A-10 Basketball: 7 positives and negatives from first month of 2021-22 season

Bad Units and Bad Losses

The biggest reason for pessimism in the A-10 this year is the alarming number of teams with a chance to finish in the top half that have a severe weakness of one side of the ball.  Look no further than Richmond, who has the offense of a tournament team (37th in offensive efficiency per Kenpom) that has been crushed by the 130th ranked defense.  And two teams have far bigger spreads than the Spiders.

VCU is 4th nationally in defensive efficiency but 258th offensively.  The Rams have been Epitome of Brutalised twice, losing at home to Wagner (scoring 44 points) and Chattanooga (54 points). They also scored seven points in overtime to blow a chance at a huge win vs UConn.

UMass has the 41st offense being dragged down by the 257th ranked defense.  The Minutemen have already surrendered 88+ points in regulation three times, their three losses to Yale, Weber St, and Ball St.

Plenty of other teams are brutally bad on one side of the court and just don’t have the strengths of the Rams or Minutemen to offset that weakness. George Washington’s offense (#290 nationally) failed to reach 60 points in losses to UC San Deigo, Cal St Fullerton, UMass Lowell, and Missouri St.  Fordham has the league’s worst offense and scored 59 points in regulation during a double-overtime loss to Maryland Eastern-Shore, ranked as one of the nation’s ten worst teams.

As the bad losses pile up, plenty of coaches are getting an obvious look at what needs to be addressed at practice.

Spinning In Mud

It’s time to begin referring to George Washington, La Salle, and St. Joe’s as the A-10’s “Spinning Tire” teams.  All three programs have failed to finish in the Top 8 three years in a row and appear unlikely to do so this year (although St. Joe’s at least has a pathway).  A failure to break this streak is likely to lead to tough decisions regarding the respective futures of Jamion Christian, Ashley Howard, and Billy Lange, with Christian and Lange in Year Three and Howard in Year Four on the job.

All three programs have had success and national notoriety at points in the 21st century and are now trapped in long cycles of losing, with the early season not giving much of a reason for hope for George Washington or La Salle.  The Colonials’ rough losses were detailed above and things could still turn around for a roster filled with newcomers but as the defense has stabilized this season, the offense has taken a huge step back.  La Salle still lacks a star and isn’t particularly great at any facet of the game.

The best hope for a solid team this season is St. Joe’s, fresh off of a win over Georgetown and boasting the A-10’s leading scorer in Taylor Funk.  But the Hawks bad defense is only slightly improved this year and has given up the 2nd highest three-point percentage in the nation.  St. Joe’s has already lost to Drexel and Monmouth and needed a buzzer-beater to top Maryland Eastern-Shore.

The A-10 can’t be at its best if all three of these programs continue to struggle through the non-conference and whether it’s with this coach or the next one, all three need to turn it around soon.