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Post by Commissioner on Sept 7, 2022 22:35:32 GMT -5
No previews this year from the Commish. But we'll start this thread to gather up stuff and comments anyone has. One of the first previews is out: Staring at the Floorboards: 1. Youngstown State 2. Oakland 3. Wright State 4. Northern Kentucky 5. Purdue Fort Wayne 6. Detroit 7. Milwaukee 8. Cleveland State 9. Robert Morris 10. Green Bay 11. IUPUI Also, Sports Madness is running down in Top 144. The only HL team they include is Oakland at #122.
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 8, 2022 6:30:38 GMT -5
As noted above, Sports Madness--which in my experience is one of the more "what the hell" prediction sites, but hey, we need something to talk about to get ready for the season--ranks Oakland #122 in their top 144. Other Titan opponents include #65 Cincinnati, #78 Washington State, #82 Boston College, #107 Florida Atlantic, and #138 Bryant.
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Post by JDetroitTitan on Sept 8, 2022 7:58:35 GMT -5
As noted above, Sports Madness--which in my experience is one of the more "what the hell" prediction sites, but hey, we need something to talk about to get ready for the season--ranks Oakland #122 in their top 144. Other Titan opponents include #65 Cincinnati, #78 Washington State, #82 Boston College, #107 Florida Atlantic, and #138 Bryant. Really OU #122 and is consider #1 in the HL from Sports Madness. They will have a good start than fizz out at the end because they have no depth except at the point were almost all of this teams talent is at. It look like OU will be playing a three guard front with little size down low. My guess they will start Jalen Moore, Rocket Watts, Lorne Bowman, Keaton Hervey and Trey Townsend (or any other of there 4 PF). That's the number one ranked HL team. I don't see it with the size they have and the little depth at the forward spots with no really center. I will say they will be in the top third of HL but I don't see they being able to end the season in first place with there depth issues and lack of size.
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 8, 2022 8:53:32 GMT -5
As noted above, Sports Madness--which in my experience is one of the more "what the hell" prediction sites, but hey, we need something to talk about to get ready for the season--ranks Oakland #122 in their top 144. Other Titan opponents include #65 Cincinnati, #78 Washington State, #82 Boston College, #107 Florida Atlantic, and #138 Bryant. Really OU #122 and is consider #1 in the HL from Sports Madness. They will have a good start than fizz out at the end because they have no depth except at the point were almost all of this teams talent is at. It look like OU will be playing a three guard front with little size down low. My guess they will start Jalen Moore, Rocket Watts, Lorne Bowman, Keaton Hervey and Trey Townsend (or any other of there 4 PF). That's the number one ranked HL team. I don't see it with the size they have and the little depth at the forward spots with no really center. I will say they will be in the top third of HL but I don't see they being able to end the season in first place with there depth issues and lack of size. As has been the case in recent years, the HL looks pretty wide open, with lots of question marks on all the contenders. I basically agree with your analysis of OU. They've got talent and Kampe is a good coach who usually figures out a way to use it. Watts and Bowman obviously give them a big upgrade at the #2 spot. But it's hard for them to play a 3-guard lineup because while talented, they're also small (Moore 5-11, Watts 6-2, Bowman 6-2). Nonetheless, like JD Titan I suspect they'll try that whenever they can, but they'll miss Micah Parrish at the #3. At the 4 Hervey will be OK but he's a big step down from Jamal Cain. They need a big man to step up. 6-10 Chris Conway started 24 games last year but averaged just 7 minutes per game. 6-8 soph Will Shepherd is a big body who averaged 6 minutes per last season. Neither have shown much to date but that could be said of people almost every team in the league is counting on this year.
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Post by titantarheel on Sept 8, 2022 8:55:21 GMT -5
No previews this year from the Commish. But we'll start this thread to gather up stuff and comments anyone has. One of the first previews is out: . Say it aint Commish!! Your previews are so excellent and detailed. I read about the HL teams before we play them to have a good primer on things and what to expect, etc. Can't say there's a better writer on such things in the HL -- perhaps you can have some up in time for HL play? Would be interesting as it could incorporate some insight from the first few noncon November games. I'm a smarter hoops fan from this board, and especially Commish (flattery get me anywhere?)
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Post by freewynd on Sept 8, 2022 9:56:46 GMT -5
Feels like the conference top to bottom is down from last year, not as much hype with WSU veterans leaving, PBJ coming and going, lot of rosters generally getting gutted and turning over. A couple of coaches out. I think the top 6 of staring floorboards all have decent shots of doing well in conference this year. Putting YSU as favorites is a terrible place for Jarrod Calhoun, he's always shines as an underdog. When expectations are low for YSU he overachieves, in recent years when they're high, he fails to meet them. That being said, this IS the year for him to get his name out there. I just don't feel like he does it this year.
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Post by larrytitan on Sept 8, 2022 14:28:58 GMT -5
A very positive review on Antoine and a frontline of Parks, Liddell and Anderson. I am surprised that we are only ranked 6th. It must be our defense that drags us down.
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 10, 2022 19:09:30 GMT -5
Blue Ribbon:
1. Northern Kentucky 2. Purdue Forty Wayne 3. Wright State 4. Youngstown State 5. Oakland 6. Detroit 7. Cleveland State 8. Milwaukee 9. Robert Morris 10. IUPUI 11. Green Bay
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 11, 2022 7:39:12 GMT -5
Blue Ribbon: 1. Northern Kentucky 2. Purdue Forty Wayne 3. Wright State 4. Youngstown State 5. Oakland 6. Detroit 7. Cleveland State 8. Milwaukee 9. Robert Morris 10. IUPUI 11. Green Bay Last year Blue Ribbon had 1. CSU 2. WSU 3. NKU 4. Oakland 5. UD 6. Milwaukee 7. PFW 8. YSU 9. RMU 10. UIC 11. Green Bay 12. IUPUI vs. an actual finish of: 1. CSU (won tie breaker) 1. PFW 3. NKU (won tie breaker) 3. WSU 5. Oakland 6. UD 7. YSU 8. UIC 9. Milwaukee 10. RMU 11. GB 12. IUPUI So they were pretty accurate last year, except for vastly underestimating PFW--which was true of all prognosticators (I tracked 17 commentators predicting the league standings last year, and only 1 had PFW higher than 7th, that being Lindy's, which had the Mastodons finishing 5th)--and slightly overestimating Milwaukee (but again, they were better than anyone else--no one picked the Panthers lower than 6th last year, and only 2 others placed them that low).
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 12, 2022 16:23:24 GMT -5
Lindy's:
1. Purdue Fort Wayne 2. Northern Kentucky 3. Wright State 4. Oakland 5. Detroit Mercy 6. Youngstown State 7. Cleveland State 8. Robert Morris 9. Green Bay 10. Milwaukee 11. IUPUI
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 12, 2022 16:39:49 GMT -5
Wasn't going to, but I guess we'll go ahead and do my usual grid: Source/Team | CSU | UD | GB | IUPUI | Mil | NKU | Oak | PFW | RMU | WSU | YSU | Horizon League Poll | | | | | | | | | | | | Lindys | 7 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 6 | Athlon | | | | | | | | | | | | Blue Ribbon | 7 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 4 | ESPN | | | | | | | | | | | | CBS Sports | | | | | | | | | | | | Sports Illustrated | | | | | | | | | | | | HoriZone Fuckin' Roundtable | 9 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | Mid-Major Madness | 8 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 4 | The Almanac* | 7 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 6 | Busting Brackets | | | | | | | | | | | | Staring at the Floorboard | 8 | 6 | 10 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 1 | The Hoop Resource | 8 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 1 | TDs & Corner 3s | | | | | | | | | | | | Just College Basketball | 7 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 6 | CBB Review | | | | | | | | | | | | Coast to Coast Hoops** | 7 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | College Sports Madness | | | | | | | 1 | | | | |
*The Almanac is a new combined effort from Three Man Weave, Heat Check, The Field of 68, and Verbal Commits. ** Was formerly Hoopin' With Hoops
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Post by ptctitan on Sept 13, 2022 5:29:48 GMT -5
A very positive review on Antoine and a frontline of Parks, Liddell and Anderson. I am surprised that we are only ranked 6th. It must be our defense that drags us down. Our defensive reputation with the predictors and handicappers was established in AD's first 2 years when we gave up 79 ppg. In 2020-21, we reduced that to 74 ppg. Last year, we gave up 70.5 ppg, but our offense struggled. As it was last year, the HL does not have a dominant team on paper. Interesting that PFW gets no consistent respect even though they return most of last year's roster. Usually that is a key feature of pre-season predictions. But last year, PFW usually won big or lost big - except against us. I guess the experts think the absence of Pipkins is a big hole to fill. It's a winnable league for us and for about 6 other teams. The more interesting consideration will be the HL teams that underachieve the experts and those that overachieve the experts. Last year, the big overachiever was PFW and the big underachiever was Milwaukee. 56 days to the opener.
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Post by kirky313 on Sept 13, 2022 12:18:53 GMT -5
Is it horizone Fuckin' roundtable because some of the writers like to argue politics? Because Bob says that word regularly? Does it have a reference to step brothers and the Catalina wine mixer? Id make the argument as a whole that group does better than most of the major publications when it comes to in-depth coverage of the league. Id also make the argument that I produce the same level of content as Tony Paul.
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 13, 2022 14:53:35 GMT -5
Is it horizone Fuckin' roundtable because some of the writers like to argue politics? Because Bob says that word regularly? Does it have a reference to step brothers and the Catalina wine mixer? Id make the argument as a whole that group does better than most of the major publications when it comes to in-depth coverage of the league. Id also make the argument that I produce the same level of content as Tony Paul. It's "Horizone Fuckin' Roundtable" because I have a sense of humor and I presume Bob would like that. And yes, because as near as I can tell, everybody associated with it, especially Bob but with the exception of you, uses the word in just about every other sentence. The group does a fine job in covering the HL--indeed, with the decline of local reporting, the Roundtable is pretty much it for most of our league's teams. And unlike Tony Paul, I don't think that you have ever been suckered in by the Mole! I'd argue your content is better than TP's, although I'm glad for whatever TP gives us.
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 14, 2022 13:53:23 GMT -5
Lindy's All-Conference predictions:
First Team Antoine Davis, Detroit Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky Jerred Godrey, Purdue Fort Wayne Amari Davis, Wright State Adrian Nelson, Youngstown State
Second Team Sam Vinson, Northern Kentucky Dwayne Cohill, Youngstown State Damian Chong Qui, Purdue Fort Wayne Vin Baker, Milwaukee Cade Meyer, Green Bay
Adrian Nelson for the first team and Damien Chong Qui and Cade Meyer for the second seem like gutsy picks, but defensible. But Vin Baker? The same Vin Baker who averaged 5 points and 3 rebounds last year? Who has a career average of 3 points and 2 rebounds in 68 games? Right.
Player of the Year: Antoine Davis, Detroit Newcomer/Freshman of the Year: Donavan Short, Green Bay
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