Starting 5 Predictions

[brianstl]

What log jam at the 3? If anything there is more of a logjam at the 4 and I really wouldn't even call that a logjam.

[SShoe]

Really surprised at the lack of attention for Milik Yarbough.

He's a scorer and - unless I'm missing something - his only competition for the starting spot at the 3 is Mike Crawford and Davell Roby.

I see Roby as a 6th or 7th man to come off the bench between the first 2 TV timeouts and raise defensive intensity the way Jett did previously.

Mike Crawford's ceiling is Scott Highmark. If Crawford develops into a volume 3pt shooter and emerges as a scorer, then I can see him starting. But this is the same guy who only scored 3 baskets from the floor once all year - and that was in 3 minutes of garbage time against SEMO. Aside from that, he only scored as many as 2 baskets from the floor TWICE all season. He couldn't establish himself as a regular bench option on a team that had hardly any bench to speak of. I see Crawford's natural role more as a sniper who comes in off the bench.

Everyone voted for Ash...and he's obviously the starting 2.

61 of 64 voted for Manning...a relative or friend of Gillmann voted for Gillmann, leaving 2 fools who would forfeit the opening tip

52 out of 64 have McBroom at PG. 8 for Miles Reynolds. 2 for Marcus Bartley, and again 2 fools who I guess have some combo of Roby/Ash/Crawford.

41 out of 64 people have Crawford starting - he must be the starting 3. I mean clearly he's not a PG and he's not a 4. These people are bullish on Crawford turning into Scott Highmark. I hope they're right!

4 voted for Yarbough. 3 voted for Roby - but remember 2 people have Roby at PG alongside Ash and Crawford.

That still leaves 18 out of 23 remaining people who have someone else starting at 3 besides Yarbrough/Roby/Crawford.

33 voted for Lancona.

31 for Agbeko.

20 for Grandy.

Nevemind that 2 voters had one of these 3 losing the tip off, that's still 18 of 64 people who have some combination of these players starting at the 3.

so 41 for Crawford, 18 for a 4 playing out of position, and only 4 for the guy who is arguably the most touted recruit in a deep class...seems low

I voted for MY. I'm actually not sold on Crawford. I think he'll get the minutes initially, but will get passed up as the season goes along. I've been told MY is the most ready of the freshman.

I hope I'm wrong in general about Crawford, but also right about MY.

[Duff Man]

MY is a natural undersized 4 and a pure scorer to boot. He is not not afraid to mix it up in the paint. Log jam at the 3 so I do not see him spending anytime there. If defensively he proves well he will give us at the 4 what has eluded GG all these years.

All the recruiting sites list Yarbrough as a small forward. I'm sure he could see some time at the 4 when they go small, given the makeup of the roster he's going to see most of his minutes playing the 3.

Ditto the "what logjam?" question.

[Duff Man]

I voted for MY. I'm actually not sold on Crawford. I think he'll get the minutes initially, but will get passed up as the season goes along. I've been told MY is the most ready of the freshman.

I hope I'm wrong in general about Crawford, but also right about MY.

Exactly. How could anyone be "sold" on Crawford based on the limited sample we saw last year? He looked really good for 2 or 3 spells all season (i.e. he hit some big 3s), but his defense was never good enough to stay on the floor come the end of the game. If he can consistently make 3s, he'll be in the rotation, but in order to start the majority of games he's going to need to show dramatic improvement on the defensive end.

[Clock_Tower]

Preseason talk... not much else to do... I get it ... but most us have never seen the new kids, we have only seen the sophs in limited roles and guys like jm and gg have not been able to get chances with last years seniors - and the seniors the year prior.

[TheChosenOne]

Preseason talk... not much else to do... I get it ... but most us have never seen the new kids, we have only seen the sophs in limited roles and guys like jm and gg have not been able to get chances with last years seniors - and the seniors the year prior.

Agreed. I have not seen any of the freshmen play or our projected best player, so it is tough for me to have any idea what to expect from this team.

[Billikenboy]

I think if we base our idea off of what we saw last year we will generally be wrong. That senior dominated team did not allow any of the freshman to thrive. Injuries also played a role them seeing time.

Any position with 3 or more potential players is a log jam. We have a few those this season which may not be a bad thing. MY is listed as a small forward but physicality and ability to score with his back to the basket actually works out to fill a role as a 4. Not saying he will play the 3 as well but we do not need more shooters.

[Crewsorlose]

My take on the starters and relievers

1 - Ash - he's the best player on the team

2 - Roby - he has the best body of the frosh, and is the best defender

3 - Crawford - he was better than JB last year, and Crews screwed up by not playing him more. Roby can cover the tougher wing and hide MC's defense a bit

4 - Agbeko - we need his offense and pray that his mind-numbingly bad pick and roll defense has gotten better

5 - Manning - solid year from JM; gotta stay out of foul trouble

Bench

McBroom - plays the 1 and the 2

Reynolds - plays 10 mpg at the 1 when Crews gets tired of McBroom's defense

MY - provides a different look from the 3 and 4

Glaze - will finish some games, will start some games; will look overmatched against athletic and long 4s

Lancona - sharp shooter off the bench; a little one-dimensional offensively; tough to imagine any three of TL, MC, AM, RA, and MY defending together and keeping things tight

Jolly - backup size against teams with a legit 5. Otherwise we play small when JM is out.

[slu72]

Maybe this: AM, AY, MY, TL, JM. A 10 man rotation w/ MC, GG, RA, BJ and one of the FR at PG. As for BJ, I wouldn't expect more than breather minutes for JM, say 7mpg, but think we could see RA, GG, and TL getting minutes at a hybrid 5. Expect we'll see a lot of different combos on the inside. By season's end would like to see two of the FR guards taking serious minutes from AM. Don't want us going into next year with the question marks we have this year.

[brianstl]

My take on the starters and relievers

1 - Ash - he's the best player on the team

2 - Roby - he has the best body of the frosh, and is the best defender

3 - Crawford - he was better than JB last year, and Crews screwed up by not playing him more. Roby can cover the tougher wing and hide MC's defense a bit

4 - Agbeko - we need his offense and pray that his mind-numbingly bad pick and roll defense has gotten better

5 - Manning - solid year from JM; gotta stay out of foul trouble

Bench

McBroom - plays the 1 and the 2

Reynolds - plays 10 mpg at the 1 when Crews gets tired of McBroom's defense

MY - provides a different look from the 3 and 4

Glaze - will finish some games, will start some games; will look overmatched against athletic and long 4s

Lancona - sharp shooter off the bench; a little one-dimensional offensively; tough to imagine any three of TL, MC, AM, RA, and MY defending together and keeping things tight

Jolly - backup size against teams with a legit 5. Otherwise we play small when JM is out.

I have heard good things about Roby, but that means you either have Ash or Roby running the offense. Not sure that is where you get the most out of Ash and not sure Roby could handled that at this point. I could definitely see that starting line up a lot in the second half of the season. Pretty much agree with your take outside of that.

[SShoe]

My take on the starters and relievers

1 - Ash - he's the best player on the team

2 - Roby - he has the best body of the frosh, and is the best defender

3 - Crawford - he was better than JB last year, and Crews screwed up by not playing him more. Roby can cover the tougher wing and hide MC's defense a bit

4 - Agbeko - we need his offense and pray that his mind-numbingly bad pick and roll defense has gotten better

5 - Manning - solid year from JM; gotta stay out of foul trouble

Bench

McBroom - plays the 1 and the 2

Reynolds - plays 10 mpg at the 1 when Crews gets tired of McBroom's defense

MY - provides a different look from the 3 and 4

Glaze - will finish some games, will start some games; will look overmatched against athletic and long 4s

Lancona - sharp shooter off the bench; a little one-dimensional offensively; tough to imagine any three of TL, MC, AM, RA, and MY defending together and keeping things tight

Jolly - backup size against teams with a legit 5. Otherwise we play small when JM is out.

Some good points, but neither Roby or Ash are ball handlers. Gonna be difficult to keep AM out of the starting lineup unless Reynolds or Bartley surpass him.

[slufan13]

Regarding Crawford vs Yarbrough. Someone who sat in on multiple open gyms this summer told me "Crawford looks like a completely different player. Yarbrough is the best scorer on the team. He has all the physical tools but also has no idea how to play defense".

[MB73]

My take on the starters and relievers

1 - Ash - he's the best player on the team

2 - Roby - he has the best body of the frosh, and is the best defender

3 - Crawford - he was better than JB last year, and Crews screwed up by not playing him more. Roby can cover the tougher wing and hide MC's defense a bit

4 - Agbeko - we need his offense and pray that his mind-numbingly bad pick and roll defense has gotten better

5 - Manning - solid year from JM; gotta stay out of foul trouble

Bench

McBroom - plays the 1 and the 2

Reynolds - plays 10 mpg at the 1 when Crews gets tired of McBroom's defense

MY - provides a different look from the 3 and 4

Glaze - will finish some games, will start some games; will look overmatched against athletic and long 4s

Lancona - sharp shooter off the bench; a little one-dimensional offensively; tough to imagine any three of TL, MC, AM, RA, and MY defending together and keeping things tight

Jolly - backup size against teams with a legit 5. Otherwise we play small when JM is out.

As good of a guess as any, though I think Crews will go with McBroom at the beginning of the year.

Again, it's too early to know, more unknowns at all 5 positions than any season I can recall at SLU. Each player will have to earn it, they'll have to compete at the D-1 level to determine the starters and rotation and minutes... when A-10 play starts, Crews will know.

[SLU_Nick]

Count me in the "High on Crawford" camp. I think he saw what he needed to do to succeed in D1 last year and worked on his weaknesses. Always struck me as a real gym rat, heady type player...

[Crewsorlose]

I just can't imagine McBroom being a better PG than Ash. Maybe Reynolds or Bartley gets some run at the 1 out of necessity. I don't think you need a 1 to "bring the ball up" except against a team that presses. I think you need a 1 that can control the pace of the offense, be the brain on the floor in terms of shot clock, and break down the defense with less than 10 seconds.

I watched a lot of games last year and I'm convinced that defensive ability will keep people on the floor more than offense, as long as Crews is coach. I haven't watched the frosh play, but here's my perception of who's more advanced offensively and defensively

Offensively: Agbeko, Lancona, Crawford, Yarborough, McBroom, Bartley (mainly due to his thin frame)

Defense: Manning, Roby, Reynolds, Glaze

[slu72 fan]

I just can't imagine McBroom being a better PG than Ash. Maybe Reynolds or Bartley gets some run at the 1 out of necessity. I don't think you need a 1 to "bring the ball up" except against a team that presses. I think you need a 1 that can control the pace of the offense, be the brain on the floor in terms of shot clock, and break down the defense with less than 10 seconds.

I watched a lot of games last year and I'm convinced that defensive ability will keep people on the floor more than offense, as long as Crews is coach. I haven't watched the frosh play, but here's my perception of who's more advanced offensively and defensively

Offensively: Agbeko, Lancona, Crawford, Yarborough, McBroom, Bartley (mainly due to his thin frame)

Defense: Manning, Roby, Reynolds, Glaze

[slu72 fan]

Ash is not a point guard. The returning players are way ahead of the frosh, is my observation of one practice.

[Bizziken]

Really surprised at the lack of attention for Milik Yarbough.

He's a scorer and - unless I'm missing something - his only competition for the starting spot at the 3 is Mike Crawford and Davell Roby.

41 out of 64 people have Crawford starting - he must be the starting 3. I mean clearly he's not a PG and he's not a 4. These people are bullish on Crawford turning into Scott Highmark. I hope they're right!

4 voted for Yarbough. 3 voted for Roby - but remember 2 people have Roby at PG alongside Ash and Crawford.

That still leaves 18 out of 23 remaining people who have someone else starting at 3 besides Yarbrough/Roby/Crawford.

33 voted for Lancona.

31 for Agbeko.

20 for Grandy.

Nevemind that 2 voters had one of these 3 losing the tip off, that's still 18 of 64 people who have some combination of these players starting at the 3.

so 41 for Crawford, 18 for a 4 playing out of position, and only 4 for the guy who is arguably the most touted recruit in a deep class...seems low

I think a lot of people think we may go with a 3 guard lineup to mitigate some of the problems caused by not having a true, experienced PG ready to go. Furthermore, I think some people think Agbeko can play the 3.

[Duff Man]

Ash is not a point guard. The returning players are way ahead of the frosh, is my observation of one practice.

Agree Ash should not be STARTING at PG. If he's running it in crunch time alongside something like Roby and Crawford that's one thing, but you'd like to avoid having your best player expending all that energy early in the game. The best of McBroom/Reynolds/Bartley should start at PG.

Aren't the returning players ALWAYS way ahead of the frosh during summer workouts and pre-season practices? This poll is asking who starts the most games over the full 30+ game season.

I watched a lot of games last year and I'm convinced that defensive ability will keep people on the floor more than offense, as long as Crews is coach.

Agree with this. Defense plays.

Regarding Crawford vs Yarbrough. Someone who sat in on multiple open gyms this summer told me "Crawford looks like a completely different player. Yarbrough is the best scorer on the team. He has all the physical tools but also has no idea how to play defense".

I'm banking that a few months of being coached by Crews/Cheaney/et al that Yarbrough learns how to play defense. As soon as he does, his status as the best scorer on the team will land him a starting role.

I think a lot of people think we may go with a 3 guard lineup to mitigate some of the problems caused by not having a true, experienced PG ready to go. Furthermore, I think some people think Agbeko can play the 3.

I can dig the 3 guard lineup but it's still going to be Ash, one of the PGs, and either Roby or Crawford or Reynolds if he's not the PG. There aren't many votes for Roby or Reynolds. The extra votes are all for the guys who profile as some kind of 4.

For my money the small forward needs to be a 3pt threat. When they had a center (Loe) who could shoot the 3, they could get away with Evans at the 3 - but with Manning logging minutes at the 5, we need 3pt shooters from the traditional roles.

I'm very skeptical that Agbeko can play the 3. He looks like a 4, to me.

[Bizziken]

I can dig the 3 guard lineup but it's still going to be Ash, one of the PGs, and either Roby or Crawford or Reynolds if he's not the PG. There aren't many votes for Roby or Reynolds. The extra votes are all for the guys who profile as some kind of 4.

For my money the small forward needs to be a 3pt threat. When they had a center (Loe) who could shoot the 3, they could get away with Evans at the 3 - but with Manning logging minutes at the 5, we need 3pt shooters from the traditional roles.

I'm very skeptical that Agbeko can play the 3. He looks like a 4, to me.

Yeah, I think a '3 guard' lineup could work really well, especially with the size of our guards.

I'm skeptical about Agbeko at the 3, but am open to experimenting. I do like the idea of having Lancona and Agbeko on the floor at the same time, whether it be a hybrid lineup with Lancona at the 'Center' position or a big, bruising lineup with Agbeko at the 3, Lancona at the 4, and Manning/Jolly at the 5.

[kmbilliken]

Ash is not a point guard. The returning players are way ahead of the frosh, is my observation of one practice.

Did any of the fresh look like contributors?

[slu72 fan]

Did any of the fresh look like contributors?

They are all talented, but they were way behind. Yes, they will grasp most of it. But that's going to take most, if not, all of this year.

Folks, we're starting over!! It's going to be a year with plenty of ups and downs.

[Billikenboy]

New team, new opportunities, looking forward to watching the new guys gel into a cohesive unit we can be proud of. I would not write them off just yet as having a losing season.

[TheA_Bomb]

New team, new opportunities, looking forward to watching the new guys gel into a cohesive unit we can be proud of. I would not write them off just yet as having a losing season.

This Billikenboy is becoming a BIllikenMan

[SLUfan_42]

I'm very concerned about this year. All of our players are either young or unproven. Last year's senior class was legendarily special