Official preseason predictions thread

6,075 Views | 52 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by SeattleAg05
bobinator
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AG
Alright everyone, we're inside a week, and we know less heading into this season than perhaps any other in the history of Texas A&M Basketball, but that can't stop us from taking wild shots in the dark and then holding each other absolutely accountable to them all year.

So let's hear it:

Our overall record: 19-12
Our Conference record: 9-9
Postseason tournament? Which one? Seed?: NIT, 2
SEC Champion: Arkansas
Final Four and national champion: Gonzaga (NC), Illinois, Michigan, Texas

The stat other than score, turnovers, and three-point percentage that will determine whether we make the NCAA's is: defensive rebounding percentage.

Our season is a success if: We keep getting better, and we're a decent team by the end. It's going to take some time to figure out how these pieces work together, and we have no idea how good we are. Even if we completely suck out of the gate, if we're decent by the end of the season I can live with that this year.

Our season is a complete disaster if: we completely miss the postseason and there are still several games where we aren't even competitive. There's going to be bad games, but I don't want to see us just get run out of the gym more than maybe once or twice.
MarcAg
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No clue. Like no idea at all to even make a prediction.

I like Marcus Williams and Radford, that's all I know
bobinator
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THAT'S NOT THE GAME MARC. WHAT DOES YOUR GUT TELL YOU.
Proposition Joe
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There's no way anyone could have any idea.
Tavares19
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AG
Overall record: 15-15

SEC record: 6-12

SEC champion: Kentucky

National Champion: Texas (gross)

Think Marcus Williams will end up being our best player. Our bigs are super concerning. We're probably gonna play a lot of small ball, which is a recipe for disaster when the team struggles to shoot.
MarcAg
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AG
bobinator said:

THAT'S NOT THE GAME MARC. WHAT DOES YOUR GUT TELL YOU.
Ill give you an SEC prediction come January 1st. With so much turnover I have to see them play some real games to have any kind of clue. I'm not overly optimistic at the moment, but again we haven't seen them play a real game. I think the are a lot more talented than last year. I think we will see things to get us excited about the future, unlike last year where it was tough to find anything positive to take from things.
bobinator
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AG
AT LEAST GIVE ME SOME SEC/FINAL FOUR/NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP PICKS, YOU'RE KILLING ME SMALLS.
bobinator
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I went back and forth on our most important stat, but I settled on defensive rebounding percentage because I think we're going to end up being pretty good on first-possession defense, but our size is such a concern that the difference on if we're going to be any good on defense or not is going to be how well we can limit our opponents extra possessions.

I also considered our free throw rate (meaning what % of our possessions we get to the line) and three point attempt percentage (what percentage of our shots are threes.)
GrayMatter
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AG
Overall Record: 18-13
Conference: 8-10

Our season is a success if: make a postseason tournament excluding CBI

Our season is a complete disaster if: Finish our season lower than predicted, multiple players hit the transfer portal
zooguy96
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AG
Overall record : 20-11

SEC record : 10-8

Did I do that right?
Proposition Joe
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Overall record: 17-14
SEC record: 7-11
Expert Analysis
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AG
Our overall record: 18-13
Our Conference record: 8-10
Postseason tournament? Which one? Seed?: None
SEC Champion: UK
Final Four and national champion: No idea

The stat other than score, turnovers, and three-point percentage that will determine whether we make the NCAA's is: opponent 3 point percent

Our season is a success if: We implement a system and actually improve, Buzz year 1 play, decent vs Buzz year 2 play, horrid.

Our season is a complete disaster if: We continue to not effectively play defense, turn the ball over at a high rate, and still look lost on offense.
Topher17
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AG
Our overall record: 17-14
Our Conference record: 8-10
Postseason tournament? Which one? Seed?: None unless we accept CBI
SEC Champion: Alabama
Final Four and national champion: Gonzaga (NC), Purdue, Villanova, Alabama

The stat other than score, turnovers, and three-point percentage that will determine whether we make the NCAA's is: Agreed on defensive rebounding

Our season is a success if: We find the ability to knock down 3's at a decent clip, which would then open up the floor a lot for some of our guys who I think will be good slashers. I think we'll also need to see Coleman develop into the kind of player he was expected to be coming out of high school. If we can get Coleman, Williams, and Radford to really mesh, I think this team could be solid. I think making the NIT would be a success in my mind and show we are on the right path considering the chance that we only lose 1 player from this squad.

Our season is a complete disaster if: we show minimal to no progress in the quality of overall play. I don't think missing the postseason all together is a complete disaster if we show some progress and finish middle of the conference. As was stated, getting run off the floor more than one or two times or losing to teams like Georgia at home late in the year would be worrisome to me about where we are headed. Finishing 12th or worse in the conference would to me be a bit of a disaster.
Ag_EE_88
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Our overall record: 17-15 (counting the loss in the SEC tournament)
Our Conference record: 8-10
Postseason tournament? Which one? Seed?: SEC, 10
SEC Champion: Arkansas

The stat other than score, turnovers, and three-point percentage that will determine whether we make the NCAA's is: offensive efficiency

Our season is a success if: If we get to the top half of the conference

Our season is a complete disaster if: Look like we are lost on the court and/or completely give up like we did last season.
DukeMu
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21-10 overall

10-8 conference


Finals in the SECT - shock the world!

Postseason tournament? Which one? Seed?: NIT, 8th; NCAA bubble

SEC Champion: Arkansas

Final Four and national champion: Gonzaga, Duke, Villanova, Arkansas
DukeMu
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The stat other than score, turnovers, and three-point percentage that will determine whether we make the NCAA's is: 3 FG% differential - offense vs. defense, rebounding differential

Our season is a success if: PRACTICE! Kinda Post-COVID consistency is the key. If we shoot and (long) rebound well good things will happen.

Our season is a complete disaster if: We have major injuries in the frontcourt
Anchorhold
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A lot of personal stress and frustration but eventually satisfied with improvements.
KBAGOLFER
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21-10

NCAA Sweet 16

Kentucky

Zags, tu, bu, & Nova

Zags
Topher17
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AG
KBAGOLFER said:

21-10

NCAA Sweet 16

Kentucky

Zags, tu, bu, & Nova

Zags


bobinator
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How are feeling through four games?
Topher17
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bobinator said:

How are feeling through four games?
Only thing I think I know is that Mizzou, UGA and SC are probably worse than I thought and I already thought they'd be bad. That might make me adjust our conference record to 9-9 rather than 8-10, which would obviously adjust our season total as well. I think there is a realistic chance at 10-8, but I want to see how we look in next week's tournament before believing that. Being above .500 in conference would give us a real shot at the NIT, which I wasn't convinced of preseason.

I will obviously have a much more fully formed opinion after next week's tournament.
GrayMatter
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bobinator said:

How are feeling through four games?
bobinator
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Well yes, after we see how good we are we'll all have a much better idea of how good we are.
MarcAg
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bobinator said:

How are feeling through four games?
This team is much easier to watch than last year. They would whip last year's team too. I don't know if we are any good, but that's what I know so far.
AGNinBCS
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AG
These first 4 games have been encouraging. The team has potential for solid growth, but I still expect nothing better than a .500 record in conference play. This season is about laying a foundation to build upon… roots.

It's noticeable that we have more depth than we have had in any other season under Buzz, and it feels like we can sub in/out in platoons.

On offense, they move the ball around well, and there is a variety of guys who can generate a shot for themselves or someone else. It is nice seeing an improvement in 3-point shooting, and penetrating and dishing out to the perimeter.

Defense is all about smothering our opponents with hustle and conditioning. But that leads to over rotations and open 3's. I think this is just how Buzz teams are every year.

We are going to get killed on rebounds. We really miss a Josh Nebo type F/C. I thought we were really going to miss E.Miller's scoring ability from last years team, but now not so much.

Can't wait to watch us compete against the taller roster of Wisconsin.
billydean05
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I can wait to watch us compete or lack of competitiveness against Wisconsin. I think we most likely go 1-2 in Maui Invitational in Las Vegas.
Proposition Joe
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I think everyone would be good with 1-2.
bobinator
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AG
as long as the one isn't Chaminade.
Proposition Joe
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bobinator said:

as long as the one isn't Chaminade.

I'm even fine if it is.

We don't look like a better team than Wisconsin, Butler or Houston. So if we manage a W against any of those 3 I'd consider the tournament a success.
bobinator
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AG
I guess it would depend on how we lose the two. When I think "would be good with" I'm thinking my hopes/expectations for the season haven't shifted downward as a result of this thing.

If we play fairly close to Wisconsin and Butler and then beat Chaminade I guess I'd be okay with that. But Wisconsin and Butler are beatable teams if we're any good at all. Butler especially.

If we end up on the floor with Houston we'll probably get wiped, but we should at least compete with the other two.
Topher17
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If we are 1-2 this week, I'm really hoping the 1 is against Butler. Butler has not looked good at all and if we are trying to take real steps as a program, this year's Butler squad is a team we need to beat.
GrayMatter
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Let's flip it and say we go 2-1 or even 3-0.

How much would our perception change after those potential records?
MarcAg
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Topher17 said:

If we are 1-2 this week, I'm really hoping the 1 is against Butler. Butler has not looked good at all and if we are trying to take real steps as a program, this year's Butler squad is a team we need to beat.
What if we win the first vs Wisconsin and then lose to Houston and lose to Notre Dame
bobinator
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If we go 2-1 or win the whole tournament, especially if one of the wins is UH, I'll probably shift my expectations up a notch to thinking we should be a true bubble team. (to me meaning we go into the last week of the season with a chance).

I wouldn't shift them a ton because weird things happen in these tournaments to begin with, and none of the teams in this thing except Houston are probably going to be anything special, but if we can beat two or three solid teams, then with the way the rest of our non-con lines up we should be set up pretty well to make the NCAA's if we can find a way to get to .500 in league play.
Topher17
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I think I'd be okay with that scenario as well.

If we are good enough to beat Wisconsin though, I'd think we would be good enough to beat ND. I'd expect in that scenario the game with ND would be close and I feel like I'd be fine with that.

I'm mostly looking to just see us look competitive against decent competition in this tournament. Outside of Houston, and before Tuesday I would have said Oregon, these are teams that we should at least be playing close games with if we are going to be any good as the year goes on.
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