I feel we should all LOVE the results of this vote. For what it's worth, ranked 5th pre-season is a fair spot - but knowing KO, he will use it to motivate himself and the team at every turn throughout this year.
On the one hand, I am certainly hoping that Coach Ollie continues to learn from last year's debacle. Along with AD David Benedict they have made the right changes in the off-season and we saw that bear some fruit starting with bringing in Kwintin Williams and running through the very productive September we had on the recruiting trail.
Now we need improvement in KO's actual coaching, starting with beginning-of-season preparation. We all know that this year's pre-conference schedule is quite challenging, and we can not afford to lose more than 50% of the marquee games... let alone the "gimme" games. In a more normal year being ready starting with Game 1 is a challenge - with 8 new faces and 3 more coming off of season-ending injuries, this year even moreso. We figure to struggle at times as we find the best combinations. At those times some combination of Adams, Vital, Larrier and Gilbert have got to overcome the struggles enough to make us win. In addition, Ollie needs to improve on his in-game coaching on some levels. Nothing new to most of us, as these things have been hashed out on different threads ad nauseam.
So, why should we love being picked 5th? Because one area that Ollie has proven to be great at since his playing days - he is at his best when you give him a chip to put on everyone's shoulders, including his own. We all agree that he did his best coaching job in his first 2 years as head coach. The 2012-2013 team had no business going 20-10, and particularly winning that last game against Providence with 3 integral guys out and playing with essentially 6 guys against a team in desperate need of a win to boost their NCAA tournament resume (that loss definitely was one of the things that sent them to the NIT). And then of course the 4th National Championship in 2013-2014. KO did a masterful job guiding Shabazz and Co. to channel their anger and frustration over the bogus APR ban into an inspired run into history.
The question is: can he inspire Jalen to feel like a smited, hungry dog the way Shabazz did? If no, then we might not even finish 5th. But if yes... and Larrier, Vital and Gilbert also use this "slight" as a proper motivational tool, then watch out... particularly come February, March and April.
All I can say is - thank you AAC coaches for adding one more perceived shot of disrespect that our boys and coaches can use for bulletin board material throughout this 2017-2018 campaign.