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Good stuff. Don't think we get jumped by ucf though.

I don't think we get jumped by Cinci either. Remember, we're the reigning AAC champs and were ranked higher, and seeded the same as Cinci, going into the Dance.

Terry, I agree. BJ Taylor is really good but I don't think they have enough to be ahead of us.

ponyboy, Cincy is really good. In fact, I think they are better than WSU. This will likely be the best offensive team they have had in a long time. And we all know they will play tough D. Cane Broome is their wildcard. He's a transfer guard who sat out last season. He is REALLY good.

We are not finishing behind UCF. I think it's very fair to have us 3rd behind WSU and Cincy. But not UCF.

I think we are a little overrated going into the season because of so many unknowns:
- Rumors that Whitt has looked great is awesome, but does he have a shot?
- We are going to really depend on frosh bigs to play effective minutes.
- Shake and Foster can be all conference, but until McMurray is eligible, we have only one proven scorer. That will hurt us in the Bahamas tourney against quality competition. With a strong AAC, this would have been the year for a cupcake schedule to allow the team to gel ahead of conference. Of course, I said that last year too .
- When McMurray comes in, there is going to be a major adjustment period to get used to someone who dominates the ball so much. We need his scoring, but I think there is a big unknown of how well he will fit into the motion offense.

I want us to start the season ranked. If we do, it shows a lot of respect for the program in general. But I look at 3 players leaving for the pros and there is just a lot of unknowns for me to place us in the top 25 or top 4 of the conference.

There are tiers here: Wichita State and Cincy are the top tier. Then Temple, UCF, SMU, UConn, Houston. I actually might prefer Temple in the group, then UCF, and then the others see where the pieces fall. Tulsa and Memphis have fallen into the third tier, and Tulane might pop up and join them this season.

What gives JasonB? You always overrate and overprotect our football team and now you are underrating and underselling our basketball team.

If my memory serves correct, we have finished higher than Rothstein projected us in the preseason, each of the last few seasons.

JasonB wrote:I think we are a little overrated going into the season because of so many unknowns:
- Rumors that Whitt has looked great is awesome, but does he have a shot?
- We are going to really depend on frosh bigs to play effective minutes.
- Shake and Foster can be all conference, but until McMurray is eligible, we have only one proven scorer. That will hurt us in the Bahamas tourney against quality competition. With a strong AAC, this would have been the year for a cupcake schedule to allow the team to gel ahead of conference. Of course, I said that last year too .
- When McMurray comes in, there is going to be a major adjustment period to get used to someone who dominates the ball so much. We need his scoring, but I think there is a big unknown of how well he will fit into the motion offense.

I want us to start the season ranked. If we do, it shows a lot of respect for the program in general. But I look at 3 players leaving for the pros and there is just a lot of unknowns for me to place us in the top 25 or top 4 of the conference.

There are tiers here: Wichita State and Cincy are the top tier. Then Temple, UCF, SMU, UConn, Houston. I actually might prefer Temple in the group, then UCF, and then the others see where the pieces fall. Tulsa and Memphis have fallen into the third tier, and Tulane might pop up and join them this season.

This is pretty much where I fall as well. I think that Wichita and Cincy are alone in the top tier PRE-SEASON,
Followed by a logjam at 3-7. I agree that we should finish ahead of the other four we are lumped with. I also really don't expect much from UCONN but expect Temple and UCF to be really tough. Houston is a cut below TEMPLE and UCF AND maybe on par or a cut above UCONN.

I love that Rothstein picks Ben E for a breakout year. I hope and expect that. He is ultra experienced in thecsystem and a senior leader..... most likely the captain.

Shake and Whitt will give us one of the best backcourts in the country in my opinion. Both have insane length and should make life tough on opposing guards; we know Shake is a knockdown shooter and I think Whitt will compliment him well by slashing and creating offense by breaking down defenses

The X-factor for me is Jarrey...if he can make the next step, we could be really good. We'll be asking him to defend a lot of opposing team's "4" so I hope he's up to that...he'll certainly be giving up some size on some nights.

Agau was just what we needed...a long big man who can rebound and protect the rim. His advanced metrics showed him to be a better rebounder and shot blocker than Ben Moore was, against arguably better competition in the Big East last year

Gu can board and rebound, but I expect his minutes to decrease substantially once McMurray is eligible.

No idea what to expect from the freshmen, but we'll need at least two of them to be ready to give us big minutes right away. If I had to guess it will be Douglas and Ray

There are just so many new moving parts that it's really hard to predict how it will go but I do see the team as being stronger as the season progresses. Making the tourney may be more difficult than in past years but if we get there then actually winning a game might be easier.

I am really fascinated by this three point guard offense I have been reading about. If Jenk call pull this off, and we get some rebounds, it will be really fun to watch.

We will be first or second in the conference and make it to the tournament baring any major injuries. We have depth and we will out run our competition.

Pretty fair rankings and all conference teams. I can't see UCF being better than us. Temple I think has the best chance of getting 3rd over us. Not that UCF is bad, but outside of Taylor and Tacko and don't think they have the personnel to be better than us. Be surprised if we finished worse than 3rd.

We have several questions, but lots of talent. Will be interesting how it all fits together. I'm not worried about Whitt, he looks solid and can play. His shoting consistency will be the ultimate tell of his ceiling, but he is going to be a good player regardless. His shot has improved.

I think ECM is right. Jarrey is going to have a huge say of how good this team is. if he can hang at the 4 and keep progressing offensively we could be very dangerous with Shake, Whitt and McMurray. If Agau can do what his numbers project he can playing 25-28 mins a game we should have a solid 5-man. Might take a little time to get it all clicked together like last year.

Anyone who thinks Gus minutes decrease when Jahmal becomes eligible hasn't been paying attention. This programs identity is D and boards, not chucking indiscreminently in between blunts. Don't get me wrong, MacMurray is a sniping specialist who can get his own, and we'll need that, but he's not gonna move Gu to bench. I'd bet Gu is close to a 10ppg senior