AnkielBreakers

Well, let's not compare Cassity to NBA greats and lottery picks. Cassity could make the NBA because he is a 6'4" guard who can handle the point, is athletic enough to take just about anyone to the hole (can dunk pretty easily), and has shown a solid and consistent shot. He would be a mid to late second round pick. Much like Grevious Vazquez, or dominique jones, etc. However, to have a shot at being drafted he will have to have a season where he averages about 15 ppg, will have to show that he can handle defending point guards, and would probably need Majerus to give him a good word. Most of all though, SLU would need to make a deep rrun in the post season, and Cassity would have to be a big part of it. With all the talent we have at pg, Cassity will probably never get much more experience at the point or consideration for the draft.

Yeah, the biggest disappointment was the fact that Remekun looked bad on both sides of the floor. He was constantly out of position on the pick and roll or was out of position on rebounds. We really need quality minutes out of him, and hopefully he gets at least those two things under control. Another main negative, AP seemed like it could drive to the hoop all day on us, though this was mostly in the first half. It reminded me of all the posts foreshadowing that without Willie Reed no one would hesitate to take the ball to the hoop. I had dismissed this theory as silly, now I am not so sure. Who were the main people getting schooled? McCall, Cassity? The reffing was kind of to be expected, we had about 7 less fouls than AP at the half, and I always believe refs try to get back to even. Here they just overshot it a little bit, and consequently the calls were not going our way at the end. On the bright side, Rob Loe looks like he is improving. He actually looked better on defense as the game went on, and he actually can rebound, though he missed some pretty easy ones. And, he made some offensive post moves, they weren't spectacular, but he showed that he can do it. Hopefully, this hints to Cody that he can also play inside. Also positive, Jordair Jett is a stud. McCall is a stud too. Whenever one of them is in and not the other, that person convinces me they should start. Easy problem to solve, start them both, play them a lot. Coach needs to find a way to get Evans more involved on the offensive end so that he can get more minutes. He really is the smartest defender, and a player who always seems to be in position. This game really drove home my belief on who should be the starting five: JJ MM KC CE RL/BC. Really, considering how much PT everyone is getting it doesn't really matter who starts, but this five/six can really light it up.

William the conqueror?

You have some interesting points. However, I think you are missing an important aspect of having Ellis, Loe, and WR on the floor together. When Loe and Ellis are on the floor (with WR), Ellis will have a mismatch against most 3's that are forced to guard him. Therefore, when Loe is on the perimeter and a 4/5 has to step outside to guard him, it opens up Ellis to post up his man. Also, if the other team switches the guarding assignments between Loe and Ellis, then Loe can go inside on an obvious mismatch. At the same time, both Loe and Ellis will have a size mismatch on the outside against whoever is guarding them and may be able to shoot over the top. One other thing to note, Loe has shown a consistent and impressive ability to drive that few 4/5 players are going to be able to stop, which could leave mismatches on the inside, or open shots on the collapsed defense. The effect may be that most teams are forced to play a zone against us, which plays right into the hands of a team with some slashers (KM, KC, and potentially MM) and some solid exterior shooting (CE, RL, JJ, KM). Defensively, I am not worried about Ellis guarding a 3, he seemed surprisingly quick for player of his size. His physique reminded me of Luke Walton, who I believe plays the 3. He just needs to get better conditioned and more toned down. (Also, as a side note, don't forget that JS can guard the 3 pretty well. If he develops, he could add another dimension to this team) Any way you stack it up, this team has the potential to be really exciting next year.

You know, I only watched the first quarter (and I had previously read some of the quotes on his performance that suggested he played poorly), but what I saw was the most impressive big man on SLU's roster next year (or at least a great compliment to Willie). He went up and stopped IL's recruit from scoring at the rim, and although it was a foul, it showed that he is strong inside. Also, he went on a drive to the hoop from NBA range, and though he eventually lost the ball out of bounds, he showed that he has good quickness and decent ball control. Certainly he did not have a good game, but he will easily be a force by next year.

I saw the stat line, 11 pts. Did he make those mostly in mop up duty at the end? Was he shooting from the outside at all? It is really promising to see. From the only games I have seen, I think he is the most talented (highest upside) player on the team, even more than WR. Some on this board have said he cannot play the 3 spot, but I humbly disagree, he has the quickness to defend, and needs only to learn ball control skills... which mostly will come with some upper body strength. He is still at least a year away from becoming a contributor, but 11 pts is a start.