Originally Posted by Alberto Strasse
would admit the program is in shambles right now. AG and staff have their work cut out for them. But the good news for Flyer fanatics is that the blood letting may be over and a true AG team may appear for the first time next year. That would be a team that can play defense and wants to. Balance the classes, graduate the players in 4 years and aspire to play for championships at the college level. Dreams of the NBA should be on the back burner for true Flyer players. To expect next year's edition of the Flyer to finish higher than 11th in the A-10 is unrealistic. All Flyer fans should remember the Number 1 commandment for excellence in customer service. "Under promise and over deliver."
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Not to be contentious, but I think you're overemphasizing the importance of the players who've left. As others have stated, every player who made any sort of tangible contribution to what success we did have last year is returning, with only 2 exceptions: Baby D and Kostas. So, we need to find a wing player to replace Baby D? Bring Mikesell back from injury, and add Matos - done. We need to find a post player to fill the minutes played by Kostas? Enter Toppin - done.
Does that mean we are where we want or need to be? No. But I think a returning nucleus of Cunningham, Landers, Davis, and Crutcher, with a now-healthy Mikesell, a now-eligible Toppin, a capable freshman named Cohill, and a transfer named Matos is pretty sound to compete in next year's A-10. But we can definitely use more depth at PG and more beef on the front line.
Will we be in the Top 4, and get a double-bye in the conference tourney? Probably not. But I don't think we'll be in the bottom 4 and have to win "5 in 5" to get an NCAA bid, either. I'm thinking middle of the pack or slightly above (5th-8th) is a reasonable expectation for next year, based on what we know now about team composition, coaching situations at other schools, etc. And I hope our Flyers can "over-deliver" on that moderate expectation.
