Mike McCall

[EMS67]

http://yourseason.suntimes.com/boys_basket...-payton.article

[Billikan]

Don't you love the description of "red hot shooting"!!!!!! We could use him now!!!

[Hawk]

Can't get here soon enough...

[GoBills]

Next year, minutes in the backcourt will become more and more difficult to come by. You add McCall and a hopefully a healthy Jeff Reid, there will be a lot of options. And I look for Christian to continue to improve and become more consistent. For those who are down on Kyle, no need to worry. He will have to earn his playing time. If he improves, then he'll be fine. If not, he will be on the bench a lot.

[bauman]

Next year, minutes in the backcourt will become more and more difficult to come by. You add McCall and a hopefully a healthy Jeff Reid, there will be a lot of options. And I look for Christian to continue to improve and become more consistent. For those who are down on Kyle, no need to worry. He will have to earn his playing time. If he improves, then he'll be fine. If not, he will be on the bench a lot.

...or gone!

Last night was just another example of this nice kid being in over his head-he is scared to death. ONE SHOT (an air ball), and a few careless passes for turnovers. He's just as timid as he was last year. Mentally, he just doesn't have the "you know whats" to compete at this level. As the only SOPH guard he needed to step up last night and instead he continued to regress.

[courtside]

McCall is a combo guard who will likely start at the 1 his Junior and Senior seasons. He'll play a lot at the 1 and the 2 his Frosh and Soph seasons. He will be SLU's 2nd best guard on the roster next season.

Evans fills a need at the 3, but he will not be an immediate impact player. If he develops he can be a nice 3 his Junior and Senior seasons.

[Westy03]

McCall is a combo guard who will likely start at the 1 his Junior and Senior seasons. He'll play a lot at the 1 and the 2 his Frosh and Soph seasons. He will be SLU's 2nd best guard on the roster next season.

Evans fills a need at the 3, but he will not be an immediate impact player. If he develops he can be a nice 3 his Junior and Senior seasons.

Courtside, have you seen Evans play? I have heard he is a lot like Tommie Liddell as in he rebounds extremely well for a guard and has an explosive first step. What are your thoughts?

[brianstl]

Courtside, have you seen Evans play? I have heard he is a lot like Tommie Liddell as in he rebounds extremely well for a guard and has an explosive first step. What are your thoughts?

I hope he does. This team is in desperate need for another player who at times can get to the hoop.

[Westy03]

I hope he does. This team is in desperate need for another player who at times can get to the hoop.

I agree. Also, Porter mentioned that McCall might even be quicket then KM. This team needs some extra speed and I think the two kids from Chicago will bring just that.

[courtside]

Courtside, have you seen Evans play? I have heard he is a lot like Tommie Liddell as in he rebounds extremely well for a guard and has an explosive first step. What are your thoughts?

Yes I have. He is not as athletic or quick as Liddell, but a different type of player. Liddell was a very smooth athletic player and Evans is a relentless worker type with not quite the level of athleticism as Liddell. He will develop into a solid 3 at the next level at SLU, but it will not happen asap. He has been repeatedly considered a tweener to some extent, in terms of recuiting, with solid but not exceptional athleticism. He is very smart, long, very hard working, attacks the basket on offense as well as on d for boards, and runs tyhe floor well. Intelligence, team play, etc...are some of his strengths. Lateral quickness is the question. Can he guard athletic wings of similar 6'5 type size? Can he guard quick two guards if needed? His out of area rebounding is good. He will likely turn out to be a very solid wing who will develop an inside outside game with not quite the feet of the freakish elite 3's out there, but he is an overachiever. At some point as he keeps outperforming more athletic players, someone will say that he just gets it done, and SLU was one of those teams. It's also a position of need for SLU. He's a typical under the radar player that is having a strong start to his Senior season this year and SLU got in at a good time. He'll need a year to learn. He will not make an immediate impact at SLU nor get the minutes that Liddell did early.

It's all about the feet.

Recruiters for big boy schools can have their pick of the litter. And to them Evans was a tweener, not quick enough, not good enough handle, not good enough perimeter game for the 2. He isn't big enough or strong enough for the 4. He'll play the 3, 2, and even elsewhere as needed at SLU, but he's a 3. If he can improve his handle, his range, off of the bounce, catch, step back, mid-range, as well as bulk up and do relentless lateral quickness drills, he'll be an overachiever at SLU. His work ethic is very strong and he'll need it to overcome more athletic 3's that he'll go up against from time to time at the next level.

Nequa Valley, western Naperville burb, is currently 4th or so I believe in the latest Chicago Tribune Poll and Foreman (McCall is somewhere around 13th or so).

[Westy03]

Yes I have. He is not as athletic or quick as Liddell, but a different type of player. Liddell was a very smooth athletic player and Evans is a relentless worker type with not quite the level of athleticism as Liddell. He will develop into a solid 3 at the next level at SLU, but it will not happen asap. He has been repeatedly considered a tweener to some extent, in terms of recuiting, with solid but not exceptional athleticism. He is very smart, long, very hard working, attacks the basket on offense as well as on d for boards, and runs tyhe floor well. Intelligence, team play, etc...are some of his strengths. Lateral quickness is the question. Can he guard athletic wings of similar 6'5 type size? Can he guard quick two guards if needed? His out of area rebounding is good. He will likely turn out to be a very solid wing who will develop an inside outside game with not quite the feet of the freakish elite 3's out there, but he is an overachiever. At some point as he keeps outperforming more athletic players, someone will say that he just gets it done, and SLU was one of those teams. It's also a position of need for SLU. He's a typical under the radar player that is having a strong start to his Senior season this year and SLU got in at a good time. He'll need a year to learn. He will not make an immediate impact at SLU nor get the minutes that Liddell did early.

It's all about the feet.

Recruiters for big boy schools can have their pick of the litter. And to them Evans was a tweener, not quick enough, not good enough handle, not good enough perimeter game for the 2. He isn't big enough or strong enough for the 4. He'll play the 3, 2, and even elsewhere as needed at SLU, but he's a 3. If he can improve his handle, his range, off of the bounce, catch, step back, mid-range, as well as bulk up and do relentless lateral quickness drills, he'll be an overachiever at SLU. His work ethic is very strong and he'll need it to overcome more athletic 3's that he'll go up against from time to time at the next level.

Nequa Valley, western Naperville burb, is currently 4th or so I believe in the latest Chicago Tribune Poll and Foreman (McCall is somewhere around 13th or so).

Thanks for the report. I did read that Evans has had a couple of monster games already this year. Im excited to get both of these guys because you can never have too much depth at the guard spots

[Billikan]

Thanks for the report. I did read that Evans has had a couple of monster games already this year. Im excited to get both of these guys because you can never have too much depth at the guard spots

I talked to someone today who is very familiar with Evans and he said he is playing great and was even named the player of the week in Chicago last week. He sounds like a player that Billiken fans will love-- he plays harder than virtually anyone on the floor and he is dedicated to improve with very good intensity, tenacity and the will to win. Both of these recruits sound like they will provide us with some real help eventually!

[SShoe]

Courtside,

Have you seen McCall play yet? If so, can you describe his game? It sounds as if he'll have the bigger impact of the two. In fact, I recall Majerus saying he was better than Mitchell was at that point in his career (senior year of HS). Of course, Mitchell's been a very hard worker and has improved since then, but it seems that Rick thinks he could as good, if not better, than KM, which would be sweet.

[courtside]

Courtside,

Have you seen McCall play yet? If so, can you describe his game? It sounds as if he'll have the bigger impact of the two. In fact, I recall Majerus saying he was better than Mitchell was at that point in his career (senior year of HS). Of course, Mitchell's been a very hard worker and has improved since then, but it seems that Rick thinks he could as good, if not better, than KM, which would be sweet.

Majerus is likely saying that because McCall is more athletic than Mitchell. McCall has been for the sake of discussion, a 2 in the body of a 1. He's a combo guard, a scorer. He is not a natural 1, neither was KM. He's every bit as talented as KM, with more athleticism. KM is a tireless worker, unselfish, etc..and as long as McCall is those things at the next level, and gets stronger, he'll be every bit as good as KM or better. He will have some raw-ness to his game or some areas of need for polish, but he is very quick, and can fill it up. He's improving his deep shooting.

Let's put it this way, McCall will be the quickest guy on the team. He's learning to see the floor better, distribute, create for others. He can fill it up. Some big boys came calling later because of his quickness. Quickness, Athleticism, feet, ...over and over again, that's what recruiters like to see and he has that. He doesn't have a lot of size. He'll get stronger after a season of strength and conditioning, etc...just like KM. When I said a couple of years ago that KM would be SLU's best recruit by far of all of that group, I mentioned that Marquette was stockpiled at guard at the time and Wisconsin likes big guards because they post them up in the Swing offense with frequency. (See Devon Harris or Hughes currently. Hughes is a beast.)

McCall and Evans are two very different players at two very different positions. McCall will have the keys to the car as a Junior and Senior, and he would have had them just like KM had he come to SLU at the same time. You will see them both in the same lineup, albeit undersized, with some frequency next season. Evans is a kid that has to prove that he has the lateral quickness and feet to play the 3 at this level. He has a lot of upside and he gets better all the time. Evans certainly has the KM work ethic.

[brianstl]

Majerus is likely saying that because McCall is more athletic than Mitchell. McCall has been for the sake of discussion, a 2 in the body of a 1. He's a combo guard, a scorer. He is not a natural 1, neither was KM. He's every bit as talented as KM, with more athleticism. KM is a tireless worker, unselfish, etc..and as long as McCall is those things at the next level, and gets stronger, he'll be every bit as good as KM or better. He will have some raw-ness to his game or some areas of need for polish, but he is very quick, and can fill it up. He's improving his deep shooting.

Let's put it this way, McCall will be the quickest guy on the team. He's learning to see the floor better, distribute, create for others. He can fill it up. Some big boys came calling later because of his quickness. Quickness, Athleticism, feet, ...over and over again, that's what recruiters like to see and he has that. He doesn't have a lot of size. He'll get stronger after a season of strength and conditioning, etc...just like KM. When I said a couple of years ago that KM would be SLU's best recruit by far of all of that group, I mentioned that Marquette was stockpiled at guard at the time and Wisconsin likes big guards because they post them up in the Swing offense with frequency. (See Devon Harris or Hughes currently. Hughes is a beast.)

McCall and Evans are two very different players at two very different positions. McCall will have the keys to the car as a Junior and Senior, and he would have had them just like KM had he come to SLU at the same time. You will see them both in the same lineup, albeit undersized, with some frequency next season. Evans is a kid that has to prove that he has the lateral quickness and feet to play the 3 at this level. He has a lot of upside and he gets better all the time. Evans certainly has the KM work ethic.

If McCall can get to the hoop like KM did as a freshman there will definitely be some minutes for him. We really need another guy to be able to penetrate. It stood out in the MSU game.