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Just now, slufanskip said:

1st time he misses 3- 3 pointers in a row, the game day thread will label him as a waste of floor space, wtf ... is he even doing out there. Why can't Coach Ford just "coach him up" etc ...

-not to speak for them, but I think this is what 3Star means by MBM's will be MBM's

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5 hours ago, cgeldmacher said:

I'm sorry, but it is not "abundantly clear."  He has played in 3 games on a Europe trip against weak competition and all the MBMs could see was highlights.  How does that qualify, in any way, shape, or form as "abundantly clear."  I am very excited about Thames' upside.  I am also willing to admit that there is an outside chance that he may be ready to take over a role right now.  However, I am very worried that this board is turning this young man into the next in a long line of kids that are anchored with unreasonable expectations before he plays a single minute of collegiate ball.  Let's let freshmen be freshmen and let's let the coaching staff do what they need to do to properly guide a kid's development before we anoint him as any contributor before the season starts.

Just stop, all anyone has been talking about is him being able to do a competent job playing 5-7 minutes per game this year.. and yes it’s abundantly clear he can do that… but keep your hopes up that they can find that scrappy, coach on the floor, game manager that you so desperately want…

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The problem in today’s day and age is that you can’t let “a freshman be a freshman.”  Why?  Because they will walk.  Transfer portal, remember?  In the old days, you could do that.  I suspect the kids even expected it and we’re fine with it.  But not no more.  
 

I want to believe Thames, Kramer and Cisse know it a learning year.  Whether or not that matters come next year, who knows.

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11 hours ago, Taj79 said:

The problem in today’s day and age is that you can’t let “a freshman be a freshman.”  Why?  Because they will walk.  Transfer portal, remember?  In the old days, you could do that.  I suspect the kids even expected it and we’re fine with it.  But not no more.  
 

I want to believe Thames, Kramer and Cisse know it a learning year.  Whether or not that matters come next year, who knows.

I hear you, but there are still reasons to let a freshman be a freshman. Hard truths about the transfer portal are becoming increasingly clear. If you're not a top recruit out of high school, and you don't get a whole lot of playing time Freshman year, you're not going to have many attractive options waiting for you. Billiken Freshman transfers over the last three seasons have gone to Hampton, Long Beach State, Toledo, SEMO, Eastern Illinois, and Victoria College. Some may take that path for playing time, others are going to buy into SLU entirely (even with limited Freshman playing time), and others may see the potential transfer/NIL opportunities for guys like Yuri and stick around to see if they can earn them after 2-3 years like he did.

Also, that Freshman transfer cohort probably represents the full spectrum of players coach would have liked to stick around and those for whom he was happy to have the additional recruiting slot.

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In other words, the freshman sticks with the path that opens for him (or does not open for him), or he does not, and the coach may or may not be happy to see you go. I think this is a myopic view of what the process could be, if handled correctly. Play the guys that win the games but develop the new kids as much as you can, so they can go up in mpg their second year. In my opinion, corporations that develop their own talent are ahead of those that hire outside the premises for their good/top jobs.

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2 hours ago, Compton said:

I hear you, but there are still reasons to let a freshman be a freshman. Hard truths about the transfer portal are becoming increasingly clear. If you're not a top recruit out of high school, and you don't get a whole lot of playing time Freshman year, you're not going to have many attractive options waiting for you. Billiken Freshman transfers over the last three seasons have gone to Hampton, Long Beach State, Toledo, SEMO, Eastern Illinois, and Victoria College. Some may take that path for playing time, others are going to buy into SLU entirely (even with limited Freshman playing time), and others may see the potential transfer/NIL opportunities for guys like Yuri and stick around to see if they can earn them after 2-3 years like he did.

Also, that Freshman transfer cohort probably represents the full spectrum of players coach would have liked to stick around and those for whom he was happy to have the additional recruiting slot.

In other words, the freshman sticks with the path that opens for him (or does not open for him), or he does not, and the coach may or may not be happy to see them go. I think this is a myopic view of what the process could be, if handled correctly. Play the guys that win the games but develop the new kids as much as you can, so they can go up in mpg their second year. In my opinion, corporations that develop their own talent are ahead of those that hire outside the premises for their good/top jobs.

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Overall, do people here think the International Trip helps long term recruiting? Is this something that we should do as often as the NCAA allows in order to help recruiting and/or team cohesion? Was it worth the money spent, in other words? I tend to think it was, but I’m curious what other people think about this in these days of NIL and unlimited transfers.

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1 minute ago, dennis_w said:

Does anyone know how many entered the portal and did not find a landing spot? i would guess quite a few

This is as good a place as any to track them. Still quite a few without new homes. Without actually counting, looks like it's probably in the teens, percentage-wise.

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1 minute ago, Lord Elrond said:

Overall, do people here think the International Trip helps long term recruiting? Is this something that we should do as often as the NCAA allows in order to help recruiting and/or team cohesion? Was it worth the money spent, in other words? I tend to think it was, but I’m curious what other people think about this in these days of NIL and unlimited transfers.

We get 1 international trip every 4 years. So a recruit who comes in expecting to play a full career here could expect a chance at an overseas trip. Based on what was shared on social media, this current staff and team really seemed to relish this opportunity. I can't imagine they're going to let the next opportunity pass.

Does it help recruiting? It can't hurt. Other schools can do the same, though. It's a matter of the visibility (on social media) and timing. We won't see this again until 2026 assuming they take the next available opportunity, so that leaves a gap of recruits seeing us do this vs. other schools who might have spaced them out differently.

I would think it's more about the current players. Looked like it was worth every penny to me.

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17 hours ago, BIG BILL FAN said:

Just stop, all anyone has been talking about is him being able to do a competent job playing 5-7 minutes per game this year.. and yes it’s abundantly clear he can do that… but keep your hopes up that they can find that scrappy, coach on the floor, game manager that you so desperately want…

The last part of your post is completely unfair and has nothing to do with the point I was making.

My point is that, just like with several Billiken freshmen over the years, most of which did not pan out, this board is hitting the replay button on tagging a kid as the next coming.  I hope he does turn into a very good and productive player for us, but here are the quotes that I took directly from this thread:

"Thames dominating"

"He's a highlight waiting to happen"

"Thames is what we were hoping Nesbitt would be"

"It's abundantly clear that he'll be able to hold his own when Yuri sits"

As far as I can tell, no one has video from the European trip.  That means that the above opinions are based on seeing highlights posted on Twitter and Instagram.  Seriously, cut the kid a break and let him just develop into a good player in time.  Let's give him a year or two and hope that he turns into the scrappy, coach on the floor, game manager that we hope he can become just like Yuri and Kwamain were.  If he turns into that, we will have a really good point guard on our hands.

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1 hour ago, Old guy said:

In other words, the freshman sticks with the path that opens for him (or does not open for him), or he does not, and the coach may or may not be happy to see you go.

Oh no, that wasn't my point. Point was that the transfer portal is losing its luster as a beneficial tool for many players outside of the most highly touted/regarded. This will cause fewer Freshman to jump ship than previously feared.

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15 minutes ago, dennis_w said:

the quote that i pin my hopes on is coach ford saying he will be a superstar. he could have described him in many ways but superstar is the word he used

Those comments continue to be ignored by some… Thames is not an unknown, he’s a local player who has played AAU ball at a high level, and has been practicing with the team all summer. If they weren’t certain he could back up Collins effectively, then they would have addressed it…

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On 8/22/2022 at 12:59 PM, cgeldmacher said:

I'm sorry, but it is not "abundantly clear."  He has played in 3 games on a Europe trip against weak competition and all the MBMs could see was highlights.  How does that qualify, in any way, shape, or form as "abundantly clear."  I am very excited about Thames' upside.  I am also willing to admit that there is an outside chance that he may be ready to take over a role right now.  However, I am very worried that this board is turning this young man into the next in a long line of kids that are anchored with unreasonable expectations before he plays a single minute of collegiate ball.  Let's let freshmen be freshmen and let's let the coaching staff do what they need to do to properly guide a kid's development before we anoint him as any contributor before the season starts.

WILL BE abundantly clear.  Future tense. I think it will be abundantly clear Thames can back up Yuri this year.  If this classifies me as an “MBM”, I’m happy to be one.
 

Not sure why you’re skewing my words in multiple posts to try to prove a point but I guess it’s a hobby for some on this board

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7 hours ago, cgeldmacher said:

The last part of your post is completely unfair and has nothing to do with the point I was making.

My point is that, just like with several Billiken freshmen over the years, most of which did not pan out, this board is hitting the replay button on tagging a kid as the next coming.  I hope he does turn into a very good and productive player for us, but here are the quotes that I took directly from this thread:

"Thames dominating"

"He's a highlight waiting to happen"

"Thames is what we were hoping Nesbitt would be"

"It's abundantly clear that he'll be able to hold his own when Yuri sits"

As far as I can tell, no one has video from the European trip.  That means that the above opinions are based on seeing highlights posted on Twitter and Instagram.  Seriously, cut the kid a break and let him just develop into a good player in time.  Let's give him a year or two and hope that he turns into the scrappy, coach on the floor, game manager that we hope he can become just like Yuri and Kwamain were.  If he turns into that, we will have a really good point guard on our hands.

Since  this is the highest level of talent in the modern era it's easy get excited @ any glimpse we have gotten since they got to school be it the open practice or twitter feeds etc.

 

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Thoughts on Thames. If I’m right he’s 6’6”, got handles, and plays D. If he really is a candidate PG then given time he could, COULD, be a force in the A10. Last year we all thought Nesbitt could be that guy. And he gave us some games where he looked like a star in the making. He believed it too, but he wasn’t all he thought he could be. Good luck at Hampton, Jnezz. I do feel Thames is a little more grounded. So, let’s be patient and see how it plays out. Let him learn, develop, mature before we expect him to be a superstar. But again, if he is a 6’6” PG in the A10 he’ll have a nice career at SLU. I hope he is. 

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1 minute ago, slu72 said:

Thoughts on Thames. If I’m right he’s 6’6”, got handles, and plays D. If he really is a candidate PG then given time he could, COULD, be a force in the A10. Last year we all thought Nesbitt could be that guy. And he gave us some games where he looked like a star in the making. He believed it too, but he wasn’t all he thought he could be. Good luck at Hampton, Jnezz. I do feel Thames is a little more grounded. So, let’s be patient and see how it plays out. Let him learn, develop, mature before we expect him to be a superstar. But again, if he is a 6’6” PG in the A10 he’ll have a nice career at SLU. I hope he is. 

Nesbitt was going to be a force in the A10.  He put up 8 and 4 for an NIT team.  How many Billiken guards did that as a freshman? With Perkins' return Nesbitt was in a situation where he had to wait until his junior year to take on a bigger role.  That's a lot to ask from a ball-dominant player.

Thames was a role player for BBE, much like Thatch.  He doesn't really have a position.  That's why he's in the A10, to develop his untapped potential.  He can defend at a high-level now.  His offense is several years away.

 

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