A10 Preseason Coaches Poll and All Conference 2021-22

[ramster]

• URI picked 7th (last season picked 6th preseason)

• Jeremy Sheppard 3rd Team

• Makhel Mitchell All Defensive Team

https://atlantic10.com/news/2021/10/26/ ... pions.aspx

[section(105)]

……where does 10-8 in conference put us………?

[rhodyruckus]

Slight typo on the all defensive list, unless I missed Makhel's 5.6(!) steals per game last year.
That is obviously his rebounding avg.

About where I thought we would be forecast. But there is a lot of rotational continuity from last year, which I think means something in this era of the A10. I think we can all agree that the efficiency from Harris + Fatts was just terrible last year. There is a causation/correlation question: did we need Fatts to keep taking low percentage shots because his teammates wouldn't step up? Or will everyone else keep their efficiency with a greater workload this year and show that no, Fatts was entirely playing hero ball and the ball movement and team basketball will improve this year. That will determine whether we can exceed the predicted finish.

[section(105)]

…….the Cox deal with the devil, now plays in Maryland…….that should improve our offense……

[Rhody15]

Can't say we got screwed with preseason selections this year. All is fair in my opinion.

[SGreenwell]

Slight typo on the all defensive list, unless I missed Makhel's 5.6(!) steals per game last year.
That is obviously his rebounding avg.

About where I thought we would be forecast. But there is a lot of rotational continuity from last year, which I think means something in this era of the A10. I think we can all agree that the efficiency from Harris + Fatts was just terrible last year. There is a causation/correlation question: did we need Fatts to keep taking low percentage shots because his teammates wouldn't step up? Or will everyone else keep their efficiency with a greater workload this year and show that no, Fatts was entirely playing hero ball and the ball movement and team basketball will improve this year. That will determine whether we can exceed the predicted finish.

I think the Fatts question is reasonable, although it's hard to find comparables from previous URI squads. Meaning in most previous cases, teams that relied on one below-average efficiency player (Xavier Munford, Dawan Robinson) for most of the offense usually had way more roster churn than this one, or a bunch of younger players not quite ready to step into the limelight. (Example - After Robinson left, that was one of Baron's most talented rosters on paper, with Will Daniels as a junior, Jimmy and Seawright's sophomore years, and Keith Cothran as a newcomer.) URI's additions this year are El-Amin (looks like an average or good player) and a healthy Mitchell brother (but frontcourt wasn't a weakness for us last year anyway). In a way, it'll be an interesting experiment.

With Harris though, he played about 10 minutes per game, off the bench. Giving those minutes to the Mitchells and Walker will help, yes, but it's a pretty negligible effect, especially since Harris was more "below average" than "completely and utterly overmatched."

[KingstonLane]

Slight typo on the all defensive list, unless I missed Makhel's 5.6(!) steals per game last year.
That is obviously his rebounding avg.

About where I thought we would be forecast. But there is a lot of rotational continuity from last year, which I think means something in this era of the A10. I think we can all agree that the efficiency from Harris + Fatts was just terrible last year. There is a causation/correlation question: did we need Fatts to keep taking low percentage shots because his teammates wouldn't step up? Or will everyone else keep their efficiency with a greater workload this year and show that no, Fatts was entirely playing hero ball and the ball movement and team basketball will improve this year. That will determine whether we can exceed the predicted finish.

The fatts point is what I’m most interested to see as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if it went either way. You all of a sudden have so many shots to redistribute, for better or worse.

[ramster]

Thursday on ESPN+ LIVE Atlantic10 Media Day #2

• David Cox 12:45 to 1:05pm

• Tammi Reiss 1:05pm to 1:30pm

[rhodylaw]

Slight typo on the all defensive list, unless I missed Makhel's 5.6(!) steals per game last year.
That is obviously his rebounding avg.

About where I thought we would be forecast. But there is a lot of rotational continuity from last year, which I think means something in this era of the A10. I think we can all agree that the efficiency from Harris + Fatts was just terrible last year. There is a causation/correlation question: did we need Fatts to keep taking low percentage shots because his teammates wouldn't step up? Or will everyone else keep their efficiency with a greater workload this year and show that no, Fatts was entirely playing hero ball and the ball movement and team basketball will improve this year. That will determine whether we can exceed the predicted finish.

I think the Fatts question is reasonable, although it's hard to find comparables from previous URI squads. Meaning in most previous cases, teams that relied on one below-average efficiency player (Xavier Munford, Dawan Robinson) for most of the offense usually had way more roster churn than this one, or a bunch of younger players not quite ready to step into the limelight. (Example - After Robinson left, that was one of Baron's most talented rosters on paper, with Will Daniels as a junior, Jimmy and Seawright's sophomore years, and Keith Cothran as a newcomer.) URI's additions this year are El-Amin (looks like an average or good player) and a healthy Mitchell brother (but frontcourt wasn't a weakness for us last year anyway). In a way, it'll be an interesting experiment.

With Harris though, he played about 10 minutes per game, off the bench. Giving those minutes to the Mitchells and Walker will help, yes, but it's a pretty negligible effect, especially since Harris was more "below average" than "completely and utterly overmatched."

I don’t necessarily agree that Harris’ minutes will be negligible - he was given important minutes with his limited time on the floor.

[steveystuds06]

Shep is pumped to play point

[ace]

No idea where to put this. I was curious about who was contributing for teams and I had some time, so I looked it up. Order is current conference standings. Players mentioned are primary scorers (double digit-ish). Freshman marked by *, transfers by where they transferred from (), all others have been developed in and stayed with their program.

Davidson: Hyunjung Lee, Luka Brajkovic, Michael Jones, Sam Mennenga, Foster Loyer (Michigan State)

VCU: Vince Williams, Ace Baldwin, Keshawn Curry, Jayden Nunn*, Hason Ward, Jamir Watkins

Dayton: Daron Holmes*, Malachi Smith*, Koby Brea*, Toumani Camara (UGA), Kobe Elvis (DePaul)

Bona: Jaren Holmes, Kyle Lofton, Dominick Welch, Osun Osunniyi, Jalen Adaway (Miami-Ohio)

Saint Louis: Gibson Jimerson, Yuri Collins, Fred Thatch, Jordan Nesbitt*, Javonte Perkins, Francis Okoro (Oregon)

Richmond: Tyler Burton, Grant Golden, Jacob Gilyard, Nathan Cayo, Nick Sherod

GW: Brayon Freeman*, James Bishop (LSU), Joe Bamisile (Virginia Tech), Brendan Adams (UConn), Ricky Lindo (Maryland)

George Mason: Josh Oduro, Xavier Johnson, D’Shawn Schwartz (Colorado), Devon Cooper (Moorehead), Davonte Gaines (Tennessee)

Fordham: Chuba Ohams, Kyle Rose, Josh Colon-Navarro, Darius Quisenberry (Youngstown State)

UMass: TJ Weeks, Noah Fernandes (Wichita State), Rich Kelly (BC), Trent Buttrick (Penn State), CJ Kelly (Albany)

Rhode Island: Ishmael Leggett, Jeremy Sheppard (JUCO, ECU), Makhel and Makhi Mitchell (Maryland), Antwan Walker (Georgetown), Malik Martin (Charlotte)

La Salle: Jack Clark, Jhamir Brickus, Khalil Brantley*, Clifton Moore (Indiana), Josh Nickelberry (Louisville)

St. Joe’s: Jordan Hall, Taylor Funk, Erik Reynolds*, Cameron Brown, Ejike Obinna (Vanderbilt)

Duquesne: Amir Spears*, Tre Williams (Indiana State), Kevin Easley (TCU), Leon Ayer’s (Mercer)

[ace]

So, what did I learn from this? No idea, but here are a few thoughts. The bitching and moaning about transfers in today’s game doesn’t get anybody anywhere. It’s part of the game, hold your coaching staffs accountable. The A10 is well positioned to get guys moving up or down. Also, it is still possible to recruit, retain, and develop freshmen, contrary to what we’ve seen in Kingston the last few years. There are different paths to success in this conference, but nobody’s getting anywhere with mass transfers that no one cares about because they weren’t good anyway (that argument was always terrible). Finally, it will be interesting to see if any of those * guys transfer out.