NCAAbbs

I spent some time thinking about it and I have concluded that all this pre-season hype for Mercer is a lot of horse dung. I will go on record that when all is said and done next year, they are still middle of the pack.

what hype?

I believe they are supposed to have the best team since their last NCAA appearance.

oh yea... i remember one of our ksu fans was saying they have the most athletic team in the conference. i could see them finishing 3rd at the highest. prob more around 5th or 6th.

I agree completely. All depends on Jacksonville and Lipscomb. Even though Belmont lost their inside presence, I still think they finish second.

But they don't have the most athletic team in the conference. Their inside players are nothing more than over-sized farm boys.

You guys will see!! Our inside players are not oversized farm boys. One of them was leading the conference in rebounds and blocks until he was suspended for the 2nd half of last season. We have talent oozing out of all positions. The only way this team under performs is coaching. The talent is there.

Unfortunately Goldfinger, there's a lot of legitimacy behind that hype. They'll be retooled and loaded next year.

wouldnt surprise me to see a couple more players suspended this year for mercer.

Well that is the trend.... but odds have to be in our favor to finally go a full year without one. Don't forget we beat KSU with our real team last year.

ya playing our team that had nine freshmen in like our third game of the year...and then our second team destroyed your second team in our second game... it seems you have no depth...

I standby what I said

Well if Mercer can field a team, you'll finish better than USC Upstate

OK whoa.... show me a team that can lose 4 starters for a single game, and then compete at their usual level.

There's a 0% chance that KSU finishes above Mercer in 07-08.

And p.s. - that was mostly your 1st team that played. You guys weren't missing anyone. I even remember Coach Ingle bringing Wooten BACK into the game late when you had a 30+ point lead. Classy.

You don't have talent oozing out of all positions unless you can immediately bench Dolan and Pfohl.

Sorry KR... I must apologize.. I was wrong. Your coach put Wooten back in the game late with a FORTY point lead....

GOOD! LAYUP by Wooten, Ronell [PNT] 06:05 81-41 H 40

6 minutes left up 81-41 he's dropping in layups.

Yes we can if we want to. Depends how solid this 6'10 center is we have.

What's wrong with Pfohl getting 8.5 points a game? He shot 57% so it's quality points. That's better than 12 points/37%

Dolan is 8.1/50% and 5.6 boards.

At most one of them will start.

PG - Florence
SG - Aaron
G/F- Ellis
F- Henry
Last spot is open.

i'm not gonna take away ur win over us. but u didnt blow us out of the water. u beat us in overtime at home.

we were going to beat u with ur starters at our home regardless. we were even last year.

like i said i can see u guys finishing as high as 3rd, i just dont think u guys are deep enough to win the conference.

Mercer Keith had double digits in points and he never starts... plus nobody on the Owls roster played more than 24 minutes in the game and 10 of the Owls 11 players scored... its not like we kept our starters in for the whole game in order to get a blow out... we played everyone and we still managed to crush... our back up pg played 18 minutes... just look at the box score. "There's a 0% chance that KSU finishes above Mercer in 07-08." What formula are you using? Seeing that we finished ahead of you last season and we are both returning the same teams I would have to say we have a good chance of finishing above mercer next year lol.

Listen, they'll be no bashing of Pfohl. I mean he's the Total Package. I don't know how defenders can handle him taking them to the rack.
Okay, horrible wrestling puns I know.
Mercer is better than KSU, that's for certain, probably still a middle pack team.

You guys are going to take a huge hit from losing Ingle. Not because he shot a stunning 25 or 35%, but just because it's a whole new ball handling scheme. Teams will probably press you more often and cause problems getting the ball over half court.

We return our entire starting team PLUS Henry (might have been MVP if played full season).

Our A-Sun schedule is rinky-dink too. We only play Belmont, Lipscomb, and ETSU once apiece.

Add to that a pair of games with UNF, FGCU, and Stetson.

It's a combination of talent + schedule that will put Mercer at the top of the A-Sun.

I have heard really good things from our players about the person who will be playing pg for us next year... we will have no problems getting the ball over half court. I am excited to see what nick can do!

Everyone thinks they are going to be great every year. We shall see how things shape out by January.

0% chance KSU finishes above Mercer!

With Ryan Daugherty coming off redshirting and Nick Mattone coming in we will have no problem what so ever bringing the ball up the court even if they pressure us.

We are going to be very very deep next year. but were still a little young. Ladaris Green is the one i'm excited about. He has a very good chance at leading the league in blocked shots next year.

Blocked shots goes to Andrew Reed....assuming he gives a damn

You guys have got me curious.... so I just pulled up KSU's stats from last year. I wanted to see just how "deep" this team was that is also "returning the same team"

Well you're quite far from returning the same team. The depth in the pool is also quite shallow.

So you bring back Wooten and Stegall if I'm reading correctly. That's the only two noteworthy returns. That is 14.4 and 14.7 points coming back.

The next guy on the roster coming back brings a whopping 4.4 points to the table.

Mercer is bringing back 19.3, 15.9, 9.4, 8.5, and 8.1 points to name the top 5.

Just wanted to clear up that these are not two identical squads coming back on paper -- as we're lead to believe.

C'mon, really? Did you guys really forget what Calvin Henry was doing for 14 games? 2.7 blocks a game and several records in gyms across the country. That's against the front half of the schedule, the non-ASUN teams.

Reed had 1.1 a game, but since he played the full year we'll wait and see how that one plays out.

i'll give you that. but dont be surprised to see Green up there..if not number 1.

KSU will be playing a 9 man rotation in conference for sure. the only problem is most of those guys are sophmores and freshman.

Mercer,

two things...we defeated you at Mercer when you had Henry. We did it before we were really coming together as a team and we did it with our point guard on the bench for suspension.

secondly...I'm not here to say Henry isn't a good player and won't improve your team next year as I have not seen him play. But I just glanced over your last years schedule and for the most part (with a few exceptions) you didn't play anybody in your non conference schedule

Well...I take that back, you did have some tough opponents.

There's no denying that ETSU will be tough on Mercer. I don't think we have beaten you guys since you joined the A-Sun.

I'm not too crazy! The only positive note is that we'll only play ETSU once. So if we get that game in Macon -- we just might pull it off.

One thing I would mention about all these recruits that you people are excited about...that is all well and good, but I would caution you to not be overly excited until they arrive and are in uniform playing before your eyes. This is a lesson that I have had to learn and re-learn through the years. No matter how good they sound, you never know what it is you have until they arrive and start playing together.

I remember a highly recruited ETSU team that had the size and talent to of been maybe the greatest team in ETSU history, but when they got here they were nothing but a bunch of hot heads who took one of the (at the time) nations best programs down to a level where they were barely even worthy of being on the court with a grade school team. Minus losing football, they were the biggest disappointment in ETSU history. And these things happen. I'm excited about our recruiting class this year, but history tells me to wait until they get here before i become too excited.

Mercer,


So it's for sure that the league is splitting into divisions?

Goldfinger -- It's unconfirmed. I just can't imagine a 22 game conference schedule though.

I hope ya'll try to go nine deep, I REALLY DO. You've got about three guys on the ENTIRE TEAM that can ball, the rest are cannon fodder. Going nine deep against UNF, FGCU and Upstate might happen, the rest of the time if you do it will only be because you're getting blown out of the building. Quit drinking the kennesaw bong water.
That schedule for Mercer is favorable, if they split into divisions you guys will have it made within your division.

Don't forget Jacksonville

We are arguing about what "could be" versus "what is". Kennesaw "could" have a lot of new guys throwing down. Mercer "has" guys who have proven they can PLUS several who "could" that are coming in.

Divisions is a must. ..... so when do schedules come out??? They should be out by now!

I'm for the divisions just like everyone here...but I won't believe it until I see it.

Historically, the A-Sun has had divisions when the league had 12 teams.

MercerFan

I understand that you are excited about the upcoming season. As a fan myself, I get the same way.... nothing can get in the way of my team. However, it is true that your team, including your returning "balling players," went 8-10 last year in conference play. Therefore, for someone to say that these players are in fact "proven" does not seem to be a reasonable argument.. seeing that they have neither won the conference championship or finished at or above .500 your argument is formed on the basis of speculation or the "could be" or "should be" argument.. Thus, you are in the same boat as KSU and every other team in this conference. No team in the ASUN is returning a proven team as far as next season is concerned. If your team is "proven" then all they can claim is an 8-10 season in the Atlantic Sun.

I understand that Kennesaw "could be" good and that we are largely unproven as well. That is why I am not quick to throw out outlandish statements such as "Mercer "has" guys who have proven they can (ball)." Clearly they have statistics on paper that indicate many of them can score... however it is evident that your "ballers" just could not ball well enough as they finished below .500 once again.

Finally, lets address the "talent oozing out of all positions" statement. When I hear this statement I am drawn to believe that a team possessing such a trait would seemingly be one with great depth while players would be competing among each other for starting positions. This is obviously not the case at Mercer. Upon the suspension of your top three players your team flat out sucked at the end of last year. A team with "talent oozing out of all positions" would not have looked as if Coach dressed out some clowns in basketball gear due to the fact that they were missing three players.

Buccaneerlover

We went nine deep against you guys last year in our (ETSU/KSU's) second game of the year... I know we lost 75-71... but you guys did have to come back! Thats not a shabby effort from a team playing its entire bench. This year we will be much deeper so I believe we will be ok.

I'm just waitin for one team to start dominating this conference and I hope it's Kennesaw.

KR983

Again that second game...you caught us through a phase where we weren't really playing good ball. Hell the week before we allowed UNF to give us a "game". Sometimes ETSU only gives a damn the last five to ten minutes. I've seen witnessed this for years.

And although I don't fear Mercer next year...it should also be noted that neither do I fear you.


If Mercer and Kennesaw are in a southern division next year, both of you are very conveniently forgetting about Jacksonville.

time will tell.... I found a link to GW's release of their womens basketball schedule.... looks like we will indeed be in divisions...

http://www.gwusports.com/SportSelect.dbm...EASON=2007

Good find KR983....Two divisions it is.

You had about six guys that played quality minutes, plus, you lost some of those players.
You guys base everything on what you COULD HAVE. Let me try ONE MORE TIME, you're not playing North Metro Tech, Tusculum or anyone else from the South Atlantic or Peach Belt Conference. You moved up to division one. If you go nine deep against the top half of the A-Sun, you'll get beat. Like I said, ya have two, maybe three guys who can play ball, that's it.

kr983...

Last year we had a solid 5, but not much after it. This year we bring back Henry, plus Ellis is now eligible (former Asheville player, Freshman of the year). So it's proven that those two have D1 talent. That brings us up to 7 players with experience, and 4 with fantastic numbers. Add that to some recruits/sophomores and thats why I say we're oozing talent.

So that's all I mean by it. We have guys that have done it, and now we have a bench that has done it. That was the difference last year.

You are right about the 8-10 mark in conference, and that is a scary point. The only thing to argue is that Henry was suspended after we were 2-2 in conference. Then Pfohl was injured. So we only had 3 total big men for most of the conference games. It will be different this year. Anything .500 or less would be a disaster.

Lover... out of the nine who played only one played less then ten minutes... and he had six...you are right though.... KSU bases everything on what it could or can have ... largely because our athletic department is on the up and up... just look at all the research they are putting into it right now...football looks as if it is going to happen... on the other hand it has already been determined that ETSU focuses on what it cant have... which is any increase in athletic funding for the next four years and a football team.... when I think of ETSU athletics one word comes to mind.... Stagnant.

That's funny, the president made it clear there were ALOT OF IF'S in any thought of KSU football. It looked like it was going to happen at ETSU.
Basing your basketball team on what they could be this year is a bad idea. I mean ETSU COULD actually beat Syracuse when we play them, Upstate COULD actually be competitive this year, quit living in hypothetical land, the reality is KSU's going to be at the VERY BEST a middle/bottom tier team in a not very good conference, atleast for the next 5-10 years