2015-16 Starting Five Predictions?

[Shaolin Swat]

The guys VCU kept were like their main minute guys outside of the seenyas. Melvin Johnson is their main dude along with the huge guy underneath and fill in the blanks. They really lost the future in their recruits and young players. Depth.

I would be surprised if St Joes wasted another year of Bembry. He was above and beyond anyone he faced last year and he is only going to be better.

I think Bembry well be the best player the A10 will see for like a decade. He is a legit triple double threat every night.

[EDIT] You guys are also leaving out Richmond, the national media that covers the A10 loves Richmond.

I left out Richmond intentionally with them losing Anthony and Alonzo Nelson-Ododa, however, Mooney does manage to keep his team consistently competitive.

[RoadyJay]

I remembered that prior to last season (April 2014) we were predicting minutes at the Guard positions. I went back and looked at what my prediction was prior to the Terrell signing.

2014 preseason prediction
EC Matthews - 29 min
TJ Buchanan - 16 min
Biggie Minnis - 22 min
Jarvis Garrett - 22 min
Xavier Munford's replacement - 17 min
Matt Butler - 10 min

2014 actuals (rounded)
EC Matthews - 33 min (+4)
TJ Buchanan - 23 min (+7)
Biggie Minnis - 20 min (-2)
Jarvis Garrett - 26 min (+4)
Jared Terrell - 27 min (+10)
Matt Butler (20 games played) - 7 min (-3)


A few things that stood out with my prediction last year when compared against the 2014 actuals:

---Heavy guard play, as expected. The guards above played ~67% of the available minutes, which means typically 3 guards and sometimes 4 guards on the floor.
---No one expected that Jared Terrell would be with the program at the time we were predicting guard minutes. We were all thinking that whoever we landed would not replace X's minutes. More likely we'd land something more along the lines of a Four McGlynn. Thankfully Terrell committed to us, after backing out of OSU, and at 27 minutes per game was more minutes than probably anyone would have predicted prior to his commitment.
---Some of us thought that TJs minutes would diminish... wrong! He averaged 23 minutes/game. His presence on the court was invaluable. He will be a bigger loss than maybe some of us anticipate
---The other guards played out as most of us expected. Biggie still received significant minutes and over time Jarvis Garrett became the PG we all hoped for/expected, especially late in conference play, and Butler was not much of a factor


With the roster set and as we look ahead to the 2015 season and think about starters and minutes, here are my thoughts/predictions:
Starters
EC Matthews - 30 min
Jarvis Garrett - 27 min
Hassan Martin - 30 min
Kuran Iverson - 27 min
Jared Terrell - 30 min

I expect all the starters will receive significant minutes. I expect they will all be up around 30 minutes each per game.

Bench
Four McGlynn - 15 min
Earl Watson - 15 min
Christion Thompson - 10 min
Nicola Akele - 10 min
Andre Berry - 6 min

I expect Watson and McGlynn to get solid minutes. In my mind Thompson and Akele are the likely to receive the most minutes after that.

Will be tough for Onyekaba and Butts to get off the bench.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Personally I would like to see them use Big O more in a role of maybe 2-3 minutes each half or once a game for 3 minutes where hes put in to just be the man child he is.

He is a MONSTER in terms of his strength. Anytime people try to rebound against him this past year it seemed like with him on their back he would break it. That goes for Cliff Alexander too. Putting your backside on him and gutting it out doesn't really get the job done. He is just that strong.

Not willing to harness that in spots? Try to put him in to wear down a big guy? I would. I guess you don't have to.

[Rhody74]

Iffy needs to get his fouls under control. When a guy commits a foul once every 2.5 minutes, he can't get much floor time.

[TruePoint]

Really? With VCU dropping what 3-4 teams do you see being pretty much locks, if only 2 would shock you. I am afraid the A10 as a whole will be down and that will really hurt the RPI this year. I am not sure there will be lots of quality wins to get.

It isn't always easy to say who the teams will be, but my perception of the conference overall is that two years ago it was a loaded veteran league, last year it was a young reloading league, and next year it will begin to cycle back as teams mature. If the league's overall quality is better then its top several teams should be in, whoever they are. I do expect us to be among them.

[rambone 78]

Don't be shocked TP, but I totally agree with you.

[Blue Man]

Really? With VCU dropping what 3-4 teams do you see being pretty much locks, if only 2 would shock you. I am afraid the A10 as a whole will be down and that will really hurt the RPI this year. I am not sure there will be lots of quality wins to get.

It isn't always easy to say who the teams will be, but my perception of the conference overall is that two years ago it was a loaded veteran league, last year it was a young reloading league, and next year it will begin to cycle back as teams mature. If the league's overall quality is better then its top several teams should be in, whoever they are. I do expect us to be among them.

URI, St Joes, Dayton should be locks. Davidson and GW on the fence. I don't see Richmond, UMass, or VCU recovering from the losses. SLU, La Salle, and Bonnies could be on the rise. Duquesne, Fordham, Mason will be door mats per usual.

[rodfromcranston]

St. Joe's ?????

[Blue Man]

St. Joe's ?????

Absolutely. They return 4 of their starters, and have the best player in the conference by far. I expect them to turn some heads this year.

[Seawrightspostgame]

Yea Bembry could be a top 10 player on the east coast, pending whether he added anything over the summer.

[rodfromcranston]

Bembry died at the end of the year, because he had very little help.
So, there's that.

[bigappleram]

They (St. Joe's) were very young last year, they are due for a major jump this year but I would liken it to our jump from year 2 to year 3 (last season) so i would not consider them a lock. Bembry is the wild card, having the best player on the court almost every game will always make them dangerous, similar to PC this year who are depleted but will always have Dunn. One need only look at the Cavs vs Warriors to see that 1 supremely talented player can still carry a team (even one with no depth, no consistent 2nd scorer, etc).

[Rhody72]

Lets assume no significant player losses or additions for URI or its conference opponents from this point forward. Will we be favored to win every conference game? If no, will we be favored to win every conference game at the RC and be underdogs by no more than 3 on the road? Are we the best team in the conference?

[Billyboy78]

I'd have to think we'd be underdogs at Dayton by more than 3. That's about it though.

[Da_Process_Survivor]

I'd have to think we'd be underdogs at Dayton by more than 3. That's about it though.

I can see us being 1 or 2 pt dogs @VCU and @Davidson

[Blue Man]

I'd have to think we'd be underdogs at Dayton by more than 3. That's about it though.

I can see us being 1 or 2 pt dogs @VCU and @Davidson

Maybe at Davidson...maybe. VCU is going to be competitive, but middle of the pack. Melvin Johnson isn't good enough to carry that team. Without Weber they were above average. Without Weber and Graham they're going to take a huge step back, and without Larrier, it got that much harder.

[ace]

VCU will need Tillman to take a huge jump in his sophomore year, like Hassan did.

As for the fifth starter, it could be Iverson, but it's not as if it's his to lose.

[twisted3829]

I'd have to think we'd be underdogs at Dayton by more than 3. That's about it though.

I can see us being 1 or 2 pt dogs @VCU and @Davidson

there is a ton of basketball to be played before those games are played

[bressler3south]

I'd have to think we'd be underdogs at Dayton by more than 3. That's about it though.

I can see us being 1 or 2 pt dogs @VCU and @Davidson

there is a ton of basketball to be played before those games are played

Is there a line yet????????

[Tom98]

I thought Tillman transferred

[ace]

I thought Tillman transferred

No. He considered it right after Smart left but decided to stay.