Post by stagmaster on Jul 19, 2021 18:49:56 GMT -5
Collegesportsmadness.com doing their top 144 college hoop team in 144 days thing.
This week Rider slots in at #115 and #3 in the MAAC. They do have some talented transfers coming in, including former Rider First-Teamer Dimencio Vaughn.
Who are the other 2 MAAC teams in their top 115?
Do we stand a reasonable chance of being 1 of those 2 teams? Lots of experience and perimeter play coming back for our team that gelled late and went to the MAAC finals last year.
The CSM prediction for Rider seems to ignore what happened last year and be based on Rider's recent history of finishing near the top of the regular season MAAC standings plus the quality of their returning starters and incoming transfers.
I have to assume Iona will be one of the other two MAAC teams, probably the pick for first I'd imagine. Which means the only teams I'd be surprised to see as the other MAAC team in CSM's 144 list would be Canisius, Marist, and Quinny.
Going by pre-Covid regular season results puts Siena, Monmouth, and SPU in as the likely other MAAC school. We, of course, were in the championship game last season and return all of our significant players but we haven't regularly been near the top of the MAAC regular season standings the pre-Covid seasons. To me, Manhattan and Niagara are less likely to be the other MAAC CSM top 144 team but I don't think they can be completely ruled out based on the reasons CSM gives for selecting Rider as the likely third best MAAC team for the coming season.
For some reason, my instinct is CSM will select Monmouth and Iona as the other top MAAC teams.
College Sports Madness is down to #103 and so far their predicted second place team from the MAAC hasn't been announced. However, the predicted second place team in the Ivy League, Princeton, came in at #110. The predicted third place team for the MAAC, Rider, is listed as four spots ahead of the predicted third place team in the Ivy, Harvard. I'm not sure if the MAAC apparently ahead of the Ivy in CSM's top 144 preview is due to a lack of information about the Ivy League teams this season due to their not playing any games at all last season or an indication that CSM considers the top MAAC teams to be better than the top Ivy teams this season, which I don't think was the case before Covid.
College Sports Madness is now down to #82 in their top 144 preview and still no predicted second place team for the MAAC. They’ve listed their first place predictions for the CAA (Northeastern), Patriot (Colgate), and AE (Stony Brook) already. I find it difficult to believe that the second best team this season in the MAAC will be better than the best team in those conferences, in addition to being better than Rutgers, Georgetown, Cincinnati, and North Carolina State which have already been listed in their top 144 countdown. It wouldn’t surprise me if CSM erred and Rider is their prediction for the 2nd best team in the MAAC but they mistakenly listed them as the predicted 3rd place team for the MAAC.
College Sports Madness is now down to #82 in their top 144 preview and still no predicted second place team for the MAAC. They’ve listed their first place predictions for the CAA (Northeastern), Patriot (Colgate), and AE (Stony Brook) already. I find it difficult to believe that the second best team this season in the MAAC will be better than the best team in those conferences, in addition to being better than Rutgers, Georgetown, Cincinnati, and North Carolina State which have already been listed in their top 144 countdown. It wouldn’t surprise me if CSM erred and Rider is their prediction for the 2nd best team in the MAAC but they mistakenly listed them as the predicted 3rd place team for the MAAC.
If I were a betting man (which I'm not), I'd say you are correct 76.
I’m waiting on 3-man Weave. Best broad reviews out there
I don't think there's any doubt about that. Thorough review while listing entire rosters puts everything right out there for anyone to analyse and compare their own opinions with the 3-man staff. But actually they don't usually get around to the MAAC until about a couple of weeks to go before the start of the season, so I guess we'll have to be patient before we get their report. Now OTOH if you go to the Manhattan board (Draddy Gym heading), there happens to be a preview that is actually pretty thorough in the analysis. Maybe not like 3-man, but really quite extensive anyway. It's maybe a little early, but for what it's worth they have the Stags in 4th place. Interesting reading to get the juices flowing I think.
Expect a bounce back defensive campaign from Young’s squad, but true title contention will hinge on offensive development from Cook and anyone not named Jake Wojcik in the backcourt.
4-FAIRFIELD– Last year’s surprise run to the MAAC title game has perhaps set up some unreasonable expectations for the Stags, and it’s important to remember how much Fairfield struggled overall in an, albeit, weird season. What was surprising about last year’s squad was how much they struggled defensively, especially given Jay Young’s coaching pedigree. However, most of Fairfield’s struggles were at the rim, which in turn can be tied to injuries to Chris Maidoh and Tshiefu Ngalakulondi, and I would expect a much stronger defensive effort from the Stags this year. The backcourt meanwhile is sort of loaded, but Caleb Green didn’t have quite the impact on the ball in terms of helping Jesus Cruz and Taj Benning with their efficiency rates that I thought he would- and ultimately Jake Wojcik ran the offense a little more than Young was probably comfortable with. That said, having the ball in Wojcik’s hands wasn’t a bad idea, as he was arguably the most complete offensive player in the league with his combination of deadly shooting, plus ball skills, deft passing, and ability to draw contact. Cruz meanwhile just doesn’t seem like he’ll ever be a consistent offensive threat, but he’s an absolute menace defensively, capable of guarding 1-3 with physicality. A healthy Jalen Leach will also be in the backcourt/wing picture, as will talented scoring guard Chris Cevis. The frontcourt isn’t a particularly skilled group on the offensive end, as Maidoh, Ngalakulondi, and Supreme Cook all have their struggles with efficiency around the rim, but all are stellar rebounders. Cook has by far the most offensive upside of the trio, and could develop into a legitimate interior threat in his second season. Expect a bounce back defensive campaign from Young’s squad, but true title contention will hinge on offensive development from Cook and anyone not named Jake Wojcik in the backcourt.
Predicting a 4th place finish with two mentions of Tshiefu Ngalakulondi and no mention at all of Crisler or Jason has me eagerly looking forward to the upcoming MAAC season. Of course, they’re predicting Rider for 5th while CSM is predicting Rider for 3rd (maybe 2nd?) so there appears to be differences of opinion as to the exact order of the top tier teams after Iona.
I am looking for a better year from Tshiefu Ngalakulondi this upcoming season. frankly , i thought he had a very down year last season. He certainly did not live up to the hype from the coach and people on this board who prior to last season described him as a elite rebounder and a potential force to be reckoned with in the MAAC.