2020-21 Season

[davidnark]

New thread. No politics. Please respect Steve, the Moderators, and the other posters by sticking to basketball only. 

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/billikens-return-to-court-well-conditioned-but-with-restrictions/article_e15ac7ea-fea9-5d1e-aebe-b36243c8dfbc.html

[HoosierPal]

I'm starting the best 3 point shooters we have, plus Collins to distribute and one rebounder.  Perkins, Jimerson and Jacobs start. That puts Goodwin on the bench.  French can board and bring the ball up court when Collins is on the bench.

[HoosierPal]

Trying to talk HOOPS!!!!   Enough of this other nonsense that these young 'uns want to spout about.  We'll score 100 every game.  Goodbye bully ball, hello run and gun.

Stir up some conversation and let 'er rip.  

[thetorch]

Excited to see Ford saying Jimmmmerson is in the best shape on the team. He was heavy in HS. In top physical condition Jimmerson is a real NBA prospect.

[Reinert310]

36 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

Wrong thread.  This thread is about SLU basketball.  Put your opinion in another thread, son.

BACK TO HOOPS

I'm starting the best 3 point shooters we have, plus Collins to distribute and one rebounder.  Perkins, Jimerson and Jacobs start. That puts Goodwin on the bench.  French can board and bring the ball up court when Collins is on the bench.

In all seriousness, I agree with your top-3 3 point shooters. I’d probably go 1) Jimerson, 2) Perkins, 3) Jacobs. But I think Yuri will turn into a reliable 3-point threat before he’s done. And we can’t forget (if he’s anywhere near 100% healthy) Ford thought Thatch might be our leading scorer before the start of last season.

[BilliesBy40]

2 minutes ago, thetorch said:

Excited to see Ford saying Jimmmmerson is in the best shape on the team. He was heavy in HS. In top physical condition Jimmerson is a real NBA prospect.

A few of us said the same earlier this offseason and some posters laughed. All personal matters/jokes aside, I totally agree. He has the body to be an NBA player (on top of the other obvious skills).

[Aquinas]

I really like coach Ford praising the off season work of Yuri,Jimmmerson and Bell. Of the 3, only Yuri played were top 5 in minutes played.  Yes, I know Gibson was out injured. 

My point is Jimerson and Bell are working hard to make an impact and earn more minutes this season.  There should be some serious competition  for minutes. 

A more athletic Jimmy can be a dominant force on both ends of the floor.  Let's assume Bell starts like he did last year.  Well if thing are going well, Ford won't pull him as quickly  as he did last year. If he is a little quicker on defense and can start taking his man when he has single coverage.... look out.

Jimmmerson isn't working on his conditioning and strength to shoot better, he is doing that so he can play better defense.  He had a couple of games last year where he couldn't stay with his man.  If you want to stay on the floor for Travis, you have to play defense first.

Yuri working extra hard is just impressive! It shows a lot of maturity for a young man going into his sophomore year.  He owns the point guard position  going into this season, but instead of kicking back, he has doubled down.

Last year's recruitng class was one impressive class.  These guys are demonstrating character and maturity in addition  to talent.

[slu72]

I have a feeling Jimmy Bell is going to be our biggest surprise this year. Last year he started out as being a mite timid on offensive rebounds and putting the ball back up. This started to change towards the end and he became more aggressive. I think that video  of him getting the board and going back up immediately for the jam is telling. The staff is looking to make it instinctive for him to go up hard. It was exciting watching him come on last year and looking forward to more growth this year. Jimmy might just turn out to be a future NBA’er. 

[Quality Is Job 1]

21 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

I'm starting the best 3 point shooters we have, plus Collins to distribute and one rebounder.  Perkins, Jimerson and Jacobs start. That puts Goodwin on the bench.  French can board and bring the ball up court when Collins is on the bench.

(Not sure why my previous response was deleted.  All I said was, "...the heck?!")

I mean, bench Goodwin?  Seriously?!  ...the heck?!

[HoosierPal]

41 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

(Not sure why my previous response was deleted.  All I said was, "...the heck?!")

I mean, bench Goodwin?  Seriously?!  ...the heck?!

I saw your previous post and thought it was good. I gave it a Good Post. I’m just trying to steer this boat back to basketball, getting some hoops conversation going. (No reason you would recall some of my earlier remarks, but I’m playing Goodwin 35+ a game.)

[slufanskip]

22 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

I'm starting the best 3 point shooters we have, plus Collins to distribute and one rebounder.  Perkins, Jimerson and Jacobs start. That puts Goodwin on the bench.  French can board and bring the ball up court when Collins is on the bench.

Is this serious? Goodwin off the bench? French is the only real rebounder? French bringing the ball up? 

Goodwin is your best all around player. He starts and plays the most minutes. Period

French as the only rebounder and even remotely inside player will equal us giving up a bunch of offensive boards. 

Teams would prepare for French bringing it up. There's a big difference to bringing it up in a pinch or helping out than being a guy teams have prepared to stop. My first instinct would be to full court trap the minute French goes to bring up the ball. Or heck maybe I let French bring it up easy because I'm hoping you keep this lineup. 

[Quality Is Job 1]

11 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

Is this serious? Goodwin off the bench? French is the only real rebounder? French bringing the ball up? 

Goodwin is your best all around player. He starts and plays the most minutes. Period

French as the only rebounder and even remotely inside player will equal us giving up a bunch of offensive boards. 

Teams would prepare for French bringing it up. There's a big difference to bringing it up in a pinch or helping out than being a guy teams have prepared to stop. My first instinct would be to full court trap the minute French goes to bring up the ball. Or heck maybe I let French bring it up easy because I'm hoping you keep this lineup. 

I didn't interpret his statement to mean that French is the only rebounder; I believe he means he would start just one rebounder along with three shooters and Collins.

[Reinert310]

10 minutes ago, Quality Is Job 1 said:

I didn't interpret his statement to mean that French is the only rebounder; I believe he means he would start just one rebounder along with three shooters and Collins.

Obviously, we don’t want JGood on the bench all that much this year, but it’s not an awful idea to play small ball with Yuri driving and dishing with 3 snipers outside. Would give Has a ton of room to operate down low. Would be interesting to see what that would look like in a game.

[3star_recruit]

23 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

Trying to talk HOOPS!!!!   Enough of this other nonsense that these young 'uns want to spout about.  We'll score 100 every game.  Goodbye bully ball, hello run and gun.

Stir up some conversation and let 'er rip.  

HoosierPal, you are having a good chuckle at all these outraged responses.  Your post served its purpose.  Nicely done.

[VeniceMenace]

The number of long distance threats on the court depends on the time on the clock, the score and the player matchups.

We all know the core will get the big minutes unless someone like Bell dominates in practice and gets way more minutes than his 5-minute start...so, Collins, Goodwin, French, Perkins and Jimmerson. That’s an amazing lineup, with TONS of depth!

[slufanskip]

44 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

HoosierPal, you are having a good chuckle at all these outraged responses.  Your post served its purpose.  Nicely done.

Count me as one of the idiots

[slufan13]

Players care who starts and it does matter but overall minutes is still the more important stat. My predictions at most minutes

1. Goodwin - I'd sit him for 2 minutes in each half. 36 mpg is a lot but that's what you get out of your senior leader/4 year starter. The only two things I'll say is that 1) he can be more aggressive/physical because we have the depth if he gets into foul trouble and 2) if he's having a bad game, we have the depth to sit him for longer

2. French - I think he's going to be an All American this season. He probably won't actually be 2nd in minutes because he's still a little foul prone and he'll be on the bench at the end of games if he can't make free throws

3. Perkins - There's a chance that we jump straight into conference play or at least only have minimal non-conference games. Because of that, he can't afford to start slowly again this season. I still think he was our best player in the last 10-12 games last season

4. Collins - Needs to improve his shooting and still get better at defense but he makes the offense so much better

5. Jimerson - He's going to have to play better defense but I actually thought his defense was fine for a freshman who had basically never been asked to play defense before. Ford played him big minutes last year though and Perkins may take some of those, but Jimerson's shooting will keep him on the floor for long stretches

Even though this above 5 players is a small lineup, I think it would be our best lineup and the lineup I want to see play the most minutes

6. Bell - I think Bell is going to be an all conference player as a junior and senior. He will probably start if I had to guess

7. Thatch - Obviously this all depends on if he is healthy. If not, Jacobs is here. It'll also depend on how he responds after basically sitting for 13+ months. I love the idea of him being a total defensive stopper. I don't see him playing in long stretches but he can be a high energy guy in spurts

8. Linnsen - Not sure how much he'll play but I feel like Ford got him for a reason. He brings experience and probably allows us more options for bigger lineups which it kind of seems like Ford is insistent on.

9. Jacobs - I'm torn on him as a player. Good shooter but he release is too slow. Great athlete but not much of a defender. Can handle the ball but not a great assist/TO ratio

10. Hargrove - It pains me to put him this low but I think there are players who just fill better roles at his position. He'll get minutes but they may be inconsistent game to game. His playing time will go up after Perkins/Goodwin graduate

11. Strickland - I'm excited about him, but hard to see him passing any of the older guys especially with a potential abbreviated non-conference slate. Again, he'll play more with future graduations

12. Lorentson - I'm leaving him last for now since we don't even know when/if he'll be here. I'm really excited about him though. I've always been a big believer that you need a big man who can shoot. 

[slu72]

Hargrove actually came on pretty strong last year. He’s best used in a fast paced up and down scenario. I think if Ford sees a game where he can wear an opponent out by playing race horse ball, Hargrove will get his minutes. Also, TJ should have been working on his 3 pt shot. If he shows improvement there, he’ll get more minutes.
This team strikes me as similar to the Fl State team we played two years ago. They just threw waves of solid fresh legged players at their opponents. I don’t know what  JGood and French would feel about losing 5-10 mpg, but if we’re blowing teams out by wearing them down my guess is they’d be fine with the Ws.

We’ve not had this kind of depth for as long as I can recall. We may have gone 8 deep at the most but never 11-12 deep. And remember it’s hard for any player to get thru a season without suffering a nagging minor injury, which is where this kind of depth will come into play.
I’ll maintain that if you took Jacobs, TJ, Jimerson, Linssen, and Fred you’d have a team that would finish in the top 6 of the A10. 

[Cowboy]

1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

Players care who starts and it does matter but overall minutes is still the more important stat. My predictions at most minutes

1. Goodwin - I'd sit him for 2 minutes in each half. 36 mpg is a lot but that's what you get out of your senior leader/4 year starter. The only two things I'll say is that 1) he can be more aggressive/physical because we have the depth if he gets into foul trouble and 2) if he's having a bad game, we have the depth to sit him for longer

2. French - I think he's going to be an All American this season. He probably won't actually be 2nd in minutes because he's still a little foul prone and he'll be on the bench at the end of games if he can't make free throws

 

-if HAS is All America then WOW, he made a lot of progress on his game and see you in Indy

[brianstl]

I think Linnsen has a chance to play a lot.  He is a really effective low post scorer.  He shot almost 60% last season, finished 36th in the country in 2 pt FGs made per minute played,  finished 86th in the country in true shooting %,  finished 86th in the country in effective field goal % and finished in the top 150 in the NBA player efficiency rating on a per minute basis.  He needs to become more consistent on the boards and avoid the foul trouble he would get into at times last season.

[wgstl]

THJ is gonna strive his junior and senior year when we start to move to a more spread out, fast pace offense. 

 

[wgstl]

2 hours ago, slufan13 said:

 

2. French - I think he's going to be an All American this season. He probably won't actually be 2nd in minutes because he's still a little foul prone and he'll be on the bench at the end of games if he can't make free throws

 

 

Not a knock on Has' but he has a lot to do in order for this to happen.   Id bet Perkins has a better chance to be an AA due to his nature ability to score from anywhere.

[RUBillsFan]

2 hours ago, slufan13 said:

Players care who starts and it does matter but overall minutes is still the more important stat. My predictions at most minutes

First caveat so I'm not disappointed later - This season isn't happening.  This exercise is futile.

Now in the magical parallel universe where the Billikens aren't the basketball program equivalent of Sisyphus - I think we'll normally play smaller than your minutes breakdown would indicate.  Therefore, I think that you have Bell and Linnsen too high.

I'd go 1 - Goodwin, (gap), 2 - Collins, 3 - French, 4 - Perkins, (gap), 5 - Jimerson, 6 - Jacobs, 7 - Thatch, (gap), 8 - Bell, 9 - Linnsen, 10 - Hargrove (gap), 11 - Strickland, 12 - Lorentson.

We'll still see a lot of lineups with French as the only true big man because those will be our most effective lineups.  Goodwin being excellent on the boards and most A10 teams lacking effective big men to take advantage of small lineups allows us to do this.

[slufanskip]

I agree with 13 on the top 5. After that though it's so hard to predict. 

I also believe we will play French as the only big quite a bit also but Goodwin almost has to be on the court in those instances. 

[NH]

I think it will be really interesting to see whether Strickland or Lorentsson gets any minutes in meaningful games early. We don't really need contributions from either of them, so if one or both of them is getting game time you know it's a sign that they must be really impressing in practice.