Reply To: '16-'17 Hoops Predictions

Forum Forum Lehigh Sports Lehigh Men’s Basketball '16-'17 Hoops Predictions Reply To: '16-'17 Hoops Predictions

#28096

lehigh90
Participant

I’m just going to focus on the non-conference portion of the schedule.

I think we, unfortunately, start the season 0-6. I think we have a shot in 5 of the games, not @ Xavier. But, heavy lift to win any of the road games, and Princeton will be really good, and tough at Stabler. So, I see 0-6.

Then, I see a complete reversal, and we win the next 5, and close out the OOC at 5-6. Anything worse than 5-6 is a disappointment. I think if we play really well, we could get as good as 7-4, and could steal a couple early games. But, I’m happy with anything over .500 in the OOC. Really happy at 7-4 and thrilled at 8 or higher. Like I said earlier, the only game where I would say we are completely outclassed is the opener.

This is a team that basically ran the table in the PL in the second half of last season. So, I’m hoping that carries over into this season. I think the 4th and 5th starters will be KL and BA to start. I think MH gets worked in and potentially starts later in the OOC schedule (BA sliding to a 6th man role). As I said earlier, DC getting a starting spot would not shock me, but we already have senior leadership in the starting lineup, and a lot of veterans.

Most improved, I think is going to be BA. I think the year of being away and watching will be really helpful. I think we will see real improvement from KR and KL as well, and those guys could elevate to premier PL players. BA needs to learn to defend and be a complementary player in this lineup, which has a lot of scoring.

I’m really positive going in this year. Just one major concern for me. Finding some big men (at least 2) to give us steady minutes in a backup role. Definitely not to score the ball, but to defend in the paint, rebound and take up some fouls. If we get 30+ minutes out of TK, we will need a couple bigs to play 10-15 a night. But, I expect us to run pretty small, most of the season. My big fear, is any injury to TK, where he misses significant action. He has been injury free to date, but we saw what happened to CJM in his senior year, when we expected to have a top notch team. Fingers crossed on health.