thetorch Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 Starters PG - Dwayne Polk SG - Reggie Bryant WG - Darren Clarke F - Izik Ohanon C - Tom Frericks Polk will be the starter on day one. Barring injury he will start every game he plays in a SLU uniform. Reggie will go for 20 ppg at least. Clarke will be the most improved player on the team from last year. He was in line to start prior to his injury last year. I look for him to average in double digits scoring wise. Izik and Newbourne are a good 1-2 punch at the four. Both are extrememly versatile. Either could start over the course of the season but I give the nod to Izik as the tempo this year will suit his style of play more, his defense has improved markedly, and I think he performs better when he starts. Frericks is a no brainer at center, any night he could give us a double double. I like Drejaj as the spark plug off the bench more than as a starter. He can play any of the guard positions so his versatility is better suited to coming off the bench. He will be the backup pg but I expect Polk to get most of the minutes there. Without seeing Alexander I am guessing he is the second guard/wing off the bench. He appears to have the ability to do more, but at this point I am expecting no more than say Dave Fergerson type play from him. Newborne will be the first forward off the bench and may play with Izik on the court at the same time with Izik moving to the 3 or the 5. Ian will back up Frericks. JJ, Meyer and Husak will be seeing the most bench time. Of those three JJ will be the only one with the possibility of seeing some decent minutes over the course of the season. This has to be one of the deepest teams in recent memory if the newcomers pan out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLIKNS Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 Is this THE Florida Fan from the old board?If so do you still live in Melbourne? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 With scoring spread out I can't see RB hitting for 20. Put down what you think the starters will average and you will see it doesn't work out. You have RB listed at 20 and DC at at least 10 how many points do you think our starters will average? I agree with you on DP and AD. You are right about the depth ... while sitting here thinking about my projections ... any lineup you put together you have a player or 2 who would start for the Bills in most years on the bench. We have so many options to go big ... quick ... or in between. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 I agree that DP will be a starter from Day One. I strongly disagree that DC was in line to start at any point last season. At best, he was finally practicing well enough to get some decent game minutes. It will be interesting to watch DC's development this season. It will also be fun to see which player turns out to be the most pleasant surprise in 2004-2005. I have a good comfort feeling about RB, AD, DP and TF. Hopefully a player or two from the balance of the roster, who are unknowns today or undervalued today, will jump up big time. I seriously believe it could be anyone in that remaining group. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 It happens more often than one would think - these are just off the top of my head. All of them play/played in the midwest and none of them were McDonald's All-Americans. They are just very good basketball players. Charles Richardson - Nebraska Andrew Lavender - Oklahoma Timmy Smith - East Tennessee St Patrick Sparks - Western Kentucky (now at Kentucky) Cordell Henry - Marquette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted July 17, 2004 Share Posted July 17, 2004 Thats good info ... The days of making a player wait are over ... if a freshman has the talent he plays. As most know I am also a big OU fan. I watched Drew Lavender play alot last year and DP compares very favorably. I think DP is quicker and has better vision. DL seems to be stronger and plays very good D. I don't know about DP's D but coming from Vashon I think it will be good. I thought DP's shot might even be better ... but the last time I saw him he was very inconsistent ... so we'll see. As there are some defensive drawbacks to his size ... there are also some advantages ... ie quickness and the ability to create turnovers. He will need help if his man wants to take him down low and post up ... but you rarely see any point guards doing that. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guest Posted July 18, 2004 Author Share Posted July 18, 2004 Again, I like Polk a lot, I just do not think his defensive game is at a level where he can jump ahead of Drejaj and Bryant at guard. Even the freshman version of Perry wouldn't have jumped in front of them. I think Polk would probably start on many of the Billiken teams of the past, and probably many other D1 teams. But Coach stresses defense first, and HS defense (even Vashon) is not like D1 defense (at least SLU's which has been their strength). I think the team will be better offensively, but with Sloan and Fisher gone, there are some questions on D. I just don't think the team can afford to not to give Drejaj starters minutes, unless we see several of the other players step up on D. That is why Frericks and Drejaj will play a lot of minutes. Add Bryant to the mix, since he is the best scoring option (although he needs to get better defensively). Now the rest of the time is divided btw who can step in on D. It may be Polk, Meyer, Ohanon, Johnson, Alexander, Clarke, etc., the minutes are going to the guys who can play D. I hope you are right and Polk does start, and Meyer too. That means that are team is loaded and headed to the tourney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Your logic is sound but it doesn't include the most crucial piece of information: that Brad has said on at least two occasions that he intends to "lean on" Polk and considers Drejaj a two-guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Archie, in addition to the fact that Dwayne Polk is the only true point guard on the roster, I urge you to trust in Brad Soderberg's ability to coach and Polk's coachability. Polk will give his all on defense and will not be a liability, and Soderberg will have the Bills prepared to be as staunch on defense as ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted July 18, 2004 Share Posted July 18, 2004 Polk will play a different type of D. Pesky turnover creating D. He will be quick enough to stop people from penetrating ... but will be easy to pick without help and communication from the team. He will also have problems if his man tries to post him up ... but pt gds rarely do. Lavender at OU doesn't get posted up. The reference to RB's minutes is irrelevant as he is strictly a 2 and DP is strictly a 1. If AD was a pt grd he would have played it last year and JF would have played the 3. AD just isn't and DP will start ... AD will fill in at both grd spots. If I am wrong I will admit it ... but wait and see. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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