Grad Transfer & JUCO Tracker

[CBFan]

58 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said:

Now you've left out Bess.

I know I am a mess and should leave the player discussion to the rest of the board.

[Old guy]

Well, no you are not a mess. It is really nice to have a problem with too many good players chasing after a fixed number of spots in the rotation. This is coming out clearly in what you have been posting, not easy to decide who will be in or out. I think this may be a very fluid situation at the beginning of the season and will solidify later on.

[wgstl]

46 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

Jacobs probably isn't a 3.  (Or am I reading that wrong?)

I think Coach Ford could expand his rotation a bit in 2018-19 and pick up the pace of the game.  It may be his deepest team yet.

Depending on rotation, i could see him playing the 3 a little. Especially in a game with a lot of press. 

[almaman]

42 minutes ago, TheOne said:

The fact that our roster is now deep enough that we even get to hypothesize whether or not a 5* recruit is an immediate starter or not is a HUGE plus for Billiken basketball.

We haven’t had enough depth of either skills or personnel in years to even have this debate.

Bravo to our staff - we are witnessing the comeback of SLU basketball.

indeed.

hot stove league will be a blast here this off season. we were all creaming last off season because JC was gone and TF  had an off the charts first few weeks. Even with what we had on paper after 3 years of being in the bottom 10% OF D-1 few of us were cocky about this year. That despite a level of talent joining us here24 unseen since easy Ed days. I thought we had enough talent in JC's years to at least be competitive so I never weighed in on how good we'd be this season's thread but I was way rosier than most. Then S2 (our 9/11 history wise) happened.

Now we have righted the ship going the entire time with guy most likely to be best shooter and scorer and 2 other guards that are known for shooting suspended then booted. Then watch JG play 2/3s of a season waiting his punishment and shows us that he is sure to give us a 4 season career here unseen since AB. We turn out to be pretty damn good ATC. We have a chance to win 20 still which I think many would of bet against even pre S2 and after no way. After JG booted double no way.

Anything can happen but if we keep everyone coming, here, coming back on paper we're even better. Knowing this year's twosome are all we could imagined makes it seems high ranked guys are that for a reason. Gordon was a top 10 ranked player at one time. Other 3 19ers better ranking wise than less than a dozen between Bonner and Ford era. If TF's next recruit is 2+* or up we will have 10 players who would start on any pre TF team imo. So it will be opposite of this year in terms of speculating starters, MPG etc.

This brings me to point of hitting reply; debating the lineup possibilities for next season should keep the board busy during the off season.

[Bills_06]

Doesn't really fit here but could Cook transfer? 

 

[TRN]

30 minutes ago, Bills_06 said:

Doesn't really fit here but could Cook transfer? 

 

Yes, to the NBA.

[wgstl]

Yes transferring to como, from what I'm hearing

[Cowboy]

1 hour ago, Bills_06 said:

Doesn't really fit here but could Cook transfer? 

 

-anyone that watches Iowa, has he improved his scoring range? 

-is our previous coach the reason he is not currently a Billiken?

[almaman]

Could Hines be a graduate guy next year? As much as we felt little love for him he's good enough lower D-1  for a backup seems to me.

[Aquinas]

I read through the Iowa thread on Cook. The interviewer may have been asking him about going pro, instead of coming back to Iowa next season, rather than transferring.  Many think there is no way he burns a year sitting out. Iowa however is bad with no light at the end of the tunnel. There is a Mizzou rumor. 

About Cook, they generally agree he is their best player. Strong on offense, weak on defence, and doesn't box out. Some blame the coach for that.   

It certainly looks like Iowa was a mistake for him.     

I read an article that his St Louis based parents and brother struggle with the distance to make his games. 

If he transfers seems like a school close to home, where he can develop and show his NBA skills, win and have fun playing the game is what he would be looking for.   

If he wants to look at schools and Ford is interested, he would have to paint a picture where Cook can be a Billiken star in the o e or 2 yrs he would play.

[TheChosenOne]

8 minutes ago, Cowboy said:

-is our previous coach the reason he is not currently a Billiken?

I’m not sure I would say that, there wasn’t much interest the first time around. Things have changed quite a bit since then though.

[brianstl]

I love Tyler Cook.  That said, he should be down on our list of targets.  Ball handlers and shooters need to be where the staff focuses their energies. That is unless the staff knows something about next season’s roster we don’t.

[wgstl]

Also, Tyler cook didnt renew or sign a lease for housing next year.

[billiken_roy]

48 minutes ago, almaman said:

Could Hines be a graduate guy next year? As much as we felt little love for him he's good enough lower D-1  for a backup seems to me.

Hines has used all his college eligibility.  

[thetorch]

Cook's a good player but not an NBA guy.  Too small, no defense or rim protection.  His athleticism will be ho hum at the next level.  No handle, poor jumper.  Gordon and French are just as good.  Too much in our frontcourt as it is.

[RiseAndGrind]

Can’t believe slu is in a position to pass on Tyler Cook but here we are 

[kshoe]

I remember a year ago 3star or someone on here was patting Cook on the back for finding a school that he could start at as a freshman. How that worm has turned...

[kshoe]

35 minutes ago, RiseAndGrind said:

Can’t believe slu is in a position to pass on Tyler Cook but here we are 

There is 0 chance we would pass on him. We have 2-3 more scholarships to give and he’s a stud. Can’t have enough good bigs and you can use the other 1-2 schollys on guards.

This smells like a Mr. Integrity special to me though.

[AGB91]

I would take Cook in a minute.

if we learned anything this year. It is that you can never have enough good players.

[RiseAndGrind]

7 minutes ago, kshoe said:

There is 0 chance we would pass on him. We have 2-3 more scholarships to give and he’s a stud. Can’t have enough good bigs and you can use the other 1-2 schollys on guards.

This smells like a Mr. Integrity special to me though.

Pass was the wrong word. I really meant “i think staff resources are better spent on filling out the rest of the roster”. Basically, i would rather see the staff focus on guards and 2019 recruits 

[Macallan 18]

2 hours ago, AGB91 said:

I would take Cook in a minute.

if we learned anything this year. It is that you can never have enough good players.

Absolutely!  6’9” 250 averaging 15 pts and 7 rbs in the Big 10.  Mr. Cook you are welcome home with open arms.

[slu72 fan]

Just now, Macallan 18 said:

Absolutely!  6’9” 250 averaging 15 pts and 7 rbs in the Big 10.  Mr. Cook you are welcome home with open arms.

Corey Tate do your magic!!

[JohnnyJumpUp]

3 hours ago, thetorch said:

Cook's a good player but not an NBA guy.  Too small, no defense or rim protection.  His athleticism will be ho hum at the next level.  No handle, poor jumper.  Gordon and French are just as good.  Too much in our frontcourt as it is.

Cook is a solid player, and only in year 2. He has been consistent. He also just recently put up almost 30 against Michigan State. No way SLU would pass up the opportunity to add him to the roster,  if the opportunity actually presented itself.

[mechee89]

12 hours ago, Cowboy said:

-anyone that watches Iowa, has he improved his scoring range? 

-is our previous coach the reason he is not currently a Billiken?

This is kind of a unique situation. He has shown to be a fairly selfish player. Frequently strays away from what they are trying to do on offense. He drives Fran absolutely crazy. You could hear him yell "run the f ucking play" at Tyler yesterday during their game against Michigan. I could see him driving Travis up a wall as well. Kind of reminds a little bit of when Yarbrough was a couple of years ago and you could just see that he would clash with coach. 

On the scoring front, he is really only relevant under the rim. Very physical, solid rebounder, but lacks defense.  The effort is frequently non-existent. The mindset on the Iowa boards are that 'either you're in or you're out.' If he doesn't want to be a team player then they are better off without him. His physical presence would be missed dearly, but his attitude can go right on out the door with him.

You've got to think that Tatum has been in his ear too. I think he is gone. The question is, how willing is he to sit? The kid wants to be on the court. I'm no insider, so I don't want to venture to guess where he will end up. Just wanted to share some thoughts from a fan of Iowa's perspective. Do we want a kid who doesn't like to be a team player and is quite frequently a liability? I'll let the rest of you share your thoughts.

 

[Pistol]

13 hours ago, Aquinas said:

It certainly looks like Iowa was a mistake for him.     

 

11 hours ago, kshoe said:

I remember a year ago 3star or someone on here was patting Cook on the back for finding a school that he could start at as a freshman. How that worm has turned...

It's hard to say Iowa was a bad decision for him, as he did indeed step in, start as a freshman, and make significant contributions. The frustrating thing for him is that he hasn't been surrounded by good players. When you commit to a school and coach, you expect that guy to hold up his end of the bargain and put together a solid roster. Iowa has nothing in the junior and senior classes above Cook. Their top 6 scorers are freshmen and sophomores. They had some players when he was recruited and last year, but there's a 2-year gap now until his class and that's where coaches get in trouble. Only one of the two signed players will be an instant contributor, so it's hard to say Iowa will make much of a jump next season. They wouldn't be losing anyone, so they'd be better from everyone being a year older and more experienced, but they're still mid-level Big Ten at best.

So now Cook has to wonder whether his class and the one behind him will be rewarded for their patience by the time he's a senior, or whether his frustration is reason enough to bail now and find a place where he can both win and elevate his game. Because yes, he does have work to do on his own game, too, and even though he's the leading scorer and rebounder there, he hasn't shown as much overall development as he could or should have.

I have to believe he's leaving. There's rarely this much smoke around a player possibly leaving at this point in the season, and he doesn't end up going. His quote was telling, too.

As for whether SLU is in the mix, if he wants to be closer to home, then we have to be one of the logical destinations. He's 4 hours away currently, and there aren't many D-I programs closer. A couple Big Ten schools are, but it's unlikely he'd be able to transfer within the conference. Mizzou seems like the obvious frontrunner. On paper, he'd sit a year and then replace Foreman on our roster. But assuming French and Gordon and Santos are still around, would we have the immediate minutes he wants? Mizzou has more near-term frontcourt turnover, while we appear to have a solid frontcourt core already.

There's also the E.J. Liddell question. He'd be entering college as Cook becomes eligible to play again. I think the long-term move for him is to play more of a 3-4 than a true power forward role, and I think Ford could sell him on that. He's said to be the top priority for Mizzou in 2019. Just something to consider.