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Best 9 Billiken Players you have seen


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I agree with you GMan Justin Love and Marque Perry were great.  My all-time favorite Billiken to watch is probably Jordair Jett-the way was unstoppable at the end of a game even though the opponent knew he would be taking the last shot.  I am becoming a big fan of Perkins-boy is he smooth offensively and can score in so many different ways.

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58 minutes ago, GMan Alum said:

Papal, you beat me to it.  I began attending Billiken games in the late 50's, so your list for that era is spot on.  One of my favorite SLU teams was the MVC Tri-Champ team of '70-'71 with Irving Rogers, Bill Paradoski, Carlos Martinez, Rich Stallworth, the late Mike Lockett and big Bob Wade.Although the late Robin Jones is hardly a blip in the SLU record books, he did back up Bill Walton with the Portland Trailblazers when they won the NBA championship.

I think it is tougher to pick 9 Billikens from the recent/current era.  Justin Love and Marque Perry would definitely have to be on mine, along with all of the guys everyone else has mentioned.

that 70-71 was when i really became a fan listened on the radio and attended a few. Don't remember robin jones during much as a bill, but had a long nba a career iirc

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2 hours ago, GMan Alum said:

Papal, you beat me to it.  I began attending Billiken games in the late 50's, so your list for that era is spot on.  One of my favorite SLU teams was the MVC Tri-Champ team of '70-'71 with Irving Rogers, Bill Paradoski, Carlos Martinez, Rich Stallworth, the late Mike Lockett and big Bob Wade.Although the late Robin Jones is hardly a blip in the SLU record books, he did back up Bill Walton with the Portland Trailblazers when they won the NBA championship.

I think it is tougher to pick 9 Billikens from the recent/current era.  Justin Love and Marque Perry would definitely have to be on mine, along with all of the guys everyone else has mentioned.

Carlos Martinez is also deceased. According to google died of a heart attack. 

Edited by willie
Correction
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8 hours ago, bauman said:

Nark, since you mentioned C Gordon, has anyone heard where he has landed?

I don't think he has signed with an agent but all intentions are to go pro.

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2 hours ago, papal said:

I agree with you GMan Justin Love and Marque Perry were great.  My all-time favorite Billiken to watch is probably Jordair Jett-the way was unstoppable at the end of a game even though the opponent knew he would be taking the last shot.  I am becoming a big fan of Perkins-boy is he smooth offensively and can score in so many different ways.

The thing about Jett was: at the end of games, everyone in the arena, including the opposing defense, knew Jett was driving. They knew he was getting to the rim. And they knew nobody was going to stop him. It was absolutely incredible to watch.

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10 hours ago, Reinert310 said:

The thing about Jett was: at the end of games, everyone in the arena, including the opposing defense, knew Jett was driving. They knew he was getting to the rim. And they knew nobody was going to stop him. It was absolutely incredible to watch.

you just KNEW... drive hard, layup thru traffic, ballgame

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@Band Legend:  Frank's statement (or Grawer's confirmation) on Abdur Rahiim Al Matiin speaks more to Grawer's lack of centers rather than Al Matiim being that good.  Abdur was a JUCO transfer and played two years shooting 52% from the floor, 61% from the line and averaging 7.0 ppg for his two years.  He was always good for one lob dunk on an inbound play per game.  That was the totality of our excitement back then.  Stipo was a DeSmet/Mizzou legend and we all get that.  Grawer only coached one year at Mizzou as an assistant and then ten years with us from 1982 to 1992.  His centers in that time were: 

1982-83:  Andre Craig (28 gp, 10.6 ppg)

1983-84: Al Matiim (27 gp, 6.4 ppg), Andre Craig (28 gp, 10.6 ppg)

1984-85:  Al Matiim (28 gp, 7.6 ppg), Redditt Hudson (25 gp, 2.6 ppg)

1985-86: Redditt Hudson ( 30 gp, 8.2  ppg)

1986-87: Hudson (35 gp, 7.4 ppg)

1987-88: Anthony Bonner( 28 gp, 13.8 ppg)

1988-89: Travis Tadysak (33 gp, 3.0 ppg)

1989-90: Melvin Robinson (33 gp, 7.4 ppg)

1990-91: Melvin Robinson (33 gp, 11.2 ppg)

1991-92: Melvin Robinson (7 gp, 12.9 ppg)

So the pickings aren't that good.  I remember games in 1983-84 where Grawer would not play his twin towers at the same time.  Al Matiim was like 6'9" and Craig was a seven-footer.  Kansas beat us by one that year and we never countered with these two guys on the floor at the same time.  None of us thought Redditt Hudson, a 6'7" beanpole from UCity, would hold up but he was serviceable during the Douglass/Gray years.  I believe Bonner played center that one year by default when Hudson and Jim Roeder graduated.  Tadysak was a major bust.  And Melvin "The Big Chill" Robinson was indeed a head case ----he started the exodus of players bailing on Grawer in 1991-92 -- he walked after 7 games, Carlos Skinner checked out after 13 and the best of all exits, McGlother Irvin, decided in the middle of his 17th game to just leave the court and disappear into the night.  Grawer had seemed to have lost all control and really looked like a defeated man by then.

Robinson was, talent-wise, likely his second best center but I wouldn't give him such credit if I were Grawer either. He transferred to Arizona State, didn't qualify, never played a game (as I recall) and then went to the NBA for a couple of cups of coffee.  Vashon product.

 

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2 hours ago, Taj79 said:

@Band Legend

Robinson was, talent-wise, likely his second best center but I wouldn't give him such credit if I were Grawer either. He transferred to Arizona State, didn't qualify, never played a game (as I recall) and then went to the NBA for a couple of cups of coffee.  Vashon product.

 

Big Mel was a poor man's Willie Reed.

Cup of coffee = preseason - amazingly in a span of 12 days in 1995 Big Mel signed/was claimed and was waived/released from both the Sonics and Jazz - teams that would represent the Western Conference in the next 3 NBA finals. I assume back then being 7ft was good enough for an NBA team to kick the tires for 13th man. It was the Hack a Shaq era.

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Big Mel was on the T wolves roster for a full season.  They never activated him but he was in uniform every game.

I lost track of him but as far as I know he's still in STL.  He had a son who was kind of good playing for Gateway Tech a few years back.  Not sure if he played collegiately.

Grawer did a great job developing Melvin.  Robinson didn't have a single offer out of HS and Irons barely let him play at Vashon.  Grawer and his staff turned him into a player.

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12 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Big Mel was on the T wolves roster for a full season.  They never activated him but he was in uniform every game.

I lost track of him but as far as I know he's still in STL.  He had a son who was kind of good playing for Gateway Tech a few years back.  Not sure if he played collegiately.

Grawer did a great job developing Melvin.  Robinson didn't have a single offer out of HS and Irons barely let him play at Vashon.  Grawer and his staff turned him into a player.

wow did not know that.

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8 hours ago, thetorch said:

Big Mel was on the T wolves roster for a full season.  They never activated him but he was in uniform every game.

I lost track of him but as far as I know he's still in STL.  He had a son who was kind of good playing for Gateway Tech a few years back.  Not sure if he played collegiately.

Grawer did a great job developing Melvin.  Robinson didn't have a single offer out of HS and Irons barely let him play at Vashon.  Grawer and his staff turned him into a player.

Yeah, they had Montrell Nash at the 5 in the same class as Melvin at Vashon that was the bigger prospect coming out of high school.  Nash ended up at Memphis St.

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50 minutes ago, Tacs32 said:

How can you leave John Duff off???

Big Billiken supporter.  Great 3 point shooter for his era.  Career 37%.  Shot nearly 40% from 3 his Jr and Sr season.  More than 2/3s of his shots were 3 pointers.  Underrated defender.  I feel like he was better than Drew Diener.

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2 hours ago, brianstl said:

I screwed up bad on my top list.  Justin Love belongs on the list.  Hell, he belongs on the Basketball Hall of Fame for gifting us with this video.

 

Is it weird to anybody else that the cheerleaders in this video are dressed as dominatrixes (what’s the plural of dominatrix?)? Lol

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On 4/12/2020 at 10:03 PM, thetorch said:

Big Mel was on the T wolves roster for a full season.  They never activated him but he was in uniform every game.

I lost track of him but as far as I know he's still in STL.  He had a son who was kind of good playing for Gateway Tech a few years back.  Not sure if he played collegiately.

Grawer did a great job developing Melvin.  Robinson didn't have a single offer out of HS and Irons barely let him play at Vashon.  Grawer and his staff turned him into a player.

That’s right and he skywalked all over Luc Longley in the NIT, total domination!

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On 4/12/2020 at 8:13 AM, NextYearBill said:

you just KNEW... drive hard, layup thru traffic, ballgame

Everyone knew, every defensive player knew every move he would do and still couldn’t stop it. 

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