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Practice Observations: Warm-up for open practice TODAY!


DoctorB

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57 minutes ago, DoctorB said:

I'm unable to make it this morning but here are some of my own observations in recent weeks and I would love to hear anyone's responses to them after this morning's open practice : I'm getting jazzed and pretty upbeat about out chances.  7th in A10 seems unrealisitic (i.e. LOW!), but that's because the voters have not seen our new guys!

--One of the biggest surprises for some will be the sheer size and power of Jimmy Bell.  This kid has great feet for a big guy, and maybe even better hands: soft and skilled, left or right.  I can see how he could be a great offensive lineman because he looks like a bigger Orlando Pace out there.   He has a good chance to become an overpowering force in the A10 but it may take a couple years.  That said, he will get minutes immediately and will become a crowd favorite right away too.  He is so strong that I've seen him get his shot blocked pretty well and he still muscled it into the bucket.  My guess is that after losing another 20-30 pounds of baby fat and then bulking up, he can become a star.  But I also think his upside is so high that he will play right away.  Diarra also has good upside and they bang against each other most of the time in practice.  Diarra is as tall and stout as anyone else on the team, taller than French; but he gets overpowered by Bell on a regular basis.

--GJ does shoot well and makes a lot of long range shots in practices; but one thing that stands out is his overall toughness and moxie.  He is more stout and a better defender than some may think.

--Same attributes of toughness and moxie for Yuri:  but the other thing you may notice is how smoothly he operates in big-time traffic with the ball, how smoothly he distributes the ball to teammates who did not even know they were open;  and how fearlessly he will take the ball to the rack.  Yuri is small among a group of big players but does not play small.

--TJH:  man can this kid fly down the court and attack the rim.  I mean, he really climbs the ladder: which freshman in my 20 years at SLU can jump like this kid??  Teammates are already ally-ooping him with regularity.  And his outside shooting is better than you might expect!  He's fun to watch.

--KC has just become bigger and stronger.  Of all the players he has grown the most, just appearance wise.

--DJ & JP are both rather quiet but they just go about their work and keep getting better.  I think it is clear they will both be getting minutes right away, and I think people coming to see them today may be surprised at how they are among the top players, given all the hoopla over the freshmen...  KC the same, by the way.  And Tay, who is scrappy and can shoot the rock.

--The defensive schemes are rather complex and all the newbies are trying to grasp the concepts but the effort and agility is all there.  It is hard not to be pretty enthusiastic about all these new additions.  and PS:  Hightower is one of the best walk-ons we've had.  Very competitive group and it will be fun seeing the competition for minutes -- especially since HF, JG, FT, and possibly one or 2 others will be getting 30-32 per game, minus foul trouble.  We could become pretty good by February this year and just a nightmare match-up all of next year!

Really appreciate this breakdown, and hope to see some of the in-towners contribute more post-practice!

On your last point - if we truly are this deep, will Thatch really play 30mpg? If he does, that must mean his offensive game has taken a dramatic leap. I feel it's more likely he's a sort of "first among equals" in the category of players behind our two all-conference studs (French and Goodwin) and gets 20-24mpg while we have a relatively large group of others in the 12-18mpg zone.

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14 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

A lot of positivity in this post, anything remotely disappointing to you?

 

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Hargrove is further behind than I thought in learning the offensive and defensive sets. It’s clear he’s playing catch up and that in high school he was just so much better than everyone else. 
 

But Man, if we are running a lot this year he has to be on the court. It’s a thing of beauty to watch his hustle, speed, jumping, and overall athleticism. Plus he’s a great kid. I Don’t think he’s letting his learning curve affect his attitude. 

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OK, my turn, I just came home from the free practice and this is what I saw:

The practice, of course contained routine exercises and basic training. Then there was a period, over 1/2 an hour, of straight playing team against team. The play included up close and on your face "real" defense and "real" offense, and this is what I will base my comments on the players below.

Jordan Goodwin (0), much improved from last year, leaner and better scoring. He is well suited to the new style of offensive as described below. He seems to be in the right place at the right time most times. I think the doubts expressed by several members are just not going to come true. He is leaner, beefier, and faster than last year.

Hasahn French (11), a true beast, more agile than last year and better supported than last year. Scoring well, very nice play. Beefier and  more agile than last year, will improve a lot when we press enough so that he is not double teamed.

Fred Thatch (20), he is everywhere, shoots and scores from many positions including beyond the arc pretty well, not shy about shooting (not in these practice games), a lot beefier and more physically capable than last year, great defense, fast.

Demarius Jacobs (15), the "deer in the car headlights" from last year is gone, so  are the wimpy passes. He is not a string pole any longer, much beefier and quite capable of very physical play  and defense with no fear this year. Can score from beyond the arc, and dunks quite frequently, weaves his way in and out.

KC Hankton (23), improved from last year and quite capable of scoring 3 pointers, beefier. Somehow, I did not see the level of improvement I hoped for with him, although he is quite capable of effective defense and scoring.

Those are the returning players, let's go to  the  new ones:

Yuri Collins (1), small, quirky and FAST. Needs more experience, he appears to go wild at times and get himself in some trouble. This will pass with play and experience (after all Jett was doing similar things when he started playing D1). I like him a lot but do not think he is ready, yet, for prime time and long minutes. I think he will be a great addition to the team.

Tay Weaver (2), just great. Around  the same size as Yuri, not quite so fast but very good and very much under control. I think he is a great addition to  the  team.

Javonte Perkins (3), skinny and not physically impressive, not flashy in the way he plays. Has an ability to be at the right place and at the right time when he is needed, can score 3 pointers, and play under the basket for brief periods. I was honestly impressed by him.

Joshua Hightower (10), I am not sure if he is a walk on or a scholarship player. Relatively thin, not physically built up. I was not expecting much from him and what I saw made me think I was wrong. This kid is fast and can play, he can shoot and pass as well. I liked him a lot more than I ever expected to.

Madani Diarra (21), very tall but not as beefy as most of the big players. Uses knee braces but appears to move around well. Not as good and fluid in his movements or his scoring as Bell or French.  I think he may be a bit of a project type player with good potential. He most definitely can play under the basket and provide support for French, he can score as well. Good potential in my mind, some work to be done.

Terrence Hargrove Jr. (23), absolutely fantastic. Built to a mid level, very fast (and much taller than Yuri), very good moves, lots of dunks, can score 3 pointers and defends well. In my opinion, needs some development as he tends to be wild in the court. I say him charge against two big defenders (I think French was one) instead of passing. He does pass very well though. Incredible stamina, he can run up and down the court non-stop with no signs of fatigue. I think he may become one of the great Bills in time. He needs to learn and get experience, but I think he will play a lot this season.

Gibson Jimerson (24), he is good and versatile. Body build similar to Hargrove's, appears agile and capable to penetrate under the basket. His abilities are a lot broader than just standing out of the arc and shooting 3 pointers, this guy can move, defend and jump. I think we will see him play a lot this year. I presume he will be one of our top scorers.

Jimmy Bell (32), taller than Hasahn, built like a weight lifter, can play very physically and apparently is very good blocking. I like him a lot. Playing together with French he may be an incredible wall. Bell is reasonably fast and can move well. When defended strongly by some of the other team members, he gets somewhat thrown off his track and may lose control of the ball. He needs more experience to hone his abilities to a fine edge. However, he is very good and I expect to see a lot of play for him this year. He appears significantly better of more effective than Diarra to me.

Those are the team members that I expect to see playing this year.

Ford, explained that he wants to play this year using full court presses the majority of the time. What he was talking about sounded like the style used by VCU in years past. Constant pestering of the opponent, etc. For this kind of play, I believe Hargrove and Yuri will be perfect, this despite their lack of experience and wildness while playing.

My wife and I were delighted to have spent the morning watching this open practice. I honestly anticipate much better results for SLU than what has been predicted by the experts.

Please remember that my knowledge of the technical aspects of basketball is limited. My comments are based solely upon what I saw today.

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14 minutes ago, RiseAndGrind said:

Hargrove is further behind than I thought in learning the offensive and defensive sets. It’s clear he’s playing catch up and that in high school he was just so much better than everyone else. 
 

But Man, if we are running a lot this year he has to be on the court. It’s a thing of beauty to watch his hustle, speed, jumping, and overall athleticism. Plus he’s a great kid. I Don’t think he’s letting his learning curve affect his attitude. 

Agreed. Having this uptempo will give him a lot more minutes than he would have gotten this year playing the same style as last year.

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18 minutes ago, willie said:

This is for 72 . I was very impressed with Yuri. He will play significant minutes. If he’s on the floor the ball will be in his hands. Court vision reminds me of H. 

Thanks, Willie. I think Yurimania's gonna be a super  Billiken when all is said and done. 

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Just a few general comments:

Old Guy has learned a new word!  Even for JG, after describing him as leaner also called him the "b" word!

Seeing Bell and watching him run makes me wonder why some on here talk about him having to still lose lbs' or "baby fat."  He is built just right in my view.  He is strong and hard to move.  Whatever weight he is looks fine to me.

I agree with a couple previous posters.  Jimerson is much more than a 3 pt shooter.

If needed, KCH looks capable of giving us some minutes at the 5 spot.  He was much better than I expected, stronger and an even better 3 pt shooter than I remembered.

FT Jr looks to have worked on his shot and he is built like a mini-HF.

I was thinking MD would be one of the players to get minimal minutes and that still might be true, but he is better than I expected.

TF addressed the crowd a few times and was very appreciative of those of us attending.  He said we need to pack the place this year.  He also said we are going to play fast on both offense and defense.  At one point said we would play 9-10 guys.  The entire team is in good shape, some more than others, but after watching all the running they do I couldn't help bdet think that CAG would have thrown in the towel by this point.

As said earlier in this thread, we will be better than experts predict.  I like my season W/L guess in the prediction thread, better after seeing them in action today!  It should be a fun season to watch even in a greatly improved A 10.

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Goodwin- everything great except 3 - no improvement except he hit one from the top in the flow of the 20 second offense / a beauty 

Jacobs - now I get it

Thatch - welcome back - everything good plus shot well from 3 against defenders 

French - dominates against players who see all his moves every day; no fts in the scrimmage however 

Bell - exciting physicality & athleticism but gets exposed in the scrimmages; big upside...no pun intended 

Weaver - no shots in the scrimmages

Collins - best handle & passer on the floor - will beat out Weaver if he can’t score

Hankton - he showed more than any of the spectators expected 

Jimmerson - I was ready to name him JC until the scrimmages - if his shot is rushed, it’s not a pretty sight

Perkins - Harry Rogers slender but moves & shoots well in the scrimmages 

Diarra - imposing specimen like Bell but maybe a redshirt due to numbers

Hargrove - who you want finishing on the break but struggled in the scrimmages- huge upside as we all know

Hightower - if he’s not on scholarship, why is he here?  Probably plenty of minutes for him as a frosh in the Valley or Ohio Valley 

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54 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Get the fans in the seats AD! It drives me bonkers to see all those empties in the lower bowl when you know they've been paid for. At least I'm assuming they have been.

Out of curiosity why do you think the lower bowl seats are sold?  Across from the bench is filled in nicely but everybody wants to see the bench.  The other side you have limited view of the benches and what is happening there.  This why those seats are not all sold in my opinion.  I just don't think those seats are all bought and nobody comes they are high dollar seats.

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9 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Out of curiosity why do you think the lower bowl seats are sold?  Across from the bench is filled in nicely but everybody wants to see the bench.  The other side you have limited view of the benches and what is happening there.  This why those seats are not all sold in my opinion.  I just don't think those seats are all bought and nobody comes they are high dollar seats.

I share ‘72’s frustration. Those center court lower bowl seats are often empty. I’m not sure what the solution is, but it’s damn frustrating. 

@Major Majerus, I don’t see any way we can redshirt Diarra. Our front court is thin enough as is.

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4 minutes ago, cheeseman said:

Out of curiosity why do you think the lower bowl seats are sold?  Across from the bench is filled in nicely but everybody wants to see the bench.  The other side you have limited view of the benches and what is happening there.  This why those seats are not all sold in my opinion.  I just don't think those seats are all bought and nobody comes they are high dollar seats.

Unfortunately, those are the seats you see on tv.  I think they must be sold because you can't buy them on a single game basis.  I have season tickets but have tried to get a seat in that premium section  for an individual and have been told they are not available.

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5 minutes ago, moytoy12 said:

I share ‘72’s frustration. Those center court lower bowl seats are often empty. I’m not sure what the solution is, but it’s damn frustrating. 

@Major Majerus, I don’t see any way we can redshirt Diarra. Our front court is thin enough as is.

This lol. After these last few years IDK how we could ever talk about redshirting anyone. It seems we never have a full roster the entire season. 

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