AnkielBreakers

I would put Loe on top of Conklin, wide base; Cory on top of Evans, strong legs; and Manning on top of Cody, kind of a left overs match-up. Then the whole group could hold up Glaze. It is a difficult question though because they are all inter-changable pieces.

Swing and miss.

If RL and CE get to the point where they can both play inside and outside, we will have to officially declare SLU a professional basketball team. It will almost always leave one defender on an island, and dictate the style of play. Ahh, the dreams of the offseason.

That is the very first thought that crossed my mind. Anyone can say that CE is working hard or that CR is improving, but if RM puts it in writing, it probably has some merit.

I actually liked this post. At least it is honest about being mad, and you are right about SLU (Biondi or the athletics department, the WR situation is a giant mess and someone's head should roll because of it) and how difficult it is to recruit bigs at a mid-major. However, I have some points of contention. We will be a lot better than last year, and I truly believe we will be better than 2009/10. Everyone forgets that we were expected to be really bad in 09/10; we had a bunch of young players, with little or no leadership, and then all of a sudden we were magic. You are right, WR played biggest part of it, and his loss is a big one. You have to realize though, WR made a weak team look great in 09/10. He essentially dominated the paint, and showed that he was head and shoulders better than almost everyone he faced. But, now we are not a weak team, we have a lot of depth, and support at all skill positions. We also have experienced big men to throw into the fray, even if they are not WR. They will be able to match-up against other teams and at least play to a draw. Also, it is reasonable to expect at least one of RL, CE, or CR to make huge strides in the off-season; all have the talent to play at a much higher level. I actually ran some numbers on this a while back, and was surprised, we held teams to about the same points last year as in 09/10, but we scored a few points less. Next year we will score a lot more, with about the same defense. It will be a noticeable difference. I agree about the MVC. I have talked with dozens of SLU fans, and almost a hundred uninterested St. Louisans about SLU and the A10, and all seem to say the same thing: "Why is SLU in the A10" and "I don't care about the A10." The only people who really support the A10 are on this board. Everyone builds up the ability of the A10 to place us in the tournament, but this is fools gold (We only make it 2/10 years if we are lucky). We lose out on having real, honest to god, rivalries; and we lose out on having a fan base that actually cares about the conference games. I think Majerus is wiser than anyone realizes on this account. Think about it, we may never succeed in the A10, but we could be a perennial powerhouse in the MVC because of our location in a major city in the heart of the conference. (Here is a good analogy, would it benefit Butler to move to the A10?). The only logical explanation for the A10 is for academic reasons or for soccer, and I wonder if the benefits exceed the loses. If Spoon can pull one of the top players in the country, then Majerus can bring in 4*-5* players, we just need to win and get some momentum.

I think the best lineup will be: KM, MM, JB, DE, and (BC/RL/CE/CR) (This group will score a lot, and will give up size to opponents, but it is not like we have dominant big men to insert in this lineup). (also, I think JJ could push MM for minutes in the best lineup towards the end of the year, due to his versatility as a defender, if his 3pt shot gets better). Starters: KM, MM/JB, DE, BC, and CR (This is how we ended the year, and it really helped set the tone for the game to have BC and CR start).

This thread is dedicated to simple speculation as to what player will step on the floor next year. There is no doubt that his season was disappointing, and there have been several reasons posited to explain this season, such as illnesses, etc. There really may be no reason to explain his season, there is a reason why we have all heard the term "sophomore slump," kids sometimes just get lazy as sophomores. He walked into SLU and put up double digits without any work, so who can blame him for expecting it to continue. Also, who thinks he will bulk up? He was around 240, and he did not look muscular at all, he could easily walk in at 250 or more next year. However, it seems like Majerus is interested in trying CE as a small forward. Does anyone think that experiment is done? Under Majerus' strength and conditioning approach, could CE really be expected to put on 10-20 lbs of muscle?

Well, I would suggest the D-League. The competition is right up his alley, and would allow him to run and dunk. Euro league basketball requires shooting from everyone, and WR would probably get stuck matched up against centers. Too bad for WR, he is going to have to develop his game to have a shot at the NBA.

I think Willie is done, unless LA wants to take two PF's at the end.

No one has answered the question of whether this was mandated by NCAA regulations. Could SLU not provide tutoring or special services?

It is hard to say, there will be a staring contest by the teams at the end of the draft, and guys like Willie might get passed up because teams think they can pick them up after the draft. However, Willie supposedly played in a couple of pick up games with some higher picks and performed well in Las Vegas (that is complete hearsay though). The Pacers are also working him out, and L. Bird might have him pegged as a pick. If his name gets out there, then he will get drafted, he is definitely talented enough for it. Also, don't discount a local team like Memphis having knowledge of him. We will see, it will make the late second round exciting.

Is this you Full House, hearts for Jesse calendar?

You know, it is easy to forget that our bigs were not as big of a liability in the last 6 games of the season. I am not saying they will win us a game ever, but with KM back, they may not have to. Next season is looking brighter every day... (keep the players away from Lacledes...).

This weekend is the second annual Rugby Sevens college championship. It allegedly will be nationally televised between 3-5 pm on NBC both Saturday and Sunday. I have never sat down to watch a game on TV, but I have seen some videos on the internet and it is a really entertaining spectator sport. Since it involves only 7, and not 15, players, the game is easier to follow, and doesn’t resemble the normal rugby herd of people aimlessly running around the field. Since it is so entertaining, I have been theorizing that this sport will take over spring or summer sports in the US over the next 30 years. (The sport has been growing at a strong pace, 20% per year.) However, I played rugby for a few years in college, so I may have a slanted view, if you get a chance, watch and tell me what you think. http://usasevenscrc.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69%3Ausa-sevens-finalizes-16-team-field-to-compete-in-collegiate-rugby-championship&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=58 http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/30092015/ns/sports/

"The good news for Saint Louis is every player returning on their roster ranks in the top half of all Division 1 players in points per possession allowed, a rare characteristic for any team." *this could lead to a complete change in our offense.

My obvious point is that none on this board would make negative statements about his chances to be drafted if he had simply made his grades this year. How does your statement not prove my point entirely. You are making claims that Reed was subject to 'multiple issues' without providing any factual basis for for it. Majerus never suspended him or made comments about any personal difficulties. Hearsay statements from blogs and forums are untrustworthy. Regardless, there are accusations that he was involved in cheating, minor amounts of theft, being a selfish person and player? This describes seventy-five percent of all college students, let alone college athletes. His horrible effort to be a student? It has been stated on this board that SLU stopped providing study assistance to him this past semester. For a student with a history of academic issues. With that in mind, can you really blame him for giving up, he was placed in a position where he was bound to fail. Also, I can understand a student giving up on his classes the summer after his sophomore year, after he has been falsely accused of sexual assault and kicked off of his sports team without proper due process. For all we know this was due to depression and, regardless, is something that any student might have done. "imo, he was the real villian of last season" - This is an entirely reasonable statement, you certainly haven't turned on him.

It is kind of amazing how quickly people have turned on this guy. He was a savior for trying to come back after being completely hosed, and now?

The thing Willie has going for him is that no one knows what he brings, and when you don't know, you assume it is really good and you shouldn't pass on it. Owners and GM's are morons. That said, I think Willie would have even been higher if he had played, he is a rare talent.

Wow, that is awesome for him, I did not expect to see him show up on mock lists this year.

This year they do. Look at any mock NBA draft and 6'10" forwards just like Willie are the only big players available outside of the top 10 picks. Willie probably won't get drafted, but if he had played this year he would probably go in the mid twenties. He would be drafted around the time of JaJuan Johnson, however, I think he could even be better than Thompkins from Georgia. Too bad for him.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=AkR6FgwQp8.1MavJ.03GOs7evbYF?slug=jn-king_former_wake_standout_woods_seeks_second_chance_051311 Someone get out and recruit this guy. It would be as if Willie hadn't left at all, and I think this group needs another standout role model.

Well, oh course it will not be exactly the same. The numbers are definitely worth looking at though. What you can glean from this is that our offensive point totals are going to increase more than anyone really thinks. It is easy to sit back and say that MM and JJ are roughly equivalent to KM, but until you note how much more efficient he was at scoring, you can't appreciate how much he can change our games. What I will do if I get time, is add in the amount of shots take by each player, then normalize them, and add in the players shooting percentage. This should give a more accurate view of what to expect next year.

Let me know if these numbers are right, I threw them together pretty quickly.

Here is some random food for thought. I pulled these numbers from the last years stats, and I cannot figure out how to post as a table (if anyone knows, post below and I will fix), so people will have to line things up themselves. JB's and KM's are from their last years playing. Player|| Points (my guess for next year)|| Minutes (my guess for next year)|| Last Years Points Per Minute Average|| Carried (Points per minutes considering minutes listed) KM|| 15|| 30|| 0.48|| 14.54 MM|| 7|| 20|| 0.35|| 7.10 JJ|| 6|| 18|| 0.31|| 5.60 KC|| 5|| 20|| 0.27|| 5.33 JB|| 8|| 20|| 0.38|| 7.57 DE|| 10|| 27|| 0.36|| 9.85 BC|| 6|| 15|| 0.41|| 6.10 RL|| 8|| 20|| 0.38|| 7.66 CR|| 4|| 15|| 0.24|| 3.63 CE|| 5|| 15|| 0.32|| 4.80 Total|| 74|| 200|| 72.18 Previous Years 2010/11 63 (points for) 62.4 (points against) 2009/10 63.4 (points for)60.2 (points against) Potential difference (in points for and points against considering that for is 74, and against is 62.4) btw this year and next year: 11 points Assuming that we win ties, which I am going to do as an optimist, and that Jake Barnett is not a defensive liability (and is relatively as effective on offense as he was at Toledo), then simply comparing this point differential to our schedule from last year, we would have had 27 wins and 4 losses (if we lose ties it is 25 wins and 6 losses). Either way, this could lead to a tournament run, which is better than I previously thought (I thought we would get 23-24 wins). Some interesting tidbits, KC's numbers per minute are second lowest on the team. He certainly is an important player, just an observation. Also, RL's points per minute are surprisingly high, and he is close to BC on that front. Thoughts?

I used to think this before WR left, now I don't think so. There will be too much pressure to get points out of our guards because we can't rely on the bigs to score very much. So I think MM, JJ, and JB will take a lot more of KC's minutes. Also, I do not believe we will run a conventional lineup next year, with traditional size at PF and C. I think our bigs stunk this year. There is little reason to believe that 2 of them will improve dramatically, though I think 1 of them might. Either way, it would seem like the good money is on DE playing the majority of the minutes at PF, while trying to overcome our size deficiency with solid defense and scoring. We have a lot of options at the 3, with JB, KC, and even JJ. Plenty of teams have made it to the tournament with a 6'5" PF, especially if he is a good rebounder.