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Post by Sons of Vaval on Oct 17, 2018 11:29:28 GMT -5
Sestina wasn't on a single all PL team (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) at the end of last season. So what changed over the winter that he is now all PL first team? Foulland and Thomas graduated. Sestina is a very good player.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Oct 17, 2018 11:31:52 GMT -5
In terms of votes, there's more distance between 5th and 6th (38 votes) than 1st and 5th (36). Most expect a tight race for those top 4 spots. Could also see American challenge for the first division if Gasperini is healthy and rounds quickly back to form.
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Post by WorcesterGray on Oct 17, 2018 11:45:56 GMT -5
Sestina wasn't on a single all PL team (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) at the end of last season. So what changed over the winter that he is now all PL first team? Sestina is a very good player. His play in the post-seasonwas eye-opening. In the PLT, he averaged 8 and 4 in 13mpg, shot 11-15 from the floor, and 9-11 from the line; with Thomas hurting in the the final, Sestina stepped up to score 16, and then went 7 and 7 against Michigan State in 18 minutes.
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Post by hc6774 on Oct 17, 2018 11:47:08 GMT -5
nice try bison... but did he earn pre season recognition; he may well earn post season recognition especially if he lives up to what you suggest... I wonder who #6 is
Overall I think that despite losing significant players, the overall vote shows well earned respect for Nate Davis' program
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Post by possum on Oct 17, 2018 14:32:22 GMT -5
Sestina is a good player and I think he will have a good year however in the game in Worcester last year he was completely intimidated by Floyd who blocked a couple of his shots and made him a non factor in the game. He also intimidated Thomas who wanted no part of coming into the paint and instead settled for hoisting up 30 foot jumpers.
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Post by hchoops on Oct 17, 2018 14:46:27 GMT -5
nice try bison... but did he earn pre season recognition; he may well earn post season recognition especially if he lives up to what you suggest... I wonder who #6 is Maybe Iorio, who is more deserving than Sestina
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Post by bison137 on Oct 17, 2018 14:51:16 GMT -5
nice try bison... but did he earn pre season recognition; he may well earn post season recognition especially if he lives up to what you suggest... I wonder who #6 is Maybe Iorio, who is more deserving than Sestina Hard to say Iorio is more deserving than Sestina until we see how they do this year. The PL coaches apparently think Sestina is the more deserving.
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Post by hchoops on Oct 17, 2018 14:54:08 GMT -5
14.9, 6.5 The coaches are only half the voters The other four received the recognition on what they have accomplished already, not on a hypothetical.
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Post by lou on Oct 17, 2018 14:59:14 GMT -5
Sestina wasn't on a single all PL team (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) at the end of last season. So what changed over the winter that he is now all PL first team? Foulland and Thomas graduated. Sestina is a very good player. Malachi was a very good player who led us to the PL championship. No pre season mention the next fall. Ended up 3rd team all PL
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Post by hc6774 on Oct 17, 2018 14:59:36 GMT -5
14.9, 6.5 The coaches are only half the voters The other four received the recognition on what they have accomplished already, not on a hypothetical. possible Bucknell split its votes between Lehigh & Colgate
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Oct 17, 2018 15:03:00 GMT -5
Foulland and Thomas graduated. Sestina is a very good player. Malachi was a very good player who led us to the PL championship. No pre season mention the next fall. Ended up 3rd team all PL Very different circumstances. No one was playing ahead of Malachi his junior season, so I don't think coaches or SIDs were taking into account that he would have significantly more production, which is what they are clearly assuming with Sestina. These coaches know what kind of player Sestina is, and believe he's worthy of first team recognition. I agree.
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Post by hchoops on Oct 17, 2018 15:09:28 GMT -5
Is there a high number of Italian SIDs ?
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Post by notjuanjones on Oct 17, 2018 17:13:33 GMT -5
All due respect to Sestina--who is a good player, I agree, and may well wind up being great this year. But lots of guys have played behind other guys over the years and then become starters as seniors. Few of them were voted first-team all PL in preseason polling. I'm sure HC has examples. Charles Hinkle didn't play a ton as a junior at AU back in 2011; he was stuck behind Vlad Moldoveanu. After Vlad's graduation, Charles started as a senior and wound up having a monster year. He was not preseason first team. And he shouldn't have been, based on his stats from the previous year. Frankly, I think it's a slap in the face to guys like Pat Andree, Max Mahoney and Tyler Scanlon who put up solid numbers last year.
And, again: how does a team have the preseason PL Player of the Year, a first-team all-rookie player from last season, a first-team all-rookie player from 2017 who's returning after missing all of last season, a veteran forward returning after missing the last three years, along with all but one player from last year's roster--and get picked seventh? But, good. I'm glad they picked us seventh. We'll all find out together.
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Post by bison137 on Oct 17, 2018 17:24:19 GMT -5
And, again: how does a team have the preseason PL Player of the Year, a first-team all-rookie player from last season, a first-team all-rookie player from 2017 who's returning after missing all of last season, a veteran forward returning after missing the last three years, along with all but one player from last year's roster--and get picked seventh? But, good. I'm glad they picked us seventh. We'll all find out together. That's easy to explain. AU was really bad last year. The coaches and SID's have given a lot of credit for Gasperini's return in bumping them from 10th to 7th this year. Probably not much credit for Yljep, who has not played for three consecutive years and may or may not be much of a contributor. As I asked in my other post: what other teams should be dropped behind AU?. Army was a lot better than AU last year and returns 11 of their top 12 players, including their top three. Holy Cross finished 5th last year and returns everyone. Should those teams be picked to finish behind AU?
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Post by hchoops on Oct 17, 2018 17:26:27 GMT -5
Could the people who voted be concerned as to whether Gasperini is fully recovered ?
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Post by notjuanjones on Oct 17, 2018 17:36:08 GMT -5
And, again: how does a team have the preseason PL Player of the Year, a first-team all-rookie player from last season, a first-team all-rookie player from 2017 who's returning after missing all of last season, a veteran forward returning after missing the last three years, along with all but one player from last year's roster--and get picked seventh? But, good. I'm glad they picked us seventh. We'll all find out together. That's easy to explain. AU was really bad last year. The coaches and SID's have given a lot of credit for Gasperini's return in bumping them from 10th to 7th this year. Probably not much credit for Yljep, who has not played for three consecutive years and may or may not be much of a contributor. As I asked in my other post: what other teams should be dropped behind AU?. Army was a lot better than AU last year and returns 11 of their top 12 players, including their top three. Holy Cross finished 5th last year and returns everyone. Should those teams be picked to finish behind AU? And, as I said on our board: The more accurate question is, what teams are definitely ahead of AU? Is Lehigh definitely better than AU going into the season? I would say so; they're returning four starters from a solid team last season (and, frankly, I think Tejada may well wind up being Player of the Year). Bucknell? Always good, no doubt. But, they lost three starters, and a fourth is coming off an injury-plagued season. I would say people are putting an inordinate amount of faith in Nate Sestina--who is preseason first-team all-PL after playing 14 minutes a game last year. There are lots of guys who've started as seniors after not starting as juniors. Charles Hinkle comes to mind. And Hinkle had a monster senior season for us in 2012. But he wasn't voted preseason first-team all PL. Nor should he have been. Is this year's Bucknell team definitively better than AU's? Maybe. Are they 69 points in a preseason poll better, and second in the PL? I would say no. Colgate? Probably, based on returning roster from last season. Boston? We won six games last year. We beat Boston twice. So, no, BU shouldn't be ranked ahead of us. Holy Cross? They "lost" three players from last year's team, including a key guy in Karl Charles. I think we're better than HC, unless they've added someone that will have the impact a returning Gasperini should have for us, not to mention the improvements you'd expect from Nelson, Sam Iorio, etc. Army? If you like. I think it's a tossup, based on our improved roster (besides Gasperini's and Yiljep's returns, no one mentions our two incoming freshmen, Josh Alexander and Jacob Boonyasith), but I'm not going to argue the point. If you think Sa'eed Nelson is going to be the best player in the league, after naming him second-team all PL last year, and you're bringing back a center of impact, and you had an all-rookie player from last year that's returning, and you didn't have one senior on your roster last season, and all but one player is back, that is not a team that should rise just two spots from the previous season. As I said, I think Tejada may well wind up being POTY. I wouldn't have voted Sa'eed preseason POTY. But, the coaches did. So they must believe he's going to be a pretty impactful player. As such, if he has any support, his team shouldn't be seventh. But, I could be wrong. We'll all find out together. (And, as I also said on our board: frankly, I'd be more pissed if I was Lafayette (picked ninth) than us. They return the PL rookie of the year last year in Alex Petrie, along with solid guards in Jaworski and Stephens, a senior big in Zalys and a very promising freshman center in Sean Good.)
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Post by hchoops on Oct 17, 2018 17:44:26 GMT -5
If you mean we lost 3 players, one was a walk on, one a big who never played. The third, Karl Charles was having a poor season when he got in trouble. HC was arguably better after he left the team. That lineup was better than your team last season. we are adding at least one good player, Hargis, and maybe a second, Verbeek. Our sophs are expected to improve also. Plus you left out Floyd. But as you say, we will find out soon enough.
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Post by notjuanjones on Oct 17, 2018 17:57:14 GMT -5
If you mean we lost 3 players, one was a walk on, one a big who never played. The third, Karl Charles was having a poor season when he got in trouble. HC was arguably better after he left the team. That lineup was better than your team last season. we are adding at least one good player, Hargis, and maybe a second, Verbeek. Our sophs are expected to improve also. Plus you left out Floyd. But as you say, we will find out soon enough. I didn't "leave out" Floyd; he's first team all PL. He's obviously a very good player. And you would know better than I if the team was better without Charles than with him. And, yes, you won both games over us last season--by three and six points, respectively. Your sophs from last season will improve. So will our freshmen from last year (Iorio, Bragg, Beckton, Little). Hargis is a good player; he played with Sa'eed at St. Aug's. If he's an impact freshman, maybe HC takes a big leap. We're adding two guys we think will impact as well in Alexander and Boonyasith. We'll see.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Oct 17, 2018 18:01:38 GMT -5
I feel like AU has been underestimated across the board in all these preseason rankings...but at the same time, I'm not surprised a Bucknell kid would get a preseason acknowledgment like Sestina. They do, after all, have a winning culture that has stood the test of time. I was also very impressed with Sestina against Mich. State. That being said, I like our guy.
NJJ - love ya, man, but if you're going to factor in improvement for Nelson, Iorio, et al, then we here in Sader Nation should be able to expect improvement from Green, Butler, Grandison, Faw, Niego and Copeland. And, we only lost 1 rotation player (and I know you know that), and, after the shock of the suspension wore off, the team adjusted quite well to his absence.
I expect a lot of old fashioned rock fights this year. And watch out - that young group of Lafayette perimeter players are going to make some teams miserable at some point.
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Oct 17, 2018 18:03:14 GMT -5
ah, I see hoops beat me with that keyboard quickness that you just cannot teach......
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Post by hc6774 on Oct 17, 2018 18:08:19 GMT -5
love this discussion...
re Sestina... maybe hard not to include a Bison on the preseason all PL team when his team got the most 1st place votes
do you think the coaches/SID's consider incoming freshmen when voting?... on the PL site only BU mentioned their incoming freshmen group [presume each SID provides his/her own write up]
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Post by hchoops on Oct 17, 2018 18:28:39 GMT -5
ah, I see hoops beat me with that keyboard quickness that you just cannot teach...... Unfortunately the only quickness I still possess
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Post by bison137 on Oct 17, 2018 18:54:02 GMT -5
(And, as I also said on our board: frankly, I'd be more pissed if I was Lafayette (picked ninth) than us. They return the PL rookie of the year last year in Alex Petrie, along with solid guards in Jaworski and Stephens, a senior big in Zalys and a very promising freshman center in Sean Good.) I picked LC 8th, ahead of Navy and Loyola - but I can't argue too much with 9th. They were a weak team last year, and they lost their top player, who led them in scoring and rebounding, and also lost another starter who played the 3rd most minutes on the team. Yes, they have some shooters, but they were awful last year defensively and probably will be again. As for Good, he likely will contribute - but he is very thin and didn't have a particularly strong senior year in HS. I don't see him being good enough to turn around LC, at least not this year.
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Post by sader81 on Oct 18, 2018 6:23:43 GMT -5
HC played quite well at the end of the year, and were a couple of bad possessions from being in the PL championship game. They return everyone who played at the end of the year when they were playing their best ball. I find it hard to see them as a fifth seed; but that’s ok, as it’s always better to beat expectations. Seems to me that any of the top six teams, including AU, can make it to the championship game.
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 18, 2018 7:26:58 GMT -5
That sort of PL balance could make for some exciting games...as well as giving HC a good chance to get to the finals.
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