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2019-20 Season


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SLU Dogs, thanks for posting the A-10 list.  I agree that we won't have anyone at the top of the league scoring list-too much balance on the team which is a good thing.

I also like having two of the top newcomers (along with UMASS) which hopefully leads us to continued upgrading of the team.

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23 minutes ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

 

Candidates to lead the A-10 in scoring this season:

Obi Toppin, Dayton
Kellan Grady, Davidson
Marcus Evans, VCU
Jon Axel Gudmundsson, Davidson
Jacob Gilyard, Richmond
Justin Kier, George Mason
Ryan Daly, Saint Joseph’s
Jeff Dowtin, Rhode Island
Kyle Lofton, St. Bonaventure

— A10 Talk (@A10Talk) October 11, 2019



 

 

 

10 stud freshmen to watch:

Tre Mitchell, UMass
Nah’Shon Hyland, VCU
Terrence Hargrove Jr., Saint Louis
Yuri Collins, Saint Louis
Hyunjung Lee, Davidson
Maceo Austin, Duquesne
Justin Winston, St. Bonaventure
Ayinde Hikim, La Salle
T.J. Weeks Jr., UMass
Gregory Hammond, URI

— A10 Talk (@A10Talk) October 11, 2019



 

 

I think Jimmerson will be the real star out of the freshmen.

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2 hours ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

 



 

 

 



 

 

While I do believe Hargrove and Collins will be studs for SLU, the guy that I think fans of A-10 teams two or three years from now will be saying, "I swear that guy has been killing us for about 8 years now; how has he not graduated yet?!" about is Jimerson.

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2 hours ago, slu72 said:

Yurimania strikes again! Surprised Jimerson not mentioned, as I think he could be our leading scorer. 

Jimerson will be a cold-blooded sniper, but I don't think he'll lead the Bills in scoring — certainly not in 2019-20.

Top candidates for leading scorer this year are (in alphabetical order) French, Goodwin, and Perkins.

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I don't think Jimmmmmmmmerson gets enough run to lead in scoring this season.

French just doesn't finish well enough to average over 12 points a game.  Perkins is going to take a while to translate his game to d-1.

Top 2 scorers will be our starting backcourt Goodwin and Thatch.

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1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

He has the “easiest” road to success. His game is suited for the quickest transition to college 

+1

Yuri. Running a D1 offense as a point guard is a huge responsibility, big learning curve and just playing PG will cut down on his offensive opportunities. And for Yuri, he may be limited offensively, so I’m not sure how much he will produce in his first year. In addition, he will be playing with or behind Goodwin so that will affect his production and playing time as well. 

As to Hargrove, he will likely benefit from more playing time and opportunities, but his first year will be difficult to not only acclimate to the college game but also to possibly play a different position: power where he is just not big and strong enough to handle a guy like French.  Also he will be competing w Perkins and Jimerson at a guard/wing position so minutes, and minutes at the best position for him to succeed may be an issue  

Jimerson seems to have the easiest path in his first year. Use his size and quick release and score from the outside - easier transition. In addition, he has had a full year of prep school which will help in his first year. 

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With our recruiting losses, and being eternally short of traditional center/power forward players outside of the Majerus years, we need wheels. Wheels who can rebound, wheels who can play pressure defense, wheels who can dictate the tenor of a game by disrupting play.

Wheels cause opposing teams to rush back on d, leaving the trailing drag shooter open. Great team speed creates chaos and creates added benefits out of thin air. 
Ford has recruited for strength, rebounding and defense, now he is adding athleticism, ball handling, speed and shooting.

While we have not gained the dominant center or power forward we want, getting rising 3 star guards/forwards like Strickland who can hoop are a good salve.

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1 hour ago, Sheltiedave said:

With our recruiting losses, and being eternally short of traditional center/power forward players outside of the Majerus years, we need wheels. Wheels who can rebound, wheels who can play pressure defense, wheels who can dictate the tenor of a game by disrupting play.

Wheels cause opposing teams to rush back on d, leaving the trailing drag shooter open. Great team speed creates chaos and creates added benefits out of thin air. 
Ford has recruited for strength, rebounding and defense, now he is adding athleticism, ball handling, speed and shooting.

While we have not gained the dominant center or power forward we want, getting rising 3 star guards/forwards like Strickland who can hoop are a good salve.

You make good points and I am not trying to dispute each of them. At the same time, the chronology does not sound right. 

Not sure that it’s fair to say we have had all these recruiting losses under Coach Ford - since RM. Yes, Crews failed but I would say we have mostly had recuiting successes under Coach Ford who signed Santos and Gordon - in addition French, Goodwin, Bess, Foreman, Isbell and Wiley. Also, in addition to the above, Coach Ford already recruited and landed wheels in Ty Graves and shooting in Henriquez but we were unable to take advantage of all these guys.  Now Jimmerson is the next Henriquez, Weaver the next Graves....
 

 

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Let’s play a little game. 
Name the dominant/good centers and power forwards we have had in the past forty years.

Centers.. Robinson, Loe, Reed, Vouyoukas

Power Forwards... Kelvin Henderson, Bonner, Jamal Johnson, Justin Tatum, Frericks, Brown, Skinner, Dobbs, Conklin, Evans, French

It is hard to build a traditional team  from the bigs out when you average a good center once a decade, with no first team all conference in that period. We have had a decent run of power forwards, but Bonner, Dobbs, Conklin, and Evans were the ones you had to game plan against re offensive skills.

Only four of eleven PFs were/are four year players, six were jucos or transfers. Our overall record of recruiting bigs has minimized our dance appearances for four decades.
While not giving up on getting bigs, maybe Ford should rotate his play style to maximize four out-one in while in the A10, and get in the dance with large guard/forward small ball. We are trending markedly that way.

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I think people are underestimating Hasahn French on offense.  He will finish better and add some face-up and mid-range game to his repertoire from this point forward.  (It would also help him to get his free-throw percentage up to the neighborhood of 60 percent, but I'm not predicting that.)  Opposing teams will need to concentrate on stopping French.

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18 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Let’s play a little game. 
Name the dominant/good centers and power forwards we have had in the past forty years.

Centers.. Robinson, Loe, Reed, Vouyoukas

Power Forwards... Kelvin Henderson, Bonner, Jamal Johnson, Justin Tatum, Frericks, Brown, Skinner, Dobbs, Conklin, Evans, French

It is hard to build a traditional team  from the bigs out when you average a good center once a decade, with no first team all conference in that period. We have had a decent run of power forwards, but Bonner, Dobbs, Conklin, and Evans were the ones you had to game plan against re offensive skills.

Heinrich?

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Let’s play a little game. 
Name the dominant/good centers and power forwards we have had in the past forty years.

Centers.. Robinson, Heinrich, Loe, Reed, Vouyoukas

Power Forwards... Kelvin Henderson, Bonner, Jamal Johnson, Frericks, Brown, Skinner, Dobbs, Conklin, Ellis, Evans, French

It is hard to build a traditional team  from the bigs out when you average a good center once a decade, with no first team all conference in that period. We have had a decent run of power forwards, but Bonner, Dobbs, Conklin, and Evans were the ones you had to game plan against re offensive skills.

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38 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Let’s play a little game. 
Name the dominant/good centers and power forwards we have had in the past forty years.

Centers.. Robinson, Heinrich, Loe, Reed, Vouyoukas

Power Forwards... Kelvin Henderson, Bonner, Jamal Johnson, Frericks, Brown, Skinner, Dobbs, Conklin, Ellis, Evans, French

It is hard to build a traditional team  from the bigs out when you average a good center once a decade, with no first team all conference in that period. We have had a decent run of power forwards, but Bonner, Dobbs, Conklin, and Evans were the ones you had to game plan against re offensive skills.

As you laid out, some years you're not going to have a true starting power forward on your roster, never mind a 6'10 center who can play 30 min a game.  A center of that caliber is a luxury.  That's just a fact of life in a mid-major conference. If you want such a player you're going to have roll the dice on a promising project and develop him.  Most projects fail.

Coach Ford understands this and is acting accordingly. You sign the best combination of length, rebounding and offense you can.  If that guy is 6'6 195 lb  you pack on 25 lb in his first two years with your weight program. If he's 6'10 290, you cut his weight down to 260. Before he reaches his junior year, make sure you have his replacement signed and repeat the cycle.  This is how you get old and stay old.

We were incredibily fortunate to get a physically mature power player like French straight out of high school.  Those guys are almost as rare at the mid-major level as a skilled 6'10 center is.  The two athletic bigs at Desmet are already grabbing the attention of high-majors despite being offensive projects.  All it takes is a good weekend at an AAU tournament for either one of those guys to blow up beyond our reach.  As a program you have to be prepared for that likely possibility.  

I love old school frontcourts with a traditional power forward and center.  But you can absolutely be a perennial A10 contender with 6'6/6'7 forwards starting in the frontcourt, once they physically mature.  VCU has been doing it for nearly a decade now. That is your cake.  A skilled center is the icing.

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We have had a triple success with

# recruiting players who are physical studs

# these players love and are committed to working hard in the weight room

# these players learned early how to defend multiple positions.These are why I see Ford pivoting over more to facilitate the 4-1. As long as you can beat up the opposition on the boards and on d, you are in most games.

The roster holes are significant, the recruiting reaches for a backup 10 mpg center who was weight limited and an injured senior who didn’t play illustrate the struggles even a well above average recruiting staff Face.

It will be interesting to see how Ford starts the season, and evolves the team. As Goodwin drove Althoff to the state finals, so did Hargrove and Collins for their respective teams. If they can replicate a similar smooth transfer to SLU, we can be a dark horse in conference.

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19 hours ago, Sheltiedave said:

The roster holes are significant, the recruiting reaches for a backup 10 mpg center who was weight limited and an injured senior who didn’t play illustrate the struggles even a well above average recruiting staff Face.

I believe we were actually looking for a 40 minute center and a 10 minute back up to French after power forward. 

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Clock, the optimal composition desired for a team may be X, and you may not be able to get the necessary talent to get all the players you desire to have. So let's say you are some distance away from what you would consider the optimal composition of the team, what is a good coach to do? You do what you need to do to adapt play style to the actual on site team strengths and weaknesses, and develop the talent within the team. Does this mean you are not going to play a really good season? No, of course not. I believe we may wind up with very good results this season. I would NOT discount off the cuff the possibility of going back to the dance this year. All I can say is that we will see, and that the season will start real soon. I can't wait.

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We are in complete agreement.

What Ford and co. Have been unable to close the deal on is that very package, now in its third year.

The staff got emergency back fills to start, due to connections, and Foreman was a small success, but they have yet to pick up any high school starting big who is a 3 ⭐️, after their amazing grab of French.

Historically, this recruiting pattern always kept us behind Dayton in the MCC. I hate seeing it repeated again, but I know Ford is a lot more recruiting savvy than Grawer and Spoon were, so we will see how he pivots in the next two classes.

When we had sustained success under Majerus, it was due halfway to him instilling his system in four year players, and half having three years of successful recruiting which included three excellent point guards, three rugged power forwards, a stretch four, and backups across the board.

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15 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

The staff got emergency back fills to start, due to connections, and Foreman was a small success, but they have yet to pick up any high school starting big who is a 3 ⭐️, after their amazing grab of French

Not true. We landed Gordon last year who was a 4 Star and also brought in Santos. Further, we also added depth w Hankton

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