AAC Conference Catch up from CBSSports.com

[HooperScooper]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...u-becomes-the-favorite-as-aac-takes-step-back

A good read for the middle of the off season with nothing else much to talk about.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

It's crazy how they continue to doubt us as a program. Zero chance the conference has an All American? I really hope Rodney and Ryan show them we will still be the best backcourt in the country next year and make these guys out their foot in their mouth again.

 

[Leebo]

It's crazy how they continue to doubt us as a program. Zero chance the conference has an All American?

Pretty sure they said there's "no chance" of having 3 first team All-Americans, like this year.

 

[aceboon]

I see he edited that note about Louisville being "the" flagship program and changed it to "one of the".

 

[tcf15]

I see he edited that note about Louisville being "the" flagship program and changed it "one of the".

Caught that too.

 

[Waquoit]

It's crazy how they continue to doubt us as a program. Zero chance the conference has an All American?

You have to really be looking for slights to come up with that first sentence. And what the guy said was "there is zero chance the league gets three players in the mix for first-team All-American honors next season." Which is 100% true.

 

[Leebo]

Reading malice into every article about UConn is the standard operating procedure for a lot of people on this board.

It's not crazy to suggest that there are questions about this UConn roster or whether Ollie can repeat last year's performance.

Frankly, regression to the mean is far more likely than a repeat championship.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

That's my fault in the misread. Also I think they definitely slighted us in the article. Questioning if we would take a step back this year when we were a 7 seed going into the tournament in the first place. Do they really think we could possibly have a worse regular season with the talent we have coming in and the coach we have? I know we lost Bazz and all but damn. If taking a step back means not winning a championship then they should question every team that wins a national championship like that which they don't unless they actually look like they will be taking a big step back.

 

[upstater]

Reading malice into every article about UConn is the standard operating procedure for a lot of people on this board.

It's not crazy to suggest that there are questions about this UConn roster or whether Ollie can repeat last year's performance.

Frankly, regression to the mean is far more likely than a repeat championship.

I think a writer who neglects UConn when he writes Louisville is the flagship is deserving of scorn.

 

[Leebo]

He changed that... unless you consider calling Louisville "one of" the flagships an insult to UConn.

 

[upstater]

He changed that... unless you consider calling Louisville "one of" the flagships an insult to UConn.

Oh good.

 

[Gampeltiles]

That's my fault in the misread. Also I think they definitely slighted us in the article. Questioning if we would take a step back this year when we were a 7 seed going into the tournament in the first place. Do they really think we could possibly have a worse regular season with the talent we have coming in and the coach we have? I know we lost Bazz and all but damn. If taking a step back means not winning a championship then they should question every team that wins a national championship like that which they don't unless they actually look like they will be taking a big step back.

The writer is a -------let it go. Everyone on this board knows more about the Huskies than he does.

That aside, new Head Coaches Frank Haith at Tulsa & Kelvin Sampson at Houston have interesting pasts, very Calipari-ish. Haith bolted from Missouri. During his presser he referred to his new conference as "the Atlantic". Ignorance aside he is a master of very interesting (aka not exactly on the up and up) recruiting. He has managed to jump from Miami to Missouri and now Tulsa without penalty. Tulsa is not a bad team.

Sampson's recruiting tricks are legendary in some parts. Coached at Indiana at one point where he was pretty much run out of town. He brought Oklahoma to the FF in 2002 and has the highest winning % in OKIE history. With that resume, he decided to bolt to the NBA to be an assistant. Wonder what he was running from?

The point is that cheaters can prosper. I expect Tulsa, who won C-USA last year with an honest coach, to be as good or better this year with a sleazy coach.

Houston. Kelvin Sampson can create excitement in his own shady way, to a city that hasn't given a crap about college basketball since Guy Lewis called it quits. However, the history is there.

Despite the dopey article this league, though top-heavy again, has the National Champs, SMU who is loaded, plus Memphis who always seems to field a quality team.

Then there are the 2 wild-cards, Houston and Tulsa--what's more important the result or the method?

Getting 5 teams into the Tournament? It can happen, a lot depends on OOC performance.

UCONN through no fault of it's own, is going to be in a league in which 2 competing programs, who just by being in the same conference, may hurt the credibility of the entire AAC and its members.

Does this situation then hurt our chances of getting into a P5?

 

[intlzncster]

Reading malice into every article about UConn is the standard operating procedure for a lot of people on this board.

It's not crazy to suggest that there are questions about this UConn roster or whether Ollie can repeat last year's performance.

Frankly, regression to the mean is far more likely than a repeat championship.

Under Ollie, that's a 20+ win season. I'll take that.

 

[intlzncster]

Despite the dopey article this league, though top-heavy again, has the National Champs, SMU who is loaded, plus Memphis who always seems to field a quality team.

Q----UCONN is, through no fault of it's own, going to be in a league in which 2 competing programs, who just by being here, hurt the credibility of the league and it's members. Does this situation hurt our chances of getting into a P5?

Not in the least. A conference looking to expand doesn't give a rats arse where a school comes from, just what they bring to the table. And UCONN's basketball pedigree is written in stone at this point anyway. It hurts come tournament selection time only.

On the coaches point: I'm probably in the minority, but I'll take as many shady coaches as possible in the lesser programs. Just build them up, I don't care how, and have UCONN run a tight ship in the process. Makes the league better and UCONN look better (in more ways than one) simultaneously.

 

[Gampeltiles]

Not in the least. A conference looking to expand doesn't give a rats arse where a school comes from, just what they bring to the table. And UCONN's basketball pedigree is written in stone at this point anyway. It hurts come tournament selection time only.

On the coaches point: I'm probably in the minority, but I'll take as many shady coaches as possible in the lesser programs. Just build them up, I don't care how, and have UCONN run a tight ship in the process. Makes the league better and UCONN look better (in more ways than one) simultaneously.

About the coaches.......the way recruiting is so cut throat, I admit I agree. It's a matter of degree and don't get caught. It is unfortunate that it has to be this way.

 

[auror]

Also I think they definitely slighted us in the article. Questioning if we would take a step back this year when we were a 7 seed going into the tournament in the first place. Do they really think we could possibly have a worse regular season with the talent we have coming in and the coach we have?

Yes. We lost 3 starters and a glue guy, one of whom was the AAC Player of the Year, Bob Cousy winner, NCAA Tournament Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and consensus First-Team All-American. Another was our most-heralded recruit on that team and potential NBA draft pick, and the third shot an absurd 50% from 3 during the regular season. We add essentially 2 talented scorers and 2 glue guys to a similar defensive core, but there are a lot of shots (especially efficient ones... Niels 68 TS%, Napier 59% TS, Daniels 56% TS) to fill. Is it really inconceivable that we could be the same or worse during the regular season?

 

[Kitaman]

Anyone seen Mudiay of SMU play? I hear he's as advertised.

 

[huskyharry]

You have to really be looking for slights to come up with that first sentence. And what the guy said was "there is zero chance the league gets three players in the mix for first-team All-American honors next season." Which is 100% true.

I guess it depends upon your definition of "in the mix". Between the 11 teams there are several strong players who could potentially end up on the Wooden Watch etc.

 

[huskyharry]

Yes. We lost 3 starters and a glue guy, one of whom was the AAC Player of the Year, Bob Cousy winner, NCAA Tournament Final Four Most Outstanding Player, and consensus First-Team All-American. Another was our most-heralded recruit on that team and potential NBA draft pick, and the third shot an absurd 50% from 3 during the regular season. We add essentially 2 talented scorers and 2 glue guys to a similar defensive core, but there are a lot of shots (especially efficient ones... Niels 68 TS%, Napier 59% TS, Daniels 56% TS) to fill. Is it really inconceivable that we could be the same or worse during the regular season?

Matching last season's regular season record is very achievable for next year's team and may actually be their basement.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Not in the least. A conference looking to expand doesn't give a rats arse where a school comes from, just what they bring to the table. And UCONN's basketball pedigree is written in stone at this point anyway. It hurts come tournament selection time only.

On the coaches point: I'm probably in the minority, but I'll take as many shady coaches as possible in the lesser programs. Just build them up, I don't care how, and have UCONN run a tight ship in the process. Makes the league better and UCONN look better (in more ways than one) simultaneously.

As my late brother-in-law use to say . You have to stay within an acceptable level of larceny. Staying on that line without crossing it is an art form.

 

[Gampeltiles]

Matching last season's regular season record is very achievable for next year's team and may actually be their basement.

The whole "step back" scenario is very vague. In context the writer was focusing on KO's big contract. He then tosses away all credibility by speculating that if the team hit some rough sledding the pressure on Ollie would "tighten".

The insinuation that Kevin Ollie's job would somehow be on the line if the team is slow out of the gate or if they hit a dry spell shows how little the writer knows about UCONN basketball.

Duke has failed to win a Tournament game in 2 years losing to low mid-major teams. Talk about stepping back, Coach "K" should be falling backward off a 300 foot cliff.

UCONN did not exactly have a great regular season last year. The game at Louisville was beyond pathetic. Then beaten by Louisville at home in "Olliewood" where he ended out getting tossed. Losing to Houston and SMU on their Texas swing. They were owned by Louisville and SMU.

I do believe the team will be more consistent this season.

Can they repeat? Sure. Will they? Not likely,..........Bottom line: This is still an ELITE, brilliantly coached team going forward. The Tournament seemed to bring out the best in Kevin Ollie and for last year, at least, it reflected on the team. KO managed to kick it up a notch and got his guys to believe. After the Villanova game and knowing it was onto MSG, it was difficult to see them losing a game.

Guard play is especially important in the Tournament. Despite losing Bazz our guards can match up with any in the country. UCONN will still be one Hell of a tough out.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Duke has failed to win a Tournament game in 2 years losing to low mid-major teams. Talk about stepping back, Coach "K" should be falling backward off a 300 foot cliff.

Huh? Duke won three games in the 2013 tournament.

 

[Gampeltiles]

Huh? Duke won three games in the 2013 tournament.

My bad. They lost to Lehigh in the round of 64 in 2012 and to Mercer in the round of 64 this year.

My point about their coach still stands

 

[Waquoit]

The insinuation that Kevin Ollie's job would somehow be on the line if the team is slow out of the gate or if they hit a dry spell shows how little the writer knows about UCONN basketball.

How you get that the writer insinuates Ollie's job would be on the line from the entirly reasonable statement "He is now one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball – and the pressure could increase if the team takes too big of a step back", is tough to figure.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

What a crazy season. If Amidah doesn't make his free throw against St. Joes there's a better than decent chance that last year is regarded as a disappointment.