Andy Katz Top 50

[b][b]46. Xavier [/b]

Credentials: We’re still not sure how Xavier didn’t get a postseason NIT invite – something must have been terribly wrong with the communication between the A-10 and the NIT. If everything goes as planned this season, Xavier won’t have to sweat out a Sunday night call. Everything is in place for Sean Miller to get this squad back to where it belongs on a regular basis – the NCAA Tournament. The Musketeers return their top eight scorers – and these guys can play. Stanley Burrell, Justin Cage, Justin Doellman, Brian Thornton, Dedrick Finn, Josh Duncan and Will Caudle can hang with any squad. Toss in impact newcomer forward B.J. Raymond and possible contributors Derrick Brown and Johnny Wolf, and the Musketeers have the depth to match any A-10 team.

Reason: These players and this coaching staff are too talented to let last season’s disappointment go without a response. We’re fairly confident Xavier will be a much more consistent team. The problem last season was the lack of consistency – win two, lose one, win one, lose one, and no major marquee wins outside of beating Iowa State Jan. 3, when the Cyclones weren’t playing well.

Red flag: The offensive droughts have to stop. There were games – like scoring 54 points against Cincinnati, the 54 against Temple, the 52 against LaSalle and the 55 against Dayton – that showed this team’s struggles on the offensive end. If the Musketeers can shake the erratic offensive behavior, they could be a team that climbs throughout the season. [/b]


ESPN.com: Numbers 41-50

X comes in at 46 with Ohio State coming in at 47. I know X fans are loving that!!! :smiley: Congrats to X. Looking forward to reading about Charlotte and GW in the coming weeks!!

[i]Originally posted by forDniner[/i]@Aug 16 2005, 12:09 PM [b] X comes in at 46 with Ohio State coming in at 47. I [b]know[/b] X fans are loving that!!! :D Congrats to X. Looking forward to reading about Charlotte and GW in the coming weeks!! [/b]
X better enjoy that this year. If Ohio State's recruiting class comes through, it's all going to change, at least for one year.

FYI, we’re not in the 31-40 range.

Numbers 31-40 posted today. Temple comes in at #31.

[b][b]31. Temple

Credentials:[/b] John Chaney knew what he was doing in coming back for at least one more season. The Owls have a great chance to get back to the NCAAs. The Owls finished 11-5 in the Atlantic 10 last season and return Mardy Collins, one of the top lead guards in the country. Collins wasn’t given much of a chance to make the U-21 team in Dallas in July, but he did because of his versatility. The rest of the team, with the exception of center Keith Butler, also returns. Mark Tyndale and Dustin Salisbery were underrated in the A-10 last season.

Reason: Chaney has always said it takes a few seasons for players to understand his system fully. Well, he has a veteran team, which should help the Owls transition into a more fluid offense. The schedule isn’t as brutal as usual, which should allow Temple to save its strength for the A-10. Wouldn’t it be more of a story if Chaney went out with an NCAA bid?

Red flag: There are still some distractions with Chaney’s future uncertain and Nehemiah Ingram could draw some wrath on the road in conference play, but the Owls’ main problem is still their inconsistent offense. Someone else, such as Antywane Robinson or Wayne Marshall, has to be more productive for the Owls’ offense to truly sing. [/b]


ESPN.com: Numbers 31-40

My guess was he would have us at 27.

Yeah, I was thinking us 27-29 and GW 19-22.

blasphemy! we are TOP FIVE

FWIW, George Washington is currently on a tour of Australia. They won their first game 126-64. Interesting thing about that score is that it doesn’t include any contribution from Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who is working out with the English National Team. Also doesn’t incude the incoming frosh or LSU transfer Regis Koundjia. The Aussie competition aside, sounds like the Colonials are the real thing.

[i]Originally posted by run49er[/i]@Aug 16 2005, 05:16 PM [b] FWIW, George Washington is currently on a tour of Australia. They won their first game 126-64. Interesting thing about that score is that it doesn't include any contribution from Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who is working out with the English National Team. Also doesn't incude the incoming frosh or LSU transfer Regis Koundjia. The Aussie competition aside, sounds like the Colonials are the real thing. [/b]
YIKES! they scored 126 points without all those guys!? I cant wait for the GWU game. I cant remember, do we play them at home or away or both this year? I really hope they are top 20 or even top 15 by the time we play them
[i]Originally posted by forDniner[/i]@Aug 16 2005, 12:09 PM [b] X comes in at 46 with Ohio State coming in at 47. I [b]know[/b] X fans are loving that!!! :D Congrats to X. Looking forward to reading about Charlotte and GW in the coming weeks!! [/b]
we're gonna be ahead of state and UNC-CH, looks like we'll be 3 maybe 2BC
[i]Originally posted by run49er[/i]@Aug 16 2005, 05:16 PM [b] FWIW, George Washington is currently on a tour of Australia. They won their first game 126-64. Interesting thing about that score is that it doesn't include any contribution from Pops Mensah-Bonsu, who is working out with the English National Team. Also doesn't incude the incoming frosh or LSU transfer Regis Koundjia. The Aussie competition aside, sounds like the Colonials are the real thing. [/b]
Did Iti play on that Australian team? :o

Niners will be #19.

GW will be #22.

tarholes #40 and will have headlines on page 1 of Observer for 14 consecutive days when season gets closer.

[i]Originally posted by Over40NINER[/i]@Aug 17 2005, 01:16 AM [b] Niners will be #19. [/b]
i doubt even andy katz is gonna give us THAT much respect. i dont think we are top 25, but i also dont think we are that far out of it...

chisox, my post originally had us at 25 but I then changed it to 19. We already know we’re top 30, so you just never know…

I personally think we will be better than most people think we will. That’s all I’ll say for now.

High 20’s around 27-29 is about where we will probably end up. With the wonderful way we ended the season last year… It would shock me to see us breaking the Top 25 on anyones list.

They said CW played the best of anyone during the tryouts and the entire US basketball industry was watching so, that probably adds something to our preseason ranking.

Also the A10 preseason write-up on Charlotte for a week or so on the front page of ESPN will also help, when all the polls come out.

our defense will keep us out of top 25, we were already bad and lost eddie basden…not saying that can’t be an improved area but that is a big question mark and really what kept us from being top 10 or so last season…I think the CW hype may get us a little more attention than usual on the other hand. could be like Rodney’s year and a few publications had us top 25 because of his hype.

#23 says the great Carnack.

I have a hunch our defense is going to be better this season. After complementing the Coach on earning a reputation in the past as a master of Xs and Os, I asked Coach on his show last season why he has gotten away from that and why the defense is almost non-existent. His response was that we now have the horses to simply outrun and outgun most opponents and that he doesn’t have to rely on scrappy defense and sets to overcome a lack of athleticism anymore. He also admitted that simply trying to outrun and outgun opponents wasn’t always enough and that he would have to work more with the team on defense (I think this followed Rutgers).

With that said, we have a bunch of guys who have been practicing with the team for one or more seasons and it was said at least once last season that the B team has been known to take the A team to the woodshed in intrasquad games. So there should be some of our offensive and defensive sets ingrained in at least some of these guys coming in or finally getting playing time. We do lose Eddie’s defense but we also lost Iti’s and Plavich’s lack thereof.

GW is looking scary but I think that barring injuries and stupid off the court antics, we are the team to beat in the A-10 (A-10 or Atlantic 10 looks and sounds so much better (actual performance aside) than that lame excuse of a name and abreviation CUSA or Conference USA).

I also think that there will be equal or better rivalries (hopefully based more on good natured sportsmanship than hatred of players, coaches and fans) due to the more compact geography of the conference. There is nobody to really hate in this conference, although Cheney will get his share of abuse for calling out the goon squad. With Charlotte and GW expected to be at or near the top this season and both being relatively close, this would be a natural place to start. Richmond will have to wait because they are looking more like Molly Brown than Cinderella these days.