Nate Latsch Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I'm sure someone will be doing a Lisch feature for the preseason issue. Lisch has been All-Metro first team the last two years, so he would have to be considered the favorite for player of the year. He was probably the favorite for that honor last season as well, but Polk put together an incredible senior season and led his team to a state title. Althoff should be one of the best teams in the area again this winter, so there will likely be plenty of Crusaders coverage in the Post-Dispatch. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I think Thicks is an assistant coach at Berkley so he may not have time to check out kids across the river. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 Thanks Nate, I figured someone would be doing a feature on Kevin since he's possibly the best player in the area. I also assumed he'd be the favorite for Player of the Year since he's been an All-Metro first teamer twice now. Do you think he'll have any stiff competition for the award or is he hands down the best player in the area this year? "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Official Billikens.com sponsor of Andrew Latimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 describe and compare kevin lisch........tough assignment. first off, there is nothing flashy about the kid. never has dunked in a game. but i saw him block a shot versus quincy in his sophomore year and his hand was far far above the rim. i.e. he could. wont see him swatting shots into the stands. he would rather try to recover the ball and get down the court. while he shoots a lot, it isnt selfish shots. in fact, dont know if i ever saw him shoot anything that wasnt in a desparation situation at the end of a close game that i would say, "bad shot". he plays defense like josh. all over his man, relentless. i have seen livingston play maybe 6 or 7 times and i always came away from a shaun livingston game impressed by his passing and floor vision. he loves to get in the open court and create. he obviously would rather pass than score himself. and his peoria team thrived off of that. kevin would not let him be a point guard. he tried to deny the pass to him, and normally peoria was just lost without the ball in shaun's hands. shaun would have to come and get it. then kevin guarded him so closely and physically, shaun could not get into the look for the pass mode. shaun had no choice but to turn the game into a one on one game. peoria won, but not by much. and kevin and shaun's stats were pretty close considering kevin was a relatively unknown and shaun was considered one of the best in the world for his age. offensively, if i had to pick billiken pasts to compare lisch to, i would say he is more of a justin love than a claggett. only he is faster than love and probably in love's shooting class right now. i seriously cant think of one player to compare him too since he plays both ends of the floor so hard and is so physically strong defensively. for now, let's say a josh/justin clone. maybe p diddy or 3 star have a better comparison. they havent seen him as much as me but that might help with the perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I've heard him compared to Travis Deiner. Is that an appropriate comparison? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I think Kiwane Garris is a pretty good comparison since Kiwane was really a 6'2 strong-bodied shooting guard that could also play point (and did at Illinois). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 Lisch is definitely the best player in the area. There are some other good players around, but Lisch is in a class by himself. He has earned that. The second best player is probably Matt Lawrence at Lafayette, who committed to Missouri. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 take diener and put 30 pounds of pure muscle on him and not lose any quickness and have him play harder on defense, then i could see the comparison. i.e. deiner is a poor man's kevin lisch imo. as 3 star states below, garris, the old illini point guard might be a good comparison physically, but i dont think garris played defense like kevin and kevin is a better shooter. to be fair though, garris probably drives to the basket better then kevin does at this point in his career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 I think Lisch is going to be a great player for the Billikens but to say Diener (a guy that has done it for three years on a high D1 level) is a poor man's version of Lisch I think you are making expectations way too high. He simply can't be that good....because Diener is that good. Lets keep the expectations real. I think the comparison to Diener is fair in that its a safe bet Lisch will be a 4-year player that we can build the Billiken program around similar to what Diener has been for Marquette. 4-year players are invaluable in today's college game. I believe Lisch and Polk will be great 4-year players but neither is a threat to go pro early because the don't have the height, flashiness, and "potential" that the NBA covets in players. Lets look at it another way...there is no team in the country that would not want a Travis Diener on their team. None. While Lisch's recruitment list was impressive with the Kansas' and Illinois of the world it did not include the Dukes and UNCs of the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 23, 2004 Author Share Posted September 23, 2004 deiner played a high level of aau ball in high school. kevin never played at all on the aau circuit until this summer when he showed up at a few tourneys for some obscure team from southern missouri/illinois. there is your reason for the recruiting difference. i understand your viewpoint of diener, but i am telling you, kevin is better than diener. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 Roy, you've been hyping this kid up for a couple years now. If you're wrong, I'm gonna be very dissappointed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLURadioBoy Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Hmmm, from what I've heard if Matt Lawrence is the second best player in the area, it sounds like the talent around Stl might be a little thin this year. Maybe Leonard will have his breakout season this year? "Praises we sing, to you our alma mater, Praise to the white and blue. Our hymn shall ring, in tribute strong to you, We hail Saint Louis U." Official Billikens.com sponsor of Andrew Latimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 24, 2004 Author Share Posted September 24, 2004 so will i! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 I think we're comparing apples and oranges here. Diener is a pure point guard and Lisch is primarily a shooting guard. I don't think Lisch is a better shooting guard than Diener is a point guard. It's a wash, IMO. Now if we're talking about a game of one-one-one, I'd take Lisch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 You're going to see a number of juniors step up and have really strong seasons this year because the seniors ahead of them have moved on. Leonard is benefitting from an impressive summer of AAU at high exposure events but I don't really buy the top 50-60 ranking at this point - he's not a good enough shooter yet and doesn't have the versatility of a Tommie Liddell. Maguire was the more impressive sophomore, IMO, last year and had just as good a summer but he isn't the athlete or ballhandler Leonard is. Eric McCrary, a 6'6 SF, will be the man at Belleville East; Justin Taylor, a 6'0 combo guard, will be the man at Webster Groves; and Mustafa Abdul-Hamid, a 5'11 PG, is going to put up big numbers at MICDS because they don't really have anybody else and he's going to have the green light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted September 24, 2004 Share Posted September 24, 2004 Not to be agreeing with Kshoe but I think this conversation is very premature. This board is elevating Kevin to a very high level and he is yet to play a college game. Saying that a high school player is better than or a good as an All American candidate is kind of silly. Julian Winfield was suppose to be the next coming. Don't get me wrong I hope Kevin is the greatest Billiken player, ever but we just don't know that. We do know that Travis is and will be one of the best player in college basketball. I just think we need to keed our expectations to a reasonable level and hope they get exceeded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 25, 2004 Author Share Posted September 25, 2004 i am not a big fan of mccrary's. i have seen him play a lot over the last 4-5 years and imo he is a fish out of water. not strong enough and not the mindset to play forward, and not fast enough to play the wing. if he has increased his shooting accuracy, that would be one thing, but he misses a lot more than he makes and doesnt really have the skill to get his own shot much imo. at this time, i hope he isnt high on the billiken wish list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aj_arete Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 but the way you describe this Lisch kid, he's the greatest player in the area since Larry Hughes. Let's talk about his athleticism. Are we to assume his speed and quickness is just a notch below Dwayne Polk? Is he both a spot-up shooter and a player who can drive, penetrate and score from multiple areas of the court. Is his defense on par with a McCauley, Biles or Fisher? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 aj, based on your comments I can only assume you have not seen KL play. Is that correct? KL is a skilled high school basketball player first and foremost, and a very good athlete as well. His speed is a notch or two below Polk's; nonetheless, KL is a very good athlete, a very smart athlete, and very much a team player. Yes, KL is a perimeter shooter, a baseline driver, and he can penetrate score or dish, and he is an excellent freethrow shooter. KL has put up good numbers as the main "go-to" guy on his high school and AAU team. (At SLU, KL won't need to be the "go-to" guy, but he will help SLU win and win big.) Does he compare defensively to McCauley, Biles or Fisher? First of all, KL is yet to play a game as a high school senior. Yet, you want to compare KL to a four-year college senior in McCauley, a one-year (1997)college player in Jeramy Biles, and a five-year college senior in Josh Fisher. Today, KL is an excellent HIGH SCHOOL defender. Today KL is determined, he is strong for a high school player, he is smart and he is mentally tough. Let's wait until April 2009, after KL senior college season, and then decide if he was equal to or a better defender than CMc, JB, JF! (KL will easily make you forget CMc and JB.) aj, after you have seen KL play his freshman year as a Billiken, give me your first-year impressions. Or, perhaps you can watch KL play 5-6 high school games this season and then give me your early thoughts. If your remove your bias, I'm betting you will really like KL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 26, 2004 Author Share Posted September 26, 2004 while tseugnillib is more diplomatic than me, i guess my answer is that GUARDWISE, i personally cannot think of a st louis high school player that was/is better since larry hughes. while you can pick at certain aspects about his game that other players may have been better than kevin at (i.e. there is no way he is as fast as polk or maybe there was a player that was as good or even better as a shooter) no player has been the complete package that kevin promises since larry the legend. am i saying he is going to the nba? hell no. way to early to tell. especially since kevin is only 6'2" at best and by most accounts is a shooting guard. aj, i suggest you get a ticket to the shootout and come and see for yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebraska_Bob Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 I've been able to watch Kevin Lisch play 3 or 4 times since his freshman year. He is worth the price of admission and I concur with everything Roy has said about him. Nothing flashy but one solid basketball player. He has a very nice shooting touch and is very good at pulling up from 15 feet out and shooting. So take the time this winter and go watch him play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 aj_arete wrote: I'm trying to contain my excitement but the way you describe this Lisch kid, he's the greatest player in the area since Larry Hughes. No, he's the greatest player in the area since Tommie Liddell. From what I hear, if we can get two or three years of Liddell in a Billiken uniform, we may forget Larry's quick departure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 i love tommie liddell, but i dont think he will be as effective on both ends of the court as lisch. just my opinion. we are opening up an argument that would be like arguing whether you would rather have bonds or puhols at the plate. i.e. they are both pretty darn good and imo the best in the area since hughes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted September 29, 2004 Share Posted September 29, 2004 He hasn't really shown it in college, but in high school David Lee was the best player since Hughes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted September 29, 2004 Author Share Posted September 29, 2004 was is the key word in your statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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