Atlantic 10 Basketball: 4 biggest takeaways from opening night

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 13: A detailed view of a Spalding basketball during a quarterfinal game between the Davidson Wildcats and La Salle Explorers in the 2015 Men's Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at the Barclays Center on March 13, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images) /

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WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 08: A general view as the George Washington Colonials play the Saint Louis Billikens during the second half in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

The first day of Atlantic 10 Basketball play provided viewers with plenty to talk about. Here are some of the biggest things we learned.

George Washington got off to a 22-0 lead and lost. Preseason league favorite George Mason lost to Penn at home. Those are a couple of the things that people are discussing at length in the aftermath of an up-and-down opening day for the Atlantic 10. While they’re not wrong to be focused on those topics, there are a lot of other interesting developments and games throughout the conference that I think gave us valuable insight, and should, even if only slightly, affect how we view the A-10 landscape moving forward.

Sure, it was day one, so everything that happened must be taken with a grain of salt. Teams are in the early phases of building chemistry, developing rotations, and adapting to the speed of division 1 competition after a long eight month break. That said, there were certain things that stood out that I think we should at least keep in mind as we move forward in the non-conference slate.

No, you shouldn’t suddenly have Fordham breaking out of the conference’s bottom 4 because they hammered the Community College of New York, but you’re understanding of certain teams as far as their depth, player development, and style of play should be slightly altered. After all, we’re no longer speculating, we’re watching teams in action – regardless of how seasoned they are. The following four takeaways are things I think we all need to take note of.

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