Billikenswin
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Posts posted by Billikenswin
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We're not gonna be very good this season....
I do not understand you continued negative comments about next year's team.They have not yet played a single game or even had one team practice with this new group.
The reports I get from everyone in the program say that the returning players are working very hard and are intensely committed to be better next year.
I also have heard good reports about our three frosh.
Why not wait until they have practiced and play a few games before you become totally negative? If we play very poorly in the first 10 games and then play poorly in the A10 early games there will be plenty of time to go negative!
Go Billikens!
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This is incorrect. Anyone who makes a statement like this is either trying to stir ###### up or completely clueless. And it's becoming obvious which category you fit into.
I seldom post because I cannot stand the tone and approach of so many posters who include misinformation and outright lies in posts and people pretend they are true but I cannot sit by and leave this one alone. DaLove is absolutely correct in saying that the statement that we are ignoring all of the good local prospects is clueless. I can confirm two things--first, our relationships with former Billiken local and out of town players and local folks who are in the know about the local basketball players and teams is the best it has been in many, many years and much better than when Rick was coach. Second, we are working very hard to recruit local players and are very hopeful that those efforts will bring us some excellent players to join our team in the coming years.
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FWIW, what I've heard confirms this: no more transfers, and all the freshmen are still on board. I can also tell you that a number of players have told me in the past few weeks that they are very supportive of the coaching staff and think highly of Coach Crews.
I also remain bullish on young Brett Jolly. His footwork is much better than some on here seem to think and big men tend to take a bit longer with offense. I'm not saying he can become like Conklin but I wish some of you know it all types would lay off Brett and be kinder to this kid, who works his butt off, has a good motor, and has a ton of upside.
I can confirm this as well. We all need to be patient and see how this team develops over the next year. Obviously, recruiting is important. Among some of the more active MBMs on this board the level of negativity over the past month is truly amazing. I was here in the Ekker days and I can promise everyone that for someone to suggest that we are back to those time is a ludicrous joke and an incredible insult to this team and the coaching staff.
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By what metric?
The four freshman in 10-11 had more points combined per game, more assists combined per game, and more rebounds per game combined, while playing at a slower pace than the six freshman combined on this team.
Five of the six freshmen on this squad are shooting under 38%. None of the 10-11 freshmen shot under 38%.
From my personal view of them in the games and in practice. Might I suggest that you are looking at full season stats and it is clear that MY and DR have really improved since the season started and their stats have only started to really improve in the last few games. Let's look at the year end and do the comparisons--although you well know that stats are not the only way to evaluate a player's ability or long term potential.
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People, please stop feeding the troll by responding to aj's obvious attempt to stir up ****. He has a long track of this. He is not a SLU fan, he is a Mizzou troll. I'm sure he's laughing that this thread has grown to 5 pages. This is a gem he delivered in March of 2011: "I've watched Mizzou a lot and thought this was the one team that underperformed under Anderson. Hence, he's fallen from great to good in my eyes. I'll be a fan of Mizzou's program, regardless of whether I like the hire or not. I don't think Majerus is the answer (for SLU)." He also let it slip that he doesn't "follow the (SLU) program much."
So in this thread aj praises Majerus in an effort to cut down Crews. This is the same aj who questioned whether Majerus was the answer for SLU a few years ago and suggested that it was time to perhaps "blow up the roster.
http://www.billikens.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20393&hl= This was right before SLU went on the 3-year Tourney run. Great insight aj
And while SLU was winning conference championships, NCAA Tourney games and getting ranked nationally - aj was nowhere to be found on this board. Little surprise that he has crawled back from under his rock after a terrible SLU performance. That's what he does.Do not feed the SPUMAC troll. Let this thread die.
I have not posted for a long time but I still read the board. When I first read some of these posts I knew the poster who started this and many others had already demonstrated they are not Bills fans at all yet people seem to react like they are true long time fans of the Bills. For anyone who wants to know the true facts go look at the details of Jim Crews time at Evansville. That conference was excellent at the time and it was harder to get into the big dance. He was the conference coach of the year multiple times and he was highly regarded nationally as he is now. No one likes to lose less than I do. No one likes to lose big less than I do. But I do see some very good things. AY and DR have really improved since the season started. AG has a terrific basketball IQ as does MB. MR still is a tough hard nosed player but he needs seasoning. BJ has shown a lot in some practices but he can't yet get it all together in the games. I also see some bad things and I am hopeful they can be worked out. In any event, most schools would be incredibly happy to have had three years like we had with three third round appearances in the NCAA (one of ten teams in the country to do that during that time). This years frosh seem to be every bit as good as last years seniors when they were frosh. People have such short memories. Jordair could not throw it in the ocean from outside in his freshman year. MM was not good on defense but he improved dramatically. DE got his shot blocked under the basket often just like Conklin did for the first three years. I go to every game and live and die every play. We will get better but I do share the concern that we will not emerge from the bad place we are in before the end of this year. But I was realistic before the year started and thought we would have a losing record. It is still painful to watch but everyone needs to understand that this is a process and we will not really know how good this team can be until this group of freshman are juniors--at least that is my opinion. In any event, the real fans need to take a valium and watch the frosh develop. The non fans would be better off on another board.
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Appreciate the insight.
This year is truly one of those "unusual" years. We are returning 3 promising Sophs but none of really know how good they are/will be. Normally, it can be said that if a kid did not produce all that much his Frosh at SLU year that he probably won't produce much the rest of his years at SLU either. KM, CE and WR all produced their Frosh years - but they had little competition. All four of last year's seniors also produced their Frosh years - but they had little competition due to the Situation. Of course, Larry Hughes produced as a Frosh (his only year) but so did Baniak and Tatum (had to sit that first year due to grades) the next year (his first year playing for us) - but again, there was little competition. The rest of our guys like Marquee Perry, Kevin Lisch, Tommie Liddell all produced - and yes, they had little competition to replace either. Last year, though, was an odd year in that we had 5 Seniors who had been leading our team for years. Throw in Juniors JM and GG along with AM and there really wasn't much room or minutes left for our Frosh. Then, throw in the fact that RA that our "most ready" Frosh was actually injured for much of the year, that we had early season "chemistry" issues with the need to replace CE and CR and with Jim Crew's implementing a few things in his first year as non-interim head coach and it is no wonder that our Frosh did not get many minutes to show what they really can do or not do. Then, throw in the above history of most guys who don't produce their first year have been poor to mediocre and it is no wonder we have the pessimists predicting 14 and 16 records.
Now, going back quite awhile, I do recall another "good" veteran team of ours with alot of Juniors and Seniors and some Frosh who didn't play all that much -- at least initially. Yes, that would Claggett and Highmark who did not play all that much their Frosh years until after the exodus of Melvin Robinson, Carlos Skinner, and the other big forward with the attitude. Even then, we still had Quitman Dillard and Julian Winfield was probably the Frosh getting the most experience. Yes, we weren't all that good but our Frosh did have quite abit of competition -- not only from the upperclassmen but from each other. Later that Freshman year, of course, Claggett and Highmark finally got some minutes but we still ended with only 5 wins going 5-23. Not saying that our Sophs will be as good as Highmark and Claggett (we can only hope they are) but there is precedent for truly good Frosh not getting much time to play in a Billiken uniThis
This history is helpful but I think this year may be unique in terms of the absolute uncertainty which faces us in this pre season set of discussions. We are coming off three of our greatest seasons individually and collectively-- we have never had this much success three years in a row-and few teams nationally have had such success three years running. The key players in that three year run were seniors who graduated either last year or the year before so we literally had to replace an entire team of some of the most accomplished players in the history of the program.
We now have what I would call the "Untested 9"--referring to the sophs and frosh. For the reasons previously stated our sophs played limited minutes last year so they are untested. Our 6 frosh are new and completely untested. If we had to rely on McBroom, Ash, Grandy and John M to carry this team I think many of us would be very worried because on top of the Untested 9 you have four upperclassmen who have never proven they can handle a major role at any time--and I think that is the reason you see the pundits give us so little support for success this coming season. So we have a team which is untested or inexperienced in prime time roles and we will need to have many step up if we want to win 20 games, even against a somewhat lesser schedule. For any of us to pick actual results for this coming season on a game by game basis suggests we know a lot more than any of us really do about the team.
Some things I have heard through the grapevine:
Coach Crews and staff are fired up about this season and they look forward to working with all of these young players.
Our sophs have all excelled in summer workouts and we should expect them to be much better this coming year. Crawford is shooting well and playing hard and smart---Lacona is much improved and playing like a vet rather than a soph and Reggie is regaining his strength and mobility.
Manning is stronger and more effective, Jolly is going to be a very good big man who has a nice shooting touch--but how much he will play this year will be up in the air--and Gillman has great hands and a very nice touch (of course, he needs to put on some serious muscle).
Bartley has great court vision and quickness (of course, he needs to put on some serious muscle),Reynolds is smart and a gamer but he will need to learn a whole new system--just like Mike McCall--Roby is a tough athletic guy and may be an even better defender as a frosh than Jordair. Milik is a really good offensive player who may be better than Evans as a frosh-and he has a lot of growth potential in his game.
The entire team is in good spirits and everyone is hitting the weights hard to get stronger.
I, for one, cannot wait to see all of these guys on the floor!
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Maybe, but that's a bit of revisionist history to say we didn't really want him when all indications at the time were that we offered him a scholly and would have taken him if he had committed. Obviously we don't know everything that is going on and the subtleties are important, but I'd prefer to read that he was a key contributor and that our staff had done a real good job of evaluating and finding a hidden gem recruit. After all, for us to continue recent success we are going to depend on a bit of hidden gem magic.
If you are trying to evaluate a "hidden gem" recruit then you cannot compare how he would have fared with one program with another after only one year. How a player is coached and how he fits in with the team and the style of play are big elements of how well a player might do in different situations. You really cannot judge how he might have performed here based upon what he did at Clemson. It was this board that seemed to annoint him as a superstar. I never heard a single coach refer to him in that way.
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when you see them live, it is hard not to be impressed by the physicality and the athletic abilities, as a group. They look big and physical. Several of the freshmen are pencil-thin in the arms and may still be growing, too.
I'm still trying to figure out the group and am not very certain about scoring, at the moment, for sure. but I'll say this: several of these guys are physically imposing. I've been around the team for 15 years and this group is as physically imposing, and just plain big and strong, as any team we've had since I got here--as a complete team. Reggie and Ash look very intimidating, for one thing. They are both very tough and I expect them to get big minutes and make very big contributions, right away. Believe me when I tell you--they will do just fine in the A10. So will Crawford and Lancona--they can score in our league, in bunches. All those 4 guys have improved and matured dramatically; they may not yet be on the skill level of our graduating seniors but they are ready to rock and roll, and they will all chip in points, and get lots of minutes. Add 2 seniors and McB and you already have an excellent rotation of 7.
Freshmen: Jolly will be a big surprise for many on here, because he is relentless and surprisingly athletic, for his size. From a distance, both he and Austin look slightly taller than Manning, even though they are listing Jolly at 6'9". Again, Austin, Jolly, Bartley, & Yarbrough may all still be growing into their bodies. Roby is physically probably the most ready today, he reminds me a bit of Ash. But Jolly is a darkhorse.
We'll be pretty darned good this year, unless I am really missing something. I know the league is tough but I hope everyone is encouraged to hear -- we'll be tough too, and we can play with these other teams. You better believe we'll defend the Fetz; how will we do on the road?? What may be the biggest surprise-- and a credit to the program--I think we can be really good without really depending much on the freshmen--although they will get their minutes, and points I'm sure. Honestly, it may be the kool-aid--but how about some upside optimism for the Bills? can we win 20-22 and figure out a way into the Dance, 4 years in a row? Cause if we do, it could become 8 or 10 years in a row!!!
I like your thinking and I agree that this year will be a transition year with some unknowns but with excellent depth, particularly if the frosh can get up to speed quickly on defense. Then the year after and for the next few years we should be tough and athletic, maybe even better than the teams of last year and the year before. the glass is way more than half full but this year will probably try our patience at times.
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For beginner's everything I've seen said coming out of hs he was 190. I don't want that to be a typo but that would be pretty insane if as an incoming freshmen hes already at 6'6 240, and without much fat to cut. Thats 5 more pounds than grandy.
This is accurate and he has a low % of body fat--and he will work hard with our strength coach to get even stronger just like DE, except he is bigger and stronger than DE was as a frosh.
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Um typo? Please!???!
no typo--why do you want it to be a typo?
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I learned a little more about some of the frosh. MY has clearly impressed early. He was measured at 6'6 1/2" and 240 lbs and he has not previously been on a weight training plan so he should get stronger. Clearly, the hope is that he can quickly replace DE but those are big shoes to fill. Jolly is better than expected with the potential to develop into a bigger and stronger Conklin but those are big shoes to fill as well. The two young point guards are thin but good players and Bartley has excellent passing skills and court vision. Roby is tough and solid and we can expect him to improve quickly and get minutes this year. No word yet on Gillmann.
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Anyone hearing similar things (or anything at all) about the open gyms?
No specific word on the open gyms but I have heard the frosh look very good in the early evaluations.
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The greatest player on the planet decided that he wants to play at home. What a great precedent for JT!
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That is certainly a different take. I'm not so sure McCaw could "have been had." The guy who reports most on SLU recruiting indicated McCaw wanted to pursue BCS offers and was not all that interested in SLU. McCaw visited Florida State among other places. I know you have a loyalty to the local players, but I don't know how you can say with such certainty McCaw will be better than the perimeter players SLU signed. Time will tell. In fact, a case could be made that Yarbrough was a even a bigger priority for UNLV. The Rebs offered MY and AFTER he commits to SLU, then UNLV filled their final scholarship with McCaw.
IMO, your suggestion that there was a local player who wanted to come to SLU and is better than many of our recruits is unfair to the coaching staff and the kids coming in.
Loyalty is a two-way street and there have been way too many local recruits who have been pretty "haughty" about how they view SLU. IMO, we're certainly not too good for quality local recruits, that would be awesome if they got on board. But the worst thing we could do is go after second-tier local players, just because they are local. Evaluate them just like you would any recruit. If there are equaly players with interest, than you give the nod to the local player.
Our coaches have been very interested in recruiting local players who they feel can play at our level, fit in with our team philosophy and handle the academics. However, the Brad S days of waiting forever for local kids to commit or even show a serious interest and then losing the opportunity for other good players are long over. McCaw was recruited by the Bills with meeitngs with Coach Crews and others early in the process. But he never showed any serious interest and then went radio silent for a long time while he sought out "big time" offers. We moved on but always said we would be open to hearing from him if he was seriously interested. He never surfaced or said he wanted to go to SLU so our staff did the smart thing and they signed MY who looks to be an excellent recruit. These urban myths seem to take on a life of their own but there is no truth to the story that we somehow blew the opportunity to sign him.
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There's more talent in the locker room than ever for SLU. Now it's time for Coach Crews and his staff to make them a team. His predecessor did OK with less talent than we have right now.
Are you saying that Coach Crews should turn this inexperienced group into an NCAA team in the first year for most of them having any significant role on the team? His predecessor never did that--it took him several years to develop the talent which I assume will be the case this year. I am excited about the long term potential of this group but it is folly to put pressure on them to be as good as a junior or senior dominated team like we have had the past three years.
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While I totally agree with your point about the Post trying to make this into a story and then charge for it on top, every year I ask the players about the incoming frosh and this is definitely the most excited I have seen them. Obviously, every year, they say they are excited for the next year and excited to see what the freshmen bring, but this year they just seem to be much more informed on the incoming players and much more anxious to get them on campus which is beginning to happen now. This may in part be due to having such a large recruiting class, but I think there is a feeling that several of the freshmen will contribute early and become an integral part of the team. My only regret is that it's not November yet...
I think that every one of our recruits, particularly the guards and MY, had lengthy times of intense play with the team on their visits. The returning players really got a sense of the quality of these young men and thier abilities on the court. They have also connected with the new guys who seem to be compatible with our team. So it would be natural for them to be excited and optimistic. Let's hope they are right!
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Berry DID NOT give us "the back of his hand" out of high school. Butler made him more of a priority than we did. I'm not saying SLU messed up there. But for whatever reasons we did not recruit Berry as hard as other schools did and Nolan did not show as much interest in SLU as he did in other schools. It doesn't need to be this narrative of a recruit disrespecting our program by choosing to go somewhere else. If your son or daughter felt that a school besides SLU was a better fit for him/her, I hope you would not see their decision to go elsewhere as giving "the back of his hand" to SLU.
These are 17 and 18-year olds trying to make the best decision for their college career. Not sure why we on this board feel the need to vilify them when they choose to go somewhere else. I'm not calling out you in particular but this seems to be the overall sentiment amongst a lot of posters.
I also don't know if this necessarily shows "how smart our head coach and assistant coaches are about recruiting" as much as it is just a representation of the nature of college basketball recruiting these days. Commitments fly fast and roster spots are very fluid. You recruit a wide array of players and when one of your targets wants to come, like MY, you fill that slot. It's not like this situation is one that is exclusive to SLU.
I assume that you must be a good friend of NB and that is the reason for the reaction. The truth is that SLU expressed an interest in NB and reached out to him but RM always had the view that if a recruit did not have an interest in his team then he would just move on. Berry never showed any interest in coming to SLU and Rick and staff moved on at that time. I say he gave us the back of his hand because he never showed any interest at all even though the Bills were really starting to show that they would be a really good team. He did what he wanted and rejected us out of hand and yet Jim Crews was still professional enough to go up to meet with him after he announced he was leaving Butler. But the coaches were smart enough to really carefully evaluate our true needs at the time and they did a great job in getting AY to enthusiastically join our Billiken family. Berry was lukewarm and never really showed intensity of interest in SLU. Now we all move on.
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Ah the vagaries and mysteries surrounding recruiting. Here's one certainty; if NB wanted to come home and JC wanted to use that last scholie on him, he'd be a Billiken. So, either: A) NB was hemming and hawing, or
JC was either undecided, or waiting to hear from Yarborough or someone else. Could he or JC have flat rejected one another? Sure, but we'll never know unless an insider comes forward, and those special few are zipped up tighter than JLo's jeans. I don't know of any poster's who's said we told him to take a hike, but I know a lot of folks do get satisfaction when a local rejects us then makes noise about coming back. I've been guilty of it, and it's kind of a petty way to think, because if the guy can really help us we should roll out the red carpet. I'm not so sure, though, if NB was bringing that much value to us. He pretty much disappeared at Butler and they weren't that good last year or this year.I think this situation really emphasizes how smart our head coach and assistant coaches are about recruiting. Berry basically gave us the back of his hand out of high school and went off to Butler where he played no minutes of consequence for a losing team until the last few games of the season and then he did not impress. But even then, and with other bigs in the fold, Jim Crews was willing to make a trip and talk to Berry about his interest in SLU. But at the same time Crews and staff were still working hard on other prospects, particularly MY who they thought was an outstanding scorer and potentially excellent player all around. Berry never could pull the trigger and even if he had the staff would have had to make a very tough call because they really wanted MY and the jury was out about Berry in terms of his interest and intensity. MY then decides to commit to SLU much to the delight of the entire staff so we are then out of schollies. Berry then has to look elsewhere which really seems to be the best for all concerned because he never really showed an intense interest in SLU and we got a recruit we really like who will fit in perfectly with our team.
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Reynolds was a good get, but the deck was cleared for SLU when LSU took the guard from Montverde, which also got them the Simmons kid from 2015. No more room in Baton Rouge. A lot of Roby's SEC love was early, but for whatever reason, it fell off as he got older. good work by SLU guys to get in and scoop him up. Same with Bartley. Very good player, but had an very uneven summer that which caused many to back off. Believe it or not, same thing happened to Van Vleet, whose last summer was up and down. WSU stayed with it while some BCS guys fled. The rest is history. This happens quite frequently.
Glad to have you back but this is a false report on Reynolds. LSU was on him hard and had him for a visit trying to get him to commit during his visit just days before Coach Crews was in his house talking with his family and getting the commitment. LSU was pushing hard to get him.
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How big of a nightmare will it be for Guy Foulups?
Guy will never get these name right--it will be a nightmare of foulups!
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Add Creighton to Bartley's list of offers. Pretty sure his parents went there, but he still chose SLU.
Sure wish we had one of those Euro/Canadian trips planned for this year, so we could get some sort of preliminary idea of which of the FR appear most ready for the rigors of D1 ball. But, of course, I wouldn't want to schedule Carlton, The Duke of Canada.
To add to the general tenor of this thread, we've come a long way from the Horace Dixons and Obi Wons of the world. God, am I glad those days are over.
No trip this summer. Next year there will be a trip and that makes sense to me. Our key players will all be in the fold including Welmer. Most of the team will be sophs and juniors with some experience under their belts and they will be able to really work on the team aspect of the defense and offense. It will be exciting to see them develop!
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Starting lineup?
It is impossible to speculate, there will be five new starters, every single job is up for grabs.
Sure, a few who are currently on our roster are more likely to start the first 5-8 games, but what matters is who emerges and starts in mid / late January. The starting lineup will change by then as players compete.
So many are absolute unknown quantities until they get out there.
As I read a lot of these posts I was thinking the exact same thing as you posted here. Many of our new players will start to arrive in the next month or so. Their first meetings will be with the staff of coaches and the strength and conditioning folks. They will be given a complete schedule of things to do and to work on over the summer. They and the other holdovers will all be in the same boat--come the start of practice next fall the five starting and four or five other rotation spots will be up for grabs. If you picked five holdovers as starters it would probably be Ash, Manning, Tanner, McBroom and Grandy with Crawford and Reggie in the mix. But the great thing is that the other team of newcomers to play them in practice will be Miles R and Roby with Milik, Bartley and Jolly/Gillmann. Even though Gillmann is probably a year or so away, the rest of these guys could all compete for minutes, either starting or in the normal rotation. I am not sure I can remember a team with this much depth in terms of competition for minutes at the start of the season.
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I've always read the area recruits weren't interested in us, and when they expressed or indicated such RM just moved on. Whoever that poster was, his comment makes no sense. A lazy coach would much prefer bringing in players from his own neighborhood than travelling all over the friggin' planet.
I know for a fact that any suggestion that RM was a lazy recruiter is wrong. It was not easy for him to travel with his various issues and particularly when he had a bad foot and leg but he would go where he was needed to go and be in the living rooms of recruits. I think he did less travel the last year and a half, mostly because of his health. If a good st louis area player fit what he believed was his type of player then he would go after him but if a player showed no interest then RM did not waste a minute on him. He did have a tendency to hype some of the recruits a bit but I think he was sending them a message that he thought they could be better than their "ratings". He prided himself in recognizing talents in players that few others saw or could develop. Someone here posted recently that he thought that RM would like the recruits signed by Coach Crews and I thought that was an astute comment. These 10 young men all seem to fit the mold of solid players and solid citizens that RM would have liked to coach.
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Some say he played well because he was bigger than his competition. I would think that during the AAU season he played against players who were just as big or bigger. I have not heard anything negative about his play on the AAU circuit. Maybe he is just a good player regardless of his competition.
One of the games I saw reported was the championship game of the Proviso West tournament where Zion Benton beat Stevenson in Ot and MY had 24 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, and hit a three at the end of regulation to force overtime. Stevenson was one of the big time teams in Ill--31-2 for the season and they lost to Whitney Young 75-68 in the state semi finals. At least that game was big time competition!
And while SLU was winning conference championships, NCAA Tourney games and getting ranked nationally - aj was nowhere to be found on this board. Little surprise that he has crawled back from under his rock after a terrible SLU performance. That's what he does.
JC was either undecided, or waiting to hear from Yarborough or someone else. Could he or JC have flat rejected one another? Sure, but we'll never know unless an insider comes forward, and those special few are zipped up tighter than JLo's jeans. I don't know of any poster's who's said we told him to take a hike, but I know a lot of folks do get satisfaction when a local rejects us then makes noise about coming back. I've been guilty of it, and it's kind of a petty way to think, because if the guy can really help us we should roll out the red carpet. I'm not so sure, though, if NB was bringing that much value to us. He pretty much disappeared at Butler and they weren't that good last year or this year.
Bahama's Practices
in Billikens.com Main Board
Posted
I just received an email as a Billiken Club member and one as a season ticket holder. I would think all folks in those categories would have received one today.