And Now Your 14-15 Saint Louis Billikens...(let me see your prediction/desire for starting line-ups w/ rationale if you can.

[CMartinezSTL]

Let's see everyone's prediction/desire for starting line-ups w/ rationale if you can.

[slufan13]

Since the last scholarship hasn't been used, I'll go with a lineup without it.

Starters:

1. McBroom. Although I don't think he's a true point guard, I think he's going to really improve in the offseason.

2. Yacoubou. My biggest question with him is how good he is at handling the ball. I think he'll put up a lot of shots next year. Hope he's like McBroom and doesn't have a whole lot of rust to shake off.

3. Crawford. Think he'll be one of the better players. Crews was quoted in mid February saying that Crawford made the biggest improvement from beginning of the season til then. I get the feeling that he works harder than anyone

4. Glaze. I hope not, but I get the feeling Crews will start his seniors. Even if he does, it'll be like Glaze starting last year. Starts but doesn't get a ton of time.

5. Manning. Probably a given here. Crews likes having a true 5 on the court and Manning has the most experience.

Bench (in order of rotation)

6. Lancona. Hopefully he can be a Cody type player that can stretch the D. Thought he played pretty well down the stretch this season. Could easily start if Crews doesn't start Glaze

7. Agbeko. Gotta stay healthy and have a full offseason with the team. Again could easily start over Glaze. Think he'll be a stud and dominate games.

8. Reynolds. Seems like he'll be the backup to McBroom at the point. Think he'll really establish a role as the season goes on.

9. Jolly. I think he's going to be really good. I think going to prep school really helped him. Could play similar minutes next year to what Manning played this year.

10. Roby. If he can buy into the defense he could be pushed way up this list. High potential player.

11. Bartley. All reports say he has to get bigger and stronger. He played a lot of zone defense in high school and sometimes even played down low on the zone. Think he needs strength and a year of defense before he contributes a ton. He has the height that Crews likes in a guard though so hopefully he can pick everything up quickly.

12. Gillmann. Ideally he redshirts so even if you do use the 6th scholarship, Gillmann wouldn't be part of that class which could help even things out a bit. Also think he just needs a redshirt season anyway.

Hope all the freshmen get on campus early and get in the weight room and on the court. We'll need one or two of them to really step up.

[majerus mojo]

1-AM

2-AY

3-MC

4-GG

5-JM

[CMartinezSTL]

Good stuff. Very helpful. Dont know enough about Roby. And GG will start/play as much as he earns by getting his heart rate below 200 (constant panic mode) and not turning the ball over by throwing it off his teammates back and such. Big heart. Great energy. Complete spaz.

[slu72]

AM, AY, MC, TL, JM. TL over GG. He was more of the go to guy than Grandy at the end. Plus TLs more versatile. The bench GG, RA, and don't know about the Frosh. I do think, unless we use that last scholie on a big, Jolly will see minutes.

[sludevil]

I would really like to see Lancona get a shot at starting or, at least, significant minutes off the bench. He seems to have a pretty high ceiling, and is the type of player who can create mismatches on the floor with his size and perimeter shooting. Reggie is another really intriguing prospect. He's got the body type that SLU has been sorely lacking; if he can continue to develop his skills (and, from what I've seen, he's certainly still very raw), he could be a major asset going forward.

On the other hand, I'm ready to throw in the towel on Glaze. The dude just isn't a good basketball player. And I think giving him minutes out of some misplaced sense of loyalty (instead of using those minutes to develop younger guys) would be a mistake. Manning is another dude who just hasn't impressed me. He often seems very tentative and awkward in his movements, and offers little on the offensive end. He should definitely be in the rotation (off the bench), but he's another guy whose minutes might be better spent developing younger talent.

Otherwise, McBroom has definitely been impressive at times, and should look to take a significant step forward next year. Also looking forward to watching what the Pitt transfer can do.

[Billikenboy]

What do I know. Guess we will see soon enough!

[pretty_ricky]

Say what you want about mcbrooms shooting I think for the most part he showed a lot of poise for a soph

[Zink]

Good posts so far! Here are my thoughts...

Starters

1 - McBroom: Should be solid here. Hopefully we see the shooter who started the year out for us all season long. We'll need him to score and take care of the ball.

2- Yacoubou: Another guy we think can shoot. Can he also create for himself (and others) off the bounce?

3 - Crawford - Shooters all around! How is his defense, can he finish those aggressive drives we saw him attempt this season?

4 - Glaze - I think this ends up being a Remekun/Glaze from two years ago situation where he starts but plays 18mpg. Needs to look for hustle points and be a leader.

5 - Manning - Looked really good to finish the year. Can he score on post-ups? Can he stay out of foul trouble with starter's minutes?

Bench

4/5/3? - Lancona: I think he is first off the bench, likely for Glaze. Could he maybe even see some minutes at the 3? Or at the 5? Very versatile player. Hopefully we see the dribble drive game exhibited in some of his HS tapes.

4/5 - Agbeko: Maybe comes in at the same time as Lancona. Hopefully he is capable of scoring off of post-ups. Really look forward to seeing him cross some people up. Between him, Lancona, Glaze and Manning, I wonder if we just need four guys to man the 4/5. Jolly might only need to play a few mpg then.

2/1 - Reynolds: Heady player, looks like he'll have the confidence, work ethic, intelligence & talent to help out right away. Hopefully he's a good shooter. He shot 80% from the stripe in HS, so that will be nice!

2/3 - Roby: Looks like he will be the most physically ready frosh, hopefully he can give us some quality minutes. All-around type player who should be able to play Billiken defense from day one.

5 - Jolly: His minutes kind of depend on if the staff are comfortable with using Tanner and/or Reggie at the 5. Even if they do take up the majority of the back-up minutes, I can see him chipping in for a few minutes each game.

1/2 - Bartley: Looks like a guy who can get into the lane and create shots for himself and others, but he will need to add a bit of strength to finish those plays at the D1 level. He could surprise us and have a lean strength that belies his physique. Could wind up being the best offensive weapon of the incoming recruits.

5 - Gillmann: Redshirt candidate, which isn't a bad thing, as slufan13 pointed out it will even out the classes and aid his development.

This reads a lot like slufan13's I'm just realizing... only difference is Jolly/Roby. It will be interesting to see how the big man rotation looks next year.

All in all, a solid lineup, but some people will have to make major progress if we are going to go back to the NCAA.

[jimmy two times]

I don't think Glaze should start. At all. I've said before, he is not a basketball player and has no skills whatsoever. What he is clearly, is a lunatic that happens to bring intensity and defensive rebounding, which in certain spurts, is needed. I think he is an energy guy off the bench we can throw in there for a shift per half. I wouldn't want him out there over Lancona at the beginning of the game for any reason? Why? Lancona is 100 times better than Glaze is right now.

Manning is concerning. He is an above average defensive player, but way below average on offense. Awkward and devoid of court sense. He needs to really refine his offensive game this summer, but he will start and get a lot of minutes at the C spot.

I like Crawford. A lot. No idea why he wasn't out there...maybe he showed up to practice still drunk or something one day and landed in the dog house. That stuff happens all the time and you never hear about it. Crawford will be fine. What I like most is that he is a pure shooter who also has a knack for getting to the rim, along with the size to finish. Important because he isn't one of those guys where if his 3pt shot isn't falling, he brings nothing to the table (see Barnett, Jake).

McBroom strikes me as a good bad shot maker, if that makes sense. He can score and I like him. He's small and his defense and ball handling are concerning, but I think that's just the trade off with him. I think Reynolds will really push him for minutes. He's bigger and strikes me as more poised.

I like AY a lot. I think he will bring a skill set and athleticism on the wing that we haven't had for awhile.

It will be fun to watch these guys develop.

[majerus mojo]

I think Glaze can contribute and be an asset for 20 mins a game. We need his rebounding, and Conklin was pretty rough on the offensive end for a the better part of his first two seasons. Love his energy, but needs to gain more control, this is obvious. Bulk up some more maybe the route to go in the offseason.

[kappy96]

I think Tanner starts at the 4. As the year wore on it became apparent that we missed that perimeter threat from the 4.

I think we're looking at:

Ash

Austin

Tanner

Reggie

Manning

And don't sleep on Miles Reynolds pushing Austin in the second half of the year.

[Bizziken]

Based on anecdotal evidence I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Agbeko cracks the starting rotation...

McBroom, Yacoubou, Agbeko, Lancona, Manning as starters with Crawford, Glaze, and Reynolds as main contributors off the bench. For the 9th spot, maybe Bartley or Roby and Jolly as a 5 min/game type of guy.

I am extremely excited to see this team in action. I am fully expecting some frustrations, but it is fun to see a young team grow and mature....and making the Tourney the last 3 seasons diminishes expectations and tension for next year. To me, there is less of an immediacy factor (ie- we HAVE to make the Tourney or else).

Like I said in another thread...my goal will be 20 wins + an NIT bid. Anything more than that and I will be ecstatic. And even a little less than that I will still be pleased

[TheChosenOne]

Like I said in another thread...my goal will be 20 wins + an NIT bid. Anything more than that and I will be ecstatic. And even a little less than that I will still be pleased

At this point it is near impossible for me to have any idea what to expect from the team next season. We will rely almost entirely on guys that we have not seen play in the role they will be asked to play. On paper there are some promising additions and some of the young guys showed positive signs in really limited playing time, but we won't really know until we see these kids play.

[Zink]

Based on anecdotal evidence I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Agbeko cracks the starting rotation...

McBroom, Yacoubou, Agbeko, Lancona, Manning as starters with Crawford, Glaze, and Reynolds as main contributors off the bench. For the 9th spot, maybe Bartley or Roby and Jolly as a 5 min/game type of guy.

I am extremely excited to see this team in action. I am fully expecting some frustrations, but it is fun to see a young team grow and mature....and making the Tourney the last 3 seasons diminishes expectations and tension for next year. To me, there is less of an immediacy factor (ie- we HAVE to make the Tourney or else).

Like I said in another thread...my goal will be 20 wins + an NIT bid. Anything more than that and I will be ecstatic. And even a little less than that I will still be pleased

You and a few others have mentioned Tanner as the 3 in our lineup. I would love if we could play him there, but I have a few concerns. Do you think that he has ball-handling skills we just haven't seen yet? And will he be able to guard the smaller, quicker guard-type players that a lot of other teams will use at the 3 spot?

[Zink]

At this point it is near impossible for me to have any idea what to expect from the team next season. We will rely almost entirely on guys that we have not seen play in the role they will be asked to play. On paper there are some promising players, but we won't really know until we see these kids play.

I have to agree on this. I think in another thread I said anything from 14-24 wins would be within the realm of possibility. It's still fun to speculate on roles and try to figure out the key questions that must be answered in order for us to win games next year.

[almaman]

I'd say 0-28 is the realm of possibilities in this case

[Bizziken]

At this point it is near impossible for me to have any idea what to expect from the team next season. We will rely almost entirely on guys that we have not seen play in the role they will be asked to play. On paper there are some promising players and some of the young guys showed positive signs in really limited playing time, but we won't really know until we see these kids play.

119 teams finished with 20 or more wins this year. That's about 33% of all Division 1 schools. Another 61 teams won between 17-19 games. That's why I put 20 wins as a GOAL, not an expectation. 6 out of 13 Atlantic 10 teams finished with 20+ wins and another (Richmond) finished with 19. I think it is reasonable to set our goal to finish in the top half of the A-10, which should end up being about 20 wins.

You and a few others have mentioned Tanner as the 3 in our lineup. I would love if we could play him there, but I have a few concerns. Do you think that he has ball-handling skills we just haven't seen yet? And will he be able to guard the smaller, quicker guard-type players that a lot of other teams will use at the 3 spot?

Tanner would be the 4 in my lineup...Reggie would be the 3 if he can handle the ball reasonably well.

[Archy McNally]

AM, AY, MC, TL, JM. TL over GG. He was more of the go to guy than Grandy at the end. Plus TLs more versatile. The bench GG, RA, and don't know about the Frosh. I do think, unless we use that last scholie on a big, Jolly will see minutes.

That is my guess as well. Wonder what happened to MC, maybe hurt or something but did not want to give that info up. He showed ability to score.

I like RA and think he will back up the 4 and 5 next year along with Glaze. They will need all 3 freshmen guards to step in as backups.

[davidnark]

I would be shocked if TL or RA start at the 3 at any point in their careers. They will both battle for minutes up front.

[DeSmetBilliken]

At this point in time, I'd say there are 3 likelihoods as far as starters are concerned at the beginning of the season.

1: McBroom

2: Yacoubou

5: Manning

From there, you have several options for the 3 and 4. It could work itself out by the first game through offseason improvements or strong showings in early practices, or it could something that varies early in the season based on match ups and practice performance. Those 2 spots would come from Crawford, Lancona, Agbeko, and Glaze.

I'm inclined to agree with those of you who think that Crawford with start at the 3. Up until his bizarre disappearance of minutes late in the season, he seemed to be growing as a player and increasing his role. He sounds like a really hard working kid who will use this offseason to improve.

The one caveat to that would be if Lancona can be seen and used at the 3. If he's going to be used in that position, then that starting spot at the 3 could be a battle between Crawford and Lancona, or it could vary depending on who we are playing, given the difference in size between Crawford and Lancona.

Lancona is also a viable option at the 4. He got some important time late in the season, so Crews clearly has confidence in him. Can't hurt to have another shooter on the court.

Glaze is obviously the senior in this situation, and he could have that going for him. He might be interested in starting early due to that experience. At the same time, he lost his starting spot this year. Someone already made this suggestion, and I like the idea of him coming in off the bench with his energy.

I think Agbeko is the real "X" factor here. He has a combination of size and athleticism at the 4 that we really haven't seen too often at SLU. Other than a few glimpses that got us excited, we really don't know what we have in him, other than an intriguing prospect. In a best case scenario, he reaches the level he needs to so that he does start for us, because then we have ourselves a nice option in the post. I'd also say that if he can start at the 4, it could allow Lancona to share some time at the 3.

I'd like to see one of Lancona, Agbeko, or Glaze do something to cement a starting spot. Based on what I've seen from the 3, plus a desire to set things up for the future, I'd prefer if it was Lancona and Agbeko.

Bench

Obviously, I would think that whoever out of the foursome of Crawford, Lancona, Agbeko, and Glaze would likely be among the first 2-3 off the bench. Probably would need 2 of the frosh guards to come in and spell McBroom and Yacoubou, assuming that Crawford doesn't start on the bench behind Lancona at the 3. I'm inclined to think it would be (1) Reynolds (2) Roby (3) Bartley, but you never know how things might go.

My understanding of Gillmann and Jolly is that Gillmann is skilled, but needs to get stronger. Probably due to being a year older and having the year at the prep school, Jolly is probably more ready to compete in year 1. If possible, Gillmann sounds like the kind of kid who could redshirt, build his strength up, and be a nice player for us in the future.

[Franchise_08]

Can we get one of those 5th year, already graduated guys?

[For-DaLove]

Good analysis, everyone. I did want to say that Manning definitely is not below average on offense - at least compared to other big men his size. He looks awkward out there sometimes, but he has a decent shot and has shown some good post moves. I think he will put up ridiculous block and rebounding numbers if he plays 30 or so minutes a game. I'm excited to see what he will do in a more extended role

[DeSmetBilliken]

Can we get one of those 5th year, already graduated guys?

I'd assume we can get one, in that it would be allowed. Not quite sure how difficult it is to actually make it happen.

I guess it would be better than holding the scholarship. Since it's only for 1 year, you would want it to be a player who could contribute.

[DeSmetBilliken]

Good analysis, everyone. I did want to say that Manning definitely is not below average on offense - at least compared to other big men his size. He looks awkward out there sometimes, but he has a decent shot and has shown some good post moves. I think he will put up ridiculous block and rebounding numbers if he plays 30 or so minutes a game. I'm excited to see what he will do in a more extended role

I am as well. Sometimes when you see a program with a strong core of players that graduates or goes pro early, you overlook either the 5th starter or the guys that come off the bench. Then, after the well-known players leave, the 5th starter of bench guy is thrust into a more prominent role, and they turn out to be much better than you realize. I'm hoping we see that from Manning mext year.