Littlebill Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said: That was #6? Must've been a slow sports night...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Is the home and home with the Pac 12 school slated to start this season or in 2018? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFord and TRavs Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 WHen will Ford have another invterview? It's been awhile Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 2 hours ago, 3star_recruit said: Is the home and home with the Pac 12 school slated to start this season or in 2018? -we are supposed to play at Oregon State in December 2017 (this season) with them coming to SLU in 2018-19 season Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 It must be Alford's team - he had such a good time when he was last here ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NextYearBill Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 1 hour ago, TFord and TRavs said: WHen will Ford have another invterview? It's been awhile you always ask these odd ball questions like we are withholding information.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFord and TRavs Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 1 hour ago, NextYearBill said: you always ask these odd ball questions like we are withholding information.... No I just thought he might have some monthly contract to speak with the press in the offseason or something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 16 hours ago, Littlebill said: That was #6? Must've been a slow sports night...... JJ was one of the most dominating players I've ever seen..... in warmups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 4 minutes ago, slu72 said: JJ was one of the most dominating players I've ever seen..... in warmups. He and Newborne are the reasons everyone should be very wary about reports about how players look in the off season. Every year they were in the program we got reports about how good they looked in the off season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I'm still absolutely mystified as to how people looked at Johnson and Newborne and thought they were high-level athletes. They were two of the worst athletes I've ever seen at SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 I don't remember too many raves about JJ other than he was a KSU recruit, so therefore, he must be all world. I do recall Vashon Newborne being praised to high heaven. High energy, great board guy, real leader etc. The usual high expectation pap you get from preseason practices. I've learned to take all this with a grain of salt. Games tell the story not uncontested 360 dunks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 It's funny, I guess we all have different memories. I don't recall anybody praising Newborne. Even before seeing the kid play, I was not too optimistic. We were recruiting Newborne in hopes of landing his more talented Juco teammate - who I believe ended up at Ohio State. Newborne was a lightly recruited dumpster dive Sodie recruit - then as soon as I saw his chubby a$$ waddling around the court for the first time, it was clear that he was as bad as I feared. I do recall some optimism with Johnson. I think that is because he could occasionally deliver a nice dunk, which compared to Sodie's woeful collection of power forwards, made him seem "athletic." I think there was also some hope that he would develop over time - the kid never improved from the moment he stepped on campus. Didn't he even redshirt his freshman year? After five years on campus and he was still that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 14 hours ago, NextYearBill said: you always ask these odd ball questions like we are withholding information.... Are you trying to tell me you don't have access to Ford's Outlook calendar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 32 minutes ago, ACE said: It's funny, I guess we all have different memories. I don't recall anybody praising Newborne. Even before seeing the kid play, I was not too optimistic. We were recruiting Newborne in hopes of landing his more talented Juco teammate - who I believe ended up at Ohio State. Newborne was a lightly recruited dumpster dive Sodie recruit - then as soon as I saw his chubby a$$ waddling around the court for the first time, it was clear that he was as bad as I feared. I do recall some optimism with Johnson. I think that is because he could occasionally deliver a nice dunk, which compared to Sodie's woeful collection of power forwards, made him seem "athletic." I think there was also some hope that he would develop over time - the kid never improved from the moment he stepped on campus. Didn't he even redshirt his freshman year? After five years on campus and he was still that bad. From a now defunct Billikens blog regarding Newborne "king of the preseason": http://billikenbasketball.blogspot.com/2007/11/king-of-preseason.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 21 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said: From a now defunct Billikens blog regarding Newborne "king of the preseason": http://billikenbasketball.blogspot.com/2007/11/king-of-preseason.html Haha! I guess I missed the Newborne "hype." Never viewed him as anything but a marginal player and don't recall hearing much, but I guess it was a thing with some people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 1 hour ago, ACE said: It's funny, I guess we all have different memories. I don't recall anybody praising Newborne. Even before seeing the kid play, I was not too optimistic. We were recruiting Newborne in hopes of landing his more talented Juco teammate - who I believe ended up at Ohio State. Newborne was a lightly recruited dumpster dive Sodie recruit - then as soon as I saw his chubby a$$ waddling around the court for the first time, it was clear that he was as bad as I feared. I do recall some optimism with Johnson. I think that is because he could occasionally deliver a nice dunk, which compared to Sodie's woeful collection of power forwards, made him seem "athletic." I think there was also some hope that he would develop over time - the kid never improved from the moment he stepped on campus. Didn't he even redshirt his freshman year? After five years on campus and he was still that bad. The only person I remember touting Newborne was Brad. He was covering his backside for his failures in recruiting. When we went to that tourney in the Caribbean Newborne was suppose to tear the court up according to Brad. Couldn't have been farther from the truth. He was slow in everything he did won the court. JJ looked good but couldn't put together. He seemed have trouble having any fluid movement once he touched the ball. No wonder Kstate dropped him. Reminds me of the kid Crews got that WSU sent packing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 39 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said: From a now defunct Billikens blog regarding Newborne "king of the preseason": http://billikenbasketball.blogspot.com/2007/11/king-of-preseason.html Grasping at straws is all that was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 2 minutes ago, cheeseman said: The only person I remember touting Newborne was Brad. He was covering his backside for his failures in recruiting. When we went to that tourney in the Caribbean Newborne was suppose to tear the court up according to Brad. Couldn't have been farther from the truth. He was slow in everything he did won the court. JJ looked good but couldn't put together. He seemed have trouble having any fluid movement once he touched the ball. No wonder Kstate dropped him. Reminds me of the kid Crews got that WSU sent packing This is where I differ from most on this board. I never thought he "looked good" at all. He redshirted and we had him for five years and he was STILL a completely uncoordinated baby giraffe type as a fifth-year senior. All limbs, completely awkward in all movements, terrible hands, terrible feet, poor form in every basic skill, no feel for the game, he even ran like a goofball. The irony is he was obsessed with how he looked doing things. People probably thought he was athletic because he wasn't as slow as our other bigs, had a long frame, and would throw everything into motion on the most basic dunk, swinging arms back, bringing legs up, etc. I'd call it fool's gold but he was so transparently unathletic. He was a massive project and never showed the least bit of improvement or dedication. It was painful to watch. He wound up at SLU as part of the first Soderberg recruiting class because Sodie hired Anthony Beane, who played at K-State. JJ committed to K-State but ultimately was told his scholarship wasn't there, so Beane had the feeling he must be good enough for SLU if he was almost good enough for K-State. It was a miss, and Sodie believed in living with your mistakes, which is why he was here for 5 years and not shown the door at some point (and there were a couple opportunities to do that with cause). Newborne was billed as a tough, gritty leader as a Juco PF who'd be immediately eligible as a junior. He was never supposed to be a big-time athlete but I think people let Sodie's enthusiasm - real or manufactured - for him get their hopes up. He was a completely flat-footed runner, so he was slow running the floor for his size and didn't have much leaping ability. He never really showed that energy or leadership, either. He was doe-eyed from the beginning, feeling more like a shy, overwhelmed freshman than an experienced upperclassman. He just wasn't the player we thought he was, in above his head, and as mentioned above, he was the end of the pipeline from that Juco instead of the beginning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Soderberg and Porter should have hooked up in the mid 2000's. Co-coaches. It could have been great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeSmetBilliken Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Here's what I remember about JJ's tenure at SLU: Every year, people were hoping for him to have what eventually became known as the "Conklin Summer", except it never happened. And he was there for 5 years. I had at least one class with him. He fell asleep, head on the desk, right in the front row. When class was over, the professor had to wake him up. Finally, and here's a connection to this site, the year he redshirted, SLU played a road game at Butler. A now possibly former poster (not sure if he still posts or lurks) here road tripped to the game. He and his girlfriend/fiancée were walking past the bench, and JJ tried to hit on the girlfriend/fiancée during the timeout or pregame warmup. The poster disliked JJ for the remainder of his time at SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMM28 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 2 minutes ago, Pistol said: The irony is he was obsessed with how he looked doing things. I remember some examples of this. Hopefully for his sake he has grown up, but he never wanted to work hard. @DeSmetBillikenI I also had a handful of classes with him. Was unfortunate enough to get stuck with him on a group project thing on one. Totally useless. He acted the same way in all of the classes I was with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 15 minutes ago, Pistol said: This is where I differ from most on this board. I never thought he "looked good" at all. He redshirted and we had him for five years and he was STILL a completely uncoordinated baby giraffe type as a fifth-year senior. All limbs, completely awkward in all movements, terrible hands, terrible feet, poor form in every basic skill, no feel for the game, he even ran like a goofball. The irony is he was obsessed with how he looked doing things. People probably thought he was athletic because he wasn't as slow as our other bigs, had a long frame, and would throw everything into motion on the most basic dunk, swinging arms back, bringing legs up, etc. I'd call it fool's gold but he was so transparently unathletic. He was a massive project and never showed the least bit of improvement or dedication. It was painful to watch. He wound up at SLU as part of the first Soderberg recruiting class because Sodie hired Anthony Beane, who played at K-State. JJ committed to K-State but ultimately was told his scholarship wasn't there, so Beane had the feeling he must be good enough for SLU if he was almost good enough for K-State. It was a miss, and Sodie believed in living with your mistakes, which is why he was here for 5 years and not shown the door at some point (and there were a couple opportunities to do that with cause). K-State's former coach after JJ came to SLU: JJ was on the team during my stint in the young alumni section at Scottrade. We used to laugh our arses off when he would screw up. Just a really unlikable player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 34 minutes ago, DeSmetBilliken said: Finally, and here's a connection to this site, the year he redshirted, SLU played a road game at Butler. A now possibly former poster (not sure if he still posts or lurks) here road tripped to the game. He and his girlfriend/fiancée were walking past the bench, and JJ tried to hit on the girlfriend/fiancée during the timeout or pregame warmup. The poster disliked JJ for the remainder of his time at SLU. True story. Witnessed it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 2:22 - STLOU - Justin Johnson missed Dunk Shot This, to me, is Justin Johnson's career in a nutshell. One play, and it's all you need. March 3, 2004, home game vs. Louisville and we're getting destroyed. This is the year after we upset them as a #2 team. Louisville was #25, having slid for a few weeks. I don't know if it was the need for a rebound game or revenge for the prior year's big upset, but they came out of the gate strong and were absolutely dismantling us. 40-19 at halftime. We had no answer. The second half was more of the same and we just wanted it to be over. JJ was a redshirt freshman and actually got a few minutes in both halves. While it doesn't make sense to call it "garbage time" because the whole game could be defined that way, Bennett and Mooney were in for their three minutes of action at the end of the game. JJ gets the ball under the Louisville basket with just under two and a half minutes left, and goes up as if in slow motion for a dunk, only to be denied by the FRONT OF THE RIM. Completely alone and unguarded, all the time and space in the world, and he was just flat-out denied by the rim. Soderberg looked down in disgust, but most of the rest of the bench was either laughing or doing their best to suppress laughter. The game was so out of hand for so long, it'd be tough to get worked up at that point. And it was impossible not to find humor in the quintessential Justin Johnson play. Somehow, that was only a missed FGA in the books and not a turnover. Maybe he let go of the ball on the way down. I can't quite remember. I may have missed it while slapping my forehead. Here are his career stats. This is a kid who didn't put in any work on his own accord. He never managed to be a rebounder or shot blocker despite his length, and he didn't do anything else well, either. He never improved. When you're that tall and long, to end up as a fifth-year senior with the same production as in your previous four seasons, with the same frame, lack of coordination, and poor athleticism, it's just pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 17 minutes ago, Pistol said: Here are his career stats. This is a kid who didn't put in any work on his own accord. He never managed to be a rebounder or shot blocker despite his length, and he didn't do anything else well, either. He never improved. When you're that tall and long, to end up as a fifth-year senior with the same production as in your previous four seasons, with the same frame, lack of coordination, and poor athleticism, it's just pathetic. It is somewhat shocking and speaks to why Soderberg could never be a successful coach that JJ was never recruited over and/or shown the door. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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