A way-too-early Top 25

[Nasty Nati 513]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/news/story?id=4106855

"Do not sleep on: Here are three teams I expect to see in the Top 25 at some point next year.

San Diego State: Malcolm Thomas will be eligible and Kawhi Leonard and Eric Lawton are legit prospects. Kelvin Davis also returns after missing most of last season battling cancer.

Nevada: New head coach David Carter is the right man for Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson to win the WAC.

Cincinnati: Mick Cronin's boys will finally be able to score enough to win 23 to 25 games and get in the NCAA tourney. The Bearcats compete as tough physically as any team I have watched and now they are developing the skills to match."

[bearcatbret]

Oh does OSU get ranked as high as this? They will not even be in the top 3 of the B10 and the B10 will not have 3 teams in the sweet 16.

[Scheids21]

Very interesting. You are right in saying its too early but still good to hear.

[coach]

i'm not sure i understand how x gets ranked that high either. none of the kids coming in are as good as bj raymond. jordan crawford has somehow morphed after a year off into the next jordan when he was a very inconsistent player. when x won, generally raymond and anderson scored quite a bit. trying to get that production out of freese, who i haven't seen play a full 30 minutes, and the other guys isn't a given by any means.

[UCbball21]

I agree, there is no way Xavier is a top 10 team in the nation next year. Redford will be there first guard off the bench for christ's sake. There is no way the combination of Crawford and Lyons will replace CJ's and BJ's production (BJ shot over 40% from beyond the arc and was their only consistent perimeter player and CJ was a good rebounder, scorer/slasher, shot 45 percent from the field, and second in assists). They have a solid frontcourt but there are way too many questions surrounding their guard play. Lyons is not a point guard and Holloway nearly averaged more TO's than assists in addition to limited scoring ability. Crawford is going to have to play out of his mind to replace BJ/CJ's production and I doubt he's capable of that. I look at there starting line-up and laugh at all of these final four predictions.
1. Holloway/Lyons
2. Crawford/Redford
3. Jackson
4. Brown/McLean
5. Love/Frease
That is not top 10 material, much less final four...

On another note it was nice to see Cincy get a mention: I think if Cash can step in and handle the point and Riek makes an impact on the defensive end this is a tourney caliber team no question. Vaughn moving to SG will greatly improve this team alone. Our frontcourt should be a lot better with Riek/Thomas and an improved Gates and Toyloy. I'm really only worried about the SF position, I hope Wilks steps up but we will probably continue to see Bishop in his glue-type role.

[catscratchfever]

Coming from Doug Gottleib, I find this very refreshing!

[ralph1950]

With Reik eligible UC will be # 1!

[Bearcat Jeff]

I agree, there is no way Xavier is a top 10 team in the nation next year. Redford will be there first guard off the bench for christ's sake. There is no way the combination of Crawford and Lyons will replace CJ's and BJ's production (BJ shot over 40% from beyond the arc and was their only consistent perimeter player and CJ was a good rebounder, scorer/slasher, shot 45 percent from the field, and second in assists). They have a solid frontcourt but there are way too many questions surrounding their guard play. Lyons is not a point guard and Holloway nearly averaged more TO's than assists in addition to limited scoring ability. Crawford is going to have to play out of his mind to replace BJ/CJ's production and I doubt he's capable of that. I look at there starting line-up and laugh at all of these final four predictions.
1. Holloway/Lyons
2. Crawford/Redford
3. Jackson
4. Brown/McLean
5. Love/Frease
That is not top 10 material, much less final four...

On another note it was nice to see Cincy get a mention: I think if Cash can step in and handle the point and Riek makes an impact on the defensive end this is a tourney caliber team no question. Vaughn moving to SG will greatly improve this team alone. Our frontcourt should be a lot better with Riek/Thomas and an improved Gates and Toyloy. I'm really only worried about the SF position, I hope Wilks steps up but we will probably continue to see Bishop in his glue-type role.

I totally disagree. Xavier will be loaded next season. They will have a very nice backcourt once Crawford and Lyons knock off the rust, McLean will be very good and should have played more last season. I look for Brown to play small forward alot with McClean at the 4 spot. Jackson plays lockdown defense and hits big shots. Love and Frease are solid down low and they have good role players off the bench. If Mack is worth his salt that team will be very tough.

[JerseySean]

We will crush Eggs like a bug...

[Pie Hole]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/news/story?id=4106855

"Do not sleep on: Here are three teams I expect to see in the Top 25 at some point next year.

San Diego State: Malcolm Thomas will be eligible and Kawhi Leonard and Eric Lawton are legit prospects. Kelvin Davis also returns after missing most of last season battling cancer.

Nevada: New head coach David Carter is the right man for Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson to win the WAC.

Cincinnati: Mick Cronin's boys will finally be able to score enough to win 23 to 25 games and get in the NCAA tourney. The Bearcats compete as tough physically as any team I have watched and now they are developing the skills to match."

Great to hear that we're being mentioned as a potential top 25. Which game was he watching to make him think that UC is as tough physically as any team??????

[milfordcats]

Maybe he was watching old tapes of Hicks and company when he wrote the tough physically part.

Or maybe it was the Xavier or WV game. We played pretty tough in those games I thought. More so in the WV game though.

[UCbball21]

I totally disagree. Xavier will be loaded next season. They will have a very nice backcourt once Crawford and Lyons knock off the rust, McLean will be very good and should have played more last season. I look for Brown to play small forward alot with McClean at the 4 spot. Jackson plays lockdown defense and hits big shots. Love and Frease are solid down low and they have good role players off the bench. If Mack is worth his salt that team will be very tough.

From what I've heard of Lyons he is not that impressive. He's a SG in a PG's body with little to no perimeter skills and average ball handling. He is a good athlete however but with his lack of height and shooting ability I highly doubt he adequately fills in for either CJ or BJ. Redford is not a threat with his lack of athleticism unless teams are in zone. Dante Jackson is a good role player but who knows if he has the offensive game to be a go to scorer. He only had 8 double digit games last season and only 15 points as his season high. Holloway isn't much of a threat on the offensive end and showed typical freshman struggles at the point. Crawford is capable of taking over a game but fact remains he was the 4th option albeit on a very good IU team that year. Brown will see some time at the 3 but it won't be for an extended period of time, they are too thin on the frontline for that to be his primary position. Jackson and Crawford will be logging the vast majority of the time at the SF position.

[gocats13]

wow it disgusts me to see x rated that high. I just want to puke

[Bearcat Jeff]

From what I've heard of Lyons he is not that impressive. He's a SG in a PG's body with little to no perimeter skills and average ball handling. He is a good athlete however but with his lack of height and shooting ability I highly doubt he adequately fills in for either CJ or BJ. Redford is not a threat with his lack of athleticism unless teams are in zone. Dante Jackson is a good role player but who knows if he has the offensive game to be a go to scorer. He only had 8 double digit games last season and only 15 points as his season high. Holloway isn't much of a threat on the offensive end and showed typical freshman struggles at the point. Crawford is capable of taking over a game but fact remains he was the 4th option albeit on a very good IU team that year. Brown will see some time at the 3 but it won't be for an extended period of time, they are too thin on the frontline for that to be his primary position. Jackson and Crawford will be logging the vast majority of the time at the SF position.
Top 10 is too high but they will be an NCAA tournament team. Time will tell the story.

[Doss]

any game played in March, where Mick has an Ofer.

Great to hear that we're being mentioned as a potential top 25. Which game was he watching to make him think that UC is as tough physically as any team??????

[Thegreatone]

From what I've heard of Lyons he is not that impressive. He's a SG in a PG's body with little to no perimeter skills and average ball handling. He is a good athlete however but with his lack of height and shooting ability I highly doubt he adequately fills in for either CJ or BJ. Redford is not a threat with his lack of athleticism unless teams are in zone. Dante Jackson is a good role player but who knows if he has the offensive game to be a go to scorer. He only had 8 double digit games last season and only 15 points as his season high. Holloway isn't much of a threat on the offensive end and showed typical freshman struggles at the point. Crawford is capable of taking over a game but fact remains he was the 4th option albeit on a very good IU team that year. Brown will see some time at the 3 but it won't be for an extended period of time, they are too thin on the frontline for that to be his primary position. Jackson and Crawford will be logging the vast majority of the time at the SF position.


I know nothing about Lyons. Xavier has extremely high expectations for Crawford. I dont believe they are a top 10 team.

I do think your wrong on Redford, although short, slow, and unathletic he is dangerous from anywhere.

[bearcatbret]

X, as always will compete for the A10 title. They will assemble a good record (mostly due to their schedule) and will get a decent seed in the NCAA. They will get a favorable match up and win at least their first game.

[UC/XU fan]

It seems that the only people in america who don't think Xavier will be a top 10 team next year are a few hardcore UC fans on this board. Those same people said they were going to suck last year too. Funny how bearcatnews forums are the best place to get updates on Xavier. I think UC has the "potential" to be a top 25 next year. For that to happen, the new guys have to play like veterans because UC's veterans have little skill and give even less effort.

[cincycpaw]

Great to hear that we're being mentioned as a potential top 25. Which game was he watching to make him think that UC is as tough physically as any team??????

Maybe a scrimmage against the coaching staff.

[ralph1950]

I totally disagree. Xavier will be loaded next season. They will have a very nice backcourt once Crawford and Lyons knock off the rust, McLean will be very good and should have played more last season. I look for Brown to play small forward alot with McClean at the 4 spot. Jackson plays lockdown defense and hits big shots. Love and Frease are solid down low and they have good role players off the bench. If Mack is worth his salt that team will be very tough.

Xavier will not win the A-10 next season. Mack will be a disaster as head coach, Brown will be in the NBA, no one around to make the clutch shots that B J Raymond made. Crawford was not that good of a player at IU, he did not exactly tear up the Big 10. Kenny Frease is "Lurch the butler".

[ralph1950]

Top 10 is too high but they will be an NCAA tournament team. Time will tell the story.

The Bearcats will be # 1, Reik will be the most dominent player in college basketball, a 7'2" monster that no one can handle.

[bearcatbret]

The Bearcats will be # 1, Reik will be the most dominent player in college basketball, a 7'2" monster that no one can handle.

Ralph: I shure would like you to be right on this one. Too many posters want the number one HS PG to come here. However, Gates will be improved with added talent around him. Thomas will add that leadership and aggressiveness that we needed last year. Cash will be good if not great as a RS freshman. DV will have a break out year playing his natural position and surrounded by talent. Believe it or not, I am expecting Kilpatrick to contribute. He played in a very good league and played well. My concern is that Riek must stay out of foul trouble.

[Pie Hole]

The Bearcats will be # 1, Reik will be the most dominent player in college basketball, a 7'2" monster that no one can handle.

Riek will be average at best his first year.

[bearcatbret]

http://blog.imgacademies.com/2009/04/17/img-basketballs-john-riek-heading-to-u-of-cincinnati/

http://cincinnati.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=936151

I suspect that the preconference schedule will serve nicely for Riek to get ready for BEast play. He may not be a huge scoring threat but I have to imagine that he will alter just about every shot out there.

[ralph1950]

Riek will be average at best his first year.

Wrong! Fully recovered from his knee injury Reik will be the best player in college basketball.

[ME80]

Wrong! Fully recovered from his knee injury Reik will be the best player in college basketball.

The beat goes on, the beat goes on
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain
La de da de de, la de da de da

[Pie Hole]

Wrong! Fully recovered from his knee injury Reik will be the best player in college basketball.

Wrong! Riek will not be the top player in college basketball next year. You can take that to the bank.

[Globe Trotting Cat Fan]

I just love that some who ARE talking about him being the best college basketball player next year...can't even spell his name correctly...

Odd isn't it?

;)

[Pie Hole]

I just love that some who ARE talking about him being the best college basketball player next year...can't even spell his name correctly...

Odd isn't it?

;)

Lol, that is peculiar isn't it?

I have a theory that Ralph is actually a Xavier fan who comes to this site simply to poke fun at us. He makes comments such as "with Riek UC will be the odds on favorite to win the NC". Or "Riek will be the the best player in college basketball next year". Or, my personal favorite, "Mick Cronnin is one of the greatest coaches in basketball and will go down as the greatest coach ever to coach at UC".

I can see a Xavier fan making these comments and then busting out laughing.

[Globe Trotting Cat Fan]

Haha well, I love the enthusiasm as always...I will give the man that...

Just figured if I were going to tout someone as the next big thing...I would remember the "I before E, except after C" rule from what...second grade? ;)

[bearcatbret]

Haha well, I love the enthusiasm as always...I will give the man that...

Just figured if I were going to tout someone as the next big thing...I would remember the "I before E, except after C" rule from what...second grade? ;)

But you never know with foreign names. Oh, foreign....e before i and not after c. :)