ACC Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 22, 2020 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Virginia
  2. Duke
  3. Florida State
  4. North Carolina
  5. Louisville
  6. Syracuse
  7. Miami FL
  8. NC State
  9. Georgia Tech
  10. Clemson
  11. Virginia Tech
  12. Notre Dame
  13. Pittsburgh
  14. Boston College
  15. Wake Forest

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:

-Garrison Brooks – SR F – North Carolina (ACC Player of the Year)
-Sam Hauser – SR F – Virginia
-Scottie Barnes – FR G – Florida State (ACC Freshman of the Year)
-Jalen Johnson – FR F – Duke
-Aamir Simms – SR F – Clemson
-Chris Lykes – SR G – Miami FL

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:

-David Johnson – SO G – Louisville
-Jose Alvarado – SR G – Georgia Tech
-MJ Walker – SR G – Florida State
-Kihei Clark – JR G – Virginia
-Wendell Moore – SO F – Duke

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID

-Virginia is the pick to win the conference, which makes total sense to me.  In fact it would not shock me to see them back in the Final Four, and perhaps winning it all…again.  I guess they are still technically the defending National Champs.  They have everything from depth to experience to suffocating defense.  To give you an idea of just how good this program is, they appeared to be having a down year last year, but went 11-1 in their last 12 games and damn near finished in 1st place.  That is a hell of a down year!

-Duke will likely do what Duke always does.  They lost a lot of talent from last year but they replace it with a ton of talent this year, which should rank them among the best in the country.  It may take them a little while to get going, but by the end of the year they should be as good as anyone.

-I like this Florida State team a lot.  Not everyone else from HoopsHD is with me on that, and I know that they are unproven at the PG position, but they still look to have one of the most effective frontcourts in the nation, they once again have a lot of depth, and this is a program that always seems to outplay their expectations.  Take last year, for instance.  Not a whole lot of preseason love, but they were the first-place team in the ACC and had the NCAA Tournament been played they would have likely been a #1 seed.

-Louisville is losing some key players, particularly Jordan Nwora, but they look to have enough experience back along with some pretty good looking transfers to once again be competitive.  Chris Mack is another coach that seems to regularly outperform his preseason expectations so do not be surprised to see Louisville in the mix.

-A lot of people like this North Carolina team, and I get that, but I am still washing the bad taste out of my mouth from a season ago where they won just 14 games.  To be fair, they did lose some key players throughout the year (which definitely had an impact), but even when they got Cole Anthony back they did not look a whole lot better, and he is not back this year anyway.  I am not going to say this UNC team is untalented, or that it is crazy to think they will be good this year.  I am just not going to start praising them until I see them play a few games first.

-Not many people are all that big on Syracuse, but they do have four starters back and the experience alone should help them this year.  I realize that the one starter who is not back was their best player, and at times they just looked awful last year, but it would not shock me to see them bounce back this year.

Miami FL is a team that many are picking as a dark horse.  They do appear to have a good core group of players and should get some help out of a few transfers as well.

-NC State is another team to keep an eye on with a solid core group of players who are returning.  They, along with Miami, could be in the NCAA Tournament picture come March.

-Georgia Tech has become everyone’s favorite Dark Horse at HoopsHD.  There is some reason to be optimistic.  Four starters are back from a team that went 11-9 in conference play, and they did finish the season on a huge high note where they won six of their final seven games, so it will be interesting to see if this is a team that we are talking about in March.

-Clemson also has four starters back, and this is a program that seems to develop talent and that becomes better and better with the more experience they have.  Right now I would say they will end up on the outside looking in, but you never want to totally discount them.

-After that it does appear to be a bit of a drop-off.  Virginia Tech is still trying to rebuild, Notre Dame had a disastrous season last year, Boston College appears to be getting better but still has a long way to go, Pittsburgh is also continuing to improve but based on how bad they were a few years ago it would have been nearly impossible for them to get worse, and Wake Forest…WOW are they bad!!

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Conference USA Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 21, 2020 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Western Kentucky
  2. North Texas
  3. Marshall
  4. UAB
  5. Old Dominion
  6. Charlotte
  7. Louisiana Tech
  8. UTEP
  9. UTSA
  10. Florida Atlantic
  11. FIU
  12. Middle Tennessee
  13. Southern Miss
  14. Rice

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:

-Jordan Shepherd, – SR, G – Charlotte
-Jahmir Young – SO, G – Charlotte
-Taevion Kinsey – JR, G – Marshall
-Jarrod West – SR, G – Marshall
-Javion Hamlet – SR, G – North Texas
-Bryson Williams – SR, F – UTEP
-Jhivvan Jackson – SR, G – UTSA
-Keaton Wallace – SR, G – UTSA
-Taveion Hollingsworth – SR, G – Western Kentucky
-Charles Bassey – JR, C – Western Kentucky

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Let me start with acknowledging what this conference has not only done for college basketball, but what it has done for sports around the world.  They have given us The Curtain!  THE CURTAIN!!!  The greatest thing in sports in perhaps this past century!!  Two tournament games going on in the same building at the same time separated by a curtain, but set up so that fans can walk back and forth!!  WHAT A VISIONARY LEAGUE THIS IS!!!

-Western Kentucky always seem to have big expectations coming into the season, but they run into injuries, or off-court issues, or something else that keeps them from reaching their potential.  With the kind of talent they have, their potential is being inside the bubble come March and not needing the automatic bid.  All five starters from a year ago are back including Charles Bassey, who missed most of last season with an injury.  Despite a rocky road of a season, they did seem to pull it together down the stretch and were one of the hottest teams in the conference heading into the CUSA Tournament.  Had it been played, the Toppers probably would have been our pick to win it.  This year, if they can hold it together then they may run away from the rest of the conference.

-North Texas has some pretty good pieces back from a team that won 20 games a year ago and should once again be a force in the league.  Head coach Grant McCasland has won twenty games in each of his 1st 3 seasons with the Mean Green and appears to have the pieces to do so yet again.

-Marshall is another team that could end up having a big year.  They have all five starters back from a team that played very well down the stretch at the end of last season, and Coach Dan D’Antoni has continued to win consistently while at the helm.  With Taevion Kinsey and Jarrod West they have one of the better backcourts in the conference.

-UAB welcomes Andy Kennedy back into coaching.  He has his work cut out for him, but he also has some things to work with.  Tavin Lovan and Jalen Benjamin make up what should be a strong backcourt, and graduate transfers Michael Ertel and Quan Jackson should be able to contribute right away as well.

-Old Dominion was a disappointing 13-19 last year.  Four of their starters return and we should see quite a bit of improvement this year if the Monarchs can stay healthy.

-Last year at this time I was all in on UTSA…and then they had a horrendously disappointing season where they went just 13-19.  Four starters are back, and it appears as though the potential is there for them to be good, but after what happened last year I will not become a believer until I see it.

-Louisiana Tech had a great season last year where they won 22 games and finished second in the conference.  The problem is that most of the key players last year’s team is gone.  They did have some guys that came off the bench last year that will need to step up this year.

-Charlotte was .500-ish last year, which was a major improvement from the previous year.  It appears to me that they will be in about that same range this year.

-UTEP appears to be in a similar spot as Charlotte.  Three starters back from a .500-ish team a year ago seems like it will land them in a similar spot this year.

-Same with Florida Atlantic.

-Prior to last year, for about three years Middle Tennessee was not just the team to beat in this conference, they were making a splash on the national scene by reaching the Round of 32 in back-to-back years, and reaching the top-25 in the latter part of the season the following year.  Then the roof caved in: Coach Kermit Davis left for Ole Miss and their roster turned completely over.  They won just 8 games last year and while they may be a little better this year, it does not look like it will be by much.

-FIU, Southern Miss, and Rice will most likely not make the conference tournament (assuming they keep it at 12 teams, which means missing out on The Curtain).

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The Hoops HD Report: SEC Preview

Posted on November 21, 2020 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for all of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

Once again Kentucky is replacing NBA caliber players with NBA caliber players, and are among the favorites to win the SEC.  Tennessee also has a lot of young talent and is right behind them.  LSU, Florida, and Alabama look to be strong and could be dancing this March as well.  We run through all the teams in the conference and debate, discuss, and assess how good we think they will be…

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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The Hoops HD Report: Big 12 Preview

Posted on November 19, 2020 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for all of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

The Big 12 has three teams that could potentially make the Final Four in Kansas, Baylor, and Texas Tech.  All are stacked with talent and in the case of Baylor and Kansas they have some key pieces back from top ten caliber teams a year ago.  West Virginia is another solid team that will likely spend most of the season in the Top 25, and Oklahoma and Texas are two other teams that we may see dancing this March.  We share our thoughts on each team in the conference…

And for all you radio lovers, below is an audio only version of the show…

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Big West Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 19, 2020 by David Griggs

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MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. UC Irvine
  2. UC Santa Barbara
  3. UC Davis
  4. Hawai’i
  5. UC Riverside
  6. Long Beach State
  7. Cal State Bakersfield
  8. Cal State Northridge
  9. Cal State Fullerton
  10. Cal Poly

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE TEAM:

-Arinze Chidom – SR, F – UC Riverside
-Chance Hunter – JR, G – Long Beach State
-Ezra Manjon – SO, G – UC Davis
-JaQuori McLaughlin – SR, G – UC Santa Barbara
-Amadou Sow – JR, F – UC Santa Barbara
-Collin Welp – JR, F – UC Irvine

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-UC Santa Barbara is probably the team I am most excited about.  They have four starters back, including two preseason all-conference players, which gives them the experience they need to win the league.  This team has won 20+ games in each of the last three seasons and appears to be set up to do so again.

-UC Irvine has to completely reload with just one returning starter, but they are still among the preseason picks to win the conference.  Two years ago the Eaters made the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament and last year they were the first place team, so they have definitely been the class of the league.  It will not be easy this year, though.  Collin Welp is back, as well as some guys that contributed off the bench last year, but it appears that they are at the bottom of their talent cycle and are in rebuilding mode.

-UC Davis is another team with four starters back.  Although they only won 14 games a year ago, they seemed to pull it together in the second half of conference play so it would not shock me if we see a ton of improvement out of them this year.

-UC Riverside contemplated cutting athletics altogether.  So far they have not, and I am really hoping it does not come to that.  UCR has been very blah in basketball for…oh…the past couple of decades, but they did make some big steps forward last year.  Their 17-15 record was their first winning season in quite some time, and with four starters back they should be able to keep that improvement going.  Hmmm, a team that is looking at cutting athletics but is also set up to have their best season in recent memory: a possible “Team of the People”??!!

-Hawai’i has undergone quite a few changes, and appear to have lost what were their three best players.  Some younger players from a year ago are mixed in with some transfer players who will be expected to contribute.

-Long Beach State has four starters back, but in recent years the program has declined and you gotta start to wonder how much more time Coach Dan Monson has.  He’s had some very good teams, and his formula of playing a killer OOC schedule to give them chances at the national stage as well as getting them ready for league play has worked at times, but not all the time and not recently.  While four starters are back, this team failed to win even ten D-1 games last year, so there is not much to be excited about.

-Cal State Bakersfield joins the Big West and they are in a similar boat as The Beach.  Four starters are back…but from a team that failed to win ten games.

-Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton, and Cal Poly bring up the year of the league.  It could be a long and frustrating season for all of them.

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Big South Media Day Recap and Response

Posted on November 19, 2020 by David Griggs

CLICK HERE for all of Hoops HD’s Continued and Extensive Preseason Content

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON POLL:

  1. Winthrop
  2. UNC Asheville
  3. Charleston Southern
  4. Gardner-Webb
  5. USC Upstate
  6. Radford
  7. High Point
  8. Longwood
  9. Hampton
  10. Campbell
  11. Presbyterian

 

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM:

-Phlandrous Fleming – SR G – Charleston Southern (Conference Player of the Year)
-DJ Burns – SO F – Winthrop
-DeVon Baker – JR G – UNC Asheville
-Chandler Vaudrin – SR G – Winthrop
-Jaheam Cornwall – SR G – Gardner-Webb

MEDIA DAY PRESEASON ALL CONFERENCE 2ND TEAM:

-Tommy Bruner – SO G – USC Upstate
-LJ Thorpe – JR G – UNC Asheville
-John-Michael Wright – SO G – High Point
-Everette Hammond – JR G – USC Upstate
-Kareem Reid – SO F – Gardner-Webb

 

COMMENTS FROM DAVID:

-Winthrop has consistently been the class of this league, and looks to be the near-unanimous favorite this year.  Coach Pat Kelsey has done a tremendous job with this program, they won 24 games a year ago, and have 11 players back from that team.  This is probably a UTR Top-Ten team, as well as a team that could give someone fits in March if they can get up onto the 12 or 13 line, which is about where they would probably end up.  They are a team with a lot of depth and plenty of weapons and it would not shock me if they ran away from the rest of the league.

-UNC Asheville has all five starters back, which is presumably why the media seems to like them to come in second.  Two years ago they won just four games, last year they won 15 and were much improved.  This year they could take another huge step forward, so Coach Mike Morrell has done a fantastic job at the helm and is one of the more exciting young coaches in the game.

-Gardner-Webb has some nice pieces coming back, including Jaheam Cornwall and last year’s conference freshman of the year Kareem Reid.  Expect to see them toward the top of the standings this year.

-Charleston Southern also has a lot of experience coming back, and while there was a time where they seemed to be solidly positioned in the conference standings, that time was not at the end.  They finished the season losing five of their last six.

-USC Upstate is another team with a lot of experience coming back (all five starters), but also another team that did not really do much last season to make you think they will be all that much improved.  They lost five of their last seven games down the stretch.

-High Point is another team with all five starters back, but yet another team that was not very good last year.

-Radford is completely rebuilding after a 21-win season a year ago.  It could be a long season for the Highlanders.

-Longwood finished in 4th place last year, which may not sound all that exciting, but this had perennially been not just one of the worst teams in the Big South but one of the worst teams in the nation.  Coach Griff Aldrich has made huge strides with this program in the two years that he has been there.  The problem is they lost four key players and are kind of having to start over on their talent cycle, but it will be interesting to see if Aldrich can develop the somewhat overhauled roster.

-Hampton and Campbell are both a little lower than what we have been used to seeing (well, Campbell is anyway: Hampton has only been in the league for a couple of seasons), but they still appear to have enough pieces to compete with the teams that are picked to finish in the middle of the league.  Presby on the other hand….oof!  They will be relying on a lot of newer/younger players this year.

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