AAC Predictions For The Shockers This Coming Season

[Ashockalypse]

Ballard has been encouraging. When he gets it under the basket though he doesn’t realize who he is. He needs to cram it like that buzzard center a few years ago whose only shot was catch at 2 ft. and slam.

[AZ Shocker]

Agree Aargh. Ballard and Abidde have seriously improved from what we seen just a year ago. I like Bell taking it inside. He's got some moves when in there to get that left handed lay-up or flip. A pass every once in a while in the paint would really open up his game and become a true threat.

Totally agree with Beverly's potential as he knocks off the rust. I believe that he will shine sooner than later.

Ridgnal absolutely looks to be the part to ignite and be the energizer. He wants that damn ball everytime on rebounds and blocks.

Pohto will Pohto. He's playing like a vet and you can see he's getting to the point of a savvy upperclassmen to hold his own with confidence and a plan.

Get Germany up to speed this weekend and next and we got 8 heading into December.

Lest not us forget Holy Colby! Not forcing and playing within the offense. Stroke it son!

Keep up on the defensive side. Hope the injury bug keeps to a mild roar...and we got ourselves a real team that may just prove the naysayers wrong with a Top 3 (or 4) AAC finish.

Fantastic job by our new leader Coach Mills for everything he's done so far.

Go SHOCKS!!!!!!!

[Aargh]

We're only two games in and the Shox have been exposed to only having 7 rotation players. By the time we hit conference play those 7 have some serious potential.

Abidde and Ballard are surpassing expectations - and not by a little bit. Going forward this team has a lot of upside.

Ballard - Deluxe rim protector. Gives the perimeter defenders a chance to gamble. Hard to say if he's reached his potential progress from last year to this year, but "breakout season" seems like an understatement so far. Ballard >>>Orukpe

Abidde - Maybe I'm reading too much into a Soph playing against lower level competition, but he's on a trajectory to get consideration at the next level with the progress he's showing.

Pohto - Last year he showed some inside game, but wasn't hitting a lot of his shots there. He was following some of them. He's doing the same this year. He seems to have potential to start making some of the shots that haven't been falling.

Beverly - Has improved every game and was a beast going to the rim against a physical WKU team in the second half. He hadn't played much the last two years so having some hiccups (if you can call his TO rate a hiccup) might be a function of limited court time the last two years. Is he still knocking rust off or has he reached his potential? I think he's knocking rust off. If he can get his TO's under control and keep progressing, he can be a force in the AAC.

Bell - Has been effective driving the lane against inferior competition. I doubt that will translate to success in driving the lane in the AAC. He did show some flashes of that against AAC competition last year, but he hasn't shown a lot of progress from what he did at the end of last season to this season.

Ridgnal - How on God's green earth was he not a 30-minute starter at MSU?

There's a lot of potential upside on this team.

[Stickboy46]

So I'm guessing no one is with me saying we're going dancing to the second weekend?

I mean we could be to the third weekend ... Since the AAC tournament is the third weekend in March this year

[wichshock65]

So I'm guessing no one is with me saying we're going dancing to the second weekend?

[Dan]

If we can run a havoc style defense and use our length to disrupt teams (sorta like Memphis), there is hope. We just can’t roll out the standard gameplan without a real PG and expect to win a bunch of games.

[asiseeit]

QB has to turn into a healthy beast. KP has to adapt to the PF position. I think Beverly could be a stud, we'll see. Obviously, Rogers has to be deadly and Cortez must take care of the ball and be a darn good facilitator/quarterback. One or two other upside surprises and we could finish third to fifth. No, I haven't forgot Germany. Counting on solid play from him. I don't think Ricks was a good fit and won't be missed. Abidde remains a big ?

Have to reassess after exhibition and Cortesless. We are pretty solid at center and PF. Still think Beverly will surprise on the high side. Expect Rogers to be hot and cold. Weak at PG and depth. Now expecting 10-12 wins and lower half of league for sure. Mediocrity has set in. No time to develop players long term. Recruit and use portal to replace the bottom half of the roster. Have to take a good/longer look at McBride.

[Aargh]

Is it too late for me to change my top-4 prediction? Once I saw the schedule I was concerned that I had had been overly optimistic with my prediction. Even if Cortes should get cleared for the second semester, changing out a major piece midway through the season would be expected to add a couple of losses. It's starting to look like a top half finish in the conference would be remarkable.

[wichshock65]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but Memphis will not have Deandre Williams this year. His appeal for a 6th (or was it 7th, maybe 8th) year of college got denied. He can now focus on settling in at his retirement home.

He should be getting AARP crap in the mail by now. How old is he?

[Stickboy46]

Wasn't sure where to put this, but Memphis will not have Deandre Williams this year. His appeal for a 6th (or was it 7th, maybe 8th) year of college got denied. He can now focus on settling in at his retirement home.

[WstateU]

I always liked Jaime Echenique. He definitely held his own against 'Precious and Few'...

[WINGdingBALLfling]

I like Kenpom. And I love math/statistics. However, I don't think there is a formula out there that could predict this team right now. WAY too many variables. I will wait and see how it plays out for a few weeks before I worry too much about it.

Ken released an article regarding his preseason rankings. Worth a read into the process and his thoughts on it: https://kenpom.substack.com/p/presea...te-4-137993223

[Dan]

Pohto as a sophomore was better than Nurger as a senior

[Aargh]

Pohto, as a SO, was better than Miller or Stutz in their SO years. I think Pohto is probably the best post since the Smithson (the first) era.

[ShockerExpress]

Pohto is the best player returning from last years team. He has been in the neighborhood as good as Nurger was up to this point. I liked Nurger. Solid piece that could have started on certain teams over the last 10-15 years. I never stated Nurger was bad. I never stated Pohto couldn’t improve. I stated our predicted position in the pole was reasonable, because our best returning player has looked similar to a solid player we had 6 years ago. Nothing nonsensical about it. It seems you created some narrative in your head and ran with it. Believe whatever you’d like.

You said KP “is about as good as Nurger”. That sentence is nonsense.

I can get into the numbers or the recruiting rankings if you really want, but I think it stands on its own.