GDT: Valpo

[slu72]

Yurimania is no Randy Pulley. Pulley was the all time out of control PG. Yes, he made some ill advised runs into the lane against VALPO,  but I think he does it with the idea someone will be left open when his defender moves to stop him. Didn't happen a couple of times and he had to take a bad shot. Ford corrected him on this. He'll learn, as Sheltie said, and fix this. Keep pushing it, Yurimania. 

[BIG BILL FAN]

49 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

only when collins drives the lane like and gets to deep he cant do anything.   goodwin has the size and power to be able to still make something happen.   until collins learns this, he is our second choice as the point guard.   sure when they are both in the game, collins has to play point guard, simply because with his diminitive size he cant play anywhere else.  and no doubt he is one of our 6 or 7 best players so he is going to play.   but if we put our best five on the floor, i'll take goodwin as our point guard right now.   collins is going to play, and in the future when he finally learns his position at the college level, he will be our point guard.  but currently you are wrong.  

 

as to your statement about him being the teams kurt warner, not sure how this is such want of the team.   sounds like you want the team to have turnovers just for the sake of a chance of a highlight play?    i'd prefer to just make the play.   

I think you are overlooking the fact that Collins makes Goodwin a better player. We need Jordan scoring...It's a plus to have two players on the court at the same time who can distribute the ball..

[Sheltiedave]

Valpo was picked to finish 9th in the Valley. Teams watch film, and from the first two games they have learned that we do not have the small forward sliding over for help defense on dribble drives. We also are not setting up well to defend to the 3 point line, when our pressure defense allows a clean pass into the front court to a forward.

Every team has film on this kryptonite, and knows they need to get French, Thatch, and Goodwin in foul trouble. While this is Captain Obvious material, they have film on exactly how to attack. 
Our wild card in response will be getting Perkins to play aggressively, and getting TJ up to speed sometime in the next two games. One of these two has to happen for our defense to markedly improve.

[Billfan7]

29 minutes ago, BIG BILL FAN said:

I think you are overlooking the fact that Collins makes Goodwin a better player. We need Jordan scoring...It's a plus to have two players on the court at the same time who can distribute the ball..

To add to this, Collins also pushes the pace better than any Billiken pg I can remember ( is he who Dwayne Polk was supposed to be??) which gets us into the offense faster and leads to transition buckets, more possessions and, therefore, more points.  This far, we are a better team with Yuri at point and Jordan seems to be more effective off the ball.  

[RUBillsFan]

1 hour ago, Billfan7 said:

To add to this, Collins also pushes the pace better than any Billiken pg I can remember ( is he who Dwayne Polk was supposed to be??) which gets us into the offense faster and leads to transition buckets, more possessions and, therefore, more points.  This far, we are a better team with Yuri at point and Jordan seems to be more effective off the ball.  

I didn't get a chance to watch the Valpo game, but against FGCU I was really impressed by Collins pushing the pace looking for an opportunity to drive/dish if the defense wasn't ready, but not being out of control / forcing anything.  I can't remember the last SLU team to push it like that in transition off normal rebounds or even made baskets.  Previously our "transition" opportunities were solely off turnovers/steals or weird/long rebounds.

Good teams will certainly adjust to this and focus on stopping/slowing Collins in transition, but it is nice to give them something else to think about on D.

[Old guy]

By what I have read, there was one point in the game that Valpo tied or came near a tie with about 5 minutes left in the game. I was not there and do not know how this was done, but team blue went back and built their lead back to 11 pts. before the end.

[cheeseman]

11 minutes ago, Old guy said:

By what I have read, there was one point in the game that Valpo tied or came near a tie with about 5 minutes left in the game. I was not there and do not know how this was done, but team blue went back and built their lead back to 11 pts. before the end.

They got within 1 with just under 4 minutes left.  That was when the team woke up.

[Old guy]

Thank you cheeseman, and a good thing it was they woke up.

[cgeldmacher]

I haven't had the chance to post about the game Saturday night until now.  I have been a person that has said that that Jacobs didn't deserve the optimism some on the board gave him, because he's never shown us anything.  I don't believe that I was ever critical.  I just said that he hasn't proven himself yet.  Well, he has now shown us something.  Granted, it was one game.  However, I have to give him his due.

Now, Mr. Jacobs, go out and do that several more times in the next month, I and will hop on the Demarius Express bandwagon.  Until then, I still think he has more to prove, but now he's given us a glimpse of what the coaches have been talkin about.  Good job.

[EssEllYou]

Collins is finally a player that resembles Jett or Kwamain.  He has balls and will take it to the cup to kiss the glass or create attention in order to dish out to the open man.  We are in good hands with this guy. True playmaker.

[RUBillsFan]

1 hour ago, cgeldmacher said:

I haven't had the chance to post about the game Saturday night until now.  I have been a person that has said that that Jacobs didn't deserve the optimism some on the board gave him, because he's never shown us anything.  I don't believe that I was ever critical.  I just said that he hasn't proven himself yet.  Well, he has now shown us something.  Granted, it was one game.  However, I have to give him his due.

Now, Mr. Jacobs, go out and do that several more times in the next month, I and will hop on the Demarius Express bandwagon.  Until then, I still think he has more to prove, but now he's given us a glimpse of what the coaches have been talkin about.  Good job.

I'm very excited about Jacobs big game, but keep having to remind myself that it is just one game.  That being said I do wonder historically how many Billikens have put up 20 point games as soph. and not then been good players / positive contributors during their Billiken careers (outside of transfers/early exits/injuries).  I'd wager the number is very close to zero.

[HoosierPal]

4 hours ago, Old guy said:

By what I have read, there was one point in the game that Valpo tied or came near a tie with about 5 minutes left in the game. I was not there and do not know how this was done, but team blue went back and built their lead back to 11 pts. before the end.

https://slubillikens.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2019-20/valparaiso/boxscore/7628

If you are interested, click on the Play by Play button in the middle of the gray bar and you will get the full game.  At the 5:19 mark, it was a two point game, 70-68.  At the 3:40 mark Jacobs hits both FT's and we begin to stretch it out.

[Major Majerus]

I think this was a good win.  We knocked one of their top guys out of the game & they never quit.  They still had 3 good shooters & speed.  9th in the Valley?  We’ll see.  If a coach conversation got 20 out of one under performer, he should have that conversation with Fred. What was Yuri’ s ft % as a Sr.?  I’m expecting him to solve that pretty soon.  He gets into the lane with ease- if he develops a tear drop, he’s a lock for double digits.  All I see is upside for this team.  At DeSmet, Grawer coached Stipanovich to catch passes high in the lane & not bring the ball down - shoot it immediately.  Bell is helpless when he does that - too many quick hands around him when he does.  I know TF reads this board & will take all these recommendations to heart.

[RUBillsFan]

21 minutes ago, Major Majerus said:

9th in the Valley?  We’ll see. 

FWIW KenPom sees the Valley having a lot of parity.  All 10 teams are ranked between 100 (N. Iowa) and 214 (SIU-C).  Contrast to the A10 which has some clustered teams in tiers, but is much more spread from top (VCU - 38) to bottom (GW - 224).  

[Old guy]

33 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

https://slubillikens.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2019-20/valparaiso/boxscore/7628

If you are interested, click on the Play by Play button in the middle of the gray bar and you will get the full game.  At the 5:19 mark, it was a two point game, 70-68.  At the 3:40 mark Jacobs hits both FT's and we begin to stretch it out.

Thank you very much Hoosier Pal, I do want to see it. Appreciate your kindness in posting this link.

29 minutes ago, Major Majerus said:

I think this was a good win.  We knocked one of their top guys out of the game & they never quit.  They still had 3 good shooters & speed.  9th in the Valley?  We’ll see.  If a coach conversation got 20 out of one under performer, he should have that conversation with Fred. What was Yuri’ s ft % as a Sr.?  I’m expecting him to solve that pretty soon.  He gets into the lane with ease- if he develops a tear drop, he’s a lock for double digits.  All I see is upside for this team.  At DeSmet, Grawer coached Stipanovich to catch passes high in the lane & not bring the ball down - shoot it immediately.  Bell is helpless when he does that - too many quick hands around him when he does.  I know TF reads this board & will take all these recommendations to heart.

Agree

[SShoe]

2 hours ago, EssEllYou said:

Collins is finally a player that resembles Jett or Kwamain.  He has balls and will take it to the cup to kiss the glass or create attention in order to dish out to the open man.  We are in good hands with this guy. True playmaker.

Kwamain is definitely the SLU comp that comes to mind and so far (2 games in) I think Collins is the better ballhandler/playmaker.  Mitchell, however, was an excellent defender and decent outside shooter, so we'll see if Yuri can do the same.  He has a chance to be special and really does make Goodwin (really the whole team) better. 

[slufanskip]

Yuri hasn't gotten himself into the kind of trouble that causes a bunch of poor shots or turnovers very often. He's got a 14/6 assist to t/o ratio and is shooting 46% from the field. He's only 4 of 11 from inside 3 but that's a total of 7 misses in 52 minutes. I'm curious to how many bad shots he's taken because he drove himself into trouble? 

We haven't had a pg with Yuri's vision and creativity since H. We've had plenty of combo guards that can handle the ball make clean passes and even a nice one now and then, but no one who see's the floor like Yuri

[3star_recruit]

46 minutes ago, SShoe said:

Kwamain is definitely the SLU comp that comes to mind and so far (2 games in) I think Collins is the better ballhandler/playmaker.  Mitchell, however, was an excellent defender and decent outside shooter, so we'll see if Yuri can do the same.  He has a chance to be special and really does make Goodwin (really the whole team) better. 

There is no SLU comp for Yuri.  The closest A-10 comp is former UMass point guard Chris Lowe, who averaged 5.5 apg over his career and is #5 in A10 history on the total assists list. Lowe has been a SLU graduate student manager since last year.

[almaman]

11 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

There is no SLU comp for Yuri.  The closest A-10 comp is former UMass point guard Chris Lowe, who averaged 5.5 apg over his career and is #5 in A10 history on the total assists list. Lowe has been a SLU graduate student manager since last year.

but not GT player? 

[NH]

I was pretty young when he played but how does Josh Fisher’s game compare to Yuri’s? That’s the least true point guard I can remember. Kwamain, Jett and McCall were all score-first guards who could play the 1 or the 2.

[NH]

36 minutes ago, almaman said:

but not GT player? 

I think he played pro before coming to SLU. He’s probably in his 30s by now.

[billiken_roy]

2 minutes ago, NH said:

I was pretty young when he played but how does Josh Fisher’s game compare to Yuri’s? That’s the least true point guard I can remember. Kwamain, Jett and McCall were all score-first guards who could play the 1 or the 2.

Josh was an old school straight ahead fundamental point guard.   He was one of the best defenders in billiken history who is probably best remembered for always shutting down dwayne wade.

Yuri's game imo is nothing like josh.   Yuri is flashy and more of an innovator.  Yuri has shown he is a good defender but hes no josh on defense.

 

 

 

[almaman]

At this point I think there is no one here that will be surprised if Yuri is all that we hope. No way Is it a given but if he plateaus at this 2 game level he's a keeper. 

[Basketbill]

9 minutes ago, almaman said:

At this point I think there is no one here that will be surprised if Yuri is all that we hope. No way Is it a given but if he plateaus at this 2 game level he's a keeper. 

Yuri is playing, at times, like and upper classmen.  He has some bonehead out of control plays but he has highlight assists of high technical difficulty. 
 

In the first game he drove towards the left baseline, around two defenders, as he passed them he was looking at the court, his options were Gibson and Jacobs, Gibson's man started to help, and Yuri fired a pass threading between the closing defenders, before they knew what happen Gibson was splashing a 3.

 

My favorite pass from game two was after corralling a loose ball he fired a sweet bounce pass instantaneously to JG out in front of him underneath the flailing arm of his defender to give JG and easy layup.  I believe Ford told him that was a “sweet pass” if I read lips right. 
 

The rapidity with which he sees the opportunity, decides to make the pass and makes the pass is astounding. I would expect a Freshman to be more tentative.   
 

not to be out done JG had some sweet assists too. Particularly one to Jacobs, as he came around a pick moving to the basket.  Jacobs slipped but was able to handle the pass, and make the layup.

 

[slufanskip]

8 minutes ago, Basketbill said:

Yuri is playing, at times, like and upper classmen.  He has some bonehead out of control plays but he has highlight assists of high technical difficulty. 
 

In the first game he drove towards the left baseline, around two defenders, as he passed them he was looking at the court, his options were Gibson and Jacobs, Gibson's man started to help, and Yuri fired a pass threading between the closing defenders, before they knew what happen Gibson was splashing a 3.

 

My favorite pass from game two was after corralling a loose ball he fired a sweet bounce pass instantaneously to JG out in front of him underneath the flailing arm of his defender to give JG and easy layup.  I believe Ford told him that was a “sweet pass” if I read lips right. 
 

The rapidity with which he sees the opportunity, decides to make the pass and makes the pass is astounding. I would expect a Freshman to be more tentative.   
 

not to be out done JG had some sweet assists too. Particularly one to Jacobs, as he came around a pick moving to the basket.  Jacobs slipped but was able to handle the pass, and make the layup.

 

The thing about that pass from Yuri to JG was he knew not to dribble. Just get the ball out in front of JG. 90% of players in that spot take a couple dribbles before looking to pass. He just instinctively knew the right play and that's what separates Yuri from the majority of pg's