I’m saying there’s a chance. Not predicting RPI. Just saying based on the job Sanchez did with very limited resources last season I believe there is a possibility we could make a big jump with a full roster of mostly players he has recruited. This is just me seeing the positives & making a biased prediction. I wouldn’t bet a dime on that prediction. I just see it as possible in this turd of a conference.
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Exactly…when a Conference is THIS bad…all it takes is an infusion of talent, real depth and a real coach to make a major move. I believe we have all of that coming into this season.
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I think a big part of the answer to how we finish is on the defensive side of the ball. If we can take the defensive ppg average down another 4 to 6 points this will keep us in a lot of games. The biggest issue that you always see with new young players is inconsistent scoring and turnovers. I expect the defensive intensity to be high because of the amount of fresh bodies we have. I think the key to where we finish will be how well these new guys come together and play defense.
I know I’m the eternal optimist, and every year I think it’s finally our year, but I really have a hard time seeing how we don’t finish in the top third of this garbage league.
Jon Davis was one of the best Niners ever, but still, I think we definitely gain more than we lose. We were playing with two walk-ons last year, and now (IF we stay healthy) we have more depth than I’ve seen in years. Jordan Shepherd is not only immensely talented, but he was practicing with the team all year last year and knows the system. As was Tyler Bertram, who will provide some much needed 3 point scoring. Our offense should have a lot of weapons, and D should be much improved just from the added depth, length and athleticism.
I know we have been pounded into perpetual pessimism by the last decade and change of mediocre to bad basketball, but looking at this roster, we really should have fairly high expectations for this team.
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Agreed. And as good as Jon was…his loss is MORE than made up by what we add this year (in terms of depth, size, athleticism, rebounding, shooting and scoring).
And again…we’re in a bad, bad conference with very bad teams even towards the top.
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clt expects to make the tourney
cusa tourney
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In a terrible league anything is possible. Last year we lost a bunch of close games. Just adding depth will move some of those to wins. I do agree that we have added more than we lost in JD and that isn’t taking anything away from him. Middle of the pack seems well within reach.
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with the crappiness of this league, combined with the solid players we have coming back, our #1 class and the transfers who sat out last season, anything is possible. i understand the beaten dog syndrome. it’s hard to expect good results but i really feel like we are really closer, much closer than we think. we lost some close games last season with 6-8 scholarship players. i dont blame anybody for expecting subpar results but i dont see it. i think we are quite talented, young but talented. im usually the optimistic but im not making predictions because quite frankly, none of us know anything. we dont know who is standing out in practice, if we have a freshman phenom on the team, or even how the team is geling. we could dance this season, or we could finish 11th in the conference. neither would suprise me and both are def. possible.
I’ve beaten you down a little I see. Just remove the part where we have the chance to dance and I’ll like your post. 
i’m not predicting we dance, fwiw but this idea that in cusa, with the class we have and with sanchez as a coach, that we can’t dance, is crazy. there are no world beaters in this conference that we look at and say, “how do we beat them?” for the record, i am still quite optimistic about this season and i would not be suprised with a really good season. we have a deep, long team and we are athletic. we have added shooters, which we had almost none of last season. i really think sanchez has instilled a sense of defense on this team. we will all see. like i said, nobody knows anything.
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At least you can drink beer and watch basketball now.
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More predictions:
ATHLON
1 WKU
2 ODU
3 LA Tech
4 Middle Tennessee
5 UTSA
6 FIU
7 Marshall
8 UAB
9 FAU
10 Southern Miss
11 North Texas
12 Rice
13 CHARLOTTE
14 UTEP
LINDY’S
1 WKU
2 UTSA
3 FIU
4 Middle Tennessee
5 LA Tech
6 Marshall
7 ODU
8 UTEP
9 FAU
10 UAB
11 CHARLOTTE
12 North Texas
13 Southern Miss
14 Rice
Top newcomer: Jahmir Young, Charlotte
STREET & SMITH’S
1 WKU
2 UTSA
3 UTEP
4 ODU
5 FAU
6 Middle Tennessee
7 LA Tech
8 North Texas
9 UAB
10 Marshall
11 FIU
12 Rice
13 Southern Miss
14 CHARLOTTE
Is Young really supposed to be that good?
Plus the seven that made the CSM Top 144:
COLLEGE SPORTS MADNESS
1 WKU
2 UTSA
3 LA Tech
4 ODU
5 UAB
6 UTEP
7 FIU
Certainly this is no CUSA 1.0, but the league isn’t as garbage as most say. The disparity from top to bottom, with having multiple teams likely at +300 RPI is sad, but the top half of the league is decent and getting better each season.
To crack that top half would be a major jump from last season. We’d be in the top 150 RPI if we pulled that off. That’s not easily done.
Also just to mention, I think CUSA was 14th ranked conference last season in RPI (out of like, 30-ish conferences?). I think this year’s CUSA can compete for a top 10 conference spot, which would not be too shabby.
I agree with this. The conference has some good teams in it. You guys keep saying garbage conference, but that really relates to those outside of the top 5 or 6. Keep in mind that we have been the garbage in the garbage conference. The top teams RPI numbers have suffered because they have to play the bottom teams. So much so the conference is trying to help that with scheduling. Team defense is still the key here because no matter how good our shooters are they are still young and streaky. I hope these transfers are good players, but keep in mind you don’t transfer down conferences because of your stellar play. The recruiting stars don’t matter come year 3 or 4 in college.
I think he’s the most underrated piece of this recruiting class. He started and put up good numbers for one of the best HS teams in the nation, against some of the toughest competition. I’m really excited about our backcourt this year.
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Went over and watched practice today. The new guys are really green. There are a lot of practices, but we will still see growing pains. All of the new players have good size. Carrawell needs to hit the weights and get more muscle. He is not small, just not defined yet. To be expected from a freshman. Rissetto was working over to the side with weights. Vasic has a good stroke from the outside. Shepherd seemed to move the ball good on the point. Young has a good looking shot and has some descent size, but he also needs to hit the weights and get leaner. Williams looks like a 2nd year player, but he will have some growing pains. Kind of reminds me of Nickerson in size and build. Bamba will start at the center position in my opinion.
What did you think in terms of talent if the new guys? How did they look vs the returning guys? In what way did Williams look like a second year player?
Tough to say about talent in one practice early in the season. I think they looked like they will contribute early. The returning guys just know what to do versus the newer guys. My comment about Williams was more his size and build. He has some work to do to learn the system. Young is the most ready contributor of the incoming freshmen. He will be a good player. I am pretty high on Vasic. He can shoot the ball well.