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The Elusive Power Forward


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SLU has had a perennial problem getting athletic post players with size.  In the last 35 years, we've gotten Anthony Bonner, Jamal Johnson for one year, Willie Reed, Hasahn French and 13 games of Carteare Gordon. That's 5 guys in 35 years.  Yet we are reticient to abandon our expectations for two athletic post players to man the 4 and the 5.  With the advent of "position-less" basketball, I believe now is a better time than ever to leave those expectations behind.  

Most athletic guys who are 6'7/6'8 in the 21st century want to play like guards.  I've watched a half dozen of our "small forward" 2020 prospects and some of them are already 6'6 and close to 200lbs.  By the time they get to a college campus, guys like Lamontay Daughtery and Dallas Howell may already be the size of a typical A10 power forward. Even a less athletic guy, like Jackson Sivills, I find intriguing because he is a plus shooter (40% from 3, over 80% from the line).

I submit that these guys are actually 4 men at the A10 level.  They are tall kids with guard skills who can play inside or out and rebound the ball well.  We see these guys giving us the blues on other teams yet some of us continue to pine for the power players of old.  Athletic post players are scarce.  If Coach Ford can get one every 3 years, we as fans should consider ourselves lucky.

I know there's a growing sentiment on the board that we need two bigs in the spring to be a force in the A10.  The paucity of bigs suggest we'll be lucky to get one 6'7/6'8 guy who can be a significant contributor. And frankly, in the A10, with French and three other talented 6'7 guys already in the mix, that's enough.

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7 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

SLU has had a perennial problem getting athletic post players with size.  In the last 35 years, we've gotten Anthony Bonner, Jamal Johnson for one year, Willie Reed, Hasahn French and 13 games of Carteare Gordon. That's 5 guys in 35 years.  Yet we are reticient to abandon our expectations for two athletic post players to man the 4 and the 5.  With the advent of "position-less" basketball, I believe now is a better time than ever to leave those expectations behind.  

Most athletic guys who are 6'7/6'8 in the 21st century want to play like guards.  I've watched a half dozen of our "small forward" 2019 prospects and some of them are already 6'6 and close to 200lbs.  By the time they get to a college campus, guys like Lamontay Daughtery and Dallas Howell may already be the size of a typical A10 power forward. Even a less athletic guy, like Jackson Sivills, I find intriguing because he is a plus shooter (40% from 3, over 80% from the line).

I submit that these guys are actually 4 men at the A10 level.  They are tall kids with guard skills who can play inside or out and rebound the ball well.  We see these guys giving us the blues on other teams yet some of us continue to pine for the power players of old.  Athletic post players are scarce.  If Coach Ford can get one every 3 years, we as fans should consider ourselves lucky.

I know there's a growing sentiment on the board that we need two bigs in the spring to be a force in the A10.  The paucity of bigs suggest we'll be lucky to get one 6'7/6'8 guy who can be a significant contributor. And frankly, in the A10, with French and three other talented 6'7 guys already in the mix, that's enough.

It does seem like our stiff to effective ratio was thrown for a loop with the Crews recruiting era.  It also seems we've always had a 6'10" project or two buried on the bench.  Count me in for the shorter but more effective forwards.....

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10 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

SLU has had a perennial problem getting athletic post players with size.  In the last 35 years, we've gotten Anthony Bonner, Jamal Johnson for one year, Willie Reed, Hasahn French and 13 games of Carteare Gordon. That's 5 guys in 35 years.  Yet we are reticient to abandon our expectations for two athletic post players to man the 4 and the 5.  With the advent of "position-less" basketball, I believe now is a better time than ever to leave those expectations behind.  

Most athletic guys who are 6'7/6'8 in the 21st century want to play like guards.  I've watched a half dozen of our "small forward" 2019 prospects and some of them are already 6'6 and close to 200lbs.  By the time they get to a college campus, guys like Lamontay Daughtery and Dallas Howell may already be the size of a typical A10 power forward. Even a less athletic guy, like Jackson Sivills, I find intriguing because he is a plus shooter (40% from 3, over 80% from the line).

I submit that these guys are actually 4 men at the A10 level.  They are tall kids with guard skills who can play inside or out and rebound the ball well.  We see these guys giving us the blues on other teams yet some of us continue to pine for the power players of old.  Athletic post players are scarce.  If Coach Ford can get one every 3 years, we as fans should consider ourselves lucky.

I know there's a growing sentiment on the board that we need two bigs in the spring to be a force in the A10.  The paucity of bigs suggest we'll be lucky to get one 6'7/6'8 guy who can be a significant contributor. And frankly, in the A10, with French and three other talented 6'7 guys already in the mix, that's enough.

It's not just the A10, Nova has proven to be quite successful without a dominant big man. We have plenty of guys who can rebound and play defense, we just need to find guys who can shoot. 

Regarding the bigs, we're not likely to find one great all around big. Realistically it may take two bigs to fill different roles - one who is a strong defender/rebounder, but limited offensively and another who is more of a stretch big, who is weak in the post.

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We should only fill the open scholarships with bigs that can play quality minutes no projects otherwise fill the scholarships with the best players no matter what position.  If there are not enough good players out there hold on to the scholarships.  

In Ford I trust he will get players he has proven that so I anxiously await the news of the open scholarships being filled.

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8 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

Remekun was a high end athlete at 6-8. 

Good point I would love to have a player like that on the bench.

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1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

SLU has had a perennial problem getting athletic post players with size.  In the last 35 years, we've gotten Anthony Bonner, Jamal Johnson for one year, Willie Reed, Hasahn French and 13 games of Carteare Gordon. That's 5 guys in 35 years.  Yet we are reticient to abandon our expectations for two athletic post players to man the 4 and the 5.  With the advent of "position-less" basketball, I believe now is a better time than ever to leave those expectations behind.  

Most athletic guys who are 6'7/6'8 in the 21st century want to play like guards.  I've watched a half dozen of our "small forward" 2020 prospects and some of them are already 6'6 and close to 200lbs.  By the time they get to a college campus, guys like Lamontay Daughtery and Dallas Howell may already be the size of a typical A10 power forward. Even a less athletic guy, like Jackson Sivills, I find intriguing because he is a plus shooter (40% from 3, over 80% from the line).

I submit that these guys are actually 4 men at the A10 level.  They are tall kids with guard skills who can play inside or out and rebound the ball well.  We see these guys giving us the blues on other teams yet some of us continue to pine for the power players of old.  Athletic post players are scarce.  If Coach Ford can get one every 3 years, we as fans should consider ourselves lucky.

I know there's a growing sentiment on the board that we need two bigs in the spring to be a force in the A10.  The paucity of bigs suggest we'll be lucky to get one 6'7/6'8 guy who can be a significant contributor. And frankly, in the A10, with French and three other talented 6'7 guys already in the mix, that's enough.

I'm partially in agreement, but at the very least I do think we need another true post player that can come in and defend/rebound when French is out of the game.  We're likely going to have 3 scholarships to give this spring and one major glaring hole.  Obviously don't pass on a werewolf just because we need another post defender.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), it doesn't seem like we need to make that choice.   

Also, past recruiting issues kind of go out the window with Ford as coach.  

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44 minutes ago, kmbilliken said:

We need at least one and preferably two guys that can defend the post and not be pushed around to spell Hasahn and provide insurance in case of injury. They don't have to be 6'7"/6'8". Jeff Harris or Donnie Dobbs would suffice.

Excellent point.  But even a Jeff Harris or Donnie Dobbs is hard to find in 2019.  I only know of one unsigned high school power forward in a 300 mile radius who's a regular double-double threat.  And I watch a loooot of basketball.  Unfortunately, he's not put together like Harris or Dobbs. 

BTW that player, Michael Moreno, is injured.  And we do have an offer out to him.

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17 minutes ago, CBFan said:

We should only fill the open scholarships with bigs that can play quality minutes no projects otherwise fill the scholarships with the best players no matter what position.  If there are not enough good players out there hold on to the scholarships.  

In Ford I trust he will get players he has proven that so I anxiously await the news of the open scholarships being filled.

Yep. Those news from TF come out of nowhere sometimes . can't wait

 

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In the 2019 recruiting thread by Pistol here are the bigs listed Jason Jitoboh C, 6-11, 270, Treyon Johnson C, 6-11, 255, Julius Marble PF, 6-9, 220, Harry Morrice C, 6-11 230 the Scott, Dischon Thomas PF, 6-9, 207.

It appears to me based on Pistol's scouting report that there are at least three bigs in that list that could come off the bench and give solid minutes.  If I had my choice it would be JItoboh, Marble, or Morrice would be the guys to fill the remaining scholarships.

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19 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Excellent point.  But even a Jeff Harris or Donnie Dobbs is hard to find in 2019.  I only know of one unsigned high school power forward in a 300 mile radius who's a regular double-double threat.  And I watch a loooot of basketball.  Unfortunately, he's not put together like Harris or Dobbs. 

BTW that player, Michael Moreno, is injured.  And we do have an offer out to him.

I've seen a couple of his videos and he looks pretty good. Is a Dwayne Evans type player a fair comparison?

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34 minutes ago, CBFan said:

We should only fill the open scholarships with bigs that can play quality minutes no projects otherwise fill the scholarships with the best players no matter what position.  If there are not enough good players out there hold on to the scholarships.  

In Ford I trust he will get players he has proven that so I anxiously await the news of the open scholarships being filled.

It is one thing to hold on to 1 schollie but 2-3 is a mistake.  You end up with a short bench and that becomes an issue through a grueling season.

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1 minute ago, cheeseman said:

It is one thing to hold on to 1 schollie but 2-3 is a mistake.  You end up with a short bench and that becomes an issue through a grueling season.

Agreed. We've seen the last couple of years how quickly depth can be depleted. Sodie's "saving the scholarships" strategy was no good then and it is no good now.

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54 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

I want scorers.  I don't care if they are 5'10" or 6'10".  We need players who can put the ball in the basket.  

+1

I’ll take a 6’6” Brian Conklin over a 6’10” “athlete” who doesn’t know how to play and ends up averaging 6 and 3.

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5 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

More perimeter-oriented, not as quick. Luke Meyer with a quicker release? Seems like the kind of undersized, crafty forward that ends up at Belmont.

Ok, find us a Dwayne Evans - smart undersized player who can rebound and score inside.

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6 hours ago, 3star_recruit said:

SLU has had a perennial problem getting athletic post players with size.  In the last 35 years, we've gotten Anthony Bonner, Jamal Johnson for one year, Willie Reed, Hasahn French and 13 games of Carteare Gordon. That's 5 guys in 35 years.  Yet we are reticient to abandon our expectations for two athletic post players to man the 4 and the 5.  With the advent of "position-less" basketball, I believe now is a better time than ever to leave those expectations behind.  

Most athletic guys who are 6'7/6'8 in the 21st century want to play like guards.  I've watched a half dozen of our "small forward" 2020 prospects and some of them are already 6'6 and close to 200lbs.  By the time they get to a college campus, guys like Lamontay Daughtery and Dallas Howell may already be the size of a typical A10 power forward. Even a less athletic guy, like Jackson Sivills, I find intriguing because he is a plus shooter (40% from 3, over 80% from the line).

I submit that these guys are actually 4 men at the A10 level.  They are tall kids with guard skills who can play inside or out and rebound the ball well.  We see these guys giving us the blues on other teams yet some of us continue to pine for the power players of old.  Athletic post players are scarce.  If Coach Ford can get one every 3 years, we as fans should consider ourselves lucky.

I know there's a growing sentiment on the board that we need two bigs in the spring to be a force in the A10.  The paucity of bigs suggest we'll be lucky to get one 6'7/6'8 guy who can be a significant contributor. And frankly, in the A10, with French and three other talented 6'7 guys already in the mix, that's enough.

French plus three is enough for the A10....is that enough for the big dance?

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