Recruiting - 2020 Class (Optimal Vision Class)

[Billiken Rich]

22 minutes ago, Clock_Tower said:

I thought Shaft was Dwayne Evans?  Fred too?

You have to ask?

[SLURadioBoy]

I keep researching Okoro and watching highlight videos of him, which is only adding to my hope of getting him. I need to stop since this is still only a rumor and there is no proof of him wanting to come here.

[VeniceMenace]

17 hours ago, mdscott24 said:

This is all speculation of course, but my guess is if Jacobs's fence hasn't been mended, he'd be in the transfer portal. Same if there were a problem with Diarra. But these are kids, and even at a school like SEMO (where I live) they all think they're headed to the league, so anything can happen. The question is, will Russell or Okoro sit back and wait for something that might not happen when they will undoubtedly have other opportunities.

Impressed with Jacobs and his progress as a sophomore....if there were a comeback player of the year honor for this team, it would go to him.

[NH]

6 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

Impressed with Jacobs and his progress as a sophomore....if there were a comeback player of the year honor for this team, it would go to him.

And if he makes a similar leap from Sophomore to Junior year, we could be looking at someone fighting for all-conference recognition.

[almaman]

2 hours ago, Billiken Rich said:

You have to ask?

Watcha talkin'?

[brianstl]

1 hour ago, VeniceMenace said:

Impressed with Jacobs and his progress as a sophomore....if there were a comeback player of the year honor for this team, it would go to him.

If Thatch and Jimerson are healthy, who sits so Jacobs can get minutes?

[billikenfan05]

18 minutes ago, brianstl said:

If Thatch and Jimerson are healthy, who sits so Jacobs can get minutes?

I think he’ll get minutes with matchups or struggles. Imagine having a player like Jacobs as a scout player. 

[Reinert310]

20 minutes ago, brianstl said:

If Thatch and Jimerson are healthy, who sits so Jacobs can get minutes?

What if you just take a couple minutes from every guard? He doesn’t have to “steal” minutes from just 1 player. How nice would it be for Yuri and J-Good if they weren’t required to log such heavy minutes as last year. Sit for an extra minute or 2 in the middle of games so they can stay fresh. It doesn’t have to be 1 or the other. You can spread the minutes out and still keep everyone happy.

[Old guy]

Let's wait until we see Thatch play before we judge what we can expect from him. Jacobs may be getting a fair amount of play next season.

[NH]

32 minutes ago, brianstl said:

If Thatch and Jimerson are healthy, who sits so Jacobs can get minutes?

Depends who is playing the best in practice. Jimerson is easily the best shooter (and offensive weapon) of the bunch, but if you go back and watch the Seton Hall and Auburn games you can see he was a defensive liability at times (which is understandable for a freshman). Thatch if healthy is the best defender, but he's shot inconsistently and struggled with foul trouble at times. Jacobs is the best ballhandler and most versatile, but he struggles with disappearing in games. I doubt any of them are scared of a healthy competition for minutes, and it should be fun to watch who steps up.

[moytoy12]

1 minute ago, NH said:

Depends who is playing the best in practice. Jimerson is easily the best shooter (and offensive weapon) of the bunch, but if you go back and watch the Seton Hall and Auburn games you can see he was a defensive liability at times (which is understandable for a freshman). Thatch if healthy is the best defender, but he's shot inconsistently and struggled with foul trouble at times. Jacobs is the best ballhandler and most versatile, but he struggles with disappearing in games. I doubt any of them are scared of a healthy competition for minutes, and it should be fun to watch who steps up.

I assume Ford will have a convo with Jacobs and tell him his PT will be fluid based on the above.  Then will probably say that most of his minutes will come at the 2 and as a backup to Yuri, so Jacobs needs to continue to work on his shot, defense, but most importantly his ball handling.  Also, I’m sure ford will tell him to cut the crap at the end of the year that got him suspended.

in my mind, we have 3.5 spots for our pg, sg, sf and 3/4 (TJ and Andre).  That’s 140 min per game for 7-8 guys to split. 

[Reinert310]

1 minute ago, moytoy12 said:

I assume Ford will have a convo with Jacobs and tell him his PT will be fluid based on the above.  Then will probably say that most of his minutes will come at the 2 and as a backup to Yuri, so Jacobs needs to continue to work on his shot, defense, but most importantly his ball handling.  Also, I’m sure ford will tell him to cut the crap at the end of the year that got him suspended.

in my mind, we have 3.5 spots for our pg, sg, sf and 3/4 (TJ and Andre).  That’s 140 min per game for 7-8 guys to split. 

I may be alone in this thinking, but I personally think it would be a good thing if Yuri and J-Good don’t play as many minutes as they did last year. Not as a punishment, not because they don’t  deserve to play those minutes...but as a reward, to take a breather, and stay fresh. We finally have a roster where we don’t have to stick to playing 7 guys all game, every game. We have guys that can pick up the slack and allow guys like Yuri, J-Good and French to get a little bit more of a break. I’m NOT saying that I don’t want Yuri and J-Good and French I’m the game in crunch time, but maybe get them an extra minute or 2 late the 1st half, early in the 2nd, so they have that much more left in the tank later in the season. We can spread the minutes out so everybody can contribute. Just my 2 cents.

[moytoy12]

6 minutes ago, Reinert310 said:

I may be alone in this thinking, but I personally think it would be a good thing if Yuri and J-Good don’t play as many minutes as they did last year. Not as a punishment, not because they don’t  deserve to play those minutes...but as a reward, to take a breather, and stay fresh. We finally have a roster where we don’t have to stick to playing 7 guys all game, every game. We have guys that can pick up the slack and allow guys like Yuri, J-Good and French to get a little bit more of a break. I’m NOT saying that I don’t want Yuri and J-Good and French I’m the game in crunch time, but maybe get them an extra minute or 2 late the 1st half, early in the 2nd, so they have that much more left in the tank later in the season. We can spread the minutes out so everybody can contribute. Just my 2 cents.

Completely agree.

[johnbj14]

Jacobs is going to be an X-factor next year. He can shoot, defend, and handle the ball to relieve pressure from Yuri having to play 40 minutes. Additionally, if the team is going to get out and run, his athleticism is a huge part of that plan. 

[Spoon-Balls]

45 minutes ago, Reinert310 said:

I may be alone in this thinking, but I personally think it would be a good thing if Yuri and J-Good don’t play as many minutes as they did last year. Not as a punishment, not because they don’t  deserve to play those minutes...but as a reward, to take a breather, and stay fresh. We finally have a roster where we don’t have to stick to playing 7 guys all game, every game. We have guys that can pick up the slack and allow guys like Yuri, J-Good and French to get a little bit more of a break. I’m NOT saying that I don’t want Yuri and J-Good and French I’m the game in crunch time, but maybe get them an extra minute or 2 late the 1st half, early in the 2nd, so they have that much more left in the tank later in the season. We can spread the minutes out so everybody can contribute. Just my 2 cents.

Also won't have to worry about foul trouble nearly as much

[WVBilliken]

2 hours ago, brianstl said:

If Thatch and Jimerson are healthy, who sits so Jacobs can get minutes?

Jacobs often played pg when Collins was out.  Expect this to continue with the current roster.

Big Jacobs fan here.  Looking for him to stay and be a key player in the rotation again.  After all, only Collins, Goodwin and Jacobs can do a decent job at pg.  Need him.

[A10Ref]

All i know is this roster is 8-9 people deep of players good enough to start during an average Billiken season. I cant wait.

[Crewsorlose]

2 hours ago, NH said:

Depends who is playing the best in practice. Jimerson is easily the best shooter (and offensive weapon) of the bunch, but if you go back and watch the Seton Hall and Auburn games you can see he was a defensive liability at times (which is understandable for a freshman). Thatch if healthy is the best defender, but he's shot inconsistently and struggled with foul trouble at times. Jacobs is the best ballhandler and most versatile, but he struggles with disappearing in games. I doubt any of them are scared of a healthy competition for minutes, and it should be fun to watch who steps up.

Thatch's defense and rebounding would have helped a lot. I know the staff was high on him. But he hasn't done anything on offense but put up some abysmal numbers his frosh year (36/27/61). Let's consider last year a wash. Jacobs, on the other hand, was a very capable defender and put up much better offensive numbers than frosh-year Thatch (42/38/72). He's also an objectively better ball-handler. Bottom line, everyone except Hargrove will play fewer minutes with a 10-11 person rotation, but I don't expect Jacobs' minutes to be reduced more than others. 

[Pistol]

JUCO freshman Carlton Linguard picked K-State. Had a SLU offer but it basically came down to K-State, Colorado, and a couple Texas schools. He's also a bigger threat to Levi Stockard's minutes than Davion Bradford is, IMO. But I still think Stockard stays.

[davidnark]

On 4/19/2020 at 2:34 PM, WVBilliken said:

Jacobs often played pg when Collins was out.  Expect this to continue with the current roster.

Big Jacobs fan here.  Looking for him to stay and be a key player in the rotation again.  After all, only Collins, Goodwin and Jacobs can do a decent job at pg.  Need him.

I think the biggest frustration with Jacobs from a coach and fans' perspective is that he has all the right tools but has never once shown any signs or confidence to have a "takeover" mentality. Goodwin, French, Collins, and Perkins have all displayed the mentality of "give me the ball and I will find a way to get us a bucket." (And haven't been afraid to fail in trying to do so.) Jacobs has the ability, but he just hasn't crossed that mental threshold and may never get there. If he does, watch out.   

[billiken_roy]

59 minutes ago, davidnark said:

I think the biggest frustration with Jacobs from a coach and fans' perspective is that he has all the right tools but has never once shown any signs or confidence to have a "takeover" mentality. Goodwin, French, Collins, and Perkins have all displayed the mentality of "give me the ball and I will find a way to get us a bucket." (And haven't been afraid to fail in trying to do so.) Jacobs has the ability, but he just hasn't crossed that mental threshold and may never get there. If he does, watch out.   

very good post.   i totally agree.

[wgstl]

On 4/19/2020 at 3:15 PM, Crewsorlose said:

Thatch's defense and rebounding would have helped a lot.

Im convinced Davidson and Dayton are both W's with Thatch. 

[wgstl]

1 hour ago, davidnark said:

I think the biggest frustration with Jacobs from a coach and fans' perspective is that he has all the right tools but has never once shown any signs or confidence to have a "takeover" mentality. Goodwin, French, Collins, and Perkins have all displayed the mentality of "give me the ball and I will find a way to get us a bucket." (And haven't been afraid to fail in trying to do so.) Jacobs has the ability, but he just hasn't crossed that mental threshold and may never get there. If he does, watch out.   

I think we(mainly me) forget he's still an underclassman, in which that's normal to not be as aggressive as we would like just yet.  But that excuse is throw out of the window if it continues here out. 

[ACE]

On 4/17/2020 at 10:21 AM, ACE said:

IF Russell signs, my concern is that would be an indication one of the guards (FT or DJ) won't be back - and I don't want that to be a case.  Hopefully we get 1) An impact sit-one transfer  OR 2) A serviceable back-up big. 

Ford's recruiting usually makes a lot of sense. As I figured, a Russell signing would only make sense IF one of our guards was to depart (which I don't want). Adding an experienced physical big like Linnsen makes total sense. I love the construction of this roster. Possibly adding Okoro would be the perfect way to round out this roster and get a head start on 2021-22.

[NH]

1 hour ago, davidnark said:

I think the biggest frustration with Jacobs from a coach and fans' perspective is that he has all the right tools but has never once shown any signs or confidence to have a "takeover" mentality. Goodwin, French, Collins, and Perkins have all displayed the mentality of "give me the ball and I will find a way to get us a bucket." (And haven't been afraid to fail in trying to do so.) Jacobs has the ability, but he just hasn't crossed that mental threshold and may never get there. If he does, watch out.   

Jacobs showed flashes of that. In the first UMass game we lose without him stepping up and being aggressive down the stretch. He was also assertive in the Valpo game. I agree that he needs to show that consistency a LOT more frequently, but I don't think it's fair to say he never showed it. We have some glimpses.