December 28, 2008 by WH | A10CollegeHoops

DRIVERS SEAT

1)  XAVIER (unchanged). The Muskies (9-2) were embarrassed by Duke, a team that is clearly superior at just one position (point guard) and lacks Xavier’s overall size and athleticism. It’s hard to be critical given the success of the program not only this season, but in recent years. Yet this was a hard loss to take given the high-profile opponent and the school’s first regular-season appearance (ever?) on a major over-the-air network. The effort seemed lacking and some of the players seemed intimidated. I expected better defense at the very least. Nonetheless, the Musketeers are still the A-10 frontrunner, notwithstanding problems with ball handling (12th in the league in turnover margin and last in assists).

2)  DAYTON (unchanged). The Flyers (11-1) are the only A-10 team aside from Xavier primed for an at-large bid. Sure, the sked has been relatively easy, but Dayton has done its part except for a blowout loss at the home of a very good Creighton team. The Flyers have prospered by dominating the boards (+7.1 margin), taking good care of the ball and defending tenaciously (34% FG defense, tops in the A-10). I mentioned a month ago that Dayton was struggling with outside shooting and some Flyers fans tried to downplay the matter. Well, 29% shooting from 3-point land doesn’t lie. Dayton still needs to shoot better to avoid a difficult patch in league play. Chris Johnon (7.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) is one of the top contenders for All-Rookie team.

BACKSEAT GENERALS

3)  TEMPLE (unchanged). The Owls (5-5) continue their up and down play, blowing out Tennessee at home and then losing handily on the road to a very young and beatable Kansas squad. Losses to MAC opponents Buffalo and Miami have cost Temple pole position for an at-large bid. Point play has been a constant weakness. The defense has been disappointingly inconsistent (10th in the league in FG percentage defense). And Christmas has sometimes lacked offensive support from teammates. On the bright side, the Owls get touted frosh PG Juan Fernandez soon and the school still has good noncon opportunity with a game vs. No. 18 ranked Villanova. More than anything else, the defense has to tighten up.

4)  RHODE ISLAND (unchanged). The Rams (8-4) lost golden opportunities to burnish their at-large credentials with close losses in December at Oklahoma State and Providence. URI has to win its final three noncon games – it should be favored in all three – and win at least 11 games in regular-season A-10 play to remain in contention for an NCAA bid. The offense has been terrific – Rhody is scoring in bunches and shooting a high percentage. Yet the defense has been porous, even taking into account the fast pace at which URI plays (45% FG percentage defense, 13th in the A-10). A resurgent Jimmy Baron Jr. and the emergence of junior Keith Cothran as an all-league caliber player have been the key drivers.

THIRD ROW OF THE MINIVAN

5)  CHARLOTTE (+4). The 49ers (4-6) have won three straight, including gutty wins at Southern Illinois and Mississippi State. Bobby Lutz is running more set plays and better defining the roles of each player on offense. Too bad he didn’t do that before Charlotte effectively destroyed its chances of an at-large bid with a 1-6 start. The school would have to win all four remaining noncon games to revive that hope, but two of the opponents, Maryland and Tulsa, are formidable. Regardless of what happens, Charlotte looks like it’s going to play a big factor in conference play. The team clearly is good enough to win the A-10 tournament title, too. The question is whether the Niners can achieve those goals with Lamont Mack, one of my preseason picks for A-10 First Team, being such a big disappointment (34% FG, team-leading 31 turnovers).

6)  RICHMOND (-1). The Spiders (7-5) lost close games to Wake Forest, Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth in the past few weeks to put their postseason prospects at risk. Richmond’s biggest problem has been lack of effort. The Spiders have started slowly in several games and the defense has been weak (45% FG defense, 12th in the A-10). This shortcoming cannot be attributed to the absence of Dan Geriot, which is why it’s so disappointing. Granted, the Spiders haven’t gotten great inside play, but the frontcourt is decent enough and the backcourt is plenty good. Sophomore PG Kevin Anderson needs to turn his game on all the time – not just in the second half – and do a better job of getting teammates involved.

7)  ST. JOSEPH’S (+1). The Hawks (5-6) move up one spot by default because the rest of the A-10 hasn’t performed all that great. St. Joe’s did look good in a close loss to Villanova, showing improved play at both ends. Yet lack of depth and limited scoring options will hamper the team all season long. Ahmad Nivins is playing like a First Teamer but he’s not getting consistent support from anyone aside from Darrin Govens (15 ppg, 41% 3PG) and sometimes Tasheed Carr. Those three alone account for 70% of the Hawks’ points, although the team is 12th in the A-10 in scoring. Garrett Williamson has taken over main ball-handling duty to free up Carr to score more, but the Hawks won’t entertain postseason possibilities unless two more players step up.

8)  ST. BONAVENTURE (+2). The Bonnies (7-4) are the league’s biggest surprise and won’t be a pushover. The 6-9 Andrew Nicholson (11 ppg, 5.6 rpg) is frontrunner for A-10 rookie of the year and juco transfer Jonathan Hall is on track for all-conference honors. The good news lately is the play of Maurice Thomas, the power 6-8 transfer from UTEP. He adds to surprisingly tough and talented Bona frontline. The biggest concern is erratic ball-handling. Only two A-10 teams have committed fewer turnovers. St. Bonaventure gets a tough test this week at home vs. Niagara.

SITTING IN THE TRUNK

9)  LASALLE (-2). The Explorers (6-5) managed to blow another big lead, this time at Cornell, and give away another would-be win. LaSalle has been in every game, but the team lacks consistently good outside shooting and ball-handling and goes through major droughts. Ruben Guillandeaux (8.4 ppg) has disappointed and sophomore Jerrell Williams is a turnover machine. LaSalle is last in the A-10 in turnover margin, a whopping -5.10. The Explorers are likely to remain a tease all year long and appear on track for a .500 record overall they show improvement all around.

10)  GEORGE WASHINGTON (-4). The Colonials (6-3) have gotten off to a seemingly good start, but the team was manhandled by the two best teams it’s faced, Auburn and Maryland. The frontcourt play has been surprisingly lackluster. Rob Diggs is off to a slow start, Wynton Witherspoon has been in a season-long struggle and Damian Hollis remains inconsistent. In the backcourt, frosh PG Tony Taylor has impressed and Noel Wilmore is shooting well. Yet Travis King is still not his old self and GW has hit fewer treys than any team in the A-10 except for St. Joe’s, which partly accounts for its mediocre offensive output (67 ppg). Up ahead, GW has a chance to win Rainbow Classic tournament given a weak field, but the team has done nothing yet to warrant such optimisim.

11)  MASSACHUSETTS (+2). Like Charlotte, the Minutemen (5-6) appear back from the dead with a big victory at Kansas and a blowout over a solid Hofstra squad. The defense has intensified and the new offense is slowing coming around. UMass has as much outside firepower as any team in the league and Ricky Harris (20.4 ppg, 43.5% 3PG) is the best scorer in the A-10 not named Christmas. Tony Gaffney (12 ppg, 12 rpg, 52 blocks) is a dead lock so far for Most Improved Player of the Year AND First Team A-10. The same can’t be said for PG Chris Lowe, who’s played fairly well but far below expectations (62 assists, but 51 turnovers). The return of 7-footer Luke Bonner solidifies the frontline, but the key to a run at the A-10 title rests with Low returning to form and Wake Forest transfer Anthony Gurley stepping up his game. (UMass has to win a few more games before I can jump the school much higher in my rankings.)

12)  ST. LOUIS (unchanged). The Bills (7-5) have won four straight, but the wins all came at home against inferior teams. St. Louis struggles for baskets with so many young players and it’s the only A-10 team to score fewer than 60 points a game. It wins or loses depending on how senior wings Lisch and Liddell perform. The Bills now leave home to play a so-so Depaul team at a neutral site, which should give a clearer indication of how much the Bills have improved. Whatever the case, this is not a postseason team. FYI: Touted combo guard Ruben Cotto has decided to transfer before the end of the semester, further reducing the team’s depth.

13)  DUQUESNE (-2). The Dukes (8-4) have performed better than expectations for such a young team, but its shortcomings were revealed in three straight losses against good opponents Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Old Dominion. The smallish Dukes were outrebounded and the defense fell short. Still, the Dukes are scrappy and they will pull some upsets in A-10 play. Senior Aaron Jackson (17 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 59% FG) is playing like one of the top guards in the league and some of the freshmen have showed great promise, including PG Eric Evans (9.5 ppg) and WG Melquan Bolding. Soph Damian Saunders (15 ppg, 7.4 rpg) is a future all-conference player, maybe even a current one.

WAITING ON THE BUS

14)  FORDHAM (unchanged). The Rams (2-8) have shown significant improvement in the past few weeks with a blowout over Lafayette and a buzzer-beater loss to Fairfield. This is still the youngest, smallest and least experienced team in the league, so Fordham will continue to take its lumps. Hopefully the Rams can show further improvement in the rest of the noncon slate. Frosh PG Jio Fontan seems to be getting his college legs and 6-9 West Virginia transfer Jacob Green, a badly needed bigman, becomes eligible.

ALL-CONFERENCE PROJECTIONS (based on current performance).

POY
Dionte Christmas

FIRST TEAM

Dionte Christmas, Temple
Ahmad Nivins, St. Joseph’s
Tony Gaffney, UMass
Derrick Brown, Xavier
Chris Wright, Dayton

SECOND TEAM

Jimmy Baron Jr., Rhode Island
Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
Ricky Harris, UMass
Jonathan Hall, St. Bonaventure
David Gonzalvez, Richmond

THIRD TEAM

Tommie Liddell, St. Louis
Damian Saunders, Duquesne
CJ Anderson, Xavier
Kevin Lisch, St. Louis
Dijuan Harris, Charlotte

DEFENSIVE POY

Tony Gaffney, UMass

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Tony Gaffney, UMass
Garrett Williamson, St. Josephs
Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
Marcus Johnson, Dayton
Ahmad Nivins, St. Josephs

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Andrew Nicholson, St. Bonaventure

ALL-NEWCOMER TEAM

Andrew Nicholson
Eric Evans, Duquesne
Terrell Holloway, Xavier
Jio Fontan, Fordham
Brian Conklin, St. Louis

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

Tony Gaffney

From the Atlantic 10 Website:

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tommie Liddell – Saint Louis
Senior, Guard, 6-4, 195 lbs.
East St. Louis, Ill./Hargrave Military Acad. (Va.)
Liddell amassed two double-doubles in leading Saint Louis to a pair of victories…scored 12 points and added 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals in the Billikens’ 55-38 win over South Carolina-Upstate on Dec. 17…scored 15 points, grabbed 11 boards and added two steals on Dec. 19 a Saint Louis edged Liberty, 73-70…blocked the potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer to preserve the win over Liberty…leads all A-10 guards with an average of 7.4 rpg…became the first SLU player to register a double-double in consecutive games since Ian Vouyoukas (Dec. 12 / Dec. 16, 2006).

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Eric Evans – Duquesne
Freshman, Guard, 5-11, 195 lbs.
Detroit, Mich./Northwestern HS
Evans earns his second A-10 Rookie of the Week award after averaging 14.5 points and shooting 73.3 percent (11-for-15) over two games…knocked down 8-of-11 shots from the field en route to scoring a season-high 18 points in Duquesne’s 86-60 loss to Old Dominion on Dec. 17…scored all 11 of his points in the second half on Dec. 20 as the Dukes turned aside Rice, 80-64…added three rebounds and two assists and knocked down three-of-six attempts from three-point range on the week.

From the Atlantic 10 website:

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Dionte Christmas – Temple
Senior, Guard, 6-5, 190 lbs.
Philadelphia, Pa./Philadelphia Lutheran Christian Acad.
Christmas scored a season-high 35 points on 12-of-22 shooting, including 7-of-14 from beyond the arc, as Temple knocked off eighth ranked Tennessee on Dec. 13, 88-72…added three steals, two rebounds and two assists…marked his ninth career 30-point performance…named the A-10 Player of the Week for the second time this season…his nine career A-10 Player of the Week awards are tied with Marcus Camby (UM, 1994-96) for third-most in league history.

Aaron Jackson – Duquesne
Senior, Guard, 6-4, 185 lbs.
Hartford, Conn./Worcester (Mass.) Acad.
Jackson shot a blistering 80 percent (20-for-25) from the field while averaging 27.5 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in a pair of contests on the week…poured in a career-high 36 points on 15-of-17 shooting with five assists and four boards on Dec. 10 in Duquesne’s 95-74 win at Radford…his .882 field goal percentage tied the program’s single-game record…scored a team-high 19 points in the Dukes’ 68-63 loss to West Virginia on Dec. 13…made 6-of-7 attempts from three-point range over the two contests…tabbed the A-10 Player of the Week for the third time in his career.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jio Fontan – Fordham
Freshman, Guard, 5-11, 180 lbs.
Patterson, N.J./St. Anthony’s HS
Fontan averaged 17.5 points and 5.5 assists while hitting on 13-of-22 field goal attempts over two games…scored 13 points and dished out six assists in Fordham’s 79-58 win over Lafayette on Dec. 8…recorded a season-high 22 points and added five assists and three steals on Dec. 11 in the Rams’ 69-66 loss to Fairfield…has scored in double figures in six of his last seven contests.

December 13, 2008 by John Lamb | A10CollegeHoops

#8/8 Tennessee Volunteers (6-1, 0-0 SEC) at Temple Owls (4-3, 0-0 A-10)
12:00PM ET, December 13, 2008
The Liacouras Center    Philadelphia, PA

ALL-TIME:

The Vols lead the series 3-2. These two teams played an infamous pre-shot clock era game that ended with Tennessee winning at home in Knoxville 11-6 over the visiting Owls way back when on Dec. 15, 1973. The Owls held the ball for 11 straight minutes in the first half and 14 straight in the second. Former Temple Coach Don Casey said this about the game: “Tennessee had a great team, we thought this was going to give us the best chance to win. So we took two guys [Rick Trudeaux and John Kneib] and put them out by the 28-foot line, had them standing about five feet part, and we had them pass the ball back and forth.” Tennessee won that game thanks to an 8-0 run that lasted 37 minutes.

LAST MEETING:

Nov. 9, 2007  Tennessee 80, Temple 63 – The visiting Owls were defeated rather handily by the Volunteers 80-63 in last year’s season opener for both schools. The game was notable due to the fact that the Owls, a team that led the A-10 in fewest turnovers the previous season, committed 15 turnovers through the first 20 minutes and ended the game with 23 total. The Vols had four scorers in double digits; this year’s offensive catalyst Tyler Smith put together an impressive stat line of nine points, three rebounds, five assists and four steals. The game marked the first collegiate game and start of Lavoy Allen’s career and he did not disappoint. He put up eight points and nine rebounds to go along with three assists. Temple played well with Allen in the lineup but foul trouble forced him to become a spectator for most of the game. Dionte Christmas ended the game with 12 points but had an terrible shooting night, going 1-for-8 from beyond the arc and 3-for-13 total.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Temple Owls:
PPG: 19.0  G Dionte Christmas
RPG: 8.3  F Lavoy Allen
APG: 4.6  G Semaj Inge

Tennessee Volunteers:
PPG: 17.4  F Tyler Smith
RPG: 8.1  C Brian Williams
APG: 4.1  G Bobby Maze

COACHES:

Temple – Fran Dunphy 37-34  3rd season at Temple (347-197 overall)

Tennessee – Bruce Pearl 83-24  4th season at Buffalo (400-109 overall)

LAST OUTING:

TEMPLE – The Owls rebounded from back-to-back defeats at the hands of MAC opponents with a 65-59 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions last Saturday in Happy Valley, PA. The contest marked the first time that the Owls’ ideal starting five (Inge-Christmas-Brooks-Allen-Olmos) began the game together … Dionte Christmas was a non-factor throughout the game, only scoring two points in a season-low 27 minutes due to a combination of poor shooting and foul trouble … Semaj Inge scored a career-high 19 points for the Owls, including nine points in the midst of a 15-5 run late in the second half. Inge also had six assists and four steals, both team highs … The Owls defense was stifling as they held the Nittany Lions, one of the country’s hottest shooting teams heading into the contest, to 34.6 percent from the field. The Nittany Lions were held to no field goals for nine minutes in the first half…

TENNESSEE – The Vols are in the middle of a long layoff as they have not played since defeating UNC Asheville 87-69 in Knoxville on Dec. 3. The game marked the first time in the 100 year history of varsity basketball at UT that a player recorded a triple-double when junior forward Tyler Smith notched 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. What was most impressive about the feat was that Smith did it in only 26 minutes … The victory was the 400th of coach Bruce Pearl’s career. He became the 6th fasted, 2nd among active coaches today, to ever reach the mark … Tennessee’s home winning streak improved to a school-record 35 games…

THE MATCHUP:

This game should prove to be entertaining. Tennessee has one of the nation’s most explosive offenses, averaging 87.1 points per game. Temple, on the other hand, averages just under 69 a contest. The 18 point disparity between the two offenses may be a little misleading, however, as the Owls look to be built for a run-and-gun style of play. They have four double-digit scorers in Christmas, Brooks, Olmos and Allen with Inge and Ramone Moore not far behind. The Owls have enough depth to go nine or 10 deep in their rotation if they have to. Because of that, the winner of this game is going to be the team that excels in the other aspects of the game.

Last season the Owls loss could be attributed to the 23 turnovers they committed. To win this game they need to make it a point take better care of the ball. Semaj Inge has emerged as the starting point guard for this team and will need to make smart decisions. His major strength is his ability to slash through the lane and create offense where it otherwise wouldn’t be. Sometimes players like him tend to try and do too much, which would be catastrophic as the Vols will make opponents pay with points off of turnovers.

The Vols are an excellent rebounding team and they hold a definite size advantage over the Owls. Four of the five Tennessee starters are 6-7 or taller while the Cherry and White only really use three players consistently that approach that size (Olmos, Allen and Michael Eric). This could be a game that Craig Williams sees some time on the floor just to get another big body in to help keep the regulars fresh. All five players on the court for the Owls will have to make rebounding a priority, especially the guards.

Another area that the Owls need to improve on is three-point percentage defense. They currently allow their opponents to shoot nearly 40 percent from behind the three point line. Tennessee, on the other hand, allows only 30 percent of long range shots to go in. Both schools average about 7 three-pointers a game but that shot is a strange beast in the sense that once a team gets rolling from beyond the arc it can really start to rain. Temple will need to keep UT to ones and twos instead of twos and threes to keep themselves in the game.

These are the little nuances that seem so obvious to the average fan that are magnified in high profile games such as these. Whoever does the little things better will come out on top.

PREDICTION:

This is really a tough one to call. The Volunteers are more talented than the Owls but Temple is built in such a way that they should be able to play to their strengths and keep the game interesting. For the Owls to win they need all of their players to play at the highest level possible. I can’t feel too good about the Owls, however, when they are going to end up depending on a player like Semaj Inge or Luis Guzman to have the game of their lives to put them over the top. If Temple wins I won’t be terribly surprised but I think Tennessee wins in a game that will be a lot closer than the average fan would expect. Tennessee 81, Temple 74

John Lamb can be reached at johnlamb@a10collegehoops.com

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Ahmad Nivins – Saint Joseph’s
Senior, Forward, 6-9, 235 lbs.
Jersey City, N.J./St. Anthony’s HS

Nivins earns his second career A-10 Player of the Week honor after
averaging 19 points and 14 rebounds over two contests…scored 20
points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds in Saint Joseph’s
77-64 win at Lehigh on Dec. 2…had a team-high 18 points and 11 boards
on Dec. 6 versus Creighton…made 12-of-18 field goal attempts in the
two games…leads the A-10 with five double-doubles on the year.

B.J. Raymond – Xavier
Senior, Guard, 6-6, 226 lbs.
Toledo, Ohio/St. John’s Jesuit HS

In Xavier’s lone contest of the week versus Auburn on Dec. 3,
Raymond scored a career-high 32 points on 10-of-13 shooting and added
six boards in the Musketeers’ 81-74 victory…drained a career-best
seven three-pointers in nine attempts…leads XU in scoring (13.7
ppg.).

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Andrew Nicholson – St. Bonaventure
Freshman, Forward, 6-9, 230 lbs.
Mississaugua, Ontario/Father Michael Goetz Secondary HS

Nicholson scored a season-high 16 points, grabbed nine rebounds and
tied a program-record with eight blocks on Dec. 6 as St. Bonaventure
downed Princeton, 60-53, in the Bonnies’ lone contest of the
week…made four-of-six shots from the field and 8-for-11 from the
line, including all four of his foul shots in the final two
minutes…is the first SBU student-athlete in program annals to earn
three A-10 Rookie of the Week awards.

November 26, 2008 | AP Press

PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Atlantic 10 will move its men’s basketball tournament championship game to CBS in 2010 and play first-round games at campus sites.

Under a deal announced Tuesday, the 14-team league’s championship game will be played on the same Sunday that the NCAA tournament field is announced. Previous championship games were played on Saturdays and broadcast on an ESPN network.

This season’s tournament is being played in Atlantic City, N.J. Like previous seasons, the top 12 teams will play all the tourney games there, with the top four seeds getting an opening-round bye.

Beginning in 2010, the four opening-round games will be played at the campuses of the higher seeds. Winners of the first-round games will play in quarterfinals at the tournament site, which the league hasn’t yet announced.

“Allowing four institutions to host an opening-round championship game will generate enthusiasm throughout the footprint of the Atlantic 10,” A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said. “This hybrid format presents the best of all worlds: allowing teams to host midweek opening-round games, which are always an attendance challenge, and subsequently advancing all to a common championship site on a traditional weekend schedule of Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.”

November 25, 2008 by John Lamb | A10Collegehoops

In the era of Power Conferences and Mid-Majors a basketball team can measure its success with signature wins against BCS schools. Although it is very early in the ‘08-’09 season, as of Tuesday evening, the Atlantic 10 is 4-9 versus BCS teams. Xavier has two wins over Missouri and Virginia Tech. St. Bonaventure beat Rutgers in overtime and St. Louis knocked off 53-50. So just where does the A-10 stand on the college basketball landscape?

There is no question that the conference has seen marked improvement in the past few years. Last season the league sent three teams (Saint Joseph’s, Temple and Xavier) to the NCAA Tournament, another four teams (Charlotte, Dayton, UMass and Rhode Island) to the NIT and one team to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational (Richmond).

At one point last season it was feasible that the A10 was going to send five teams to the Big Dance. Then the war of attrition that was last year’s conference slate occurred. Dayton was one of the chief victims of the league’s parity as the Flyers raced out to a 14-1 record and a top 25 ranking before limping to the finish line with an 8-8 conference record. Injuries to freshman sensation Chris Wright and junior Charles Little certainly did not help but even if those two were healthy it is hard to forecast where they would have ended up in the final standings.

A year ago, a conference record 11 of the 14 teams had at least 15 wins. The difference between the A10 then and now is that last year the league had signature wins against the big boys across the board. The conference was a mediocre 17-28 against BCS schools but 7 of the 14 teams in the league notched at least one victory against a power conference foe. Xavier led the way with a 5-2 record against the BCS. When conference play opened up the teams beat up on each other but the ones who made statements early in the year were sitting pretty for post season play.

This year the A10 has come very close on many occasions but has yet to seal the deal. Rhode Island came within seconds of knocking off perennial powerhouse Duke. George Washington fell apart against Auburn after racing out to a 44-29 lead at halftime. Charlotte lost in the final minute against Clemson a week after Temple ran out of gas against the Tigers at the Charleston Classic.

LaSalle had not one but two chances to knock off a big name team. Poor execution down the stretch by the Explorers allowed Florida State to eek out a victory at the Tom Gola Arena. LaSalle gave UConn all they could handle but a team can’t expect to win when their opponent makes 19 more foul shots than  they attempted (LaSalle 9-10 from the line; UConn 29-40).

The good news is that there are still plenty of opportunities for the A10 to make some noise on the national scene. All three Philly schools have Villanova to play as per the Big 5. December is a big month for Temple as the Owls will go on the road to play Penn State, Kansas and ‘Nova while welcoming Tennessee to the Liacouras Center.  Duquesne has games against Pittsburgh and West Virginia.

Xavier has a chance to solidify its status as a true powerhouse in college basketball. Games against Auburn,  Cincinnati, Duke, Virginia and LSU highlight the Musketeers upcoming non-conference schedule. A winning record in these five games would cement Xavier’s national status and finally put to bed any doubts whether or not they are a mid-major.

A successful rest of the non-conference schedule is essential for the league on two levels. First, if the A10 is going to claim the mantle once more of premier non-BCS basketball conference then its teams must improve their OOC records. Damaging losses to the likes of Jacksonville State by UMass do nothing to help the national profile of the conference. Secondly, a solid OOC record will get the national pundits talking about the league. Everyone knows that the Big East is the best and deepest conference in college basketball but, in terms of parity, the A10 is right there as well. Right now, however, the league is viewed as Xavier and a bunch of other teams.

Can it be done? It is possible, even though the conference has started out behind the 8-ball. While a winning record against the BCS is probably out of the question at this point there is no doubt the a few wins here and there will go a long way in establishing the A10 as a source of quality basketball this season.

team-win-loss

John Lamb can be reached at Johnlamb@A10collegehoops.com

Sunday, November 2, 2008 by WH | A10collegehoops Contributor

I am not an expert on the coaching of basketball and make no such claims. But here is one layman’s assessment of the 14 league coaches and generally the order in which I would hire them – with one change. (If I were hiring a coach, I would put Mooney and Everhart ahead of Baron.)

Sean Miller, Xavier Musketeers

Miller has improved dramatically after some shaky moments in his first two seasons. He is not the A-10’s best game-day coach, but he’s not far off. And now he’s recruiting at a higher level than anyone else. Is No. 1 too high? It’s hard to argue with Xavier’s success under Miller (70.5% winning percentage).

Phil Martelli, St. Joseph’s

Martelli does more with less than any of his A-10 counterparts. His teams are mentally tough and fundamentally sound and seem to peak every year come A-10 tournament time. The challenge for Martelli is to do more with more – the Hawks are often short of quality depth. Perhaps a renovated FieldHouse will allow Martelli to recruit more good players.

Fran Dunphy Temple Owls

Perhaps no other coach in the league except Martelli could have turned Temple around as fast as Dunphy. The Owls are much more efficient offensively compared to the late Chaney years and now the defense is coming around. Dunphy has a great eye for talent and excels at developing players.

Rick Majerus, St. Louis Billikens

Majerus gets a high ranking based on past performance, not on results of his first season in the A-10. The Billikens were competitive despite a thin roster, but it remains to be seen whether Majerus still has the coaching magic. A very good sign is the incoming recruiting class, one of the best in the league on paper.

Karl Hobbs, George Washington Colonials

Hobbs gets high marks for three straight NCAA appearances before last season’s meltdown. Clearly the bad publicity about GW’s admissions policy a few years ago constrained Hobbs’ recruiting – the loss of Jeremy Wise still stings – and the talent level has dropped off.

Yet Hobbs still does a good job of getting long, lean kids and molding them into A-10 caliber players. GW rebounded down the stretch last season and was playing very good ball in the last month (just ask Xavier and UMass) using a 5-8 walk-on as point guard. That’s coaching. Hobbs also kicked three talented players off the team, including Mo Rice, for being disruptive. That’s showing the players he’s still the boss and won’t let things get out of hand.

Brian Gregory, Dayton Flyers

The Flyers would have earned their second NCAA under Gregory if Chris Wright did not get hurt. Gregory has steadily upgraded the talent level and his teams are fundamentally sound. The Flyers play solid defense and crash the boards. The offense has not been especially creative, but higher talent should alleviate that problem. Gregory has had particular difficulty recruiting good point guards.

Bobby Lutz. Charlotte 49ers

Lutz turned the program around last season by reintroducing defense and effort to the players’ vocabulary. Charlotte had been shaky fundamentally since joining the A-10 and the offense was undisciplined. Big improvements occurred in almost every phase last year. Lutz, a good recruiter, also upgraded the talent base. When he’s motivated, Lutz can match wits with any coach in the league.

John Giannini, LaSalle Explorers

Giannini has already shown he can win in the A-10 with just a handful of good players. Now he’s showing he can recruit lots of quality players to LaSalle. Last year, he admitted to a big mistake – no easy thing for a coach – by scrapping a patterned offense after it failed early in the season. LaSalle began to play well once the coach revved up the offense. Knock on wood, but it looks like the Explorers might make a breakthrough in the next few years.

Jim Baron, Rhode Island Rams

Baron gets this ranking based on past achievement, but last year’s late-season collapse has opened him up to deserved criticism – not for the first time, either. Reaching 20 wins was a big accomplishment, but ceding an all-but-guaranteed NCAA bid was a big disaster.

Like Giannini, Baron changed his offense a few years ago when his old ways weren’t working. He gets credit for that. Problem is, the new-look Rams have been mediocre defensively, an area in which Baron’s teams once excelled, and shot selection has been iffy. Add a few demerits. Baron has had a good career at some difficult places to win, but not too many people in Kingston are in his corner these days.

Chris Mooney, Richmond Spiders

If Richmond builds on last year’s success even without the services of injured center Dan Geriot, Mooney would move up the list. He’s quickly restored Richmond to competitiveness with excellent recruiting and coaching. Like Fran Dunphy, he seems to have a great eye for not-so-obvious talent and his players get better under his coaching. There’s no reason to believe the Spiders won’t continue to improve.

Ron Everhart, Duquesne Dukes

Master rebuilder delivered a winning season at Duquesne for the first time since 1994, but his second season wasn’t entirely successful. Everhart substituted players too liberally and he mishandled the point position. It was a good year that could have been better. Now the Dukes are starting over again with almost an entirely new roster. Fortunately Everhart seems to be a demon of a recruiter. The team is very young, but there’s a lot of talent.

Dereck Whittenburg, Fordham Rams

Whit did a good job of stabilizing a shaky program and making it respectable, but he failed in the ultimate task of producing a winner. Last year’s senior-laden team was a huge disappointment. Much of the problem stems from the coach’s inability to recruit a good point guard as well as quality depth – problems exacerbated by the school’s poor facilities. Whit didn’t help matters with a pouty performance on the bench. Body language does matter, Dereck.

Whittenburg is never going to outcoach anyone, so he better get better players and get the Rams back to playing hard every game.

Mark Schmidt, St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Schmidt’s coaching ability looks somewhat better after his old school, Robert Morris, surged to 26 wins. It says Schmidt recruited talented players and did some good coaching. On the other hand, one wonders if a veteran RMU team would have won as many games if Schmidt were coach. Whatever the case, the Bonnies actually overachieved in Schmidt’s first year even though the roster was one of the least talented in A-10 history. And now Schmidt appears to have done a fantastic job of upgrading the talent base in just one year. Only time will tell if the players are any good, though. If they are, then we’ll get a better idea of Schmidt’s coaching ability.

Derek Kellogg, Massachusetts Minutemen

Incomplete. Rookie Minutemen boss is viewed as a great recruiter and he’s learned under one of the best college coaches in the nation. He was given a good roster to start. Let’s see what he makes of it.

Sunday, November 2, 2008 by WH | A10CollegeHoops Contributor

The sophomore class is the only one for which we have evidence of the future trajectory of the league since none of the freshmen have played yet. What follows are quick impressions and a Who’s Who among the A-10’s second-year players.

STARS AND POTENTIAL STARS

An’Juan Wilderness, Charlotte 49ers

Rugged 6-6 forward can score off the bounce and is a good defender and rebounder, especially on the offensive glass. If he can hone his outside jumper, he could be a terrific player.

Chris Wright, Dayton Flyers

The best athlete in the league, Wright is good enough to contend for a spot on the A-10 First Team. Scores inside, rebounds, blocks shots. He’s a pretty good ball-handler and can take defenders off the dribble. With a consistent outside jumper, Wright is an NBA First Round pick.

Damian Saunders, Duquesne Dukes

Saunders can be a force at both ends. He’s a better shooter than advertised and he uses his great athleticism to score, rebound and block shots.

Jerrell Williams, LaSalle Explorers

The 6-8 forward is a tremendous rebounder and he knows how to score inside. Williams is also very quick and can take defenders off the dribble. Like Wilderness, he’s a reliable jumpshot and away from future stardom.

Anthony Gurley, Massachusetts Minutemen

Bigtime recruit transferred from Wake Forest to be closer to home, not because he wasn’t getting any time (He was). Gurley is a tremendous athlete with a quick first step and deep range.

Delroy James, Rhode Island Rams

Brother of Sean James has the full package of inside and outside skills. He could be URI’s next great player if he stays focused in the classroom and plays with poise and intelligence.

Kevin Anderson, Richmond Spiders

He might be the second best point guard in the A-10 in just his second year. Anderson is almost impossible to stop off the dribble by any one defender and his outside shot has improved.

Justin Harper, Richmond Spiders

He’s 6-9, highly athletic and a fine 3-point shooter. Harper has to learn how to score inside and use his length more effectively as a defender, but he just oozes potential.

Lavoy Allen, Temple Owls

Allen is arguably the second best bigman in the A-10 right now. He’s a tremendous passer and rapidly improving low-post scorer. He needs to learn to play with more aggressiveness on offense but with more discipline on defense.

Dante Jackson, Xavier Musketeers

The 6-5 guard is quick and rangy and has All-Conference defensive potential. He’s also a decent ball-handler and shooter and could be a terrific offensive player by his senior year if he continues to improve.

THE NEXT RUNG ON THE LADDER

Phil Jones, Charlotte 49ers

The 6-10 center disappointed as a freshman, but he has great size, soft hands and nice shooting touch. Jones can be as good as he wants to be, but he has to show more urgency.

Devin Searcy, Dayton Flyers

Searcy didn’t play a lot as a freshman, but he showed great energy and a nose for the ball. He runs like a deer and is very long. All he needs is more meat on his bones and some steady coaching to become a good two-way player.

Bill Clark, Duquesne Dukes

The smart 6-6 forward is not a great athlete like his teammate Saunders, but he’s a superb rebounder for his size and a very good outside shooter despite a below-average percentage as a freshman. Clark is unlikely to become a star, but he’ll make the stars on his team better.

Mike Moore, Fordham Rams

Rangy 6-5- guard played great early as a freshman before fading. Moore doesn’t stand out on the court, but he’s a good ball-handler and shooter who can drive to the hoop or drain the trey. His lengths suggest above-average defensive potential as well.

Xavier Alexander, George Washington Colonials

Strong 6-6 forward struggled offensively as a frosh – he’s not a good outside shooter and had trouble finishing. Alexander should become a decent scorer in time, but he’s the ultimate lunch-pail guy, a player who rebounds and defends. He has Defensive Player of the Year potential.

Matt Glass, Massachusetts Minutemen

The 6-7 Glass is a tremendous shooter, somewhat like a more athletic version of former St. Joe’s star Pat Carroll. He is supbar defensively and on the boards, but he will stretch defenses.

Kevin Smith, Richmond Spiders

He doesn’t look like a superb athlete, but that’s exactly what Smith is. He’s very quick and explodes to the rim for spectacular dunks. Richmond coach Chris Mooney calls him a glue guy – a player who defends, rebounds, passes and makes the hustle plays. Smith has shown some range on his jumper, if not consistency. He’s a star if he addresses that problem.

Idris Hilliard, St. Joseph’s Hawks

Coming-out party takes place this season. Hilliard is very quick and strong for a 6-6 forward and he knows how to score inside. He’s a pretty good dribbler as well and should be able take defenders off the bounce.

Jamel McClean, Xavier Musketeers

Powerfully built 235-pound Tulsa transfer is a tremendous athlete who rebounds and blocks shots. He’s not as dangerous offensively as teammates CJ Anderson and Derrick Brown, but he could become a double-digit scorer after his older teammates move on.