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BenFred to the rescue


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1 hour ago, Franchise_08 said:

Do mention of Diarra...does this mean anything?

No mention isn't good. I wonder if TFord didn't mention him or BenFred chose to leave him out. Seems strange the coach wouldn't mention him while hitting all the other newcomers. I assume he is there practicing.

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36 minutes ago, pakapablo said:

No mention isn't good. I wonder if TFord didn't mention him or BenFred chose to leave him out. Seems strange the coach wouldn't mention him while hitting all the other newcomers. I assume he is there practicing.

Any chance BenFred was just summarizing Ford's interview with Cusumano, and Cuze just didn't ask Coach about Diarra?

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3 hours ago, Franchise_08 said:

Do mention of Diarra...does this mean anything?

Exactly what I was thinking when I read the article.  I was under the impression that Diarra was considered the better player over Bell.  Once again Franchise proves he's one of the better posters on the board.

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We haven't had depth like this since,,,,,,,, uh          uh             last year!  Of course that depth was primarily in the front court and we all know what happened with CAG and Santos-gone before it counted and Welmer never making it back.

BUT, the depth this year is broader.  More options at every position:

#1    JG, YC, Weaver

#2     JG, Weaver, Jimerson, Jacobs, Thatch

#3      Jimerson, Hargrove, Perkins, Thatch, KCH

(Side comment-How do you keep Jimerson off the court if he can hit 43%+ from the 3?)

#4       HF, Hargrove, Perkins, KCH and in a small lineup, Thatch

#5       HF, Bell, Diarra

I realize that some of the above are not the primary position for some of the players, e.g. FT Jr. at the #2, but I think all of the above could happen if needed.  The battle for playing time will be fierce.

I know at this point every fan base thinks their team can win it all, but looking at the above sure makes me ready for the season to begin!  As TF said at the end of that practice video, he wants teams to fear us.  That just might happen after we get rolling. The other encouraging thing is the above list of players will all be back (except Weaver) the following year along with 2 additional recruits.  I think, with HC TF leading us,  we are on a very positive trajectory and that is even if we would miss out on the NCAA this coming year

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16 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

Madani Diarra will be a good depth player this year. Will grow into a big role going forward 

It will be interesting to watch him and Bell compete in the next 4 years.  You can't help but think that working against each other every day in practice will only help to improve them.  If they both do well with the books and stay healthy, it lessons, maybe even eliminates, the need to recruit a 6'9" + player in the 2020 class, unless it's a big that can play the 4 position and shoot from 10' plus.

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1 hour ago, bauman said:

We haven't had depth like this since,,,,,,,, uh          uh             last year!  Of course that depth was primarily in the front court and we all know what happened with CAG and Santos-gone before it counted and Welmer never making it back.

BUT, the depth this year is broader.  More options at every position:

#1    JG, YC, Weaver

#2     JG, Weaver, Jimerson, Jacobs, Thatch

#3      Jimerson, Hargrove, Perkins, Thatch, KCH

(Side comment-How do you keep Jimerson off the court if he can hit 43%+ from the 3?)

#4       HF, Hargrove, Perkins, KCH and in a small lineup, Thatch

#5       HF, Bell, Diarra

I realize that some of the above are not the primary position for some of the players, e.g. FT Jr. at the #2, but I think all of the above could happen if needed.  The battle for playing time will be fierce.

I know at this point every fan base thinks their team can win it all, but looking at the above sure makes me ready for the season to begin!  As TF said at the end of that practice video, he wants teams to fear us.  That just might happen after we get rolling. The other encouraging thing is the above list of players will all be back (except Weaver) the following year along with 2 additional recruits.  I think, with HC TF leading us,  we are on a very positive trajectory and that is even if we would miss out on the NCAA this coming year

Some apparent depth there. The glaring deficiency being experience at the A10 level. 

To your comment, as discussed, Jimerson is kept off the court if his defense is ineffectual. 

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18 minutes ago, Compton said:

Some apparent depth there. The glaring deficiency being experience at the A10 level. 

To your comment, as discussed, Jimerson is kept off the court if his defense is ineffectual. 

You can afford to have one player who plays average or below-average defense if he shoots and scores very well, and it's not written in stone that Jimerson will be a weak link defensively.  Also, the way Ford's teams have been able to develop some zone schemes — particularly the 1-3-1 — having a guy that's less than stellar on D doesn't really hurt (see Johnson, Jalen; Isabel, Tramaine).

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Depth is having productive experienced players, and good backups, at all positions. Our backups tilt strongly to freshmen or first year players, a situation not far from Grawer’s final year.

the main difference is having Goodwin and French. Stability always is a huge plus.

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48 minutes ago, Sheltiedave said:

Depth is having productive experienced players, and good backups, at all positions. Our backups tilt strongly to freshmen or first year players, a situation not far from Grawer’s final year.

the main difference is having Goodwin and French. Stability always is a huge plus.

The problem in Grawer's final year was that Robinson and Skinner quit early and Irvin quit in the middle, leaving those frosh to play big roles.  It was similar when Evans, Jett, McCall, and Loe were freshmen and had to bear the brunt of the burden.

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Who or what is the source of the constant concern SOME of you continue to bring up about Jimerson's defense.  I have no idea about his defense but I know I have not heard or read from any non-Billiken.com poster that his defense is lacking.  Why do some of you continue to bring it up?

This guy could be a Program changer.  Let's not look for things to criticize before he even takes his first shot as a Billiken.  Enough already!

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10 minutes ago, bauman said:

Who or what is the source of the constant concern SOME of you continue to bring up about Jimerson's defense.  I have no idea about his defense but I know I have not heard or read from any non-Billiken.com poster that his defense is lacking.  Why do some of you continue to bring it up?

This guy could be a Program changer.  Let's not look for things to criticize before he even takes his first shot as a Billiken.  Enough already!

I think it's been mentioned before but he's white. MBMs are accustomed to the bad ass white boys being on the other team. This is a new experience.

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11 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

I think it's been mentioned before but he's white. MBMs are accustomed to the bad ass white boys being on the other team. This is a new experience.

He’s also not particularly quick, which is usually a pretty important skill on defense. Nobody knows whether he will be a great defender or not, but it’s a fair question. Same applies to Yuri due to his size. That question is less applicable to Hargrove, who has shown D1-ready defensive abilities.

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1 minute ago, NH said:

He’s also not particularly quick, which is usually a pretty important skill on defense. Nobody knows whether he will be a great defender or not, but it’s a fair question. Same applies to Yuri due to his size. That question is less applicable to Hargrove, who has shown D1-ready defensive abilities.

True but I don't remember quickness being brought up as a concern when Jalen Johnson was signed.

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16 hours ago, Sheltiedave said:

Depth is having productive experienced players, and good backups, at all positions. Our backups tilt strongly to freshmen or first year players, a situation not far from Grawer’s final year.

the main difference is having Goodwin and French. Stability always is a huge plus.

If A10 experience = depth, then you are right, we won't have it.

If instead, college basketball experience = depth, then we should be fine with not only Goodwin, French and Thatch, but also Tay Weaver (alot of D1 college experience) and Perkins (2 years of JUCO experience).   Also, I don't consider Hankton and Jacobs to be first year players as they had a year to develop not only physically but also mentally despite their injuries.  To me, that is depth of 5 guys with alot of experience and 2 more with some  experience for a total of 7 -- over half the team.

And I presume the inference is that freshman/first year players are not good and therefore depth is also not there.    If we have talented Freshmen, then they count toward depth in my book.

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Diener, Highmark, Robinson, Cassity, Crawford, Roth,  are just some of the white boys we recruited or signed whose defense ranged from “Ole” to couldn’t guard a chair.

Noted offensive high school, prep, and juco players who arrive at a four year college with lots of press clippings, and little to no ink re their defense, have not gained ANY noteriety on the defensive side.

oTOH, players who come in with a rep for stellar defense, ie McCauley, Hughes, Thatch, French, Goodwin, etc, have little difficulty maintaining that skill in college.

Picking up solid Upper D1 defense is a damn hard combination of speed, strength, leverage, spacing, effort, desire, discipline, and anticipation. Players who didn’t work hard in hs on this have at least two years of catching up to do.

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36 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

I think it's been mentioned before but he's white. MBMs are accustomed to the bad ass white boys being on the other team. This is a new experience.

i agree, the fact that he is white means he is not athletic, that is what is in the minds of most. Larry Bird was not the most athletic and he seemed to be a plus player. From watching his tape i for one think his athleticism is just fine and if he scores enough he will be on the floor as he learns defense. tremaine certainly wasnt a plus defender

 

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38 minutes ago, bauman said:

Who or what is the source of the constant concern SOME of you continue to bring up about Jimerson's defense.  I have no idea about his defense but I know I have not heard or read from any non-Billiken.com poster that his defense is lacking.  Why do some of you continue to bring it up?

This guy could be a Program changer.  Let's not look for things to criticize before he even takes his first shot as a Billiken.  Enough already!

There are MBMs that are so insecure that they just cannot let things take their course, they need to be obsessing or worrying about something or the other. They are convinced that doom will visit our team again, messing us up for the year. I sincerely hope these obsessive worriers are wrong. I think we are due for a season free of disasters, and free of major injuries. I hope this is what happens this year.

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