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Former Billikens Updates


thetorch

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6 hours ago, crymdg2 said:

https://instagram.com/stories/dwaynesworld_1/2843780514484533178?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

 

Looks like Evans hit a game winner. @thetorch would know better, but that stadium looks pretty big. Is the Japanese league growing ala Australia? 

I believe they are playing the playoffs in one location so the attendance maybe misleading or they may be playing in the Okinawa arena which is about the size of chaifetz.  I think Ryukyu only plays a portion of their games in the large arena.  There is a smaller one they are in most of the time.

Japan's Basketball league is really catching on.  Fan attendance has doubled in the last 6 years.  They now average over 4k fans per game in a rather large league, 22 teams, each with a 55 game schedule.  A much larger league than Australia, which doesn't have half that many teams.

Native Japanese players still are not very good and they are of course hard pressed to have big men.  Native Japanese players cannot match up to native Australians.  But their imports do, Japan has the best imports in Asia, besides the Chinese league.  Toe to Toe their imports could be better overall than Australia's.  Japan pays really well and attracts a lot of veteran Euro players looking for a change.

Evan's team is remarkably good, maybe the best Japanese league team ever.  They were 48-7 in the regular season.  Only allowed to play 2 imports on the court at once the Kings feature Evans, 16 & 7, Allen Durham 6'6 240 who played for a Bible COllege in the states and became a top Euro player, and Jack Cooley, 6'9 center from Notre Dame.  Those 3 split time at the 4 and 5.  They also have one of the best Japan native players at guard in Keita Imamura.  Evans was screwed out of an all star spot but I think he earned the equivalent of 3rd team all league this season.  Next weekend they will play 2 games to determine the Championship against Tochigi.  Tochigi is led by NZ native & national team star Isaac Fotu, Former Colorado player Josh Scott, and former member of Dunk City FGCU alum Chase Fieler.  Same Ryukyu these guys are all 4s and 5s.  

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Kwamain is also very close to a title for his Swiss league team Fribourg.  They are in the finals, best of 3 and Fribourg leads the series 1-0.  Mitchell in this league is still a starter but no longer a star.  He is a defensive stopper and distributor getting less than 9 ppg.  His team really spreads the minutes out, no one averages over 28 mpg.  Fribourg at one point won 21 games in a row and was 26-1 during the regular season.  They have dropped 1 playoff game so far. Mitchell should be another Billiken champion in a few days.

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3 hours ago, Taj79 said:

Good stuff.  Only missing Jordan Goodwin.  And maybe Ingvi!

There is a multiple page thread on Goodwin. Ingvi is no longer playing as far as i can see.

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17 hours ago, thetorch said:

Ian Vougioukas

It appears Ian has ended his pro career.  Over 15 years he represented Greece twice in the World Cup, was a Greek league All Star 3 times, A Euroleague Champion, and won championships in Greece, Russian Superleague & Lithuania.  He also had a stint as team captain for Panathanaikos.  Congrats Ian hope to see you return to SLU soon.

A picture I keep with me is a picture of 10 year old me at 5' standing next to Ian after a game. He was so much fun to watch and it's been so cool to see him represent his country so well. Hope his retirement leads him back to SLU for a visit someday.

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I don't think it was mentioned, but Kevin Lisch wrapped up his second season as an assistant coach for the Sydney Kings.  He was new King's coach Chase Buford's top assistant this past season.  The Kings won their first championship in 17 seasons.  Their top player and league MVP was former Bonnie Jaylen Adams.

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7 hours ago, crymdg2 said:

Is French still playing? I feel like I've seen him doing modeling/acting on social media more than hoops? 

He had a hard time overseas.  Injuries, inconsistent play and then was released before the season was over.  He did play in the TBT but I think his team only played 1 or 2 games and his PT was sparse.  His acting and modeling may be more lucrative than playing overseas or at least less of a headache.  I don't think he is good enough for the G league.  I would imagine he will continue his career somewhere.  He frankly would be perfect for a lower Asian league or a smaller Nordic league.  They value undersized big men.

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8 hours ago, crymdg2 said:

Is French still playing? I feel like I've seen him doing modeling/acting on social media more than hoops? 

zoolander-slashie-award.jpg?w=293&h=180

 

Future winner of the Fabio Slashie Award! 
 

In all seriousness I wish him luck in whatever he decides to do.

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French is no different from thousands of other kids coming out of college into what they think will be their careers, many of them wind up doing something else totally different in time. A number of these kids wind up being very successful in careers they had never considered before in their lives.

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