[QUOTE=metro;253072]The A10 has been a boat anchor on hoops. Its not even up for debate.[/QUOTE]
Iād debate that. Cincinnati hoops has struggled against its competition in the Big East and I would not call their conference a boat anchor. Charlotte baseball has excelled against its competition and I would not credit the conference for our success there, either. I never saw Charlotte dominate its conference competition enough in basketball to place the blame externally.
I think that we (including myself) were so pissed off at missing the Big East invite that we fell victim to believing āA-10 is teh suck!ā because we so wanted to believe it. And because we want to believe it so bad - no one bothers to check whether itās true or not. C-USA was better, but I donāt know if thereās a night-and-day different in menās basketball between it and the A-10. I checked to see how many more Tournament bids Conference USA got than the Atlantic 10 during C-USAās existence and itās 41-36. Thereās a gap but itās nothing to get all worked up about. If the goal is to one day latch onto a BCS Conference then weāre in the right conference at the moment.
IMO, the conference will get its bids and the Top 150 recruits will continue to sign with the Atlantic 10 due to the eroding C-USA losing so many attractive schools. They might even sign with Charlotte too! :rolleyes: But we gotta construct the pipelines at schools in NC, Maryland (Moxley), Northern Va (Cheeks) while landing an occasional Phil Jones-type from A-10ās territory. Iām sure the coaches got the memo that UTEP is no longer a conference-mate, so Iām not exactly sure why we still actively trek Texas/Kansas/Missouri for jucos anymore (no complaints with Coley or Mack. The complaint is the efforts spent over there that could be spent [I]over here[/I]).
Ehā¦rather than waste any more or my breath - maybe its better to just let the conference do the talking. We should all have a better idea of where the conference is heading after this year - good or bad.
[QUOTE=casstommy;253160]And I have not met anyone who thought Phaler was going to save the program.[/QUOTE]
I guess Iām alone in my āJohn Locke-likeā faith in Phaler.
Iām still convinced that he was in the wrong situation last year where so many players in the lineup were eager to shoot the basketball and not do much of anything else. When Phaler is on the floor as an athlete amongst shooters then your team has got some problems. If we truly have added some athletic players to the lineup then maybe Phaler will be our best hope at having a decent season.
On a side note, I stumbled upon some of Phalerās old stats from high school and he was once a monster rebounder, believe it or not.
As a few have said here, I too agree blame should be shared among the program/coaches and the A-10. I hope it was more of the adjustment to the A-10 (recruiting/style/scheduling) than the A-10 just being a bad fit. I really think our decline is because of two things: bad 2005 recruiting class when our destination wasnāt known (Coleman, Jamison, C. Williams), another poor one last year because guys didnāt pan out and system not being as effective (player/coaching combination). Defense has been poor for several years but hitting crucial shots got us by in the past. I hope to see some changes as we all do.
What we lost with C-USA are the big names of UL, UC, and Memphis, which is a lot especially to the fans and alums who just follow it casually. Those people bought in to the big names.
[QUOTE=survivor45;253167]Iād debate that. Cincinnati hoops has struggled against its competition in the Big East and I would not call their conference a boat anchor. Charlotte baseball has excelled against its competition and I would not credit the conference for our success there, either. I never saw Charlotte dominate its conference competition enough in basketball to place the blame externally.
I think that we (including myself) were so pissed off at missing the Big East invite that we fell victim to believing āA-10 is teh suck!ā because we so wanted to believe it. And because we want to believe it so bad - no one bothers to check whether itās true or not. C-USA was better, but I donāt know if thereās a night-and-day different in menās basketball between it and the A-10. I checked to see how many more Tournament bids Conference USA got than the Atlantic 10 during C-USAās existence and itās 41-36. Thereās a gap but itās nothing to get all worked up about. If the goal is to one day latch onto a BCS Conference then weāre in the right conference at the moment.
IMO, the conference will get its bids and the Top 150 recruits will continue to sign with the Atlantic 10 due to the eroding C-USA losing so many attractive schools. They might even sign with Charlotte too! :rolleyes: But we gotta construct the pipelines at schools in NC, Maryland (Moxley), Northern Va (Cheeks) while landing an occasional Phil Jones-type from A-10ās territory. Iām sure the coaches got the memo that UTEP is no longer a conference-mate, so Iām not exactly sure why we still actively trek Texas/Kansas/Missouri for jucos anymore (no complaints with Coley or Mack. The complaint is the efforts spent over there that could be spent [I]over here[/I]).
Ehā¦rather than waste any more or my breath - maybe its better to just let the conference do the talking. We should all have a better idea of where the conference is heading after this year - good or bad.[/QUOTE]
do you golf? you ever play with a guy who shoots a 125 and he drags your play down where you fire off a 100? then you play with a group of scratch golfers and step it up to an 80. I sure as heck seem to. I feel like that is sort of an analogy to what happened with hoops.
[QUOTE=survivor45;253167]Iād debate that. Cincinnati hoops has struggled against its competition in the Big East and I would not call their conference a boat anchor.[/QUOTE]
When we whine about the A10 sucking while finishing in the bottom half, we sound as stupid as the Louisville fans did in CUSA.
If we were winning the A10 every year and then bombing in the Tournament because the play was so much tougher than league play, we could say this. Cincy, mercenary thugs that they were, was the school that had a right to whine like that. Not UL.
[QUOTE=metro;253249]do you golf? you ever play with a guy who shoots a 125 and he drags your play down where you fire off a 100? then you play with a group of scratch golfers and step it up to an 80. I sure as heck seem to. I feel like that is sort of an analogy to what happened with hoops.[/QUOTE]
I dunno about this. I seem to recall someone complaining about the weak A-10 competition during the baseball season. I forget who that person was - but I agreed with him. Are you saying that you credit the A-10 for elevating Charlotteās āgolfā game in baseball?
I think itās spin. If you try hard enough, you could find a way to blame the conference from everything from a 16-0 record to a 0-16 campaign. I oversimplify and belive that, in general, powerful teams dominate weak conferences and mediocre teams struggle in powerful conference. Maybe, maybe, maybeā¦not every team in the A-10 is a Saint Bonaventure and we underestimate them.
Iām going to maintain an open mind. If the conference canāt get more than 2 bids this year then Iāll agree thereās something wrong with the league.
[QUOTE=metro;253072]easy killer. My point is that a decade ago, everyone knew we were a undebatable top 50 program. [/QUOTE]
My money says that the seasons weāve been āundebatably top 50ā in the last 10 (which is most of them), EVERYONE DID NOT KNOW. My guess is no more than 50% of sports fans living in the Charlotte metro area knew we were āundebatably top 50ā most of those years.
Nowā¦ back on topicā¦ We cannot criticize the A10 too much until we DOMINATE the conference. I know the conference has not been what it used to beā¦ but neither have weā¦ and we havenāt exactly pulled up the conference rpi any.
Hereās the synopsis of the Rivals Top 64 (with a specific mention of the Atlantic 10):
Practice doesn't start until October, but it's time to whet your appetite with the Rivals.com Top 64 Countdown. The list, of which we'll bring you one team a day from No. 64 to No. 1, is not meant to be a prediction of which teams will make the NCAA Tournament. Rather, it's the teams we believe will be the 64 best in the nation.
Many will pan out and live up to our expectations. Some will wither under the weight. Still other teams outside our Top 64 will emerge with a big, āI told you so.ā
Without divulging too much, there are a few facts weāll give you in advance regarding our list:
ā¢ The Big East and the SEC have the most teams in the Top 64.
ā¢ The Pac-10 is easily the strongest conference in the country, with more teams in the top 35 than any conference.
ā¢ The Big Ten is headed for a down year, with only three teams in the top 40.
ā¢ The Atlantic 10 is on an upswing.
ā¢ Those guys from George Mason, the Final Four Cinderella of two years ago, could be ready to make some noise again.
So letās have some fun and talk some hoops. Weāll provide your daily fix and next thing you know practice will be under way.
[QUOTE=Chisox17;253603]Well, so far weāve got two A10 teams in thereā¦[/QUOTE]
I figure at least 2 more, maybe 3. Xavier for sure and Iām thinking Rhode Island and St. Joeās as well.
or Mack. The complaint is the efforts spent over there that could be spent [I]over here[/I]).