American have strongest teams in tournament

[Fishy]

I think Temple will turn around very quickly to solid NIT caliber with an outside shot at an NCAA bid. They get everyone but Pepper back and add a quality big man and get Dingle back from injury. It will be a good team next year.

I think UCF, USF, ECU and Tulane will reach a new level of terrible. Houston and Tulsa will be garden variety bad.

Good god, I forgot about ECU.

So basically, you have the deep end of the pool which has UConn, Cincy, Memphis and SMU, (until Larry Brown leaves).

Then, you have the shallow end with Temple and maybe Houston.

And then you have teams that keep drowning in the kiddie pool - UCF, USF, ECU, Tulane, Tulsa.

It's an interesting mix of Conference USA level athletics, SEC ethics and Big 12 academics.

I'm fired up.

 

[James]

Wow SMU is going to be serious next year; just scanned their youthful roster. Plus they add mudiay who is in fact the real deal. Mudiay and Hamilton are familiar with eachother, i think both their aau squads went at it at either eybl or some other tourney.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Even if Boat and DD don't return, we'll have a decent roster:

- Rodney Purvis, Terence Samuel, Omar Calhoun, Daniel Hamilton, Sam Cassell Jr on the perimeter
- Lubin and Facey at the 4
- Nolan and Brimah at the 5

I've gotta believe Facey will have learned his defensive assignments and gotten stronger by next year, so he could be a decent starter. Brimah should be much improved. That perimeter has a lot of talent. It should be a competitive team. If Boat and/or Daniels come back it's even better. And who knows, maybe Tolksdorf will be able to contribute a few minutes.

I think we'll be better next year, straight up. Improvement from Brimah, Nolan, Facey, Samuel, Tolksdorf maybe Calhoun (can't be worse) plus seniors Boat & DD, and we add two stud players in Hamilton and Purvis, a physical presence in Lubin and Cassell for depth. The talent level is higher next year, the experience level will be less.

Purvis isn't a freshman remember, he'll be a Junior age wise, with Sophomore eligibility. I expect him to be our leading scorer out of the gate. We should have a much more traditional lineup, with a natural SG for a change and much more balanced scoring, especially if DHam is for real. KO will have a lot of options and should be able to match up with anyone.

 

[Mots010]

It's counter-intuitive given that we're losing Shabazz, but I think UConn is better positioned in the next two years than they are now. Like most of the American's top 5 teams, we kinda look Sweet Sixteen-ish this season.

We lose Bazz and Griffey this year, but, the returning players are a better than solid base and we're adding three grown men and a serious scorer to the mix. I think the team dynamic changes completely - we go from "kinda small" to "Holy crap, they have big people all over the court".

Don't get me wrong, I love Bazz and Boat as our back court. But we've had a back court going on 5 years now that might average over 6 feet if they all put boots on. It will be refreshing to not get beat up physically for the first time in a half decade.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I think we'll be better next year, straight up. Improvement from Brimah, Nolan, Facey, Samuel, Tolksdorf maybe Calhoun (can't be worse) plus seniors Boat & DD, and we add two stud players in Hamilton and Purvis, a physical presence in Lubin and Cassell for depth. The talent level is higher next year, the experience level will be less.

Purvis isn't a freshman remember, he'll be a Junior age wise, with Sophomore eligibility. I expect him to be our leading scorer out of the gate. We should have a much more traditional lineup, with a natural SG for a change and much more balanced scoring, especially if DHam is for real. KO will have a lot of options and should be able to match up with anyone.

I think we'll be more athletic, maybe more talented, but not a better team. You just can't overestimate the importance of steady leadership and smart play from guys like Giff and Kromah (and even Olander), to say nothing about the head of the snake in Bazz.

I expect the team to struggle a bit in December, maybe even an egregious WTF loss. Hopefully Boat's improving leadership and the integration of the new guys will culminate in us peaking late in the year and being poised for a deep run. I'm actually more excited for 2015-16, though I think we'll need to find a muscular stretch-4 type to replace DD.

 

[Marty Jackson]

I'm actually underwhelmed by the conference this year. I knew SMU would be this good, but I expected much more from Temple and Houston. Even USF and UCF should be roughly where Houston is. And Rutgers is putrid. I thought the conference was going to be a lot tougher than this. Well, at least we're getting rid of Rutgers.

All I know is that Temple and Houston better get their act together ASAP.

didn't Temple lose 7 players from last year? Temple will be much improved next season.

I don't think many people thought we had 5 NCAA tourney teams this year. Especially if you counted Temple as a rebuilding year.
And, these are 5 teams that 'should' make it to the 2nd round.

If this league is a solid 4-5 bid league each year, and the other schools get more competitive, bb will be fine.

 

[upstater]

Except Calhoun was 40-ish and Brown is 73. It's their next coach who will determine if SMU has any staying power.

Unfortunately their next coach is already on SMU's bench.

 

[Kitaman]

Wow SMU is going to be serious next year; just scanned their youthful roster. Plus they add mudiay who is in fact the real deal. Mudiay and Hamilton are familiar with eachother, i think both their aau squads went at it at either eybl or some other tourney.

Which is why Coach Brown is energized. I think he'll be around for at least 3-4 more years. I think he knows the new conference needs him and of course SMU to at least start something good (i.e. foundation).

 

[CTBasketball]

Going to go out and say right now that SMU and UConn will go 1-2 next year in the AAC.

 

[metsfan2323]

It's an interesting mix of Conference USA level athletics, SEC ethics and Big 12 academics.

Ethics and academic lines have been breached by every conference. Name a conference and i'll name a scandal. And when was the last time CUSA had a bunch of teams going to the tournament and a national television contract?

I think it's safe to say that UCONN basketball is not in immediate danger because of its ties to the AAC, so you and Nelson should give it a rest already. There is no fire in this movie theater so stop shouting.

 

[James]

2015 Rotation
Terrence Samuel/Sam Cassell
Prince Ali/Will Jackson
Daniel Hamilton/Omar Calhoun
Lubin/ X Recruit
Brimah/Nolan/Lubin

woah. Couldn't help.

 

[Rico444]

2015 Rotation
Terrence Samuel/Sam Cassell
Prince Ali/Will Jackson
Daniel Hamilton/Omar Calhoun
Lubin/ X Recruit
Brimah/Nolan/Lubin

woah. Couldn't help.

You're forgetting Purvis, too. He could declare for the draft, but I would bet he's around 2 years.

 

[James]

You're forgetting Purvis, too. He could declare for the draft, but I would bet he's around 2 years.

purposefully left him off. I got a strong feeling he's going to show out in his one year and be a lottery pick in 2015. For me I would bet on Dham being back for another year, him being a frosh and all.

 

[Rico444]

purposefully left him off. I got a strong feeling he's going to show out in his one year and be a lottery pick in 2015. For me I would bet on Dham being back for another year, him being a frosh and all.

We'll be a dangerous team next year if you're right, and if you're wrong, then we'll be filthy in 15-16. Win-win.

 

[billybud]

Forgot 6'4 Cassell. Wow. So even if boat doesn't return we have a point and a back up. Still hope he does

I always liked his dad when he played at FSU...he led the ACC in steals and always had a big smile.

Hope Jr. does as well.

 

[storrsroars]

Where are Boat and DD going, Turkey?