2015-16 College Hoops Discussion Thread

[bear]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...onference-predictions-what-to-expect-from-smu

Norlander's anti-UConn bias is so painfully obvious. Having us 4th behind Tulsa isn't some kind of bold prediction, it's embarrassing.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Matt Norlander ‏@MattNorlander 27m27 minutes ago
No, UConn fans, I don’t hate your team. I just think 1-4 in the AAC is as close as any multi-bid conf. this season. http://cbsprt.co/1Pukj3V

 

[upstater]

The AAC looks pretty grim after the top 4.

Depends on the coaching. Memphis and Houston have a lot of talent. Temple has two key returning seniors.

I see this year's conference as being much deeper than prior years. The league has 3 teams now at the bottom of the barrel (USF, UCF and Tulane), one team that is on the verge of surprising and moving to the middle (ECU), three teams with plenty of talent (two of them have good coaches) but are in "prove it mode" in Temple, Memphis, and Houston.

SMU, Tulsa and Cincinnati brought back most of the key parts from last year.

This seems to be the AAC's best season so far.

 

[4in16]

Depends on the coaching. Memphis and Houston have a lot of talent. Temple has two key returning seniors.

I see this year's conference as being much deeper than prior years. The league has 3 teams now at the bottom of the barrel (USF, UCF and Tulane), one team that is on the verge of surprising and moving to the middle (ECU), three teams with plenty of talent (two of them have good coaches) but are in "prove it mode" in Temple, Memphis, and Houston.

SMU, Tulsa and Cincinnati brought back most of the key parts from last year.

This seems to be the AAC's best season so far.

Other than the one team that's banned from the postseason, but yeah this year other than that does look promising for the AAC.

 

[upstater]

Some notable OOC Games:

Temple v. UNC
Memphis v. Oklahoma
Tulsa v. Wichita St.
Temple v. Minnesota
USF v. George Washington
SMU v. Stanford
East Carolina v. California
Temple at Puerto Rico Tourney
East Carolina v. San Diego State
UConn v. Michigan
UConn v. Syracuse
USF v. Kentucky
Cincy v. Nebraska
Memphis v. Ohio State
UConn at Bahamas
Cincy v. Tennessee
Cincy v. Butler
SMU v. TCU
Tulsa v. Oklahoma St.
USF v. South Carolina
Tulane v. Georgia Tech
Temple v. Wisconsin
UCF v. UMass
Houston v. Rhode Island
SMU v. Michigan
UConn v. Maryland
UConn v. Ohio State
Cincy v. Xavier
USF v. NC State
Temple v. St. Joseph's
Houston v. LSU
Tulane v. North Carolina
Memphis v. Ole Miss
Tulane v. Mississippi St.
Cincy v. VCU
Tulsa v. Oregon St.
Cincy v. Iowa State
USF v. Seton Hall
SMU v. Penn State/Colorado
UCF v. George Washington
UConn v. Texas
Memphis v. South Carolina
Temple v. Lasalle
UConn v. Georgetown
SMU v. Gonzaga
Temple v. Villanova

Looking at this, Temple should be applauded for making a big effort to up SOS, and any wins over Temple should help their opponents considerably.

In fact, 4 of the top 5 teams have tough schedules, with Tulsa being the only one to drop the ball, with games against Oklahoma St. and Wichita St. only. Next comes Cincy with games against Iowa St., VCU, Butler, Tennessee. Next comes SMU (about even with Cincy) with games against Gonzaga, Stanford, Michigan and one of Colorado/PSU. Then there's a wide gap up to Temple, with a very touch schedule, very close to UConn which should have the toughest SOS.

Of the other teams, USF and Memphis have made the strongest efforts.

 

[UChusky916]

Matt Norlander ‏@MattNorlander 27m27 minutes ago
No, UConn fans, I don’t hate your team. I just think 1-4 in the AAC is as close as any multi-bid conf. this season. http://cbsprt.co/1Pukj3V

The fact that he had to tweet that makes it all the more obvious of his actual UConn hate. Hilarious.

 

[aceboon]

Ray Smith for Arizona tore his ACL in practice the other day, and this is after reports were coming out that he looked like Zona's best player after sitting out his senior year of HS while recovering from an ACL tear in the other knee. Maybe its just because I pay way more attention to basketball now than I did when I was younger, but it seems like there are alot more ACL injuries with basketball players than there were say 15-20 years ago.

 

[intlzncster]

Ray Smith for Arizona tore his ACL in practice the other day, and this is after reports were coming out that he looked like Zona's best player after sitting out his senior year of HS while recovering from an ACL tear in the other knee. Maybe its just because I pay way more attention to basketball now than I did when I was younger, but it seems like there are alot more ACL injuries with basketball players than there were say 15-20 years ago.

Kids are playing a hell of a lot more games from a much younger age, so it wouldn't be a surprise. Especially with year round AAU schedules. No rest combined with a lot of pounding.

 

[ctchamps]

Other than the one team that's banned from the postseason, but yeah this year other than that does look promising for the AAC.

Hopefully Brown can keep that team motivated to win outside of the conference and hopefully that team does not dominate the AAC! Even with the ban a very good SMU can help the conference.

 

[James]

Ray Smith for Arizona tore his ACL in practice the other day, and this is after reports were coming out that he looked like Zona's best player after sitting out his senior year of HS while recovering from an ACL tear in the other knee. Maybe its just because I pay way more attention to basketball now than I did when I was younger, but it seems like there are alot more ACL injuries with basketball players than there were say 15-20 years ago.

A theory I've heard is more in the gym hooping , less outdoor hoop for the youngsters . Less vitamin d weaker bones... Honestly 10 years ago you didn't see nearly this many "lanky skinny" prospects ( guess like terrence fergerson and even ray smith). the park is where you earned stripes when I was younger , now it's getting in the travel circuit/ aau team .

 

[kobe]

Preseason rankings released: http://kenpom.com/

 

[OkaForPrez]

@kobe welcome back. Good luck this year.

 

[David 76]

32nd?!

 

[UConnSwag11]

Some stuff on Maryland from B1G Media Day:

Big Ten Men's Hoops ‏@B1GMBBall 22h22 hours ago
Melo Trimble of @TerrapinHoops named the 2015-16 #B1GMBBall Preseason Player of the Year.

Jonas Shaffer ‏@jonas_shaffer 4h4 hours ago
Turgeon on Diamond Stone: "What he's improved on is he's changed his body. He's lost weight." #B1GMediaDay

Jonas Shaffer ‏@jonas_shaffer 4h4 hours ago
Turgeon on Stone: "Defensively is where he's really going to have to improve." #B1GMediaDay

Jonas Shaffer ‏@jonas_shaffer 3h3 hours ago
Turgeon thinks Damonte Dodd can be the Defensive Player of the Year. As in, the NCAA's Defensive Player of the Year.

You think if his conditioning is up by our game, that you'll see miller at the 5 a lot to tire him out and bring him away from the basket?

 

[aceboon]

Everything I've read about Maryland this fall leads me to believe that there is a good chance Diamond Stone probably won't start for MD. Might not really be too big of a concern.

 

[kobe]

32nd?!

His rankings don't account for transfers I believe. Give it a month or so to include your 5th year guys.

 

[tcf15]

Sporting News putting Marcus Paige ahead of Kris Dunn as the best point guard in the country. Think they'll regret that by season's end.

http://www.sportingnews.com/list/4659273-ranking-best-point-guards-college-basketball/slide/369370

10. Cat Barber
9. Frank Mason
8. Ty Wallace
7. Tyler Ulis
6. Melo Trimble
5. Yogi Ferrell
4. Demetrius Jackson
3. Fred VanVleet
2. Kris Dunn
1. Marcus Paige

 

[bear]

Sporting News putting Marcus Paige ahead of Kris Dunn as the best point guard in the country. Think they'll regret that by season's end.

http://www.sportingnews.com/list/4659273-ranking-best-point-guards-college-basketball/slide/369370

10. Cat Barber
9. Frank Mason
8. Ty Wallace
7. Tyler Ulis
6. Melo Trimble
5. Yogi Ferrell
4. Demetrius Jackson
3. Fred VanVleet
2. Kris Dunn
1. Marcus Paige

It's rare that I say something positive about PC but I'd take Kris Dunn over Paige every time and I don't think it's close.

 

[BUConn10]

I've been so unimpressed by Marcus Paige.

 

[CallMeBruce]

That's a pretty ridiculous list. I wouldn't have put Barber, Jackson, or Mason on the list at all. Jackson over Ferrell and Trimble is utter lunacy. No Nic Moore or Gibbs is a mistake. And Paige at #1 is pretty bizarre, too.

 

[mauconnfan]

You think if his conditioning is up by our game, that you'll see miller at the 5 a lot to tire him out and bring him away from the basket?

If Amida doesn't improve his D on back-to-the-basket bigs with size/weight it may be Enoch if his feet are fast enough. I know that's a stretch but AB proved unworthy vs many good bigs who could drop step and score around the basket - too thin. Miller may be a bit too small but you could see him on someone like Stone with AB off the ball looking to help on the rim.

 

[Matt1010]

Paige had a tough year, no question about that. With that said, he is a stud and put up real nice #s the year before. IMO it will come down to Dunn and him for the top PG spot.

 

[tcf15]

NBC Sports has been doing a countdown of the top 100 CBB players today on Twitter (here's the list so far: http://collegebasketball.nbcsports.com/2015/10/26/rankings-the-cbttop100-players-in-the-country/). They're at 71 right now and no mention of any UConn players yet, but here are some familiar names, and future opponents:

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 7h7 hours ago
No. 99 Justin Sears, Yale: Even w/ recent success of Harvard, Sears was Ivy's best player last two years #CBTtop100

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 6h6 hours ago
No. 96 Abdul-Malik Abu, N.C. State: We're expecting a breakout season from Abu headlining the Wolfpack #CBTtop100

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 6h6 hours ago
No. 94 Robert Carter Jr, Maryland: GT transfer is an overlooked but difference-making piece for Terps. #CBTtop100

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 5h5 hours ago
No. 91 Maodo Lo, Columbia: Lo starred for Germany this summer, biggest reason Lions are Ivy contenders. #CBTtop100

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 5h5 hours ago
No. 90 Isaac Copeland, Georgetown: Major breakout potential. Inconsistent, six 14+ pt gms v. league foes #CBTtop100

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 2h2 hours ago
No. 79 Markus Kennedy, SMU: He missed the first half of last season so folks forgot just how good he is. #CBTtop100

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 2h2 hours ago
No. 77 Zak Irvin, Michigan: Efficiency numbers should be much improved with LeVert and Walton healthy. #CBTtop100

CollegeBasketbllTalk ‏@CBTonNBC 14m14 minutes ago
No. 71 Ryan Arcidiacono, Villanova: He's flying under the radar this year due to freshman Jalen Brunson. #CBTtop100

 

[tcf15]

First UConn sighting in this list:

 

[tcf15]