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Post by lasalle89 on Sept 21, 2013 7:10:18 GMT -5
If we don't stumble early I think we have a shot. I think we will have to be undefeated to break in. My questions are do you think we will break into the top 25 during the season? And how many games do we need to win in a row from the opening game to get ranked?
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Post by lwc4591 on Sept 21, 2013 7:22:34 GMT -5
If we come back from Paradise Jam at 7-0 we will be ranked, 9-1 after Nova game we will be ranked and 11-2 before start of conference play we will be ranked. That's my best guess. I think we do no worse than 10-3 after first 13 games and best would be 12-1. Come on Nov. 9th.
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Post by calsufan on Sept 21, 2013 11:13:39 GMT -5
My apologies in advance for being older and crabbier, but can we PLEASE stop with threads like this? We were a good team last year that barely got into the NCAA's (I'm still shocked that we did, happy, but shocked). We lost the heart and soul of this team. Will someone else step up and replace him? That's a definite maybe. There is no guarantee that we're going to be better than last year. We might be, but who knows? I'm just tired of reading posts and threads talking about how we're going to be so much improved. Maybe we will and maybe we won't but let's stop getting ahead of ourselves. It's way too early for this. I don't want to become like those arrogant St. Joe's fans who ended up falling flat on their faces.
This is not a shot at any one poster here and I know your post wasn't intended as such lasalle89, but I've read way too many of this type of posts this offseason. I want to see it on the court first. We've been let down before way too many times.
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Post by theneumann64 on Sept 21, 2013 12:07:33 GMT -5
I don't have a problem with the thread, but I agree with calsufan's sentiments. We were one of the last teams in to the tournament and lost our best player. It's not inconceivable that we take a step back this year. I don't believe in "jinxes" or anything so that's not my point.
I'm super excited about this year, and think we have a shot for big things, but some of you seem to be really setting yourself up for a fall when we drop one of these games to Siena or Hartford or something. I don't know if I'll be able to take 4 months of posts about how we "cost ourselves a tournament berth" because we lost a game like that.
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Post by durenduren on Sept 21, 2013 12:21:18 GMT -5
Can't wait for the annual "season is lost" and "______ needs to be fired" threads.
I, too, am excited but let's see if this team has answers to the question marks before Top 25 talk. Won't get into that based on a team on paper. Cough, cough, Kentucky.
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Post by theneumann64 on Sept 21, 2013 12:25:35 GMT -5
See I think the threads calling for guys being fired are going to be things of the past. The new iteration of that will be hand-wringing about our NCAA tournament chances on November 26th. I just think we should all be careful. Everything that happened from Selection Sunday on last year is mostly incidental to our tournament chances this year. Sure we have a bit more name recognition, which will help if its close, but I'm just picturing a meltdown on here if we drop a game or two that people think we "should win."
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Post by cpico on Sept 21, 2013 12:50:56 GMT -5
See I think the threads calling for guys being fired are going to be things of the past. The new iteration of that will be hand-wringing about our NCAA tournament chances on November 26th. I just think we should all be careful. Everything that happened from Selection Sunday on last year is mostly incidental to our tournament chances this year. Sure we have a bit more name recognition, which will help if its close, but I'm just picturing a meltdown on here if we drop a game or two that people think we "should win." Well, that's the reality of the situation. Last year we lost to CCSU, and we were extremely lucky that loss didn't cost us an NCAA bid. We barely have the flexibility to drop a game we should win and we probably have no room to lose 2 games we should win and get an at large bid. So that's why people might be in "meltdown" mode if this team loses to teams it has no excuse to lose to. We have very little room for error. So if we lose to a low level team we can't afford to lose to (which hopefully a veteran team like our own won't allow to happen) there probably will be critical threads because we know just how little room for error there really is. The team should be very good this year and I'm looking forward to an exciting season of basketball.
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Sept 21, 2013 12:53:38 GMT -5
I'd love to agree with you but I bet we're less than a dozen games in before a certain sub-segment of this board is calling last year a fluke.
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Post by theneumann64 on Sept 21, 2013 12:58:19 GMT -5
Well then this place is going to be unbearable, so maybe everyone could get a firmer grip on their horses.
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Post by lasalle89 on Sept 21, 2013 13:11:33 GMT -5
I have not looked forward to a season more then this since 1990 when we got as high as 12th(someone will correct me) I believe. We have suffered and suffered with bade I and bad breaks. I expect us to be good and I expect us to come out of the gate fast and I expect us to get ranked. That being said it is very well possible that we could stumble and just not gel and be lost without Ramon. If we are going to be a winning program we can't be afraid to expect to win. As for calling for G's head. I already openly apologized for wanting him gone. The nice guy can't coach thing is over. You don't win 3 NCAA tournament games by luck. G is for real and his hard work is paying off. One quick side note. I had lunch with a lawyer who got a full ride to play at Cabrini. He said Speedy recruited him and invited him to campus. They set up a day and time to meet and when he got there there was no one around. He walked around the athletic office and Speedy and the coaches were not there. Needless to say he didnt come to LaSalle. Don't think we have to worry about that with G.
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Post by broderickpresident on Sept 21, 2013 13:45:00 GMT -5
The last time we were ranked during the season, it was because we had a 26-win team returning a 1st-team All-American, a top-notch PG, a dead-eye shooter who had just dropped 26 in an NCAA Tournament game as a freshman, one of the most explosive 6th-men in the game, had added a big-time prop 48 player and had only lost its 6-foot-6 center (who was actually pretty valuable since I don't think he ever missed a shot in 4 years at LSU). And even at that, it took early season wins over big-name schools for us to get ranked (Florida, and perhaps most importantly a nationally televised beatdown of DePaul at the Rosemont Horizon). We didn't beat any ranked teams that season, but the non-conf was strong (DePaul, Florida, Ohio State, Temple, Nova, Notre Dame, LMU, etc). Each of those teams with the exception of Nova had NBA players.
Our schedule will afford few opportunities for true statement wins. We'll have to sweep the non-conference slate and have a very impressive A-10 showing in order to get ranked. I think our non-conference schedule is stronger than it looks. Several dangerous under the radar mid-majors. This means we will not be rewarded by pollsters for wins and will be harshly judged for any losses. On the other hand, as long as those teams take care of business, it should keep us with a respectable RPI.
We just lost our best 2-way player since Randy Woods. It could take this team some time to figure things out. To me, the key is what kind of season Garland has. He has the ability to lead the A-10 in scoring and be a real game-changer. On the other hand, he could be the same guy that shoots 25% from deep and alternates between falling asleep and taking bad gambles on defense. And I LOVE Garland's game. Just judging him harshly because I think he could have a really special season.
I'm as excited as anyone for this season, but I think we've got to realistic.
Here's to hoping I'm dead wrong!
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Post by lwc4591 on Sept 21, 2013 13:53:13 GMT -5
Being realistic I think we go 15-15 this season. Does that sound better.
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Post by durenduren on Sept 21, 2013 13:56:15 GMT -5
I wasn't serious about the "who's getting fired" talk, but I do think there's been a downplay of Ramon's departure by some around here. And that's not saying that we don't have the pieces to replace him, because we do. But that's a monumental change in that lineup, the locker room, etc.
Think we should take last year's surprise run humbly, and not starting counting our chickens before they hatch. This is exactly what many harped on Dayton and St Joe's fans for years about.
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Sept 21, 2013 14:30:09 GMT -5
Very much agree there. I definitely have a little fear that the instant offense 6th man role was ideal for Garland and the hole left by Galloway will be far bigger than expected.
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Post by Kovy on Sept 21, 2013 14:42:09 GMT -5
Very much agree there. I definitely have a little fear that the instant offense 6th man role was ideal for Garland and the hole left by Galloway will be far bigger than expected. I completely agree with this. Garland had a great tournament but I don't really think he can fill Galloway's role for an entire season. Also its going to be interesting to see what happens with the Wright-Zack combo at the 4 and 5 spots. Wright didn't really blossom last season till after Zack got hurt. We return a lot but we also lost our leader on the floor. I just don't see anyone that can put this team on their back like Galloway did.
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Post by coqui900 on Sept 21, 2013 15:51:42 GMT -5
Ramon will be missed. A ton. But he led by example. I think we have a lot of really mature kids on this team who saw how working hard and playing the proverbial right way brings success. G really settled down last year and knows he can trust his players. They'll figure it out.
Also, legit, Jerrell is going to go nuts next year. He's my darkhorse pick for A-10 POTY. I'm not kidding, either. He absolutely dominated the last stretch of the season. That light bulb went off in a huge way. I still don't think we talk enough about his K State game and how much confidence and swag he has from it. Watch that K-State video and see his cocksure headbob when he comes back to the locker room. He also really disciplined himself on defense and learned the value of staying on the court. That was his major stumbling block as a player. If he didn't get that lesson last year, none of this happens.
If he put in the work in the off-season (and, by any account, he did) than he's going to be absolutely nasty. I was going to start pushing the nickname of THE EATER OF WORLDS for him at some point. Might as well debut my branding efforts/Galactus/Bray Wyatt reference now.
Fraschilla also just tossed Zack's name out there as a potential NBA pick in two seasons. Fran knows his hoops. He was a really smart player from Day 1 who was still learning how to control his body. G has raved about him continuously.
Last year we could honestly claim title to most underrated backcourt in the country. I won't go that far next year for our big guys but they're really good.
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Sept 21, 2013 21:16:40 GMT -5
The thing that made Ramon great where other guys of his skill level were just very good was that he didn't have to be the man and he knew when not to be the man. If his shot wasn't falling or if a team had keyed their defense on him, he was big enough to handle just moving the ball around if it gave us a better shot to win. Insanely rare trait for a senior star with hopes of playing at the next level.
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Post by lasallescreamer on Sept 22, 2013 13:06:04 GMT -5
No one ever can know what is going to happen during a season. But, geez, the one thing that WE can control is our enthusiasm. We should not be down in any way. We have a good, and possibly a great team. Just lets assume the best.Lets start season with good karma and support this team throughout season. No reason to engage in analytical analysis. Just be happy.
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Post by durenduren on Sept 22, 2013 14:13:10 GMT -5
I don't think anyone is down on this team, but I'll take top 64 talk before I do top 25. Get firmly planted in the field, and good things will fall into place.
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Post by thehawkisdead on Sept 22, 2013 18:50:25 GMT -5
Anything is possible. Don't forget we finished 24th in the final coaches poll. That kinda went overlooked in the afterglow of the tourney run.
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Post by glorydays on Sept 22, 2013 18:57:05 GMT -5
Anything is possible. Don't forget we finished 24th in the final coaches poll. That kinda went overlooked in the afterglow of the tourney run. Best point made thus far.....
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Post by durenduren on Sept 22, 2013 18:58:09 GMT -5
Anything is possible. Don't forget we finished 24th in the final coaches poll. That kinda went overlooked in the afterglow of the tourney run. Fair point. Pretty much the worst point to get ranked from a publicity standpoint.
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Post by alwayslasalle1 on Sept 22, 2013 19:35:34 GMT -5
My apologies in advance for being older and crabbier, but can we PLEASE stop with threads like this? We were a good team last year that barely got into the NCAA's (I'm still shocked that we did, happy, but shocked). We lost the heart and soul of this team. Will someone else step up and replace him? That's a definite maybe. There is no guarantee that we're going to be better than last year. We might be, but who knows? I'm just tired of reading posts and threads talking about how we're going to be so much improved. Maybe we will and maybe we won't but let's stop getting ahead of ourselves. It's way too early for this. I don't want to become like those arrogant St. Joe's fans who ended up falling flat on their faces. This is not a shot at any one poster here and I know your post wasn't intended as such lasalle89, but I've read way too many of this type of posts this offseason. I want to see it on the court first. We've been let down before way too many times. I agree 100%. While I love the energy and enjoy the positive thoughts, i also have a long history with our programs and have been disappointed after expecting great seasons. I will be the first to congratulate the team when they do well. I will be an obnoxious braggart to my Big Five Friends if we do as well as last season. During the pre-season I will remain humble but hopeful.
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Post by big5explorer on Sept 23, 2013 5:44:18 GMT -5
My apologies in advance for being older and crabbier, but can we PLEASE stop with threads like this? We were a good team last year that barely got into the NCAA's (I'm still shocked that we did, happy, but shocked). We lost the heart and soul of this team. Will someone else step up and replace him? That's a definite maybe. There is no guarantee that we're going to be better than last year. We might be, but who knows? I'm just tired of reading posts and threads talking about how we're going to be so much improved. Maybe we will and maybe we won't but let's stop getting ahead of ourselves. It's way too early for this. I don't want to become like those arrogant St. Joe's fans who ended up falling flat on their faces. This is not a shot at any one poster here and I know your post wasn't intended as such lasalle89, but I've read way too many of this type of posts this offseason. I want to see it on the court first. We've been let down before way too many times. I agree. There should never be any posts discussing how the team might do in the coming season.
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Sept 23, 2013 9:10:46 GMT -5
I predict games will be played but I don't want to think about anything beyond that!
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Post by lwc4591 on Sept 23, 2013 9:23:15 GMT -5
What is this a Fear Factor thread. Team is good and will do good, period.
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Post by ck on Sept 23, 2013 9:54:05 GMT -5
La Salle defeats Kentucky VCU defeats Louisville in national semi-finals. One Commonwealth is driven to a binge on mint juleps, while two others vie for a national championship. Can't see how to work in the other of the 4 commonwealths believably (UMass?).
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MisterD
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Post by MisterD on Sept 23, 2013 10:27:53 GMT -5
In that situation, Kentucky has a win-win. Mint juleps are pretty great.
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Post by lasalle89 on Sept 23, 2013 12:52:23 GMT -5
Our guards are good and worked out with Jameer. Tyreek is a senior as well as Sam. Our Big men are improved. We won three tournament games. We return all but one player. Our Coach is better. This is the best returning team we have had in 20 years. I expect a great season cause we don't get to be in this position very often. Lets come out of the gate fast and get better as he season goes on.
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Post by durenduren on Sept 23, 2013 13:30:36 GMT -5
Can we talk about mint juleps some more? I like that better.
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