The Barnett Saga

[Taj79]

Serious question ... 1a) how does a transfer work in terms of the school contacting the kid or the kid contacting the school and 1b) how did that work with Jake?

Here's the gist: I know we got Reggie Bryant because he went to Nova and so did Gary Buchanan and when Reg wanted to transfer, Buchanan may have given him contacts to us based on our recruiting Gary the year or two prior. Or so it goes. Obviously, a school can't tamper with a kid under scholarship but does anyone know how a kid like Barnett bails out on School X to come to University Y? Somewhere in that discussion, the school and the kid eventually have to talk otherwise how does he get on scholly while he's sitting out a year? It seems to me you want that committment from University Y before you leave School X, no? And then what happened in the Barnett case? Did he make connections through Jett or someone that went to a prep school with him? And then we also got in on Glaze wanting out of UNLV?

I am guessing that someone like Jon Smith decided somewhere in late season he had had enough of Rick and was out the door. Would he then contact somone at Ohio U and say, hey, i wanna come back. Will you have me?

I really don't know that side of this business works and am curious.

as for Jake, I'm sure he's pressing as Kwamian is for similar but differnet reaosns. And whomever pointe dou the's no tplaying with the A team is absolutely right on. I too see him as a nice replacement fo rCassity and am hoping there is still legit hope for that. Right now, we don't need him but I suspect we will. Injuries, bumnps, bruises, etc.

[Taj79]

By the way, Smith is averaging 15 minutes a game over 7 games with about 2 ppg and 3 rpg. The Bobcats are off to a nice start, 6 and 1, losing only by 4 at Louisville and beating Oakland and Marshall at their places and beating our opponent, Arkansas State by 15.

Our other bailout, Justin Jordan, might be on the IPFW roster but hasn't played a minute this year.

[jjray]

>>I too see him as a nice replacement fo rCassity<<

Jake looked horrible yesterday. The two turnovers were just ugly. I'm not sure how one views the little glimpses we have had of Barnett this season and concludes he will be a proper replacement for Kyle next year. It might happen but Jake has not shown any flashed that would lead one to that conclusion. The good thing is the progress of Jett this year. We don't have to rely on Barnett to step into the rotation next season. If you read Timmerman's article in the Post from the Vermont game, I don't think we will see Barnett in the rotation this season from here on out absent injury or foul trouble.

"Jake Barnett played nine minutes and didn't score. He's 0 for 5 from the field, all 3's, since the opener. Majerus said afterwards that 'he must be getting old,' because he decided to put Barnett in because he had been doing so well in practice, even though it messed up his nine-man rotation, particularly how he uses Jett."

http://www.stltoday....19bb30f31a.html

[FromDaEastSide]

Our other bailout, Justin Jordan, might be on the IPFW roster but hasn't played a minute this year.

I think he has to sit out till end of semester due to his short time at Ball State last fall.

[Clock_Tower]

IMO, Barnett has been quite disappointing to date. Not only is he smaller and thinner than I had imagined from the reports, but also is just not up to the task at hand here with us - handling the pressure, dribbling, getting open, getting the ball to his teammates, being able to get open/shoot a mid-range shot. Maybe its the the speed of the game or maybe it's size, or maybe its both.... To me, he looks to be a tweener and he must certainly have been used in a different role at Toledo. No doubt, he shoots the ball alot better than his 0 for 5 stats indicate but IMO he just doesn't look like he is ready to contribute this year -which is a shame - b/c IMO RM is losing patience with KC. Playing time is there to be taken but KB has shown no ability to take it.

[bonwich]

b/c IMO RM is losing patience with KC.

Seriously?

[billikenfan05]

Seriously?

Perhaps on the defensive end?

[Clock_Tower]

Bonwich. Yes. I sat only a few rows behind RM and the team last night and each time KC passed up open shots, RM was substituting for KC. KC has a good shot - we've all seen it. Last night, KC hit a really big 3 - I say big b/c of the timing of it helped up finally pull away from Vermont when we were struggling with their zone defense.

[jbizzle09]

IMO, Barnett has been quite disappointing to date. Not only is he smaller and thinner than I had imagined from the reports, but also is just not up to the task at hand here with us - handling the pressure, dribbling, getting open, getting the ball to his teammates, being able to get open/shoot a mid-range shot. Maybe its the the speed of the game or maybe it's size, or maybe its both.... To me, he looks to be a tweener and he must certainly have been used in a different role at Toledo. No doubt, he shoots the ball alot better than his 0 for 5 stats indicate but IMO he just doesn't look like he is ready to contribute this year -which is a shame - b/c IMO RM is losing patience with KC. Playing time is there to be taken but KB has shown no ability to take it.

Do you always have to take a shot at KC? It seems you are always looking for someone to take over KC's playing time, and will try to convince yourself and others that he is going to get less time. There is no way that RM is losing patience with KC. KC is a senior and a player that RM can rely upon to do the right thing on the court, especially when it comes to running his offense. KC might have gotten pulled once this season for getting beat on an inbounds play, but he still was back out on the court within a few minutes. Currently, only KM and BC are averaging more minutes than he is. He is averaging 26.3 MPG. He is not going to lose any playing time this season, no matter how much you hope.

[slu72]

He may be losing patience w/ him, but I don't see him taking KC out of his starter's role. First, he's probably our best distributor and he's careful w/ the rock. He's a pretty good defender as well. I think we'd all like to see him pop more 3s since he's been hitting them at a high percentage. While he may lose some minutes to JJ and MM, I still don't see his role being diminished that much. As for JB, you are what you show us you are. So far, not alot. He's been a disappointment primarily because RM heaped so much praise on him when he signed w/ SLU and he had the stats at TU to back up that assessment. I remember the videos we saw of him, he looked pretty good at TU. Plus he's a supposed gymaholic. Yet, he didn't show us much in Canada and that's continued into the season. Now, I'd think RM will give him more minutes over the next 4 games to see whether JB's going to be a contributor if and when we need him to step up in conference games. Mystery so far, though. Anyone close to the program got a read on this?

[Tonka]

I'm not giving up on Jake yet. This is his first season of getting to play on the court for SLU. He seems to have a nice shot, but he seems nervous and that shot is off. KC's shot rarely hit early on and now he passes up too many shots.

JB had two terrible turnovers when passing the ball last night and the way they happened told me he was nervous. I think RM expected more from him since he played well his freshman year at Toledo and that he learned the system all last year in practice. I'll wait till the end of the year before I declare him a bust.

If he isn't as good as expected, it may get worse for him with Drew and Carter coming in next year.

[slu72]

As to Taj Mahal 79's query, didn't he come from Wisc via ND Prep? I seem to recall when he signed with us there was some prior connection to either RM or, dare I mention his name, Porter M. I'm not sure we ever recruited him, but do think we knew about him and he knew about us. My guess would be, he figured playing for RM would be a better deal than staying at TU. So, when he decided to opt out, he contacted SLU. In theory transfers are supposed to be the boy in the bubble, but in practice you'll never convince me there aren't back channels to the kid about who'd welcome him w/ open arms if he left. Not saying that happened here, but wouldn't be shocked to learn it did.

[slu72]

I'm not giving up on Jake yet. This is his first season of getting to play on the court for SLU. He seems to have a nice shot, but he seems nervous and that shot is off. KC's shot rarely hit early on and now he passes up too many shots.

JB had two terrible turnovers when passing the ball last night and the way they happened told me he was nervous. I think RM expected more from him since he played well his freshman year at Toledo and that he learned the system all last year in practice. I'll wait till the end of the year before I declare him a bust.

If he isn't as good as expected, it may get worse for him with Drew and Carter coming in next year.

I don't think anyone's giving up on him, Tonka. I think we're more in the mode of, "hey, show us something!" It's going to be hard for him to squeeze by JJ, DE, and CE right now, so this year may not be a good indicator of what we've got in him. I never thought he was brought here to compete directly with KC, but was more of a 3 type.

[GoBills]

When Kyle and Brian graduate, the current top four on the bench - JJ, MM, CE and CR will see more minutes. Then Jake, JM. GG, ET and the two freshmen will battle it out for the last few spots in the rotation. That is the way good programs sustain success.

[moytoy12]

I don't understand all the disappointment in JB. He's had like 10 minutes of court time after being out for a year. He looks pretty athletic to me and has a fairly decent basketball mind. Did anyone catch his no look bullet pass down low (I forget to who) and the recipient missed the contested layup? He seems to understand the system when he is in with our main players. I haven't seen him get out-classed on D (again, a very small sample size).

JB will be fine. I think his ceiling is higher than KC's and he looks to be more aggressive than KC. He obviously isn't the player that KC is right now, but I think he will get there (and then surpass KC as a player).

[brianstl]

I don't understand all the disappointment in JB. He's had like 10 minutes of court time after being out for a year. He looks pretty athletic to me and has a fairly decent basketball mind. Did anyone catch his no look bullet pass down low (I forget to who) and the recipient missed the contested layup? He seems to understand the system when he is in with our main players. I haven't seen him get out-classed on D (again, a very small sample size).

JB will be fine. I think his ceiling is higher than KC's and he looks to be more aggressive than KC. He obviously isn't the player that KC is right now, but I think he will get there (and then surpass KC as a player).

He probably has a higher ceiling than KC as a scorer based on everything we have heard about him, but I have yet to see any evidence that he brings any of the other things KC brings to the court.

The pass you were talking about was to Loe.

[slufan13]

He'll be fine.

[moytoy12]

He probably has a higher ceiling than KC as a scorer based on everything we have heard about him, but I have yet to see any evidence that he brings any of the other things KC brings to the court.

The pass you were talking about was to Loe.

I don't think we have enough evidence on his other attributes. KC is an average ball handler. I think JB can become that.

KC's defense has been spotty this year, but he has enough track record for me to realize that we can only hope JB becomes the same defensively as KC.

[Tonka]

When Kyle and Brian graduate, the current top four on the bench - JJ, MM, CE and CR will see more minutes. Then Jake, JM. GG, ET and the two freshmen will battle it out for the last few spots in the rotation. That is the way good programs sustain success.

Speaking of ET. I have heard very little about him. Anybody know how he's doing in practice or what we might expect from him.

I also remember him walking in a boot.

[jjray]

I'm not giving up on Jake yet.

I'm not giving up on him either. We've seen very little of Jake in other than exhibition games. However, I think a lowering of expectations is in order. I expect him to battle for minutes next season but make very little contributions this season. I am sure coach will give him every opportunity next year to make his case to be in the rotation but he'll have to play his way into a role.

... The expectations issue with Jake is not his fault. It lay with coach for saying during an interview last year that Jake will be an all league player on day. I still am having trouble reconciling that statement with the player we have seen so far.

[thetorch]

So far most of Jake's playing time has been with the scrubs. IMO they look for him to handle the ball, distribute and score. He's not that type of player. His TOs last night were him getting stuck way out on the perimeter with nowhere to go. Honestly I think he is more of catch and shoot wing who needs to be running around screens but his playing time, and who he plays with has him with the ball in his hands too much. I don't think there is anyone on the roster who can do what he can do, all our other guards thrive playing on the ball, hesitate to shoot, or don't have the range. Barnett is that guy, we don't need him now but I think he'll be fine. The kid from KS played exactly like him as a freshman. Same type player. Just needs to find his niche in our offense.

[Taj79]

So no one knows how he "migrated" to us.

I recall some people on here (names are immaterial) had this kid as an all A10 performer, raining threes down from never-never land. I recognize his evaluation time has been a short body of work, that he's been out a year, that he emulated the opposition stud while on the scrub team, that his time on the court is affected by his running mates, and so on. All valid points. I also I had visions of this kid as a catch-n-shoot, spot-up, Chris Collins kind of shooter. For the most part, all expectations have been drastically unfulfilled. Is there time? I think so. KC is a prime example as is BC ---- give them time. KC can't carry a team, but is extremely valuable in other roles. BC has no chance to dominate inside without complimentary outside bombers. JB may recover --- but rarely does a kid transfer from one D1 to another and have as little effect as JB seems to have had.

Again, curious about how the process works and how it worked for him. Seems odd for RM to commit a scholarship to a guy like this and ET. Daniel Lisch I understood. Frankly, both JB and ET seem more ypical of past regimes than the RM regime. Not that this is meant to argue that lame point, just saying.

[slu72]

Again, curious about how the process works and how it worked for him. Seems odd for RM to commit a scholarship to a guy like this and ET. Daniel Lisch I understood. Frankly, both JB and ET seem more ypical of past regimes than the RM regime. Not that this is meant to argue that lame point, just saying.

I think had Brad got a transfer w/ JB's credentials we would have been over the moon and calling him the next KL. And probably thinking ET would someday be our guard version of IV, slow start but then getting mentioned as an NBA prospect after playing the summer w/ the Greek national team. Let's give these kids some time. And remember even Duke has some pretty decent scrubs sitting at the end of the bench.

[brianstl]

So no one knows how he "migrated" to us.

I recall some people on here (names are immaterial) had this kid as an all A10 performer, raining threes down from never-never land.

That is because that is what Rickma described him as.

We may want to remember that when we hear Rickma talk about Manning's NBA potential.

[brianstl]

I think had Brad got a transfer w/ JB's credentials we would have been over the moon and calling him the next KL. And probably thinking ET would someday be our guard version of IV, slow start but then getting mentioned as an NBA prospect after playing the summer w/ the Greek national team. Let's give these kids some time. And remember even Duke has some pretty decent scrubs sitting at the end of the bench.

Brad got a transfer with better credentials than Barnett. Did you forget about Reggie Bryant?

I think we all forget that it didn't all start out bad for Brad. His big problems in recruiting came when the team moved to the A10 and he lost the advantage of recruiting to a basketball conference like the old CUSA. He was never able to adjust after that.