AP Poll - No respect for La Salle

[coachd]

4 A10 teams received votes. Drexel even got some votes. They give plenty of respect to the 2 newcomers and even Saint Joe's. None for La Salle. Hopefully this will be added motivation for the team.

1. VCU
2. Saint Louis
3. Butler
4. Saint Joe's

Here's the entire poll results, with total points and first-place votes in parentheses:

1. Indiana (43) 1,592

2. Louisville (20) 1,568

3. Kentucky (2) 1,453

4. Ohio St. 1,292

5. Michigan 1,290

6. NC State 1,270

7. Kansas 1,210

8. Duke 1,094

9. Syracuse 1,062

10. Florida 936

11. North Carolina 904

12. Arizona 902

13. UCLA 840

14. Michigan St. 789

15. Missouri 664

16. Creighton 622

17. Memphis 539

18. UNLV 488

19. Baylor 486

20. San Diego St. 463

21. Gonzaga 384

22. Notre Dame 297

23. Wisconsin 285

24. Cincinnati 120

25. Florida St. 101

Others receiving votes: Murray St. 59, VCU 58, Saint Louis 46, Texas 46, Minnesota 40, Butler 33, Pittsburgh 32, Saint Joseph’s 25, Marquette 23, Tennessee 15, Oklahoma St. 14, Kansas St. 12, Georgetown 9, New Mexico 9, Ohio 9, Miami 8, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 6, West Virginia 6, Davidson 5, Drexel 5, N. Iowa 5, Valparaiso 3, Lehigh 2, Stanford 2, Colorado St. 1, Oral Roberts 1

[stlexplorer]

I don't think we warranted preseason top-25 votes. We would need a strong 6-0, 7-0 start with a few of those teams losing a couple to get any early buzz in the AP poll.

[calsufan]

Why exactly do you think we should have received even one vote in this poll? Right now, we haven't even proven that we're a top 50 program let alone a top 25 program. La Salle needs to prove itself before they can even hope to get one vote in this poll.

This will serve as ZERO motivation for this team, because frankly I don't think they believe they're worthy of consideration...yet.

[Deleted]

coachd... you demonstrate you have little if any understanding whatsoever of what a preseason poll is comprised of. Usually it's based solely returning scoring, of which we have little, or blue chip recruits, of which we have none. The games are played on the court, not in the newspaper. We don't even play Drexel. I'm giving you negative rep.

[Deleted]

Oct 27, 2012 10:22:42 GMT -5 calsufan said:

Why exactly do you think we should have received even one vote in this poll? Right now, we haven't even proven that we're a top 50 program let alone a top 25 program. La Salle needs to prove itself before they can even hope to get one vote in this poll.

This will serve as ZERO motivation for this team, because frankly I don't think they believe they're worthy of consideration...yet.

If St Joe's can get 25 votes and Drexel can get 5 votes, then La Salle is deserving of a few votes themselves. Butler was a CBI team last year and lost two starters, yet they get 33 votes? It's all about the perception of the media. The media loves Martelli and slobbered all over Flint's whining about not making the NCAA's last season. They love the David vs Goliath story of Butler. Don't get me wrong, Butler has a fine program, but based on this year's rosters and last year's results, they don't deserve votes any more than La Salle. I absolutely love La Salle's chances of beating both St Joe's and Butler this year.

And I most certainly think the La Salle players believe they are deserving of consideration. I would be disappointed if they didn't feel that way.

[Deleted]

Oct 27, 2012 10:42:39 GMT -5 hykos1045 said:

coachd... you demonstrate you have little if any understanding whatsoever of what a preseason poll is comprised of. Usually it's based solely returning scoring, of which we have little, or blue chip recruits, of which we have none. The games are played on the court, not in the newspaper. We don't even play Drexel. I'm giving you negative rep.

hykos, La Salle returns roughly 73% of their scoring, 70% of their rebounding, 82% of their assists, and 76% of their minutes played from last season.

The answer is simple. La Salle didn't get votes because of the perception of the program. It's the same reason the A10 media and coaches picked La Salle 7th in the league, you know, the same geniuses who picked them 13th last season.

[coqui900]

I love the prognostications with UMass ahead of us in the poll and Chaz Williams as the best point in the conference. Uhm, we beat them twice last year and have a few guards better than Chaz, let alone one.

[luhoopsfan]

I am completely unimpressed by UMass and Williams in particular. I think he plays playground style out of control hoops. He would have for in with some of Billy Hahns teams

[victoriouslasalle]

Couldn't the Temple folks have a similar complaint regarding receiving no preseason votes?

[Deleted]

Oct 27, 2012 16:37:57 GMT -5 victoriouslasalle said:

Couldn't the Temple folks have a similar complaint regarding receiving no preseason votes?

Sure, the same goes for Temple. I think some people are missing the boat on them too. Even though they lost three key players, they return a lot of experience, add two very good transfers in Pepper and O'Brien, a healthy Randall, and a good incoming recruiting class.

[golasalle]

Oct 27, 2012 10:22:42 GMT -5 calsufan said:

This will serve as ZERO motivation for this team, because frankly I don't think they believe they're worthy of consideration...yet.

What evidence do you have that they don't believe they are worthy? I would think the opposit and have just as much evidence as you.

[calsufan]

Oct 27, 2012 17:46:26 GMT -5 golasalle said:

Oct 27, 2012 10:22:42 GMT -5 calsufan said:

This will serve as ZERO motivation for this team, because frankly I don't think they believe they're worthy of consideration...yet.

What evidence do you have that they don't believe they are worthy? I would think the opposit and have just as much evidence as you.

And that's why it's called an opinion. Stop getting your panties in a bunch.

[golasalle]

Wow, quite a pissy response. Generally opinions are based on some level of fact so i was just asking what facts you may have that would lead you to that opinion. Not sure why a simple question would elicit such a snarky resonse. Maybe it is your panties?

[calsufan]

Oct 28, 2012 20:29:22 GMT -5 golasalle said:

Wow, quite a pissy response. Generally opinions are based on some level of fact so i was just asking what facts you may have that would lead you to that opinion. Not sure why a simple question would elicit such a snarky resonse. Maybe it is your panties?

Oh please. I gave what I got, so don't play the holier than thou card all of a sudden.

[coachd]

I agree with kjmac that if Drexel, Joes and Butler receive votes then we need to receive an equal amount as we had an NIT like Drexel and Joes. Media perception is usually out of whack.

[calsufan]

Oct 29, 2012 17:35:19 GMT -5 coachd said:

I agree with kjmac that if Drexel, Joes and Butler receive votes then we need to receive an equal amount as we had an NIT like Drexel and Joes. Media perception is usually out of whack.

I disagree Steve / Al. St. Joe's is expected to and probably will do better than us. Drexel is expected to contend for their league title and were jobbed out of an NCAA bid last year. I think they both deserve a few votes. We have to come out strong and change a few people's minds before we can garner a few votes.

[coachd]

not sure who you are answering but the Hawks were fortunate to beat us last season at the Palestra. Galloway played out of control during that contest for us.

Drexel didn't play a strong enough schedule last year and are not better then La Salle or Saint Joe's and would be lucky to finish 9th in the A10... they are in the weaker CAA.

[Deleted]

We have not put a ball on the floor and we complain about lack of respect?
pre season polls mean zilch. Let's wait for few games to see if we deserve recognition of any sort. I just hope we stay healthy, avoid controversy, and take advantage of our experience. If we play up to capabilities and fail to be recognized, then we whine and complain.

[Deleted]

Regardless of what you guys think about Steve/Al, this time he has a legitimate point. I really don't care about preseason rankings and understand they mean zilch, but based on last year's results and who is returning, La Salle deserved some votes just as much as St Joe's, Drexel and Butler just to name a few teams.

It's all about the perception of the media and I understand it but I don't have to like it.

[cpico]

Oct 31, 2012 7:56:06 GMT -5 @kjmac12 said:

Regardless of what you guys think about Steve/Al, this time he has a legitimate point. I really don't care about preseason rankings and understand they mean zilch, but based on last year's results and who is returning, La Salle deserved some votes just as much as St Joe's, Drexel and Butler just to name a few teams.

It's all about the perception of the media and I understand it but I don't have to like it.

Agree. If St. Joe's got 25 votes then we should have gotten some. We basically had the same seasons last year. I know we lost Pettis, but I think Garland will give us double digits offensively to mitigate a chunk of what we lost with Pettis.

[golasalle]

Oct 29, 2012 9:47:02 GMT -5 calsufan said:

Oct 28, 2012 20:29:22 GMT -5 golasalle said:

Wow, quite a pissy response. Generally opinions are based on some level of fact so i was just asking what facts you may have that would lead you to that opinion. Not sure why a simple question would elicit such a snarky resonse. Maybe it is your panties?

Oh please. I gave what I got, so don't play the holier than thou card all of a sudden.

Really not interested in getting into a flame war with you. I just wondered what facts you had to go on in making a pretty strong statement about the team's confidence level. I am not, nor do I claim to be, an "insider" but in any conversations that I have been privy to with the coach or in any of his statements he has made at various events he seems to go out of his way to say how this group really believes in themselves. That is why I found it curious why you would say the opposite and asked what evidence you had. If you re-read my post, that is all I was asking. You still haven't answered.

[Deleted]

I sure hope they believe in themselves. At the same time, everyone who's been in this game understands that a preseason poll is just a preseason poll. The coaches fill out their scantrons the same way every season. Very few teams make a big impact in the offseason, unless they sign 3 top 100 freshmen, they are not going to become ranked overnight. There are many teams that have greatly improved and hopefully we find La Salle to be most improved by the end of December but the preseason poll is not a time for that development to surface.

[talkinbball]

It only matters where we are at the end of the year not the beginning. That being said, I know I always complain about the OOC but, with Villanova being down, we really don't have a "statement" type game early in the season to get a true gauge of where we stand against a very good team and to get noticed by voters. Bucknell should be a good test but they have no cachet to draw attention. Miami should also be good but they also have no historical "cred". Wish G would have scheduled a real powerhouse early.

[coachd]

Oct 31, 2012 9:25:16 GMT -5 golasalle said:

Oct 29, 2012 9:47:02 GMT -5 calsufan said:

Oh please. I gave what I got, so don't play the holier than thou card all of a sudden.

Really not interested in getting into a flame war with you. I just wondered what facts you had to go on in making a pretty strong statement about the team's confidence level. I am not, nor do I claim to be, an "insider" but in any conversations that I have been privy to with the coach or in any of his statements he has made at various events he seems to go out of his way to say how this group really believes in themselves. That is why I found it curious why you would say the opposite and asked what evidence you had. If you re-read my post, that is all I was asking. You still haven't answered.

Best to ignore, he's trolling for a response.

[luhoopsfan]

for what it's worth, Pomeroy has us rated #72 - purely on Statistics of course and not taking into account any potential improvement from guys like Zack and Wright.

[calsufan]

Oct 31, 2012 22:47:51 GMT -5 coachd said:

Oct 31, 2012 9:25:16 GMT -5 golasalle said:

Really not interested in getting into a flame war with you. I just wondered what facts you had to go on in making a pretty strong statement about the team's confidence level. I am not, nor do I claim to be, an "insider" but in any conversations that I have been privy to with the coach or in any of his statements he has made at various events he seems to go out of his way to say how this group really believes in themselves. That is why I found it curious why you would say the opposite and asked what evidence you had. If you re-read my post, that is all I was asking. You still haven't answered.

Best to ignore, he's trolling for a response.

Someday Steve \ Al \ Coachd, you'll look up the word irony and you'll see that your picture is posted right next to the definition.

Let me be real clear. I post my opinions, they're not always right and people will disagree with them. I'm fine with that. What I won't do is what you've done on multiple boards now and that is to create multiple personalities to post unsolicited and unwanted political rants. You can deny all you want, but your posts over on the A-10 board are EXACTLY the same as Steve \ Al's rants in the past. The three of you are one in the same. Right now, you have two known names on here, this one and Explorerstevesback. Let's see how long you "all" can resist interjecting your politics into this board.

[theneumann64]

I'm to lock the thread if all that's going on is people bitching at each other.

[angryal]

If this team has ANY talent at all, they should leave November 6-0.

[explorer88]

I was not thinking La Salle was getting disrespected earlier but the more I look at things like Richmond getting more love than La Salle by many I am beginning to think we are getting little respect for sure.

It really is all perception. La Salle is not a very chic program despite some obvious talent and people are generally lazy and not willing to research things. They tend to fall back to what they remember which is La Salle as a struggling program.

We just have to win and need to wins games that are spotlighted to force people to take notice.

[SICguy84]

I worked for a number of years at a local news outlet in the city. In our sports department, the perception of La Salle, was that it was a struggling backwater program. A program that is not and was not worthy of the same amount of coverage that may be provided for Temple or SJU. The newscast only has a certain amount of time for sports and if we have time for La Salle scores or video ok, if not that was fine too. Viewers who want to know about the other or also ran collegiate teams can tune into Comcast Sports Net.

I have had numerous animated discussions with sports producers about the inequality of coverage between La Salle or Drexel vs. Temple or SJU. I remember a few instances recently when the Explorers were on the road and we didn’t even run a graphic with the final score! It’s pretty frustrating. Everything can be fixed though by consistent winning or winning a “big” game more frequently.