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Recruiting news imminent…

I'm not going to pump the breaks. I'm in the mood to drink the kool-aid today.

Big get for the front court announced via instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CdtKt3kLeXO/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

I just wanted to bump this thread with the exciting recruiting news...

There's no way Okoro plays 35 mpg. Okoro played more because he got better later in the season, but also because Linnsen got injured in the Auburn game and missed a month. When he came back, his production was down the rest of the season. I don't think he was every fully recovered.

Even the original poster admitted it was hyperbole. If a backup big takes us from NIT to Sweet 16, then if Dayton adds a starter does that take them to the final four? MBMs love taking a good thing, turning it into sky high expectations and then blaming the coach when they're not met. It's a rite of passage.

A back up big man doesn’t take you from an NIT team to a Sweet 16 team

I'm hoping Gibby can play similar minutes but he won't wear down as quickly because he won't be the sole focus point of the defense. He makes our offense better even when he isn't scoring. I also hope he got the message that he has to continue to improve his conditioning. Yuri, Gibby, and Perkins need 30+ mins although all 3 of them could maybe play less earlier in the year. Okoro 25+ minutes. Thatch 20-30 minutes. There aren't a ton of minutes left outside of that. Pickett will at least get 20 I'd think and add in 15 to Okoro's backup. While I do want us to push the pace more this season, I also want our best players on the floor. There will be really good players who don't see a ton of the court this season. This team is a backup big-man away from being sweet 16 caliber. I know some on here have kind of dismissed the remaining scholarships because they'll be for bench guys but I truly believe we are a capable big man away from a sweet 16 but not filling that position lands you in the NIT and I personally think would be the end of Ford's tenure. I don't think it's hyperbole to say this is one of the most important scholarships SLU had handed out in the last decade

We needed badly to diversify our attack. Perkins works better initiating his own shot. Not to say he can’t catch and shoot or receive a pass on a drive but it’s not really how he works best. We will be better with an offense that doesn’t have to rely on Yuri to initiate every basket. It’ll be better for Yuri also as the focus of every defense can’t just be stop Yuri. Getting slightly fewer assists isn’t a bad thing. Say he drops 1 assist and 1 t/o per game. That’s a net win.

It is impressive how much our recruiting has improved. In many of my years as a Billiken fan, a recruit like him would have been the gem of the class. Now he is just a good addition. Give Ford credit for that.

i think just from reading on both, i think both are upgrades from linssen and traore. it appears forrester was one of temple's best players last year and look at the programs that were chasing cisse when he committed to SMU! this is exciting!

Here is a complete list of players who have played 35+ minutes per game during Travis Ford's time at SLU: 2021-22 season: None (big man with most mpg Okoro 23.9) 2020-21 season: None (big man with most mpg French 25.0) 2019-20 season: Jordan Goodwin (big man with most mpg French 31.9) 2018-19 season: Javon Bess (big man with most mpg French 30.6) 2017-18 season: Javon Bess (big man with most mpg French 30.2) 2016-17 season: None (big man with most mpg Reggie Agbeko 24.9) There is absolutely nothing in Travis Ford's track record to suggest Okoro will come close to 35 minutes per game. If Okoro doesn't lead big men in minutes per again something has gone horribly wrong (injury) or incredibly right (miraculously good transfer/recruit). Even still I'd put more money on him getting less than 30 than getting over 35.

I don’t see why we are apologizing to anyone in the A10. We get the accolades because we are a premier program in the A10. Everyone else can eat it.

Jimerson also won't be leading the team in shot attempts per game (by a wide margin) as he did last year. The reason Jimerson played so many minutes last year is somebody had to get those shots up. That somebody has returned. Also there was no perimeter weapon on the bench to back up Jimerson. This year we have Parker and Kramer gunning for Parker's spot.

sounds like we're back to dozen players fighting it out for the 200 minutes with 140 spoken for amongst top 4. there are far worse predicament 2b in many we've already suffered thru. let's play the too much talent thing for a few decades see if anything happens

None of those guys were raw?

I'm on my knees corrected on my front court concerns.

MOMO is the new Missouri Monster!

Some days it’s difficult being a Billiken fan. This day is not one of them. Welcome to our new commits!!

It's almost like DJ Foreman's senior year where he started 27 games never happened. You play two paint bigs together if one of them can pass. Otherwise it's just two guys getting in each other's way.

I recall Ford saying he’d never seen a player after a game with so many bruises and scratches as Gibby had. That’s got to wear you down when you’re getting mugged for 34 mpg. Amazing he shot as well as he did and got thru it injury free.

I would hope it’s more like 120 minutes from the top 4. Collins - 35 Okoro - 25 Jimerson - 30 Perkins - 30.

He was apparently sick last year. Check the previous year. And Linssen was a good back up. He was a nice offensive player but didn’t rebound well or defend well. He wasn’t “really good” Time will tell on Forrester. This should go to the Forrester thread though. I don’t want to hijack Mouhamadou’s thread

Hope he doesn’t de-commit from us…

I think we have different definitions of raw, so I’m gonna say no, that’s not enough for me.

It was Majerus, he was probably 7’1”. Wasn’t Manning 7’?

Because doing the same thing every time down court makes us easier to guard.

SMU and Cisse parted ways about 10 days ago and then shortly after SMU brought in two experienced bigs. I've got no problem accepting a 7 foot prep schooler who needs a new home. It's a luxury Team Blue has rarely had.

Hell yea, keep those back-handed compliments coming

Omg he hit a three... This man needs pt this year.

Skipped the last page or so of posts, but, Sweet 16 is back on. Not sure we've could've drawn up a better off-season to-date all things considered? Inject a few more Rothstein tweets into my veins.

Both Okoro and Forrester were top 100 bigs coming out of H.S. who signed with strong P5 programs. Not too shabby.

i agree ace. i was totally not expecting near the acclaim that i feel forrester will bring with him. this is a very good pickup by all appearances. obviously ford has not lost his recruiting fastball.

Get him some Two Men and a Garden pickles. He'll be fine.

Jake, we're so glad so you've chosen Team Blue. An experienced, active big man is always welcome!

Jake Forrester is in the house!!

I think what wasn’t taken into account with Yuri and turnovers is we literally had no one that could or would score consistently without Yuri setting them up. People also think you can just take away the plays that didn’t work. That’s not the way it happens. If you take away him attacking the lane you take away the successful plays also. I think Perk and Pick will change that this year. Imo it may decrease Yuri’s assists a bit but should also decrease his turnovers. I could see 7/3 ish

Sincere, JP, and a few bigs off the bench elevates this team almost exponentially.

Read "back up" as "secondary" and ask yourself if you still disagree? Because adding a second big to this roster most definitely makes that big of a potential difference.

I saw that. Kind of crazy for a guy to go from a top 100 recruit at one point & a de-commitment from Memphis to choosing Alabama State. I didn't watch the YouTube commitment show, but given the nature of the show I imagine that Alabama State being a HBCU played a role for Knox.

Not having the other team’s #1 or #2 defender will do wonders for gibby next year too.

It’s easy to forget how hard GJim had to work off the ball last year. I’m not sure I remember seeing a Billiken held, clutched, bumped, and just generally guarded as hard and closely Ashe was when he didn’t have the ball. Perk will change that.

Started his career at Indiana. Looks like he was injured for a good part of last year, which would explain the drop in production. Was very solid the prior year with very good rebounding numbers. Looks like a solid, second big, but does not bring the "stretch" element to his game that I would like to see. It appears he would be a solid addition.

To kind of expand on my point and zero in specifically on the disappointment of last season. I know I've at least seen one post that either outright stated or alluded to their disappointment over not making the NCAA Tournament being linked to games like Auburn, the home Dayton game or the Boise State game. Those games were probably very much exceptions to the standard this season. We really were the team that couldn't hang on to leads or close out games that we led the majority of. And to answer why, I would say on word: Perkins. With Perkins, we were the team that could slit a teams throat up 5 in that last 2-3 minutes of the game and win by 10. Asking for someone to step up as a closer in his absence was probably too much to ask.

Nobody here is complaining about undeserving of preseason predictions here. But since we're talking about expectations ahead of the season, the above thread seems relevant. There are two very distinct points of view that can lead to the "Billikens have under performed under Ford's tenure". The first is the "SLU Hater" POV. This includes conference mates that don't like it when we get preseason love from national personalities. This one is pretty easy to understand and you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to reach the root cause of it. Then there's the "Rabid Billiken Fan" POV. My theory on this one is very much under the banner of die hards being hypercritical. We see all the warts because we analyze every dribble, pass and shot. It's why people outside of fanbases, including national media members, can point out how valuable a player is to a team all while that fanbase will complain about all the mistakes that player has made in his career.

maybe Marcus Smart getting defender of the year had some mojo going our way. Now pressure on them all. anything short of getting to the dance will be a failure.

as long as ford is willing to admit he f'd up and he will either 1. adjust his style of play to match his players or 2. only recruit players that match his style of play. otherwise we will just have the same result. strickland and nesbitt leaving begs for his coach adjustment. we cant let players of that athletic ability walk away. if they had holes it was ford's job to fix them. he did not.