Way Too Early A10 Power Rankings 2023-2024

[GlitterBro #2]

Busting Brackets released their Atlantic 10 Basketball: Way-too-early power rankings for 2023-24 season

bustingbrackets.com/2023/05/08/atlantic-10-basketball-way-early-power-rankings-2023-24-season/

La Salle comes in at 13th:

Coach Fran Dunphy took what didn’t look like a very competitive roster and won two games in the A-10 Tournament with them. But they lost a few key pieces this offseason, including Josh Nickelberry, the A-10 6th Man of the Year, and both Foussenyi and Hassan Drame, who each started 25+ games this past season as the starting frontcourt.

Leading scorer Khalil Brantley (14.3 ppg) and Jhamir Brickus are back again to run the offense but for the smallest team in the league to get even smaller this offseason, that’s a major concern. They’ve yet to land a transfer and will need big man Rokas Jocius to be a breakout candidate to avoid a potential last-place finish next season.


They have the Hawks coming in at #3:

If I was simply ranking individual talents, the Hawks would be No. 1. Erik Reynolds (19.6 ppg) and both Cameron Brown and Lynn Greer are the best overall backcourt in the A-10 and could be one of the best in the country. And while losing Ekike Obinna hurts, forward Kacper Klacez is one of the better defensive frontcourt players around. Plus, a quality incoming recruiting class and 7’0 center Christ Essandoko adds to the overall talent pool.

The concern is whether or not Coach Billy Lange is the guy that can make Saint Joseph’s relevant again. To his credit, he’s managed to keep the roster together when three of them could’ve been power conference targets in the transfer portal. They’ll need a big defensive upgrade collective to consistently win but this time, the talent is there for them to succeed.

[23won]

Hawks should be good but there is some serious hyperbole here

both Cameron Brown and Lynn Greer are the best overall backcourt in the A-10 and could be one of the best in the country. And while losing Ekike Obinna hurts, forward Kacper Klacez is one of the better defensive frontcourt players around.

[23won]

Fordham, Duquesne, Davidson, U Mass overrated IMO

[hykos1045]

These early prognostications are interesting, but my only prediction is there will be a 6-way tie for fifth in the league, causing a team with a winning record (10-8) to have to play Tuesday in Brooklyn.

I also think St Bonaventure and Loyola are overrated.

[JoeFedorowicz]

Hypothesizing that Billy Lange is going to be 3rd in the A10 is something. Don't care how good the team is.

[diehardexplorer]

the internet is great.  anyone can try to pass themselves off as a journalist or a "site expert" in this guy's case.  this is basically a duquesne fan's opinion piece (he has them finishing second).  some of his picks are flat out comical.  st joe's (pa) has some decent talent but as usual, the city line propaganda machine is pumping that talent up way too much and some people, including this guy, are falling for it. i just can't get past the fact that lange is a poor coach no matter how much joel embid says he likes him.     

[big5explorer]

Absolutely no way we finish #13 (or worse) Next year's team should be better than this past year.

[diehardexplorer]

i've seen recent predictions (from the over-hyped "the almanac" and matthew winick who writes for a couple online "publications") having la salle finishing last in the league.  the internet is chock full of cbb "experts" who in reality know very little about the sport and especially the atlantic 10.  i would bet that the guy from the 3manweave site who did the a10 preview for the almanac was lucky if he saw a dozen a10 games all last season.  looking at the profiles of their writers gave me a laugh.  everyone who posts here or the other a10 boards are more qualified to do an analysis of the league.

www.three-man-weave.com/about
twitter.com/matthewwinick

but finally i came across the la salle team preview from the a10talk site that gives a pretty fair and objective opinion on this year's explorers.  the guy who wrote it is a fordham fan who's seen every team in the league play multiple times.

www.a10talk.com/2023-24-atlantic-10-team-preview-la-salle-explorers/

[23won]

Agree. Good article especially on the plus minus intel for Rokas versus league Bigs.

My recollection is that Jig, Khalil, Anwar and Daeshon's plus numbers were good in most games. If Rokas can play stronger and Tunde can score and play D, I think an 8-10 finish is achievable.

[weston2]

"Power" rankings.....LOL. Take about hyperbole. Everything is instant this or that anymore. Play some games and then we'll talk.

[Fastchuck]

Frankly we are in the same position this season as we were last year. All depends on how well the new guys do in replacing those who left. There were several references to how small the lineup is. If Tunde and Efe are close to their listed size there will be more size since the twins were nowhere close to their listed size. I think that some combination of Sheperd, Gill, Tunde and Efe will more than adequately replace the twins. It took Dunphy a while to find his rotations and I expect the same this year.

[MisterD]

Sept 26, 2023 12:49:36 GMT -5 weston2 said:

"Power" rankings.....LOL. Take about hyperbole. Everything is instant this or that anymore. Play some games and then we'll talk.

Yes, the new phenomenon of preseason predictions and rankings.