almaman Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 3 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said: It's statistically impossible for 2 guys to get 30 minutes and for 7 more guys to play 20-25 min. OT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 31 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said: Where do his 2 dunks vs LaSalle rank all-time? I think I'd put his tomahawk above the alley-oop from J-Good. I was more fired up after the alley-oop because I wanted J-Good to get a triple-double too. Overall though I think the tomahawk was more impressive. When he went up for that, I had this moment of dread that he was going to brick it. I guess that is years of Billiken fandom never really seeing a guy throw down such a dunk. Sort of backwards way of saying how impressive it was that I didn't think he'd actually pull it off. The put-back dunk against Fordham was my favorite - didn't have time to think, such a lightning quick reaction off the floor. The lob dunk was also spectacular - he got up so high and seemingly was hanging there for a long time. It helps that he also has a great wingspan. No offense to Jeffers and some of the others from the past, but I already consider this kid the best dunker to wear a SLU uniform. Ford has been talking him up more in interviews recently, so he must be progressing in other aspects of his game. I don't expect him to make a significant contribution this year, but I'm really excited about his future. Keep hitting the weights and work on his outside shot. RUBillsFan likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clock_Tower Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 26 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said: Having the best Billiken scorer in decades back for a third year isn't normal but that could be what we're looking at. And If Coach Ford signs an impact transfer, Hargrove and Strickland will be in same position in the pecking order as they are now. All the folks claiming that Bell would be a major contributor this year just assumed he would be better than the more experienced Linssen. They were wrong. And there's nothing wrong with Jimmy's game. A better big just showed up. My point was that Hargrove saw the floor last year and again this year. Strickland not this year. And the position and skills of any transfer would matter too. But yes, the return of a guy like Perkins would limit minutes. Bell,Hargrove, Strickland ... have their work cut out for them to make sure Okoro and any new transfer don’t both take up 32 mpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 hour ago, AGB91 said: Could you start working on that? even though i had a son that attended althoff, i am not a fan of the school. not enough emphasis on academics imo. my daughter went to belleville west and for an honor student, belleville west far surpassed academics of althoff. yeah i am a sports nut, but school should be first and foremost about academics and sports second. besides, belleville west won back to back state titles in boys basketball. obviously their athletics arent too shabby either. as to basketball at althoff, i am a big fan of the basketball coach, greg lieb. a quote machine and obviously knows basketball. i believe (not 100% sure) in his playing days he was a teammate of goodwin's father at siu-e. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almaman Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 All dunks are awesome. since the 3 point basket pioneered by the ABA all dunks are 1 point shy of all 3 point shots made. ten awesome dunks lose game to 7 3 pointers. dunks are the sizzle that sells steaks, 3's win games quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said: It's statistically impossible for 2 guys to get 30 minutes and for 7 more guys to play 20-25 min. Sorry, I didn't do the math. Should have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 hour ago, slu72 said: It is naive to think a great player can be replaced. It’s happened but rare. The biggest that comes to mind is Walton replacing Jabbar. Every player’s different with their own strengths and weaknesses. I can see Fred being a very capable player for us next year, but he ain’t gonna be JGood 2. Just like Jacobs isn’t gonna be Perk 2. I like what we have returning next year, but we’re going to be a different team. The only 2 players I can see who will avg 30mpg are Yurimania and Gibby. The rest of the minutes will be guys getting 20-25 mpg: Jacobs, Fred, TJ, Strickland, Linssen, Bell, Okoro. Hopefully the Swede stays and develops, because I’d love to see us with a 6’8” sniper who can get some boards and defend the 4. Of course, this will likely change as Travis will bring in a transfer or 2 or maybe a FR. For example, a lot of folks are high on McKissick coming here. I really don’t know how he compares to our current guards, but he looked pretty good when he played us in Dec. Or what if Fletcher or Clark get homesick? Would either of those two former 4 stars take minutes from our returnees? Okoro was a top 50 ish player coming out of HS I believe. I'll be highly disappointed if he's not at or over 30 mpg as the season goes on. billiken_roy and brianstl like this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almaman Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 10 minutes ago, slufanskip said: Okoro was a top 50 ish player coming out of HS I believe. I'll be highly disappointed if he's not at or over 30 mpg as the season goes on. on paper I agree. we have a top 50 ish 6'9" guy replacing a 6'7" over achiever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Also is this just blind speculation or are people actually hearing Perk my stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Okoro was a consensus 4-star. He was ranked #56 by both ESPN and 247Sports for the 2018 class. Rivals didn't have him ranked despite his four stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fraz Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Just now, Pistol said: Okoro was a consensus 4-star. He was ranked #56 by both ESPN and 247Sports for the 2018 class. Rivals didn't have him ranked despite his four stars. Goodwin credentials.. He’s going to be a stud for us Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Okoro is basically Willie Reed with more muscle. He'll be playing for a more talented team than Reed did so that may not translate to more scoring than Reed's sophomore year but that's the caliber of player we're getting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUBillsFan Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 19 minutes ago, slufanskip said: Okoro was a top 50 ish player coming out of HS I believe. I'll be highly disappointed if he's not at or over 30 mpg as the season goes on. I agree that I expect Okoro to get the bulk of the inside minutes. However French has averaged just over 30mpg during his career and we've had considerably less depth behind him the the exception of this season. Also, keep in mind that Okoro is coming off a season he is sitting out to recover and he's also been considerably more foul prone than French during his career so far (5.3 per 40 mins compared to 4.2 per 40 mins). With those things in mind, I doubt Okoro averages more than 30. He should no doubt top 30 in competitive games where he avoid foul trouble, but I expect enough foul prone games or blow outs that his average will be below 30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 minute ago, RUBillsFan said: I agree that I expect Okoro to get the bulk of the inside minutes. However French has averaged just over 30mpg during his career and we've had considerably less depth behind him the the exception of this season. Also, keep in mind that Okoro is coming off a season he is sitting out to recover and he's also been considerably more foul prone than French during his career so far (5.3 per 40 mins compared to 4.2 per 40 mins). With those things in mind, I doubt Okoro averages more than 30. He should no doubt top 30 in competitive games where he avoid foul trouble, but I expect enough foul prone games or blow outs that his average will be below 30. As far as recovering off injury, that's why I said as the season goes on, meaning building up to it. Of course if he's constantly in foul trouble he'll play less and yes, I'll be highly disappointed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgstl Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 19 minutes ago, slufanskip said: Also is this just blind speculation or are people actually hearing Perk my stay. someone posted the other day how there was talk about this within in the program . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fraz Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 17 minutes ago, RUBillsFan said: I agree that I expect Okoro to get the bulk of the inside minutes. However French has averaged just over 30mpg during his career and we've had considerably less depth behind him the the exception of this season. Also, keep in mind that Okoro is coming off a season he is sitting out to recover and he's also been considerably more foul prone than French during his career so far (5.3 per 40 mins compared to 4.2 per 40 mins). With those things in mind, I doubt Okoro averages more than 30. He should no doubt top 30 in competitive games where he avoid foul trouble, but I expect enough foul prone games or blow outs that his average will be below 30. What was his free throw % at Oregon? I think he'd get over 30mpg if we can afford to keep in the game down the stretch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 16 minutes ago, Fraz said: What was his free throw % at Oregon? I think he'd get over 30mpg if we can afford to keep in the game down the stretch. Same as Willie Reed's. About 50%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 Link to Okoro's stats. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/francis-okoro-1.html He only shot 2.5 times per game making just under 50% and 1.5 FT per game making about half. Grabbed 4 boards per game and less than 1 block per game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlebill Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 4 minutes ago, HoosierPal said: Link to Okoro's stats. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/francis-okoro-1.html He only shot 2.5 times per game making just under 50% and 1.5 FT per game making about half. Grabbed 4 boards per game and less than 1 block per game. In only 15 mins/gm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoosierPal Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 3 hours ago, 3star_recruit said: It's statistically impossible for 2 guys to get 30 minutes and for 7 more guys to play 20-25 min. Please don't confuse us with math and science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted February 18, 2021 Author Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 minute ago, HoosierPal said: Link to Okoro's stats. https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/francis-okoro-1.html He only shot 2.5 times per game making just under 50% and 1.5 FT per game making about half. Grabbed 4 boards per game and less than 1 block per game. I recall seeing him a few times on the tube, so I only have an incomplete impression of his game, but my biggest question is his shot blocking. Based on the numbers, that does not seem to be a big strength. Hopefully with his length and athleticism, he'll be a good rim protector playing in the A-10. Bell and Linnsen are not rim protectors. It's such a nice luxury to have French bring that element and before him Reed was excellent. It just cleans up so many defensive mistakes. I think you have to have one good shot blocker on your roster. I hope Okoro can provide that element, but not certain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 1 hour ago, HoosierPal said: Please don't confuse us with math and science. You mean sorcery, right? HoosierPal likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HenryB Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 3 hours ago, 3star_recruit said: Okoro is basically Willie Reed with more muscle. He'll be playing for a more talented team than Reed did so that may not translate to more scoring than Reed's sophomore year but that's the caliber of player we're getting. Frank and Rammer talked a little about him yesterday. Tate says he will be the most athletic 5 SLU has ever had. Begins at about the 12:30 mark. Segment 1 - Rammer in Studio 2/17/21 Segment 1 - Rammer in Studio 2/17/21, by 590 The Fan - KFNS https://www.spreaker.com/user/11374414/021721-1pb RUBillsFan likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WVBilliken Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 6 hours ago, Clock_Tower said: Yes but Hargrove would be a third year Junior. Juniors who don’t see the floor is not normal. Hargrove played last year, Is playing this year and I expect Hargrove to take many of JGood’s minutes next year. And barring an injury, I expect Strickland to play and see the floor next year. How much is up to him. Don't get me wrong, love Hargrove's attitude and skills. Both he and Strickland are incredible athletes. But Strickland appears to be much longer than his one inch height advantage over Hargrove per the published roster. Defense is a must but beyond that seems whoever is the better shooter might have an advantage for playing time next year. And I fully expect Ford to bring in at least two players who are ready to compete for big minutes from the transfer pool this Spring signing period. Should be a "war" for playing time. A10Ref likes this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted February 18, 2021 Share Posted February 18, 2021 -I think a press with TJH or MS at either the front or back could be quite effective Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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