purplitis72 said:

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How did the Southland do?

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They made the quarterfinals. Beat the Atlantic Coast Conference and a couple of other conferences. Lost twice to the West Coast Conference. Each of their four players earned a little bit of money for their three wins (about $1,000 each, plus the free trip to Minneapolis).

purplitis72 said:

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How did the Southland do?

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Navigate over to the Southland & NCAA thread where it was discussed as it was happening this past weekend.

This thread is for discussing next year's SFA team.

Wasn't it Tech that had an opt out when they hired Beard? That's what I was basing my assumption off of.

PurpleOut said:

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TallTexan said:

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Wasn't it Tech that had an opt out when they hired Beard? That's what I was basing my assumption off of.

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Opt out in regards to what? Having us on the schedule?

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Yep. I thought we had a game in place & that's what happened. But that may have been something Keller and Beard agreed to since they were both new.

I try not to read too much into player tweets, but ummm, is he referencing his height? Cuz I thought he was 6'8.

TallTexan said:

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I try not to read too much into player tweets, but ummm, is he referencing his height? Cuz I thought he was 6'8.

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Trying to understand some of these tweets is over my head. I guess it's my age. Lol

Maybe he's chilling and the slouching has cut two inches off his height so he's 6'6" instead of 6'8".

18/19 - you could probably make a lot of comparisons between SFA and West Virginia. They had injuries last year and dismissed 2 players as well. They were once near the top of their conference and fell like a rock last year similar to SFA they were inconsistent at best. They have gone out and recruited some in the JUCO world. Not as much as SFA but they have had to do a big remake of their team as well.

I am hoping for a big turn around this year. I am not expecting a sweet 16 team but a team that is competing for a top spot in Katy. If we can get back to the NCAA after last year then I think that is an accomplishment that the team can build on. I do however expect a slow start with all the new faces.

CertifiedAxeman98 said:

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18/19 - you could probably make a lot of comparisons between SFA and West Virginia. They had injuries last year and dismissed 2 players as well. They were once near the top of their conference and fell like a rock last year similar to SFA they were inconsistent at best. They have gone out and recruited some in the JUCO world. Not as much as SFA but they have had to do a big remake of their team as well.

I am hoping for a big turn around this year. I am not expecting a sweet 16 team but a team that is competing for a top spot in Katy. If we can get back to the NCAA after last year then I think that is an accomplishment that the team can build on. I do however expect a slow start with all the new faces.

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100%, Axeman. You nailed it.

Whose next?

Charlie Daniels is in.

Whose next?

You'll have to pardon my delay in excitement.

Signing guys is one thing, seeing them play and integrate into our program is another.

It was about this time last year we were all excited about our signing class of 2018.

I totally agree Master Axe. I will give accolades when our recruits and returnees are molded into a cohesive well coached team. Practically every team is excited about their recruiting class this time of the year. But we can at least hope at this point. I've got to wonder where the pundits will pick us to finish in the conference next season. I honestly hope that they pick us last. We seem to do better when there are low expectations.

Ah Master....at least you are consistent.Now where did I put that Debbie Downer meme.

Don't some colleges do overseas tours where they play pro teams in the offseason? Because that would be highly beneficial for our guys.

Apparently better than winning a gold medal in Brazil.

nacluth said:

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Apparently better than winning a gold medal in Brazil.

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Ouch.

Did you find that meme Longneck? We know with these recruits that we could be a very good junior college team. Just kidding Longneck. Or, was I? I cannot wait until the first official practice. I'm going to make that drive to Nac to watch that one. I wanna watch Keller coach practice.

We mustn't have any excuses this year. With Keller I think that it is a must win season. I wanna win now! I'm too old to look very for into the future.

Last year there were proven reasons to be excited. You had TJ/Kevon/Shannon/Aaron all coming back and on paper one of the best recruiting classes. Injuries/dismissals and you know what happened. This year I would say massive turn over is never encouraging. The freshman are really good pick ups but they are freshman. 6 JUCOs? I will play a wait and see on what this team will be next year.

I'm not totally opposed to the idea of loading up on JUCO guys, if you feel like you can get 1 or 2 to "POP" like Shannon did.

Nicholls did it two years ago and had their best season ever, so it can work.

JUCO guys do probably give you the best chance to enter "Win Now," mode, as they generally more accustomed to the college level.

Integration is key. Our coaches/staff gotta make it work, even if it means changing their style to fit the players' style. Don't go recruit guys who play or have played a certain style and then expect them to change immediately...that's hard to to (Jock Hughes, for example).

A little give and take from players and coaches on style of play and we might have something.

Teams are starting to announce 2019 games. Wonder how having Ivey will help us with scheduling this year?

I'm going to disagree on the point that we need to change our style of play to adjust to our players' strengths. On the surface, it makes sense, but let me make it his point. Our style of play going back to Kaspar, Underwood, and the 2017-2018 season with Keller made us unique and gave us an opportunity to win against "superior" teams. This style was comprised of man to man defense which created steals and deflections which took our opponents out of their comfort zones. This style of defense which actually helps our offense because it leads to easy transition points. Which players fit this style? Well, players that's busy their butts hustling. They spend countless hours in the gym and weight room. I believe it's easier to recruit these type of players because they don't necessarily have to be elite offensive players. Instead, they play hard defensively and make layups. Of course, players that can shoot are also needed while running the offense.

No better praise can result from such a style of play than that given by the Missouri Head Coach when he entered our locker room and honored our players after a close loss. He heaped praise on our style of play.

Maybe I'm alone on this point, but I doubt it. I want to return to high intensity and a team first attitude.

Rev007 said:

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I'm going to disagree on the point that we need to change our style of play to adjust to our players' strengths. On the surface, it makes sense, but let me make it his point. Our style of play going back to Kaspar, Underwood, and the 2017-2018 season with Keller made us unique and gave us an opportunity to win against "superior" teams. This style was comprised of man to man defense which created steals and deflections which took our opponents out of their comfort zones. This style of defense which actually helps our offense because it leads to easy transition points. Which players fit this style? Well, players that's busy their butts hustling. They spend countless hours in the gym and weight room. I believe it's easier to recruit these type of players because they don't necessarily have to be elite offensive players. Instead, they play hard defensively and make layups. Of course, players that can shoot are also needed while running the offense.

No better praise can result from such a style of play than that given by the Missouri Head Coach when he entered our locker room and honored our players after a close loss. He heaped praise on our style of play.

Maybe I'm alone on this point, but I doubt it. I want to return to high intensity and a team first attitude.

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I'm not disagreeing, I'm simply saying there has to be some give and take, both in style and coaching. To say "this is the only way we play, deal with it," may not be the most effective.

You can play "team first/high intensity," yet model the offense and defense around the player particular skill set.

For example, we can't say "We're going to play just like Brad Underwood, so here, someone be Thomas Walkup."

That's not gonna work. You can play hard and intense, but still have to be fluid with style, based on the skill set of the current roster.

Coaches try to recruit kids that fit the system. With a new team we have to find our system. Lol