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No more f’ing schools in Virginia. This isn’t the CAA

FWIW Gibson Jimerson and Christian Nunez now follow Felipe Haase on Twitter along with Forte.

Go in the other direction ... contraction. La Salle should go. George Washington can go. Duquesne can go. So too can Fordham. And with the Iron Five now gone, Bonaventure will be closely watched to see if it can maintain any semblance of decency. We are not that far removed from the salad days of the Bonawelders, y'know. Much like guys who like Belmont because of Nashville trips, I like Fordham because of NYC trips. But that doesn't make either right. Saint Joe's hasn't doen much lately and Mason hasn't seen the heights since the improbable Final Four run. There isn't a decent, sensible addition sitting out there anywhere right now. But the trash in this league is immense.

I am a big fan of what Okoro did at the end of last season, but some on this board are projecting him as if he will be one of the best bigs in the country next season. There were times last season, especially before the ankle injury, where Linssen was the better of the two. I think that Ford is looking for that same sort of tandem situation for next season that he was supposed to have for most of last season with Okoro and Linssen. The pitch is come play for a top 25 caliber team where you will be in a tandem with one other guy and get a lot of minutes. I doubt any other team in the top 40 presently has only one other big on the roster to compete with.

I wouldn’t worry about minutes. On top 20 teams, good players sit. If we want to play at that level, good players will not play the minutes they’d like or think they should and will then leave.

Haase would be a good get.... The figures below are his last year at Mercer and his last year at SC....As he got significantly more minutes at Mercer... 34.3 mpg vs 23.5 , I have adjusted his numbers at SC to reflect what he would have done at SC with equal time...Those numbers are in parenthesis ....Obviously the percentages are not adjusted, just the raw numbers. Games....MPG...FG%...3P%...FT%...Rebs.........Asts..........Stls.........Blks............TOs SC...........23.5......41......41......82......3.8(5.6)....1.1(1.6)....0.5(.7)....0.3(.44)......1.5(2.2) Mer..........34.3.....48......41......87.........5.6............3..............1.2..........0.5...............1.7 Takeaways....For those that think he has good numbers because he was at Mercer ...it just isn't true. His numbers are similar to or better than his SC numbers. His FG% has improved (mainly due to improved 2P shooting)...His FTs are better too. Rebs and Blks are the same. Assts are up...Stls are slightly up and TOs are down. Bottom line... I don't usually do a review on an "interest" player but this guy is good enough to do a pre review. Let's get him

It would be interesting to add Missouri S&T as a geographical rival to SLU we get it. You’re probably good at trivia

Fellas: expansion isn't a requirement. They don't HAVE to add a team. These suggestions of Howard, Vermont, Iona.... yikes. If they don't make the league better, don't do it. The only miss in expansion since SLU's been around is probably Mason. Every other addition has made the conference better. The list begins and ends wit Belmont, Murray, and Wichita State. All of the expansion talk is crazy to me. The league's problem is only having 6-8 teams (just a guess of a number, need to look at the list) who really invest in cbb. Adding more teams doesn't solve that

At this point I'd settle for a 43 year old Justin Tatum getting his 4th season for the Billikens.

These guys visited UMass but just called it for Pitt. Phew.

Even with Okoro as a major contributor/starter, we still have room for a guy like Haase and have plenty to offer him: there will be plenty of minutes as Okoro's backup / playing next to him in some lineups especially since he is foul prone, we are a top 25 caliber team. Chaifetz is a great place to play, etc. There seem to be a lot of MBMs who either don't think SLU is good enough to attract talented players or don't want to get good players for fear of upsetting current players who might lose playing time. I'm fine with adding talented players and I think SLU is a very attractive option for big men right now. Take a look at Butler who just added Manny Bates to an already crowded front court. No reason SLU shouldn't be able to attract a quality big man even if Okoro is projected as the starter. Manny Bates (Jr) - transferred in from NC State Ali Ali (Jr) - transferred in from Akron Jalen Thomas (Sr) - transferred in from Georgia State John MIchael-Mulloy (Sr) - returning big who didn't play much DJ Hughes (So) - returning big who didn't play much Connor Turnbull (Fr) - re-recruited to Butler. SLU fans should be familiar with him.

I don't think any successful recruiting pitch for an upperclassmen starts with "come be a complimentary player and play limited minutes". I would bet the conversation is more likely "minutes are earned in practice and based on production and if you outperform other options at your position, you will get more minutes". Again I am not saying he will start, but if he is competititve he thinks he has a shot at playing starters minutes. And I fully acknowledge this is my opinion, and it's all moot if they can play together at the 4&5. Would love to see that.

Isabell played those minutes even with Gordon on the team. He was going to play 32+ min a game no matter what he did. Thatch was good against Butler and amazing against Dayton that year and still played way less minutes than Isabell in those games. Our depth is paper thin in the frontcourt. Why wouldn't Haase play about 25 min a game?

"I don't complain about playing time. My job is to play so well the coach can't sit me." Shane Battier Duke and Miami Heat

Or defend.

That's kind of my point. I don't think Kramer, Hughes, or Thames get many minutes at all next year regardless of the big we bring in. I did forget Sincere Parker (who is expected to get minutes). I don't know how you can give 30 minutes to the new big without benching one of your contributors.

The difference is, those big combinations did not have a perimeter threat. Haase would bring that skill, making it a lot easier to play alongside another big.

If you don't think Isabell was guaranteed minutes, I've got a bridge to sell you. He was mediocre for 2/3 of the season and still logged heavy minutes.

To someone of his level, yes

If you haven't listened to this episode yet, I implore you to do so! The juvenile pickle discussion is enough to make the 90 min listen worth it! The interview with Colin Suhre really is interesting for Billiken fans, especially those around long enough to remember the days of checking this board for Go_Bills pirate streams solely because it was the only way to watch games. Beyond that, Peter and I had a great discussion on the state of NIL/College Basketball.

We offered Haase back in 2016 so there is a pre-existing relationship.

I bought a Yuri Cameo a few months ago for a buddy's 40th birthday. Yuri did a great job on it. He didn't 'mail it in.' So if a Cameo is your thing, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

He would be a 5 star pickup. Not sure a better fit is out there.

IF the A-10 were to add, would be a school without football, so that limits options... After JMM mentioned Northern Kentucky, they could be an interesting option. no football, brings Cincinnati market( south). Has a 10,000 seat arena, only been D1 10 years, already 2 NCAA bids... Iona has 15 NCAA bids, only 1 win, but being in Juan Bid leagues, bad seeds...

Looks like they now have jet bridges at the airport!

Yes but Kroenke has no love for anybody but himself.

SLU Men’s Basketball Twitter account has over 22,000 followers. I suspect the validity of your statement depends on how you define “fan.”

SLU is adding a transfer, Freshman Forward Julia Simon. Julia played her Freshman season at Louisville. She started 11 of 16 games her first season for the Cardinals, including in their game at SLU. She played 800 minutes, scoring 4 goals and adding 3 assists. Julia is a goal scoring, and play making, forward who combines well with teammates. Julia played club ball for Eclipse Select SC out of Chicago, (one of the best nationally) and, she attended Wheaton North High School, where she was also a good, all conference basketball player. (she is the all time single season steals leader at Wheaton North)

So they repackaged Bracket Busters from the mid 2000's. It was a good idea then and its a good idea now.

I’m not on twitter nor do I care to be

Links!

Why not another school ready for a jump like James Madison or Old Dominion? JMU would be another geographical rival with the DC metro programs; with the the RVA schools having alumni bases in said metro, would bring their fans to away games.

The talk about Vermont brought back to my mind my trip to UVT in Burlington when I was interviewing for an internship back in 1971. Burlington was a tiny city. Getting there by plane required flying to Boston first and then taking a small prop plane to Burlington. There were no embarking and debarking moving tunnels to the airplane, you walked to the runway and walked to the terminal, in the snow. Let's say that it indeed was a very, very nice small city with a wonderful lake on its side, but very cold and very isolated. Whenever I try to picture Olean NY in my mind I think of Burlington VT. I would much prefer an additional nice mid western team for the A10.

When you are doing too many different things at one time you run the risk of becoming like a Swiss Army knife, doing many different things, but not one of them is done as well as it could be.

What I am trying to say is that I hope Yuri concentrates on playing the best he can and in harmonizing with the team. I hope he does not try to run the team, or become rich by selling stuff, including pickles.