ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

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doncecco
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ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by doncecco »

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basket ... r-rankings

Surprising - no.

Sobering - yes.

At least they didn't really have anything bad to say other than we would finish 10th. :roll:
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by visualmagic »

Didn’t we finish 10th the last two seasons? Until we do better, hard to be surprised when we get picked there
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by PeteRasche »

I'm surprised we are picked that high, but I haven't spent any time looking at how bad the teams behind us are going to be, so...
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by windywave »

Well this thread is a ball of optimism... I'm taking us 5th at around .500 in league... football has depressed me nees to be optimistic about something
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by Baywave1 »

windywave wrote:Well this thread is a ball of optimism... I'm taking us 5th at around .500 in league... football has depressed me nees to be optimistic about something

Preseason theme of "It's all about defense" is definitely true for this bunch. If Koka and buddy show up to provide weakside defense and rim protection, this could be an interesting season. Without that, Tulane could average 100 pts a game and it would not matter on relative conference performance even if it would be entertaining to watch.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by tjtlja »

We are far beyond the point of just entertainment. Winning is the only thing that equates to entertainment.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by PeteRasche »

Baywave1 wrote:If Koka and buddy show up...
I think it's interesting that Koka is getting much more preseason talk, while Ajang is barely being mentioned (to the point where Bay even forgot his name here). Looking at the two when they arrived, most figured Ajang had the body to play AAC ball, as an athletic yet strong big man. Koka looked more reminiscent of Manute Bol but without the outstanding height/wingspan, and frankly Bol was not much more than a gimmick*.

(While he certainly had a long career and was considered a "name" player, over his career Bol only averaged 2.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 3.3 bpg. If you are graciously conservative and assume that every block led to his team getting possession and therefore taking 2 points away from the opponent, that adds 6.6 more points to his team... give that to Bol himself and he accounted for 9.2 ppg. So 9.2/4.2. Compare that to our "backup" center last year: Sehic averaged 10.5/5.2. Interesting. Granted you can argue Manute Bol changed the game because opponents wouldn't try to penetrate, but you can't effectively calculate how any of Tulane's inside people affected opponents either... long story short, and obviously this is very random stuff, but Koka is going to have to REALLY make a difference to be worth more than Sehic inside.)
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by GreenieBacker »

watching Ajang last year I thought he was physical enough, with enough glimpses of talent, that I thought he could develop into a contributor this year. Hope that's still the case.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by Baywave1 »

PeteRasche wrote:
Baywave1 wrote:If Koka and buddy show up...
I think it's interesting that Koka is getting much more preseason talk, while Ajang is barely being mentioned (to the point where Bay even forgot his name here). Looking at the two when they arrived, most figured Ajang had the body to play AAC ball, as an athletic yet strong big man. Koka looked more reminiscent of Manute Bol but without the outstanding height/wingspan, and frankly Bol was not much more than a gimmick*.

(While he certainly had a long career and was considered a "name" player, over his career Bol only averaged 2.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 3.3 bpg. If you are graciously conservative and assume that every block led to his team getting possession and therefore taking 2 points away from the opponent, that adds 6.6 more points to his team... give that to Bol himself and he accounted for 9.2 ppg. So 9.2/4.2. Compare that to our "backup" center last year: Sehic averaged 10.5/5.2. Interesting. Granted you can argue Manute Bol changed the game because opponents wouldn't try to penetrate, but you can't effectively calculate how any of Tulane's inside people affected opponents either... long story short, and obviously this is very random stuff, but Koka is going to have to REALLY make a difference to be worth more than Sehic inside.)
BUSTED!! :mrgreen: Koka attended more baseball games last year than some of Travis's bigger fans on this website so I guess Koka is literally unforgettable at least to me.

Interestingly continuing the Bol meme, no one has commented much here on UCF being picked by many to top the AAC. Perhaps with a little seasoning our Bol will improve like the Knight's Bol has and maybe sooner rather than later Tulane leads the AAC too? (I know we'll see on that hope. Yeah I forgot Mr. Big Knight's name too and I ain't looking it up!)

Separate riff on Sehic. He has become more than an even trade for Dylan O. Sehic can shoot and rebound better even though Dylan is the better passer. But since they play SF and not PG, who cares who leads in assists. Neither guy can jump nor play weakside defense (because let's just say their pace is deliberate.) So having Koka/Ajang provide rim protection is a key to Tulane improving.


We'll start finding out in a few weeks.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by PeteRasche »

I debated mentioning Tacko Fall (UCF) in my little stream of consciousness above. He averaged, I believe, around 10 ppg and 8 rpg? Not setting the world on fire in terms of numbers, but opposition definitely knows he's there and adjusts accordingly.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by Baywave1 »

Tacko is the man. If he and Koka both have decent seasons, it will make for an attractive matchup in Devlin on Jan 23rd. (yeah I did look that up.)
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by ml wave »

PeteRasche wrote:
Baywave1 wrote:If Koka and buddy show up...
I think it's interesting that Koka is getting much more preseason talk, while Ajang is barely being mentioned (to the point where Bay even forgot his name here). Looking at the two when they arrived, most figured Ajang had the body to play AAC ball, as an athletic yet strong big man. Koka looked more reminiscent of Manute Bol but without the outstanding height/wingspan, and frankly Bol was not much more than a gimmick*.

(While he certainly had a long career and was considered a "name" player, over his career Bol only averaged 2.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 3.3 bpg. If you are graciously conservative and assume that every block led to his team getting possession and therefore taking 2 points away from the opponent, that adds 6.6 more points to his team... give that to Bol himself and he accounted for 9.2 ppg. So 9.2/4.2. Compare that to our "backup" center last year: Sehic averaged 10.5/5.2. Interesting. Granted you can argue Manute Bol changed the game because opponents wouldn't try to penetrate, but you can't effectively calculate how any of Tulane's inside people affected opponents either... long story short, and obviously this is very random stuff, but Koka is going to have to REALLY make a difference to be worth more than Sehic inside.)
Per 36 minutes, Bol averaged 8.1 rebounds and 6.4 blocks :shock: ...4 times led the NBA in block %. Btw, to make this more apples to apple-ish, at the University of Bridgeport (whatever that is), Bol averaged 22.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 7 blocks per game.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by PeteRasche »

ml wave wrote:
PeteRasche wrote:
Baywave1 wrote:If Koka and buddy show up...
I think it's interesting that Koka is getting much more preseason talk, while Ajang is barely being mentioned (to the point where Bay even forgot his name here). Looking at the two when they arrived, most figured Ajang had the body to play AAC ball, as an athletic yet strong big man. Koka looked more reminiscent of Manute Bol but without the outstanding height/wingspan, and frankly Bol was not much more than a gimmick*.

(While he certainly had a long career and was considered a "name" player, over his career Bol only averaged 2.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg, and 3.3 bpg. If you are graciously conservative and assume that every block led to his team getting possession and therefore taking 2 points away from the opponent, that adds 6.6 more points to his team... give that to Bol himself and he accounted for 9.2 ppg. So 9.2/4.2. Compare that to our "backup" center last year: Sehic averaged 10.5/5.2. Interesting. Granted you can argue Manute Bol changed the game because opponents wouldn't try to penetrate, but you can't effectively calculate how any of Tulane's inside people affected opponents either... long story short, and obviously this is very random stuff, but Koka is going to have to REALLY make a difference to be worth more than Sehic inside.)
Per 36 minutes, Bol averaged 8.1 rebounds and 6.4 blocks :shock: ...4 times led the NBA in block %. Btw, to make this more apples to apple-ish, at the University of Bridgeport (whatever that is), Bol averaged 22.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 7 blocks per game.
And lots of Tulane recruits average ridiculous stats at tiny high schools and we outrecruit D-2 schools for them... :lol:

Anyway, I was just having rambling thoughts about Bol with regards to his physique being the closest I've seen to Koka. And obviously Bol had like 7 or 8 inches (and likely significant wingspan advantage) over Koka.

But the coaches have been higher on Koka than just about anyone else on the team for two years. I wrote last year after my homecoming visit, an hour-long sit-down with a couple of our assistants and a visit to a practice, how Koka was the one they thought was really going to be great. "Runs like a deer and runs all day long". "Can shoot threes with the guards". "We have to keep telling him to dial it back during walk-throughs because he only knows how to go 100%".

I'd love nothing more than to be wrong in my assessment of him.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by NJwave »

I would be thrilled if Koka was near the player Amida Brimah was for UCONN. Seriously altered other teams offense and had a ton of lob dunks which made the opposing big man hesitate to help on guards penetrating the lane. He was much more productive than his numbers would lead you to believe.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by visualmagic »

PeteRasche wrote:I debated mentioning Tacko Fall (UCF) in my little stream of consciousness above. He averaged, I believe, around 10 ppg and 8 rpg? Not setting the world on fire in terms of numbers, but opposition definitely knows he's there and adjusts accordingly.
Tacko did shoot like 75% from the field too.

I'll admit I didnt follow the rest of the league very closely last year, but I'm surprised to see so many people expecting UCF to win the conference and Wichita finishing in the middle of the pack.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by gerryb323 »

visualmagic wrote:
PeteRasche wrote:I debated mentioning Tacko Fall (UCF) in my little stream of consciousness above. He averaged, I believe, around 10 ppg and 8 rpg? Not setting the world on fire in terms of numbers, but opposition definitely knows he's there and adjusts accordingly.
Tacko did shoot like 75% from the field too.

I'll admit I didnt follow the rest of the league very closely last year, but I'm surprised to see so many people expecting UCF to win the conference and Wichita finishing in the middle of the pack.
WSU lost like 8 of their top 9 guys or something ridiculous
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by GSx »

Our recruiting has been pretty good - certainly improved and competitive with many AAC schools who have been better than us (like Tulsa; SMU). Now we haven't done that much in the front court and CMD seems to want the frontcourt players to mostly stretch anyway.
There's nothing really sobering about this piece - it's the same as every other prognostication. Still I expect some solid improvement. Deeper, solid shooting from several players, and another jump up for Daniels. And if they can finally play some D it will make a huge difference.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by angrywavedad »

As a fan of other college basketball programs (both stronger and weaker), the talent recruited over the last few years seems on par with what I would have expected at a school like Tulane, though one always hopes for a 4-star bluebird to fly through the window.

Bigger issues to me are coaching and (apparent lack of) home court advantage. Those could be plus factors for the Green Wave but don't seem to be.
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Re: ESPN on AAC predictions (hoops)

Post by angrywavedad »

Green Wave ranked #7 in the AAC at HoopsHD:

http://hoopshd.com/2018/10/21/conferenc ... merican-5/
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