage at homecoming this year.

I believe there is one, but it is not open attendance. Makes sense with Covid. Perhaps if you contact the basketball office they can tell you for sure if they are allowing outsiders.

If you do attend, it is now your responsibility to observe and report. Keep an eye on any recruits sitting on the sideline too. I would be there, but I'm dealing with Covid issues on the home front.

(10-09-2021 12:08 AM)FauqDawg10 Wrote:  It's more likely this team finishes dead last than .500 in conference play.

We are indeed bringing back a lot of minutes (moreso than experience), but, uh...no one we're confident is good besides Kochera.

If Towson is still bad, Charleston is fully rebuilding, a mid-pack team or two stumbles, several players make big strides forward, and the team stays relatively healthy, then the team can aspire to 6th and ducking the play-in, which to me is roughly the 90th percentile outcome.

I think your observations are fairly spot on. We very well could be the 10th team. But I just as easily see us in the 6th or 7th spot. My only real point was that there is a great deal of change in the CAA and anybody feeling W&M is clearly the worst team seems to be putting far too much stock in last season. With transfers in and transfers out, not having mid-season shutdowns, adding rookies and normal improvements, good chance that this season looks nothing like last year.
I see a clear top 4 or 5 teams. The rest are TBD and could break either way.