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The House That Rick Built Podcast


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3 hours ago, Aquinas said:

I listened and loved the season ending show, followed with the top 5 +1 Billikens of all time.
I generally agree with Pistol's list with the exception of one player. I have to take issue with is Jordair Jett.  I loved him as a Billiken and he was a force on the floor and could drive with power to the basket, however.... 
He did not shoot well enough to be on this list, especially for a guard, 25% 3 point shooter and 61 percent for the line.
Somebody else had Highmark on the their list, he was not much of a defender, not very athletic and basically just a good spot up 3 point shooter with 38% and 77 from the line

I would nominate H Waldman, a great passer and we have not had anyone close until Yuri arrived.  And H hit 42% of his 3s and 77% from the line.

Yikes bad take on Highmark.  He was an average defender on those teams but he did it all on offense.  Beat defenders off the dribble, Finished in the mid range and 3 point and was a pretty good passer.  

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1 hour ago, Pistol said:

I basically had a solid top 5 and then 12 guys to choose from for my sixth man: Jett, Douglass, Highmark, Perry, Fisher, Lisch, Liddell, Mitchell, Evans, Bess, Goodwin, French. I think you could make a case for any of them.

No one mentioned our other two retired numbers, Boushka and Ferry, but Easy Ed is really the only one from before the modern era that I wanted to include. I just have no frame of reference for those other guys; yes, they were named All-Americans (not necessarily first team) at some point, but outside of that, I just wasn't sure how else to build a case for them. I figured including Easy Ed was enough of a nod to the pre-1980s.

Ferry was very much like Macauley, only not quite as good.  He was constantly compared to him.  6'8 center with a decent jump shot.  If you saw his son play then you saw Bob play basically.  Bob is still scouting for the Nets.  He's been a front office/GM/Scout for going on 50 years.  He won a title as a GM with the Bullets.  I think he was on his way to making the Basketball HOF before his son made some racist comments as GM of the Hawks.

Boushka was a PF but played on the perimeter alot, could handle and shoot.  Played like Roland Gray.

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4 minutes ago, SluSignGuy said:

In quarantine boredom, I added a Podcast link to the main page of Billikens.com that links to the Podcast.  If @The House That Rick Built objects, I am happy to take it down (or make edits however they like).

This is off the topic — and you might have discussed this already, but I have avoided the other thread like the plague we're experiencing — but have you been teaching classes virtually?

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2 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

This is off the topic — and you might have discussed this already, but I have avoided the other thread like the plague we're experiencing — but have you been teaching classes virtually?

I have.  I only have one class this semester with a good group of students, so I have had it relatively easy.  Only one more class to go.

If you are really bored, below is a small excerpt from one of these classes.

 

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2 hours ago, SluSignGuy said:

In quarantine boredom, I added a Podcast link to the main page of Billikens.com that links to the Podcast.  If @The House That Rick Built objects, I am happy to take it down (or make edits however they like).

That's awesome. Would never object to that. Thank you for archiving that as I have a feeling it will help a lot as the interviews continue to stack up. 

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2 hours ago, SluSignGuy said:

I have.  I only have one class this semester with a good group of students, so I have had it relatively easy.  Only one more class to go.

If you are really bored, below is a small excerpt from one of these classes.

 

Nice to have a way to listen to your seminar. I bet there are a lot of really interesting virtual discussions and lectures given at SLU every day which would be nice to have access to (listening only).

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9 hours ago, Old guy said:

Nice to have a way to listen to your seminar. I bet there are a lot of really interesting virtual discussions and lectures given at SLU every day which would be nice to have access to (listening only).

If you pay 40k a year for tuition you can have access to some of them...

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Forgot to publish last nights episode but it is up now, should show up on platforms shortly. Brought @Pistol on again to talk the Okoro signing and Madani leaving, along with breaking down some of our favorite moments in Billikens history. Don't forget to check out the Chris Sloan interview.

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1 minute ago, Clock_Tower said:

Ryan?  Don't you mean Jeff?

clock i doubt steve was even alive when jeff Luechetefeld played.   😄  

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1 minute ago, Clock_Tower said:

I remember Mr. Rogers and his signs very well - which started at a young age.  Enjoyed them!!

but i do not remember him waving signs at the old kiel, which would = Jeff Luck

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4 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

but i do not remember him waving signs at the old kiel, which would = Jeff Luck

Yes.  You're probably right.   Jeff was just prior to Claggs/Highmark who - I don't think - ever played at the old Kiel.   I recall Claggs and Highmark playing their Freshman year at the Arena and then, of course, they helped open our era at the new Kiel.  After the Claggs,Highmark & H era, then along arrived Larry, Matt & Justin who, of course, played at the new Kiel.   I recall the signs at the new Kiel - Ryan came AFTER Larry.   Steve.  Did you miss Larry Legend? Or just no signs yet?

 

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I was alive for Jeff Luechetefeld, but I don't think I ever saw him play. 

Larry Hughes did have a sign.  For a lot of players, I gave them their signs upon graduating.  But many are still sitting in my parents basement.

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27 minutes ago, SluSignGuy said:

I was alive for Jeff Luechetefeld, but I don't think I ever saw him play. 

Larry Hughes did have a sign.  For a lot of players, I gave them their signs upon graduating.  But many are still sitting in my parents basement.

just a note on jeff Luck for you youngsters.   jeff was an extremely hard worker and by the time he graduated had made himself into a very very good player.   his senior year i would compare him to jimmerson.   he had become that good of a shooter pretty sure he was over a 40% 3 point shooter.  add to it he is just a very good guy.   he was very nice to my son who was only in grade school in those days.   Jeff played with some good friends of mine in various leagues around the area so i got to know him pretty well.  

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On 4/24/2020 at 1:57 PM, thetorch said:

Yikes bad take on Highmark.  He was an average defender on those teams but he did it all on offense.  Beat defenders off the dribble, Finished in the mid range and 3 point and was a pretty good passer.  

As to HIghmark - one of my all-time Billiken favorites - just want to add the following.   

As good as Claggett was (Claggs could create his own shot and break loose for a final, game-winning shot and he was far better dribbling than Scott while being very good with shooting percentages from anywhere on the Court - 3 pointers, mid-range and FTs), I would rather have Scott shoot the final shot of the game.  Never seen a more accurate perimeter shooter than Scott.  And his FTs were automatic.

Now, keep in mind that Scott played on teams with 3 top shelf guards/outside shooters (H, Claggs and Scott) but that our teams' deficiencies were our average big men -- Donnie Campbell 6'6" David Robinson 6'5".   Had Scott played with an interior force -- Bonner, Baniak/Tatum, Jamal Johnson, Voyoukas, French/Bell, then Scott woudl have had more room to work.  Just like French not having as much room to work b/c the lane has been packed, and just like Jett did have room to work b/c of Loe, Evans and Ellis,  Scott never had the benefit of a strong interior game.   As such, teams took huge risks by guarding us heavily on the perimeter.   Scott played for us during the prior conference days where we played top ranked Cincy and Memphis teams along with strong Marquette and UAB.  Spoon would call a timeout and eveyone in the building would know Scott would be taking the shot.  Double and triple screens were set -- and sure enough, Scott came off the last screen and shot the ball - all net.  In short, Scott took alot of shots and yet he had very few open or "easy" 3 point shots.  Had we had a more balance offense, had defenses played our bigs more honest and had Scott been given more open or "easy" 3 point opportunties -- I believe his shooting percent age would be more like 45%

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1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:

just a note on jeff Luck for you youngsters.   jeff was an extremely hard worker and by the time he graduated had made himself into a very very good player.   his senior year i would compare him to jimmerson.   he had become that good of a shooter pretty sure he was over a 40% 3 point shooter.  add to it he is just a very good guy.   he was very nice to my son who was only in grade school in those days.   Jeff played with some good friends of mine in various leagues around the area so i got to know him pretty well.  

Yes.  And when guarded on the 3 point line, he just stepped back and hit a longer 3 pointer.   And when guarded 3 foot further back from the line, he would step back even further and make the even longer shot.   May have the longest range of any Billiken I watched.

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2 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

As good as Claggett was (Claggs could create his own shot and break loose for a final, game-winning shot and he was far better dribbling than Scott while being very good with shooting percentages from anywhere on the Court - 3 pointers, mid-range and FTs), I would rather have Scott shoot the final shot of the game.  Never seen a more accurate perimeter shooter than Scott.  And his FTs were automatic.

I understand that you're not just talking about overall three point % here, but I want to point out that for their careers Claggs shot 41% from 3 and Highmark 38%.  I'd rather have Claggs taking the 3 point shot because his % was higher.  HIghmark was better from 2 pt range (52%) than Claggs (43%) which may have had to do with Scott's height (6-5) being and advantage inside over Claggs (6-1).  Therefore, if we're talking about just scoring instead of hitting a 3 that may tip the scales to Highmark.  Either way, I consider Claggs a more accurate perimeter shooter because he hit a higher % of 3s than Highmark.  They both shot 77% career from the line (Claggs beats Highmark by a mere 0.3%,  but Scott shot over 100 more).

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20 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said:

I understand that you're not just talking about overall three point % here, but I want to point out that for their careers Claggs shot 41% from 3 and Highmark 38%.  I'd rather have Claggs taking the 3 point shot because his % was higher.  HIghmark was better from 2 pt range (52%) than Claggs (43%) which may have had to do with Scott's height (6-5) being and advantage inside over Claggs (6-1).  Therefore, if we're talking about just scoring instead of hitting a 3 that may tip the scales to Highmark.  Either way, I consider Claggs a more accurate perimeter shooter because he hit a higher % of 3s than Highmark.  They both shot 77% career from the line (Claggs beats Highmark by a mere 0.3%,  but Scott shot over 100 more).

Fair points.   2 great players.   They did have the benefit of being able to complement each other -- a shorter, athletic guy who could create this own shot vs. a taller, marksman who sure knew how to use a screen effectively.  Similar point for both -- both would have even higher shooting percentages if they had teammates with a more robust or powerful interior games.    Imagine these 2 on the perimeter with French and/or Bonner on the inside.

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42 minutes ago, Clock_Tower said:

Fair points.   2 great players.   They did have the benefit of being able to complement each other -- a shorter, athletic guy who could create this own shot vs. a taller, marksman who sure knew how to use a screen effectively.  Similar point for both -- both would have even higher shooting percentages if they had teammates with a more robust or powerful interior games.    Imagine these 2 on the perimeter with French and/or Bonner on the inside.

Jeff Harris made this point during his interview on The House That RIck Built.  Those Spoonball teams with Claggs, Highmark, and H were very much like modern NBA teams who spread the floor and bomb away from 3 point land.  Inside players don't have a big role on offense.  Having a Bonner or French certainly would have helped, but I think it having a wide array of perimeter firepower helped open things up a lot as well.  Perhaps more than an inside presence would have.

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4 hours ago, RUBillsFan said:

Jeff Harris made this point during his interview on The House That RIck Built.  Those Spoonball teams with Claggs, Highmark, and H were very much like modern NBA teams who spread the floor and bomb away from 3 point land.  Inside players don't have a big role on offense.  Having a Bonner or French certainly would have helped, but I think it having a wide array of perimeter firepower helped open things up a lot as well.  Perhaps more than an inside presence would have.

Interesting take.  Best fast breaks I ever saw were lead by H.  When he was able to push the offense, it was fun to watch.  Half court offense, though, was more difficult and  when our outside shots didn’t fall. It was tough. But Spoon was a really good  game coach, we ran a motion offense, w set pieces, set alot of screens and our offense clicked. And yes, the inside was mostly wide open which gave our undersized and less skilled bigs a chance - but I still believe a more balanced inside game would have made things easier on Highmark and Claggs

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