Recruiting - 2017

[TFord and TRavs]

Foreman, Bess and Ad have spent the entire off season focusing on 3pt shots Hoosier. Also this team won't focus on the 3. We finally have players who can dominate in the paint. Higher percentage shots inside the 3. 

[wgstl]

35 minutes ago, TRN said:

He is a 3 threat, I've seen it in person.  I'd say Foreman is a threat too from highlights I've seen.

Hitting a three doesnt make you a threat.  I too thought Reggie was a threat from 3

[HoosierPal]

9 minutes ago, MattyMo213 said:

Yeah but Foreman and Bess have had a whole year of not playing and just working on their weak areas. I'm not saying that they're gonna come out and be amazing three shooters, but they could have worked hard over the offseasons and improved quite a bit.

Perhaps. Never say never.

My point on TFord and TRav post an hour ago was that we have a number of good three point shooters on the roster. Ford will use them and they will get heavy minutes. 

[HoosierPal]

18 minutes ago, TFord and TRavs said:

Foreman, Bess and Ad have spent the entire off season focusing on 3pt shots Hoosier. Also this team won't focus on the 3. We finally have players who can dominate in the paint. Higher percentage shots inside the 3. 

Have you told Coach Ford this?  He was a guard. He loves the 3. His focus will be winning games. He will use his guys that can hit threes as well as others that score inside. Roby, Johnson, Bishop, Welmer and Graves won't grow mold on the bench. 

[slufanskip]

42 minutes ago, wgstl said:

Hitting a three doesnt make you a threat.  I too thought Reggie was a threat from 3

He's at least tied for 1st place in the highest 3 point % in the history of college basketball.

[AnkielBreakers]

1 hour ago, HoosierPal said:

Have you told Coach Ford this?  He was a guard. He loves the 3. His focus will be winning games. He will use his guys that can hit threes as well as others that score inside. Roby, Johnson, Bishop, Welmer and Graves won't grow mold on the bench. 

What do you mean?  It was posted on a message board. It is basically a commandment that coach Ford has to follow.  

[The Valley Sucks]

Hope Tilmon goes anywhere but Mizzou. If that happens Conzo would have missed on Knox, Smith and Tillman. So who has he recruited? Not Porter he paid for his dad, KA already had the guy from Texas, and the other guy they have committed was a Wash recruit lol what a joke SAD!!!!

[TFord and TRavs]

Hoosier. Stop taking everything so literally. It's a discussion board. Also what I have said is true so I don't know what you're trying to argue about. My assumptions about more focus in the paint is from Fords recruits who have extremely higher skill in the paint than last year 

[HoosierPal]

12 minutes ago, TFord and TRavs said:

Hoosier. Stop taking everything so literally. It's a discussion board. Also what I have said is true so I don't know what you're trying to argue about. My assumptions about more focus in the paint is from Fords recruits who have extremely higher skill in the paint than last year 

Then don't take exception when I point out that your five lack outside threats. 

[STL Hoops Insider]

55 minutes ago, The Valley Sucks said:

Hope Tilmon goes anywhere but Mizzou. If that happens Conzo would have missed on Knox, Smith and Tillman. So who has he recruited? Not Porter he paid for his dad, KA already had the guy from Texas, and the other guy they have committed was a Wash recruit lol what a joke SAD!!!!

Other schools offered Porter Sr. the job. It was a recruiting battle he won for the acquisition of two 5 star prospects. 

[Quality Is Job 1]

3 hours ago, TFord and TRavs said:

Not playing season. The point is they are the same age as all the other seniors. Their "sit-out" season consisted of all the same practices as the rest of the team. I don't think they need time to adjust after one friendly scrimmage in the fall. They will have the experience of a senior, and they will be hungry on the court. 

I'm going to have to disagree.  DJ Foreman spent last season in rehab after surgery.  He will not be a senior in any sense other than academics.  As for Jevon Bess and Adonys Henriquez, they may have practiced, but they didn't run Ford's system, so they will not be "seniors," either.  The transfers didn't get "the same practices."

As far as Ford's system, is concerned, only Roby, Welmer, Bishop, Johnson, and Hines will have gotten a taste of that, and it wasn't a full year of full indoctrination, as Coach Ford cut back on installing his system in 2016-17.  Bishop got hurt, so he didn't really get a season of experience under Ford.

The 2017-18 season will just be scratching the surface of T-Bird Ball, as Ford will return a grand total of two seasons of experience at the beginning of the season (half-a-year each for Roby, Welmer, Bishop, and Johnson), so chemistry and experienced, veteran savvy will be lacking, contrary to what @TFord and TRavs is suggesting.

[Quality Is Job 1]

1 hour ago, The Valley Sucks said:

Hope Tilmon goes anywhere but Mizzou. If that happens Conzo would have missed on Knox, Smith and Tillman. So who has he recruited? Not Porter he paid for his dad, KA already had the guy from Texas, and the other guy they have committed was a Wash recruit lol what a joke SAD!!!!

What is that noise?

[Billikenbooster]

1 hour ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

I'm going to have to disagree.  DJ Foreman spent last season in rehab after surgery.  He will not be a senior in any sense other than academics.  As for Jevon Bess and Adonys Henriquez, they may have practiced, but they didn't run Ford's system, so they will not be "seniors," either.  The transfers didn't get "the same practices."

As far as Ford's system, is concerned, only Roby, Welmer, Bishop, Johnson, and Hines will have gotten a taste of that, and it wasn't a full year of full indoctrination, as Coach Ford cut back on installing his system in 2016-17.  Bishop got hurt, so he didn't really get a season of experience under Ford.

The 2017-18 season will just be scratching the surface of T-Bird Ball, as Ford will return a grand total of two seasons of experience at the beginning of the season (half-a-year each for Roby, Welmer, Bishop, and Johnson), so chemistry and experienced, veteran savvy will be lacking, contrary to what @TFord and TRavs is suggesting.

 Agree completely. Next year we will be much faster. No more passing the ball around for the first 15 sec of the shot clock. We will have a bench that comes in if guys get fagged or pick up some fouls.

[HoosierPal]

37 minutes ago, Billikenbooster said:

 Agree completely. Next year we will be much faster. No more passing the ball around for the first 15 sec of the shot clock. We will have a bench that comes in if guys get fagged or pick up some fouls.

There are two other components for the team that are hard to quantify. First is team chemistry particularly for the five on the floor. Ford said it took last seasons team a long time to develop team chemistry. But when they found it, you saw the results. 

Then Defense. We saw how last season's team had trouble defending the first half of the season. We have no idea how any of the 5+ newcomers will adapt to what Ford wants on defense.  You saw that if you missed a defensive assignment you got to visit Coach on the bench. The improvement in Moore and Jonson on the defensive end was remarkable during the season. Defense is hard. It takes time. Our zone defense was pathetic to start with but was decent by the end of the season. 

[TFord and TRavs]

Ok according to players on the team, they have done the system with Ford. They will also be the same age as most seniors. I think it's wrong to think these kids will be off their game after coming off a season without playing. They scrimmage a lot in closed practices 

[Quality Is Job 1]

4 minutes ago, TFord and TRavs said:

Ok according to players on the team, they have done the system with Ford. They will also be the same age as most seniors. I think it's wrong to think these kids will be off their game after coming off a season without playing. They scrimmage a lot in closed practices 

Oh, I'm sure the transfers did the opening three weeks, or so, of system indoctrination, but that's not a full season of it.  Of course the players are going to tell you that they "got it" (in "training camp" last year), but it's not the same as running it full speed against quality opponents for four months.  After "training camp," the transfers ran "scout team" stuff, not T-bird Ball for the rest of the season.  I'm not saying they'll be off their games — though they may well be — just that they're not going to be anywhere near the well-oiled machine you seem to be suggesting they'll be.

By the end of the season they'll be a tough out for anyone, but there will probably be some hiccups early in the season.  And in 2018-19 they'll be a national contender.

[Old guy]

I would like to think that the transfers will be at least partially acclimated to Ford and his system when the new season starts and will be able to start up with less hiccups.

[HoosierPal]

Curiosity overwhelmed my common sense today, and I listened to yesterdays podcast of Frank C and Maurice Scott.  No, I'm not jumping on the Scott bandwagon, but frankly I was somewhat surprised at a few things he said.  He didn't have negative SLU comments, so it must have been a tough interview for him.

First on Pickett, Scott said he hadn't talked to Pickett for a while.  He did say Pickett is a wing SF, or might even play the 4 for SLU, rather than a SG.  (At 185 lb to 190 lb, he is too thin for PF in my opinion. Pickett playing inside over Bess, French, Foreman, Johnson and Welmer?  Can't see it.)  Scott says his body isn't there yet.  He also said if he goes to SLU, a redshirt year would be valuable to Pickett.  Frank asked if the numbers of SLU talent at the 2 and 3 was a factor in Pickett's decision and Scott said perhaps it is.  A big wow from me.

Connecting the dots on Tilmon, there are academic issues.  Scott says Tilmon needs to make a decision so he can get into summer school as soon as high school is over, and get help from the academic advisors at his school of choice. Was this issue involved in SLU's apparent backing off of Tilmon?

Then, he stated that Goodwin was hands down the best of the 4 metro area players: Tilmon, Smith and Pickett.

[CBFan]

Thank you for the summary Hoosier pal good reading and I always appreciate that you post about the radio shows.  I believe Mr. Pickett has a big decision to make concerning picking SLU for the exact reason you stated.  If the newcomers are as good as we hope for then who does he play over?  The only position that offers playing time for the SLU team is the center position and it does not appear SLU will get a commitment from any centers that could play immediately.  I hope Mr. Pickett commits to SLU and redshirts but I understand that if he wants to play immediately then he will commit to a school that can provide the opportunity.  Coach Ford has really done a great job turning over this roster.

[billiken_roy]

actually pickett playing the PF isn't all that off base.  until this past season if you asked me what past billiken he most resembled stylewise, I would have said evans.   only this past season did he take on more of the wing attributes and show he could step away from the lane.   if you all remember evans as a freshman, he was not the strong man he was by the time he was a senior.  

that all said, that is why a pickett reshirt, should he choose to be a billiken, would be a big advantage for his billiken career imo.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RiseAndGrind]

5 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

actually pickett playing the PF isn't all that off base.  until this past season if you asked me what past billiken he most resembled stylewise, I would have said evans.   only this past season did he take on more of the wing attributes and show he could step away from the lane.   if you all remember evans as a freshman, he was not the strong man he was by the time he was a senior.  

that all said, that is why a pickett reshirt, should he choose to be a billiken, would be a big advantage for his billiken career imo.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Would be pretty crazy if Travis Ford got a Metro East star that formerly signed with a B10 program to redshirt. 

[Bobby Metzinger]

4 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

actually pickett playing the PF isn't all that off base.  until this past season if you asked me what past billiken he most resembled stylewise, I would have said evans.   only this past season did he take on more of the wing attributes and show he could step away from the lane.   if you all remember evans as a freshman, he was not the strong man he was by the time he was a senior.  

that all said, that is why a pickett reshirt, should he choose to be a billiken, would be a big advantage for his billiken career imo.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This could be said for a myriad of athletes playing any sport at any level, Roy. If Pickett has a mature basketball IQ, meaning the area of his body situated between his ears, the kid should play. I get that Majerus was probably the master of molding clay into pottery, but I don't think Ford necessarily looks for "projects."

[3star_recruit]

Just because there are several talented upperclassmen at your position, some of whom were ranked even higher than you were coming out of high school, doesn't make you a project. It just means you're coming into a deep roster. I don't think we've ever seen a deep roster in the modern era SLU basketball so it's a jarring experience for some. For programs have who deep rosters year in and year out, the prospect of redshirting a talented freshman is no big deal.

[Billiken Bob]

Everyone is making a pretty big mistake in assuming that Travis has offered Javon Pickett a scholarship.  What if he thinks that the young man would have trouble getting minutes this coming year and what if Travis felt that  there were 5 or so local high school seniors to be that could be better than him.  Why would you use the scholarship on him and pass on one of the current juniors.  When it happens that Javon commits to another school please no hand wringing about us losing him to whomever, when we never even offered him.

[Bobby Metzinger]

18 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Just because there are several talented upperclassmen at your position, some of whom were ranked even higher than you were coming out of high school, doesn't make you a project. It just means you're coming into a deep roster. I don't think we've ever seen a deep roster in the modern era SLU basketball so it's a jarring experience for some. For programs have who deep rosters year in and year out, the prospect of redshirting a talented freshman is no big deal.

Unless said talented incoming freshman wants what people in the basketball industry call "playing time."