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It doesn't look like we will sign a PG


SLUDrew

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i just looked at davidnark's link, and i was surprised to see him listed at 6'1". he played vs lisch at the shootout and granted gerry pollard got lisch the hell out of the game asap, but while they were in the game together, walker seemed much smaller than lisch. i had assumed he was under 6 foot tall.

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Polk's problem isn't only his height. It is his lack of strength, and his inability to make his greatest assets, speed and quickness, have much of an affect on the game.

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I understand there is a need for a PG, it is just frustrating that Polk who was brought in as a PG is not stronger with the ball. We should not have to recruit a PG to play next year, Polk is a senior and getting stronger with the ball should be something he is working on all off season.

I think what is most important for the remaining 2 scholarships is a 4 that can score and another player that can score--any position of guard or forward or center, but just another scorer. TL & KL will be our 2 main options, I don't think Husak will score enough to be a 3rd option. That leaves either LM at 3 as our 3rd scoring option or our as yet unnamed JUCO. I think if we are going with Husak at center, we cannot really afford to carry another subpar offensive player like Polk or Brown in our starting lineup. I think this team needs 4 scorers as starters and another one off the bench. We have been waiting for Polk & Brown to develop into something more than role players and I don't see that happening.

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lisch has the highest basketball iq on the team.

lisch has the best assist to turnover ratio on the team

lisch has the most assists on the team

lisch has shown the ability to handle the ball against pressure defense and be able to create on the dribble not only for his teamates but himself.

i think tommie has had 2 years to couple his fantastic crossover dribble and floor vision adn become a good point guard, however the turnovers are maddening and the lack of "takeoverness" boggling.

a number of times during the gw game you could hear coach soderberg demanding tommie keep the ball in the middle of the floor and drive towards the free throw line. he didnt. it was our swan song.

i dont want to put all the blame on tommie. there is plenty to go around. but he is the most talented player on the team and next year it is time to step up completely.

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Kevin can be strong on the dribble, BUT he completely loses his mind sometimes as well. He does the same things everybody else does; tries to beat three defenders with the dribble instead of the pass. I don't know if he justs gets frustrated or tries to do too much himself, but countless times, especially late in the season, he was turned over off the dribble.

We need a "ball-handling first" PG. Kevin and Tommie need to be on the wings ready for outlet passes as the PG penetrates. This leaves Tommie and Kevin to do what they do best; slash and score, or shoot and score.

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Assuming we don't sign a pg, i would advocate KL as our starting pg. I think his frustration and turnovers were a direct result of our lack of depth, injuries and well...frustration, but mainly the lack of depth and injuries.

I think KL could be a great 12-15 ppg and 5-8 apg player.

I have more trust in KL than anyone else currently on our team.

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lisch's asst to turnover ratio was almost 2-1.

2-1 is a pretty good indicator that he makes good decisions.

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>lisch has the highest basketball iq on the team.

OK.

>lisch has the best assist to turnover ratio on the team

True.

>lisch has the most assists on the team

True.

>lisch has shown the ability to handle the ball against

>pressure defense and be able to create on the dribble not

>only for his teamates but himself.

Against big defenders like James Life and Carl Elliott he really seems to struggle getting free.

>

>a number of times during the gw game you could hear coach

>soderberg demanding tommie keep the ball in the middle of

>the floor and drive towards the free throw line. he didnt.

>it was our swan song.

Kevin's five turnovers didn't help either.

On the coach's show last night when Bob brought up the subject of how SLU struggled against GW's ball pressure, Brad emphasized the #1 problem was their length. They were 6'8, 6'8, 6'8 across the frontline and had two fullbacks, one of which was 6'4, in the backcourt. (I know we did well against their pressure the first time but Damian Hollis, that 3rd 6'8 kid, wasn't playing major minutes then). Brad noted that our guards were trying to get the ball to the middle of the court when the other team is much longer and just as quick as you are, it's easier said then done.

Just like Tommie took his game to another level by allowing Brad to reconstruct his shot, Brad says Tommie needs to add about 10 lb of size this time around to become the player he wants to be. He knows Tommie will never built like the GW guards but that extra strength will go a long way in making Tommie more successful in close quarters.

A caller at the end of the show asked if there were plans to sign a scoring point given Polk's struggles on offense this year in addition to a power forward. Brad said NCAA regs prohibit him from talking about specific recruits but confirmed that the caller was on the right track.

Personal observation: Making Lisch the starting point is acceptable against most teams but inserting Luke as the 3 puts him in a position where he has to deal with a very quick defender on the perimeter rather than being left wide open by a post defender. I don't think he will be nearly as successful in that scenario. I think there's a reason that Relphorde and Mitchell were brought in.

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"A caller at the end of the show asked if there were plans to sign a scoring point given Polk's struggles on offense this year in addition to a power forward. Brad said NCAA regs prohibit him from talking about specific recruits but confirmed that the caller was on the right track."

I thought Brad said the caller was on the right track in connection with the recruitment of a Center. Maybe i misunderstood.

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I want either KL or TL to be our starting pg next year, I don't want to have to start a pg with limited offensive abilities. I also think Polk needs to be stronger on the ball though for when we do face a pressure defense as well as allowing KL or TL to go to the wings.

I also agree with SLUDrew that KL was making mistakes with the ball at times. The GW game to me looked more like fatigue from all the players so not sure I could only blame person with ball, others didn't have quickness to get open either.

I also think TL losing his toenail probably had a lot to do with his tailing off in the last few games. I would imagine that took a lot of his quickness from his game.

Again though to get back to the original thread. I think our PG problems have to be addressed with the current players getting better with the ball, Polk especially as a senior. I don't think recruiting a pg is the answer--I think we need additional scoring for next year, if that comes from a pg like Walker great or another 3 great or another 4 great.

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i actually am more in the camp that luke should be our 6th man. subbing accordingly for guards, power forwards, etc. polk should be the backup point guard and the back up wing guard in certain matchups and when fouls dictate.

i too would like to have a guard, but i want two formiable real power forwards first and formost.

i agree with lisch's difficulties getting open when he didnt have the ball and life and elliot were face guarding him. if we had another more athletic wing, and kevin had the ball out front it would obviously change the approach of a umass though too.

i agree tommie can improve. but a lot of his mistakes werent body strength mistakes as just carelessness imo.

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V, can we put this one to rest? I don't give a c%@* if DP was a shooting guard while illegally playing for FI at the V. If you go to a D 1 school and you are 5'8" you better learn how to be a point guard. This really becomes important when you cannot shoot. I will give DP credit for often being "the man" on D.

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Nah, its pretty tough to press whne you are going for offensive rebounds and you're just scrambling to get back on defense. You do realize that during Polk tenure, they lost I think 15 games, 12 in one year. So most of time they just destroying the competition and he never got pressed. And most of those losses were during the 2003 season when he broke his kneecap and missed a lot of the games. When he came back they won 12 in a row.

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