Hatvol's Pre Pre Pre Preseason Hoops Top 10

#1
hatvol96

hatvol96

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#1
1. UCLA-Third time is the charm for Ben Howland. It will be the Season of Love in Westwood.
2. UNC-Fabulously talented. The loss of Brendan Wright will be felt more than some think.
3. Memphis-This team is much more talented than Cal's '96 UMASS team that spent most of the year at #1.
4. Louisville-This will be Pitino's best team in Derby City. Their young guards are fantastic.
5. Tennessee-I'm assuming the 'AA will act like the fascists they are and deny Tyler Smith's hardship request. If I'm wrong, the Vols leapfrog Louisville.
6. Kansas-Losing Julian Wright and having Brandon Rush tear an ACL is bad. Returning Sherron Colllins, Mario Chalmers, and Darrell Arthur is very good.
7. Michigan State-Tom Izzo just keeps rolling along. Indiana will be the chic pick in the Big 10. Don't believe the hype.
8. Duke-Nolan Smith will make a world of difference on this team. Josh McRoberts leaving is addition by subtraction.
9. Syracuse-America, meet Donte Green-The new Carmelo Anthony. The Orange rebound from an off year with a vengeance.
10. Arizona-The return of Kevin O'Neill to the Wildcat staff gives a talented bunch a much overdue dose of toughness.
 
#4
#4
I just don't know about Duke. Their inside game is pretty weak. They have Lance Thomas(TO machine), Brian Zoubek(is he still a project?) and ?.

I'm also interested to see how Love does at the college level. If he excels as he should, you are probably correct with #1. If not, I say move them to #2. Either way, the top 3 are interchangeable. The next 3 are as well.
 
#5
#5
I do think that Smith, Singler, and King will do good alongside Henderson and Scheyer. This team should be great offensively. I just don't know about Paulus or the inside game. If Duke would have landed Patterson, they would be up with the middle 3 teams.
 
#9
#9
tidwell said:
What about UConn? Bounce back, but not quite top ten?
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Yes. The Big East has 3 teams, Georgetown, UCONN, and Marquette(provided Dominic James comes to his senses and withdraws from the draft) who would be in the next grouping of teams.
 
#10
#10
I would switch Kansas with Louisville. Thanks for being the only person on this board for giving Duke's recruits Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler any credit.
 
#11
#11
TennesseeFan07 said:
I would switch Kansas with Louisville. Thanks for being the only person on this board for giving Duke's recruits Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler any credit.
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Not with Rush recovering from ACL repair and Wright in the NBA. They have talent, but those were THE guys. Duke will be very strong, but will have a rough stretch somewhere because of youth (even though I hate that cop out).

My cut on Hat's top 5

1. UCLA - still going to be searching for an inside presence and lost their go to guy. Will be dangerous because of brutal Howland D. See 3 - I'm putting Memphis here.
2. UNC - Agreed on B Wright. Hansbrough will become less effective, unless refs let him shoot 30 FTs per night. The D takes a massive blow without Wright.
3. If Memphis gets their crap together, especially Dorsey, they can go to the house with it. They are are the most talented team (with their new additions). Lack of discipline, if anything, will be their downfall.
4. Louisville - great backcourt with a little frontcourt help. Will mercilessly pressure the ball and generate about 4 jillion turnovers next year.
5. UT - No need to comment, we're all aware
 
#12
#12
BigPapaVol said:
2. UNC - Agreed on B Wright. Hansbrough will become less effective, unless refs let him shoot 30 FTs per night. The D takes a massive blow without Wright.
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I agree with both of you about the loss of Wright to the NBA. I don't think anybody game Wright the level of respect that he deserved last year. In some games last year, he was absolutely dominant. However, the cupboard isn't bare just because he left. Also, Hansbrough was actually less effective last year than he was during his freshman year, when he was UNC's only real inside threat. I expect him to pick his game up this season. The reason that Hansbrough spends so much time at the free throw line is that he's an animal on the boards, he takes the ball to the hole strong, and opponents hack the hell out of him. If anything, he should probably be shooting a few more free throws than he does.

Hat has Duke way overrated.
 
#14
#14
tvolsfan said:
Leave it to a UNC fan to say that.
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Which part? Duke being overrated? Hell, I predicted before last season that they would struggle also. I'm a realist. Even though I'm a Tarheel fan, I have always been able to acknowledge when Duke had superior talent and/or coaching. However, that is not the case now. Prior to the end of the 2005 season, you could always (over the last 17 or 18 years) look at Duke's team at the end of the season and identify two guys on their team that would be dominant the next year and capable of carrying Duke's team. At the end of the 2005 season, Duke had NOBODY on their team that looked capable of carrying them last year, and I correctly predicted that they would be mediocre at best. The same thing can be said about Duke's team going in to this season. They have a lot of young talent coming in this year, but they're 1 to 2 years away from having a real chance to make a serious run at UNC for the top of the ACC again.
 
#18
#18
champyvol said:
ok balls what do you want to bet Uk has a better year this year, whatever you want. billy is twice the coach tubby is and you will see it this year. Us and the kitty's will battle it out for the sec.
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They'll be better because they added Patterson and Legion, not because Tubby was incompetent.
 
#20
#20
BigPapaVol said:
Not with Rush recovering from ACL repair and Wright in the NBA. They have talent, but those were THE guys. Duke will be very strong, but will have a rough stretch somewhere because of youth (even though I hate that cop out).

My cut on Hat's top 5

4. Louisville - great backcourt with a little frontcourt help.
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I vehemently disagree. I'll take David Padgett and Derrick Caracter against almost any post tandem in the country.
 
#22
#22
hatvol96 said:
Upgrade? Yes. Major? No. Trading Buzz Peterson in for Bruce Pearl, that's a major upgrade.
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that is sort of what i compare it to. tubby took over for ricky p and the team won a NC and then just went down down and down. tubby was a ok floor coach, but a horrible judge of talent. he will never turn minny around.
 
#23
#23
champyvol said:
that is sort of what i compare it to. tubby took over for ricky p and the team won a NC and then just went down down and down. tubby was a ok floor coach, but a horrible judge of talent. he will never turn minny around.
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How many SEC titles did Tubby win?
 
#25
#25
hatvol96 said:
1. UCLA-Third time is the charm for Ben Howland. It will be the Season of Love in Westwood.
2. UNC-Fabulously talented. The loss of Brendan Wright will be felt more than some think.
3. Memphis-This team is much more talented than Cal's '96 UMASS team that spent most of the year at #1.
4. Louisville-This will be Pitino's best team in Derby City. Their young guards are fantastic.
5. Tennessee-I'm assuming the 'AA will act lack the fascists they are and deny Tyler Smith's hardship request. If I'm wrong, the Vols leapfrog Louisville.
6. Kansas-Losing Julian Wright and having Brandon Rush tear an ACL is bad. Returning Sherron Colllins, Mario Chalmers, and Darrell Arthur is very good.
7. Michigan State-Tom Izzo just keeps rolling along. Indiana will be the chic pick in the Big 10. Don't believe the hype.
8. Duke-Nolan Smith will make a world of difference on this team. Josh McRoberts leaving is addition by subtraction.
9. Syracuse-America, meet Donte Green-The new Carmelo Anthony. The Orange rebound from an off year with a vengeance.
10. Arizona-The return of Kevin O'Neill to the Wildcat staff gives a talented bunch a much overdue dose of toughness.
Click to expand...

I agree on all points, but I think Syracuse is a bit higher, as is Arizona.
With Hibbert's change of heart Georgetown will be an extremely tough matchup for anyone this year, I expect them to be seeded similarly to last year's tourney.
I would probably omit Duke (but they would be 10b to Georgetown's 10a).
Louisville is absolutely top 5 material and are easily the class of the Big East, and that is no simple task as the conference will be absolutely loaded again this year.
I would probably flip flop UCLA and Memphis, only because of UCLA's loss of Aflalo.
I fully expect the winner of the UT-Memphis game to be the 1 seed in the South.
 
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