UMassHoops.com

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This says 98, but it's just one site: http://www.rpiforecast.com/index2.html

Still at 64 on the "live" side as of 5:13pm EST: http://www.rpiforecast.com/live-rpi.html

I'm not big on the ifs and buts, because they go both ways. And it's very early. BUT that Ole
Miss game is the only reason we aren't sitting here talking bubble.

It really a shame we lost that game.

Live-RPI has us at 69. Long way to go but that's a good spot to be in going into conference play with the OOC schedule we played.

InnervisionsUMASS wrote:Live-RPI has us at 69. Long way to go but that's a good spot to be in going into conference play with the OOC schedule we played.

That's a good number.

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for multiple reasons!

We've put ourselves in great position to get into the NIT, which would be cool for our first year guys. If we keep it around .500 in conference play we should make it. I know we're all hoping for better than that, but I think that's what it would take.

I happen to think the league schedule will be a tough grind. I expect 10-8 or so.

A 20 win season would be amazing and certainly exceed most people's expectations. I think more likely is 17 or 18 wins.

A NIT bid would be a great building block for this team. Take that and a full offseason of conditioning and practice and this team has a chance to be special for a long run. DK just needs to back this class up with another decent one to keep it going for many years to come.

Maybe I'm being naive, but I just don't see this talent finishing below .500 in conference. I know history isn't in our favor here, but there's just something about this group... for a young team, they seem to have a strong will to win.

I think 18 total regular season wins is their basement at this point and they could squeak out as many as 22. God I hope I'm right.

So am I.

It's been a while since the members of this esteemed institution have been this positive about the team and the coach.

So what's the reason for this optimism?

Coaching - People have been more supportive of DK and his staff this season - Has DK simply matured? Is that he has players who have bought into hat he and his staff are selling? Is jt that this group of players has the ability to execute his brand of "UMass basketball"? How much, if at all is it due to the development of his assistants?

Players - There's no doubt that this is the most talented team of the DK era. Given that the only senior is a walk-on, we're looking at a team that will be together for two straight seasons, something that rarely happens these days. It's interesting to me that despite the apparent youth of this group, there are groups of players with experience playing together. The returning players of course, but Zach practiced with them team last season and Luwane was there too...albeit it unofficially. Deeky and Brison have played together but when Brison transferred to Notre Dame Prep, he became Chris Baldwin's teammate.

The truth as I see it it is a combination of everything mentioned above. Everything is better, the coaching/game preparation, the talent, the confidence, the enthusiasm, the chemistry....these guy really seem to like each other and play together.

I feel like I did during the Julius Erving era and the early days of the Coach Cal era...we have a little secret in Amherst that will soon make the rest of the country st up and take notice.

i know I've got my prescription strength maroon-colored glasses on...but what do you guys think?

^^ I think you summed it up perfectly.. and it made me feel all tingly inside.. we are in for a very special run with these guys.

We are slowly starting to pop up on some of the bubble radar out there. Obviously we lack quality wins, and the A10 seems to be relatively down this year. But we have no bad losses. We have good opportunities at home. If we could get three of Dayton, URI, Davidson, and St Joes, while avoiding losses to Fordham, SLU, Duquesne, and probably Richmond...we would at least have an interesting resume.

There are permutations at 11-7 and even 10-8 conference records that would leave us with no truly bad losses, and a handful of good but not great wins, with an RPI ranking in the 50s-low 60s.

It's not as unlikely as I originally thought. As mentioned, that road win at Ole Miss would have made a pretty substantial difference, mathematically and otherwise.

Gee guys! Take it easy. It's very early, way too early to think/talk about an NCAA or NIT bid. Granted we took care of business during the OOC schedule, but we had no quality W's over a top 50 opponent (did we even play a top 50 team?). We played CFU, Providence, and Mississippi tough, but they were still losses. The A10 conference games await, and historically (at least during the Kellogg years) UMass has tended to fade a bit during the A10 season. A10 coaches seem to know how to prepare for DK coached teams.

Remember, the secrete to a happy life is low expectations.