Top 25 returning A10 Players

[MADXSTER]

http://collegechalktalk.com/general/atlantic-10-rankings-the-top-25-returnees/

No. 1 - Dionte Christmas, Temple
No. 2 - Ahmad Nivens, St. Joe's
No. 3 - Chris Lowe, Umass
No. 4 - Derrick Brown, Xavier
No. 5 - Chris Wright, Dayton
No. 6 - Robb Diggs, George Washington
No. 7 - Ricky Harris, Umass
No. 8 - Kevin Lisch, Saint Louis
No. 9 - Dan Geriot, Richmond
No. 10 - Rodney Green, LaSalle
No. 11 - Tommie Liddell, Saint Louis
No. 12 - Lamont Mack, Charlotte
No. 13 - C.J. Anderson, Xavier
No. 14 - Marcus Johnson, Dayton
No. 15 - Jimmy Baron, Rhode Island
No. 16 - Tasheed Carr, Saint Joseph’s
No. 17 - Kevin Anderson, Richmond
No. 18 - Kahiem Seawright, Rhode Island
No. 19 - B.J. Raymond, Xavier
No. 20 - Damian Hollis, GW
No. 21 - Lavoy Allen, Temple
No. 22 - Jerrell Williams, LaSalle
No. 23 - David Gonzalvez, Richmond
No. 24 - Aaron Jackson, Duquesne
No. 25 - Ryan Brooks, Temple

[xufan02]

It is pretty sick that our 6th man is the 19th best player in the A-10. I would even argue that BJ could be higher. Look for CJ, Derrick in the top 10.

[XU05and07]

Traffic Cone was not on this list??? Man, I'm gonna miss him

[kyxu]

Traffic Cone was not on this list??? Man, I'm gonna miss him

I believe only returning players comprise the list.

[XU05and07]

I believe only returning players comprise the list.

I thought they were giving him another year because the first 4 didn't amount to much

[kyxu]

I thought they were giving him another year because the first 4 didn't amount to much

touché, sir

[GoMuskies]

He probably will not end up #1, but I would not trade Derrick Brown for any returning A-10 player.

[MADXSTER]

I'll go with Nivens #1 and Brown #2

[Juice]

What about Dionte Christmas?

[MADXSTER]

What about Dionte Christmas?

Unstoppable

[MADXSTER]

No. 13 - C.J. Anderson, Xavier

C.J Anderson returns to a Xavier lineup that loses Josh Duncan, Stanley Burrell and Drew Lavender. Fortunately for Musketeer fans, Anderson gave the Xavier faithful plenty of reasons last season to be confident that he - along with a few others - will ensure the Musketeers maintain their highly successful, winning ways. He scored in double figures 22 times last year, averaging 10.7 points and 5.9 rebounds (18th in conference) on an incredibly balanced and veteran laden team. This season, the slashing forward with a nifty game in the paint will provide stablility to a more youthful Musketeer bunch. If he can limit turnovers and improve his free-throw percentage, Anderson will leave quite a mark in his two seasons at X.

[xufan02]

Here is an educated guess at the top 10:

10) Rodney Green- LaSalle
9) Dan Geroit- Richmond (Torn ACL out for 2008-2009 season)
8) Ricky Harris- Umass
7) Rob Diggs- GW
6) Chris Wright- UD
5) Kevin Lisch -St. Louis
4) Chris Lowe- Umass
3) Derrick Brown- Xavier
2) Adam Nivins- St. Joes
1) Dionte Christmas- Temple

[Muskiefornia]

Tasheed Carr should be in the top ten.

[AdamtheFlyer]

Unstoppable

Largely one-dimensional.

The best of the best should be complete players.

[boozehound]

Largely one-dimensional.

The best of the best should be complete players.

Which should put D-Brown at #1. He can shoot the three. He can take the ball to the rim. He can dunk. He can play D. The only think he really needs to work on is a mid-range jumper.

[MADXSTER]

There are five left. Can you name them in order?

Upon further review I'm going with

1) Nivens
2) Christmas
3) Brown
4) Wright
5) Lowe

[AdamtheFlyer]

Which should put D-Brown at #1. He can shoot the three. He can take the ball to the rim. He can dunk. He can play D. The only think he really needs to work on is a mid-range jumper.

I'd put Nivins at #1. His level of dominance is a rung higher than anyone else in the league. 1.81 points per shot is insane. They'll win the league if he gets enough touches, that's not going to happen if Tasheed Carr has anything to say about it.

[PMI]

I promise you St. Joe's will not win the league. It's not impossible, say like Dayton winning at Cintas next year, but I am confident that they will finish no better than about 4th or 5th after losing Calathes and Ferguson.

[Juice]

I promise you St. Joe's will not win the league. It's not impossible, say like Dayton winning at Cintas next year, but I am confident that they will finish no better than about 4th or 5th after losing Calathes and Ferguson.

I agree. While Nivins is a very good player, I always thought that Calathes ran that team because of the matchup problems that he would cause with his size, his mobility, and his good shooting.

[AdamtheFlyer]

You missed the point entirely. Nivins is good enough to lead them to the title, but they won't let him. Martelli refuses to go with what actually works, and Nivins will be largely ignored again. He'll only get to score when he refuses to pass.

Look at Nivins game by game stats...he's unstoppable...but obviously doesn't get enough touches. He's the type of player you ride to a championship.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=26901

[PMI]

I got your point and I totally disagree with it. Nivins is not good enough to lead St. Joe's to an A10 title, certainly not a regular season one, regardless of how much they center the team around him. In fact, I'll bet if Martelli did utilize him that way, well-coached A10 teams like Xavier would make sure to take him out of the game, leaving it up to the rest of their inexperienced team to win the tough games. Martelli does not have a team capable of being atop the league, regardless of how he uses Nivins.

Nivins is a great player, and if he were on a better team he could be a champion, sure, but he is not going to put that entire team on his back and win the A10. He averaged a little over 12 points a game against us last year, in three games, and won't have Calathes and Ferguson to carry the load this coming year. He is not unstoppable.

[AdamtheFlyer]

Two things that correlate:

1. I'd bet you've never watched Nivins play (I mean really watch him, not St Joes). If you have, you'd see that he is completely unstoppable in the A10. He got triple teamed every time down the floor yet still was able to get in a good position to recieve the ball. The supporting cast simply refused to give it to him. Calathes, as talented as he was at the college level, was often a detriment to team success. He was a ballhog.

When Nivins did get the ball, 2 points were put on the scoreboard regardless of the defense played against him. His impact is that big.

2. You're missing the obvious in having a dominant post player. SJU's problem is that they miss it, too. You're close, you're just looking from the wrong perspective.

[PMI]

I watched Nivins play in person 3 times last year, once at Xavier, twice in Atlantic City. I was sitting close to the court all three times. 2 points were not put on the scoreboard every time he touched the ball in any of those games. His impact was not big in several of the Hawks' big games, such as @Syracuse (3 points), @Creighton (2 points), @Temple (8 points), and Villanova (7 points), to name a few. He's a good, athletic player with a lot of ability. He will be one of the top players in the A10. He is not, however, a dominant enough player to lead St. Joe's to an A10 title. I think you are missing that, the original point.

I don't like talking negative about Nivins because I like him and think he's got a lot of potential as a player, but when you go and make such extreme claims like that you sound ridiculous. Let's not pretend that Nivins is David West or something. If Nivins is so dominant he will not be held back by Martelli as you suggest he is. If he is capable of leading them to the top of the conference then he will certainly be given the chance to do that. What I'm saying is that it's not going to happen.

[MADXSTER]

4. Derrick Brown, Forward- Xavier

With apologies to Dominique Wilkins, Brown is the closest thing that the Atlantic 10 has to a human highlight reel; his 6′8 frame is usually seen flying above opposing defenders to throw down monstrous dunks. Amazingly, Brown converted 225 shots over the last two seasons, over half of which (114) were dunks. As entertaining as he is, however, it is Brown’s ability to play at, under, around and away from the rim on both ends of the floor that makes him CCT’s choice for the conference’s fourth top returnee.

Brown displays a mix of athleticism, talent and aggressiveness that no one in the Atlantic 10 can match. His 16 rebound performance in just 16 minutes against BYU in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament (2006-07) showed his ability to control a game on the opposite end of the floor. Last season, his 6.5 rebounds per game placed him eleventh in the conference, and were good enough to lead a 30 win Xavier team. Brown was also second on the team in scoring, first in blocked shots and second in steals (just four shy of team leader, Drew Lavender). He displays nice range on his jumper as well, demonstrated by his 34% shooting clip from beyond the arc. Brown started all 37 of Xavier’s games last season and was incredibly productive despite playing only 28 minutes per game. With Josh Duncan gone, Brown’s minutes should easily top 30 per game this season.

For a team that accomplished so much (30 wins, Elite Eight Appearance, A-10 Regular Season Title), Xavier also lost a great deal in Burrell, Duncan and Lavender; not only statistically, but also in leadership and experience. Brown now remains as an elder statesman with B.J Raymond and C.J Anderson. Fellow big-man Jason Love and newcomer Kenny Frease will give help on the interior, but it will ultimately be Brown who will be called upon to lead Xavier to another Big Dance come March.

[jcubspoe]

Who was number 5?

Bah...disregard...i went back and see where you have it completely updated...my fault.