2019-20 Expectations for Shocker Basketball – “Falltime Edition”

[WuShock Reaper]

Summer is over, Fall has officially begun, and we are now a little more then 40 days before the start of the season.:bball_spin::yahoo:
The schedule has been released, we are hearing reports on practices, the press/media are putting out news on our non-conference opponents, as well as out conference stablemates. So, looking 6 weeks out, what does your crystal ball say?

[WuShock Reaper]

Here are my "Fall-time" predictions:

Likely Win
Omaha (Home)
Texas Southern (Home)
UT Martin (Home)
Gardner-Webb (Home)
Oral Roberts (Home)
Central Arkansas (Home)
Abilene Christian (Home)
ECU (Home)
UCF (Home)
Tulane (Home)
USF (Home)
Temple (Home)
Tulsa (Home)

Maybe Win
South Carolina (Neutral)
Northern Iowa / West Virginia (Neutral)
Oklahoma (Home)
Mississippi (Home)
Memphis (Home)
Houston (Home)
Tulsa (Away)
Cincinnati (Home)
UCF (Away)
SMU (Away)

Toss Ups
VCU (Home)
UConn (Away)
USF (Away)

Maybe Loss
Oklahoma State (Away)
Temple (Away)
Memphis (Away)

Likely Loss
Houston (Away)
Cincinnati (Away)

I think Overall, we are at 23 Wins, with 3 Toss Ups, and 5 Losses. In the AAC Race, I think we are 12 Wins, with 2 Toss Ups, and 4 Losses.

:wsu_posters:

[RoyalShock]

I optimistically picked 22-24 wins, but am feeling more bearish as we get closer to the season. So far in the AAC we have had the luxury of either having a lot of seniors or at least senior go-to players. I will need to see how the chemistry develops and who steps up to provide consistent scoring behind Dennis and Echenique. I do think our defense will be improved, which should lead to being in more games and help close out some narrow victories.

[WuShock Reaper]

http://barttorvik.com/team.php?team=...+St.&year=2020

With a little more statistical review, Bart Torvik, has the Shockers going 20-10 overall and 11-7 in the AAC. Does not include the second game in Cancun.

We lose to:
at Oklahoma State by 4.5 points
vs VCU by 0.6 points
at UConn by 3.7 points
at Temple by 0.4 points
at South Florida 1.2 points
at Tulsa Toss Up
at Houston by 2.7 points
at Cincinnati by 4.6 points
at SMU by 1.3 points
at Memphis by 5.5 points

[Mr. Pickle]

I think we will be a bubble team, with a handful of games that could decide our fate either way. Our early season schedule sets us up to build confidence and jell, and hopefully by conference time we are a cohesive group that can defend their ass off and score enough to win.

I will be disappointed if we dont make the tournament, but in my gut believe we get in as a 10 seed.

[MadDog]

I’m afraid I’m not as optimistic as most on this board. We are still very young, and have several players that are projected to get significant playing time that are either freshmen, or key returners that weren’t exactly “makers” last year. We’re also losing two of the most reviled seniors in Shocker history (for reasons I’ll never understand) that played a lot of minutes, scored a lot of points, and in the case of SHJ, made multiple game winning shots. And we traded a proven B12 player (Teddy Buckets) for a raw talent that may not play much this year. We do have a boatload of buy games that will pad the record. But my gut feeling is we will be similar to last year hoping to sneak into the NIT. I would expect a significant jump the following season.

[asiseeit]

I'll wait until 10/6 to weigh in

[another shocker]

ncaa tournament appearance

[wufan]

I came up with 21 wins. The good news is that we are right there with those teams we should lose to. A little luck and half of those could go the other way.

[shoxlax]

I'm calling 19-21 wins but I think we still have a good chance at dancing come March. I think we need to revisit this pole or make a new one after Cancun.

[top20shock]

I'm calling 19-21 wins but I think we still have a good chance at dancing come March. I think we need to revisit this pole or make a new one after Cancun.

We should revisit the poll as well.

[ShockBand]

I'm calling 19-21 wins but I think we still have a good chance at dancing come March. I think we need to revisit this pole or make a new one after Cancun.

Pole dancing is part of how the blue bloods recruit.

[RoyalShock]

Pole dancing is part of how the blue bloods recruit.

[Kel Varnsen]

Full disclosure: we won 17 regular season games last season. I think the 19-21 range is reasonable for the regular season, but if you include the postseason, I'd say it's easily 22-24.

[asiseeit]

I said I'd weigh in 10/6 after the intra squad so here goes. I did go to the scrimmage. At the risk of redundancy I'll say
I really like our center situation with JE and AM. IC and Udeze give us additional depth / options and there should be some
games early to give them some developmental PT. As for power forward I am not sure it will be a strength but I don't see
it being a noticeable weakness either. Wade surprised a little on the upside and IC should play minutes, as well. Both have
the "potential" to be better than average guys at that position. I think Gordon will have early opportunities for PT there also.
No worries at small forward. Our freshmen guards are good enough right now to allow ES to sub for DD when DD needs a
rest. Gordon could get developmental minutes at both SF/PF. Really liked what I saw from TE, GS and TB. All three did some
good things in a short scrimmage. GS took the ball to the hoop strong. TE and TB gave one another fits with their defense.
JB looked good on both ends and it will be hard for any of the Fr to displace him as a starter. He, ES and DD already have
developed good synergy with one another and the biggest challenge for the Fr will be chemistry but having the wings and
centers we have gives them much to blend in with. In all, I came away feeling a little more optimistic. I am optimistic and will
say 24-6, make the finals of the AAC tournament, and get an EIGHT seed