The Atlantic 10 Thread

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

After watching this Xavier team early on in the season, all I can say is, "Wow." They are so deep. They demolished Detroit tonight 88-55. You might look at the box score and see Duncan had 25 and Doellman had 10. Nobody scored in double-figures besides those two. Look a little closer and you'll see the scoring spread out among the rest of them, the assists, the rebounding. Drew Lavender was a HUGE addition. He is so smooth out there. They're entire starting-5 can shoot from beyond 3-pt range and they have a few on the bench that are just as good out from that range. I'm really excited to see how far this team can go. The only things that would kill them are: 1) an injury to a key player like Lavender, 2) going up against a couple of great big-men, and 3) cold shooting by too many players. We'll see how it all shakes out. They'll get a test this Saturday @ Creighton and next Wednesday @ Cincinnati, where I'll be sitting two rows behind the XU bench.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

Amazing how much has changed since my above post.

Anyway, how about those Duquesne Dukes with the upset over BC tonight 98-93 in OT?! Way to go!

[FlyerFanatic08]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

GOOOOOOO DAYYYTTON FLLLYYYERRSS. That is all.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

GOOOOOOO DAYYYTTON FLLLYYYERRSS. That is all.

I have heard that way too many times over the years driving up for games at the UD Arena. They've gotten off to a great start. I know you all are itching to play X while they are sucking. Until conference play starts, I root for all A-10 teams to do well. Big OOC wins help everyone in the conference! Go Flyers, at least for a couple more weeks.

BTW, Xavier with a big revenge win over the Illini tonight. Ugly game. I think Illinois just sucked a little more than X tonight.

[FlyerFanatic08]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

I have heard that way too many times over the years driving up for games at the UD Arena. They've gotten off to a great start. I know you all are itching to play X while they are sucking. Until conference play starts, I root for all A-10 teams to do well. Big OOC wins help everyone in the conference! Go Flyers, at least for a couple more weeks.

BTW, Xavier with a big revenge win over the Illini tonight. Ugly game. I think Illinois just sucked a little more than X tonight.

I concur, gotta root for A-10 in OOC games. Big win for X they needed one badly. Besides that, they beat UD's traitor, Meachump

[Texasrangers13]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

I know there not incredible but I have to root for the Spiders. Any A-10 insiders give me a little info on them for this year?

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

I know there not incredible but I have to root for the Spiders. Any A-10 insiders give me a little info on them for this year?

They are probably going to get the crap kicked out of them this year but they are kind of rebuilding, and they shouldn't be the worst team in the conference. Coach is in his 2nd year after Wainwright left for DePaul. I think they had a decent recruiting class coming into the year. Biggest win to date this season was over South Florida. I'd like to see them be more competitive again. I was never comfortable watching Xavier play at their place. Not an easy place to win a game.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

Current standings after Saturday's games

Atlantic 10
Team Conf. W-L Tot. W-L
G. Washington 6-1 15-4
Rhode Island 6-2 13-9
Xavier 5-2 15-6
Fordham 5-2 12-7
Massachusetts 4-2 14-6
Saint Josephs 4-3 12-8
Dayton 3-4 13-7
St. Louis 3-4 13-7
Duquesne 3-4 7-11
St. Bonaventure 3-4 6-14
Charlotte 2-4 8-10
La Salle 2-5 9-12
Temple 1-5 7-12
Richmond 1-6 5-15


I honestly was a little taken back when I saw GW on top again. They were supposed to be rebuilding and 2006-07 was supposed to be the year for Xavier, UMass, St. Louis, or maybe Charlotte. GW has quietly put together a great season so far. Little surprised by Charlotte too. Anyone have thoughts? Wanted to get the A-10 chatter up heading into a big February...

[elicoleman]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

Four teams from the A10 in the RPI Top 75, which is a positive.

I'd say Xavier has the best shot at an at-large bid. They're 15-6, 45th RPI, 62nd SOS, with wins over Nova, Illinois, K-State, VCU, Dayton and UMass. 7-4 vs RPI Top 100.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

Standings heading into today's games (Rhode Island/Duquesne, UMass/Temple)

Atlantic 10 Conf All
Massachusetts 7-2 17-6
Xavier 8-3 18-7
Rhode Island 7-3 14-10
Geo. Washington 6-4 15-7
St. Joseph's 6-4 14-10
Duquesne 6-4 10-11
Dayton 6-5 16-8
Fordham 6-5 13-10
Saint Louis 5-5 15-9
Charlotte 5-6 11-12
Temple 4-5 10-12
St. Bonaventure 3-8 6-18
La Salle 2-9 9-16
Richmond 1-9 5-18


A darkhorse to win the A-10 this year (both reg. season and tournament) is Duquesne. Ever since they started the up-tempo, 40-minutes-of-hell style of play, these have been the results of their games:

1/21 @UMass L 87-101
1/24 Dayton W 93-89
1/27 Temple W 96-92
1/31 Xavier W 93-91
2/3 @ St. Bona W 111-92
2/7 @ La Salle W 111-105

I watched their game against XU and it was one of the craziest games I've ever watched. They pressed the entire time and would race down the floor and get a quick basket of some form. They were subbing 5 guys at a time. Reminded me of the Loyola Marymount teams from 1988-1990 when Paul Westhead was coach. Not quite the Grinnell (IA) D-III style of play though. Hey, when you are a team where nobody expects you to do anything and you have nothing to lose, why not do something like this. Duquesne's Robert Mitchell is going to be a stud. He was draining 3's with Justin Cage in his face like they were no problem. I'm looking forward to watching them in the A-10 tournament and to see how they finish out the regular season. I really hope Xavier gets to play them again. I know they can be beat. Duquesne was in a zone as a team the first time they met a couple of weeks ago.

[MassNole]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

I was at the UMass game, I didn't know they had just implemented it. They definitely out played UMass that day and the score was misleading.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

I was at the UMass game, I didn't know they had just implemented it. They definitely out played UMass that day and the score was misleading.

I've read it started with that game and some have said it started with the Dayton game a few days later. Statistic-wise, it had to have started that game against UMass. The turnovers UMass committed, the amount of points scored by both teams, etc. all mirror what Duquesne has done since then. They probably were just getting a feel for the system. I tell ya, Ron Everhart should be considered for coach of the year, if not given the award. What he's done with that team this year is incredible. They've beaten the best teams in the conference (with the exception of the Minutemen) and beaten Boston College on the road. Everhart left Northeastern, bringing a stud player (Shawn James) with him, and is looking like he will have DU competitive on a regular basis. It's good for the conference. Some schools will schedule them thinking they'll be a pushover and Duquesne could really suprise them.

By the way, I've loved reading the comments from Cincinnati Bearcat fans on some of the local sports blogs about how Xavier sucks because they lost to Duquesne and how UC would win the A-10 if they were playing in it. Sorry, but they'd be down where Charlotte and Temple are in the standings and Duquesne would beat them by at least 20. I really like Mick Cronin and the players but their fans can be a little ignorant at times, present OS members excluded of course.

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

Little update after throwing all of this praise on Duquesne....

They are down 107-79 at home to Rhode Island with 3:36 to go. Well, so much for that. I'll have to check the box to see what and the heck happened. URI needed this win badly too.

EDIT: URI shot 61% from the floor today, including 12-24 from behind the arc. Box score was crazy. 164 FG attempts between the two teams today. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200702110174

[SlimKibbles]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

Okay...see this (Richmond 69, Duquesne 66) is a reason why I can't say anything nice about sports in Pittsburgh. Steelers, Pirates, Pitt, Duquesne. I tried. Thank you, Dukes, for making me look like a fool (as well as a number of other folks). I don't know if they reverted back to normal play or what but they got outshot (and they only had 41 FG attempts), caused < 20 turnovers, and only scored 66 points. How does Duquesne lose to the worst team in the A-10? This is really going to help Xavier's RPI...

[elicoleman]

Re: The Atlantic 10 Thread

Atlantic 10 Conference
TEAM 	     CONF W-L 	TOTAL W-L
Rhode Island 	10-3 	17-10
Xavier 	        9-3 	19-7
Massachusetts 	9-3 	19-7
St. Joseph's 	8-4 	16-10
G. Washington   7-5 	16-8
Dayton 	        6-6 	16-9
Fordham 	7-6 	14-11
Saint Louis 	6-6 	16-10
Duquesne 	6-7 	10-14
Charlotte 	5-7 	12-13
Temple 	        5-7 	11-14
St. Bonaventure 3-9 	6-19
La Salle 	3-10 	10-17
Richmond 	2-10 	6-19

02/21/07 - Charlotte @ Duquesne
02/21/07 - Rhode Island @ Xavier
02/21/07 - St. Bonaventure @ UMass
02/21/07 - Richmond @ George Washington
02/21/07 - Dayton @ Saint Louis
02/22/07 - Temple @ Saint Joseph's
02/24/07 - George Washington @ La Salle
02/24/07 - Charlotte @ Temple
02/24/07 - Fordham @ Rhode Island
02/24/07 - Xavier @ Dayton
02/24/07 - Saint Joseph's @ Richmond
02/24/07 - Saint Louis @ UMass
02/24/07 - St. Bonaventure @ Duquesne

Some big games coming up this week, especially for Xavier. George Washington should improve to 9-5 in the conference since they play LaSalle and Richmond this week.