A-10 Season

[therc]

Building on wgt's great thread about finding ways to win........

I'm encouraged with our play on the road in the non-conference season. We've faced some tough odds, especially in the last minute of regulation in the Bucknell game, and have come out on top.

Consider that Rutgers had a possession to win the game, but the defense wouldn't allow them anywhere close to the basket. Bucknell had all the momentum in the world in the last minute last night, but we still found a way to grind out the victory. We held off a furious EMU run at Ypsilanti and simply dominated at Marist.

So far, so good. 8-4 is a great record at this point, and I think we all expect another victory at Central Arkansas on Saturday.

This team has done an adaquet job of putting us in a position to succeed. What is success? Well, that depends on your expectations. Mine is to compete in the A-10 and make the conference tournament. It's to make the Reilly Center one of the toughest venues not only in the conference, but in the country again. It's to show the A-10 we are for real, and we're on our way back up.

But, I caution everyone, we are not there yet. Which brings me to the point of this thread:

I firmly believe that the fate of our Atlantic-10 season rests with the first few games of the conference slate.

We start things off at Fordham. This is the most critical game of all. We have FAR more talent than the Rams, who are young and struggling mightly. Winning on the road non-conference is one thing, but we MUST establish that we can do it in the A-10 as well. Furthermore, these are the games that we MUST win in order to get back to where we want to be.

After the Fordham game, the team returns home for Duquesne. I always love this matchup, which - year in and year out - it seems like anyones game. But, we play this one without our students, and the RC will sound like it did in the last three home games. Hopefully, this doesn't affect the intensity that the team brings, because this is a HUGELY important game.

Starting the conference season off with a 2-0 record would be huge. Not only for confidence, but it seriously boosts our chances to be in the tournament. Fordham will struggle to win two conference games all year.

I don't have to explain the downside of going 0-2, or even 1-1. If it had to be 1-1, I'd prefer the win to be at Fordham, simply because Duquesne has far more talent. However, either way, we need to get off to a fast start. The fate of our season just may depend on it.

[tomangelone]

First things first: this is a great post and I agree with everything you said. However, we have to go ONE AT A TIME with this team. Beat Central Arkansas on Saturday before we even begin thinking about Atlantic 10 play. Beat UCA!

[Sipowicz]

Good point on the start of the A10 season RC, but I agree with TOM that there is still one more OOC game. I'm not sure why so many are confident of a win Saturday, UCA is undefeated at home (5-0) and match up very evenly size wise with us. Also there starting 5 have very balanced scoring. This will be a tough game.

[tomangelone]

Dec 31, 2008 17:38:15 GMT -5 Sipowicz said:

Good point on the start of the A10 season RC, but I agree with TOM that there is still one more OOC game. I'm not sure why so many are confident of a win Saturday, UCA is undefeated at home (5-0) and match up very evenly size wise with us. Also there starting 5 have very balanced scoring. This will be a tough game.

It should be noted that three of those five home wins were against D-2 or D-3 teams for UCA. I agree, though, any road contest is challenging and I'll take any win any way.

[bonaballa1]

it'll be interesting to see how the Bonnies stack up in the A-10.

the first two games @ Fordham and vs Duquesne are vital to the modest goal of qualifying for the A-10 tournament. winning those two contests would give the Bonnies the early edge.

[Copenhagen]

Dec 31, 2008 15:33:31 GMT -5 therc said:

We have FAR more talent than the Rams, who are young and struggling mightly.

Not so sure we should so easily underestimate there talent as they have a few players that would look very good in the brown and white. At least one will be on the All Conference Rookie team and a future All Conference Player. and a few others who will make major contributions to there program in the next years.

They are young and inexperienced but gaining a little momentum as they gain experience on the fly (after losing the first 6, they have won 2 of the last 5. The Big East transfer from West Virginia just started playing and many of their players can hit the 3-pointer. No doubt Fordham can win some A10 games this season.

[triple302]

I agree that the beginning of our A10 schedule is absolutely critical to our success. We need to establish ourselves early as a different team than we have been in recent years. However, I really don't like the way the beginning of our A10 schedule looks. Though all of the games should be winnable, I absolutely hate the fact that our first 2 home league games are without students. Especially with one of them being St. Joes. We need to win as many home games as possible and, lets face it, the place is far more intimidating when all of the students are there. I like the possibility of going 2-2 or even 3-1 through our first 4 A10 games, but it would not be all that shocking if we only walked out with 1 or, god forbid, 0 wins in that stretch.
That being said, go Bonas, beat UCA and move into conference play on the upswing.

[therc]

Jan 2, 2009 1:41:24 GMT -5 Copenhagen said:

Dec 31, 2008 15:33:31 GMT -5 therc said:

We have FAR more talent than the Rams, who are young and struggling mightly.

Not so sure we should so easily underestimate there talent as they have a few players that would look very good in the brown and white. At least one will be on the All Conference Rookie team and a future All Conference Player. and a few others who will make major contributions to there program in the next years.

They are young and inexperienced but gaining a little momentum as they gain experience on the fly (after losing the first 6, they have won 2 of the last 5. The Big East transfer from West Virginia just started playing and many of their players can hit the 3-pointer. No doubt Fordham can win some A10 games this season.

I actually could not disagree with you more.

While you do point out that they have some players that have the CAPABILITY to be good conference players in the years to come, that doesn't do anything to speak of their talent this year.

To expand:

Fordham is 2-9. Their wins came against Lafayette and New Hampshire, both on the Rams' home court. Lafayette is 4-9 and New Hampshire is 2-7 against Division I teams.

Fordham has lost to the following teams: Columbia at home, Manhattan at home (Manhattan was just crushed by LaSalle), Princeton at home, James Madison at home, Hofstra on the road, Fairfield at home, Tennessee-Martin and Flordia International on the road.

Can you find me a quality win there? I'm sorry, but I really wouldn't want any of their players, minus Fontan or Moore, on our team.

I've watched Fordham play a couple of times this year, and might I say that you would be hard-pressed to find another Division I team with weaker guard play. Fontan is the only guard that has a clue on the court. Moore and Bethel anchor a decent frontcourt, but the backcourt is just terrible.

While I'm cautious about every team we play, and while I fully understand that this team cannot take anyone for granted, this is a game that I'm very confident in saying that we should win.

Also, saying that you have no doubt that Fordham can win some A-10 games this year is saying a lot. I'd bet some pretty good money that they won't come close to the conference tournament.

[njbona02]

Living in Jersey I go to the Fordham game every year and even when we do have a better team we struggle there. Even way back in 2000 when we made the tourney we lost at Fordham. Let's beat UCA and then think about Fordham and the rest of the A10