Expansion: UAB to reunite with Marquette and DePaul in NBE?

[handdownmandown]

Do not listen to Gtmo about stuff like this. Ever.

[Omaha1]

[quote="Edrick"UConn is how VCU ever gets in this conference.[/quote]
I'm not sure why we'd want VCU. They aren't very good right now and if I was a betting man, I think they've maxed out. The A-10 is done and Shaka knows it. I imagine he'll be looking to leave very soon.

[handdownmandown]

UConn is how VCU ever gets in this conference.

I'm not sure why we'd want VCU. They aren't very good right now and if I was a betting man, I think they've maxed out. The A-10 is done and Shaka knows it. I imagine he'll be looking to leave very soon.

You are going to give Sactowndog an aneurysm with that kind of talk.

[Bill Marsh]

[quote="Edrick"UConn is how VCU ever gets in this conference.

I'm not sure why we'd want VCU. They aren't very good right now and if I was a betting man, I think they've maxed out. The A-10 is done and Shaka knows it. I imagine he'll be looking to leave very soon.[/quote]

VCU's not very good???

They're top 30 in both polls and in Sagarin's power ratings. I think there are a few people who watch college basketball who would beg to differ with you.

[marquette]

VCU's not very good???

They're top 30 in both polls and in Sagarin's power ratings. I think there are a few people who watch college basketball who would beg to differ with you.

I won't say they aren't good, but I agree that they have peaked. I think Shaka is a good coach, but his system has been figured out by most good coaches. He is intelligent enough to adapt, but I doubt we see VCU past the sweet 16 in the next 10 years.

[Bill Marsh]

VCU's not very good???

They're top 30 in both polls and in Sagarin's power ratings. I think there are a few people who watch college basketball who would beg to differ with you.

I won't say they aren't good, but I agree that they have peaked. I think Shaka is a good coach, but his system has been figured out by most good coaches. He is intelligent enough to adapt, but I doubt we see VCU past the sweet 16 in the next 10 years.

If most coaches have figured him out, how did he manage to beat Oregon and Tennessee this year? How did he manage to come up with wins last year over Virginia and Dayton last year and Memphis the year before?

If he's just a systems coach, then the coaches who really should have figured him out are the coaches in the A10 who see him twice a year. With the strongest group of teams in the A10 in years last season, he finished 2nd and went to the finals of the conference tournament. Those coaches sure haven't figured him out.

You're really underestimating Shaka as a coach and VCU as a program. You make it sound like he snuck up on people in 2011 by using some kind of gimmick that took everyone by surprise. Shaka's a good coach. Every coach has their approach and he has his, but that doesn't mean that he isn't a good coach or that his defense isn't legitimate. It would be like claiming that Boeheim's success is just a product of his zone. Yeah, one of these days coaches will catch up with that gimmick. Like they haven't been trying to for the last 20 years.

You're also being unfair to VCU as a program. You're treating them like they're just a product of one coach. They had success before he got there with Anthony Grant and Jeff Capel. They're no more a one coach program than Butler was under Brad Stevens.

[gosports1]

As long as the ACC and B1G remain at 14 members in FB UConn will NEVER drop football and come to the BE.
Even if the SEC ,and P12(potentially B12) remain at 14 UConn will keep FB.
Should all those conferences go to 16 without UConn, then there is a slight chance they will downgrade

[Sactowndog]

UConn is how VCU ever gets in this conference.

I'm not sure why we'd want VCU. They aren't very good right now and if I was a betting man, I think they've maxed out. The A-10 is done and Shaka knows it. I imagine he'll be looking to leave very soon.

You are going to give Sactowndog an aneurysm with that kind of talk.

I would say I am more on the Wichita State bandwagon. But if the Big East wants to make the same mistakes made by the MWC and the Big 12, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

[R Jay]

I would say I am more on the Wichita State bandwagon. But if the Big East wants to make the same mistakes made by the MWC and the Big 12, I'm not going to lose sleep over it.

Wichita is done for the second Greggg leaves (which he will eventually).

[marquette]

If most coaches have figured him out, how did he manage to beat Oregon and Tennessee this year? How did he manage to come up with wins last year over Virginia and Dayton last year and Memphis the year before?

If he's just a systems coach, then the coaches who really should have figured him out are the coaches in the A10 who see him twice a year. With the strongest group of teams in the A10 in years last season, he finished 2nd and went to the finals of the conference tournament. Those coaches sure haven't figured him out.

You're really underestimating Shaka as a coach and VCU as a program. You make it sound like he snuck up on people in 2011 by using some kind of gimmick that took everyone by surprise. Shaka's a good coach. Every coach has their approach and he has his, but that doesn't mean that he isn't a good coach or that his defense isn't legitimate. It would be like claiming that Boeheim's success is just a product of his zone. Yeah, one of these days coaches will catch up with that gimmick. Like they haven't been trying to for the last 20 years.

You're also being unfair to VCU as a program. You're treating them like they're just a product of one coach. They had success before he got there with Anthony Grant and Jeff Capel. They're no more a one coach program than Butler was under Brad Stevens.

That's an awful lot to read into a 100 word post. Especially when I EXPLICITLY said "Shaka is a good coach." You're better than that Bill. I also never said he was "just a system coach," and in fact EXPLICITLY stated "he is smart enough to adapt." I also never said most coaches have him figured out, I said "most good coaches." There's a difference between George Mason and Georgetown, St. Joe's and Villanova, etc. I also never said that VCU is a product of one coach, but their biggest success was in 2011. They never before or since reached even the elite 8.

Also, just because a system has been figured out doesn't mean it will never work again. There are literally dozens of offensive schemes to deal with both zone and man d, but their success generally depends on execution. That's why Boeheim's zone works, not because it hasn't been figured out but because he drills it so well that it requires outstanding execution to beat. Shaka has a higher level of athlete than most A10 programs bring in, and that helps quite a bit. Finally, comparing Havoc to zone d is absolutely ridiculous. Zone has been around for decades because it continues to work. It is also highly adaptable (1-3-1, 2-3, 3-2, box and 1, etc). Beating Havoc really only requires a good PG surrounded by athletic players who can make solid passes. That is the reason that VCU is under-performing in a year when Shaka is supposed to have his most talented squad ever. All the hyperbole and sarcasm in the world won't change that.

As to the wins you cited, Oregon is a decent program but they haven't beaten anyone of note this year. Tennessee is terrible, even we beat them. Virginia just got their revenge with a dominant victory. Dayton was a head case last season, with several head-scratching losses. Memphis is a solid win, but that was 2 years ago and a lot has changed.

VCU has not made it past the first weekend since 2011. They also haven't beaten a high major in the tournament since then. They averaged 3 tourney appearances per decade before 2011. That's not bad, but not really any different from Richmond or Dayton and only slightly better than SLU. They never advanced to the sweet 16 prior to 2011.

None of this is to say that VCU isn't a solid program. VCU IS A GREAT PROGRAM AND SHOULD BE IN THE EXPANSION DISCUSSION. That ought to be hard to miss when you post your rebuttal. However, they seem to have peaked as a program for the foreseeable future. Maybe joining the BE would get them over the hump, but we won't know unless it happens.