[jcmanson]

What say you?

[ToTheLeft]

Kyle averages 13, JVP leads in rebounding, and we finish at .500 and get the tiebreaker for 4th. We host High Point in the first round and win, only to head to Dedmon and lose in the second round. JVP makes all freshman team, Jesse 2nd team All Big South...

[LUconn]

I think Jesse Sanders will make sure we are the best of the 2nd tier of the Big South which will set us up nicely for next year. That also means we get a home game in the tourney and win that. Beyond that we are too young. Again.

[SuperJon]

We start out like 3-9 (rough guess) before conference play, finish around .500 in conference play, host in the first round, and then from there all bets are off.

[Stevev]

I expect us to finish about 3rd or 4th in the conference this year. Right now we are not as good as Radturd or Winthrop but we are close. VMI is losing too much and there is not much else out there. If we can fill the void left by Curry we could surprise some people expecting us to go to the bottom of this conference. The keys are how Perez, Gordon, McMasters, Anderson, and Minaya can fill that void and measure up to there expected level early in their careers. We already know what Sanders and Ohman can do. But how about everyone else? We should be a more "conventional" this year with a true center and forward instead of the 5 guards which had its drawbacks. We will shoot a ton of 3's but our defense could be lacking in certain areas. No reason we should finish at the bottom of this weak conference.

[Sly Fox]

I'd love to direct everyone back 12 months ago to all of the nervous nellies of this board. While I don't see another 23-win season in front of us, I like our chances in league play.

[jcmanson]

I'd love to direct everyone back 12 months ago to all of the nervous nellies of this board. While I don't see another 23-win season in front of us, I like our chances in league play.

Seth Curry is not walking through that door. Neither is Anthony Smith.

[jcmanson]

Seriously though I picked us to finish 5-6 in conference play. I'm just trying to curb my expectations. There's no way we win the conference this year anyway, so why get my hopes up? The bottom line is we're a year or two away from being able to win this thing (I feel like I say this every year).

The first part of the year will suck. We will probably be 1-5 before we can bat an eye.

[Liberty4Life]

I expect us to be in the middle-of-the-pack in the Big South, I expect a few of us to overreact after every win and every loss, I expect a lot of hatred towards Kyle Ohman, I expect a lot of posters will practically need to take a cold shower after talking about Jesse Sanders, I expect enemy posters from Coastal & Winthrop to talk about how great their respective teams are, even though they'd be hard-pressed to crack the top 200 in RPI, and I expect Radford to win the Big South and get annihilated in the first round by the #1 seed.

[ToTheLeft]

I expect us to be in the middle-of-the-pack in the Big South, I expect a few of us to overreact after every win and every loss, I expect a lot of hatred towards Kyle Ohman, I expect a lot of posters will practically need to take a cold shower after talking about Jesse Sanders, I expect enemy posters from Coastal & Winthrop to talk about how great their respective teams are, even though they'd be hard-pressed to crack the top 200 in RPI, and I expect Radford to win the Big South and get annihilated in the first round by the #1 seed.

Middle of the pack: Yes
Overreact: Should be in the slogan for FlameFans
KO Hate: Yes
Jesse-Love: Yes
Coastal: No, they're not good and they know it. It's baseball countdown season for the Chants.
Winthrop: Yes
WU and CCU not in the top 200: Yes
Radford Winning the BSC: Yes
Annihilation by a #1: This is where I say no...

They play a good OOC schedule. A couple of wins/upsets and they're off the 16 line, since they will dominate Big South play. However, if they come out and lose to Navy by 30 to start the year, I take all this back and agree with you 100%.

[Cider Jim]

Seth Curry is not walking through that door. Neither is Anthony Smith.

But, as of today, TB is talking through the door--without his boot or a noticable limp!
And he's got a healthy sidekick who is 2 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier; and there's a tall new kid on the block from the panhandle state.

[olldflame]

manson is right that we likely won't have any one or 2 individuals this year who will put up the numbers baby judas and Smitty did. I'm certainly NOT predicting another 23 win season, but I do believe however, that from 1-15 (counting walkons) we have a squad which can be as good as last years by the end of the season.

I also want to say that while Radford is and should be the favorite to win it all in the BSC this year, I'm not sure they deserve the mantle of invincibility it seems some are putting on them. We came within a few seconds and a bad call of sweeping them last year, and it's not at all unusual for senior stars to actually fall off in productivity from their junior seasons.

[Realist]

I would put LU at 5-8 in conference.

Predicting RPI involves predicting record and opponents records, and wins-losses on home/away, etc. It's pretty hard to do. I would think WU would be between 150-250 this year. Next year I would bet 75-150 though.

Coastal looks better on paper, but they took in some head cases (as usual) so it will probably have more to do with chemistry and maturity rather than talent, if they are to improve.

RU last year was the weakest champion in the last 15 years. They didn't win an OOC game, and while they should be the favorite, some of the conference teams got bigger and better in the post, and that will negate a lot of what made them succeed last year. They basically had the only true experienced big men in the conference. They will need good guard play to replicate last year and Amir is average and the freshmen obviously untested. I highly doubt they run through the conference with only a loss or two.

[vabigpoppa]

I would put LU at 5-8 in conference.

Predicting RPI involves predicting record and opponents records, and wins-losses on home/away, etc. It's pretty hard to do. I would think WU would be between 150-250 this year. Next year I would bet 75-150 though.

Coastal looks better on paper, but they took in some head cases (as usual) so it will probably have more to do with chemistry and maturity rather than talent, if they are to improve.

RU last year was the weakest champion in the last 15 years. They didn't win an OOC game, and while they should be the favorite, some of the conference teams got bigger and better in the post, and that will negate a lot of what made them succeed last year. They basically had the only true experienced big men in the conference. They will need good guard play to replicate last year and Amir is average and the freshmen obviously untested. I highly doubt they run through the conference with only a loss or two.

RU was a totally different team during the non-conference portion of the season compared to the conference portion of the season....we still had ball hog mcduffy, mceachin was out, and art wasnt the go to player. But it doesn't matter, last year is over with.....keep doubting us and thinking we are the same team as last year, we WILL win non conference games this year, but then you will just come up w/ more excuses .

[UNCA Alum]

I put yall at 5-6 in conference... mainly just because I don't know how good some of the new players are going to be. (And I count Anderson and Baker as being new, even though they've played in the past.)

If:

a) You find a reliable post presence
b) You shoot the ball well from the outside
c) You find a guy that can careate his own offense

Then I see yall finishing maybe 3rd or 4th. I think C might be your biggest obstacle. Last year you had Seth and Anthony that you could give the ball to when the shot clock was running down and they could get off a good shot.

Right now... I'm thinking the top 3 is very clearly Radford, UNCA and Winthrop. The bottom three is clearly Presby, Coastal and Charleston. VMI, Gardner Webb, High Point, and Liberty are all kind of unknowns at this point, but with your homecourt advantage I could easily see you guys finishing 5th in the league.

[olldflame]

I put yall at 5-6 in conference... mainly just because I don't know how good some of the new players are going to be. (And I count Anderson and Baker as being new, even though they've played in the past.)

If:

a) You find a reliable post presence
b) You shoot the ball well from the outside
c) You find a guy that can careate his own offense

Then I see yall finishing maybe 3rd or 4th. I think C might be your biggest obstacle. Last year you had Seth and Anthony that you could give the ball to when the shot clock was running down and they could get off a good shot.

Right now... I'm thinking the top 3 is very clearly Radford, UNCA and Winthrop. The bottom three is clearly Presby, Coastal and Charleston. VMI, Gardner Webb, High Point, and Liberty are all kind of unknowns at this point, but with your homecourt advantage I could easily see you guys finishing 5th in the league.

Re:
a) Yes, but much more important on defense than offense

b) Definately. We won't focus on the 3 as much as last year, but we should have
several perimeter threats, and they need to produce.

c) I think Gordon, and especially Perez have potential here, but a lot of it will
come from Jesse. I see him being more assertive and taking it to the hole
to score or dish a lot more in those situations than he did last year.

[Stevev]

I would think that we would be jacking up more 3's than last year if Ohman and Anderson have there way. I think that Sanders will jack a few up if he gets open looks.

I am still surprised by our low expectations. Didn't we lose 4 starters from 2 years ago with Bannister, McLean, Jenkins, etc and we ended up winning 23 games with 3 Freshmen in the starting lineup. I would think that we are returning more this year than we did last year and we had some that sat out like Anderson, and Minaya. I thought that McMasters was rated above Curry out of high school. Was Curry really that good or are the freshmen this year not up to the same standards. Remember this is the Big South, one of the worst conferences in college hoops. With the kind of money we are throwing at the program we shouldn't expect to be at the bottom half of this conference.

[dompennix]

I expect Gordon to make the all-freshman team. Minaya's our leading scorer with 14.7 PPG. Joel will lead in rebounding. Carter, Johnny, and James will come back and impress some doubters. TB gets benched with an injury. And Jeremy may hit a few 3's.

[g-webb1994]

1. Radford
2. Winthrop
3. Coastal (my sleeper)
4. G-W
5. Liberty
6. UNC-A
7. High Point
8. Charleston Southern
9. VMI (no twins = few wins)
10. PC (but look out for those returning redshirts in 2010)

I see Radford being dominant again, they may not lose three in conference this year.

Then the next two, WU and CCU, will jockey for the two spot.

You can then take teams 4-7 and mix them up and draw them from a hat. I don't like how G-W plays 5 of the last 7 conference games on the road.....takes away the advantage we had in playing 6 of 8 conference games at home. A feast or famine set-up.....the game here with LU on February 13 is our home conference finale. Ouch. Layer is a coach that will get the max effort from his players...LU won't be basement material. HPU could be real scary if they buy into Cherry's up tempo system 100%.

[kel varson]

Another coaching change, another season of roster overhaul. I really have no idea what to expect. So many young players. Yeah, I am sure the potential is there but at this point I would expect them to finish in the middle of the pack.

[Keydetbaseball36]

1. Radford
2. Winthrop
3. Coastal (my sleeper)
4. G-W
5. Liberty
6. UNC-A
7. High Point
8. Charleston Southern
9. VMI (no twins = few wins)
10. PC (but look out for those returning redshirts in 2010)

I see Radford being dominant again, they may not lose three in conference this year.

Then the next two, WU and CCU, will jockey for the two spot.

You can then take teams 4-7 and mix them up and draw them from a hat. I don't like how G-W plays 5 of the last 7 conference games on the road.....takes away the advantage we had in playing 6 of 8 conference games at home. A feast or famine set-up.....the game here with LU on February 13 is our home conference finale. Ouch. Layer is a coach that will get the max effort from his players...LU won't be basement material. HPU could be real scary if they buy into Cherry's up tempo system 100%.

Everyone said the same thing last year after Reggie left, and look what happened. Keep that trend going, we like the results of being underrated! BTW- last year we played GW without one of them, and a freshman hung 34 on you!

[ATrain]

I expect us to be in the middle-of-the-pack in the Big South, I expect a few of us to overreact after every win and every loss, I expect a lot of hatred towards Kyle Ohman, I expect a lot of posters will practically need to take a cold shower after talking about Jesse Sanders, I expect enemy posters from Coastal & Winthrop to talk about how great their respective teams are, even though they'd be hard-pressed to crack the top 200 in RPI, and I expect Radford to win the Big South and get annihilated in the first round by the #1 seed.

Middle of the pack: Yes (I voted 5-6, although 4 is a good possibility)
Hatred towards Ohman: Yeah, happens every year
Jesse Sanders mania: Absolutely
Enemy posters from Coastal and Winthrop: Add GW, RU and VMI to that list as well
Coastal and Winthrop not in top 200: Coastal won't be, Winthrop could crack it
Radford win Big South: Yes
Annihilated in first round by #1 seed: Possibly, could end up playing a 2 or 3, but will still be killed.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

I look for us to finish around 4th or 5th.

Looking at our Schedule I think .500 is an accomplishment

VMI is my sleeper for this year, although Coastal will make a push, but I never sleep on VMI and they have some big time kids coming in. I think they will finish 2nd or 3rd.

I just cant give Winthrop respect cause they dont win with Peele, Im sorry, but if they win they get my respect.

Obviously Radford Wins, but I think they get a 15 seed, and Lose there.

Baker is POY.

JVP or Stan Okoye (sp?)-VMI Fresh of the Year.

I dont see how G-W could consider anything above 5th place. They lost Linn, maybe a foreign kid or 2 (?) and werent that good last year to begin with.

1 CCU player, 1 RU player, 1 UNC-A player get arrested.

Chuck South Sucks cause they have the same coach.

Presby Obviously sucks, but I think they beat Chuck South

I really think 2-8 in the Big South are Wide Open to Winthrop, Liberty, UNC-A, HPU, VMI, Coastal, and G-w.

[SuperJon]

VMI looked sloppy and lost to Longwood in their scrimmage on Saturday.

I didn't get to see ours but was told we beat ECU.

[TylerBakersGonnaBGreat]

VMI looked sloppy and lost to Longwood in their scrimmage on Saturday.

I didn't get to see ours but was told we beat ECU.

Did you go to the VMI scrimmage?