[Fumblerooskies]

...on the N&A blog...

http://nasports.wordpress.com/

"Calling all Winthrop fans!"

[Realist]

Haha, doesn't really surprise me as his posts on here are always have an anti WU hint. What makes them a joke isn't the fact WU isn't in first though, it's CCU in second. It makes me wonder what games and league he is following.

I think there will be an even split among voters with HP-WU in first. No matter though, WU still has the best talent and recruits in the league, they'll just have to gel together.

[Fumblerooskies]

That didn't take long.

I've never sensed an anti-WU feel to his posts.

[SuperJon]

Let's watch the firestorm on their board.

[Chris Lang]

I know what league I'm watching, realist. I like Coastal's backcourt a lot ... Winthrop will probably prove me wrong, which is fine. That's all these preseason picks are, really, shots in the dark to a certain extent.

And I really don't know where you're getting the anti-WU stuff. I picked them to win two games in the NCAAs last year.

[paradox]

I'm a little surprised that VMI wasn't projected higher. I expect their tournament momentum from last season to carry over into the '07-'08 season.

When it's all said and done, LU may have the best center, the best point gaurd, and at least the second best three guard, not to mention the best coaching staff by far So, I wouldn't count LU out just yet.

[thepostman]

I think WU fans have this feeling that if you don't shower them with love all the time that must mean you hate them

I do think LU will be in the top 4....but we shall see

[LUconn]

VMI played well in the tourney because they caught Dutton by surprise and Lundy was too dumb to adjust and fell for the same manuver. I don't think they'll be able to do that again. I think we wind up above them, because we just match up so well with them.

[shukcb04]

everyone who's been around the type of "basketball" VMI plays for more than a year knows that the crap they run is nothing but a gimmick, and gimmick's don't win you championships if you're playing against teams that know how to play, are smart and patient, and have a coach that knows what the heck he's doing.

ask redlands how well that crap has done to win them championships. the head coach ahs been there since the 71-72 season (in a VERY weak conference, by the way). they have won just 4 conference championships under his tenure, and the last time they won it was in 89-90 as tri-champs (they don't have a conference tournament). and since the 90-91 season the best they have done is finish 2nd in the conference, and they did that on just two instances.

the head coach at grinnell has been there 18 years and has only made the post-season five times and just three conference championships in other very weak conference. i know big south isnt exactly a power house conference, but at least they have a winthrop, a team that can compete on the national level, while these two conferences have never had a team do anything in the ncaa tournament.

[Sly Fox]

shuk - Nobody knows if they'll ever run that offense again. They abandoned it in the Big South Turney and made it to the finals. And with a 7-footer coming in they may write that whole run last season off as an experiment.

As for the mens selections, somewhere panfan01 is doing

Anybody else gasp at seeing Radford above the Lady Flames? I understand but it is a shock to the system.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Yeah, I'm not going to be surprised if people pick HPU to win the league...but I don't see how Coastal cracks the top three next year. Mack and Leasure are good, but without Sonko, the frontcourt is very weak (or at best, inexperienced)...though in the past, if there is one team i always misjudge (either pick them too high or too low), it is Coastal.

[Chris Lang]

WEF -- Agree completely on Coastal. Wouldn't be surprised to see them finish anywhere from second to seventh. They were a tough team to slot.

[paradox]

VMI played well in the tourney because they caught Dutton by surprise and Lundy was too dumb to adjust and fell for the same manuver. I don't think they'll be able to do that again. I think we wind up above them, because we just match up so well with them.

I forgot about Dutnon

[WinthropEagleFan]

It's a tough year to make predictions...

I'm almost positive that RU is going to be bad...but other than that, it is hard to say.

High Point looks good on paper, but Lundy hasn't proven to me that he can get that team over the hump yet. But either way they should be at or near the top.

Winthrop's starting lineup should be strong, but the bench has essentially no experience...how quickly they develop will determine whether WU heads back to the tourney or looks up at a team or two in the standings.

Liberty is very hard to read. I think having a good point guard is going to lead them to a good season though.

UNCA could be surprisingly good, or could fall flat this year. They have alot of experience and a lot of solid players, though nobody great. And the Kenny George factor is hard to figure out too.

VMI should be decent with Reggie and the Holmes twins, but who else do they have? And what style are they going to play this year?

I really don't see Coastal doing much, but like I said before, I always struggle with figuring them out.

And CSU had a ton of injury problems last year, so if they can be a little healthier this year, I think they'll improve quite a bit. Losing Chris Moore and Vernon Huger last year really killed them.

[kazport]

mark my words Liberty will be in the top 3. Thats all i will say about that.

[Schfourteenteen]

That may be a little too steep for us next year, we may sneak in but a guarantee? who do you think you are Jim Fassell?

Not to downplay us, but I just dont see Liberty as a really huge threat next year. Will we be better? yeah. Can teams overlook us? No. Will we be a legit contender? for a BS conference maybe but to say oh we will be just as good this year as last without our best player is ridiculous. Football was a huge turnaround. Basketball will be baby steps.

[JK37]

The biggest surprise I see, Chris, is picking Charleston Southern 7th on the women's side. Goodenough can flat-out recruit. She had two of the best recruiting classes in the Big 12 (3 seasons at Oklahoma State), and this year's big class of frosh might be the best the Big South has seen by a school not named Liberty. But, she is at CSU now because she couldn't win with those recruits at OSU - I realize that. The Big South fits her strategy level much more nicely, though, and I think they are primed to be the surprise team of the conference on the women's side this year. They might finish as high as third!

[Killn'emsoftly]

It's funny how everyone wonders what style VMI will play. 99% of you guys think they slowed down their offense in the tournament, that's completely false, they slowed their defense down. VMI put up 85 points a game in the tournament playing a 2-3 zone, so that proves their offense was still fast and probably always will be.

shukchuk04 or whatever your nickname is, the reason schools like redlands, grinnell, and vmi play the fast style is to give their team a chance to win with less talent than their opponets have. By the way 5 post season births in 18 years(Grinnell) isn't to bad, I'm sure LU would take it.

[SuperJon]

Exactly. They threw up a ton of points in the tournament, they just didn't do the full court press. If they run what they did in the tournament, they'll be scary.

[Realist]

This is how I had it when everyone was predicting on the WU board:

WU
HPU
LU
UNCA
CCU
VMI
CSU
RU


I think VMI was more of a fluke than anything. Teams will be prepared for the "slow-down" defense this year if they decide to do that.

[shukcb04]

It's funny how everyone wonders what style VMI will play. 99% of you guys think they slowed down their offense in the tournament, that's completely false, they slowed their defense down. VMI put up 85 points a game in the tournament playing a 2-3 zone, so that proves their offense was still fast and probably always will be.

shukchuk04 or whatever your nickname is, the reason schools like redlands, grinnell, and vmi play the fast style is to give their team a chance to win with less talent than their opponets have. By the way 5 post season births in 18 years(Grinnell) isn't to bad, I'm sure LU would take it.

their conference is an absolute joke. with the talent they can get they should be doing much better than that. and i realize why they do it. i've talked to the emory & henry coach, who runs that crap, to ask why he does it and he absically said "because I can't recruit good enough athletes to win a regular game of basketball." if that's the case for these other schools, then maybe they should get a coach that can recruit so you can have more success and not insult basketball in the process. it's just a 100% idiotic style of "basketball." basically, if your team isnt having a good shooting night from 3 you arent going to win, it's just as simple as that. any game plan that makes it dang near impossible to win when your #1 strength isn't working is just coaching idiocy as far as i'm concerned.

[WinthropEagleFan]

I think it would benefit VMI to mix up defenses a bit, but definitely not to rely on that all-out press and go for the steal defense they had for the most part last year. Williams and the Holmes twins are their best players by far, so they need to keep them on the court...they don't have enough quality depth to run that crazy style for 40 minutes.

[paradox]

Let's not forget that VMI came within a few short points of sending Winthrop into the NIT.

[Realist]

Let's not forget that VMI came within a few short points of sending Winthrop into the NIT.

A few short points of having a second team in the dance. ODU making it assured WU would have been in.

It was a nice gimmick to catch teams off guard, but VMI doesn't have the talent and depth to win consistently over the course of a season.

[shukcb04]

It was a nice gimmick to catch teams off guard, but VMI doesn't have the talent and depth to win consistently over the course of a season.

exactly!!!!!