3star_recruit

"Sloan isn't broad and strong enough to be a true power forward and isn't athletic enough to be a true small forward" Nah, he's just athletic enough to dunk on Memphis and Arizona :-)

Chris Sloan has been solid from January of last season through the first three games of this year. After that Chris Sloan was kidnapped and replaced by an impostor. I will not rest until I find the real Chris Sloan!

"If JJ gives a lackluster, lazy effort in practice, then make him stay after and run his a## into the ground. Do this every damn practice until he's so tired of it, he'll show up to play. This isn't pee-wee basketball" That's how Bobby Knight has handled some talented players in the past according to bios I've read. It's certainly something to consider, at least until we add more depth next season.

"otherwise when they are at the same level in 3 years that they are at now ... some one will say " Why didn't Brad force them to learn and play the game correctly ... he just can't develop players" Learning the job and doing the job don't have to be mutually exclusive. That's the point of "on the job training". Winning isn't the most important thing, it's the only thing. Teaching JJ and Darren "how to play correctly" is secondary. Their high school coaches should have taught them that for the most part. Tommie, Luke and Dwayne all have excellent fundamentals.

"you give the time to those giving the effort that you have been demanding in practice day in and day out. the belief is that playing time is the one motivating factor he can readily control to get them to come around" If we had an abundance of talent, I would consent to this. But not when the alternatives are Ross Varner and Phillip Hunt. Next year when the "worst" alternatives are Clarke and JJ, Brad can afford to be more rigid.

Every player is different and should be handled accordingly to paraphrase John Wooden. Wooden put his best players on the floor, not his best practice players. Red Auberbach allowed Bill Russell to sit out practices on a number of occasions. I'm not asking that Brad do a 180 on the importance of practice, but he has to understand that not all kids are going to be good practice players. That doesn't mean you should start Division 2 kids instead.

I wish I knew. It's a good principle to reward your best practice players with PT but I think it's an even better principle to play a Division 1 player (Johnson) more than a Division 2 player (Varner). Brad's only in his 2nd year. I think he'll learn over time that a rule shouldn't be applied uniformly to every situation and every player. Tony Larussa, OTOH, is too old to change :-)

"We took a big step backward today," he said. "We've beaten the teams we should, but this game was evenly matched on paper. They just simply outplayed us. Before I criticize my players, I have to evaluate what I'm doing with these guys." I'm interested in seeing what Brad's evaluation turns up.

Sloan has shown in the past that he is a much better player than we've seen the last four games. I'm not sure what the problem is. I understand that Drejaj is playing hurt but the same open looks he makes in warmups, he is missing in games. Again, I'm not sure what the problem is.

"Considering Drew's HS career I thought comparing Luke to him was complementary." Yep, I'm sure that's exactly why you made the comparison. By the way, Luke has also played all four years on varsity, has led the team in scoring every year and is on pace to take about half as many threes as Drew.

According to Diener's SLU bio, he MADE 170 three pointers in his high school career. Luke hasn't even ATTEMPTED that many in 3+ years. Diener was in love with the three point shot, even in high school. Quit practicing revisionist history.

A guard who scores 80% of his points inside the three point arc reminds you of Drew Diener? Okey dokey.

I worry about you Tonka. The ups and downs we experience this season may cause you have to have a coronary. I think we'll be fine at the end, though. As for Dayton, I never expect to beat a top 25 team on their home floor. Sure would be nice.

Projecting high school players onto the college stage is always tricky. Nick played power forward in high school and only has an ok outside shot. Since he has a decent handle (Sloan-like), I think a lot of recruiting gurus just assumed he would be able to make the transition to small forward in college. They may be right but it's going to be a difficult transition. Luke Meyer was in the same position until Sky Frazier blossomed last season and allowed him to play outside almost exclusively. Now Meyer is just as comfortable on the perimeter as he is scoring inside.

"webster could join the group, and i assume so could vashon" Vashon's team is ridiculous. Beat a good Lindbergh team by 40 last night, after Lindbergh had beaten Webster Groves on their home floor the previous night. Polk had 26.

If Sargent keeps playing like this, he has to be a recruiting priority. We need all the athletic shooter/defenders we can get.

Drejaj has to figure out another way to score besides shooting three pointers. Clarke too. I think Reggie's penetration will result in some layups, just not against the Phi Slamma Jamma teams we've played in the last couple of games.

If a superathletic team also shoots the ball wall from outside, we have no chance. Fortunately, Arizona didn't shoot the ball well against us and we almost sneaked out of Savvis with a win.

Number 10 my foot. GTech is no worse than top 3 in the country.

I forgot that Matt Lawrence, Lafayette's 6-6 SF, is just a junior. I bet you that's who Thorpe was looking at. He didn't have a good game yesterday but the kid can play. He could blossom into a solid mid-major recruit if he improves his long range shooting.

"beal is too small to help." So is Shipley. He's a skinny 6-0 SG with a very good mid-range game and an unreliable three point shot. Shipley's a decent passer so he may be able to make the transition to point guard and secure a D-1 offer from a low major. Maybe Coach Thorpe was tracking the development of 6'8 senior Paul Bannister. He has virtually no offensive game but at least he would help out on the boards.

"i am betting if any team would give them a game, shaun would score whatever he had to to win. lisch does the same thing. last week vs much less freeburg he scored 17. the week before against what i am now thinking is a top 10 state team, belleville west, he scores 36" Lisch is a scorer. Shaun is not. Hasn't been in four years of high school even when his team needed him to at his previous school, Peoria Richwoods. Still a great player, though.

Nope. Magic averaged 30 ppg and 15 rpg in high school. Livingston simply isn't that kind of player.

Very nicely done. Wouldn't compare Livingston to Penny though. Penny averaged 30 ppg in high school. If Livingston ever scores 30 points in a high school game, I will be shocked. He's a finesse, pass-first point guard in the mold of Mark Jackson.

If the coaching staff continues to bring in 6'10+ big men with good fundamentals, one or more of them is going to pan out. The question is, which one(s)?