757billiken

Sincere Parker to McNeese St. Sorry...posted on other topic....losing track on which damn topic to click on.

We had a freshman stretch 4 redshirt last year? Why the hell did he not see the court? Keep him. No idea why he didn't at least get a showing. Also interesting to see the practice setup under Ford. I wish we could watch more practices. A shame to see a few assistants have to step up in a few of the intrsquad games due to injuries.

I also admittedly did not watch much other than his transfer highlights on youtube....might be a stupid question, but can he dunk? High IQ for sure. Great passer. Decent shooter, but getting Adam Knollmeyer athleticism vibe. <insert trashcan vid> Also does the MVC lack athletic big men? His competition looked suspect. The A10 has athletes.

Rather have JMU coach than Schertz.

So we could lose to Drake again? Their best players are not good enough. I guess I may be on an island but Schertz is kind of a blah for me. His best players lost to Drake 2 out of 3 this year. We lost to Drake by a handful after leading by like 20 in the first half. I think we only had like 7 players for that game too, 4 being freshmen. I don't have the answer, but I fear Schertz might not be it. He's individually impressive and well-spoken but doing well at Lincoln Memorial and Indiana St doesn't necessarily translate to the A10 and better conferences.

Did the coaches show happen tonight?

I work at ODU. ODU seems to be in a similar position with a coaching search, except, Jeff Jones is stepping down himself. One of their fans made this coaching search bracket. Too many names but interesting. 64-Coach.pdf

I like Stef Van B's aggressive nature. He should be a brute. He acknowledged in an earlier interview that he knew his role as a back-up to be physical and not worry about fouls. He stated if he got more minutes, he would play more foul conscious. He actually boxes out and hustles non stop unlike Ezeriro (takes plays off) and Zhang (weaker on the boards). Do you remember how slow Ian Vouyoukas was fresh and soph years?? Way slower. I like the Euro kids and Zhang. I don't know how Magassa is ineligible. Doesn't his sister play at Rhode Island? Did they not have similar academic whatever in France? Where Ford struck out was not so much freshmen, but portal. Dalger -gone. Ezeriro - adds some but a liability on D and not as strong on boards as should be. Meadows - so-so, not aggressive enough.

Ok...whose wearing the "rather be at Chaifetz shirts"?

Zeb Jackson not playing according to VCU radio.

Good article on Stef Van Bussel by Stu. Stef seems to know his role. Love that he knows he should be a brute and be physical. I can't remember who keeps bashing our freshman, but I like SVB, Zhang, and Curcic. I can even live with Medley as a back up. I think a good comp would be McCall Jr. He's closer to MM Jr than Dwayne Polk, in my opinion.

Played well all things considered. 8 scholarship players, 4 true freshman, three others hobbled. If Thames and Jimerson's ankles were good, we would have won. Despite all the hate, Dalger actually shut Devries down for most of the game. He only had 10 points. Averages over 20. Still believe we always need to play a big...play Curcic more, and let Gibson shoot all the time.

Difference between Crews and Ford is that Crews coached with non D1 athletes/bball players. Ford has had them and arguably still does. That's whats so disappointing. Difference between Crews and Sodie was that Sodie could coach non D1 athletes/bball players and Crews couldnt.

Not a Ford defender....always hated the hire....but watching objectively as much as I can....we were down to 8 scholarship players (4 true Freshman all from different countries) in the 2nd half. Everyone played. Just not good enough (Ford's fault) and SIU made every shot contested or not. Embarrassing result but I appreciate the Freshman and their effort. Play Curcic more. Play a freaking big all the time. If you know your shot can't be blocked, every guard will get to the rim against us. Make Gibson hoist threes. Definitely took Okoro, Forrester, and Linsen for granted. Even Anthony and Foreman. Ideal lineup for rest of season: HC: Harriman Curcic, Jimerson, Hargrove, Thames, and SVB (be a bruiser). First off bench LHJ, Zhang, then Dalger and Medley

He stayed in bounds. Tough loss at the end. Surely got destroyed most of the game. They took their bigs out and the Billikens outplayed them the last few minutes. We should always have Bruce or Stef in or both.

Any idea where Stephen Okoro is headed next year? It would be typical for Ford to bring on a project big man at the last minute even though we're nowhere near the last minute.

Nice little biopic of Yuri...episode 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M68K22DfZck

I think Yuri was a great college PG but I probably watched 95% of his games at SLU and don't remember him ever splitting the screen. Not once. I could be wrong, but he always took the long way around to look for a pass. I consider LHJ an upgrade whether he runs the point or not because (1) defensive length and (2) he'll attack the basket with the intent to score rather than pass. He'll keep the defense honest with his 3 pt shot to keep better spacing for Gibson/Parker/etc.. I also never said he would be a better PG than Yuri, just an upgrade on the court. I would rather have LHJ on the court, hence an upgrade in my book. I could be wrong about it all, but I don't have an infatuation with assist numbers, dribbling in circles, last second drives that get swatted, or letting Ace Baldwin get to his spot every possession. He was still a great college PG but I am ready to see what the future holds whether that be a combo guard like LHJ, a PG like Cian, or a transfer.

I am trying to compare next year's roster to two year's ago when things were some what fun. It really hinges on big men, but I actually think we upgrade in a few spots. What do you guys think? Gibson -> Gibson Yuri -> Hughes Jr. (Upgrade in my opinion) Thatch -> CJ/Hargrove (push) Nesbitt -> Parker/Thames (upgrade in my opinion) Jones -> Cian (Tbd) Okoro -> ? Linssen -> ?

The 3 point line was the NBA distance so Yuri who struggled from the college distance was undoutbaly going to struggle. Neither Yuri or Javonte were aggressive (selfish) enough to put more shots up. Every time Camara got the ball, he didn't pass, hence the good stat lines for him. If you compare Tyger's stats or the Liberty PG stats or any other guard, they got assists and shots up. Yuri just never looks for his own shot which is nothing new for us Billiken fans.

He wasn't angry at all. I was just disappointed. Maybe someone will show up later in the weekend. We both kind of chuckled about it. I get the recruiting piece. I also think getting 2 guys into the PIT is another sellable recruiting asset. Also a good opportunity to network NBA/Euro scouts/teams/etc.

I was at the game. Perkins primarily played the end of the 1st quarter and the entire 3rd quarter. He didn't miss anything in warmups, but missed two threes when things mattered. He actually had a tip-in off an Oboard and a steal followed by a floater in the lane (3 things I never saw him do at SLU). He still showed decently. Camara was the best player on the court in the 2nd game. Hunter Tyson was the best player in the first game along with Tyger Campbell. His team actually tried to run an offense (high ball screen/pick n roll/create but that put Perkins in the corner most of the time watching. The tourney is quite the experience with NBA and Euro teams personnel out the wazoo. I ran into Javonte before the game and wished him luck. I asked about Yuri showing up to watch but he said his flight was delayed. I also asked about the coaches coming for support but he said they weren't. I'm disappointed in that...A Grant was there for Camara...B Hurley there for his ASU player. Liberty coach their for their PG. Too many assistants to keep track of. We have two dudes and not even an assistant can go? Bad look in my opinion. Perkins mentioned he saw A Grant as well. Perkins now plays at 3:15 tomorrow. Yuri plays tomorrow at 7:00, but I'm not going to go watch him dribble around in circles...I do believe the games are streamed for you out of town folk though.

Hard to believe when the staff and undoubtably Ford are offering transfers and '24 kids.

Maybe I am in the minority, but I hope Gibson stays. The deadline is May 11th to avoid sitting out a year.