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

[Bizziken]

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

Agreed...everyone praises Manning's defense, and rightfully so, but, despite looking awkward, he is fairly skilled on the offensive end as well. He has a nice little hook, and can shoot from mid-range a bit. His FG % was around 52% this season...If he gets the minutes (and can handle it physically), I think he can produce. Rob Loe really blossomed his last year, hopefully Manning will too, proving true the mantra 'big men take time to develop'

[Bills By 40]

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.

Austin at the 2? Interesting. I could understand him doing less ball-handling but no way he could defend the 2 spot.

And I sat by another fan on my flight home who spoke with MC's father, who said MC has no idea why he wasn't getting any playing time. Now that doesn't mean he wasn't hiding something, but he also said he had no complaints and was more than happy at the university. (phew)

That being said, I think if the freshman can contribute how I think they will,

-AM

-Ash

-MC

-TL

-JM

Bench:

-RA

-MR

-GG

-BJ

And if Austin Gillman doesn't redshirt, I'll be awfully disappointed and frankly I think it'd be a waste of a year for him. Frankly, he has my body in a 6'11" frame. And I am not built to play college ball, especially in the front court. SO much skill and a nice vaulted glass ceiling, but he won't reach that in four years. Needs to be a 5th year guy for us.

And with some of these recruits, am I seeing a future Bill in the NBA? I'm ready for that. SO ready.

[hsmith19]

McBroom, Yacoubou, Crawford, and Manning all seem like locks to start and see major minutes (at least if Manning can cut down on his fouls). I imagine Glaze will start, but hopefully Lancona will at least take a Cody Ellis-sized portion of his minutes in a bench role. Between Lancona and Agbeko, hopefully we won't have to see Manning and Glaze on the court together all that much. Both those guys have their roles to play, and I think they actually get more crap on here than they deserve, but Crews and everyone else has to know offense will be extremely hard to come by with that tandem in the front court.

[hsmith19]

And if Austin Gillman doesn't redshirt, I'll be awfully disappointed and frankly I think it'd be a waste of a year for him. Frankly, he has my body in a 6'11" frame. And I am not built to play college ball, especially in the front court. SO much skill and a nice vaulted glass ceiling, but he won't reach that in four years. Needs to be a 5th year guy for us.

Agreed...hopefully with Manning, Jolly, Agbeko, Lancona, and Glaze all in the fold for next year, he won't be forced to miss his redshirt year, a la Cory Remekun. As inexperienced as this team will be next year, it will still be a far cry from '10-'11 in terms of all the freshmen seeing so many minutes out of necessity.

[seispulgadas]

I have confidence that all the returning players will improve. I see RA, TL and MC as having huge summers. They've been quoted repeatedly saying how much they have learned from the seniors. Unless its just lip-service, I believe they "know what it takes" to be as successful as we've been these last 3 years and will work to improve their weaknesses The new guys seem to want to win and do it fast (I'm just basing this on what they've said on public forums i.e. twitter and Facebook). Their quotes don't mean much there unless they act on it, but it is great to see none-the-less. I'm excited to see what we can do. With that said I see the opening day lineup as AM, AY, MC, GG and JM. I HOPE Crews challenges TL and RA to take minutes from the seniors and does not set a lineup in stone. I also think MR will challenge AM all summer and the beginning of the year. I could honestly see him taking over the starting PG position. He has all the tools,competitiveness and toughness to really make an impact. He needs to add strength though to make a lasting impact against the great A10 teams we'll play. DR is a wild card to me. From what I've read and seen he is quite athletic and has a great shot. However, he will need time to learn our system and get used to playing D1 players every day. I think it could take him a year or two to "get it."

[Billikenboy]

Love the lineup but I do not know how anyone who paid attention to our games or players abilities can see AM as a starter or GG. AM is too small to guard anyone and barely knows how to create for others. Additionally his tendencies have been well documented making him easier to guard thus the failure he has had to score. He is no Peyton Siva.

GG is an energy guy and lacks the skillset necessary ;to play extended minutes productively. I see him more as a guy coming off the bench on special situations and he will probably finish his career at SLU being just that player.

My guess is JC will have easier time now introducing his new plays and strategy for the new players with all those seniors gone.

[ACE]

I think we can count on JM and AY starting. JM will not be RL. For all the crap some folks gave RL over the years, I hope people now recognize how valuable he was. After watching all of these games over the weekend, it really makes you appreciate Rob. Most "elite" programs would kill to have a skilled big guy like Rob. There just aren't many true bigs like him. So JM will not be RL, but I do figure he can be a solid 20-22 mpg big. He was our best shotblocker this year, but he needs to step up his rebounding. He's unorthodox, but he is not really that bad of an offensive player. He will give us more post-up and hook shot baskets than Rob. His mid-range shot looks a bit odd, but he does a decent job knocking them down. I wouldn't be surprised to see JM attempt some 3-pointers. He did it a few times this year.

AY has to be a double-digit scorer. He was a 4* player of the year in New York. Guys like Sibert, Sanford and Creek have all made an impact transferring to the A-10. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect AY to do the same.

I like the way AM played in the middle of this season, but I'm not convinced he can be the starting point guard. I think this is a real area of concern. AM seems best suited to be a 6th man. So who is our main PG? Reynolds may be the most ready of the newcomers, but he seems to be more of a 2 than a point... is that correct? Bartley seems to be closest to being a pure PG, but is he physically ready to run the show?

I think Roby can contribute as a 2/3 as a defensive stopper. Crawford would figure to be most likely to start at the 3.

I hope RA can start at the 4, because I like the idea of TL coming off the bench to provide a scoring spark like Cody did. Regarding the bigs, we're looking at JM, RA, TL and GG... is there really room for Jolly to get minutes? Probably not many.

Agree with those who would like to see us land an instant transfer this spring. I think we have a lot of intriguing bench options, but do we have enough starting caliber players?

The key will be how much can our three sophomores (RA, TL and MC) contribute. I expect it to be a big ugly at times especially early in the season. Playing time and roles will be shifting a lot.

[Dwayne's_World]

I think we can count on JM and AY starting. JM will not be RL. For all the crap some folks gave RL over the years, I hope people now recognize how valuable he was. After watching all of these games over the weekend, it really makes you appreciate Rob. Most "elite" programs would kill to have a skilled big guy like Rob. There just aren't many true bigs like him. So JM will not be RL, but I do figure he can be a solid 20-22 mpg big. He was our best shotblocker this year, but he needs to step up his rebounding. He's unorthodox, but he is not really that bad of an offensive player. He will give us more post-up and hook shot baskets than Rob. His mid-range shot looks a bit odd, but he does a decent job knocking them down. I wouldn't be surprised to see JM attempt some 3-pointers. He did it a few times this year.

AY has to be a double-digit scorer. He was a 4* player of the year in New York. Guys like Sibert, Sanford and Creek have all made an impact transferring to the A-10. I don't think it is unreasonable to expect AY to do the same.

I like the way AM played in the middle of this season, but I'm not convinced he can be the starting point guard. I think this is a real area of concern. AM seems best suited to be a 6th man. So who is our main PG? Reynolds may be the most ready of the newcomers, but he seems to be more of a 2 than a point... is that correct? Bartley seems to be closest to being a pure PG, but is he physically ready to run the show?

I think Roby can contribute as a 2/3 as a defensive stopper. Crawford would figure to be most likely to start at the 3.

I hope RA can start at the 4, because I like the idea of TL coming off the bench to provide a scoring spark like Cody did. Regarding the bigs, we're looking at JM, RA, TL and GG... is there really room for Jolly to get minutes? Probably not many.

Agree with those who would like to see us land an instant transfer this spring. I think we have a lot of intriguing bench options, but do we have enough starting caliber players?

The key will be how much can our three sophomores (RA, TL and MC) contribute. I expect it to be a big ugly at times especially early in the season. Playing time and roles will be shifting a lot.

Agree with all this, though I think Jolly may end up surprising all of us. The prep school may have put him into a position where he is ready to contribute immediately next year

[slu72]

As for RA, remember this is like his 4th year in US basketball. Yes, he's shown signs he could be one of those rare, for SLU anyways, athletic PFs, but he's got a lot to learn in the next 7 months. I really don't expect him to start. Instead be a sub who gets 15-20 mpg. TL will probably start at the 4. More polished, played well toward the end, and is a versatile inside/out matchup nightmare. Unless the staff finds a ready to go JUCO 3, MC looks to have the inside track for that spot. Actually, would prefer the staff get a 6'9" + JUCO, ala Kenny Brown type, that would either backup or start at the 5. Bigs are slow to develop, and all we're really going to have behind JM is Jolly and Gilliam. If we got a big JUCO, we could redshirt Gilliam to round out the class and not waste a year of him riding the pine. Jolly could be more slowly worked into the lineup as a spot sub.

AM's fading down the stretch is a mystery. Mr Instant O became Mr instant nada over the past month. Maybe, the physicality of it all took it's toll on his rather slight build. I doubt his girlfriend had much to do with the decline. Also, didn't see him being a distributor of the ball like a KM or JJ. One of the FR PG's has an opportunity here, but can't see JC handing the keys to the car to a FR unless he's really exceptional. So, AM probably gets the job to begin the season. Summers are for development, and we're going to need some at PG.

[JettFlight5]

I have confidence that all the returning players will improve. I see RA, TL and MC as having huge summers. They've been quoted repeatedly saying how much they have learned from the seniors. Unless its just lip-service, I believe they "know what it takes" to be as successful as we've been these last 3 years and will work to improve their weaknesses The new guys seem to want to win and do it fast (I'm just basing this on what they've said on public forums i.e. twitter and Facebook). Their quotes don't mean much there unless they act on it, but it is great to see none-the-less. I'm excited to see what we can do. With that said I see the opening day lineup as AM, AY, MC, GG and JM. I HOPE Crews challenges TL and RA to take minutes from the seniors and does not set a lineup in stone. I also think MR will challenge AM all summer and the beginning of the year. I could honestly see him taking over the starting PG position. He has all the tools,competitiveness and toughness to really make an impact. He needs to add strength though to make a lasting impact against the great A10 teams we'll play. DR is a wild card to me. From what I've read and seen he is quite athletic and has a great shot. However, he will need time to learn our system and get used to playing D1 players every day. I think it could take him a year or two to "get it."

Davell Roby played with D1 players every day he put on the uniform at White Station.

[SShoe]

Davell Roby played with D1 players every day he put on the uniform at White Station.

I wouldn't be surprised if by mid-season a freshman or two isn't starting. Roby seems to be the most ready, physically, while Reynolds seems to have that winner's mentality.

[JettFlight5]

I wouldn't be surprised if by mid-season a freshman or two isn't starting. Roby seems to be the most ready, physically, while Reynolds seems to have that winner's mentality.

I think Reynolds will start Day 1 at PG. Roby will get a lot of minutes playing 1/2/3 off the bench.

[MusicCityBilliken]

I think Reynolds will start Day 1 at PG. Roby will get a lot of minutes playing 1/2/3 off the bench.

what did AY play at Nova?

[billikenbill]

I think Reynolds will start Day 1 at PG. Roby will get a lot of minutes playing 1/2/3 off the bench.

I'm saying that AM gets the starting nod and it will be his job to lose over the first ten games. By mid-December I expect it will be obvious that Miles should get the starting nod. I love the fact that our incoming guards are all 6'3/6'4. I'm sure one of them will be left out of the rotation, but could see the 4th guard getting some meaningful minutes.

[doowop]

As for RA, remember this is like his 4th year in US basketball. Yes, he's shown signs he could be one of those rare, for SLU anyways, athletic PFs, but he's got a lot to learn in the next 7 months. I really don't expect him to start. Instead be a sub who gets 15-20 mpg. TL will probably start at the 4. More polished, played well toward the end, and is a versatile inside/out matchup nightmare. Unless the staff finds a ready to go JUCO 3, MC looks to have the inside track for that spot. Actually, would prefer the staff get a 6'9" + JUCO, ala Kenny Brown type, that would either backup or start at the 5. Bigs are slow to develop, and all we're really going to have behind JM is Jolly and Gilliam. If we got a big JUCO, we could redshirt Gilliam to round out the class and not waste a year of him riding the pine. Jolly could be more slowly worked into the lineup as a spot sub.

AM's fading down the stretch is a mystery. Mr Instant O became Mr instant nada over the past month. Maybe, the physicality of it all took it's toll on his rather slight build. I doubt his girlfriend had much to do with the decline. Also, didn't see him being a distributor of the ball like a KM or JJ. One of the FR PG's has an opportunity here, but can't see JC handing the keys to the car to a FR unless he's really exceptional. So, AM probably gets the job to begin the season. Summers are for development, and we're going to need some at PG.

SLU does not have a player named Gilliam.

[slu72]

SLU does not have a player named Gilliam.

What's the incoming FR's last name? The C from the St.L area? I forgot, SR moment.

[Zink]

What's the incoming FR's last name? The C from the St.L area? I forgot, SR moment.

Gillmann

[JettFlight5]

what did AY play at Nova?

Mostly a true 2 from what I saw.

[kshoe]

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.

Its pretty damn difficult to get one because every team is out there looking for them and we'll be going up against all the big boys for a player of the skill we need (a starter). I'd say the only likely way something like that could happen is if there's a local kid out there in that situation that wants to come home for a year. I can't think of any off the top of my head.

[Zink]

Love the lineup but I do not know how anyone who paid attention to our games or players abilities can see AM as a starter or GG. AM is too small to guard anyone and barely knows how to create for others. Additionally his tendencies have been well documented making him easier to guard thus the failure he has had to score. He is no Peyton Siva.

GG is an energy guy and lacks the skillset necessary ;to play extended minutes productively. I see him more as a guy coming off the bench on special situations and he will probably finish his career at SLU being just that player.

My guess is JC will have easier time now introducing his new plays and strategy for the new players with all those seniors gone.

Regarding AM, I don't think he was asked to be a playmaker for us very often this year. I wouldn't write him off, even if we haven't seen it just yet. He improved defensively throughout the year and while I wouldn't call him great on that end, he wasn't completely overmatched either.

With GG, this staff has been more than willing to start "energy guys". They did it two seasons ago when GG started but only played 12mpg. I think it is reasonable to expect him to play 14-18mpg next year regardless of whether he makes drastic improvements. He showed at the beginning of this season what he can do if he lets the game come to him. Also don't underestimate the importance of having senior leadership on a young squad. At least to begin the year, I expect him to start the game for us.

[SLUDrew]

If I had to pick a key to next season it would be the emergence of Achraf Yacoubou. This guy was New York player of the year coming out of high school and a 4 star recruit according to ESPN's rankings. In other words, at least according to accolades, a guy we do not get very often. I relaize he struggled a bit to find the floor at Nova and some considered him to be a malcontent but I can see this kid coming out next year with something to prove.

I would also feel much better about things if RA finds himself in the starting lineup. He too is a rare get for SLU; a good sized athletic 4.

I would bet a milkshake that to start the year we go AY, AM, TL, RA and JM. GG, while certainly a passionate player, is far too unreliable to log a large number of minutes. I could also see Crawford starting at the three over Lancona

[slufan13]

Regarding AM, I don't think he was asked to be a playmaker for us very often this year. I wouldn't write him off, even if we haven't seen it just yet. He improved defensively throughout the year and while I wouldn't call him great on that end, he wasn't completely overmatched either.

With GG, this staff has been more than willing to start "energy guys". They did it two seasons ago when GG started but only played 12mpg. I think it is reasonable to expect him to play 14-18mpg next year regardless of whether he makes drastic improvements. He showed at the beginning of this season what he can do if he lets the game come to him. Also don't underestimate the importance of having senior leadership on a young squad. At least to begin the year, I expect him to start the game for us.

Agree on GG starting for those reasons. At least at the beginning of the season.

Personally I think McBroom made huge defensive improvements from beginning of the season to the middle, but then I think he dropped off dramatically offensively and defensively over the last 10 games. Not sure what happened

[Dwayne's_World]

1: Reynolds

2: Ash

3: Crawford

4: Reggie

5: Manning/Jolly

If these guys all step up and work their butts off to get better , we could have a surprising season next year. I honestly think Reynolds is a true leader and that he may not start out in the lineup, but will undoubtedly be starting at some point. Huge potential.

[wgstl]

I remember crews saying in a interview mid season that ash was playing as good in practice as anyone. As nice as that sounds, its hard to take a lot out of that for next season.

[SLUDrew]

I remember crews saying in a interview mid season that ash was playing as good in practice as anyone. As nice as that sounds, its hard to take a lot out of that for next season.

He is probably the most "talented" guy on the roster. I have no problem believing he was playing as well as anyone.