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I think Rickma would like the talent Travis has assembled going into this season. Of course his priorities would be D and rebounding. I think he'd really take to our major returnees; JGood, French, and Fred. They play good D and get boards. 

 It would be great if he could architect an offense with these guys, because watching his boys on O was something to see. No great 3 pt shooters but they could always find an open man, since they screened so perfectly. 

I really like what we've got going into this year. Primarily because we've got a lot of guys playing their positions in which they're comfortable. We'll see. 

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45 minutes ago, slu72 said:

I think Rickma would like the talent Travis has assembled going into this season. Of course his priorities would be D and rebounding. I think he'd really take to our major returnees; JGood, French, and Fred. They play good D and get boards. 

 It would be great if he could architect an offense with these guys, because watching his boys on O was something to see. No great 3 pt shooters but they could always find an open man, since they screened so perfectly. 

I really like what we've got going into this year. Primarily because we've got a lot of guys playing their positions in which they're comfortable. We'll see. 

Not so sure.  RM liked a really good playmaking PG (JG is really talented but not sure RM would have him as his PG as he did Andre Miller and Kwamain Mitchell).  Also, RM liked stretch 4’s who could shoot the 3 like Keith Can Horn and Cody Ellis while French is the complete opposite.  RM as liked versatile, perimeter centers like Michael Doleac and Rob Loe and our new 7 footers appear to be far different. 

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10 hours ago, bauman said:

A few random thoughts as HC TF and probably the rest of his ACs are out watching recruits this weekend:

Seeing the pictures of Jimmy Bell at CGCH, he sure does not look overweight, rather just the opposite.  I obviously don't know how this translates into cardio-shape, but certainly the two must have some relationship;

After reading Big Bill Fan''s post yesterday it got me thinking about how valuable some of our new shooters are.  I know we sometimes say that SLU is where shooters go to fail, but I think the following projections are reasonable---GJ-40%; Perkins, Hankton and Weaver-36%;  YC, TH, FT and JG-32%;  All others-not enough to matter.

The 2 point equivalent of the above 3-Pt %s are:  40% = 60%;  36% = 54% and 32% = 48%  If I am 2% too optimistic then GJ's 38% = 57%; the next group's 34% = 51% and the last group's 30% = 45%.  If the preceding lower numbers turn out to be the most accurate then I would also expect that the last (YC's) group will be taking a much smaller number of 3 point attempts, at least I would hope that to be the case.  What these numbers do remind us of is that the measurement I hear TF talk about quite a bit (Points per Possession) can be greatly affected by good 3 pt. shooters.  Of course as others have pointed out improved 3 pt shooting will also open up the middle for:  1) the rest of our team to operate without being double teamed and 2) dribble penetration for JG, TH YC and Jacobs.

Shucks, we should be able to go undefeated leading up to March Madness!!! 

Seriously, if all (or most) goes as well as possible, we do have the ability to surprise the non-Billiken world.

The 3 point line has moved from 20 feet, 9 inches to 22-1¾.  Any projection for next season is nuts given the line is moving back over 16 inches.  And for a HS kid it is moving from 19'9".  That is over 28 inches.  Big change for college kids, huge change for HS kids.

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2 hours ago, slu72 said:

I could have sworn D. Polk was responsible for the dead jump shot line, but I didn't know Varner's spread was that high. He can have it. I think we should drop it, though, in honor of GibsonJ. We don't want to hex him. 

You re right. Polk was the shooter who couldn’t shoot. Varner was just a another recruit who couldn’t do much. 

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9 hours ago, Clock_Tower said:

Not so sure.  RM liked a really good playmaking PG (JG is really talented but not sure RM would have him as his PG as he did Andre Miller and Kwamain Mitchell).  Also, RM liked stretch 4’s who could shoot the 3 like Keith Can Horn and Cody Ellis while French is the complete opposite.  RM as liked versatile, perimeter centers like Michael Doleac and Rob Loe and our new 7 footers appear to be far different. 

Yuri, a natural at PG, will be the PG. 

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3 hours ago, slu72 said:

Yuri, a natural at PG, will be the PG. 

I hope you are right - again I lack personal knowledge of what Yuri can do and do right now - though BRoy and 3 Star have both said Yuri is good now but won't start now -- eventually be the PG.  Also, even if Tay Weaver is not a pure PG, he is a veteran, 5"10" guard who most likely can handle the ball and supplement our PG Jordan Goodwin.  And because of Weaver's experience and ability to hit the 3 pointer, he will likely play a lot.  And if Jimerson is as good as advertised and if TF follow through on his repeated comments that he will rely upon Goodwin, French and Thatch, then is doubt Yuri will have as great of an impact this first year.  Last year - possibly easier lineup to crack.

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21 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Yuri Don't Worry will be the straw that stirs the drink by January. Get ready for some jaw dropping, eye opening, mind boggling assists. 

Love your confidence.  Will resume this discussion in January and hope you are right!

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To me there is nothing more beautiful to watch in hoops than a PG setting up his team to score baskets. By all accounts, and some amazing highlite videos, this is what Yuri lives for, the perfect assist. Can't wait to see him in action. Ford, himself, was a fun PG to watch, and now he gets to pass the baton to a guy born to be a PG. exciting times ahead for us with Yuri Don't Worry conducting the Billiken Basketball Ballet. 

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22 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

True test is half court offense when facing a real team like Virginia Tech or Florida State. Who’s going to step up in those situations when the D is so tight there’s no room to breathe?

Given a little time, Yuri will chew 'em up. 

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38 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

True test is half court offense when facing a real team like Virginia Tech or Florida State. Who’s going to step up in those situations when the D is so tight there’s no room to breathe?

Unknown.  But Perkins is the biggest matchup problem so he's the leader in the clubhouse.

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43 minutes ago, Old guy said:

I think this year the opposing teams may have problems hiding behind a zone defense knowing our 3 pt shooting is poor. They are going to have to go man on man most of the time, and that is where we can turn the corner on them.

Good point. Those suffocating defenses were intended to shut down our inside game. If, big IF, we can shoot from the outside they can't play us that way. 

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3 hours ago, VeniceMenace said:

True test is half court offense when facing a real team like Virginia Tech or Florida State. Who’s going to step up in those situations when the D is so tight there’s no room to breathe?

The problem we have with our core 3 players of French, Goidwin and Thatch,  are that they were poor shooters from the old 3 point line and the FT line last season.  

I think our best team against a tournament quality zone is: Bell, French, Perkins, Gibson and Goodwin. That would make us the tallest team in the A10 and on par or taller than many tournament teams, 6-11, 6-7, 6-6, 6-6, 6-4. Bell and French could switch from high to low post, as the ball swings from side to side. Bell would be a tall target, with a height advantage over most opponents.  The ball in the post puts a lot of pressure on the zone, especially with 2,  A+ 3 point shooters, looking for a kick out pass. 

2 strong 3 point shooters will stretch the zone, especially with the new 3 point line. That will provide room for French and Goodwin. 

I know Bell is not a 30 min a game player right now, but Ford's recent comments about his weight loss and shooting around the basket have been encouraging. 

That would not be our strongest defensive team. But they should be reasonably effective at playing a zone defence by tournament time.

 

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1 hour ago, Aquinas said:

The problem we have with our core 3 players of French, Goidwin and Thatch,  are that they were poor shooters from the old 3 point line and the FT line last season.  

I think our best team against a tournament quality zone is: Bell, French, Perkins, Gibson and Goodwin. That would make us the tallest team in the A10 and on par or taller than many tournament teams, 6-11, 6-7, 6-6, 6-6, 6-4. Bell and French could switch from high to low post, as the ball swings from side to side. Bell would be a tall target, with a height advantage over most opponents.  The ball in the post puts a lot of pressure on the zone, especially with 2,  A+ 3 point shooters, looking for a kick out pass. 

2 strong 3 point shooters will stretch the zone, especially with the new 3 point line. That will provide room for French and Goodwin. 

I know Bell is not a 30 min a game player right now, but Ford's recent comments about his weight loss and shooting around the basket have been encouraging. 

That would not be our strongest defensive team. But they should be reasonably effective at playing a zone defence by tournament time.

 

I find it hard to believe Bell is going to go from a role as a backup center on his prep team, to a core player his freshman year in the A10. 

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3 minutes ago, kmbilliken said:

I find it hard to believe Bell is going to go from a role as a backup center on his prep team, to a core player his freshman year in the A10. 

Bells high school team had a 7'2" guy and another 6'11" post player. The game I saw they all played about the same.

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I'd wait and see how much Thatch's 3 pt shot has improved. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he shoot the 3 in HS at around 35%. I don't know if JGood will ever be a decent (say 33%) perimeter guy. Now I base this on B'roy's take on him since he saw him a lot in HS and at SLU. 

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22 minutes ago, kmbilliken said:

I find it hard to believe Bell is going to go from a role as a backup center on his prep team, to a core player his freshman year in the A10. 

The only reason i wouldn't rule it out is  he was still in deep weight loss last year.   My understanding is that focus now at slu has turned into strength training  vs just dropping weight.

I tend to expect the same as you and more times we will play with 4 wings and French,  but who knows.

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3 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

The only reason i wouldn't rule it out is  he was still in deep weight loss last year.   My understanding is that focus now at slu has turned into strength training  vs just dropping weight.

I tend to expect the same as you and more times we will play with 4 wings and French,  but who knows.

You are still a Yuri non believer. Hope you and your buddy TajMahal 79 like riding in the livestock car on the Yuri train. While Bay and I are sipping our single malts in the private Yuri don't Worry car.

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27 minutes ago, slu72 said:

I'd wait and see how much Thatch's 3 pt shot has improved. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he shoot the 3 in HS at around 35%. I don't know if JGood will ever be a decent (say 33%) perimeter guy. Now I base this on B'roy's take on him since he saw him a lot in HS and at SLU. 

He's the key to an upside surprise IMO.  We've actually seen Thatch be a solid jump shooter in high school.  If our best one-on-one defender is also one of our best scorers, we've got a weapon no other team in the league has.

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If Thatch can improve to a 33% 3 point shooter, that would be a Bess like improvement and it would result in a lot of minutes.  That kind of jump is rare. I thought his form looked good but the shots just missed.  But then his free throw percentage was also just over 60 percent, which is concerning. My personal rule of thumb is a guy needs to shoot 70%, from the free throw line before he thinks about shooting 3s.

Where I dont think the extended line will have much effect on Perkins or Jimerson, I think it will hurt marginal 3 point shooters like Thatch and Goodwin. Ford said recently that he is looking for a significant jump in Fred's scoring, and part of that needs to be better shot selection. 

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1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

He's the key to an upside surprise IMO.  We've actually seen Thatch be a solid jump shooter in high school.  If our best one-on-one defender is also one of our best scorers, we've got a weapon no other team in the league has.

A Bess clone is what you're saying. 

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