Crawford Article

[jimbofive]

We are all guessing at this point, and I have not seen MC play, but my speculation is that at least by mid season MC will be playing ahead of JB. I think JC will be looking a year or two down the road and see that the upperclassmen next year are what I view to be, overall, a very weak group. Because of that, I think we will see a fair amount of PT for the 3 FR (RA, TL and MC) this year.

MIke Crawford even stars in his own music video. Word is, they're putting BAD MOTHERFUC.KER above his locker in Chaifetz as we speak.

Don't take that down, MOD SQUAD, it's awesome. And that's the only two sets of boobs in the whole thing.

[WVBilliken]

I think JB will have a breakout senior season. I fully expect JB can do 10 or 11 points a game, 5 rebounds plus play tough defense and provide energy. JB is a fifth year senior, no way an 18 or 19 year old frosh gets more PT than JB, an experienced 22/23 year old player. This is JB's year to shine. More likely, MC finds himself at the end of the bench waiting for his time to come in the 2014/2015 season. With a senior laden club so strong at the guard position, a 2/3 like MC will struggle to find minutes.

[NH]

I think JB will have a breakout senior season. I fully expect JB can do 10 or 11 points a game, 5 rebounds plus play tough defense and provide energy. JB is a fifth year senior, no way an 18 or 19 year old frosh gets more PT than JB, an experienced 22/23 year old player. This is JB's year to shine. More likely, MC finds himself at the end of the bench waiting for his time to come in the 2014/2015 season. With a senior laden club so strong at the guard position, a 2/3 like MC will struggle to find minutes.

Barnett can't average 10 a game unless our squad is decimated by injury.

4-6 points, 2-4 rebounds and 40 percent from three would be solid.

[b.hayes]

Barnett can't average 10 a game unless our squad is decimated by injury.

4-6 points, 2-4 rebounds and 40 percent from three would be solid.

Well, he was at 3.6 ppg and 2.7 rpg last year. I would think some of KM's (Kwamain's) minutes will go to Jake, not just 100% to AM (McBroom). If he doesn't play more minutes per game this year, (15.2 mpg last year), I'd like to see at least the high end of 6ppg and 4 rpg, if not a tick higher. I agree he won't be averaging over 10 ppg on this team without major injuries.

[cgeldmacher]

Let's be careful about our expectations for MC. Comments about expecting him to make significant contributions in his freshman year or that someone would be disappointed if he wasn't starting by midseason are unfairly setting him up to have the appearance of being a disappointment. If we have a reasonable expectation of him getting some minutes and showing some occasional brilliance, and then he breaks out in a big way we will all be very happy. If we expect him to be a major contributor his freshman year, and then he has a normal season for a talented freshmen (i.e. getting low to moderate playing time and being helpful during his time in the games while he assimilates into the system) then many of you will unfairly be disappointed.

[Littlebill]

MIke Crawford even stars in his own music video. Word is, they're putting BAD MOTHERFUC.KER above his locker in Chaifetz as we speak.

Don't take that down, MOD SQUAD, it's awesome. And that's the only two sets of boobs in the whole thing.

Where do you find this stuff...?

[NashvilleBilliken]

Barnett can't average 10 a game unless our squad is decimated by injury.

4-6 points, 2-4 rebounds and 40 percent from three would be solid.

I disagree. Somebody needs to step up and get the points when we lose 2 of our top scorers. We will play a slightly faster pace i believe and a 5th year senior is capable of averaging those points. Jake came on pretty good toward the end of the year, so i higher expectations of him than Crawford in year 1.

[bauman]

I think JB will have a breakout senior season. I fully expect JB can do 10 or 11 points a game, 5 rebounds plus play tough defense and provide energy. JB is a fifth year senior, no way an 18 or 19 year old frosh gets more PT than JB, an experienced 22/23 year old player. This is JB's year to shine. More likely, MC finds himself at the end of the bench waiting for his time to come in the 2014/2015 season. With a senior laden club so strong at the guard position, a 2/3 like MC will struggle to find minutes.

WV and those that also believe we will see a lot of JB this year, I hate to be repetitive but I don't thinks any of you are thinking like a coach who is trying to develop a consistent winning program. After this year we will have 3, count em 3, upperclassmen who will have played even a minute as a Billiken. One of them is a 5'9" guard who we still have not seem play and the other 2 are still of highly questionable ability. While I wish the best for GG & JM, we really have nothing to base that hope on other than hope itself. If you were JC and you had only 1 guard returning who had played for you and that for only 1 year, I think you would be irresponsible in not getting another guard prospect as many minutes as possible. I'm not saying that I think MC will be superior to JB this year but I think he offers the same qualities and will have 3 more years to play versus none for JB. Given that fact along with the fact that coaches think beyond a one year timeframe, I believe MC will see more minutes than JB in the second semester.

Frankly, if the 4 incoming players are not as good as their press clippings we are in trouble next year.

[Billikenboy]

I highly doubt MC plays ahead of JB anytime this season. Tough to crack an experienced 5 guards rotation. With DE seeing time at the 2/3 there will be less of a need for MC at the 2 so question is does he play the 3 or does he redshirt. You can expect his contribution to come in 2014-2015 season when he will be needed. 2013 season i am not so sure. As for the 10ppg and a breakout season....that would be nice if it happened. He is certainly due some increase after being in the system this long.

[TheChosenOne]

WV and those that also believe we will see a lot of JB this year, I hate to be repetitive but I don't thinks any of you are thinking like a coach who is trying to develop a consistent winning program. After this year we will have 3, count em 3, upperclassmen who will have played even a minute as a Billiken. One of them is a 5'9" guard who we still have not seem play and the other 2 are still of highly questionable ability. While I wish the best for GG & JM, we really have nothing to base that hope on other than hope itself. If you were JC and you had only 1 guard returning who had played for you and that for only 1 year, I think you would be irresponsible in not getting another guard prospect as many minutes as possible. I'm not saying that I think MC will be superior to JB this year but I think he offers the same qualities and will have 3 more years to play versus none for JB. Given that fact along with the fact that coaches think beyond a one year timeframe, I believe MC will see more minutes than JB in the second semester.

Frankly, if the 4 incoming players are not as good as their press clippings we are in trouble next year.

You play the guys that give your team the best chance of winning regardless of age and what impact it has on the team heading into the future. If Manning, Glaze, and Barnett all elevate their games they will play regardless of what that does for the team's long term future. With Mitchell, Ellis, and Remekun graduating that opens up minutes in both the backcourt and frontcourt, so the newcomers will have a chance to compete for minutes from day #1. However, they will likely have to beat out guys that have been with the program for a couple of seasons like the three mentioned previously (outside of McBroom who we would seem to need to pick up a large portion of Kwamain's minutes).

[TheChosenOne]

I highly doubt MC plays ahead of JB anytime this season. Tough to crack an experienced 5 guards rotation. With DE seeing time at the 2/3 there will be less of a need for MC at the 2 so question is does he play the 3 or does he redshirt. You can expect his contribution to come in 2014-2015 season when he will be needed. 2013 season i am not so sure. As for the 10ppg and a breakout season....that would be nice if it happened. He is certainly due some increase after being in the system this long.

DE a 2? Evans is a stud and probably the best player in the league, but he needs to be in the paint not roaming the perimeter.

[slufanskip]

Let's be careful about our expectations for MC. Comments about expecting him to make significant contributions in his freshman year or that someone would be disappointed if he wasn't starting by midseason are unfairly setting him up to have the appearance of being a disappointment. If we have a reasonable expectation of him getting some minutes and showing some occasional brilliance, and then he breaks out in a big way we will all be very happy. If we expect him to be a major contributor his freshman year, and then he has a normal season for a talented freshmen (i.e. getting low to moderate playing time and being helpful during his time in the games while he assimilates into the system) then many of you will unfairly be disappointed.

EVERYONE on Bills.com will be disappointed if he isn't averaging 8 ppg by Jan 1. If he is playing less then 10 mpg at that time the suggestion will be made that JC can't recruit and MC was a waste of a scholly.

[Billikenboy]

DE has to show that he is a capable 2/3 if he has any chance of going to the league. As a 6ft 5in player at that position he is clearly undersized in the pro ranks. He will be auditioning for that throughout the season so he can be on that draft board by end of season. If we can have that dream season in 2013 as we all expect it will make his need to show his 2 skills even more important.

[TheChosenOne]

DE has to show that he is a capable 2/3 if he has any chance of going to the league. As a 6ft 5in player at that position he is clearly undersized in the pro ranks. He will be auditioning for that throughout the season so he can be on that draft board by end of season. If we can have that dream season in 2013 as we all expect it will make his need to show his 2 skills even more important.

Is that what is best for the team though? The kid dominated the second half of the season in the paint, why take him away from the basket? We have plenty of guys that can do damage from the perimeter and are short on guys that can produce down low.

It would seem like the best thing for him would be to continue to develop his strengths and look to add a deadly midrange game as opposed to trying to become a guard. If the guy dominates like he did for the second half of this season he may get a shot despite his lack of height. I just don't think that his skillset is that of a guard and why try to force that when he can absolutely dominate playing in the paint. He is what he is and that is a 6'5 power forward that can guard any position. DeMarre Carroll is a guy that got drafted doing the things that I would like to see Evans continue do (although I think he may have a couple of inches, 6'6 without shoes, on Evans and was a better athlete) and especially with regards to adding the midrange shot. Carroll also plays the roll that Evans would if he were to get a chance being a defensive player that brings effort and does the dirty work off the bench.

[dlarry]

Don't take that down, MOD SQUAD, it's awesome. And that's the only two sets of boobs in the whole thing.

2 sets?

I see one nice set of boobies and a pretty blond dude with bigger than average pecs.

[TheChosenOne]

[GOSLU68]

If we get a combined 12 and 8 from RA and TL anything we get from MC will be gravy

[TheChosenOne]

If we get a combined 12 and 8 from RA and TL anything we get from MC will be gravy

Does Crews open practices to the public?

[WVBilliken]

Here's minutes by player for last season.

Mitchell, Ellis and Remeken accounted for 30,26 and 18 minutes respectively last season. If Barnett can consistently hit the 3 and rebound and defend like I think he can, he can get a lot of Ellis's minutes and some of Remeken's. I could easily see him moving his minutes up from 15 a game last year to the low to mid-20's. As another poster said, Jake really improved the second half of last season. I see him as a major contributor for this coming season.

2012 - 2013 Season Saint Louis University Player Position GS GP Minutes Dwayne Evans F 35 35 29.6 Kwamain Mitchell G 24 24 30.2 Cody Ellis F 35 0 26.1 Mike McCall Jr. G 35 35 29.1 Jordair Jett G 35 9 26.3 Rob Loe F 35 35 22.9 Cory Remekun F 33 15 18.1 Jake Barnett F 35 2 15.2 Grandy Glaze F 25 20 12.0 Keith Carter G 3 0 13.0 John Manning C 25 0 5.7 Sean Duff G 9 0 1.2 Joey LePak G 11 0 0.9 Jared Drew F 1 0 1.0

[Quality Is Job 1]

Here's minutes by player for last season.

Mitchell, Ellis and Remeken accounted for 30,26 and 18 minutes respectively last season. If Barnett can consistently hit the 3 and rebound and defend like I think he can, he can get a lot of Ellis's minutes and some of Remeken's. I could easily see him moving his minutes up from 15 a game last year to the low to mid-20's. As another poster said, Jake really improved the second half of last season. I see him as a major contributor for this coming season.

2012 - 2013 Season Saint Louis University Player Position GS GP Minutes Dwayne Evans F 35 35 29.6 Kwamain Mitchell G 24 24 30.2 Cody Ellis F 35 0 26.1 Mike McCall Jr. G 35 35 29.1 Jordair Jett G 35 9 26.3 Rob Loe F 35 35 22.9 Cory Remekun F 33 15 18.1 Jake Barnett F 35 2 15.2 Grandy Glaze F 25 20 12.0 Keith Carter G 3 0 13.0 John Manning C 25 0 5.7 Sean Duff G 9 0 1.2 Joey LePak G 11 0 0.9 Jared Drew F 1 0 1.0

Where did you get those numbers from? I'm 99.999% sure Drew never got in a game.

[b.hayes]

Where did you get those numbers from? I'm 99.999% sure Drew never got in a game.

Probably ESPN, who thinks he played against Charlotte.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/player/gamelog/_/id/61187/jared-drew

[NH]

Well, he was at 3.6 ppg and 2.7 rpg last year. I would think some of KM's (Kwamain's) minutes will go to Jake, not just 100% to AM (McBroom). If he doesn't play more minutes per game this year, (15.2 mpg last year), I'd like to see at least the high end of 6ppg and 4 rpg, if not a tick higher. I agree he won't be averaging over 10 ppg on this team without major injuries.

I think we are pretty much in agreement. But don't forget that there was a long period of time where Barnett, Jett and McCall were our only real guards. During that time Jake didn't average much more than 4 points per game. I think that will move up some from the loss of Ellis and added experience, but could move down some with more scoring going to Jett and McCall, plus the addition of McBroom. I just don't see enough minutes going around for him to improve his performance THAT much unless he made huge strides in the summer, which would be great but highly unlikely for a 5th/6th year senior guard.

For those people who say Crawford will play over McBroom, I disagree. And that isn't a diss about Mike. Barnett will be TWENTY-FOUR years old by the time conference play starts. He will have been in the system* for four years and he has improved a little bit each year so far. Barnett turned into a decent three-point shooter by last season's end and also has improved defensively. I agree that the best players will play, but "best" is a relative term. Barnett knows how to play with McCall, Jett, Evans, Loe, and presumably McBroom. The coaches can trust him. And the role he would occupy is one that rewards smart play, good defense and 3-point shooting. If Mike is playing over him, then we know the kid will be a very, very good player.

[bauman]

I highly doubt MC plays ahead of JB anytime this season. Tough to crack an experienced 5 guards rotation. With DE seeing time at the 2/3 there will be less of a need for MC at the 2 so question is does he play the 3 or does he redshirt. You can expect his contribution to come in 2014-2015 season when he will be needed. 2013 season i am not so sure. As for the 10ppg and a breakout season....that would be nice if it happened. He is certainly due some increase after being in the system this long.

"Tough to crack an experienced 5 guards rotation"? i'm sorry but not to be rude, what the heck are you talking about? We return 2 experienced guards (MM & JJ); in addition we add 1 hopefully good, but very short PG who we have never seen play and 1 experienced 2/3 (JB). Counting DE as part of an experienced guard rotation is more than a stretch, it's just flat out wrong. Wishing him to play the 2 this year just isn't going to happen, nor should it. As someone else pointed out we need him at the 3/4. I don't care if he needs to play the 2 in the NBA, he doesn't need to play it at SLU and he won't. Again, with 3 of the 4 guards (JJ, MM, JB) seniors and AM an unknown (and the only one of the 4 returning for the following season), I think JC will give MC plenty of PT, IN THE 2ND SEMESTER. I can't imagine him wanting to start the14-15 season with only McBroom as a guard with any real SLU experience.

[cgeldmacher]

EVERYONE on Bills.com will be disappointed if he isn't averaging 8 ppg by Jan 1. If he is playing less then 10 mpg at that time the suggestion will be made that JC can't recruit and MC was a waste of a scholly.

I guess everyone except for me. Who is he going to take time away from? He's not going to start over MM or JJ. We have JB with a lot more experience who already got 10-15 mpg on last year's nationally ranked team. AM is coming in as well.

And yet, you're going to be disappointed if a freshman is not averaging 8 ppg by halfway through his freshman year? This isn't Kentucky. Please cut this kid a break on the expectations. I expect him to be a very good player, but not immediately. Especially when we have other experienced, and talented, players already on the roster.

[Billikenboy]

When I say experienced it simply means one who has been in the SLU system. McBroom is experienced and yes Evans is a guard/has to become one that is proficient enough to make it a career if he so chooses. So you have a 5 guard rotation before you start looking at GG, TL, RA, RL, and JM. Evans is no longer needed at the 4 spot. I suspect 2/3 is where you see him this season. MC will need minutes to gain experience so you may have a point about 2nd semester but the experience of AY in 2014 will be the buffer. These are just opinions and I take no offense to dissenting ones. More fuel for discussion till November!