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Milik played with the wings. When Jolly had to run laps he asked Coach Cheaney if he had to take over as a big. He did. I think that was the only time he played against the post players.

One thing by far our 4 best players all play the same position. In scrimmage Crawford goes up against Yarbrough & Roby against Ash. They are all swingmen. Probably all of them are best playing the 3rd wing spot. Its hard on a team when all your best players play the same spot. We will be hard pressed to play all 3 of them on the court at once, much less all 4.

Thanks for the info!

That will be a struggle, and I can't help but think that the staff will be tempted to use Milik as a 4 at some point, especially if Reggie misses time. We need to get our best guys on the floor. I think Ash, Roby and Milik are good enough rebounders (for wing players) to compensate for playing with only one big, but we'll see.

This team has a lot of question marks at this point. We really need a big to lock down the 5 and someone to emerge as both a reliable ballhandler and distributor.

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Milik played with the wings. When Jolly had to run laps he asked Coach Cheaney if he had to take over as a big. He did. I think that was the only time he played against the post players.

One thing by far our 4 best players all play the same position. In scrimmage Crawford goes up against Yarbrough & Roby against Ash. They are all swingmen. Probably all of them are best playing the 3rd wing spot. Its hard on a team when all your best players play the same spot. We will be hard pressed to play all 3 of them on the court at once, much less all 4.

Thanks for all the info. :) The post above make me feel :( though.

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anyone at practice think Neufeld walks in and starts at the 5? Think its a great possibility.

Its possible. He can beat out Gillmann. Gillmann really understands the offensive and defensive sets though. Neufeld will have to catch up on knowledge.

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One thing by far our 4 best players all play the same position. In scrimmage Crawford goes up against Yarbrough & Roby against Ash. They are all swingmen. Probably all of them are best playing the 3rd wing spot. Its hard on a team when all your best players play the same spot. We will be hard pressed to play all 3 of them on the court at once, much less all 4.

This is tough. Without a good PG and bigs, you end up with wings playing like Kobe and Carmelo. And if your wings aren't Kobe or Carmelo (and sometimes even when they are) you can end up with a lot of missed bad shots and frustrated teammates.

Hopefully we find a way for this to work...

MY at the 3 and 4, MC and AY at the 2 and 3, and Roby at the 1 and 2 gives us the best versatility and ability for those guys to be on the floor together.

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We just need to realize the offense is going to be awful again this year. We just don't have the right parts and even a decent improvement over last season's offense leaves you with an awful offense. If the team improves significantly it will be as a result of solid improvement on the defensive end. I think that kind of improvement on the defensive end is something reasonable to hope for.

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I will let others chime in (there were a few posters there). But one thing that continually impresses me about the Crews era is that players and coaches always seem to stay after to thank people for coming out to events. Players did a night job of this at the banquet last year, and they did it again this afternoon. Nice touch.

To that point, my wife invited "celebrities" to our wedding (apparently this is a thing) and included Coach Crews.

He FedEx'd a signed team jersey and wrote a very nice letter apologizing for not attending. Got it framed and (almost) hanging in my office. Class act in my book.

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To that point, my wife invited "celebrities" to our wedding (apparently this is a thing) and included Coach Crews.

He FedEx'd a signed team jersey and wrote a very nice letter apologizing for not attending. Got it framed and (almost) hanging in my office. Class act in my book.

brb editing guest list

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To that point, my wife invited "celebrities" to our wedding (apparently this is a thing) and included Coach Crews.

He FedEx'd a signed team jersey and wrote a very nice letter apologizing for not attending. Got it framed and (almost) hanging in my office. Class act in my book.

You should've invited Obi - he would have shown up.

That's awesome, BTW. What a nice gesture.

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-the Wall, that is our new defensive mantra, the Wall, get to the line and establish the Wall

-the kids and coaches talking to the fans after practice was very nice, got to talk to several players who all said they were enjoying SLU

-the following is based a two hour session, so don't go too deep on it....

-JCrews preached communication on many, many occasions, communication, I did like how asked the kids why or why not did they do something

-it didn't seem like we made many shots

-MR was not afraid to try to dunk, I don't recall making any

-we make bad passes, throw it at their ankles or off to the side

-EW seemed to play hunched over but got up and down the floor, not afraid to shoot from this session

-can MN start? yes but as someone mentioned AG has a head start, he did show some moves in the post

-RA and MB on the sideline was not good to see, RA did some of the non-contact stuff

-JCrews seemed to really be watching MY

-the kids worked very hard, was their second practice that day

-there are pictures at SLUBillikens.com, nice touch, btw the yellow dress in the background was worn quite nicely

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a few thoughts: turn-out was good, probably 100-150 or more, in and out.

shooting in general very weak; defense light years ahead of offense right now. that is usually the case but I feel like our defense will be better this year. but who will score??

a couple of the sophomores were getting "special attention" -- mainly for not doing what they are being asked to do. Consistent, special attention--no names for now -- but some things just are still not sinking in. It's particularly surprising when a lack of effort or attention shows up consistently in an open practice with a bunch of core fans in attendance.

Gillman is definitely bigger and more physical -- but to me he appeared slightly slower as a result of the weight gain...

MN is going to play, and he is not afraid to finish or at least attempt to finish. He is quick and evidently still growing, and he is stepping right in to D1 competition. More athletic than the sophomore bigs. Welmer runs well and is not afraid to stroke it -- would help if he occasionally made one. Welmer consistently is up and down the floor ahead of the other bigs but he is a work in progress, while MN is going to get lots of minutes right away. MN is more of a natural scorer than I would have guessed. We will need the points, that's for sure. Biggest upshot of an opening practice: MN is a keeper and has some skills...

We have about 4 really solid core guys, Not Duke solid but A10 solid; but as someone mentioned, they all seem to play pretty much the same position, more or less. MSU used to field great teams like that, under Izzo; but our guys are hardly on that level.

We are presently thin: with RA and MB out, it gives us only 10 schollie players. Plus one of the walk-on got hurt, evidently. on the bright side: Hines can play, by the way.

ps: MR should quit trying to dunk and just score the lay-up. over and out ...

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anyone at practice think Neufeld walks in and starts at the 5? Think its a great possibility.

I think it will happen and if it doesn't then that's a good thing because it would mean Gillmann has really developed. Matt seemed tougher on defense and I think he'll be a better rebounder. I think those two things alone will give him the nod.

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-the Wall, that is our new defensive mantra, the Wall, get to the line and establish the Wall

-the kids and coaches talking to the fans after practice was very nice, got to talk to several players who all said they were enjoying SLU

-the following is based a two hour session, so don't go too deep on it....

-JCrews preached communication on many, many occasions, communication, I did like how asked the kids why or why not did they do something

-it didn't seem like we made many shots

-MR was not afraid to try to dunk, I don't recall making any

-we make bad passes, throw it at their ankles or off to the side

-EW seemed to play hunched over but got up and down the floor, not afraid to shoot from this session

-can MN start? yes but as someone mentioned AG has a head start, he did show some moves in the post

-RA and MB on the sideline was not good to see, RA did some of the non-contact stuff

-JCrews seemed to really be watching MY

-the kids worked very hard, was their second practice that day

-there are pictures at SLUBillikens.com, nice touch, btw the yellow dress in the background was worn quite nicely

Agreed. She work in the AD?

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a few thoughts: turn-out was good, probably 100-150 or more, in and out.

shooting in general very weak; defense light years ahead of offense right now. that is usually the case but I feel like our defense will be better this year. but who will score??

a couple of the sophomores were getting "special attention" -- mainly for not doing what they are being asked to do. Consistent, special attention--no names for now -- but some things just are still not sinking in. It's particularly surprising when a lack of effort or attention shows up consistently in an open practice with a bunch of core fans in attendance.

Gillman is definitely bigger and more physical -- but to me he appeared slightly slower as a result of the weight gain...

MN is going to play, and he is not afraid to finish or at least attempt to finish. He is quick and evidently still growing, and he is stepping right in to D1 competition. More athletic than the sophomore bigs. Welmer runs well and is not afraid to stroke it -- would help if he occasionally made one. Welmer consistently is up and down the floor ahead of the other bigs but he is a work in progress, while MN is going to get lots of minutes right away. MN is more of a natural scorer than I would have guessed. We will need the points, that's for sure. Biggest upshot of an opening practice: MN is a keeper and has some skills...

We have about 4 really solid core guys, Not Duke solid but A10 solid; but as someone mentioned, they all seem to play pretty much the same position, more or less. MSU used to field great teams like that, under Izzo; but our guys are hardly on that level.

We are presently thin: with RA and MB out, it gives us only 10 schollie players. Plus one of the walk-on got hurt, evidently. on the bright side: Hines can play, by the way.

ps: MR should quit trying to dunk and just score the lay-up. over and out ...

Two huge dunk misses. The one he missed by a good foot. It was embarrassing. He seemed really off yesterday.

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To that point, my wife invited "celebrities" to our wedding (apparently this is a thing) and included Coach Crews.

He FedEx'd a signed team jersey and wrote a very nice letter apologizing for not attending. Got it framed and (almost) hanging in my office. Class act in my book.

Thanks for sharing, that was really nice of him to actually acknowledge the invitation and go out of his way to send you all a cool gift. What year was this though (probably would be a lot nicer gift if it was during the 3 year tournament run haha)?

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Was there for about 20 minutes during the half court work.

-Malik seemed to get a lot of attention from the coaching staff. I'm sure they realize how much he needs to "get it" for this team to have any success.

-Feel like the competition at PG is wide open and not in a good way, even Bishop may be in it if he picks up the defense fast enough.

-Shall we get the "Should Malik be playing as the 3 or 4?" argument thread going already. I suspect that debate will go on all year.

-Welmer slouches, same height as Gillman

-Don't know if Ash had a Conklin summer but his arms sure did. Been blasting his guns like Ron Burgundy no doubt.

-There simply isn't a shooting guard on this roster is there?

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Two huge dunk misses. The one he missed by a good foot. It was embarrassing. He seemed really off yesterday.

Reynolds is pretty bad. The kid really has no ability to finish and lacks control of his body (not sure if that is a lack of coordination or natural athleticism), he looks like a baby deer running and stumbling around the court. I will give him this year, but I think he and Jolly should have been given their walking papers in the spring (Jolly when he missed that break away dunk). I guess my hope for Reynolds would be that he buys into playing tenacious defense when he is in the game because he has some length and quickness that could frustrate opposing guards. I have no hope for Jolly.

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Was there for about 20 minutes during the half court work.

-Malik seemed to get a lot of attention from the coaching staff. I'm sure they realize how much he needs to "get it" for this team to have any success.

-Feel like the competition at PG is wide open and not in a good way, even Bishop may be in it if he picks up the defense fast enough.

-Shall we get the "Should Malik be playing as the 3 or 4?" argument thread going already. I suspect that debate will go on all year.

-Welmer slouches, same height as Gillman

-Don't know if Ash had a Conklin summer but his arms sure did. Been blasting his guns like Ron Burgundy no doubt.

-There simply isn't a shooting guard on this roster is there?

Competition for the PG spot SHOULD be wide open -- especially after last year. And Bishop is a young PG with alot of upside so he should, of course, be in the mix. As to shooting guard, MB might be our best option so if he can play something other than the PG, it would take the pressure off him and allow him to be a better shooter. Also, Crawford will need to step up and hit the outside shot if we are to have success this year.

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Reynolds is pretty bad. The kid really has no ability to finish and lacks control of his body (not sure if that is a lack of coordination or natural athleticism), he looks like a baby deer running and stumbling around the court. I will give him this year, but I think he and Jolly should have been given their walking papers in the spring (Jolly when he missed that break away dunk). I guess my hope for Reynolds would be that he buys into playing tenacious defense when he is in the game because he has some length and quickness that could frustrate opposing guards. I have no hope for Jolly.

Rather strong comment to be making so soon (July 30th) don't you think?

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-two more things,,,Frank was there and did a quick interview with JCrews before practice started, Hank was that you that followed Frank to interview JCrews?

-there was a still photographer but I did not see a video camera recording practice, did anyone else see a video camera?

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