RUBillsFan Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Since I recently graduated from Rockhurst, I figured I would throw up a kind of preview post about the game against the Hawks. Full disclosure, I didn't have much interest in Rockhurst basketball, so I only went to a handful of games last year. My analysis probably isn't the greatest. First off, in many ways this is a trap game for SLU. They play a D-II school that is easy to overlook, they are coming off a big win against a "rival", they will have had a full week between games, and the game is during finals. Even with those factors, I still think SLU blows Rockhurst out of the water. Rockhurst plays in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (along with Missouri S&T (Rolla) where Adam Knollemeyer plays and Northern Kentucky where Dustin Macguire plays). Last year that finished near the top of the GLVC, made the NCAA D-II tourny, and also beat D-1 Loyola Chicago in Chicago. This year they are 5-3 so far. Rockhurst lost most of their inside players from last year, but return last years GLVC player of the year Aaron Hill. Hill is currently in his 6th year with the Hawks. He redshirted freshman year and then had a medical redshirt later. Hill is a sharpshooter (46.5% from 3 this season) and averages 20.9 points per game. He is listed at 6'1 on the roster but I think that is generous. SLU should really get in his face to try to make him put it on the floor instead of shooting 3s. The other returning starters from last year are Jake Meyer (6'5 again generous) and Tyler Knust (5'10). Meyer likes to shoot from outside, but it looks like he's struggling this year (21% from 3). Knust is more of a pass-first guard than a shooter, but it looks like he is shooting it okay this year (39% from 3). It also looks like they have a new forward Aaron Morrissey who can shoot as well (47% from 3). You probably noticed I paid close attention to how well the Rockhurst players were shooting from 3 point land. This is because they shoot a lot from the outside (in 8 games they are 76/204 (37%) as a team, SLU in 8 games is 50/146 for comparison). SLU does a good job with 3pt defense, so they shouldn't have much trouble. IMO they should get out on all the Rockhurst players and make they put it on the floor. Basically funnel everything into Willie Reed and invite Rockhurst to the block party. Rockhurst also plays faster than SLU averaging 77 point a game and giving up 72. This is probably because they have no big men to speak of. The tallest player on their team is 6'8 235 and he has only played 1 minute this season. The tallest player getting any minutes is 6'6 215. Their starting lineup goes (and these heights are generous IMO) 5'10, 6'1, 6'5, 6'5, 6'5. Basically Willie Reed should have his way inside. Even Conklin will be taller than anyone Rockhurst plays. I anticipate SLU's defense will give Rockhurst fits as long as they deny the Hawks open looks from 3. Even with SLU's less than stellar offense, they should have no trouble scoring on Rockhurst. Another note, Rockhurst sent out an invitation for St. Louis area alumni get a ticket to the game and a pre-game dinner reception for $20. I doubt many alumni will attend given that very few students go to games at Rockhurst, but there may be a small contingent of Rockhurst fans in some section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for the rundown. I agree, not one game on our schedule can be taken for granted, and I hope the guys don't come out asleep for this one. If LeMoyne can beat Syracuse, Rockhurst can beat SLU. I'm just hoping our guys are well-rested and clear-headed, and don't stumble out of the gate, and we should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Another note, Rockhurst sent out an invitation for St. Louis area alumni get a ticket to the game and a pre-game dinner reception for $20. I doubt many alumni will attend given that very few students go to games at Rockhurst, but there may be a small contingent of Rockhurst fans in some section. -i have had 2 different rock alums tell me they bought tix, bring it on we'll take their money!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runnin'Billiken Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Thanks for the team summary RU. Saved me a lot of time looking up info for this school which I knew pretty much nothing about. If they're going to put a 6'5" guy on Willie then I'm looking for 20+ and 15+ out of the big fella and/or some extra minutes for the freshman bigs to see what they can do with some floor time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefan Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 I too graduated from Rockhurst and about 20 Rockhurst grads are also going to the game. The good thing about this game is that one it is bringing in money for SLU but also about half of Rockhurst are from St. Louis so hopefully these people will become more interested in the Slu games. The bad thing about Rockhurst is that their two best players (one is a big man) are not cleared to play this year. Hill, is a player. Slu could use him for his shooting. One question, we have the Jimmy V classic and all the other tournaments what about a Jesuit classic (or could just have a Catholic classic)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted December 10, 2009 Author Share Posted December 10, 2009 One question, we have the Jimmy V classic and all the other tournaments what about a Jesuit classic (or could just have a Catholic classic)? All of those tournaments are about money. I doubt ESPN or other sponsors would want to promote/organize a "religious" tournament because it would open them up to a lot of complaints from other religions and whatnot. By the way, who are the Rockhurst 2 players that are ineligible? Are they new this year? I doubt they are Rockhurst's two best players because Hill is obviously their best player (since he was the best player in the entire conference last year). Maybe they are #2 and #3, but Hill is #1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefan Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 All of those tournaments are about money. I doubt ESPN or other sponsors would want to promote/organize a "religious" tournament because it would open them up to a lot of complaints from other religions and whatnot. By the way, who are the Rockhurst 2 players that are ineligible? Are they new this year? I doubt they are Rockhurst's two best players because Hill is obviously their best player (since he was the best player in the entire conference last year). Maybe they are #2 and #3, but Hill is #1. One is a big man from a foriegn country (6'9) the other is a guard. They are both new to the team. You are correct about Hill being the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 Over/Under for the number of minutes Darrin Young sees this game? I'm going to set it at 2 and I think I would take the over b/c I would bet on 2 minutes and change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 I've also heard that students (or possibly former students who still have their ID) can get into this game FREE with their ID and a canned good. Hopefully this not only brings in a haul of canned goods for the needy, but gets students who have stuck around after finals to come out to the game and be rowdy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills10 Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 I've also heard that students (or possibly former students who still have their ID) can get into this game FREE with their ID and a canned good. Hopefully this not only brings in a haul of canned goods for the needy, but gets students who have stuck around after finals to come out to the game and be rowdy. Finals still go on until Tuesday, so I think that most people are still on campus. Hopefully, there will be a ton of people there, but it is really hard to get excited about this match-up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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