jjray Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Rebounds, int. D, putbacks, and easy slams or layups cannot be discounted.If our starting back court is Kwa and McCall, how many open dunks will Willie get a game? He'll feast. Having two guards on the floor who can slash (with a third, Jett, on the bench) begs for an athletic 5 who can finish. Note: I originally wrote "two guards on the floor who can penetrate" ... but post-'the situation' I think this word penetrate shall be removed from any post referencing our players. I don't even want to joke about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB73 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I cannot believe that some do not understand that WR is the whole ballgame for us... if he comes back have top 25 potential. If he does not, we do not. He is a quality BIG. KM is very valuable, but not such a jump up from MM, JB, JJ. WR brings HUGE increase in production across the board (scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, altered shots, intimidation, etc) from any of our other inside players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I cannot believe that some do not understand that WR is the whole ballgame for us... if he comes back have top 25 potential. If he does not, we do not. He is a quality BIG. KM is very valuable, but not such a jump up from MM, JB, JJ. WR brings HUGE increase in production across the board (scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, altered shots, intimidation, etc) from any of our other inside players. At the beginning of the season, KM was a huge "jump up" from MM and JJ. At the end of this season, KM is still a "jump up" from MM and JJ but not by as much. At the start of next year, KM will still be a "jump up"; however, I would not be surprised if MM narrows the gap over the summer (and yes I know that KM will only get better as well) and as next season goes on such that MM is more on par with KM by the end of next year. My point: we could have 2 really good ones in KM and MM by the end of next year (and have depth if an injury were to happen to one) along with a real sharpshooter in JB (first time since KL) as well as the rest of the team. W/o WR, though, we will not be close to Top 25 unless something major happens. Not a knock on BC, CR, RL and CE but WR is the key to next season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 I cannot believe that some do not understand that WR is the whole ballgame for us... if he comes back have top 25 potential. If he does not, we do not. He is a quality BIG. KM is very valuable, but not such a jump up from MM, JB, JJ. WR brings HUGE increase in production across the board (scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, altered shots, intimidation, etc) from any of our other inside players. Can't wait to see WR on the court next season and believe he is a difference maker. But I disagree that he "is the whole ballgame for us." We will have 5 good-to-very good guards next year (KM, MM, JJ, KC and JB (same assumption as above)). We will have a dynamic 3 with DE. We will have a uniquely skilled 5 with RL (anyone notice RL's defensive aggressiveness at the end of the year?). With CE, we have a talented 4 that I don't believe has played nearly his best game with SLU yet. And we have a tough as nails 4 with BC. BC's whole game really took an uptick halfway through the season. He did a damn good job on James in the 2nd half against URI. Throw in CR, CS, JM, and I think we still have the potential to be a top 40 team. With the way the team came together, we could sniff the top 25 without WR. It will be much much harder without WR and we will need some things to go our way (FT shooting, CE's health and being better than he has ever been at SLU, JB being the player we hope he can be, etc.), but I believe it is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Throw in CR, CS, JM, and I think we still have the potential to be a top 40 team. With the way the team came together, we could sniff the top 25 without WR. It will be much much harder without WR and we will need some things to go our way (FT shooting, CE's health and being better than he has ever been at SLU, JB being the player we hope he can be, etc.), but I believe it is possible. There are not that many quality bigs in D1. We happen to have one. A huge advantage, ask Villanova for example. As for MM = KM, not yet, but he'll close the gap. KM will still be the man on this team and he's gonna be hyped for redemption. But teams can't be ganging up on him in crunch time with MM, JB, and JJ on the floor with him. WR's probably ready for some redemption as well.Showtime misses the limelight that he was part of last year. The student section loves him and when he and KM take the floor for next year's opening game, I'd suspect the roof at the Chey to be lifted by a couple of feet. And by 10 feet after his first monster slam. One other point we've seemed to overlook is RL's play in the RI game. I've only seen him play 3 other times prior to RI, but did see a huge leap in his aggressiveness to get to the basket. Granted a 6'11 guy trying to dribble thru traffic is probably not something RM drew up, but it showed RL is attempting to expand his game. My guess is the coaches have drilled into his head he's got to add an inside dimension to his game. If he works on that over the summer and is successful, we could have a pretty awesome inside game next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Since Willie is going to dominate the offsesson discussion, I think we should pin a "Willie Watch" thread. Every Willie tweet or sighting at the rec center or library, should be reported. Billiken nation will be on pins and needles waiting for the next update to appear in the Willie Watch thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted March 10, 2011 Author Share Posted March 10, 2011 Since Willie is going to dominate the offsesson discussion, I think we should pin a "Willie Watch" thread. Every Willie tweet or sighting at the rec center or library, should be reported. Billiken nation will be on pins and needles waiting for the next update to appear in the Willie Watch thread. Let's hope WR is sneaking peaks at this board and feeling the love. I'm sure Airtime is an avid reader and will pass on all the support for his son's return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 Let's hope WR is sneaking peaks at this board and feeling the love. I'm sure Airtime is an avid reader and will pass on all the support for his son's return. And to think that WR may have been worried if the fans will welcome him back.... Like the fans on this board, all looks very positive for WR. WR, just get it done in the classroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doowop Posted March 10, 2011 Share Posted March 10, 2011 It sounded to me as if RM said on the BM show this morning that WR's future with the team is in his (RM's) hands and no longer with others. He said he wants WR back but WR must want to come back. RM stated more than once that he wants WR back on the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.