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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 17, 2024 15:42:01 GMT -6
They definitely aren’t going to buyout his contract. I can’t see Newell helping any of these players find new schools to play at. He just isn’t that kind of coach. Shelnutt will so hopefully they will have a chance. He’s going to have a tough 2 more years. Heard he has about 9 freshman coming in and 3 transfers. He’s losing those seniors and from what I’ve been told at least 4 have entered the portal with more expected to go in. There are also a few talking about seeing what the fall holds but I think it depends on who is there coaching next year. Decker should be gone. Hopefully Shelnutt will stay but if I was her I’d move on. Guess we’ll see next week what coaches are staying. Registered less than 24 hours ago … sounds like someone with an axe to grind. Sounds like someone that may know more than the average Troy softball fan.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 16, 2024 19:10:33 GMT -6
How good are the incoming dudes? I am excited as well. Getting the Freshman of the Year back (Myles Rigsby), and the Sixth Man of the Year back (Tayton Conerway) is huge. Quite honestly, getting all of these guys back is huge... they were all excellent players with the talent to be on the All-SBC team.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 16, 2024 19:07:23 GMT -6
Troy get's ranked #21 in the country. Fantastic baseball was happening.
They lose a heartbreaker to Alabama.
They have a bad series loss to Texas State.
Now they're getting stomped at home by James Madison.
What's happened? Where's the juice?
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 14, 2024 11:07:23 GMT -6
Great analysis.
I personally don't believe Troy is going to be able to compete for any at-large bids or even the SBC title until two things begin happening:
(1) recruit players from all over the country instead of just the southeast. Recruit at the national softball tournaments. Utilize the portal more.
(2) schedule tougher. Stop scheduling so many SWAC and NEC teams. We played 4 SWAC schools, and then played in the Madeira Beach tournament against 3 awful NEC schools. Those games kill the RPI, even if you win them all. There has to be a better way of scheduling, especially since Troy is consistently a Top 75 team that helps everyone's SOS. Many good programs are looking for those kind of games.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 11, 2024 9:24:58 GMT -6
Maybe next year ...
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 6, 2024 21:32:22 GMT -6
I’ve recently learned that when there’s only one game on campus, the quality is as you speak of. When we have multiple sports, most commonly baseball / softball happening at the same time, our crew is stretched extremely thin. I believe some cameras are not even “manned” in this case. Makes sense. I wish there was more manpower to go around to keep this broadcast quality going.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 5, 2024 16:04:03 GMT -6
I have to give a HUGE shoutout to the people/students working the cameras and whoever is in the control room switching the different camera feeds during the broadcast.
This whole Troy/Louisiana series had fantastic camera work going on. Lots of different angles, smooth transitioning, quick replays with great views, etc. It was close to an ESPN/SEC Network quality broadcast.
Troy Athletics people... if you see this, please give your people a pat on the back. Excellent work. Some of the best ESPN+ work I've seen for a Troy baseball game ever.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 3, 2024 19:44:54 GMT -6
PG Marcus Friend entered the portal a few weeks ago. He only saw playing time in 6 games, mostly of Troy was already up big.
SF Randi Ovalle also entered the portal a few weeks ago. He played in a few games off of the bench, but didn't play much overall.
Ovalle seemed to be one of the more talented players I was excited to watch, but he apparently was able to really break through.
Besides that, we kept everybody. There's a TON of experience coming back.
I'm stunned we kept Tayton Connerway. That guy is going to be an asset. Scott Cross is probably thrilled to build around him, Myles Rigsby, and Marcus Rigsby for next season.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on May 1, 2024 19:36:50 GMT -6
So had a guy come in December and already leaving…. Bookmarked that Burns had great size and strength. Not very fast and not quite as athletic as the EDGE rushers we've had over the past few years though. I don't think he would've seen significant reps at Troy, simply from what I saw athletically. Malaki Pegues and Eric Shaw are the future at that position. They received high praise from Sumrall before he left Troy.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Apr 22, 2024 14:27:03 GMT -6
That Auburn loss in nothing.
Going 1-2 against Northwestern State (who is 12-26) is looking bad.
I'm afraid the lack of Top 50 wins, plus that Northwestern State series loss, loss to SIU Edwardsville and loss to Jax State... are going to ruin any at-large bid chances... even if Troy goes on a decent stretch of wins and RPI is in the 40's or even high 30's.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Apr 19, 2024 22:08:59 GMT -6
Not too surprising
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Apr 15, 2024 20:24:42 GMT -6
The RPI did get a huge boost.
Up from 91 to 72 now... just can't let it slide back down by losing to Samford, JSU, or Georgia State.
Winning 4 of those 5 will likely put Troy in the 50's, possibly even the high 40's.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Apr 11, 2024 12:08:49 GMT -6
Feel free to write a check to fund the cross country recruiting trips for a sport that doesn’t even charge admission to the games. I’m sure your donation earmarked for softball recruiting trips will be out to good use. I use to see T Smart at the big national tournaments in Colorado, California, etc... Newell seems to be recruiting as he did at AUM. Last year I was curious and looked up Newell's camp dates and compared them to the dates of the large national tournaments. He had scheduled camps the same week/weekend of these tournaments! For one, the better players are more than likely playing and not coming to his camp. Although I have no clue if Decker or Shellnut had been sent to those tournaments. Worrisome. Newell is a great guy, don't get me wrong. And I think he's a great coach. But Troy has to recruit outside of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. Otherwise the program is never going to compete against Texas State, South Alabama, and Louisiana... who are all in the upper echelon of D1 softball.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Apr 8, 2024 9:51:07 GMT -6
You mean Troy can't beat nationally ranked Top 25 teams with our recruiting pipeline of Geneva HS, Brantley HS, and Enterprise HS? The roster is literally nothing but Alabama, Georgia, and Florida panhandle players. Troy apparently doesn't bother recruiting the talent rich areas of Arizona, California, South Florida, Louisiana, or North Mississippi... it's the same story all over again, just a different coach. Feel free to write a check to fund the cross country recruiting trips for a sport that doesn’t even charge admission to the games. I’m sure your donation earmarked for softball recruiting trips will be out to good use. Yet South Alabama, who also doesn't charge admission, is recruiting players from Louisiana, South Florida, Mississippi, Idaho, Maryland, Arizona, and Oklahoma? And poor Marshall has been able to recruit from California to North Carolina over the past couple of years? It's not all about flying cross country to recruit... if so, USA and especially Marshall wouldn't have the recruits they have. Softball recruiting doesn't work the same as football and basketball. The coaches recruit a lot at big tournaments. Skylar Meade, for instance, does a crap ton of recruiting north of Atlanta when national tournaments are held at Lake Point Sports. He's not flying to Canada, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey , Wisconsin, and California to recruit our players and do in-home visits.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Apr 8, 2024 8:29:40 GMT -6
You mean Troy can't beat nationally ranked Top 25 teams with our recruiting pipeline of Geneva HS, Brantley HS, and Enterprise HS?
The roster is literally nothing but Alabama, Georgia, and Florida panhandle players.
Troy apparently doesn't bother recruiting the talent rich areas of Arizona, California, South Florida, Louisiana, or North Mississippi... it's the same story all over again, just a different coach.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Apr 7, 2024 6:36:35 GMT -6
Is softball ever going to win a big game under Coach Newell?
Troy's overall record is great, but the record against good teams is not so great. They never seem to have the stuff it takes to win the big ones.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 30, 2024 20:44:55 GMT -6
That'd be something if Troy won this thing.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 25, 2024 22:11:50 GMT -6
What curse?? BROKEN! You go Lady's. 92-62 win, on to next! Next game AT NC A&T... Greensboro NC. Gonna be a tough one... looks like NCAT plays stifling defense.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 24, 2024 22:02:49 GMT -6
Curious if the women can break the D1 postseason curse that's on our men's and women's teams.
Ever since Troy entered D1 in 1993, both basketball programs are a combined 0-13 in postseason tournaments.
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Why?!!!
Mar 24, 2024 18:47:30 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 24, 2024 18:47:30 GMT -6
We for some reason tend to fubar against subpar competition and then play lights out against good teams… we are weird Well... this group hasn't played that well against any good teams... Troy is a measly 1-4 against Top 100 RPI teams right now... and ZERO Top 50 wins. The errors and poor pitching is hard to watch. I was hoping last year's error problem was an aberration, but apparently it's not. So disappointing. 😔
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NIT
Mar 20, 2024 20:36:44 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 20, 2024 20:36:44 GMT -6
It was a weak schedule, and the team didn't start playing well together until mid to late December... lost a lot of OOC games.
Troy needs to quit scheduling three non-D1 teams every year. I know it requires money to get other D1 schools to come to Troy, but geez... Troy isn't helping the Sun Belt raise its national profile with the way our schedule has been looking...
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 16, 2024 18:28:45 GMT -6
I'm very happy to see this.
Only coach Troy has ever had to get three straight 20-win seasons. I like Troy basketball winning more than losing.
Cross will eventually get the right combination of players in... and we're going to see a monumental season unfold.
I still look at UTA's 2017 season under Cross... going 27-9, beating #12 St. Mary's, Texas, and BYU, and winning the SBC title. It can happen at Troy too.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 11, 2024 22:59:10 GMT -6
I’m not saying he should be fired this year. I fully expect to win the SBC next year, but I thought we would this year too though. If we do not win next year, that would be six years without a NCAA birth. Yes, I understand he inherited a less than talented team. I think I’m reasonable in my thought process. I promise you one thing, if our new Football coach doesn’t win the SBC in his first 6 years and has an average record between 7-5 or 8-4 you’ll all be asking for new leadership. I think you forget... Troy has, for the most part, been a football school for decades. Troy fans are used to a lot of winning in football. Basketball here is not that way. Ever since 2005, Troy has been pretty awful. Now that we have a coach reaching the 20-win milestone consistently, it's kind of nice, even he hasn't won a title yet. A basketball coach that's not winning titles but still winning lots of games will have a longer leash at Troy.
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 9, 2024 23:34:30 GMT -6
We would probably have been 17-16 if we didn’t play 3 really good high school teams. I like Coach Cross, I think he is a pretty good recruiter. That said, winning championships is what matters. Heck, Coach Cunningham won a SBC championship. Actually, Troy was ranked #33 in the nation in Pythagorean wins, which is games Troy probably should have won based on statistical performance versus their competition. According to that data, Troy was very, very close to being 26-5. With a team that had what, just 3 players returning? And was picked to finish 12th in the SBC?
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Post by cardinalblacktrojan on Mar 9, 2024 20:30:20 GMT -6
I'll take three straight 20-win seasons any day. Troy's the only SBC school currently to be on such a streak.
Hopefully we can make the CBI or something like that. I think Troy could do some damage and win their first ever D1 postseason game.
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