bauman Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Random thoughts on today's practice and my first chance to see the players this year. Reggie was held out of practice due to injury and he appeared to me to be limping badly on his right foot/leg as he walked. Running looked out of the question. Hope this doesn't become a serious problem. Very impressed with VN-he looks like a hard worker with good skills and athletic ability. Didn't notice him shooting too often but he appears to have a nice touch for a guy who was billed more as a rebounder than a shooter. I think BRoy's comparison to Quitman Dillard is right on. He looks like a 30 minute guy. As a frequent critic of IV and BH last year, I was pleased to read some of the glowing reports on them (especially on IV). I am glad to see that IV has lost quite a bit of weight and appears to be in much better shape, BUT I would respectfully disagree with the earlier post suggesting that IV could take TF's starting job. Inspite of his being in better shape, he is still slow both in overall speed and quickness. He looks much improved over last year in skills and I would hope he will continue to get in better shape and be able to relieve TF for 10 minutes a game. BH looks much stronger than last year but I don't look for him to be in the rotation this year-he needs another year to work on developing some agility and improving his speed. Finishing up the bigs, TF looked much like he did last year, but inspite of earlier post re his conditioning I thought he looked somewhat lighter than last year and he did a good job running the floor both in drills and in the scrimmages. IO also looked stronger and more assertive than in the past. Overall, I'm pleased with the big's, just concerned with the depth if we plan on using 3 bigs more than on occasion. If JJ does't come back as a factor then I think we will be forced to go with a 3-guard lineup for most of a game. (As a side note as I watched the 5 bigs I realized the importance of bringing in some immediate help in this area in the next recruiting class) Moving on to the guards, ---WOW---! I can't ever remember having this kind of talent at the PG, SG and Wing. DP is just plain quick and a better shooter than I thought. DC has gotten much stronger and really appears to have worked on his game (Shooting and ball handling). He was being used as a PG when DP was out of the lineup and I thought he did a good job in that role-he was primarily a 2-guard with DP on what looked like the first unit. Danny Brown will be a player this year. He is much better than I anticipated and in shooting drills he was the best 3 pt. shooter for the day. I think he will get plenty of minutes this year based on what I saw today. Luke Meyer played tough and shot well. The thought crossed my mind that minutes will be hard to get in the backcourt based on the ability of the above players and I haven't even considered AD and RB since they didn't practice. If we add KL and TL to the mix next year and only take away one player (although a really good player) it's hard to imagine a team with a better group of Guards. Brad was in midseason form, preaching defense almost constantly, and not missing anything. During stoppages in play he would review minor mistakes made by some of the guys 3 plays ago-he is a guy who I hope we keep for a long time as our HC. I hope we get him signed shortly to a lucrative long range contract. Sorry about the length of this report but a lot of you non-St. Louisans have been asking for info. Keep in mind this is just one person's opinion and is based on only one practice. I am pumped at what I view as our most skilled group of players in many years, the only downside is we are pretty young and it might take some of the new guys some time to adjust to D1-CUSA level play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 Yeah Reg's foot has still been a little swollen since the injury this summer, unfortunately, the flat feet doesn't help. But he's fine, Coach doesn't want to practice him too much if he can help it until he's 100% I asked Reg was he in pain, he says "NO" he's fine, but I emailed coach, I'll follow up with a phone call tomorrow, to see if there's any change in medical status since I last spoke with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 "He looks much improved over last year in skills and I would hope he will continue to get in better shape and be able to relieve TF for 10 minutes a game" Vouyoukas played 10 minutes a game as an out-of-shape freshman. If he's still only playing 10 minutes a game given all the work he's put in and TF's tendency to get into foul trouble, something's wrong. As for playing 3 bigs, if Newborne will be splitting minutes at the 3 and the 4, I guess you call it 3.5 bigs -- IO, TF, IV and Newborne part-time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted October 22, 2004 Author Share Posted October 22, 2004 I think IV's minutes last year were skewed upward based on TF's injuries. But I'll amend my time estimate to 15 minutes per game, with TF getting the other 25, if IV shows he can stay with some of the CUSA 5-men defensively. Give IO and VN 30 minutes each and you are still left with 20 minutes per game when we will have to go with a 3-guard lineup. Given what I saw yesterday (the talent in the backcourt) that's not a bad thing. I think DC, DB and LM should all be able to hold their own at SF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p diddy Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 what you have seen from tom this week is a player who finally figured out that he might be starting his senior year on the bench instead of being a starter. the light finally came on and he has been much more assertive and aggressive the past few days. hopefully, ian will continue to put the pressure on TF. that is what's going to make them both better, and in turn, that will make our team better. that's what been so good about the first week of practice. you have these little battles going on at all positions (save for reggie). and remember, drejaj hasn't been added to the mix yet. just turn up the intensity level about 10 more notches in practice when he is cleared to play. He's on the sidelines taking mental notes on how DC and the three freshmen guards have made early impressions. if you get the opportunity to get to a practice, take advantage of it. it's fun. Cardinals in 6 bad boyz for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted October 23, 2004 Author Share Posted October 23, 2004 Stopped by practice today for a few minutes and good news, Reggie was back and looked good. For some reason TF was being held out of practice although he seemed to be moving ok in the short time I was there. Glad to see RB back and by the way he has really added some muscle since last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUMS81 Posted October 23, 2004 Share Posted October 23, 2004 Had the chance to observe practice last Saturday. Very intense, competitive. We have more strength, size, and athleticism top to bottom than I can ever remember. Practicing against better competition every day will make every player better. TL was there observing practice as part of his official campus visit. He will look great in blue and white. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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