Tip-Off Club 10-21-2008

[jimbofive]

you can probably say that about 90% of schools each year. lose your top two players without similar replacement and the team would dive.

Yeah, but we would win 5 games. Maybe.

[jimbofive]

Yeah, but we would win 5 games. Maybe.

Also, I'm finishing watching Rebound: The Story of Earl "The Goat" Manigault starring Don Cheadle and that super hot chick Nicole Parker (Fig. 1) right now, and when he got kicked out of school for smoking weed and not doing the high jump, his team lost the championship! So I think it would be like that except we're not even in the championship.

Figure 1

[Majerus Magic]

The assistant GM for the Jazz was at practice yesterday, if that means anything

A friend of Majerus. However, I'm sure he's taking a good look at Tommie and Kevin as well.

[Pistol]

Great and interesting comments. Really enjoy the return of basketball talk. Thank you.

1. A little surprised (not complaining or disagreeing - just surprised) that RC will not play the pg this year. Anyone else?

2. Redshirt for WR? RM sure has guts. Despite being shorthanded last year, he redshirted DM when he could have used another warm body, if for no other reason, than as a practice player. This year, we again have no depth at the 4 and 5 position (lost LM, DB and BH and only BE - who wasn't all that good last year - is returning) and RM is suggesting to WR that he redshirt? What happens if an injury to BE, BT or BC? That's alot of minutes for these 3 or we will - as indicated - definitely watch 4 guards alot more than I thought this year. Who would the 4 guards be? KM, KL, TL and RC?

3. Uninspired performances by May and Irby. Why couldn't we find guys who would not only be "yes men" to RM but also be a little more inspiring? Debbie Yow and Cheryl Levick, wish you were here.

4. No jucos and possible WR redshirt? That would mean 6 Freshmen, and 5 frehmen next year, right?

5. The October 30th event: any practice or basketball that night or is this just a "meet & great" while eating bbq?

6. $7 beers?? What a slap in the face for the die-hards. That act alone speaks volumes.

1. Not really. He's said all along what a natural PG Mitchell is and we've got Lisch and occasionally TL will bring the ball up. The thing about this team, with Lisch, Liddell, and a bunch of freshman, I don't think the roles are going to be as easy to define as 1-2-3-4-5, especially with the guards. Plus, Cotto is billed as a shooter so I'd think he's being molded into a 2.

2. I don't think anyone said Reed would be redshirted, just that he was going to be at the end of the rotation. I think the comment was that one of the bigs we're trying to sign for next year is a probable redshirt candidate.

4. Wouldn't the freshman count be 8 this year, and 4 next year (7 sophs, with D. Lisch leaving)? I believe he said the fall and spring classes would be 3 and 1 or 2 and 2.

5. Probably just meet and greet. That's what it was last year. And why do we always have these meetings, banquets, and events on weekdays? They don't make it easy to support this program from afar.

[willie]

1. Not really. He's said all along what a natural PG Mitchell is and we've got Lisch and occasionally TL will bring the ball up. The thing about this team, with Lisch, Liddell, and a bunch of freshman, I don't think the roles are going to be as easy to define as 1-2-3-4-5, especially with the guards. Plus, Cotto is billed as a shooter so I'd think he's being molded into a 2.

2. I don't think anyone said Reed would be redshirted, just that he was going to be at the end of the rotation. I think the comment was that one of the bigs we're trying to sign for next year is a probable redshirt candidate.

4. Wouldn't the freshman count be 8 this year, and 4 next year (7 sophs, with D. Lisch leaving)? I believe he said the fall and spring classes would be 3 and 1 or 2 and 2.

5. Probably just meet and greet. That's what it was last year. And why do we always have these meetings, banquets, and events on weekdays? They don't make it easy to support this program from afar.

Rick was asked the direct question as to would anybody redshirt. He immediately brought up Willie's name as to someone who might benefit by a redshirt year. Rick then rambled on for 5 min., but I got the impression that if Willie would agree it was a real possibility.

[davidnark]

Everyone hears and interprets things a little differently, but here are a few clarifiaction based upon my interpretations of what Majerus was saying:

1. Mejerus really, really likes Ruben Cotto. However, what he values about Ruben's game is his hard work, speed, his overall ability to score, and most importantly the elevation and range he gets for his jump shot. He suggested that Ruben will get a lot of playing time, but will not learn and play the point this year because his skill set is best suited for the shooting guard spot.

2. I absolutely never heard coach say that Willie Reed would be redshirted. The question was asked whether any of the kids are redshirt candidates. Majerus indicated that Willie would probably be the best candidate because he needs to add a lot of weight and muscle and because has been away from the game for a while and therefore would benefit from an extra year of practice time. He also mentioned that Willie had a recent family tragedy and could probably benefit from an extra year to focus on getting adjusted to college. Whether or not Willie is redshirted will be based upon the development of Willie and the other big man over the next month, as well as the overall needs of the team and the wishes of Willie and his family.

[kshoe]

Great and interesting comments. Really enjoy the return of basketball talk. Thank you.

1. A little surprised (not complaining or disagreeing - just surprised) that RC will not play the pg this year. Anyone else?

2. Redshirt for WR? RM sure has guts. Despite being shorthanded last year, he redshirted DM when he could have used another warm body, if for no other reason, than as a practice player. This year, we again have no depth at the 4 and 5 position (lost LM, DB and BH and only BE - who wasn't all that good last year - is returning) and RM is suggesting to WR that he redshirt? What happens if an injury to BE, BT or BC? That's alot of minutes for these 3 or we will - as indicated - definitely watch 4 guards alot more than I thought this year. Who would the 4 guards be? KM, KL, TL and RC?

3. Uninspired performances by May and Irby. Why couldn't we find guys who would not only be "yes men" to RM but also be a little more inspiring? Debbie Yow and Cheryl Levick, wish you were here.

4. No jucos and possible WR redshirt? That would mean 6 Freshmen, and 5 frehmen next year, right?

5. The October 30th event: any practice or basketball that night or is this just a "meet & great" while eating bbq?

6. $7 beers?? What a slap in the face for the die-hards. That act alone speaks volumes.

2. If someone gets hurt you can always pull a player off of the red-shirt.

3. I thought both were fine if not good. Since I already know your feeling towards May, I hope you gave them a fair chance before dismissing them.

6. Couldn't agree more. The BC is a group that already pays a large amount through donations. Beers should be in the $3 range and soda should be free. There should be food enough for everyone. If you want to charge $7 at a game, thats fine, but not when you are pampering to your primary donors.

[GOSLU68]

$3.00 for a soda in about a 10 oz. cup. I think they said free refills, but I didn't have an extra 30 minutes to wait in line. They had chicken fingers, but ran out about 10-15 minutes before the meeting started. Definately not a good showing for Lor...ini's.

I like May and agree with the poster who said to give him time and judge him on the results. If we end up on 101.1, he will have already significantly improved our radio. If he's behind the move for better TV, kudos again when it's complete.

Re: "the restaurant" if this is a signal the people who have paid in $5000 or $10,000 to be eligible to use it during events are not going to be happy.

The two women behind the bar were effecient but definitely not owners or concessionaires. I got the impression there were only servers in attendance;There was no front person just school kids in the halls as greeters.

Jan from Humphreys's was another class act staying until RM left. Shows her heart supports the Billiken Club.

I had a mixed drink and also a glass of coke for $9 not sure that that is out of line for Scotch and a second non alcoholic drink

Chris May was fine. Give the guy a chance he said the radio deal was not rignt and he wasn't going to sign it until it improved but it would be a better

signal

[Clock_Tower]

Re: "the restaurant" if this is a signal the people who have paid in $5000 or $10,000 to be eligible to use it during events are not going to be happy.

The two women behind the bar were effecient but definitely not owners or concessionaires. I got the impression there were only servers in attendance;There was no front person just school kids in the halls as greeters.

Jan from Humphreys's was another class act staying until RM left. Shows her heart supports the Billiken Club.

I had a mixed drink and coke for $9 not sure that that is out of line for Scotch

Chris May was fine. Give the guy a chance he said the radio deal was not rignt and he wasn't going to sign it until it improved but it would be a better

signal

$9 is not out-of-line for a nice restaurant, good atmosphere and service. For University hosting a meeting of the loyal, die-hard boosters and many former alums to a meeting prior to the season? Yes, I'd say that $9 Scotch and $7 beers are out-of-line. What is the purpose? Raise even more revenue from the same people or to reasonably cover your costs and not promote reckless behavior (free and unlimited beer for example). Though, that would be an event I'd attend.

Even though I make a pot of coffee at the office using Starbucks coffee does not mean that I should charge Starbucks prices to people I invite to come by.

Save the $7 beer and $9 drink prices for games. Cut the boosters a break. $3 to $4 for beer and $5 or so for Scotch.

[Major Majerus]

I arrived early and they had a nice spread, but I could see it wasn't going to last long; 2 guys joined our table with essentially a small plate of scraps. While Lorenzini's offers Schlafly products, they were not offerred last night; the ladies told me only AB products would be served that night. While Budweiser is presumably a champion lager, I just don't drink that watery sh*t - especially when they try to force it on you. I had the free water in a glass of ice and tipped them $1. The venue was superb, but I'll take Jan's any day...when the crowd is smaller.

[brianstl]

The only thing that surprised me was Willie Reed not being in the top 9. That means Tommie is back to part-time duty at the 4 and either Barry or Brian will be playing even more minutes at the 5 than I thought. The good news is Tommie's rebounding numbers should like they did under Soderberg. The bad news is we're once again the smallest team in the conference.

It looks like you were exactly right about Cotto not getting minutes at the point. I was completely wrong about that. I thought he would.

It won't be great for the team or Tommie if Tommie has to play a significant amount of minutes at the four.

[NH]

I sure hope so, I'd really like to see him get a chance at the NBA. Kevin, too, though unless Kevin decides to shoot 50% from three this year, his options are a bit more limited in my mind. No matter though, it sounds like they both have their academics in order, and they'll never hurt for a job in STL. If not for those two, Billiken basketball would have been in a SORRY state these past few years. I like that Majerus has given them and Barry the green light, which seems to be a continuation of late last year. Tommie especially does not need a strict offense to get his points. I would keep an eye on Barry's leash, but Tommie and Kevin could create havoc if Kwamain actually makes his man guard him. I expect Tommie and Kevin to put up some big numbers against our special olympics non-con schedule.

Bob ferry is a scout for the cleveland cavaliers and I talked to him at the a-10 tourney. He said going into his junior year tommie was the top prospect in the A-10 but slipped during junior year. He said Tommie needs strength but has good size and athleticism (no real suprises just saying). He said he does not think of KL as an NBA prosbect, Too short and not athletic enough.

Thats just one scouts opinion of course

[cheeseman]

Great and interesting comments. Really enjoy the return of basketball talk. Thank you.

1. A little surprised (not complaining or disagreeing - just surprised) that RC will not play the pg this year. Anyone else?

2. Redshirt for WR? RM sure has guts. Despite being shorthanded last year, he redshirted DM when he could have used another warm body, if for no other reason, than as a practice player. This year, we again have no depth at the 4 and 5 position (lost LM, DB and BH and only BE - who wasn't all that good last year - is returning) and RM is suggesting to WR that he redshirt? What happens if an injury to BE, BT or BC? That's alot of minutes for these 3 or we will - as indicated - definitely watch 4 guards alot more than I thought this year. Who would the 4 guards be? KM, KL, TL and RC?

3. Uninspired performances by May and Irby. Why couldn't we find guys who would not only be "yes men" to RM but also be a little more inspiring? Debbie Yow and Cheryl Levick, wish you were here.

4. No jucos and possible WR redshirt? That would mean 6 Freshmen, and 5 frehmen next year, right?

5. The October 30th event: any practice or basketball that night or is this just a "meet & great" while eating bbq?

6. $7 beers?? What a slap in the face for the die-hards. That act alone speaks volumes.

He did not say that Reed would be redshirting - he said he thought it might be a good idea but they only have 10 floor players so that simply might not be possible.

He said that KL would be the back up PG.

[cheeseman]

Cheese how do you know May doesn't look good in a short skirt and heels? Have you seen him in one?

Good point - I was making an assumption and I should not have done that.

[cheeseman]

The only thing that surprised me was Willie Reed not being in the top 9. That means Tommie is back to part-time duty at the 4 and either Barry or Brian will be playing even more minutes at the 5 than I thought. The good news is Tommie's rebounding numbers should like they did under Soderberg. The bad news is we're once again the smallest team in the conference.

He never said that Reed was not going to play - he also said they would probably play with two PF and not a traditional center for now. That does not necessarily mean that TL has to play a forward position.

[Taj79]

Great reports. Thanks to all. I am getting excited. Some thoughts ...

#1. Important stuff first, this was a Billiken Club meeting. Don't you guys who belong (I would if I were local again) pay some sort of upfront admission or entry fee? In that case, tappakeggabeers for tops, a buck. How many one dollar beers can you get from a keg? How much does a keg cost now? Equal seems to be equal, at least in this setting.

#2. Cotto as a 2 doesn't surprise me right now. Short of KL, we don't have a legitimate secondary outside scoring threat at all. TL was not a shooter, more a slasher. BE has an incomplete on my scorecard based on last year. I watched poor PE launch a whole lot of halfway down the bucket shots that came out at the Smith Center at Geedub. In case you forgot, that was the new record for lowest points scored in a game. I don't really see PE as the second outside option. So Cotto is okay. And with KL and TL having done it before, that's okay. I am very happy to know the rock is in KMs hands at least 80 to 85% of the time.

#3. If Cotto indeed does become the second 2, I've got to believe that Cassity is the third 2 or maybe 2B. This kid was a shooter right? Roy describes him as a potential Doug Collins clone. Collins was an all-around, constant motion kind of player and I recall his shot didn't hurt him much. So if Cassity is that, give me a "hell yeah." Double when added to Cotto.

#4. The redshirt issue with Reed makes complete sense. Skinny kid. Needs muscle. Sat out last year with the Christian Academy run around. Lots of talk about needing physical and skill development. Now the death in family episode. I missed half a year once because of shoulder surgery. I could never play at this level but the memories of what it took to get back AND be comfortable are still vivid. Its extremely tough. From those standpoints, looking around the limited roster, the Reed answer is obvious when asked a question like "if one were to redshirt, who would that be?" I don't think it is written in stone right now but you never know. If you are the coach and are asked that question, and Reed is not on the roster, who is the answr then? I'd say "no one" is the answer.

#5. I don't think you can bring a kid back off redshirt status once that is claimed. That is why you can wait (I think) a few games into the season to make the call. I also think the kid might actually have to sit and not play those games while you come to that decision but it might be impossible to reverse that decision. I'll have to look it up. If the kid plays for a while, like five or six games, and gets majorly hurt, he can file for an injury redshirt. That, plus the usual five-to-play-four NCAA guidelines, is why some guys ar ein college for six years or even play their fourth year while in grad school.

#6. The lineup. I haven't done this yet, but I would think the only reason to be against a typical 1-2-3-4-5 lineup is tradition. Matchups will play a huge role. We have almsot agreed that college is a guard's game. Having a true center in the college ranks seems to be less and less typical as the years pass by. The Greg Odens of the world are lasting maybe one year tops in the ranks so going out there night in and night out with two fours or a four and a three and the rest guards isn't that bad of a deal. I would suggest, I don't really know right now, that most of the A10 teams are lucky if they have even one big man of substantial worth. Wright is at Dayton. Which makes complimentary pieces like Huelsman and Little better. But even Freeman couldn't carry Umass all that well and neither did Dunston at Fordham. Voyoukas wasn't as dominant as I had hoped he'd be. Steve Smith did well at La Salle and I'd even question if West would have been as good at X had it not been for Sato and the others around him. That does not mean I want TL playing the bulk of his time at the four. But with the talent on this year's team, even though they are freshmen, I'm not as concerned as I was heading into the last two years. Amazing --- the kid was our defacto four and yet we had discussions on how he was our 1. Now that's a range.

#7. I am still in the pro-Levrick camp but am willing to let May run a while before I offer anything there. The man has always talked fair enough to me and I'm nobody. So that's cool.

#8. Recruiting. Don't like the sound of waiting until the Spring. We all know how that goes. I was going to say that JUCOs don't play well with us but that will lead to what about Justin Love, and Mo Jeffers, and Kenny Brown and a few others. In generalizing, however, I would still say I'm against that. Even the Loves and Jeffers of the program took a year, and that leaves one year to go and I'd rather take chances with four-year players. Plus I am not even going into the transcripts issue and majors. Give me a moldable four year guy any time.

#9. I will always respect a kid who hangs around through a coaching change as Kl and TL did. I think TL will be better in the long run for it. Having said that, given RMs review of those he let go, I am not surprised. In that regard, I think the program has a greater chance of making progress to where we all want to be. The more I get removed from the past regime, the more I believe that to be true. Again time will tell.

[Guest BillikenReport]

#5. I don't think you can bring a kid back off redshirt status once that is claimed. That is why you can wait (I think) a few games into the season to make the call. I also think the kid might actually have to sit and not play those games while you come to that decision but it might be impossible to reverse that decision. I'll have to look it up. If the kid plays for a while, like five or six games, and gets majorly hurt, he can file for an injury redshirt. That, plus the usual five-to-play-four NCAA guidelines, is why some guys ar ein college for six years or even play their fourth year while in grad school.

You can pull a kid off redshirt status at any time and play him. It's more of a matter of whether or not doing so is the best thing for the kid and for the team. You don't want to pull a redshirt for a kid and then not play him enough minutes for it to matter.

If you have a situation where it looks like a kid will play very few minutes and could benefit from a redshirt season (and most kids would), then you redshirt that kid and let him watch and practice for the entire season.

Part of the rule regarding freshmen and redshirting, if I remember correctly and this hasn't changed, is that the player can participate in the exhibition games and still redshirt that year during the regular season. I would expect this to be the case with D. Lisch this year and whoever else might be a candidate to redshirt.

[Taj79]

So Nate, DL got a free ride to redshirt? That makes sense I guess, especially if he transfers to a non-D1 school after this year. But this is the first time I've evern heard of that being the case (and that could be memory span issues on my part).

Another thing, correct me here as well, but if you do redshirt, while you can practice, you cannot suit up for the game and sit on the home bench can you? Also, you cannot go on road trips at all? Can you be on the bench in boht cases but be in street clothes? Or is it only at home games on the bench in street clothes?

Thanks in advance.

[Guest BillikenReport]

So Nate, DL got a free ride to redshirt? That makes sense I guess, especially if he transfers to a non-D1 school after this year. But this is the first time I've evern heard of that being the case (and that could be memory span issues on my part).

Another thing, correct me here as well, but if you do redshirt, while you can practice, you cannot suit up for the game and sit on the home bench can you? Also, you cannot go on road trips at all? Can you be on the bench in boht cases but be in street clothes? Or is it only at home games on the bench in street clothes?

DL got a free ride to be a practice player. He's not good enough to contribute much to SLU on the court, which is why he was going to go to Fontbonne. There's a chance he could come in and prove people wrong, like Eckerle did last year, but if Majerus thought DL could contribute to the program as more than a practice player, he would have offered a scholarship for more than this year. If he redshirts this season, and there's no reason he shouldn't, he would then have four years of eligibility remaining at a school like Fontbonne or Wash. U. or whatever D-3 school he ends up at. It's a win-win deal for all parties involved, because SLU gets a practice player and DL gets a free year of a college education.

I think as far as sitting on the bench, redshirts can suit up, but there's really no reason to another than to participate in the shootaround before the game starts and before the second half. Maguire did this last year, if I remember correctly, until he got hurt later in the season. I don't think there are any restrictions on those players being allowed to travel with the team as well.

[jimbofive]

DL got a free ride to be a practice player. He's not good enough to contribute much to SLU on the court, which is why he was going to go to Fontbonne. There's a chance he could come in and prove people wrong, like Eckerle did last year, but if Majerus thought DL could contribute to the program as more than a practice player, he would have offered a scholarship for more than this year. If he redshirts this season, and there's no reason he shouldn't, he would then have four years of eligibility remaining at a school like Fontbonne or Wash. U. or whatever D-3 school he ends up at. It's a win-win deal for all parties involved, because SLU gets a practice player and DL gets a free year of a college education.

I think as far as sitting on the bench, redshirts can suit up, but there's really no reason to another than to participate in the shootaround before the game starts and before the second half. Maguire did this last year, if I remember correctly, until he got hurt later in the season. I don't think there are any restrictions on those players being allowed to travel with the team as well.

I don't think Paul was nearly as much of a surprise as Daniel Lisch would be if he contributed in any way in the upcoming season. Paul was a primetime scorer in high school, Lisch only scored about half as much. But I wouldn't put anything past a Lisch, even agreeing to marry a dirtbag like Trent Meacham.

[cheeseman]

Great reports. Thanks to all. I am getting excited. Some thoughts ...

#1. Important stuff first, this was a Billiken Club meeting. Don't you guys who belong (I would if I were local again) pay some sort of upfront admission or entry fee? In that case, tappakeggabeers for tops, a buck. How many one dollar beers can you get from a keg? How much does a keg cost now? Equal seems to be equal, at least in this setting.

#2. Cotto as a 2 doesn't surprise me right now. Short of KL, we don't have a legitimate secondary outside scoring threat at all. TL was not a shooter, more a slasher. BE has an incomplete on my scorecard based on last year. I watched poor PE launch a whole lot of halfway down the bucket shots that came out at the Smith Center at Geedub. In case you forgot, that was the new record for lowest points scored in a game. I don't really see PE as the second outside option. So Cotto is okay. And with KL and TL having done it before, that's okay. I am very happy to know the rock is in KMs hands at least 80 to 85% of the time.

#3. If Cotto indeed does become the second 2, I've got to believe that Cassity is the third 2 or maybe 2B. This kid was a shooter right? Roy describes him as a potential Doug Collins clone. Collins was an all-around, constant motion kind of player and I recall his shot didn't hurt him much. So if Cassity is that, give me a "hell yeah." Double when added to Cotto.

#4. The redshirt issue with Reed makes complete sense. Skinny kid. Needs muscle. Sat out last year with the Christian Academy run around. Lots of talk about needing physical and skill development. Now the death in family episode. I missed half a year once because of shoulder surgery. I could never play at this level but the memories of what it took to get back AND be comfortable are still vivid. Its extremely tough. From those standpoints, looking around the limited roster, the Reed answer is obvious when asked a question like "if one were to redshirt, who would that be?" I don't think it is written in stone right now but you never know. If you are the coach and are asked that question, and Reed is not on the roster, who is the answr then? I'd say "no one" is the answer.

#5. I don't think you can bring a kid back off redshirt status once that is claimed. That is why you can wait (I think) a few games into the season to make the call. I also think the kid might actually have to sit and not play those games while you come to that decision but it might be impossible to reverse that decision. I'll have to look it up. If the kid plays for a while, like five or six games, and gets majorly hurt, he can file for an injury redshirt. That, plus the usual five-to-play-four NCAA guidelines, is why some guys ar ein college for six years or even play their fourth year while in grad school.

#6. The lineup. I haven't done this yet, but I would think the only reason to be against a typical 1-2-3-4-5 lineup is tradition. Matchups will play a huge role. We have almsot agreed that college is a guard's game. Having a true center in the college ranks seems to be less and less typical as the years pass by. The Greg Odens of the world are lasting maybe one year tops in the ranks so going out there night in and night out with two fours or a four and a three and the rest guards isn't that bad of a deal. I would suggest, I don't really know right now, that most of the A10 teams are lucky if they have even one big man of substantial worth. Wright is at Dayton. Which makes complimentary pieces like Huelsman and Little better. But even Freeman couldn't carry Umass all that well and neither did Dunston at Fordham. Voyoukas wasn't as dominant as I had hoped he'd be. Steve Smith did well at La Salle and I'd even question if West would have been as good at X had it not been for Sato and the others around him. That does not mean I want TL playing the bulk of his time at the four. But with the talent on this year's team, even though they are freshmen, I'm not as concerned as I was heading into the last two years. Amazing --- the kid was our defacto four and yet we had discussions on how he was our 1. Now that's a range.

#7. I am still in the pro-Levrick camp but am willing to let May run a while before I offer anything there. The man has always talked fair enough to me and I'm nobody. So that's cool.

#8. Recruiting. Don't like the sound of waiting until the Spring. We all know how that goes. I was going to say that JUCOs don't play well with us but that will lead to what about Justin Love, and Mo Jeffers, and Kenny Brown and a few others. In generalizing, however, I would still say I'm against that. Even the Loves and Jeffers of the program took a year, and that leaves one year to go and I'd rather take chances with four-year players. Plus I am not even going into the transcripts issue and majors. Give me a moldable four year guy any time.

#9. I will always respect a kid who hangs around through a coaching change as Kl and TL did. I think TL will be better in the long run for it. Having said that, given RMs review of those he let go, I am not surprised. In that regard, I think the program has a greater chance of making progress to where we all want to be. The more I get removed from the past regime, the more I believe that to be true. Again time will tell.

#1 - no draft was available that night. I do agree that if this was Lorenzo's chance to shine they did not take advantage of it.

#3 - RM said that Cassity would play pg at some time.

#4 - the problem with red shirting anyone is we only have 10 floor players on schollies so you have to willing to play walk ons if necessary and the 3 walk ons that we saw last night were all guards so Reed would really want to have to red shirt for that to happen.

#7 - it is not about being for or against CL - she left so she is not an option. You can still be supportive of May without turning on CL. The two are mutually exclusive.

#8 - RM said he plans to sign 3 in the Fall and one in the Spring. One is committed so all he has to do is sign 2 we have not heard of yet. There is no problem with looking to sign one in the Spring - besides, he plans to recruit over Daniel Lisch so we really have 2 for the Spring if needed.

[Malibubill]

As an out-of-towner I've really appreciated the reports on the meeting. Thanks to all who have written.

Couple of quick points. First, I want to acknowledge that I was not at the meeting so all of my impressions are based on what I have read here. Thus my comments are now 'third hand' comments. I acknowledge that it is starting to sound like a game of telephone where what I 'heard' may be far removed from what was actually said. But based on the comments it sounds like to me like KM is the real deal. Tommie's comments about him make me believe that he is as good as billed and will be an improvement at pg over last year. TL and KL appear to have improved (stronger, mentally more comfortable with RM's system, and apparently RM is more comfortable with both of them, 'loosening the reins' on both of them already - and I can only assume from their comments that they also worked hard on their conditioning and are ready to assume the leadership roles inherent in being out-going seniors). BE appears to have taken RM's words to heart about losing weight and being in better physical shape to play. I can't help but assume that will result in improved play from him. There appears to be a significant up-grade in four of the five starting positions. As for the center position, however, it sounds like there is much more of a question mark. I was hoping that one of the freshman would come in and step forward as the front runner for the position. The fact that none of them has makes me nervous about that position. I actually thought it might be BC (as a second power forward), but he does not appear to have distinguished himself enough - at least yet. Based on the reports coming out about him, I expected him to be further along than BT or WR, but either those reports were off or RM would prefer a more traditional center/bigger body and is factoring that into the depth chart. Either way, I have to confess that I was hoping/expecting to hear more exciting news about BC. I don't mean that as criticism of him, just hoping for more at this stage - but there is still time left for him to assert himself.

There also appears to be good chemistry on the team so far. I think that is important. I had some concern that there might have been some tension between the young guns coming in and the seniors going out, but it sounds like the opposite has occurred. Congratulations to the coaching staff and the players on making sure there has been a smooth blending of the new players with the returning players.

Bottom line, I think it sounds like we should open the season with a better 5 on the court than we ended it last year. If this season's starting 5 played the group that ended last season starting, who do you think would win? I know, a purely abstract question, but I'd be interested in the assessment of those who saw the players (last year and this year at the meeting) and were at the meeting. Are we starting this season ahead of where we ended last year, at about the same spot, or behind (but with great potential to surpass in light of the talent in the freshman class)?

Second, I think it was reported that there will be 5 freshman on the court at times. Who would you guess they would be and what positions do you think they will be playing? I assume it would be KM, RC, Cassity (can't remember his first name), BC and BT. Agreed? FJ over Cassity? If so, where is the scoring going to come from? I know that question is really looking to next year, and we still don't know who else will be on the team then, but I think most would agree that this year we expect TL and KL to carry the load scoring wise, with BE hopefully stepping up and taking some pressure off of them. So what will those three account for - 75% of the scoring this year? More? If so, that will be a lot of points to pick up next year. I know it is early, but any impressions as to who will start to step up this year out of the freshman? Who will be the scorers when the seniors are on the bench (I agree that RM will stagger their breaks so it will not be often that all five on the court will be freshman, but someone wrote that will happen at times - who will score during those times?)

Looking forward to more reports on how the team progresses.

[3star_recruit]

He never said that Reed was not going to play

Neither did I.

he also said they would probably play with two PF and not a traditional center for now. That does not necessarily mean that TL has to play a forward position.

If you start two power forwards, that guarantees TL will be a backup 4. Who else is gonna do it?

[kshoe]

Neither did I.

If you start two power forwards, that guarantees TL will be a backup 4. Who else is gonna do it?

As best I can tell, we have 4 players capable of playing the two inside positions: BE, BT, BC and WR. Why does Tommie have to be a back-up?

[3star_recruit]

Both players are newbies but at least Reed has the athleticism to play spot minutes at the 4. Playing someone as slow as Thompson there would be suicide. He's got enough on his plate just to trying to keep pace with college centers.

I don't want Tommie to have to play the backup power forward role. That's just how the math works out when you only have two power forwards and one of them is projected to play heavy minutes at the 5.