NashvilleBilliken Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 I just got back from the Nashville Memorial Day tourney featuring several of our recruits. This was my first high school game since I was in high school and one thing that took me by suprise was the size of these kids. After watching years of college ball, you forget how young these guys are. I would highly recommend to everybody to check it out if you have time. It is really something to put faces/games to all these name you read about I watched the St. Louis Eagles take on Brett Thompson's Warriors. Thanks to Courtside for hooking me up with the info. The Eagles ended up running away with it in the second half to win by about 25. They were just bigger at every position. I got to meet the infamous tseugnekillib. It was a pleasure. He was able to point everybody out to me. That was great. I was really impressed with everybody. So, here are some of my observations... Brett - Great get by our staff. He is BIG. Just a wide body. I focused on him during warmups where he drained a few threes. Great form. He actually looks like a shooter instead of a big guy trying to shoot it. Didn't play much in the second half as I guess they have a lot of minutes to go around. He came in late, but the game was already out of hand by then...so I didn't see much. He had a few nice blocks on Suggs. Was able to take his man off the dribble as well. Brandenburg - Ok. Whoever says we don't need this guy, needs to get a reality check. He is big time. Quite an athletic build. I would love to get this guy. I think we could play Thompson and Brandenburg at the same time...no problem. Suggs - This guy is good. His mid-range game is solid and can create it with ease. He reminded me a little of Tommie with his smoothness. He took over and drilled about 9 in a row in the second half. I can see what all the hype is about. Perry - Big and athletic. He's 6'7 and brought the ballup on multiple occasions. He hit a couple of three's and had some put backs. Real nice prospect. Roundtree - He's gonna be a real nice player for SIU. He took the ball to the hoop several times and was able to finish. Real quick. Tillman - This guy really suprised me. He was good. Super long. I had to ask tseugnekillib about him because I hadn't ever seen him before. He said this has been a bit of a coming out year for him. This guy looks to have LOADS of potential. I would take a flyer on him, no problem. He just got the job done. That's about it. Sorry it was so long. I came away with this...these are not the kind of guys we are used to seeing over the past few years in Billiken Blue. They are big. They are athletic. They run the floor. If we can nab these guys, who knows what Rick can do with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungeon Yankee Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Thanks for the report. Much appreciated. LTS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken_Lady Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Thanks so much for the report. I am so glad you got to watch some good talent. I am excited about SLU's future with Coach Majerus at the helm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Yeah, soon enough the secret will be out on Tillman. Ridiculously long and athletic. Unreal shotblocking ability. In your opinion, what does Brandenburg give you that Tlllman doesn't on the hardwood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibruce1 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Vtime, I know you have mentioned before that you were impressed with Tillman. I have never seen Tillman but I have seen Powell, can you compare the games of the two? Thanks.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Leon Powell is very athletic. Tillman's athleticism however makes Powell's athleticism look very average. He can go get anything around the rim and he literally shuts down the paint. His jumpshot is a work in progress. He is quick and has a GREAT upside. I'm glad he's with the Eagles who can help him with his fundamentals. If he had stuck with Eagles every year, he would have some high major offers by now. Powell is more skilled than Tillman. Powell is very athletic, but he has much better awareness around the basket than Tillman who relies on his athletic ability. Powell has a reliable jumper out to 12-15 feet. He can beat most guys his size off the dribble. Powell is a scorer. He has a lot of nifty moves around the basket. Powell is fundamentally sound and a good shotblocker as well. He finally realized his potential as a senior averaging over 20ppg. This was the first year Vashon didnt go with a balance scoring attack since McKinney left. They relied on Powell a lot and he put up big numbers. I think his high last season was 39pts in some shootout. I cant really think of a player comparison for Powell, he just gets the job done. I think he's the first player to lead Vashon in scoring 3 straight years since Joel Shelton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibruce1 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 NM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Would you guys say that Tillman compares favorably to the likes of Lawrence Blackledge who played his high school ball with Justin Dentmon at Carbondale High School? I saw Tillman at the shootout this year where he had something like 10 blocks, each one more spectacular than the one before. I agree that he looks to have tons of potential and agree that he would be a great player for our staff to develop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlsfinest Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Tillman has the potential to be something special. He just fell victime to lack of exposure. He has pretty good footwork down low and is putting on weight. The Eagles will help him work on his offense. Defensively, he is the best in the area since Randall Faulker. It probably isn't fair to compare him with Brandenburg because Brandenburg is a true center. Brandenburg is such a popular prospect because of his size and ability to run the floor. However, he not been able to use his athleticism to make a true impact offensively. He scores most of his points off offensive rebounds and tip-ins. On the other hand, Tillman gets his elbows above the rim and tries to dunk everytime in the paint. Both are long term prospects, but Tillman is starting to realize his potential and coaches are taking notice. Don't be surprised to see him on campus in June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted May 27, 2007 Author Share Posted May 27, 2007 I think Brandenburg and Tillman are just two different players. I think Tillman's raw athleticism surpasses Brandenburgs. But JB has a bigger body and is more of a true center. He's way more polished at this point as well, imo. JB just has that body that you see running the floor for the Blue Devils. Has ACC written all over him. As tseugnekillib said, Tillman's the type of player that GW killed us with last year...long, athletic, and all over the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 I always hear about Brandenburg's running ability, but where is the production? What's so much more polished about his game than Tillman? In my opinion, the only advantage Brandenburg has over is height. He could maybe be a solid player at mid-major like SLU, but he is a bust in the ACC. You want active with production a la Tyler Hansbrough 29ppg 16 rpg in high school, not just active 8ppg, 8rpg. He doesnt dominate anybody. He's tall and plays hard. Thats it. With that b eing said, I'm going to try not to comment on him anymore, because I dont want to go overboard and degrade a person I dont know and has done nothing wrong to me. I wish him all the best and I hope he succeeds and proves me wrong. As of right now, I just dont see what all the fuss is about. If Tillman qualifies, I'd like to have him, he can totally dominate a game defensively. He just needs to add weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMA Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 I hate to bring this up, and discuss in a public forum, but it is my understanding there are some serious questions re: Tillman qualifying for any D1 level program at this time - as with his buddy, both of whom moved to the Eagles from the Falcons in "mid season". I not stating as fact. Perhaps VTime or others has some insight. If so, this will definitely impact his recruitment at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stlsfinest Posted May 28, 2007 Share Posted May 28, 2007 There were some early question marks about his academics during his freshman year. I haven't heard anything about that since. He is a late bloomer, so he hasn't been in the media much. Most of the discussion is about Berkeley's Antonio Campbell with his rumored age and academic standing. Most juniors take the ACT in April and June of this year so a lot of prospects have not officially qualified yet. I would not feel comfortable asking Tillman about this, but I'll keep an ear open for any information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Who is Tillman and where does he go to school? Maybe it's age but I don't remember reading anything about him before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted May 29, 2007 Share Posted May 29, 2007 Abel Tillman is a 6'8 big man who plays for McCluer-South Berkeley HS. I've mentioned him several times the last 2 years. I dont know how you missed him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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