Aquinas

It is easy to be excited about the upside this season of Gordon, Thatch, Goodwin and French. If the stars line up, we can be a good team. However our injuries have put us in a perilous position. Our drop off from our 6th player is steep. Borrowing the Wiz grading system, we probably go from a grade B player to a D. Any loss of a guard for more than a few minutes will be devastating. I believe Jacob's will improve and do better than he did against OS, fortunately not every team we play is a top 100 team. I really hope isabell gets back soon, though ham string injuries are often tough to shake.

Seton Hall just beat Kentucky.

ESPN + also has a Replay calendar. So you can go back and watch or rewatch a game later.

Tough game but still winnable in closing minutes. I believe we were under 2 min, game tied with the ball. Next team to score probably wins. And we get the 10 sec half court call..... that really hurt. Best news, Goodwin came back to life, and all of our freshman are healthy enough to play. Hopefully Isabell and the rest of the team got the message. Post game coach said he is having the team over for Thanksgiving meal. Ford is working hard to pull these guys together as a team. I am thankful for that.

Was Isabell fouling out a fluke in the last game or something that will be a problem?

I think the Seton Hall game stats show us a lot about this team going forward. Ford played 8, and these guys will probably get minutes in every game (listed in order of season ave. min/game) Bess, Isabell, Goodwin, Gordon, French, Forman, Wiley, and Thatch. At SH Gordon played 35 minutes with only 3 fouls in a game where French and Forman picked up 4 in about 15 minutes. He seems to just be getting comfortable. His progress is huge given the loss of Santos. Gordon looks like he will be scary good as he continues to learn what he can do at this level. Goodwin is not on his game yet, I don't know if it is the injury, mask or fitting in with the new players, but he should improve from here. Thatch looks like a lock down defender, which is very impressive for a Freshman. This team has a lot of up side, only Bess and maybe Forman are playing at their potential. There is big upside for the rest of the individual players and team chemistry as these guys continue to work together. Great to see this team take a close game on the road. Typically a team loses one or more of those before winning one. Ford has his hands full pulling this all together and so far has been very impressive. Also have to believe that wins, like SH will help in fill out the 2019 recruiting class.

Wow, this guy is sold and projects Gordon as a 1 and done.

How did Gordon play?

Rivals and 247 have Jitoboh as a 3 star, ESPN as a 4 star. Scout doesn't have him rated. At this moment, he is not a consensus top 100 player, which is why my expectations are not as great for him, especially given his modest numbers to date. Of course he could have a breakout sr. Year. U dont know which of these rating entities have the best record at evaluating prospects.

The reason I identified Jitoboh as a project, as apposed to someone like Gordon or Goodwin, is that Jitoboh is not anywhere near a top 100 player currently, and his numbers have been very modest. I suspect his 4 star ranking has more to do with his size, athleticism and potential than his current performance. He is a big man with great potential, that is showing he is committed to getting in to divi 1 shape with his weight loss. He could have a big year this year. At this moment, I would not expect him to play 20 plus minutes as a freshman on our projected 2019 team. He has the potential however to develop into a dominant player in subsequent years. By his jr and sr. years he is the type of player we need for a tournament run.

Pistol, I share your thoughts about Santos poised to take a big step up, as he was not that good at his previous school. Jitoboh I think would qualify as a project player with a big upside, and I believe he would get playing time his first year, just based on the size match-up problems he would present for some teams. In contrast to the Crews big man projects players who were all under weight. By a "game ready" big for next season, I assume you are thinking of a senior transfer, which would be great if we can get the right guy. My hope is that winning, will make us more attractive to both transfers and high school players. Another type of big that would help, is one with shooting range to help spread the floor. At this point thinking that Welmer is out, KC is the only one with a reputation as a shooter, and I don't know what kind of range Gordon has. I would really love to see Jitoboh commit this weekend!

Did some reading on Jitoboh. He is listed 6-10 to 6-11 and 270. Apparently 330 as a freshman. He is described as more of an old school, traditional center, with raw skiiis and big programs offering him. SLU with its strong weight program and a guy like French to roll model and encourage his physical development could be a perfect for him if they click. The A10 might also be a better fit for his development than risk sitting on the bench at a P5 conference. We also have playing time to offer in 2019. Hope coach can get close enough to get a visit. Coach has to be looking for 2019 bigs with the graduation of Forman, loss of Santos and probable loss of Welmer.

The 2 transfer guards being out hits us at our greatest weakness coming into this season, which is getting this group to play as a team. Isabel is probably the single most important guy we need up to speed. Playing less than full speed affects movement and focus. We may need to dial down expectations. Hamstring recovery is always concerning.

Nice to hear good things about Wemer. Did he say anything about the transfer guards?

Makes me wish I was a student!