Expectations on the hardwood this year.....

[thekimmer]

I'm sure there has already been a couple of threads on this that I missed & if so apologies.

Senior laden team, new but very experienced coach, one and done scoring machine. Three questions. Answer in terms of W/L and key games.

I'll be happy if:

I'll be satisfied if:

I'll be disappointed if:

 

[ShrubDog]

No one gets injured

1 player other than Malik gets injured

2 players get injured including Malik

 

[patdog]

1. NCAA tournament
2. NIT
3. No postseason

 

[DawgatAuburn]

I'll be happy if: we go one and done in the NCAA

I'll be satisfied if: If we are solidly in the NIT and win a game or two.

I'll be disappointed if: We don't make the NIT or are even worried about it come March.

I just don't think we have the post game to do too much. Ware works hard, but he's only one guy. Daniels is a stretch 4 who doesn't provide a ton of relief in the post, particularly on defense. Ndoye....is a work in progress.

 

[Col. Forbin]

1-We make the NIT and the hump is back to the place it used to be.

2-We are competitive and the hump is back to the place it used to be.

3-We suck.

We will be a much improved team, but in terms of wins & losses don't expect miracles.

 

[Thirty-Two Dive]

I'll be happy if: we go one and done in the NCAA

I'll be satisfied if: If we are solidly in the NIT and win a game or two.

I'll be disappointed if: We don't make the NIT or are even worried about it come March.

I just don't think we have the post game to do too much. Ware works hard, but he's only one guy. Daniels is a stretch 4 who doesn't provide a ton of relief in the post, particularly on defense. Ndoye....is a work in progress.

I'm in line with that, in terms of tangible results. What I look forward to, mostly, is watching the individual/team development, from October to March.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Yes, consistent improvement would be nice.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Not making postseason

would be such a disappointment that it's not even an option, w our team. I realize we still will have issues in the post, but our guards should be amongst the best in the league.

 

[thekimmer]

Here is my take....

I'm sure there has already been a couple of threads on this that I missed & if so apologies.

Senior laden team, new but very experienced coach, one and done scoring machine. Three questions. Answer in terms of W/L and key games.

I'll be happy if: 22+ wins, NCAA tourney. Beat bears twice.

I'll be satisfied if: 17-21 wins, NIT bid. Beat the bears at least once

I'll be disappointed if: 16 wins or less, No postseason bid. Fail to get a win vs bears (can you tell I still have a bad taste in my mouth from last year?)

See comments above

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

The answers

1) We win the national championship (any other answer here is just wrong)
2) We are a high seed and go a few rounds in the NIT or one and done in the NCAA
3) We are one of the bottom 3 or 4 in the conference and out of the SEC tournament after day 1

 

[johnson86-1]

I'll be happy if: we go one and done in the NCAA

I'll be satisfied if: If we are solidly in the NIT and win a game or two.

I'll be disappointed if: We don't make the NIT or are even worried about it come March.

I just don't think we have the post game to do too much. Ware works hard, but he's only one guy. Daniels is a stretch 4 who doesn't provide a ton of relief in the post, particularly on defense. Ndoye....is a work in progress.

I'm not sure the post game matters that much of a killer as far as advancing in the tournament, provided we make it to the tournament. The early tournament games tend to be dominated by guards. There will be a lot of tournament teams that have an advantage over us in the post, but there won't be too many that have the post players to really take advantage of the matchup where good guardplay can't make up for it. Obviously the level of difficulty would be lower if we had two post players in addition to Ware that could rebound and play defense, but NCAA basketball aint what it used to be. If we squeak into the tournament, I think a good game from Malik and Chicken would make us dangerous to all but the top ten seeds or so. I expect Howland to have us good enough on defense that even without great post D, we'll slow down most teams' offense.

 

[ababyatemydingo]

No one gets injured

1 player other than Malik gets injured

2 players get injured including Malik

Aric Holman is already injured, and out at least 4 months. So you're down to satisfied, at best


I say will be be better fundamentally, make the NIT, and lose in the 2nd round. Another nice, solid recruiting year. Optimism returns to the hump for 2016-17

 

[MCsMGs]

My expectations are that we are competitive in every game and at least make a run in the NIT. My hope is we make it to the real T.

I'm thinking we are gonna be better in the paint than many are expecting at this point...At 6'9" 235, Johhny Z should provide valuable minutes. He can play with his back to basket, pretty good passer out of the post and can clearly shoot. Fallou got better at holding his ground down low last year as the year went on and with some solid coaching on his footwork and strength conditioning could be a decent defender down low. Getting Aric back in good condition would be a huge plus!

Yes...I'm an optimist.

 

[BulldogBacker]

No one gets injured

1 player other than Malik gets injured

2 players get injured including Malik

Our basketball floors are constructed on a very shallow frame thus are very HARD and hard on stress fractures. Coach Howland has already complained about them and the adverse affect on our team (causing more injuries). We will play on existing floors this season, but they must be changed to softer floors before next year.

 

[fishwater99]

Sweet 16 or Bust.

 

[dickiedawg]

My expectations are apparently much higher than those expressed in this thread.
Happy: We are solidly in the NCAA field.
Satisfied: We are on the right side of the bubble.
Disappointed: wrong side of the bubble.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Confused ..

Our basketball floors are constructed on a very shallow frame thus are very HARD and hard on stress fractures. Coach Howland has already complained about them and the adverse affect on our team (causing more injuries). We will play on existing floors this season, but they must be changed to softer floors before next year.

So .. please don't tell me we just spent $11.2M on the Mize Pavilion Practice facility .. and it has a bad floor.

Or, are you talking about the Hump? That floor has been there since 2000, and never heard a single complaint. And, before Rick Ray, don't recall any series of stress fractures.

What am I missing?

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Nothing wrong with those. As I said earlier, I don't think we have the depth in the post to survive the season with a record good enough to get to the NCAAs. But you never know....with Malik, Sword, Ready, Freddy, and Houston, maybe we can (perish the thought) shoot our way to greatness. I hope you are happy come March.

 

[Hankp22]

We are going to be good

We will lose frustrating games. We will win some we probably shouldn't. And by March, we will be a dangerous basketball team.

Don't underestimate the talent of Malik and what that means for our more experienced players on the floor. The core 4 (Sword, Thomas, Ware, Ready......and Daniels) all know how to defend. Adding Malik, Q and a few others to that mix will put us in the NCAAT.

That is my prediction assuming Malik stays healthy.

 

[BiscuitEater]

CBS Released Team Rankings ..

for EVERY basketball team .. has State at 114 (out of 351 teams) .. #12 of 14 SEC teams (ahead of Bama & Missou)

SEC team rankings ..

2. Kentucky:
22. Vanderbilt
27. Texas A&M
38. LSU
47. Georgia
55. Florida
68. Ole Miss
72. South Carolina
81. Auburn
84. Arkansas
104. Tennessee
114. Mississippi State
146. Alabama
155. Missouri

 

[patdog]

I think Rick Ray could have gotten us to #114 this year, even without Malik Newman. Hell, we weren't that far from there last year (#153 in Sagarin rankings).