Off-season talk

[slu72]

I'm beginning to get the feeling we're going to see more of Bishop and Roby than was the thinking 5 months ago. Coach does mention them a lot in these interviews, which must mean something. Also, I really thought with the incoming transfers and FR that Bishop might get antsy and hop the next plane back to NYC after second semester. Didn't happen, but I speculate he and Ford had a sit down to discuss his future w/ the Billikens, and Ford convinced him to stay.

In fairness to Broy, most on here didn't think any of Dead's recruits were worth much after watching them play two seasons. But in fairness to Bishop and Roby they had a lousy supporting cast and zero coaching. Bishop did earn all A10 honors after all and Roby did rise to the occasion last season. It's too bad we didn't get to see more of Bishop his SO year in order to give us a better feel for what we really have in him.  Ford has made the assessment, however, and I'm thinking he gave him a higher grade than we have. Here's hoping Bishop is a factor this season. You can never have enough skilled players on your roster.  

[almaman]

Last sentence says it all. Last few years we had a bunch of unknown elements and tried to mix and match like maniacs just to avoid a winless season. Now we will be building the best lineup we can with more strengths than we've ever had on a roster. Can't wait, I think anyone of our top 10 guys has the talent to be a solid no doubt starter and hope that one or more can actually turn into lights out star. The talent is there and I think we have a good game day coach.  80 days till first game!

[Glorydays2013]

34 minutes ago, almaman said:

I'm for AH

Aaron Hines? Thats why he is AD, by which he goes by according to the staff and himself... We have had this discussion before...

[HenryB]

36 minutes ago, ACE said:

When the stats, which you originally brought up, turn out to not really support your argument... I guess the move is to then call that stat a "poor barometer" and proceed to more subjective measures. And then lecture others about twisting stats around to prove a point. 

+10 

[hsmith19]

15 minutes ago, Glorydays2013 said:

Aaron Hines? Thats why he is AD, by which he goes by according to the staff and himself... We have had this discussion before...

This is a bad sign. Personally, I do not want a player who would give up his initials for a walk-on. Especially when it's just to adopt a nonsensical, capitalized two-letter abbreviation of his first name. The fact that Henriquez is allowing Hines to use his initials even though Hines is not going to get any minutes is proof that Henriquez will be transferring. You just don't want to admit it. I'm right and nobody will give me credit for it.

[hsmith19]

In fact, I'm going to change Aaron Hines' initials right now by executive fiat. In the unlikely event that Hines' initials ever come up in conversation this season, they will be "AA," or "Double A" for anyone not into the whole brevity thing. You and your gang of sockpuppet usernames will just have to deal with it.

[Glorydays2013]

1 minute ago, hsmith19 said:

In fact, I'm going to change Aaron Hines' initials right now by executive fiat. In the unlikely event that Hines' initials ever come up in conversation this season, they will be "AA," or "Double A" for anyone not into the whole brevity thing. You and your gang of sockpuppet usernames will just have to deal with it.

I must really get to you don't I? Thanks for letting me know!

[hsmith19]

4 minutes ago, Glorydays2013 said:

I must really get to you don't I? Thanks for letting me know!

Yes. Everyone here hates you. If you enjoy this, congrats.

[Box and Won]

9 minutes ago, hsmith19 said:

In fact, I'm going to change Aaron Hines' initials right now by executive fiat. In the unlikely event that Hines' initials ever come up in conversation this season, they will be "AA," or "Double A" for anyone not into the whole brevity thing. You and your gang of sockpuppet usernames will just have to deal with it.

While we're at it, can we call Roby RB and Bess BS?

[Old guy]

For all we know Adonis Henriquez may have been known as AD to his friends and team mates for a very long time. For all we know taking the abbreviation AD after joining the Billikens represented no surrender of anything meaningful for him. For all we know the opposite may be true as well.

[Littlebill]

4 minutes ago, Old guy said:

For all we know Adonis Henriquez may have been known as AD to his friends and team mates for a very long time. For all we know taking the abbreviation AD after joining the Billikens represented no surrender of anything meaningful for him. For all we know the opposite may be true as well.

so 50/50?

[Old guy]

Sure, why not.

[Pistol]

55 minutes ago, slu72 said:

I'm beginning to get the feeling we're going to see more of Bishop and Roby than was the thinking 5 months ago. Coach does mention them a lot in these interviews, which must mean something. Also, I really thought with the incoming transfers and FR that Bishop might get antsy and hop the next plane back to NYC after second semester. Didn't happen, but I speculate he and Ford had a sit down to discuss his future w/ the Billikens, and Ford convinced him to stay.

In fairness to Broy, most on here didn't think any of Dead's recruits were worth much after watching them play two seasons. But in fairness to Bishop and Roby they had a lousy supporting cast and zero coaching. Bishop did earn all A10 honors after all and Roby did rise to the occasion last season. It's too bad we didn't get to see more of Bishop his SO year in order to give us a better feel for what we really have in him.  Ford has made the assessment, however, and I'm thinking he gave him a higher grade than we have. Here's hoping Bishop is a factor this season. You can never have enough skilled players on your roster.  

This is probably why Bishop has become the most controversial player to predict during this offseason. He was a real spark as a freshman once Crews cut him loose early in the A10 season. He was also a horrible defender. We haven't seen him play since 12/11/16, and he was mostly productive but really inconsistent in those first 9 games last season: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/3913184/jermaine-bishop

Looking at his game log and stats from last season, how can you really predict who that player is going to be on a much different, much deeper roster?

[hsmith19]

1 minute ago, Old guy said:

For all we know Adonis Henriquez may have been known as AD to his friends and team mates for a very long time. For all we know taking the abbreviation AD after joining the Billikens represented no surrender of anything meaningful for him. For all we know the opposite may be true as well.

Nope, GoryDaze just confirmed the existence of Aaron Hines is the reason he goes by AD, and GoryDaze has never been wrong.

But while we're on the subject, we still need new initials for Johnson since JJ has of course been retired. I'm leaning toward JL but open to suggestions.

[Old guy]

I vote to name him Bubba or BB

[slubillikens43]

6 minutes ago, Pistol said:

This is probably why Bishop has become the most controversial player to predict during this offseason. He was a real spark as a freshman once Crews cut him loose early in the A10 season. He was also a horrible defender. We haven't seen him play since 12/11/16, and he was mostly productive but really inconsistent in those first 9 games last season: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/3913184/jermaine-bishop

Looking at his game log and stats from last season, how can you really predict who that player is going to be on a much different, much deeper roster?

12, 8, 7, and 4 at Wichita last year. I guess the 30 point blow out overshadowed that.

[Pistol]

Just now, hsmith19 said:

Nope, GoryDaze just confirmed the existence of Aaron Hines is the reason he goes by AD, and GoryDaze has never been wrong.

But while we're on the subject, we still need new initials for Johnson since JJ has of course been retired. I'm leaning toward JL but open to suggestions.

JJ never retires. It's been the most common abbreviation since the existence of Billikens.com (I assume; please don't actually look this up). Justin Johnson, Justin Jordan, Jordair Jett, and now Jalen Johnson. We also had Jamal Johnson and Junie Jeffries back in the 90s, and who could forget Jack Joyce (1929-1930) or Wellston High School's own John Jones (1957-1959)?

Can we just come up with a player initial key now and settle on it for the season?

AD = Adonys Henriquez (I don't like it either, but apparently this nickname isn't new and it prevents duplication)

AH = Aaron Hines

JG = Jordan Goodwin

JB = Javon Bess

DF or DJF = DJ Foreman

TG = Ty Graves

DR = Davell Roby

JB = Jermaine Bishop

MP = Markos Psimitis

HF = Hasahn French

RA = Rashed Anthony

EW = Elliott Welmer

LS = Luis Santos

and

FT = Fred Thatch

CG = Carteare/Carte'Are/Carte'are Gordon, to prevent the inevitable permutations of his name.

[davidnark]

The talk of who is going to contribute and not contribute based upon projected skill sets is being over-simplified to assume match-ups are static. There are certain games during which Bishop's quick handle and outside shooting may be necessary to compete; there are other games where we may need Welmer's ability to block shots or use his stretch jumper to open the middle. This doesn't mean they will start or get significant minutes every game, but we should be thrilled that our staff has a deep bench of highly-capable players who bring different skills. This can only increase the likelihood that we can compete against good teams regardless of competitor's strengths and style of play. 

[wgstl]

4 minutes ago, Pistol said:

 

DF or DJF = DJ Foreman

 

MP = Markos Psimitis

 

DJ cant work?

 

Speaking of, is MP still on the team?  Do walk-ons not practice in the summers?

[Pistol]

Just now, slubillikens43 said:

12, 8, 7, and 4 at Wichita last year. I guess the 30 point blow out overshadowed that.

Or 27 points vs. BYU, again overshadowed by a 30-point deficit. He had 3 points just 2 nights later in that brutal game against Alabama, along with 1 assist to 4 turnovers. He had 15 points against Samford after that, and 2 assists to 5 turnovers. Those two games back-to-back last season felt like ones that got away more than any others as the season progressed. Bishop was maddening in those games.

In fact, is that the issue with him - padding his stats in blowout losses and had sub-par games when we had a chance to win? This narrative could be true after the first few games, where he didn't show up in a loss to Ball State, and was much better in wins over Southern Utah and Eastern Illinois.

Regardless, given the uncertainty and inconsistency, it's hard to count on him for a lot this season but it's also tough to write him off completely.

[HoosierPal]

35 minutes ago, hsmith19 said:

This is a bad sign. Personally, I do not want a player who would give up his initials for a walk-on. Especially when it's just to adopt a nonsensical, capitalized two-letter abbreviation of his first name. The fact that Henriquez is allowing Hines to use his initials even though Hines is not going to get any minutes is proof that Henriquez will be transferring. You just don't want to admit it. I'm right and nobody will give me credit for it.

Sorry, TGlory and TDays called it first.  You get no credit.  Definitely a No Confidence issue.

[Pistol]

Just now, wgstl said:

DJ cant work?

Speaking of, is MP still on the team?  Do walk-ons not practice in the summers?

DJ, DF, and DJF all work for me.

No clue about MP; I'm sure the walk-on picture will change in the next two months. I just hope none of them have initials that are already featured on the roster.

[hsmith19]

The frequency with which the initials are used has nothing to do with whether a single user is worthy of having them hung from the rafters. Many Cardinals--including Pepper Martin, Whitey Kurowski, and Jose Cardenal--wore #1 before the only #1 that matters today.

And if we're really going to humor this whole initials-for-walkons thing, then Psimitis should be μρ.

[HoosierPal]

1 hour ago, ACE said:

When the stats, which you originally brought up, turn out to not really support your argument... I guess the move is to then call that stat a "poor barometer" and proceed to more subjective measures. And then lecture others about twisting stats around to prove a point. 

There is an interesting book, "How to Lie with Statistics" by Darrell Huff.  I picked it up in Grad School.  You are correct, if you don't like someone's use of a stat, you can easily find something, or display the data differently, to back up your point. 

[brianstl]

15 minutes ago, slubillikens43 said:

12, 8, 7, and 4 at Wichita last year. I guess the 30 point blow out overshadowed that.

10 of those points, 5 of those rebounds, 4 of those assists, and 3 of those steals came after the Billikens were down by 28 points in the second half.  The Shockers had empty their bench already at that point.  Shamet, McDuffie, and Frankamp all played 20 minutes or less in that game.