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Post by ALioninWinter on Aug 8, 2024 7:35:45 GMT -5
Dickie V came out with his top 4 Mid-Majors for the upcoming year. McNeese State is his #1; followed by St Louis, LMU and then Grand Canyon. With so many new players, it’s hard to know what the team will look like. To say nothing about how they’ll actually perform! Here’s hoping Dick Vitale is right!
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Post by boothlion on Aug 15, 2024 12:12:36 GMT -5
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Post by LIONS90045 on Aug 20, 2024 12:14:05 GMT -5
Thanks for posting the link - lots to read there.
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Post by boothlion on Aug 24, 2024 19:27:05 GMT -5
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Post by boothlion on Sept 3, 2024 2:05:22 GMT -5
Hope everyone had a good Labor Day Weekend!
Mid-Major Central's Conference Predictions - no write up just listed
1. Gonzaga
2. Saint Mary’s
3. Santa Clara
4. San Francisco
5. Washington State
6. Oregon State
7. Loyola Marymount
8. Pacific
9. Portland
10. Pepperdine
11. San Diego
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Post by LIONS90045 on Sept 4, 2024 18:52:29 GMT -5
Are those your predictions Booth?
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Post by boothlion on Sept 4, 2024 20:07:42 GMT -5
Are those your predictions Booth? Nope just reposting what I see from the "media." They say they cover all Mid-Major College Basketball Teams with paying extra attention to small conference teams! Big Sky and Southland enthusiast. So take with it what you will. |
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Post by boothlion on Sept 4, 2024 20:08:38 GMT -5
Zach Farmer with the Unofficial WCC Hoops Podcast did an interview with Coach Johnson.
3 interesting points for me:
Around 10 minute mark Coach talks about the progress of the returning players
Around the 18:30 mark Coach talks about what adding Coach Romar has done for the program
I don’t know when this interview was conducted but at 21:49 mark Coach says they are still finalizing 2 games for the non-conference schedule so possibly some changes from what I had found online prior.
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Post by ALioninWinter on Sept 5, 2024 10:21:08 GMT -5
Interesting podcast. Coach Stan definitely had a toned-down rhetoric. Is that because he’s concerned about this year’s team? Or has he learned a lesson that it’s best to not raise expectations too high?
He put most of the blame for last year’s poor performance on injuries. While injuries certainly hurt team continuity, the team itself was flawed. We had 3 guards who could sorta play PG but none of them could fill the PG role well. We had zero competency at the 3-spot. That meant we basically had 13 guys competing for 3 positions while the other two positions were filled with stop gap measures.
As Coach Stan stated in the interview, he has addressed the 3-spot issue by (as he calls it) adding length to the perimeter. We actually seem to have some real potential this year with that position.
Point Guard still concerns me. Will Johnston is a strong shooter but as a PG his only role should be as a backup. Romar said the freshman from Oregon can play point but that’s asking a lot of a freshman.
Coach Stan also mentioned 2 more games being added to the schedule. I hope they’re quality opponents. He’s not going to dig himself out of the hole he’s dug by scheduling cupcakes most people have never heard of.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Sept 5, 2024 15:47:53 GMT -5
Interesting video - rather low key as noted - not focused on selling tickets with the modesty conveyed.
Personally I think the team is better thanCoach conveyed unless there are issues with the team “jelling.”
Some players I expect to contribute were not mentioned like Stone-Carrawell and perhaps Ristic.
I noted the grey in Coach Johnson’s beard - age or stress or both?
Looking forward to the season which should be exciting!
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Post by ALioninWinter on Sept 5, 2024 21:06:08 GMT -5
I saw that grey. Hard to miss actually. It makes him look older for sure. Maybe he’s trying to cultivate that?
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Post by boothlion on Sept 16, 2024 11:25:22 GMT -5
NBA Draft Point did a write up on the WCC. They come at it from NBA prospects angle.
Loyola Marymount: An underrated group who added a massive transfer class for a school this small, they add some really fun, high upside talent, with Jan Vide, Jevon Porter and Myron Amey. A giant transfer class for them, and a potential team to make some noise in the conference
Projected lineup:
G: Myron Amey
G: Will Johnston
F: Jan Vide
F: Alex Merviladze
C: Jevon Porter
Potential NBA prospects: Jan Vide was a really high level prospect out of Slovenia, and a guy who showed flashes at UCLA, even with a really small role. Comes to LMU to potentially breakout it as a big handler and potential high level scorer on this LMU squad. Perfect situation for him to learn and break out, similar to how Dominick Harris did last year.
Rest of their WCC Potential Prospect list:
Gonzaga: Nolan Hickman, Michael Ajayi, Braden Huff , Ismaila Diagne
Saint Mary’s: Mikey Lewis, Paulius Murauskas
USF: Veniamin Abosi, Ndeweno Newbury
Wash St: Cedric Coward, LeJuan Watts
Santa Clara: Adama Bal
Oregon St: Maxim Logue
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Post by LIONS90045 on Sept 16, 2024 19:43:41 GMT -5
I suspect we have a lot (really a lot) of talent on this team. Coach Johnson is being modest about expectations but I'm not - this is a Big Dance team.
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