Recruits

[cheesycow]

I think this thread is filled with histrionics.

[Quality Is Job 1]

I am more disappointed in Willie. I expect a lot more. There is plenty of blame to go around today. Not an excuse, but URI was almost all juniors and seniors, playing against freshmen and sophomores, and it showed today. I think it is a real credit to our Billikids that we finished ahead of them and Dayton in the regular season.

I think Rhode Island has only one significant senior. They'll probably be pretty good next year, too. The Atlantic 10 will be a top-notch conference again next year, as well.

[doowop]

Today's game proves again that SLU does not need another big man who scores from outside. We need a big man who can bang and get rebounds. WR needs help and Ellis and Conklin are not giving it to them. Conklin seems to think he can make the same kind of moves he made in high school and they are not working.

[dlarry]

when i think of conklin i think of chris sloan. as a sophomore sloan was playing power forward for the first time in his life and he couldnt shoot much from beyond 8 feet either. he was very valuable by the time he was a senior. conklin has a huge heart and plays hard. no way i would give up on him. those are intangibles that just dont seem to be teachable. you either have heart and guts or you dont. i dont think brian is going to ever win the a-10 slam dunk or 3 point contest, but if he continues to work on his strength, he improves his defense and rebounding he will be fine.

Thats a solid comparison

I think if he could develop that 8-10 foot baseline jumper that Sloan developed he would be a more skilled version of Sloan.

Every team needs role players and I think Conklin will be a very good one for the next two years.

[dlarry]

I think there's a difference between cutting someone and someone's being unable to play again after suffering a career-ending injury.

Really? It's not an excuse. If the amount of experience and physical maturation makes no difference, then why do we expect the team to be better next year and the following year?

Thats the key to me.

They gained a ton of experince this year and that will help

But kids just get bigger and stronger between 18 years old and 21 years old.

and you cant teach that

[ACE]

I think Rhode Island has only one significant senior. They'll probably be pretty good next year, too. The Atlantic 10 will be a top-notch conference again next year, as well.

No, they have two... Ulmer and Cothran are two of their best players. Richmond is a freshmen and very good.

[TheChosenOne]

Thats a solid comparison

I think if he could develop that 8-10 foot baseline jumper that Sloan developed he would be a more skilled version of Sloan.

Is this a joke? Sloan and Conklin are not even remotely similar players other than they are both white and play hard.

[cheesycow]

Is this a joke? Sloan and Conklin are not even remotely similar players other than they are both white and play hard.

You didn't get the memo that all white athletes are hard-working, high motor role guys and all black athletes are genetic freaks of nature? see: chris long only ever being compared to Aaron Kampman, Kyle Van den Bosch, and Grant Wistrom.

[billiken_roy]

Is this a joke? Sloan and Conklin are not even remotely similar players other than they are both white and play hard.

they are the exact same size. as freshmen and sophomores they played mainly because they played harder than anyone else on the team not because of any offensive skills.

what aspects as sophomores are they "not even remotely similar players"?

[TheChosenOne]

they are the exact same size. as freshmen and sophomores they played mainly because they played harder than anyone else on the team not because of any offensive skills.

what aspects as sophomores are they "not even remotely similar players"?

Maybe listed as the same height, but not the same builds. Sloan was more of a guard (a pure 3) who was forced to play down low because of our needs there. Conklin came in as purely a power forward. Sloan was a fairly good athlete while Conklin is a banger with little to no athletic or basketball ability.

[dneuner]

Help us, Rob Loe. You're our only hope!

[jjray]

they are the exact same size. as freshmen and sophomores they played mainly because they played harder than anyone else on the team not because of any offensive skills.

what aspects as sophomores are they "not even remotely similar players"?

Chris Sloan had a lot more hops than Conklin could ever dream about. I agree that they both have the warrior mentality but Chris came to SLU as a slender wing player and bulked up later. As freshmen, they really did not resemble one another at all nor have similar skill sets.

[dlarry]

Chris Sloan had a lot more hops than Conklin could ever dream about. I agree that they both have the warrior mentality but Chris came to SLU as a slender wing player and bulked up later. As freshmen, they really did not resemble one another at all nor have similar skill sets.

To me Sloan was a guy who outworked people for boards, played bigger than he was, hit baseline jumpers, scored on put backs created by effort, and played hard D.

Conklin is a guy who outworks people for boards, needs to play bigger than he is, needs to learn to hit the baseline jumper, scores on putbacks created by effort, and plays tough D.

If Conklin can develop the baseline jumper IMO he will be a very similar to Sloan.

[billiken_roy]

Maybe listed as the same height, but not the same builds. Sloan was more of a guard (a pure 3) who was forced to play down low because of our needs there. Conklin came in as purely a power forward. Sloan was a fairly good athlete while Conklin is a banger with little to no athletic or basketball ability.

go get the media guides and check height and weights. i bet they are almost identical

sloan was a pure guard? in what respect, he wasnt a very good dribbler, he couldnt shoot as a freshman, and he had few assists.

i will give you that sloan was a better athlete in fact that was the only reason he got by as a small forward. he was quick enough to defend guards.

i will not agree conklin has little to no athletic and basketball ability he wouldnt be at slu if that was the case.

[billiken_roy]

To me Sloan was a guy who outworked people for boards, played bigger than he was, hit baseline jumpers, scored on put backs created by effort, and played hard D.

Conklin is a guy who outworks people for boards, needs to play bigger than he is, needs to learn to hit the baseline jumper, scores on putbacks created by effort, and plays tough D.

If Conklin can develop the baseline jumper IMO he will be a very similar to Sloan.

not as a freshman and sophomore.

[lefty]

go get the media guides and check height and weights. i bet they are almost identical

sloan was a pure guard? in what respect, he wasnt a very good dribbler, he couldnt shoot as a freshman, and he had few assists.

i will give you that sloan was a better athlete in fact that was the only reason he got by as a small forward. he was quick enough to defend guards.

i will not agree conklin has little to no athletic and basketball ability he wouldnt be at slu if that was the case.

Your own board members' decriptions of Conklin stop just short of calling him a "hatchet man" ala Jim Luscotoff.

[dlarry]

not as a freshman and sophomore.

Sloan hardly played as a freshman.

His hard work turned him into a 10 pt 5 Reb a game guy.

I think Conklin could do the same thing if he puts in the time.

[TheChosenOne]

go get the media guides and check height and weights. i bet they are almost identical

sloan was a pure guard? in what respect, he wasnt a very good dribbler, he couldnt shoot as a freshman, and he had few assists.

i will give you that sloan was a better athlete in fact that was the only reason he got by as a small forward. he was quick enough to defend guards.

i will not agree conklin has little to no athletic and basketball ability he wouldnt be at slu if that was the case.

Sloan was more of a perimter player coming in, he was a 3 who had the toughness that allowed him to play as more of a power forward due to needs there. Chris Sloan was listed at 6-7 215 and a G/F. Conklin is listed at 6-6 230 and a F. Sloan has a much more lean and athletic build, while Conklin has the build of a blocking tight end. Sloan came in as a wing player that Romar needed to play in the post his sophomore season along with Kenny Brown and had the toughness and smarts to play there although undersized and not his natural position. I worked for the team under Romar and Sloan started the season doing position drills with the guards and as they started playing games and needed him to play in the post he started splitting his time between the guards and bigs. Conklin is and can only be a power forward. Sloan started 16 games as a freshman as a 3 with Justin Tatum and Chris Heinrich playing down low. Sloan provided the type of numbers you would hope Conklin can get to and in similar ways as far as hustle points, but they are not similar players in my opinion. Sloan was a good athlete with some ball skills and could defend guards and run the floor while Conklin is purely a power forward that lacks the foot speed to guard outside of the post and offensively is very limited. A better comparison for Conklin would be Ross Varner. I would say Luke Meyer was a more recent comparison to Chris Sloan

[billiken_roy]

Sloan was more of a perimter player coming in, he was a 3 who had the toughness that allowed him to play as more of a power forward due to needs there. Chris Sloan was listed at 6-7 215 and a G/F. Conklin is listed at 6-6 230 and a F. Sloan has a much more lean and athletic build, while Conklin has the build of a blocking tight end. Sloan came in as a wing player that Romar needed to play in the post his sophomore season along with Kenny Brown and had the toughness and smarts to play there although undersized and not his natural position. I worked for the team under Romar and Sloan started the season doing position drills with the guards and as they started playing games and needed him to play in the post he started splitting his time between the guards and bigs. Conklin is and can only be a power forward. Sloan started 16 games as a freshman as a 3 with Justin Tatum and Chris Heinrich playing down low. Sloan provided the type of numbers you would hope Conklin can get to and in similar ways as far as hustle points, but they are not similar players in my opinion. Sloan was a good athlete with some ball skills and could defend guards and run the floor while Conklin is purely a power forward that lacks the foot speed to guard outside of the post and offensively is very limited. A better comparison for Conklin would be Ross Varner.

varner was bigger than conklin by the time he got to saint louis u. i do not know what ross looked like as a fresh or soph plus varner also did a mormon mission before he came to slu.

you make conklin sound like justin tatum. he tries to play like tatum but he isnt that solidly broad built yet.

and i agree sloan came in advertised as a wing. but again that was only because he had the quickness to defend there and my guess is romar hoped he would develop more guard skills as he got older. when he didnt romar moved him where he could best help the team.

[NH]

varner was bigger than conklin by the time he got to saint louis u. i do not know what ross looked like as a fresh or soph plus varner also did a mormon mission before he came to slu.

you make conklin sound like justin tatum. he tries to play like tatum but he isnt that solidly broad built yet.

and i agree sloan came in advertised as a wing. but again that was only because he had the quickness to defend there and my guess is romar hoped he would develop more guard skills as he got older. when he didnt romar moved him where he could best help the team.

Conklin is not tough. I mean, he is tough in an obvious way, but when it comes to getting rebounds and loose balls where is he? He had ZERO rebounds today, that is pitiful.

[TheChosenOne]

varner was bigger than conklin by the time he got to saint louis u. i do not know what ross looked like as a fresh or soph plus varner also did a mormon mission before he came to slu.

you make conklin sound like justin tatum. he tries to play like tatum but he isnt that solidly broad built yet.

and i agree sloan came in advertised as a wing. but again that was only because he had the quickness to defend there and my guess is romar hoped he would develop more guard skills as he got older. when he didnt romar moved him where he could best help the team.

I don't mean to argue with you, I just do not see the comparison between Conklin and Sloan, although if you are saying that is the role you would like him to fill (tough player that is going to fight for rebounds and effort points and hit open 10-15 footers while stealing you a possession on the offensive glass) I can see it. Luke Meyer filled that role on more recent Billiken teams. I apologize for coming across as attacking you.

I was told that May has already started putting together the NIT resume. Hopefully we get one last chance to root on our Billikens this year.

[doowop]

Help us, Rob Loe. You're our only hope!

He is not the banger we need. We have McCall for additional outside shooting. The next big man needs to be an effective inside player.

[dlarry]

I don't mean to argue with you, I just do not see the comparison between Conklin and Sloan, although if you are saying that is the role you would like him to fill (tough player that is going to fight for rebounds and effort points and hit open 10-15 footers while stealing you a possession on the offensive glass) I can see it. Luke Meyer filled that role on more recent Billiken teams. I apologize for coming across as attacking you.

I was told that May has already started putting together the NIT resume. Hopefully we get one last chance to root on our Billikens this year.

this is what I was saying.

And I think that is what Conklin will add as he matures

[Quality Is Job 1]

No, they have two... Ulmer and Cothran are two of their best players. Richmond is a freshman and very good.

The game-preview capsule in the Post listed Cothran as a junior. URI's site lists him as a senior. Shame on me for believing the P-D without verifying!

[Billikan]

He is not the banger we need. We have McCall for additional outside shooting. The next big man needs to be an effective inside player.

Do you have any idea of what you are talking about? It seems like people on this board go insane when we lose a game. Loe is a big strong center who is close to 6'11" and was a tough rebounder in the World under 19 tournament last summer. He is on the New Z olympic team and is considered one of the better all around big men at his age in the world. The last thing we need is some non skilled "banger". What we need is a player exactly like Mr Loe and I hope and pray he will consider our Billikens because he will fit perfectly with this team and with him and our other recruits we have a chance to be really good next year!