A-10 Previews

[MasonSAE4]

That was one of the ugliest games I've ever seen...from both teams.

Lol yeah I just looked it up. Combined 1-40 from both sides from deep. Duquense is gonna be weird. They'll pull some upsets but probably drop a few clangers too. Dambrot is a good coach but that squad screams inconsistency to me.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

SLU hangin with #12 Auburn. Down by 6 with 7 minutes to go. They would be ahead if they could shoot free throws.

SLU is 6 of 18 from free throws. They rank dead last in the NCAA in FT percentage.

 

[MasonSAE4]

SLU hangin with #12 Auburn. Down by 6 with 7 minutes to go. They would be ahead if they could shoot free throws.

SLU is 6 of 18 from free throws. They rank dead last in the NCAA in FT percentage.

They’re so funny to watch shoot free throws because they don’t just miss, they absolutely brick like every other shot they take. It’s a team full of Calixte’s. I know “put the other team on the line from the 18:00 minute mark of the first half” isn’t a valid strategy but if our bench was deep enough I would just go out there and whack every single one of them when they touched the ball in the paint.

 

[GMUgemini]

They’re so funny to watch shoot free throws because they don’t just miss, they absolutely brick like every other shot they take. It’s a team full of Calixte’s. I know “put the other team on the line from the 18:00 minute mark of the first half” isn’t a valid strategy but if our bench was deep enough I would just go out there and whack every single one of them when they touched the ball in the paint.

Step one: Pack it in.

Step two: hope they are off at the 3

Step three: foul late.

Depth wise, you could use JDS’s five fouls if you had to. Mar has 5 too. So long as the scorers don’t get into foul trouble, you are good.

 

[GMUYoda]

Good day by the A10 today even though St. Louis lost a close game with #12 Auburn... Drake was 8-2 before tonights blowout loss to Dayton... Richmond is now 9-1 and Duquesne is 9-0

#12 Auburn 67 St. Louis 61
#14 Dayton 78 Drake 47
La Salle 85 Morgan State 68
Richmond 78 Charleston 71
Duquesne 71 Radford 49
St. Bonaventure 75 Gannon 50

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

St. Bonaventure 75 Gannon 50

And people think OUR schedule is bad. The Bonnies are playing Zelda characters.

 

[sleeperpick]

And people think OUR schedule is bad. The Bonnies are playing Zelda characters.

Their schedule is 126 spots harder according to ken Pom lol

Vermont and Rutgers both top 85 teams ranked higher than New Mexico st. And they beat Rutgers (57 ranked) who is a surprise to many this year so far

quality wins over Hofstra and FAU as well. It’s really non comparable. You should never schedule d3 schools but they have a handful of top 125 games and we have 1.5 so far.

 

[psyclone]

Clean sweep for the A10 tonight:

• Richmond by 3 at ODU
• vcu by 5 at Charleston
• Lasalle by 14 at home over Wagner
• St. Bonaventure by 17 at home over Niagara

 

[Patriotsince81]

The A10 is now 98 - 47 (.675) overall.
The top half of the league is 63 - 10 (.863).
Multiple bids should be expected this year.

 

[mkaufman1]

The A10 is now 98 - 47 (.675) overall.
The top half of the league is 63 - 10 (.863).
Multiple bids should be expected this year.

Assuming the top 3 to 4 teams don’t lose any games to the bottom feeders, I have to think the league will probably be in line for 3-4 bids, and potentially another 1 to the NIT (if a team is on a bubble and misses, they’ll make it even though the NIT is hard to come by).

Any team with 10+ conference wins should be in the conversation.

 

[GMUgemini]

Assuming the top 3 to 4 teams don’t lose any games to the bottom feeders, I have to think the league will probably be in line for 3-4 bids, and potentially another 1 to the NIT (if a team is on a bubble and misses, they’ll make it even though the NIT is hard to come by).

Any team with 10+ conference wins should be in the conversation.

I'd be surprised if the A-10 got more than 3 teams in, but it's possible to get 3 at-large bids if a 4th team sneaks in and takes the auto-bid (Duquesne and Mason, for instance, have zero at-large chances unless they finish 1st or 2nd, but maybe one of them takes the auto-bid).

The automatic qualifiers make the NIT a crapshoot every year.

A-10 NIT bids by year:

2019: 2 (Davidson, Dayton)
2018: 0
2017: 1 (Richmond)
2016: 3 (Bona, GW, Davidson)
2015: 2 (GW, Richmond)
2014: 0 (This is the year the A-10 had 6 NCAA tournament teams)

 

[sleeperpick]

Assuming the top 3 to 4 teams don’t lose any games to the bottom feeders, I have to think the league will probably be in line for 3-4 bids, and potentially another 1 to the NIT (if a team is on a bubble and misses, they’ll make it even though the NIT is hard to come by).

Any team with 10+ conference wins should be in the conversation.

I’m not sure if any team with ten conference wins is in the conversation. That’s not typically how that works unless they beat someone like dayton or vcu twice

 

[mkaufman1]

I’m not sure if any team with ten conference wins is in the conversation. That’s not typically how that works unless they beat someone like dayton or vcu twice

You’re right, generally 10 wins isn’t enough. However, the league is very good this year and if you have 10+ wins and no bad losses, I suspect they’ll be in the conversation. Its hard to project at this juncture, but that’s probably the low bar for the potential to be in the conversation.

@GMUgemini yeah, I know the NIT is very tough to come by, that’s why I mentioned maybe they’ll get 1 team that is a bubble team in. Otherwise its very tough.

 

[Petey Buckets]

I'd be surprised if the A-10 got more than 3 teams in, but it's possible to get 3 at-large bids if a 4th team sneaks in and takes the auto-bid (Duquesne and Mason, for instance, have zero at-large chances unless they finish 1st or 2nd, but maybe one of them takes the auto-bid).

The automatic qualifiers make the NIT a crapshoot every year.

A-10 NIT bids by year:

2019: 1 (Davidson)
2018: 0
2017: 1 (Richmond)
2016: 3 (Bona, GW, Davidson)
2015: 2 (GW, Richmond)
2014: 0 (This is the year the A-10 had 6 NCAA tournament teams)

Pretty sure Dayton was in the NIT last year too.

Overall vcu and Dayton are as close as you can get to locks for the tournament.

Richmond, Rhode Island, and SLU have work to do but can get themselves into the conversation with strong wins in conference and to finish out OOC play. Richmond gets Alabama, Rhody gets Western Kentucky, and SLU gets KState to round out OOC ops. Rhody also gets two shots at both Dayton and vcu in conference and has played the best schedule of that group.

I'd put Mason and Duquesne's at large chances <5%. If they work their way into the conversation they will get excoriated by the committee for such a weak schedule. We can make it interesting with a win at TCU, because then a win over vcu or Dayton and suddenly it's a little more realistic.

 

[gmujim92]

Prediction: The Nebraska win is going to look a lot better for our resume by the end of the season than it does now.

They have talented guards and a coach who knows how to get the most from a guard-dominated team.

They also play in a league where they will have multiple opportunities to get quality wins at home — like Purdue, for example.

If Mason can beat TCU, I think our resume will be sneaky not-terrible going into an A-10 with many chances to make it much better.

 

[gmujim92]

Pretty sure Dayton was in the NIT last year too.

Overall vcu and Dayton are as close as you can get to locks for the tournament.

Richmond, Rhode Island, and SLU have work to do but can get themselves into the conversation with strong wins in conference and to finish out OOC play. Richmond gets Alabama, Rhody gets Western Kentucky, and SLU gets KState to round out OOC ops. Rhody also gets two shots at both Dayton and vcu in conference and has played the best schedule of that group.

I'd put Mason and Duquesne's at large chances <5%. If they work their way into the conversation they will get excoriated by the committee for such a weak schedule. We can make it interesting with a win at TCU, because then a win over vcu or Dayton and suddenly it's a little more realistic.

Rhody will have a hard time in a deep A-10 with a grand total of two active scholarship guards on its roster. Gonna be a grind for Dowtin and Russell to have to play ~40 mpg every night and if either gets hurt, they are screwed.

I think they are down to an 8-man rotation with Tate suspended.

 

[GMUgemini]

Pretty sure Dayton was in the NIT last year too.

Overall vcu and Dayton are as close as you can get to locks for the tournament.

Richmond, Rhode Island, and SLU have work to do but can get themselves into the conversation with strong wins in conference and to finish out OOC play. Richmond gets Alabama, Rhody gets Western Kentucky, and SLU gets KState to round out OOC ops. Rhody also gets two shots at both Dayton and vcu in conference and has played the best schedule of that group.

I'd put Mason and Duquesne's at large chances <5%. If they work their way into the conversation they will get excoriated by the committee for such a weak schedule. We can make it interesting with a win at TCU, because then a win over vcu or Dayton and suddenly it's a little more realistic.

Missed Dayton in my go through the first time. I fixed it.

 

[rf1]

Rhody will have a hard time in a deep A-10 with a grand total of two active scholarship guards on its roster. Gonna be a grind for Dowtin and Russell to have to play ~40 mpg every night and if either gets hurt, they are screwed.

I think they are down to an 8-man rotation with Tate suspended.

You are forgetting Tyrese Martin, a 2nd year scholarship guard. Rhode Island also will now have Georgetown transfer forward Antwan Walker who becomes eligible for their next game.

 

[sleeperpick]

You are forgetting Tyrese Martin, a 2nd year scholarship guard. Rhode Island also will now have Georgetown transfer forward Antwan Walker who becomes eligible for their next game.

Dowtin's mins surprisingly have gone down compared to last year...

But yea they have a 9 man rotation now... which is what most teams should want for stretch runs. Antwan Walker supposed to be an immediate contributor but he is more of a 3 or 4 than a 2 guard IMO.. kid is 6 foot 9 think

 

[sleeperpick]

Prediction: The Nebraska win is going to look a lot better for our resume by the end of the season than it does now.

They have talented guards and a coach who knows how to get the most from a guard-dominated team.

They also play in a league where they will have multiple opportunities to get quality wins at home — like Purdue, for example.

If Mason can beat TCU, I think our resume will be sneaky not-terrible going into an A-10 with many chances to make it much better.

From doing the math, beating TCU will only put us around 95-100 which means we have A LOT of work to do in A10 play. We will have opportunities though. Gotta beat vcu at least once and hopefully beat Richmond twice plus St Louis, Duqs and RHODY once. (being realistic that we won't sweep vcu or beat Dayton). 10 + wins in conference needs to be comprised of good wins. beating GW twice and St Joe's once does almost nothing for us... losing obviously hurts.. We have a relatively medium A10 schedule with playing good teams vcu and Richmond twice while also playing bad teams GW and UMASS twice. We need Bona to be good and beat them twice to really help give us that extra push