Transfer Watch - 2022

[billiken_roy]

1 hour ago, Bills By 40 said:

Read "back up" as "secondary" and ask yourself if you still disagree?

Because adding a second big to this roster most definitely makes that big of a potential difference. 

what do you see as the difference between "secondary" and "backup"?   i just dont see ford playing significant minutes with both on the floor at the same time.   his history begs to differ.   if there ever was a time to play two bigs it was with okoro and linssen.  didnt happen.  

[Littlebill]

1 minute ago, billiken_roy said:

what do you see as the difference between "secondary" and "backup"?   i just dont see ford playing significant minutes with both on the floor at the same time.   his history begs to differ.   if there ever was a time to play two bigs it was with okoro and linssen.  didnt happen.  

I think by secondary he means more like a 1b. The "Linssen Role". You get real PT in that role

[billiken_roy]

2 minutes ago, Littlebill said:

I think by secondary he means more like a 1b. The "Linssen Role". You get real PT in that role

those mpg were getting less and less every game last year as okoro continued to improve.   i believe with ford's track record, unless injury or fouls, okoro will play 35+ mpg.   i will be (pleasantly) surprised if wrong and a much stronger partnership of bigs emerges.  

[gabriel]

22 minutes ago, slu72 said:

Forester 6’9” 225 …. I’m all a quiver. Stats similar to Linssen’s. If it’s him, will he need a waiver? I think he transferred from IU to Temple. 

He's a grad transfer so he should be good.

[3star_recruit]

Even the original poster admitted it was hyperbole.  If a backup big takes  us from NIT to Sweet 16, then if Dayton adds a starter does that take them to the final four? 

MBMs love taking a good thing, turning it into sky high expectations and then blaming the coach when they're not met.  It's a rite of passage.

[ACE]

4 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

those mpg were getting less and less every game last year as okoro continued to improve.   i believe with ford's track record, unless injury or fouls, okoro will play 35+ mpg.   i will be (pleasantly) surprised if wrong and a much stronger partnership of bigs emerges.  

There's no way Okoro plays 35 mpg. Okoro played more because he got better later in the season, but also because Linnsen got injured in the Auburn game and missed a month. When he came back, his production was down the rest of the season. I don't think he was every fully recovered. 

[3star_recruit]

19 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

what do you see as the difference between "secondary" and "backup"?   i just dont see ford playing significant minutes with both on the floor at the same time.   his history begs to differ.   if there ever was a time to play two bigs it was with okoro and linssen.  didnt happen.  

It's almost like DJ Foreman's senior year where he started 27 games never happened.  You play two paint bigs together if one of them can pass.  Otherwise it's just two guys getting in each other's way.

[GOSLU68]

The second big needs to be more intimidating than FO. We do need someone good enough to take minutes from Okoro. 
I like FO but I don’t think he gives us what Conklin did…different skill sets

[RUBillsFan]

14 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

those mpg were getting less and less every game last year as okoro continued to improve.   i believe with ford's track record, unless injury or fouls, okoro will play 35+ mpg.   i will be (pleasantly) surprised if wrong and a much stronger partnership of bigs emerges.  

Here is a complete list of players who have played 35+ minutes per game during Travis Ford's time at SLU:

2021-22 season: None (big man with most mpg Okoro 23.9)

2020-21 season: None (big man with most mpg French 25.0)

2019-20 season: Jordan Goodwin (big man with most mpg French 31.9)

2018-19 season: Javon Bess (big man with most mpg French 30.6)

2017-18 season: Javon Bess (big man with most mpg French 30.2)

2016-17 season: None (big man with most mpg Reggie Agbeko 24.9)

There is absolutely nothing in Travis Ford's track record to suggest Okoro will come close to 35 minutes per game.  If Okoro doesn't lead big men in minutes per again something has gone horribly wrong (injury) or incredibly right (miraculously good transfer/recruit).  Even still I'd put more money on him getting less than 30 than getting over 35.

 

[wgstl]

13 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

It's almost like DJ Foreman's senior year where he started 27 games never happened.  You play two paint bigs together if one of them can pass.  Otherwise it's just two guys getting in each other's way.

Man I almost forgot how good of a passer French was. 

But in this case if it is Forrester, he nor Okoro can pass. 

[slufanskip]

1 hour ago, Bills By 40 said:

The charging into the bigs complaint is so tired - it worked just as often as it didn't, whether it was passing out of it, scoring at the rim, or drawing a foul. I think that'll only get easier this year with more time for Yuri to get stronger and adding so many good pieces around him. 

As for the turnovers...no sh!t. 

I think what wasn’t taken into account with Yuri and turnovers is we literally had no one that could or would score consistently without Yuri setting them up. People also think you can just take away the plays that didn’t work. That’s not the way it happens. If you take away him attacking the lane you take away the successful plays also. I think Perk and Pick will change that this year. Imo it may decrease Yuri’s assists a bit but should also decrease his turnovers. I could see 7/3 ish 

[billikenbill]

Jake Forrester is in the house!!

[ACE]

Now onto the combo/back-up PG.  Maybe there is a quality overlooked high school player or a young transfer (a rising sophomore) who would be willing to help out Yuri for one year before taking on a bigger role the following year.

[HoosierPal]

1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:

those mpg were getting less and less every game last year as okoro continued to improve.   i believe with ford's track record, unless injury or fouls, okoro will play 35+ mpg.   i will be (pleasantly) surprised if wrong and a much stronger partnership of bigs emerges.  

My 2 cents, but it has been well documented that for Okoro to get to the next level (we can call it 35 mpg or All Atlantic 10 First Team) he needs to improve on his almost non-existent passing game out of the paint, and he needs to improve on his rim protection.  1.2 blocks per game needs to double or approach 2.0.  We need to make our opponents think twice about driving into the lane. 

[CBFan]

2 commits today Cisse just announced on twitter 

[wgstl]

Welp, guard time 

[Young Charles]

6 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

My 2 cents, but it has been well documented that for Okoro to get to the next level (we can call it 35 mpg or All Atlantic 10 First Team) he needs to improve on his almost non-existent passing game out of the paint, and he needs to improve on his rim protection.  1.2 blocks per game needs to double or approach 2.0.  We need to make our opponents think twice about driving into the lane. 

100% agree, I lost my mind multiple times last year seeing 2 guys wide open on the arc while Okoro has 3 guys dogging him down low with no kick out. Regarding rim protection from what I saw there were alot of baseline plays that Okoro was just a second or two late getting to, which usually led to a dumb foul or wide open lay up. You fix those two things Okoro is All A10 First Team

[Bills By 40]

2 hours ago, slufanskip said:

I think what wasn’t taken into account with Yuri and turnovers is we literally had no one that could or would score consistently without Yuri setting them up. People also think you can just take away the plays that didn’t work. That’s not the way it happens. If you take away him attacking the lane you take away the successful plays also. I think Perk and Pick will change that this year. Imo it may decrease Yuri’s assists a bit but should also decrease his turnovers. I could see 7/3 ish 

Exactly. I can't argue with your logic other than despite these guys being able to create their own shot, I don't see why we wouldn't still let Yuri creating it for them be option #1. 

Alternatively, if we run as much as has been teased and come anywhere close to "leading the nation in scoring" like Ford suggested on KMOX, then there's plenty of room for Yuri's assists to stay as high as last year

[3star_recruit]

30 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

Exactly. I can't argue with your logic other than despite these guys being able to create their own shot, I don't see why we wouldn't still let Yuri creating it for them be option #1. 

Alternatively, if we run as much as has been teased and come anywhere close to "leading the nation in scoring" like Ford suggested on KMOX, then there's plenty of room for Yuri's assists to stay as high as last year

Because doing the same thing every time down court makes us easier to guard.

[Bills By 40]

3 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Because doing the same thing every time down court makes us easier to guard.

That's why it's option #1, not the only option. 

[slufanskip]

40 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

Exactly. I can't argue with your logic other than despite these guys being able to create their own shot, I don't see why we wouldn't still let Yuri creating it for them be option #1. 

Alternatively, if we run as much as has been teased and come anywhere close to "leading the nation in scoring" like Ford suggested on KMOX, then there's plenty of room for Yuri's assists to stay as high as last year

We needed badly to diversify our attack. Perkins works better initiating his own shot. Not to say he can’t catch and shoot or receive a pass on a drive but it’s not really how he works best. We will be better with an offense that doesn’t have to rely on Yuri to initiate every basket. It’ll be better for Yuri also as the focus of every defense can’t just be stop Yuri. Getting slightly fewer assists isn’t a bad thing. Say he drops 1 assist and 1 t/o per game. That’s a net win. 

[Bills By 40]

7 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

We needed badly to diversify our attack. Perkins works better initiating his own shot. Not to say he can’t catch and shoot or receive a pass on a drive but it’s not really how he works best. We will be better with an offense that doesn’t have to rely on Yuri to initiate every basket. It’ll be better for Yuri also as the focus of every defense can’t just be stop Yuri. Getting slightly fewer assists isn’t a bad thing. Say he drops 1 assist and 1 t/o per game. That’s a net win. 

I'm not arguing any of that. What I'm saying is Perkins creating his own shot doesn't have to cut from Yuri's assists if we increase our PPG like CTF wants to - and with these pieces I don't see why we can't execute on that plan. 
 

8 minutes ago, slufanskip said:

It’ll be better for Yuri also as the focus of every defense can’t just be stop Yuri. Getting slightly fewer assists isn’t a bad thing. Say he drops 1 assist and 1 t/o per game. That’s a net win. 

DEFINITELY not arguing this, but as for his turnovers...I think we could have a more efficient offense and with options like Perkins or Pickett creating their own shot in situations where previously Yuri playing hero ball was our only option Yuri's TO's will drop by default. 

 

I guess what I'm saying is there's a chance that the possessions where JP and JP and others create their own shot without Yuri directly replace the possessions that many complain about from this past season that contributed to Yuri's TO/G 

[brianstl]

6 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

My 2 cents, but it has been well documented that for Okoro to get to the next level (we can call it 35 mpg or All Atlantic 10 First Team) he needs to improve on his almost non-existent passing game out of the paint, and he needs to improve on his rim protection.  1.2 blocks per game needs to double or approach 2.0.  We need to make our opponents think twice about driving into the lane. 

It would be great if Okoro would become a better passer out of the post.  That said, he was the best traditional big man in the A10 last season.

[majerus mojo]

9 hours ago, slufanskip said:

We needed badly to diversify our attack. Perkins works better initiating his own shot. Not to say he can’t catch and shoot or receive a pass on a drive but it’s not really how he works best. We will be better with an offense that doesn’t have to rely on Yuri to initiate every basket. It’ll be better for Yuri also as the focus of every defense can’t just be stop Yuri. Getting slightly fewer assists isn’t a bad thing. Say he drops 1 assist and 1 t/o per game. That’s a net win. 

Perkins is going to make a million catch and shoot jumpers this season. 

[billikenbill]

6 hours ago, majerus mojo said:

Perkins is going to make a million catch and shoot jumpers this season. 

A million sounds good but I’d settle for 300.