bauman Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 With all this talk re Kevin Lisch (man we better get him or it will seem like a dagger to the heart) I got to thinking about our rosters next year and the year after that (the first w/ KL if we get him). I'm less then thrilled looking at next year w/o JF and CS-I don't see upgrades as replacements for either one of them. Neither Polk or AD can give us what JF is this year, great, great defense combined with a decent outside shot, exceptional free throw shooting and very few turnovers. Likewise, I don't see a suitable replacement for CS. His intensity, rebounding, defense and steals along with hitting a critical shot just when we need it most are not part of the game of any current roster members-let's hope Brad can land a CS type with the 4th scholarship next year. I'm impressed with our 3 recruits for next year but I don't see them or DC, JJ, IV, BH or AD replacing the impact of our 2 starting seniors. Possibly making matters worse would be TL not qualifying. And while we all seem excited by the possibility of getting KL, we need to remember that when he (hopefully) gets here, Reggie and Tom will both be gone and as I stated in a thread last week you have to have a great imagination to see IV and/or BH contributing anything close to what we are getting from Tom F. I don't want to rain on anybody's parade but we have to keep in mind our player losses the next 2 years not just the new recruits. The one big positive in our future is Brad's coaching ability-we need to do everything possible to keep him here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 It is amazing to me how often people see only the bad in things for our Bills. At the end of last year everyone was obsessed about the loss of Perry and how we could never replace him and how our inside defense would be much worse because we lost Kenny Brown, etc. Yet, miracle of miracles, our team has survived and is playing well. Reggie is a fantastic replacement for Perry and Tom is a better Kenny Brown. Fischer is better and so is IO. sloan is his same gritty wonderful self. Who would have guessed? Now we have a doom and gloom prediction for next year before we finish this year or see how things develop over the summer. In fact, I think that IO will be much better next year. Reggie will be at least as good and he will play more lead guard at times. Drejaj will come back strong and hopefully he will be a better shooter with better mechanics. You know he will be very tough on defense. The three freshmen will take time to develop but we can expect them to play more minutes and contribute more than the collective group of this year's freshmen IMO. With Polk and TL coming off the bench our speed will be enhanced as will our passing and they both can defend. Luke looks like a real find who can give us a boost off the bench as a potential scorer. he hardly ever plays much more than a half per game and yet he is scoring in big numbers. The same is true of Polk. Who knows who the new recruit will be but I have confidence in our coaches to bring in a nice player who will be tough and play hard. Then you have the development of this year's freshman class. JJ will put on muscle and if he matures a little I think he will be in the mix. The same is true with Clarke and Ian will undoubtedly be working out hard to get stronger and more mobile. Maybe not next year but my hope is that he could be our Vlade Divac--a great passer, a clever inside scorer and a big defender with long arms. As I watched Sacramento play Dallas on Sunday the announcers were gushing about how good it was to have Vlade on the team and yet they said he was extemely slow afoot and could not jump at all. The bottom line is that it is impossible to see what next year will bring. heck, I have no idea how we will play on the road for three games in the next week much less next year!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 "Neither Polk or AD can give us what JF is this year, great, great defense combined with a decent outside shot, exceptional free throw shooting and very few turnovers." Polk can do some things that Josh can't do. His penetration and long range marksmanship could really help to open up our offense. "Likewise, I don't see a suitable replacement for CS. His intensity, rebounding, defense and steals along with hitting a critical shot just when we need it most are not part of the game of any current roster members" Rebounding and hitting a critical shot weren't part of Chris's game two years ago either. If Chris Sloan can improve that much, so can other players on the current roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 bauman said, "With all this talk re Kevin Lisch (man we better get him or it will seem like a dagger to the heart) I got to thinking about our rosters next year and the year after that (the first w/ KL if we get him). I'm less then thrilled looking at next year w/o JF and CS-I don't see upgrades as replacements for either one of them. Neither Polk or AD can give us what JF is this year, great, great defense combined with a decent outside shot, exceptional free throw shooting and very few turnovers." it seems every year we wonder how will we ever replace our seniors. and low and behold a justin love, or maurice jeffers or marque perry come into their own. i personally believe drejaj shows a hell of a lot of future considering his age. fisher was no better as a sophomore either and last year he was leaps and bounds better. i expect drejaj the same. let's not forget that reggie will be a year older as well and reggie is our best offensive player already. add to that 3 fine guards/wings coming in and a still athletic and learning darren clarke, i am not too concerned with our guards for next year. now replacing sloan could be a problem. right now we have to hope that justin johnson and izik finally become the consistent contributors that flashes have already shown. couple that with our yet to be found 4th scholarship. but the truth is, we dont have a real good picture here. our inside is well manned with frericks, but his backup is no more clear than what we have now. but on the positive side, it isnt any worse either plus you have ian and bryce hopefully improving. bauman said, "I'm impressed with our 3 recruits for next year but I don't see them or DC, JJ, IV, BH or AD replacing the impact of our 2 starting seniors. Possibly making matters worse would be TL not qualifying." that could be said about recruits each year. bauman said, "And while we all seem excited by the possibility of getting KL, we need to remember that when he (hopefully) gets here, Reggie and Tom will both be gone and as I stated in a thread last week you have to have a great imagination to see IV and/or BH contributing anything close to what we are getting from Tom F." now you are getting out two years. hopefully by then at least one of the new recruits will have started to blossom and out of darren, justin, ian and bryce the same can be said. bauman said, "I don't want to rain on anybody's parade but we have to keep in mind our player losses the next 2 years not just the new recruits." while we will lose some players, imo the reputed mo of our incoming recruits is rosier than it has been since the hughes incoming season. i think we can take our chances. i am happier to be a billiken fan than i have ever been. bauman said, "The one big positive in our future is Brad's coaching ability-we need to do everything possible to keep him here." no arguments on that one! overall a good thought provoking post by bauman! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 I wasn't trying to just see the bad things (or doom and gloom as your heading states) but was merely trying to point out some concerns re the future. Hey, I'm excited about our recruits, coach and future but I think sometimes posters on this Board are not taking a realistic view of things-just seeing the positives. That doesn't make me any less a fan than you-I was just trying to look beyond the next 2 months. I'm truly sorry to have offended you by pointing out some concerns that I have and which I believe merit some discussion. Frankly, I was getting bored by the continuous posts regarding Kevin Lisch and what do we have to do to get into the NCAA tourney. I thought a new topic might stir some interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 is that you don't allow for much improvement in our current players. I for one think IO is starting to show more consistently the type of player he can be.Frericks and Reggie will both be better. I think IV has a chance to be a major contributor. The only thing this team really needs going into next year is an additional power forward which is why I doubt coach will take a transfer, no matter how talented one may be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 I'm guessing that there is some chance that recruit TL could elect to attend a New England prep school for one year to fine-tune his academics if he is not fully qualified by June. If that remote chance does occur that opens another scholarship for next season for a possible transfer. However, rather than a transfer, I wouldn't be shocked to see a strong juco point guard added to the mix to support the point-guard/two-guard cast of RB, AD, DC, DP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 This is a good point. We could be hurting at PG next year. Of course, I'd rather see TL just pass and enroll, not wanting to take the chance we lose him. From what's been said here, doesn't TL have some PG skills? Which brings up a good point about UB's recruiting. He saw this void and tried to bring in Morris for this year and next. NOw that's big time coaching...too bad he wasn't big time enough to have Morris take some correspondence courses....joke...not a slam. Who do we see as starting PG next year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 Point taken! It just seemed like an effort to rain on our parade his year when things--for now--seem to be going well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted January 27, 2004 Author Share Posted January 27, 2004 Unless Polk is better than expected (and I expect him to be very good), I don't see Brad starting a frosh at PG, at least until late in the season. At the start of the season I see AD as the starter with DP getting 10-20 minutes based on how well he adapts to D1 ball. I'd hate to see us invest a scholarship in a JUCO PG for next year when both AD and that JUCO would be Juniors and DP would have to compete with 2 other PGs for 2 years. I'd much rather see us recruit another Fr. PG when AD leaves. Given the fact that you usually want your best PG to play 28-35 minutes/game, I think you only want 2 of them on your roster at any given time. The one reason I would stray from this approach is if we have some doubts about DP's knee holding up and we want some insurance to protect us from a season-ending type injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 tseugnekillib that is discouraging insight or speculation. i fear if tommie liddell doesnt come now, he never will. the wolves will be after him like crazy and once he gets away from home our "home court advantage" is gone. i hope you are wrong on this one. sadly, you rarely are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 i would hate to see a recruiting class where we only get one player. thus, a juco or two this year would be perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 bauman, I have a different view. Of the five positions on the court, the one position that I would allocate three laddered scholarships to would be the point guard position. Potential injuries and foul troubles alone almost dictate that you carry three point guards. Scenarios late in the game where you want to run-clock and protect the ball may also call for two point guards (best ball handlers/best free throw shooters)in the game at the same time. Combo guards (PG-2G) also a possibility, but I favor good point guards and the bigger/stronger the better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 broy, pure speculation on my part, as I look at all possible scenarios. I hope to see TL practicing at West Pine next October. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 thank you! :-) i was going to come over and talk to you saturday nite and all at once you were gone. crowd just wear you down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 no broy; I had a personal two-game limit at East, as I had to get to the hospital and see my wife before visiting hours were over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 i hope she is doing ok. you missed an interesting finale. you going to west to watch west vs east side saturday nite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted January 27, 2004 Share Posted January 27, 2004 As far as I know, Tommie has the grades but not the test score. So he'll be a partial qualifier at worst. We won't have a scholarship open for an additional point guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketbill Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AB34 Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Is there any chance we can get Tatum's old lawyer to help TL take the test untimed? Just a joke, guys, just a joke. I hope everything turns out well with him and he's wearing Billiken blue next fall. Meyer and him on the wings could be a lot of fun the next couple years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted January 28, 2004 Share Posted January 28, 2004 Bauman, I agree on the Lisch thing. It's a shame he gets more posts and attention on this board than Polk, Meyer, and Liddel combined. He's not even for sure coming here. Next year I am very concerned about losing JF. I am not as converned with Sloan. I think somebody will step up whether it's a JUCO player or JJ or whoever. Drejaj is NOT our answer for Fish though. That concerns me a lot. I know he will be a year more experienced, but to me he is a loose cannon and I don't think he is a fit for that role. TF will be even better next year as will Reggie. IO will more than likely be better. Hopefully Ian will be better as well. All that being said, I think with the new recruits, we will be a better team. TF and RB will have to carry the load the first 10 games or so and hopefully the others will step up to help out after that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 I agree just not a PG who would graduate the same year as AD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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