I was gonna say. U of L has had a couple good teams since 14. 15 had a great team and 16 - 17 they had a great squad. Guess we will see.
dukedevilz Preseason Top 50
- Thread starter dukedevilz
- Start date
I appreciate it. And no doubt I'm going to miss on several teams. I only hope to be a little better than the AP/Coaches Polls.
Hate to say this, but I think Caleb Love is going to be a lot better this year. Love, Garcia, and Bacot should be a formidable trio. I have no idea how Hubert is as a coach, but he certainly has talented pieces.
Love FSU's wings. Mills, Polite, and Cleveland. One of the best collection of wings in the country. Interested in seeing Fletcher, too. Just haven't seen him a whole lot. Biggest question marks for me would be the point guard and center positions.
Just looking at the KenPom numbers and Nova was #9 in Gillespie's last played game. So, perhaps with the loss of JRE they are a little too high at #6. With Gillespie, Moore, and Samuels, I still like their chances, though.
I wonder if Baylor is getting the national title respect treatment? I actually have them several spots lower than the national polls, so it's interesting that you don't think that's low enough. I heard Rob Dauster picked James Akinjo for his 1st Team All-American team. That seems a little generous. Never been a huge fan of Akinjo, mostly because his shot select, but he did improve quite a bit last year. Super interested in seeing how Flagler and Mayer handle larger roles.
If Obanor can shoot as well as he did at Oral Roberts, Texas Tech is going to be a problem. Love Shannon and McCullar. They could easily be a top 15 team... WV has maybe the best defender in the country in Gabe Osabuohien. Too bad he can't compliment his game with some offense. Sherman and McNeil will get their buckets. Most intriguing player might be Jalen Bridges. Think he could explode this year.
Depends on that backcourt, which is a big question mark. Tyson Walker and Max Christie will be the key to MSU's success this season, IMO. All I know is, Joey Hauser better not be their #1 or #2 option.
But.... they're soooo good. So good. Hah I probably am overvaluing them. Just really like what I see from them. Don't think they have very many weaknesses.
You gotta like Bama's backcourt though, right? Quinerly, Davison, and Shackelford. Possibly a top 5 backcourt. Frontcourt and depth is questionable, however.
If Rocket Watts plays like he did last year, then yes, this could absolutely be too high for the other MSU team. Personally, I'm higher on Shakeel Moore than Watts. Also, think Derek Fountain could have a very productive sophomore season... Molinar and Brooks are likely the 1-2 punch for Miss State. Brooks was seriously the 4th most efficient UNC big man last year. Wonder if he'll play more like he did in 2020? I think he felt the pressure last year of having two very capable big men off the bench that could easily steal his minutes.
Frontcourt is outrageously talented. Their ceiling is pretty high, actually. So maybe that merits a higher ranking.
The more I look at Gonzaga, the more I think I should have taken Julian Strawther in the draft. He's going to be really good. So much talent on that team. If this is based on KenPom, Gonzaga probably does have the edge over UCLA. I think I like UCLA's odds of winning the title slightly more than the Zags, however. I think those guys are mentally a little tougher.
Their defense is going to be dynamite. Have no idea how productive that offense will be, but there's certainly enough talent to be a top 10-15 team.
Tbh yes. That team was good, but not nearly as deep and talented with shooters as this team. Time will tell, and I may eat crow for saying this. We don’t have a Trezz though.
I don't think Louisville has a Terry Rozier on the roster either. Or Rick Pitino level coaching.
They are gonna play more guys this yr and play more tempo if they can stay healthy. Sounds like they wanna play a much different style than they have been playing. They will be a much better shooting team than they were last yr.
Not sure who the go to guy is gonna be in close games. Mack is suspended 6 games that ain't gonna help.
They could be good. If they are the NCAA will probably just ban them before the ACC T.
They are gonna play more guys this yr and play more tempo if they can stay healthy. Sounds like they wanna play a much different style than they have been playing. They will be a much better shooting team than they were last yr.
Not sure who the go to guy is gonna be in close games. Mack is suspended 6 games that ain't gonna help.
They could be good. If they are the NCAA will probably just ban them before the ACC T.
Pitino also lost a shit ton of games he should’ve won in his final years. I don’t recall us having as much of a well rounded team during his final few years. We did have T ro and Trez, but the rest of that team was pretty average. You’re probably right though about ncaa. Soon as we start playing good they’ll hammer us like the c^nts they are. Which is pretty much why I don’t really care about college basketball or football as much as I do NBA and NFL.
Lol prove what? You’re the one making up shit. No one is sunshine pumping anything from our fans on this board. We watched a couple exhibition games and liked what we saw. Good lord.
Losing your head coach for what, 6 games, early on won't help.
I love all the responses. Good stuff. And yes, I am def just saying by KenPom. So I think Gonzaga ends up at 1 on KenPom, UCLA 2-4, etc.
Watts is why I’m lower on Miss State. Maybe I’m being too down, but he’s just so inefficient. Bama…idk. Could see it either way, but 20-25 just feels more realistic to me than 16.
FSU is a total wildcard, I’ll admit. If the wings all gel, maybe we don’t even need a lot from the centers? But I know this—Ham has really found something with the “18 strong” mentality and having guys play until they can’t breathe, sub out, and then repeat. Which is awesome in terms of setting us up for mitigating injuries and turnover and being ready for March. But it requires a commitment to it in every game, which means some games in November we win by 11 instead of 25, because we are building that depth all the way down the bench, testing out which lineup combos work best for later in the season. So we tend to be 5-7 spots lower on efficiency models like KenPom than what I think our true ability is. So I’m thinking we end up in the 21-26 range on KenPom. But probably still finish top 2-3 in the ACC standings.
Regarding Caleb Love, I’ll believe it when I see it.
I think saying it's the best team since 2014 after an exhibition is the definition of sunshine pumping. How could you possibly determine that? An average roster can look like an all star team vs a low level school.
@Random UK Fan watching Flagger and U of L bicker outside the politics thread
I’m a UL fan and I know our rosters and how we’ve looked. We haven’t had this type of ball movement and shooting, and depth since ‘14. Even in previous years with exhibitions against shitty teams, we weren’t blowing them out.
I also never said we were world beaters, I simply said we look like a top 20 team and that we’ve looked better than previous years.
USC, UCLA, Arizona, Oregon and Colorado were solid throughout the year and were all clearly undervalued in March (Besides Arizona who was ineligible for the postseason). However, the bottom half of the league had some ugly nonconference losses and that hurt the conference's computer ratings. It also got exaggerated more than normal because of how few OOC games were played.
No reason to be pessimistic in preseason. We’re all undefeated.
I was the one pumping us up last offseason, not the others, frankly bc i thought David Johnson was gonna be a beast and dominate shit his soph year, bc hebplayed really well to end his freshman year. With him and carlik in the bc i figured skys the limit. But i was wrong and That didnt happen and we lost williams inside early and we were the first team out, it is what it is.
Dont see why anyone would be down on their team before the season started though. Well all got hope atm. Make the tourney no tellin what might happen, the bracket might fall apart like the year 8 seed kstate played whatever seed loyola was in the EE. Ucla goes from playin game to FF. Why would any fan of any team not feel like theu have a chance for a good season?
Dont see why anyone would be down on their team before the season started though. Well all got hope atm. Make the tourney no tellin what might happen, the bracket might fall apart like the year 8 seed kstate played whatever seed loyola was in the EE. Ucla goes from playin game to FF. Why would any fan of any team not feel like theu have a chance for a good season?
Last edited:
And UCLA was missing Chris Smith (1st Team All-Conference in 2020) and Jalen Hill. So, let's call it even.
That seems reasonable.
Yep. Watts struggled mightily last year. Really think Miss State would be better off with Shakeel Moore starting, but you know Watts and his inner circle will have expectations for starter-type minutes. That might hold them back.
Gotcha. Yeah, I feel like the 2020 FSU team was a top 5 squad, but I know you guys were several spots lower in the KenPom rankings. 18 strong mentality hah. I'm just imaging Hamilton actually circling through 18 guys in a game. Don't know how you guys maintain rhythm with an 11 or 12 man rotation, but it is impressive.
Hope I'm wrong. He was dreadful last season - except, of course, when he played Duke. Love was a Duke fan growing up and he never did receive an offer from us. So, perhaps there was extra motivation in those games. I'd be more than okay with a repeat of last season.
Agreed. Pac-12 was massively underrated. I saw a fair amount of Pac-12 games, mostly because I've gotta listen to Bill Walton's rambles. But, I remember near the close of the Pac-12 season I was thinking the top third of the league was the best it had looked since the 2017 season. That's why I suggested that USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Colorado could all make the Sweet 16 without any major upsets occurring.
And yes, the bottom half of the league did have quite a few bad losses. It's crazy how a relatively modest of number of OOC games can have a drastic effect on a conference's ability to earn a high seed. Big Ten reaped all the benefits there. Blows my mind how Ohio State can win 60% of their league games and be rewarded with a 2 seed. Obviously the Big Ten crushed in the OOC season, but that seeding was awfully generous.
How's Sydney Curry so far? I wasn't glad to see him leave.
Still not sure if it was purely his decision or if he was nudged out. Heard anything on that front?
Seems to be, everybody is thinking UM, Purdue and Illinois finish top three in the Big Ten, but anybody could finish fourth between Ohio State, MD, Hoosiers and Michigan State.
Let's see, Chris Smith was the Preseason Pac 12 POY. He and Jalen Hill had the two highest player efficiency ratings on the team in 2021. Cody Riley fouled out in 18 minutes. Nwuba played 20 minutes against UM, a career high. Only two other times has he logged double-digit minutes.
Yes, having Jalen Hill in the lineup would have been HUGE. Nwuba isn't a rotation player for UCLA - he's a very below average big. Giving him 20 minutes of action was not helping UCLA's cause. Seriously, look at his career stats. They're bloody awful. And Chris Smith was already one of the best players in one of the best conferences in the country.
UCLA lost 50 minutes of action from their two most efficient players. If you don't think those are significant losses, you might be a homer.
I was lower on Michigan than where they finished 4 straight years. Not as much as you’ve missed on them, but still underrated them.
There is a massive difference between losing a player in December and losing your starting senior / one of the best shooters in the country a week before the tournament. Michigan shot 3 of 11 from three that night which was their second worst performance of the season. Think about what Livers offers.
On a skill basis, I can buy that Livers = Smith and Hill. The fact that Michigan lost their starter in mid March instead of getting 2.5 months to prepare for it is relevant.
This is true. Obviously harder to adjust in a short window like that. Wagner kind of stunk it up on the offensive end, IIRC.
At any rate, my point was that the Pac-12 was massively undervalued by the committee, and I think an 8-1 tournament record against other P6 conferences proves that.
Hes looked good says the reports. Pretty nimble for his size, and has trimmed down a bit. Nice combo to go with malik at C bc malik is long and lean but not a physical presence like curry.
Ive heard ku fans have been high on pettiford, i wasnt happy to see him leave but i get it with the guard transfers we brought in, maybe a “trade” that will work out for both of us.
And idk really how curry ended up here, i dont have any inside info.
Yeah, KU fans are already high on Pettiford. Some think he might be in the rotation this year. Not sure there's room. Most expect him to be a big contributor starting next year though.
Last edited:
Yea i was pretty high on him too when he originally signed with us. May not be the flashiest of guards but seemed to play smart and has good basketball IQ.
Some think he might…….? Backup the PG? Cant see him being better than harris/martin/or yesufu so early in his career but wouldnt be the first time the recruiting services under valued a guy.
the biggest thing about curry is we needed a big body bad. Weve all got malik fatigue(not the right word, we arent tired of him jist fear he will get hurt again bc hes missed most of the last 2 seasons with the same type of foot injury, which obv isnt good for anyone, much less big men)
So curry gives us a security blankets of sorts, we wont have to throw rooselvelt wheeler to the wolves as he missed his senior year from torn achilles, and we wont have to slide withers to the 5 like last year. And most insiders really expect him to flourish this year going back to the 4.
Guess we will see how it works out, sooooooo pumped basketbal season is sooooo close
Some think he might…….? Backup the PG? Cant see him being better than harris/martin/or yesufu so early in his career but wouldnt be the first time the recruiting services under valued a guy.
the biggest thing about curry is we needed a big body bad. Weve all got malik fatigue(not the right word, we arent tired of him jist fear he will get hurt again bc hes missed most of the last 2 seasons with the same type of foot injury, which obv isnt good for anyone, much less big men)
So curry gives us a security blankets of sorts, we wont have to throw rooselvelt wheeler to the wolves as he missed his senior year from torn achilles, and we wont have to slide withers to the 5 like last year. And most insiders really expect him to flourish this year going back to the 4.
Guess we will see how it works out, sooooooo pumped basketbal season is sooooo close
Revisit - Biggest bust? Memphis, Michigan, Louisville? Fvckn ACC all those teams just go straight to the toilet except for Duke
For me, I'd say Michigan, Oregon, and Memphis. Thought all three had Final Four potential.
Others have underwhelmed, such as FSU, UNC, Saint Bonaventure, and Oklahoma State.
Collectively, ACC has definitely been the most disappointing. And after have a very successful NCAA Tournament last year, the Pac-12 has not maintained that momentum. UCLA, Arizona, and USC are fine. Rest of the conference leaves a lot to be desired. 3 teams in the top 50.
Maybe next year I'll underrate the hell out of you guys, which will assure you of another top 10 season.
Similar threads
