Signed Recruits' Thread

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

15 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

As his immediate expectations but lord I think the ceiling is floors higher than that, right?

I think his ceiling is less than Stricklands and we have seen how that turned out. But I could be wrong. 

[Bills By 40]

4 minutes ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

I think his ceiling is less than Stricklands and we have seen how that turned out. But I could be wrong. 

I sure hope you are lol. To dumb it down as much as possible, he is already a 6'7" primary ball handler. Markhi is neither of those things. 

[Pistol]

30 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

As his immediate expectations but lord I think the ceiling is floors higher than that, right?

He does a bit of everything but needs to add to his frame to be an effective college rebounder or get significant points at the rim, he'll be a tertiary ball handler in most lineups, he's an extremely streaky perimeter shooter making barely over 1 in 4 attempts this season, and he's an average FT shooter.

Now, he's already a smart player and very good defender and I think he'll adapt - he just needs to take a couple of those shortcomings and make significant strides. Until then, he looks like a versatile role player to me.

[cgeldmacher]

Just now, Pistol said:

He does a bit of everything but needs to add to his frame to be an effective college rebounder or get significant points at the rim, he'll be a tertiary ball handler in most lineups, he's an extremely streaky perimeter shooter making barely over 1 in 4 attempts this season, and he's an average FT shooter.

Now, he's already a smart player and very good defender and I think he'll adapt - he just needs to take a couple of those shortcomings and make significant strides. Until then, he looks like a versatile role player to me.

Pistol, when I think of someone that size who does a little bit of everything, I think of Dwayne Evans.  Do you think he projects like a Dwayne Evans?  

[Pistol]

6 minutes ago, cgeldmacher said:

Pistol, when I think of someone that size who does a little bit of everything, I think of Dwayne Evans.  Do you think he projects like a Dwayne Evans?  

I don't think so. Thames has much more of a guard mentality. Evans played bigger and was so sound and deceptively strong.

[billiken_roy]

7 minutes ago, Pistol said:

I don't think so. Thames has much more of a guard mentality. Evans played bigger and was so sound and deceptively strong.

i agree.  but what bothers me in today's game the 3 point shot better be an attribute.   i am not enthralled by thames 3 point statistics.   am i wrong?   

[Bills By 40]

2 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

i agree.  but what bothers me in today's game the 3 point shot better be an attribute.   i am not enthralled by thames 3 point statistics.   am i wrong?   

I'm not worried about it. That can be taught, look at guys like Yuri and TJ who came in without great 3pt shots and have improved drastically. I'm more concerned with can Thames GUARD the perimeter?? 

Side bar - I wonder how long Thames was taught to be a front court player due to his size. Given his dad maybe never, but a kid that grows up tall is 9 times out of 10 going to be pressured into a forward position, and if that happened here it could've delayed some parts of his game like a 3pt shot. 

[Pistol]

13 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

i agree.  but what bothers me in today's game the 3 point shot better be an attribute.   i am not enthralled by thames 3 point statistics.   am i wrong?   

You're not wrong. That's why I call him a role player. If he somehow turns into a high-30%-range 3-point shooter and adds muscle in the next two years, that could change.

9 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

I'm not worried about it. That can be taught, look at guys like Yuri and TJ who came in without great 3pt shots and have improved drastically. I'm more concerned with can Thames GUARD the perimeter?? 

Side bar - I wonder how long Thames was taught to be a front court player due to his size. Given his dad maybe never, but a kid that grows up tall is 9 times out of 10 going to be pressured into a forward position, and if that happened here it could've delayed some parts of his game like a 3pt shot. 

I think it's the opposite. He has always been a guard and is only starting to grow a lot taller in the past couple years. He is listed at 6-6 this year and was at 6-5 as a junior, 6-3 as a sophomore, and 6-0 as a freshman.

[Bills By 40]

14 minutes ago, Pistol said:

You're not wrong. That's why I call him a role player. If he somehow turns into a high-30%-range 3-point shooter and adds muscle in the next two years, that could change.

I think it's the opposite. He has always been a guard and is only starting to grow a lot taller in the past couple years. He is listed at 6-6 this year and was at 6-5 as a junior, 6-3 as a sophomore, and 6-0 as a freshman.

Muscle is inevitable, the 3-pt shooting is TBD but because it's an obvious weakness the coaching staff will surely target it as an area for improvement. 

Wishful thinking and that alone developed my hypothesis. Fair point. 

[almaman]

<Muscle is inevitable, the 3-pt shooting is TBD but because it's an obvious weakness the coaching staff will surely target it as an area for improvement.>

 

as he will himself too

[NH]

3 hours ago, billiken_roy said:

i agree.  but what bothers me in today's game the 3 point shot better be an attribute.   i am not enthralled by thames 3 point statistics.   am i wrong?   

Adding on to Pistol, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with Thames’ jumper. He takes a lot of very difficult shots as a do-everything guy for Pattonville. I would bet good money that he can turn into a 35-37% guy on a couple attempts a guy by his sophomore year.

Overall I am a huge fan of Thames as a prospect. He’s still growing into his size and athleticism, and is highly skilled for his size. He’s the type of guy who is set up to make a huge leap after a year or two in college.

[almaman]

10 minutes ago, NH said:

Adding on to Pistol, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with Thames’ jumper. He takes a lot of very difficult shots as a do-everything guy for Pattonville. I would bet good money that he can turn into a 35-37% guy on a couple attempts a guy by his sophomore year.

Overall I am a huge fan of Thames as a prospect. He’s still growing into his size and athleticism, and is highly skilled for his size. He’s the type of guy who is set up to make a huge leap after a year or two in college.

yummy yummy

[VeniceMenace]

9 hours ago, Pistol said:

He has "versatile role player" written all over him.

As a freshman, yes. His remaining years, perhaps not so much.

[Pistol]

All three signees were in action last night.

Kramer had 19 in a 74-58 loss at DeSmet. SLUH was up 22-16 at the end of the first quarter and down 40-33 at half. Brian Taylor (Milwaukee commit) went off, scoring 35. SLUH (9-3) will try to rebound tomorrow at Vianney (8-5).

Thames had 23 in a 70-61 loss to Borgia at Washington HS last night. Per Gateway Sports Venue, Borgia led the entire game, executed well offensively, and collapsed on Thames whenever he got the ball. Thames started to come alive in the second half but it wasn't enough. Pattonville (8-8) faces Ladue (9-4) in the third place game tomorrow at Washington.

Parker had 19 in a 76-59 win over State Fair CC, bringing Moberly's winning streak to 7 games. They head to Mineral Area College on Saturday. MAC (15-4) is ranked #19 in the nation, and Moberly (16-4) is just outside the top 25 in the "also receiving votes" section.

[billiken_roy]

4 minutes ago, Pistol said:

All three signees were in action last night.

Kramer had 19 in a 74-58 loss at DeSmet. SLUH was up 22-16 at the end of the first quarter and down 40-33 at half. Brian Taylor (Milwaukee commit) went off, scoring 35. SLUH (9-3) will try to rebound tomorrow at Vianney (8-5).

Thames had 23 in a 70-61 loss to Borgia at Washington HS last night. Per Gateway Sports Venue, Borgia led the entire game, executed well offensively, and collapsed on Thames whenever he got the ball. Thames started to come alive in the second half but it wasn't enough. Pattonville (8-8) faces Ladue (9-4) in the third place game tomorrow at Washington.

Parker had 19 in a 76-59 win over State Fair CC, bringing Moberly's winning streak to 7 games. They head to Mineral Area College on Saturday. MAC (15-4) is ranked #19 in the nation, and Moberly (16-4) is just outside the top 25 in the "also receiving votes" section.

thanks Pistol.   i really appreciate these recruit updates.   i think it gives us all a peek in how they are doing and will help us transition our expectations.  

my question is since all three are expected to be wings for the billikens, are you able to get their 3 point performance each game and include that?   myself, i think this is extremely important to their success at the next level.   not that they cant improve when they get to college, but if they are jimmmmerson like coming in with their current stats i am sure that is going to translate to more immediate impact when they become billikens.

[Pistol]

Just now, billiken_roy said:

thanks Pistol.   i really appreciate these recruit updates.   i think it gives us all a peek in how they are doing and will help us transition our expectations.  

my question is since all three are expected to be wings for the billikens, are you able to get their 3 point performance each game and include that?   myself, i think this is extremely important to their success at the next level.   not that they cant improve when they get to college, but if they are jimmmmerson like coming in with their current stats i am sure that is going to translate to more immediate impact when they become billikens.

SLUH is terrible about posting full stats, so it may be weeks (if ever) before I have more numbers for Kramer from this game. I know he had 19 from a Tweet summarizing the game. I also don't have his season percentage, because when they uploaded stats for previous games, they had FGA as 0 for at least 3 games, meaning their percentages are greatly overstated - his 3P% is listed as 54.8% currently and is probably closer to 40% on the season. He's a very good shooter.

Thames was .255 from 3 heading into last night's game. I don't have full stats from that one yet, either, but probably will later today. He's a streaky shooter but as others said, his mechanics are good and he's grown relatively quickly. I don't expect him to be a 40% 3-point shooter in college but would love to see him get to 35% or better.

Parker is also a bit of a streaky shooter but has settled into a more consistent groove as the season has gone on. He's .362 from 3 on the season. He's a big-time scorer when he's locked in. The key here is consistency.

[BIG BILL FAN]

5 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

thanks Pistol.   i really appreciate these recruit updates.   i think it gives us all a peek in how they are doing and will help us transition our expectations.  

my question is since all three are expected to be wings for the billikens, are you able to get their 3 point performance each game and include that?   myself, i think this is extremely important to their success at the next level.   not that they cant improve when they get to college, but if they are jimmmmerson like coming in with their current stats i am sure that is going to translate to more immediate impact when they become billikens.

here are Parker's stats from last year....

https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2020-21/div1/players/sincereparkerq5am

here are Parker's stats from this year...

https://njcaaregion16.org/sports/mbkb/2021-22/players/sincereparkery3py

[billiken_roy]

Just now, Pistol said:

SLUH is terrible about posting full stats, so it may be weeks (if ever) before I have more numbers for Kramer from this game. I know he had 19 from a Tweet summarizing the game. I also don't have his season percentage, because when they uploaded stats for previous games, they had FGA as 0 for at least 3 games, meaning their percentages are greatly overstated - his 3P% is listed as 54.8% currently and is probably closer to 40% on the season. He's a very good shooter.

Thames was .255 from 3 heading into last night's game. I don't have full stats from that one yet, either, but probably will later today. He's a streaky shooter but as others said, his mechanics are good and he's grown relatively quickly. I don't expect him to be a 40% 3-point shooter in college but would love to see him get to 35% or better.

Parker is also a bit of a streaky shooter but has settled into a more consistent groove as the season has gone on. He's .362 from 3 on the season. He's a big-time scorer when he's locked in. The key here is consistency.

and for high school kids, that is to be expected i think.   it is rare a player comes to college with the shooting percentages that jimmmerson had prior to getting to the college level.   

[Crewsorlose]

14 hours ago, NH said:

Adding on to Pistol, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with Thames’ jumper. He takes a lot of very difficult shots as a do-everything guy for Pattonville. I would bet good money that he can turn into a 35-37% guy on a couple attempts a guy by his sophomore year.

Overall I am a huge fan of Thames as a prospect. He’s still growing into his size and athleticism, and is highly skilled for his size. He’s the type of guy who is set up to make a huge leap after a year or two in college.

It's pretty obvious from the clip that Thames can really pass the ball. That vision and ball handling is sorely missing from this team.

The main drawback to this team is that Yuri handles the ball too much and the offense seems to stagnate with him out (I wouldn't want to see Jones's +/- from Dayton). I think Nesbitt should run the offense more. Jones is really a lead guard in a PG's body. We've played so many high pressure teams of late (Auburn, Iona, Dayton) and Yuri is the only guard that Ford fully trusts to handle it. 

I love Yuri, but "bad Yuri" comes out now and then and our chances of winning nosedive when he does.

[billiken_roy]

Just now, BIG BILL FAN said:

here are Parker's stats from last year....

https://www.njcaa.org/sports/mbkb/2020-21/div1/players/sincereparkerq5am

here are Parker's stats from this year...

https://njcaaregion16.org/sports/mbkb/2021-22/players/sincereparkery3py

hmmmm.    getting more attention from the opponent so his percentage dropped?   that would seem to be the best explanation.   but even then 36% is an acceptable rate of success.

[Pistol]

3 minutes ago, Crewsorlose said:

It's pretty obvious from the clip that Thames can really pass the ball. That vision and ball handling is sorely missing from this team.

The main drawback to this team is that Yuri handles the ball too much and the offense seems to stagnate with him out (I wouldn't want to see Jones's +/- from Dayton). I think Nesbitt should run the offense more. Jones is really a lead guard in a PG's body. We've played so many high pressure teams of late (Auburn, Iona, Dayton) and Yuri is the only guard that Ford fully trusts to handle it. 

I love Yuri, but "bad Yuri" comes out now and then and our chances of winning nosedive when he does.

Even if he's not going to be depended on heavily as a distributor, especially early on, Thames' ball handling and passing and vision will be appreciated. You're right - we can use more of that from our wings against pressure; Hargrove, for example, is not great with the ball. I need to see more of Parker but I think all three of these guys handle it pretty well.

[HoosierPal]

13 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

and for high school kids, that is to be expected i think.   it is rare a player comes to college with the shooting percentages that jimmmerson had prior to getting to the college level.   

I think there are 4 'm's in Gibson's last name. And Gibson does use a capital J.

[Taj79]

Sounds like we DO NOT have another point guard in the wings to 1) releive3 Collins from all the pressure and 2) to develop to replace Collins as that time inevitably approaches.  I doubt Ford will hand the ball over to an unproven freshman next year (Thames) when he needs to replace Collins for any stretches of games.  I also see it very difficult for Znesbitt to develop as BOTH a point gurad and as a shooting guard at the same time.  Finally, I am back to player development and if we need our staff to develop the shooting prowess of Kramer, Thames and Parker, what progress shown in past developments allows us to makes such assumptions going forward?  All our current players shoot mid-30% range.  Is that good enough?  Jimerson 38.7%.  Collins 37.0%.  Hargrove 37.8%.  And Nesbitt 34..0%.  That sounds all fine and dandy but this leaves the question WHO do you want to take a three to tie or win a ball game for us unanswered for the most part.

[billiken_roy]

10 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

I think there are 4 'm's in Gibson's last name. And Gibson does use a capital J.

ok bauman 

[Pistol]

7 minutes ago, Taj79 said:

Sounds like we DO NOT have another point guard in the wings to 1) releive3 Collins from all the pressure and 2) to develop to replace Collins as that time inevitably approaches.  I doubt Ford will hand the ball over to an unproven freshman next year (Thames) when he needs to replace Collins for any stretches of games.  I also see it very difficult for Znesbitt to develop as BOTH a point gurad and as a shooting guard at the same time.  Finally, I am back to player development and if we need our staff to develop the shooting prowess of Kramer, Thames and Parker, what progress shown in past developments allows us to makes such assumptions going forward?  All our current players shoot mid-30% range.  Is that good enough?  Jimerson 38.7%.  Collins 37.0%.  Hargrove 37.8%.  And Nesbitt 34..0%.  That sounds all fine and dandy but this leaves the question WHO do you want to take a three to tie or win a ball game for us unanswered for the most part.

Don't forget about the transfer portal. There are always experienced players who are going to come along. Jones this year, maybe someone else next.

We do not have a PG in this class, that's true. Like I said, all handle it pretty well but Thames would be more like Nesbitt in his PG skills - raw but able to play it in stretches. Again, I don't think we'll see much of him next season, anyway. I also don't think developing Nesbitt means sacrificing one position for another. He can keep working on his all-around guard skill set.

Jimerson is your big shot player.