Recruiting - 2019

[ACE]

1 hour ago, Pistol said:

I'm not saying we shouldn't have signed them. I said that they were both unusually high-risk, high-reward players for grad transfers. And so far, their risks have won out.

Also, you're acting as if the replacement for each of them is the next guy down the bench and not another grad transfer, regular transfer, juco transfer, or HS/prep player. In other words, "No TI" would not necessarily mean more of the freshmen, it would mean more of another player altogether.

I never said these were bad signings. Calculated risks were taken and so far we've been disappointed. It happens, and there's still plenty of basketball left to be played.

We need big men - post, stretch forward, and maybe another. At least one needs to be ready for 20+ MPG. I don't care where these players come from. They just need to be good. And our history so far with grad transfers has not been great.

 I guess I'm not really that disappointed in Isabell. He's about what I expected. Second in scoring, but sometimes erratic. I'm more disappointed in Goodwin - preseason All Conference who could even contend for POY consideration. There is still time, but he has not lived up to expectations this season. I thought with the core of Bess/Goodwin/French, they would be the core leading the way and we'd have a very strong supporting cast.

[RiseAndGrind]

I would sign Dion Wiley and Rashad Anthony again. 

[Pistol]

1 minute ago, ACE said:

 I guess I'm not really that disappointed in Isabell. He's about what I expected. Second in scoring, but sometimes erratic. I'm more disappointed in Goodwin - preseason All Conference who could even contend for POY consideration. There is still time, but he has not lived up to expectations this season. I thought with the core of Bess/Goodwin/French, they would be the core leading the way and we'd have a very strong supporting cast.

I'd honestly say Bess is the only guy that has met or exceeded my expectations. I could probably add Thatch to that because of where he is defensively, but his shooting percentages are at a level that is unsustainable. Everyone else has been disappointing to me to at least some degree. It's not too late for this to change, but that's where I'm at right now.

[billikenfan05]

Just now, Pistol said:

I'd honestly say Bess is the only guy that has met or exceeded my expectations. I could probably add Thatch to that because of where he is defensively, but his shooting percentages are at a level that is unsustainable. Everyone else has been disappointing to me to at least some degree. It's not too late for this to change, but that's where I'm at right now.

I forget sometimes that’s Bess was a transfer.

[slufanskip]

I don't see Isabel as a chemistry issue but more as a style issue. 

[cgeldmacher]

I get what you guys are saying about grad transfers, but I think we'd been in a bad spot this year if we traded out Isabelle for, let's say, another Jacobs.  I've been critical of Isabelle, but he's really turned the corner on being a team player, IMO.

[slufanskip]

2 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

I get what you guys are saying about grad transfers, but I think we'd been in a bad spot this year if we traded out Isabelle for, let's say, another Jacobs.  I've been critical of Isabelle, but he's really turned the corner on being a team player, IMO.

How was he not a team player? I think you mean playing within a role on a team. I never thought he wasn't a team player. His role seems to have always been to create offense and be the main scorer. We need that from him, however, we also have Goodwin, Bess, and French (and Gordon until now) that are capable of averaging double digit points. 

[cgeldmacher]

9 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

How was he not a team player? I think you mean playing within a role on a team. I never thought he wasn't a team player. His role seems to have always been to create offense and be the main scorer. We need that from him, however, we also have Goodwin, Bess, and French (and Gordon until now) that are capable of averaging double digit points. 

Early in the season, almost every time he touched the ball, it was clear his mission was to create his own shot.  You could see it mostly on Ford and Bess's faces that Isabelle wasn't running the offense that they were practicing.  The past several games, he has bought much more into running their system.  At the same time, I've been much more forgiving of the times he does his own thing, because he's been more unselfish when he does.  When he drive's the lane, which he's very good at, he seems lately to be looking to pass first.

The point of my post was to compliment him.

[Cowboy]

39 minutes ago, ACE said:

 I guess I'm not really that disappointed in Isabell. He's about what I expected. Second in scoring, but sometimes erratic. I'm more disappointed in Goodwin - preseason All Conference who could even contend for POY consideration. There is still time, but he has not lived up to expectations this season. I thought with the core of Bess/Goodwin/French, they would be the core leading the way and we'd have a very strong supporting cast.

-I thought TI would have a better 3pt% but last season at Drexel he was at 34% so not that far off that

-I agree it is time for JGood to break out

[Clocktoweraccords2004]

Isabell is our 2nd leading scorer. We lost our 4th best scorer but someone else will fill that in, hopefully a healthy Wiley who missed half our games but can be in our top 5 scorers easily. So that makes 2 grad transfers in our top 5 scoring this year

[willie]

22 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

How was he not a team player? I think you mean playing within a role on a team. I never thought he wasn't a team player. His role seems to have always been to create offense and be the main scorer. We need that from him, however, we also have Goodwin, Bess, and French (and Gordon until now) that are capable of averaging double digit points. 

The only complaint I have with Isabelle the last few games is his 3 point shooting. I don't believe he will shoot a good percentage and would prefer he just drive and kick. Yes I know someone needs to shoot the 3 but I don't believe he is the one. 

[Zink]

6 minutes ago, willie said:

The only complaint I have with Isabelle the last few games is his 3 point shooting. I don't believe he will shoot a good percentage and would prefer he just drive and kick. Yes I know someone needs to shoot the 3 but I don't believe he is the one. 

The crazy thing is that over the past two games he’s probably 3-4 on catch and shoot threes. The problems come when he pulls a “Kobe!” and shoots off-balance off the dribble. Sometimes these aren’t even that contested, he just fails to set his feet before shooting and the end result is almost never a basket. Notice how Bess is the opposite, his feet are set on all of his threes. And even on his running jumpers off the dribble, he gets squared up pretty well pre-release.

 

Watch this tonight, I really don’t mind Isabell shooting when he’s squared-up, it’s just that his lower body is usually twisting around as the ball leaves his hand. Those are exceptionally difficult shots to make. 

[3star_recruit]

I'd take a grad transfer guard who started at a mid major over a 3 star freshman 9 times out of 10. But that's not the issue with our remaining scholarship.  We're talking about bigs. 

Most of the bigs in the grad transfer market are rotation players from mid majors or garbage minute guys from high majors. Give me the 3 star freshman big in that scenario.

[slufanskip]

1 hour ago, cgeldmacher said:

Early in the season, almost every time he touched the ball, it was clear his mission was to create his own shot.  You could see it mostly on Ford and Bess's faces that Isabelle wasn't running the offense that they were practicing.  The past several games, he has bought much more into running their system.  At the same time, I've been much more forgiving of the times he does his own thing, because he's been more unselfish when he does.  When he drive's the lane, which he's very good at, he seems lately to be looking to pass first.

The point of my post was to compliment him.

I get what you're saying, my point is that's the guy we recruited. You just can't take that guy and change how he plays in a few weeks. I don't think it was a matter of not being a team player but rather him finding his fit within the team. I don't think he was ever "not a team player" 

[slu72]

Pistol, has Jankovic committed to anyone? Have we offered? I'm sure you've got it posted somewhere if we have. I'm too lazy to search though.

[VeniceMenace]

Pistol will surely post but the answer is that Jankovic still has not committed anywhere, per Georgia Techs fan site 3 days ago, another place where he’s a top target.

A European site calls him more of a wing/small forward.

[Bills_06]

1 hour ago, slu72 said:

Pistol, has Jankovic committed to anyone? Have we offered? I'm sure you've got it posted somewhere if we have. I'm too lazy to search though.

Pistol actually makes it pretty simple through the recruiting lists by class thread.  Looks like most recent update was 1/3/19 and only Siena has offered.  

[slu72]

2 hours ago, Bills_06 said:

Pistol actually makes it pretty simple through the recruiting lists by class thread.  Looks like most recent update was 1/3/19 and only Siena has offered.  

Thanks. Wonder if that means he's at best a lower mid recruit, or on a rising senior that we might take a look at.  

[Pistol]

7 hours ago, slu72 said:

Pistol, has Jankovic committed to anyone? Have we offered? I'm sure you've got it posted somewhere if we have. I'm too lazy to search though.

 

7 hours ago, VeniceMenace said:

Pistol will surely post but the answer is that Jankovic still has not committed anywhere, per Georgia Techs fan site 3 days ago, another place where he’s a top target.

A European site calls him more of a wing/small forward.

 

6 hours ago, Bills_06 said:

Pistol actually makes it pretty simple through the recruiting lists by class thread.  Looks like most recent update was 1/3/19 and only Siena has offered.  

Jankovic is a Croatian player who considered going pro in Europe before deciding to enroll at Montverde's CBD program and go for NCAA D-I instead.

He was Jimerson's guest on his official visit where he recruited, and he came back shortly after that for his own official visit. He's also taken an OV to Georgia Tech, who is actively recruiting him still.

There hasn't been a lot of noise around his recruitment this season but there's no question that he has a lot more interest than I've been able to verify (and which I list on the Recruiting Lists thread).

International kids can be kind of hard to gauge. They're normally in the US for a year at most before they're on a college campus, if they're not recruited directly from overseas. US-based recruiting sites and scouts tend to follow kids through their whole HS careers, so there just isn't a lot written about them until and unless they get D-I offers, and even then it can be spotty.

Montverde's CBD team has a lot of international kids here for a single prep year before going to college. The CBD team doesn't get nearly the coverage as their national varsity team, which has been one of the top few teams in the nation for the past several years.

Jankovic has some high-level interest - SLU, GT, Stanford, Texas Tech, Wichita State, Princeton, Siena, and Santa Clara - and I think only Siena has offered. I think he's a higher-level player who should get some more attention by the spring. He looks really good on video to me.

[BillsBeliever]

So I'm not sure where to put this but I will here. Does anyone have any idea on any Juco/transfers that are on Travis Ford's radar for next season? I assume he has some on his radar given he probably wont want all freshman.

[VeniceMenace]

11 minutes ago, BillsBeliever said:

So I'm not sure where to put this but I will here. Does anyone have any idea on any Juco/transfers that are on Travis Ford's radar for next season? I assume he has some on his radar given he probably wont want all freshman.

Yeah, future is now, must have JUCOs!

[Compton]

On 1/9/2019 at 2:15 PM, Pistol said:

I'd honestly say Bess is the only guy that has met or exceeded my expectations. I could probably add Thatch to that because of where he is defensively, but his shooting percentages are at a level that is unsustainable. Everyone else has been disappointing to me to at least some degree. It's not too late for this to change, but that's where I'm at right now.

French hasn't met expectations? 

[thetorch]

12 hours ago, Compton said:

French hasn't met expectations? 

Not quite.

I expected more improvement offensively and a DPOY capable performance on the other end.  Frankly he's come up short.

[VeniceMenace]

6 hours ago, thetorch said:

Not quite.

I expected more improvement on the offensively and a DPOY capable performance on the other end.  Frankly he's come up short.

You’ve got to be kidding....he’s getting double and triple teamed, SLU loses Santos, Welmer, Gordon & he still achieves double figures in points, rebounds or both? 

He’s not too far from Bess for conference player if the year.

[3star_recruit]

10 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

You’ve got to be kidding....he’s getting double and triple teamed, SLU loses Santos, Welmer, Gordon & he still achieves double figures in points, rebounds or both? 

He’s not too far from Bess for conference player if the year.

Before conference play, French was averaging 6.5 ppg and 7.5 rpg.  He's been terrific the last 6 games.  Thank heaven the old French is back.