Would be pretty pleased to see a big step forward and finish middle of the pack.  
probably 2 years away (as in the year after this one) from really pushing up into the top 1/3 of the league buy you can see the trajectory already

Certainly we have a young team that is a year or two away, but I would be happy with a middle of the pack team this season.

I like the boldness of the pick for sure. I don't think it's unreasonable for us to finish that high honestly, but it will require us to be a lot more sound defensively. I get why a lot of people are in the "they have a lot of guys to boost the offense, but defense is a question mark" camp and slot us around 10th or 11th, but hopefully we will see a bit more zone and pressure this season. JC said that he wanted to the freshmen to learn man first (and I get not overwhelming them!), but I don't know why you wouldn't mix in a bit of zone in leagues like the A10 and AAC, where teams are brick city from behind the arc minus a few exceptions, especially after the line moved back last season.

I'm a big Gilyard fan, but PotY seems a tad questionable. Think it has to be between Mitchell of UMass and Crutcher of Dayton, but I guess it's possible if Richmond wins the league. The Spiders are very much a sum of their parts than really one guy though, although Gilyard definitely shines.

I want James to win newcomer of the year over the other Bishop, but it will be tough for sure, especially with URI getting a lot of their transfers eligible. Some of those guys will be by default productive with the number of departures they had. Fatts can't do it all.

Not sure exactly what "top shooter" means - I guess it has more to do with makes than percentage. I think one of our guys is probably the favorite to win, although I would probably give the edge to Jamison. If it is by percentage, I think the shear volume of attempts we will hoist will probably hamper our efficiency to win it. I also see a "best shooter" award listed - maybe that's it?

In terms of the other teams:
Richmond - definitely warrant a top spot. I was surprised by how good they were defensively last year after being kind of meh for a good bit of Mooney's tenure.
St. Louis - Jimerson will give them a boost shooting-wise, and hopefully Thatch being healthy will improve depth. Their lousy FT shooting has to be mentioned though as it limits them from truly being a threat to advance in the tournament in my opinion.
St. Bona - I like them in the 3-4 range, but Osun has to stay healthy. They are just not the same team without him.
Dayton - Guards are still great, but their bigs are a big question mark. Their frontcourt is talented for sure, but Johnson is coming off an injury, and I've never been a big Tshimanga guy. The rest of the guys haven't played a season of college basketball.
Duquesne - Strikes me as a high floor, low ceiling team. Carry was a bit disappointing last year in some respects - he was steady like his freshman year, but didn't really take the next step. Weathers is definitely a guy who can play many positions, but I've never understood those who sing his praises; he's solid but not a game-changer. Hughes is a good big down low, although there is personally not a player in the league that I hate more.
URI - Since they got all those transfers healthy, hard not to slot them at least at 6, and I think their ceiling is a lot higher than Duquesne's for sure. There are questions of chemistry (especially with the Mitchell twins) but to be fair, similar questions were asked about last year's Dayton team in the preseason. This URI team is definitely not 19-20 Dayton, but they have talent on paper.
Davidson - I somehow don't feel the JAG loss will be as big as it would appear. Grady started to find his old form late in the season, and Lee is going to be dangerous for years to come. Brajkovic also gives them a presence down low. They could finish higher, but kind of like us they need to improve a lot defensively - athleticism is lacking.
UMass - Certainly came on down the stretch, but I'm kind of losing trust in McCall. He turned over this staff completely and hasn't really shouldered too much of the blame for their lack of success. Mitchell is a stud, Weeks is a good shooter, and Santos is the ultimate glue guy, but at times the team looked lost defensively which was on full display when they played us. They could finish 4th, but I need to see something from McCall for them to be higher than 7th right now.
George Mason - People always say continuity leads to success, but I feel like that is overrated beyond a certain point. Greene, Miller, Wilson, Oduro, Johnson are all solid players (Wilson in particular has come a long ways) but I don't really care for the downhill offense they run. Injuries have played a role the past few years, but how much higher will they be with Boyd back and losing Kier? Paulsen is a nice guy, but I don't see a high ceiling here at all. They lost to us twice with pretty much the same team they have now.
VCU - I think they will finish higher than 10th just based on where they have always been, but there's no getting around how young this team is. It's probably a good thing that Evans and Jenkins graduated - they were in and out of the lineup and that messed up with continuity. Bones is a stud, and I am really high on Ace Baldwin - he is a baller.
La Salle - Another high floor, low ceiling team. Jack Clark's return will be nice for their depth. Spencer is a good shooter. But like pretty much every year, they have a bunch of 4-star players who are horribly inefficient which is keeping them back from rising any more.
St. Joe's - Better than last year, but it would be tough to replicate winning just 6 games all year again. Funk returning gives them a shooting threat. Daly is also back which is big, but the Hawks were miserable defensively and I don't think that suddenly gets better with Longpre still manning the paint. Lange also has to prove he can win. Navy isn't the easiest of jobs with their strict requirements, but Lange didn't fare too well there.
Fordham - Decent bigs and will be great on defense again (hopefully we are more prepared this time around). Their offense is garbage though and lacks any cohesion.

Grant Golden will make 1st team All A10, barring injury, he's had that type of trajectory, big year ahead for him, I'd even say contender for POY.
 

ColonialNY wrote:

How can one be considered the top shooter in the conference in his first year in the conference but not be the best shooter among the newcomers in the conference?

Kind of like an offensive skill position player being named MVP of the NFL (like Lamar Jackson last season) but someone else winning the Best Offensive Player Award (like Michael Thomas last season) .