The addition of VCU and Butler to the Atlantic 10 for the 2012-13 season is going to make the league one of the most competitive in the nation. But what if all this madness had happened last season? What might’ve happened?
Category: Atlantic 10
Pecora signs extension as A-10 picks up steam
Fordham announced a contract extension today for second-year head coach Tom Pecora that will keep him in the Bronx through the 2016-17 season. The extension comes the same day that we learned that Butler, like VCU, is going to begin competing in the Atlantic 10 starting next season.
Continue reading “Pecora signs extension as A-10 picks up steam”
Butler officially joining the A-10
Well, one part of the realignment madness will come to its inevitable and logical conclusion on Wednesday when Butler, as Andy Katz is reporting, officially decides to join the Atlantic 10. Of course the conference already has 14 members and that’s where it will stay (at least thus far) as Butler is coming in for the 2013-14 season as a replacement for Temple, which is departing for the Big East.
Jim Ferry possibly headed to Duquesne
It looks like LIU Brooklyn might need to look for a new head coach soon. Last season Jim Ferry flirted with Manhattan before deciding to stay with the Blackbirds. This time Duquesne of the Atlantic 10 has come calling on Ferry, who has led LIU to back-to-back NEC Championships. The reason this could actually happen is because it looks like the Dukes are making a solid commitment and the A-10 is a big step up from the NEC.
Is someone joining Butler in the A-10?
I don’t know what types of rumors are more fun, conference expansion, the coaching carousel, NBA Draft, or transfers, but we’ve got them all this offseason. The latest and greatest actually manages to combine two. After Gary Parrish posted an email from the Duquesne president outlining why the school fired Ron Everhart it has come to some people’s attention that there is an interesting line near the end.
Butler to A-10 appears to be happening
Rob Demovsky, a reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette who probably knows the Horizon League better than almost anyone, just Tweeted that Butler to the Atlantic 10 is a done deal. Obviously I’m sure there are some details to work out, but that’s a bold step for the league to immediately replace Temple.
Atlantic 10 Tournament Predictions
The Atlantic 10 tournament get started up tonight with four games at 7 p.m. Those home sites then all feed into Atlantic City where the rest of the tournament goes Friday – Sunday. The tournament offers hope for any team not named Temple or St. Louis to solidify their resume for a postseason tournament and possibly steal an NCAA tournament berth.
Season At A Glance — Fordham
This is the fourth of what will eventually be capsules for each of the NYC teams when I’m sure their season has concluded.
Team: Fordham
Record: 10-19 (3-13 in the Atlantic 10)
Season High: Back-to-back wins at home over Georgia Tech and Harvard
Season Low: Losing by 20 at Rhode Island with the possibility of still making the A-10 Tournament alive.
Really Good At: Blocking Shots — Fordham finished first in the Atlantic 10 in block percentage thanks to the play of Chris Gaston and Kervin Bristol (19th in the country in Blk%) down low.
Struggled With: Offense — Fordham was the worst shooting team in the Atlantic 10 and the fifth worst shooting team in the entire nation according to effective field goal percentage. It’s hard to have an effective offense when that’s the case.
Key Losses:
- Kervin Bristol (defensive presence and solid shot blocker)
- Alberto Estwick (three-point specialist who struggled a bit with his shot in 2011-12)
Key Returnees:
- Chris Gaston, Jr., F (All-Atlantic 10 performer, 17.1 PPG, 9.9 RPG)
- Devon McMillan, Fr., G (7.4 PPG)
- Branden Frazier, So., G (11.7 PPG, 4.0 APG)
Outlook: Improving. I’m sure Tom Pecora wanted to make the Atlantic 10 Tournament this season, but small steps had to be made first at Fordham. Rose Hill came to life as the Rams beat Georgia Tech and Harvard at home and also surprised La Salle in A-10 play. The foundation has been built. Another year in the weight room along with the experience that McMillan and Frazier gained this season should make them better at running the offense next season. McMillan seems like the type of player that could have a huge jump in efficiency from his freshman to sophomore seasons because he’ll be able to score more at the rim and limit turnovers as he gets stronger. Ryan Canty and Marvin Dominique are going to have to help Chris Gaston in the paint next season. Gaston can’t be the sole player responsible for going to the glass. The offense seems like it could make a big improvement in Year 3 under Pecora, but will the defense improve enough to make the Rams a dangerous team in the A-10 next season?
Beat the Machine contest
Starting next week I’m going to be running 10,000 sims for each of the conference tournaments. As the brackets are decided I’ll be running simulations for the six conferences that this blog covers that have tournaments (oh Ivy League). This is fun because it requires me to program a whole bunch of options into my tournament simulator. You’ve got everything from straight neutral site events (MAAC), to all on home court (NEC), to single host (Great West), to a mix of both (America East). Plus there need to be slight home adjustments for the CAA schools playing their tournament in Richmond, VA. That’s a lot of variables and it’ll certainly make things interesting, but I know what’s up.
But doing all this work with no reward isn’t any fun. Thus I’d like to propose a contest. Let’s play “Beat the Machine”. Here are the rules:
- For each simulated conference tournament the computer will get a decimal of the winner. For instance, if Iona wins 67% of the simulated MAAC tournaments and wins the real life tournament the computer gets 0.67 points.
- I’ll also simulate a team’s chances of getting to the final. The computer will get the decimal value for those teams as well. Iona was 89% to make the final the computer adds 0.89 points. Manhattan was a 30% chance. The computer gets 0.30.
- Humans either get 1 point (predicting the winner / finalists) or 0 points (miss). Thus you can earn up to 3 points per conference.
Thus the maximum number of points for either side would be 18. My guess is that a number of humans will be able to guess the finalists, but it should still make things exciting for the short term. What do you think? Too easy? Want to play? Contact me via the form or leave a comment on this post. You want prizes? Let’s see how many people sign up and then maybe I’ll think of something fun.
Revisiting the Atlantic 10 Projections
The Atlantic 10 has turned into one fun league this season. The topsy-turvy standings are starting to come back to what observers expected when the season began, but one thing has certainly changed, St. Louis is no longer a decisive favorite. The Billikens are tied with Temple, La Salle, Xavier and Massachusetts with six wins in conference apiece. (Note: The Owls have played one fewer game.) How has this changed the race for the conference title? Are the Explorers or the Minutemen actual title contenders?
NYC Buckets Archive 