Way Too Early 2023-24 MWC Hoops Predictions

[Swoll Cracker]

Inspired by a comment from @roughrider to this particular prognostication, let’s hear your thoughts.

 

 

[kingpotato]

On 5/26/2023 at 2:22 PM, Swoll Cracker said:

Inspired by a comment from @roughrider to this particular prognostication, let’s hear your thoughts.

 

 

Absolutely zero chance Boise goes 19-12 (barring some major injuries). They are a top 25 caliber team that will contend for a MW title and get into a third straight NCAA Tournament. There is a high probability this will be the best team Boise has ever had. Those are the expectations this year.

[roughrider]

I think it's SDSU, Boise, UNLV and UNM.  Then CSU. 

I think the Broncos will actually be better next year.  Shaver was hurt all year.  Never 100%.  The PG spot will improve IMO.  Whiting will be much better with a full year of conditioning and practices.  he came off a mission in not the best shape and rusty as heck.  Lockett is a future star who wants the PG spot;  Mr Basketball in Louisiana.  And Roddie Anderson was FOTY in the Big West last year as a true freshman.

Degenhart will step it up from the outside with more help at the 4-5 spot.

Agbo will take a big step.

The portal dive that Leon did will be better than anyone expects too.  Stanley and Martin at the 4 will change how the team looks when Degenhart gets a breather.  It won't slow down like last year with Milner. 

Max Rice is back to torment everyone too.

[Swoll Cracker]

My initial thought on CSU.

Rams will be much improved after a poor 2022-23 season full of injury issues and getting caught with their pants down losing David Roddy to the NBA. They’ll be bigger, more athletic, and older. Two sixth year players, two fifth year players, two fourth year players. 
 

I think they’ll compete at or near the top of the MWC. 
 

Here’s an unpopular opinion. SDSU will not be head and shoulders above the rest of the MWC in 23-24. Yes they return some very good players in Butler, Tramell, Ledee, Parrish. The portal additions are good but a net loss compared to the guys that moved on. As it stands, they’ll need some major contributions from their inexperienced youth.

[4UNLV]

On 5/26/2023 at 1:58 PM, roughrider said:

I think it's SDSU, Boise, UNLV and UNM.  Then CSU. 

I think the Broncos will actually be better next year.  Shaver was hurt all year.  Never 100%.  The PG spot will improve IMO.  Whiting will be much better with a full year of conditioning and practices.  he came off a mission in not the best shape and rusty as heck.  Lockett is a future star who wants the PG spot;  Mr Basketball in Louisiana.  And Roddie Anderson was FOTY in the Big West last year as a true freshman.

Degenhart will step it up from the outside with more help at the 4-5 spot.

Agbo will take a big step.

The portal dive that Leon did will be better than anyone expects too.  Stanley and Martin at the 4 will change how the team looks when Degenhart gets a breather.  It won't slow down like last year with Milner. 

Max Rice is back to torment everyone too.

I really like Degenhart. And Max Rice doesn't get the credit he deserves, some of your fans were brutal with him on twitter. I couldn't understand that, he saved a bunch of games for you down the stretch.

[roughrider]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:10 PM, Swoll Cracker said:

My initial thought on CSU.

Rams will be much improved after a poor 2022-23 season full of injury issues and getting caught with their pants down losing David Roddy to the NBA. They’ll be bigger, more athletic, and older. Two sixth year players, two fifth year players, two fourth year players. 
 

I think they’ll compete at or near the top of the MWC. 
 

Here’s an unpopular opinion. SDSU will not be head and shoulders above the rest of the MWC in 23-24. Yes they return some very good players in Butler, Tramell, Ledee, Parrish. The portal additions are good but a net loss compared to the guys that moved on. As it stands, they’ll need some major contributions from their inexperienced youth.

I don't think they were that much above last year.  Better for sure.  Deeper for sure. Better designed to make a late season run.

Agree that gap lessens this year and the # of teams chasing is 4-5 and not 1-2.    

The keys are different for most teams too.  Some like the Broncos can't afford injury and need 2-3 of the newcomers to deliver.  Others have to integrate a lot of proven talent into their systems and make it work.  USU has like 12 new guys.  UNLV and UNM are deep with new faces. 

For CSU I worry you didn't get Tonje replacement and he's your biggest loss IMO.   But I like your coach's ability to get mature players to figure it out.

[roughrider]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:20 PM, 4UNLV said:

I really like Degenhart. And Max Rice doesn't get the credit he deserves, some of your fans were brutal with him on twitter. I couldn't understand that, he saved a bunch of games for you down the stretch.

For Max it started 3 or more years ago and some fans aren't willing to change their position on things regardless of facts hitting them in the head.   It's hilarious.   Rice feeds off it too so I hope they stay on social media with that 'love' for #12.

To be fair, his dad was like those fans back then.  He didn't think Max should see much PT but the assistants at the time showed him the +/- for Max's minutes and it was best on the roster.  His minutes went up quickly after that.  He's not eye candy but he's basketball smarter than pretty much anyone on the floor.

[4UNLV]

On 5/26/2023 at 2:24 PM, roughrider said:

For Max it started 3 or more years ago and some fans aren't willing to change their position on things regardless of facts hitting them in the head.   It's hilarious.   Rice feeds off it too so I hope they stay on social media with that 'love' for #12.

To be fair, his dad was like those fans back then.  He didn't think Max should see much PT but the assistants at the time showed him the +/- for Max's minutes and it was best on the roster.  His minutes went up quickly after that.  He's not eye candy but he's basketball smarter than pretty much anyone on the floor.

Coaches' sons tend to be like that. He'll probably end up being a better coach than his dad, lol.

[Swoll Cracker]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:21 PM, roughrider said:

I don't think they were that much above last year.  Better for sure.  Deeper for sure. Better designed to make a late season run.

Agree that gap lessens this year and the # of teams chasing is 4-5 and not 1-2.    

The keys are different for most teams too.  Some like the Broncos can't afford injury and need 2-3 of the newcomers to deliver.  Others have to integrate a lot of proven talent into their systems and make it work.  USU has like 12 new guys.  UNLV and UNM are deep with new faces. 

For CSU I worry you didn't get Tonje replacement and he's your biggest loss IMO.   But I like your coach's ability to get mature players to figure it out.

The belief is that Clifford and Johnson will be an improvement over Tonje/Rivera. And that they will thrive in an offense directed by an unselfish Stevens. Tonje was a great scoring threat but offered little else.

Every team will have their own challenges this season and thats what will be fun to watch.

[roughrider]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:28 PM, Swoll Cracker said:

The belief is that Clifford and Johnson will be an improvement over Tonje/Rivera. And that they will thrive in an offense directed by an unselfish Stevens. Tonje was a great scoring threat but offered little else.

Every team will have their own challenges this season and thats what will be fun to watch.

I got the feeling Tonje was close to busting out on both sides of the floor.  We'll just have to see how does in a new environment which would be tougher than staying IMO.

[roughrider]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:26 PM, 4UNLV said:

Coaches' sons tend to be like that. He'll probably end up being a better coach than his dad, lol.

I think that's what he want to do in a year.  No way he stay here with dad so someone is going to get a good future coach.  

Degenhart too.  Kid is so basketball savvy.

[kingpotato]

On 5/26/2023 at 2:58 PM, roughrider said:

I think it's SDSU, Boise, UNLV and UNM.  Then CSU. 

I think the Broncos will actually be better next year.  Shaver was hurt all year.  Never 100%.  The PG spot will improve IMO.  Whiting will be much better with a full year of conditioning and practices.  he came off a mission in not the best shape and rusty as heck.  Lockett is a future star who wants the PG spot;  Mr Basketball in Louisiana.  And Roddie Anderson was FOTY in the Big West last year as a true freshman.

Degenhart will step it up from the outside with more help at the 4-5 spot.

Agbo will take a big step.

The portal dive that Leon did will be better than anyone expects too.  Stanley and Martin at the 4 will change how the team looks when Degenhart gets a breather.  It won't slow down like last year with Milner. 

Max Rice is back to torment everyone too.

I'm not buying the UNLV hype. Every year, it's the same thing and every year they are a middle to bottom half team. I'll believe it when I see it. I'm buying CSU and also UNR over UNLV.

[kingpotato]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:10 PM, Swoll Cracker said:

My initial thought on CSU.

Rams will be much improved after a poor 2022-23 season full of injury issues and getting caught with their pants down losing David Roddy to the NBA. They’ll be bigger, more athletic, and older. Two sixth year players, two fifth year players, two fourth year players. 
 

I think they’ll compete at or near the top of the MWC. 
 

Here’s an unpopular opinion. SDSU will not be head and shoulders above the rest of the MWC in 23-24. Yes they return some very good players in Butler, Tramell, Ledee, Parrish. The portal additions are good but a net loss compared to the guys that moved on. As it stands, they’ll need some major contributions from their inexperienced youth.

SDSU will likely be the preseason favorite. But I'm with you, if I were a betting man I'd put my money on the field. I don't think they'll win the conference this year... but we'll see.

[roughrider]

On 5/26/2023 at 4:30 PM, kingpotato said:

I'm not buying the UNLV hype. Every year, it's the same thing and every year they are a middle to bottom half team. I'll believe it when I see it. I'm buying CSU and also UNR over UNLV.

They're due to compete at the top for an entire season.  And loaded again with talent.  

[kingpotato]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:24 PM, roughrider said:

For Max it started 3 or more years ago and some fans aren't willing to change their position on things regardless of facts hitting them in the head.   It's hilarious.   Rice feeds off it too so I hope they stay on social media with that 'love' for #12.

To be fair, his dad was like those fans back then.  He didn't think Max should see much PT but the assistants at the time showed him the +/- for Max's minutes and it was best on the roster.  His minutes went up quickly after that.  He's not eye candy but he's basketball smarter than pretty much anyone on the floor.

Yeah, some fans make a judgement early on a player and just won't budge from it. Most aren't still in that boat, but there are some that just won't ever change their mind.

[halfmanhalfbronco]

Max just buried the NCCAT runner up in the last 10 minutes.  

[kingpotato]

On 5/26/2023 at 4:33 PM, roughrider said:

They're due to compete at the top for an entire season.  And loaded again with talent.  

Why? What have you seen that would make you think that? They couldn't even win when they had head-and-shoulders better talent than the rest of the league. Again, I'll believe it when I see it.

[kingpotato]

On 5/26/2023 at 3:28 PM, Swoll Cracker said:

The belief is that Clifford and Johnson will be an improvement over Tonje/Rivera. And that they will thrive in an offense directed by an unselfish Stevens. Tonje was a great scoring threat but offered little else.

Every team will have their own challenges this season and thats what will be fun to watch.

Boise had some serious warts last year that they were able to overcome and finish 2nd in the league and get a bid to the dance. They addressed all of those issues in the off-season. They have three double digit scorers to build around and add 7 new guys that should be contributors. One is a likely RS, but the other 6 will all play good minutes. They've been a top 25 defensive team the last two years and there is no reason to believe that will change. Their depth is the best it's ever been in the Leon era.

[soupslam1]

On 5/26/2023 at 4:46 PM, kingpotato said:

Boise had some serious warts last year that they were able to overcome and finish 2nd in the league and get a bid to the dance. They addressed all of those issues in the off-season. They have three double digit scorers to build around and add 7 new guys that should be contributors. One is a likely RS, but the other 6 will all play good minutes. They've been a top 25 defensive team the last two years and there is no reason to believe that will change. Their depth is the best it's ever been in the Leon era.

Boise replaced Shaver with Anderson and Naje Smith with Stanley, very comparable players. Agbo and Whiting will both be much improved with a year of experience. Max Rice will continue to be a pain in the ass for opponents.

The big improvement will be in the post with Martin who should be much better than Milner. He also will take a load off Degenhart who had to defend the post a lot last year. Martin and Degenhart are going to be a tough combo to defend as both will be effective either inside or on the perimeter

The bench will be much better allowing the starters to not get so fatigued late in the game. Keene has been compared to Jessup. Freshmen Meadow and Lockett could both challenge for the MWC freshman of the year. Meadow is going to be a big time player at some point for the Broncos.

The only weakness I can see is defense against a team that has a good seven footer that can score and you don’t see many of those in the MWC. 

[kingpotato]

On 5/26/2023 at 5:09 PM, soupslam1 said:

Boise replaced Shaver with Anderson and Naje Smith with Stanley, very comparable players. Agbo and Whiting will both be much improved with a year of experience. Max Rice will continue to be a pain in the ass for opponents.

The big improvement will be in the post with Martin who should be much better than Milner. He also will take a load off Degenhart who had to defend the post a lot last year. 

The bench will be much better allowing the starters to not get so fatigued late in the game. Keene has been compared to Jessup. Freshmen Meadow and Lockett could both challenge for the MWC freshman of the year. Meadow is going to be a big time player at some point for the Broncos.

The only weakness I can see is defense against a team that has a good seven footer that can score and you don’t see many of those in the MWC. 

I don't see any skilled 7 footers in the league. Size wise, Boise won't have an issue with anyone in the league.

Meadow, Lockett, and Keene would be capable of FOTY, but I don't see them getting the playing time they'd need to win it. It'll be someone that has a chance to start and get good minutes. SDSU has a slew of FR that should get good minutes. Miles Byrd from SDSU should get good minutes and the dude can shoot. He has to be an early favorite.