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Post by ALioninWinter on Aug 11, 2014 23:09:37 GMT -5
Here's what I'm seeing:
Season opening tournament at Gersten on 14-15 November with LMU, SE Missouri St (Ohio Valley Conf), San Diego and Boise St (Mountain West). Looks like SE Missouri on the 14th and Boise St on the 15th.
20 Nov at Arizona St 23 Nov host San Diego Christian 26 Nov host UC Riverside 29 Nov host UC Irvine 3 Dec at USC 13 Dec at Northern Arizona 17 Dec at Stanford 22 Dec (Diamondhead Classic) Wichita State 23 Dec (Diamondhead Classic) Nebraska or UH 25 Dec (Diamondhead Classic) unknown opponent (but everyone in the tournament is a quality team) 29 Dec Open WCC play at home against Pepperdine
It's a good slate. Three Pac 12 opponents, 1 MWC opponent and all quality teams in the Diamondhead Classic. It would be nice to see a BCS-caliber team in Gersten, but at least it looks like we have a number of opponents that should have a pretty good RPI come next March.
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Post by vadlion on Aug 12, 2014 10:32:19 GMT -5
That looks like a pretty tough schedule with this new roster. They will get tested early. Great to see the 3 Pac -12 games and the Diamond Classic will be at least 2 difficult teams. Excited to see the Lions in action.
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Post by uncurselmu on Aug 12, 2014 11:40:58 GMT -5
Some people have griped about our strength of schedule in past seasons and I must say that they did a great job of securing a competitive and challenging schedule for our team.
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Post by longtimelionfan on Aug 12, 2014 13:33:41 GMT -5
A very tough non-conference schedule based upon last year's results: Boise State 23 wins; SE Missouri State 18 wins; ASU 21 wins; UCI 23 wins; Stanford 23 wins; Wichita State 35 wins; Nebraska 19 wins/Hawaii 20 wins and no home games between November 29 and the WCC opener on December 29.
Including the WCC, 17 regular season games against teams that won 18+ games last year.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Aug 12, 2014 21:53:46 GMT -5
Exciting and befitting of the Lions new expectations. Although I thought a rematch with Academy of the Arts might be interesting also (not!).
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Post by slblions08 on Aug 12, 2014 22:25:45 GMT -5
That's sort of a brutal schedule. In all honesty, I could see the team going 0-12 to start the season. Last year's time might have. I can't see them favored in any game except for San Diego Christian and maybe UC Riverside. If Dunlap think that's not a killer schedule which he said he wanted to avoid, then he's not familiar with basketball in the West, or he just wants his guys to get smashed to teach them a lesson. I hope they can steal the home opener.
It's a really interesting schedule and with games against the Pac-12 and MWC, and at least there will be 5 home games before WCC starts. However, it won't do well to sell the program after piling up losses and people just get disappointed again and Dunlap has to spend 2-3 years trying to convince the fan base to show up to games.
I don't mind scheduling difficult when you have a good team as we did that was chasing postseason like the NIT. That was a golden year when a game against Valpo meant something. Scheduling a rough schedule when the program is starting at the bottom seems like a good way to test your coaching acumen. However, you have to sell your program on something. The St. Mary's of the world schedules cupcakes at home and gets a bunch of wins to get the gullible freshman and sophomores to go the games. Getting diehards to the games isn't who you want, you want rowdy college kids who want somewhere to go. And when I mean rowdy college kids, I mean getting a bunch of girls going to see a "winning" team so that the guys follow, etc. Setting up yourself for failure doesn't seem like a great marketing plan. It's more like how the Clippers used to sell ticket packages before Blake and CP3. It was buy a bunch of tickets to see the other stars play because there's nothing else to see here.
And before you guys blast me for saying our team blows, I do think they might be better than last year's team if there's better coaching, strategy and people know their roles, and this Herman kid is as good as some of you think he is. If Siame and someone else steps up they'll be better than a 1 - 2 punch. It's just that they will be playing some very experienced teams with pro-level talent. Even Irvine.
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Post by ALioninWinter on Aug 12, 2014 23:41:00 GMT -5
The schedule looks harder than what I was expecting from Coach Dunlap after his scheduling philosophy comments in the Daily Breeze interview. I wonder what he considers a suitably hard schedule for a good team. Maybe he will follow the Don Monson route.
Until I see the 2014-15 Lions in action, I can't accurately evaluate this schedule as it compares to the team's potential. Maybe Dunlap thinks the team will be okay. Personally, I was always willing to take on a better opponent. I played better. I learned more. When playing a lesser opponent, I could almost feel my game atrophy. I never got better playing a cupcake. I always figured I could go all out against a better (yes, even a significantly better) opponent and have little to lose. If I lost, well, that's what everyone expected. But if I could be part of an upset.........ah, that is one sweet feeling. And over the years I enjoyed that feeling more than a few times. I hear what you say slblion, but scheduling the plethora of softies we've had over the past several years, including Bakersfield and Montana twice in a season isn't going to bring fans to Gersten even if you blow them out both times you play them.
I know we've had some good opponents over the past several years, but the schedule has been (in my opinion) overloaded with low quality opponents. The guys this year are going to have some challenges, but I'd rather see some challenges and some pre-season home games than what we've had for the most part over the previous number of years. I don't see this team going 0-12. I know I haven't seen the team play, but I'm willing to make a few assumptions and think positively about what the players and the coaches can do.
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Post by longtimelionfan on Aug 13, 2014 10:50:48 GMT -5
I agree with Winter that since LMU's new squad hasn't played anybody yet it's very difficult to project much now. But, really SLB you can see them going 0-12? That sounds like you're wishing for failure to me. A minimal projection based upon what we know and/or have seen - the return to health of Okonji, Egbeyemi & Flint; normal freshman to sophomore improvement by Payne; and, Dunlap's coaching and game plans - means that LMU should win at least 4 of: At Home: Boise State, SE Missouri St., San Diego Christian, UCR & UCI; Road: NAU and USC.
And, let me be clear, I'm speculating that none of Okonji, Egbeyemi or Flint will be starters by the time WCC play begins. My speculation is Herman, Hayes, Siame, Humphries and Krajovic log more minutes in WCC play. Okonji may crack the top 5 in minutes if he is an aggressive rebounder but I don't think Egbeyemi (doesn't shoot well enough) or Flint (poor shooter & slow) do. So, my completely speculative hoped for projection is better but I don't see LMU, unless completely devastated by injuries, winning less than 4 of the first 12.
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Aug 14, 2014 1:28:39 GMT -5
Ok, I know I sound like the old rambling guy, but the similarities between this squad and the one from Dunlap's senior year in 1979-1980 are eerie.
Dunlap was on a bad team his junior (first year) at LMU. The head coach (Dave Benadaret) was let go after a last place season in 1978-79.
Only two players (Dunlap and Clyde Johnson) from that team were kept by the new coach, Ron Jacobs, in 1979-1980.
Jacobs had a tight eight-man rotation all season, with Johnson being the lone veteran getting time. The other seven players were new.
Jacobs had a tough non-conference schedule, with the Lions going 4-7 prior to conference play.
However, and let's hope this is where the trend continues, the new Lions began clicking and ended up with a 10-6 record in WCAC play. USF finished with the best record, but since they were on probation, the second-place Lions earned just the school's second NCAA Tournament berth! (The WCAC did not have a conference tournament in 1980.)
Even though the Lions got blasted by an ASU team that had four future NBA players (including a backcourt of Byron Scott and Fat Lever), the season was still a shocking success.
Jacobs ended up coaching professionally for the Philippines national team for many years. Dunlap graduated and was immediately hired as an assistant for the 1980-81 Lions.
Sorry for the long-winded trip down memory lane, but with all of the changes the coincidences keep piling up, so I decided to share. Hope my hunch is correct and this team gels come February/March, just like Dunlap's "new" team did when he played 35 years ago.
Go Lions!
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Post by ALioninWinter on Aug 14, 2014 9:32:24 GMT -5
No apology required. Thanks for the historical perspective.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Aug 14, 2014 20:17:46 GMT -5
Thx4 - fascinating recap of that season and great perspective on the Lions. I think you are likely much closer to the truth than Slb with his 0-12 start Thanks for sharing
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Post by ironlion on Aug 18, 2014 13:21:09 GMT -5
Here is the official release. Schedule is nicely split between games secured by last staff and new staff. Hawaii Tournament/ USC / ASU from last staff LMU Tournament/ Stanford new staff www.lmulions.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/081814aaa.htmlSpain trip is certainly important for new guys to get to know each other for the upcoming season.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Aug 18, 2014 20:34:41 GMT -5
Grueling schedule - I thought Dunlap wanted to start with a bit softer pre-WCC schedule but this is a real challenge! Perhaps it reflects coach's confidence in his team's ability to step up to the competition? Go Lions!
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