Bobby Metzinger Posted October 25, 2017 Share Posted October 25, 2017 16 hours ago, gobillsgo said: You can still work out without lifting weights (push ups, sit ups, pull ups, etc). But I agree, it seems like someone somewhere along the line would've tried to get him in a weight room. Like Hayden Fry used to say "I can walk onto any farm in Iowa and find an offensive lineman." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Two interesting items from Stu's article this morning. French is at best a 'short' 6'7". French may be starting in the pivot. He is listed as 6-feet-7, although he concedes a bit of that can be attributed to his hair. Ford expects French to use that bulk and athleticism in a big way. Although he doesn’t want to heap the freshman with too many expectations, Ford said there’s a “good chance” French will be the team’s starting center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 -good article, hard to believe he got this good this fast with only playing since 8th grade, I don't like to hear about issues on both ankles, stay healthy young man as I want to see you own the boards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/built-like-a-tight-end-french-pursues-basketball-dream-at/article_52d92325-584a-57db-a378-fd96d5d62e59.html Link. Helps to click to show the Post people are reading SLU articles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 1 minute ago, kshoe said: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/built-like-a-tight-end-french-pursues-basketball-dream-at/article_52d92325-584a-57db-a378-fd96d5d62e59.html Link. Helps to click to show the Post people are reading SLU articles. I'll never get over my exasperation at this board's collective habit of posting takes on an article without any link or context. Zink likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 By the way, French was considered by a lot of recruiting watchers to be an early bloomer. This may be partially true from a purely physical standpoint, as he did have an early HS growth spurt (and was a man among boys) and didn't grow more than an inch or two after that, but it sort of ignores the fact that he started playing organized basketball 6 years ago and had never seen a weight room at the time people were saying that about him. He still had bulk to add and certainly skills to build and polish. I guess my point is, he was a really impressive player in HS and the thought was that he was a high-floor, low-ceiling, gritty college player. And yet, he wasn't in the top 100 the whole time, but ended up there in the final class rankings. I don't think he gets enough credit as someone who still has a lot more to show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 3 minutes ago, Pistol said: By the way, French was considered by a lot of recruiting watchers to be an early bloomer. This may be partially true from a purely physical standpoint, as he did have an early HS growth spurt (and was a man among boys) and didn't grow more than an inch or two after that, but it sort of ignores the fact that he started playing organized basketball 6 years ago and had never seen a weight room at the time people were saying that about him. He still had bulk to add and certainly skills to build and polish. I guess my point is, he was a really impressive player in HS and the thought was that he was a high-floor, low-ceiling, gritty college player. And yet, he wasn't in the top 100 the whole time, but ended up there in the final class rankings. I don't think he gets enough credit as someone who still has a lot more to show. I think you make some really good points here. Also, I love the fact that we are recruiting guys with a football background. I hope the program can develop a system that can identify kids that have a football background that have high basketball ceilings. This is going to be an area where you can really get an advantage over other programs for the next 5 to 10 seasons as more athletes transition away from football. You are going to have large group of kids that programs overlook just because they don't dominate on the AAU circuit or in high school because they just haven't had enough court time. Hell, many of the won't even be part of upper level AAU programs. Programs that do this well can really move up on the food chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgstl Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 always thought French was a little closer to 6'8 than 6'6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 1 minute ago, brianstl said: Also, I love the fact that we are recruiting guys with a football background. I hope the program can develop a system that can identify kids that have a football background that have high basketball ceilings. This is going to be an area where you can really get an advantage over other programs for the next 5 to 10 seasons as more athletes transition away from football. You are going to have large group of kids that programs overlook just because they don't dominate on the AAU circuit or in high school because they just haven't had enough court time. Hell, many of the won't even be part of upper level AAU programs. Programs that do this well can really move up on the food chain. This is a huge potential market for a lot of different sports, not just basketball. We just need to keep strengthening our relationships with local AAU and HS programs, making sure that these guys are identifying talent in a wider scope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 3 minutes ago, wgstl said: always thought French was a little closer to 6'8 than 6'6. It's the hair! I think 6-7 is a fair listing. He doesn't look shorter than that, I agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby Metzinger Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 1 minute ago, Pistol said: It's the hair! I think 6-7 is a fair listing. He doesn't look shorter than that, I agree. Definitely! Like Fletch: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macallan 18 Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 1 hour ago, brianstl said: I think you make some really good points here. Also, I love the fact that we are recruiting guys with a football background. I hope the program can develop a system that can identify kids that have a football background that have high basketball ceilings. This is going to be an area where you can really get an advantage over other programs for the next 5 to 10 seasons as more athletes transition away from football. You are going to have large group of kids that programs overlook just because they don't dominate on the AAU circuit or in high school because they just haven't had enough court time. Hell, many of the won't even be part of upper level AAU programs. Programs that do this well can really move up on the food chain. French reminds me so much of Anthony Bonner. Bonner 6’ 8” 215 French 6’ 7” 235 Bonner was more raw coming out of HS but you could see it was there. Each year as he developed he did things he could not do the previous year. Natural athlete, tenacious rebounder an defender, worked hard on his offensive game and the full package really came together his junior & senior year. In my opinion French is further along as a freshman. Bonner’s Numbers: PPG 10.3 / 13.8 / 15.5 / 19.9 - Avg 14.8 RPG 9.6 / 8.8 / 10.4 / 13.8 - Avg 10.7 In four years I predict French will surpass Bonner’s numbers and go down as a Billiken great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 I'll pump the brakes a bit...French could also be like Justin Tatum. Tatum was a great physical specimen, could dunk anything if he was close to the basket, but had no shooters touch and shot a FG% that was way too low given how close most of his shot attempts were. Until we see him play a bit, I'm going to hold off on comparisons to the best PF in SLU history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 12 minutes ago, Macallan 18 said: Those unis were suh-weet (if not compliant with current university branding standards). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 2 hours ago, Pistol said: I'll never get over my exasperation at this board's collective habit of posting takes on an article without any link or context. 1) There are a bunch of posters who don't like the PD. Not having the link helps them avoid clicking on the article. "Clicks mean business." I'm helping out those who want to boycott the paper. 2) The link is posted on the front page of this Board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 3 minutes ago, HoosierPal said: 1) There are a bunch of posters who don't like the PD. Not having the link helps them avoid clicking on the article. "Clicks mean business." I'm helping out those who want to boycott the paper. 2) The link is posted on the front page of this Board. This is so misguided when it comes to articles about the Billikens. If you don't want to click on a hatchet job by a columnist that is one thing, but not clicking on a Stu Durando puff-piece about one of our players leads the Post to believe nobody cares about those articles. Then they produce less Billikens content. We need people to click on the links, even if they don't want to read the article, let the Post think people care. That leads to more articles...which is a good thing. HenryB, ACE, MattyMo213 and 5 others like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old guy Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Agree kshoe this is a very nice piece and a worthwhile read Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 1 hour ago, Macallan 18 said: French reminds me so much of Anthony Bonner. Bonner 6’ 8” 215 French 6’ 7” 235 Bonner was more raw coming out of HS but you could see it was there. Each year as he developed he did things he could not do the previous year. Natural athlete, tenacious rebounder an defender, worked hard on his offensive game and the full package really came together his junior & senior year. In my opinion French is further along as a freshman. Bonner’s Numbers: PPG 10.3 / 13.8 / 15.5 / 19.9 - Avg 14.8 RPG 9.6 / 8.8 / 10.4 / 13.8 - Avg 10.7 In four years I predict French will surpass Bonner’s numbers and go down as a Billiken great. French is not Anthony Bonner. Bonner was leaner and a freak athlete. I know why you would want to make those comparisons and from your raw ability comparison, I get why you make the comparison. But, from what I have heard from somebody close to the program, is that French may have a little of both of Tatum and Bonner in him. If he continues to develop he will be a special player and definitely a fan favorite. I'm hoping he's like Mo Alie-Cox with more upside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 Can't wait for the Gordon, Santos, French Foreman front line. Hopefully add in a healthy Wegner to help stretch the floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFord and TRavs Posted October 27, 2017 Author Share Posted October 27, 2017 Wow ford said he has the goal of French leading the league in rebounds. Had a 38 point game last year and a 24 rebound game as well. Wow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 1 hour ago, Tonka said: I'm hoping he's like Mo Alie-Cox with more upside. -I hope I am not being greedy, but I'm thinking more than this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon-Balls Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 5 hours ago, kshoe said: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/built-like-a-tight-end-french-pursues-basketball-dream-at/article_52d92325-584a-57db-a378-fd96d5d62e59.html Link. Helps to click to show the Post people are reading SLU articles. Good to see Stu putting out some quality articles as of late. Hopefully this is the year that changes regional attitudes towards the SLU program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 34 minutes ago, Cowboy said: -I hope I am not being greedy, but I'm thinking more than this Geez, Allie Cox was pretty darn good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 I'm thinking Hassan Martin - same first name different spelling, I believe both lefties, and nearly identical size. French projects as a better rebounder, but probably not as polished offensively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NH Posted October 27, 2017 Share Posted October 27, 2017 If he's as impactful defensively as Mo Allie Cox I'll take it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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