An early look/guess at the starting lineup for the first games and early subs

[ACE]

The battle for the last starting spot is between Thatch and Pickett. It may change based on match-ups, but my nod goes to Fred. His rebounding is what gives him the edge, IMO. Plus, IF it's tied between those two, the edge goes to the guy whose been in the program the whole time. Personally I think he earned it with the way he played last year. Pickett still figures to play a big role and the two of them may very well get very similar minutes.

[SLU_Lax]

I still like the flexibility to cover multiple positions that Thatch brings.  Pickett is flexible too, but not to the same degree.  I would bring in Thatch as the first sub.  I would also have Thatch closing out close games.

[HoosierPal]

The question of Thatch's academic standing is somewhere on this board.  I couldn't find the question with a quick search, so I'm putting this response here.

Looking at the roster page on the Saint Louis Official Athletic Site, Thatch is shown as earning a B.S. in Marketing (2021) and an MBA (2022).  Under Major, he is listed as M.S. in Supply Chain Management candidate.  If this is accurate, I take it to mean he isn't going for his doctorate.  I've been wrong before.

[RUBillsFan]

53 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

The question of Thatch's academic standing is somewhere on this board.  I couldn't find the question with a quick search, so I'm putting this response here.

Looking at the roster page on the Saint Louis Official Athletic Site, Thatch is shown as earning a B.S. in Marketing (2021) and an MBA (2022).  Under Major, he is listed as M.S. in Supply Chain Management candidate.  If this is accurate, I take it to mean he isn't going for his doctorate.  I've been wrong before.

If I'm remembering correctly that path likely means Thatch would finish his 2nd major this academic year and likely not return to the team for his 6th year of eligibility.  I seem to recall it being a choice of 2nd major & play 1 more year or go for his doctorate and play 2 more years.  If accurate, the path he's on doesn't necessarily preclude a return, but makes it much less likely than if he was going for his doctorate.  MBMs please correct me if I'm wrong here.

[Old guy]

The difference between a PhD and a Masters is the thesis research and its defense. In order to get the non academic part of the PhD done in 1 year he has to work real hard on his own research. I think he could very well go for the PhD at the end of this academic year, and opt out of playing basketball. Of course he might decide he wants to play another year while doing research (which is very difficult to do), or to go straight to work somewhere. These are my opinions of his available options by the end of next season, not reality. Thatch is a very capable man, he can certainly structure what he is doing in a way to give himself the largest number of options by the end of the season.

[willie]

2 hours ago, Old guy said:

The difference between a PhD and a Masters is the thesis research and its defense. In order to get the non academic part of the PhD done in 1 year he has to work real hard on his own research. I think he could very well go for the PhD at the end of this academic year, and opt out of playing basketball. Of course he might decide he wants to play another year while doing research (which is very difficult to do), or to go straight to work somewhere. These are my opinions of his available options by the end of next season, not reality. Thatch is a very capable man, he can certainly structure what he is doing in a way to give himself the largest number of options by the end of the season.

The difference between a PHD and a Master’s is one is called Doctor and the other is called Mister. 

[Old guy]

MDs, Dentists, and other health care PhDs are called doctor. It is seen as pretentious to insist in being called Doctor when your PhD is in other fields like Botany.

[Lord Elrond]

7 hours ago, Old guy said:

MDs, Dentists, and other health care PhDs are called doctor. It is seen as pretentious to insist in being called Doctor when your PhD is in other fields like Botany.

And yet so many of them with those degrees in other areas do insist upon being called Doctor.  The good news is those people can’t prescribe drugs…

[Billiken Rich]

1 hour ago, Lord Elrond said:

And yet so many of them with those degrees in other areas do insist upon being called Doctor.  The good news is those people can’t prescribe drugs…

Dr Jill Biden......

[cgeldmacher]

23 hours ago, RUBillsFan said:

If I'm remembering correctly that path likely means Thatch would finish his 2nd major this academic year and likely not return to the team for his 6th year of eligibility.  I seem to recall it being a choice of 2nd major & play 1 more year or go for his doctorate and play 2 more years.  If accurate, the path he's on doesn't necessarily preclude a return, but makes it much less likely than if he was going for his doctorate.  MBMs please correct me if I'm wrong here.

He can always start going after his doctorate next season and not finish it if he so chooses.  It is not the completion of a program that determines eligibility, its just being in a program.

[Major Majerus]

9 hours ago, Billiken Rich said:

Dr Jill Biden......

If you earn it, you should use it…

[HoosierPal]

Here is a different spin on the starting lineup.  Try and put together a depth chart.  What makes it fun, is that we have a bunch of players who play on the wing.  Are they SF or SG?  Is Jimerson a SF or a SG?  Same for Perkins. 

So using the classical 5-4-3-2-1 positions, what is your depth chart.

Center - Okoro, Forrester, Cisse

PF - Pickett, Thatch, Hargrove

SF - Jimerson, Rivera, Kramer

SG - Perkins, Parker, Hughes

PG - Collins, Perkins, Thatch, Thames

Yeah, it doesn't fit a pattern.  There are six to seven players you could put in more than one slot.  Just about the only two that aren't movable into mulitple slots are Okoro and Collins.

[ACE]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:09 AM, Billiken Rich said:

Dr Jill Biden......

Not quite as prestigious as getting a degree from Trump University.

[billiken_roy]

15 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

Here is a different spin on the starting lineup.  Try and put together a depth chart.  What makes it fun, is that we have a bunch of players who play on the wing.  Are they SF or SG?  Is Jimerson a SF or a SG?  Same for Perkins. 

So using the classical 5-4-3-2-1 positions, what is your depth chart.

Center - Okoro, Forrester, Cisse

PF - Pickett, Thatch, Hargrove

SF - Jimerson, Rivera, Kramer

SG - Perkins, Parker, Hughes

PG - Collins, Perkins, Thatch, Thames

Yeah, it doesn't fit a pattern.  There are six to seven players you could put in more than one slot.  Just about the only two that aren't movable into mulitple slots are Okoro and Collins.

if this billiken roster doesnt blow up the traditional 5-4-3-2-1 lineup i dont know what does.   

basically we have okoro and i guess forrester (havent seen him play) then likely not to see much time cisse and no one else is a big.  even forrester might be a wing.   while we can sit and argue about sf and sg's and who fits what, i believe they will all play on the wing and be interchangeable.   so we have two bigs, one point guard and everyone else is arguably a wing.  

if that does scream let's run and defend full court, i dont know what does.   (this is the annual we need to play fast rant.)

[Bills By 40]

31 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

even forrester might be a wing. 

No, Forrester is not a wing player. 

[wgstl]

3 minutes ago, Bills By 40 said:

No, Forrester is not a wing player. 

very much a traditional PF. 

[slu72]

Not having done any in depth analysis of A10 teams I think our makeup serves us well against most of our conf opponents. Teams that I think could cause us matchup nightmares are UD and UMass. They both have a good deal of height. In the past Davidson would often play us by going with a couple of bigs at the same time and were successful playing a packed inside D. That may not be an effective way to defend us this year as we have better than average perimeter shooters. 

[3star_recruit]

35 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

if this billiken roster doesnt blow up the traditional 5-4-3-2-1 lineup i dont know what does.   

basically we have okoro and i guess forrester (havent seen him play) then likely not to see much time cisse and no one else is a big.  even forrester might be a wing.   while we can sit and argue about sf and sg's and who fits what, i believe they will all play on the wing and be interchangeable.   so we have two bigs, one point guard and everyone else is arguably a wing.  

if that does scream let's run and defend full court, i dont know what does.   (this is the annual we need to play fast rant.)

If we average over 80 points a game, will that be fast enough?

[wgstl]

Just now, 3star_recruit said:

We average over 80 points a game, will that be fast enough?

I want 100

[bauman]

As I looked at the "depth chart" it took me back to the Spoon days when we had an outstanding passer (H) and some outstanding shooters (H, Claggs and Scott), but that team was missing a true top level big.

This team actually might be better in two of those three phases, and equal in the third.  As good as H was as a passer, Yuri is at least as good or better.  FO is better than any C on those teams and what's exciting is that we finally have a team that can shoot at the same level as Spoon's 3-man wrecking crew, with Perkins, Gibson and Parker/Kramer.

This should be a fun team to watch even if Roy is disappointed by how much they run and press full court. 

[billiken_roy]

1 hour ago, 3star_recruit said:

If we average over 80 points a game, will that be fast enough?

as long as it is against the conference teams and the non buy non conference game i would feel a lot better.   that would indicate playing fast.   no weight to the buy games.

[billiken_roy]

1 hour ago, bauman said:

As I looked at the "depth chart" it took me back to the Spoon days when we had an outstanding passer (H) and some outstanding shooters (H, Claggs and Scott), but that team was missing a true top level big.

This team actually might be better in two of those three phases, and equal in the third.  As good as H was as a passer, Yuri is at least as good or better.  FO is better than any C on those teams and what's exciting is that we finally have a team that can shoot at the same level as Spoon's 3-man wrecking crew, with Perkins, Gibson and Parker/Kramer.

This should be a fun team to watch even if Roy is disappointed by how much they run and press full court. 

instead of focusing on ppg, why not count the number of times we walk the ball down the floor run the shot clock down to 5 seconds and yuri has to throw up a prayer when we have a 10 minutes to go double digit lead.  anything more than once is too much.  now after the under 4 minute time out, you want to play dribble around in a circle when we still have that double digit lead, i can tolerate that. 

[almaman]

3 hours ago, ACE said:

Not quite as prestigious as getting a degree from Trump University.

If one has a degree at an institution that closed it's doors I assume it's still valid.

[Taj79]

As I look around the A10 with about a month to do, here's what I see:

Davidson:  A very good PG in Foster Loyer however I think he'll move over to the 2G what with Grant Huffman on the roster.  Huffman is not the shooter Loyer is.  Sam Mennenga is a decent PF type who can step out and shoot it but has yet to show star quality to carry a team.  What will transfers Skogman (Buffalo) and Kochera (Bill & Mary) bring?  It's not a deep roster by any stretch.  But Davidson does have a system.

Dayton:  The main rivals but is there any credence to a 'sophomore slump?'  Dayton has a nice lineup for it's staring five, of course, with big men Holmes and Camara.  I'd be concerned and curious if Amzil and Nwojeki can play up their second year stats in this their third year.  If Brea, Elvis and Blakney all plus up their games even just a little, they will be tough to defend.

Duquesne:  Is again a program in shambles.  Dambrot has to hope transfers Clark, Grant, Brewer and McGriff add exterior firepower.  The inside is weak with Williams and Rotroff.  Easley is also an exterior guy and not a banger.

Fordham: Is, well, Fordham.  Way too much youth and new faces but you still can't overlook them, especially at ancient Rose Hill.

George Mason: Has a strong front line in Oduro, Cooper and Gaines.  But we get them at home.  Key there will be if Dinkins and Fernandez live up to the advance 3- and 4-star billing.  They are PG light, so transfer Victor Bailey, former 4-star transferring in from Oregon via Tennessee, will be key.  Polite didn't show much last year.  Still a sleeper team.

George Washington:  Still looks like James Bailey and pray.  Ricky Lindo has been a disappointment since transferring in from Maryland and Dean and Harvey are unknowns and limited along the front.

La Salle:  The Explorers look light and undisciplined to date.  Brickus, Nickleberry, Gill are all inconsistent.  A lot on the front line will depend on the 6'7" Drame twins coming in from St. Peters.  Their decent big, Clifton Moore, transferred to Providence.

Loyola:  They have a winning recent history and there is much to be said for that.  Braden Norris is a good PG but they went the transfer for route for guys from Lehigh, DII California PA, Valpo and Grant Golden's brother Bryce who had okay numbers at Butler.

Umass:  Really a big unknown and likely a sleeper team along with Mason.  Frank Martin is a good coach.  His harshness can detract at times.  Fernandes and Weeks are a good albeit eratic start in the backcourt.  Who emerges along the front line from Kante (LIU/Hofstra/Georgia), Leveque (SoCarolina), Cross (Lousiville) and Woodley (also SoCarolina) will be interesting.  On paper, it's a formidable group.  Also, how well 4-star freshman Gapare does will be something to watch.  We go there ... early.

Rhode Island:  Archie is back in town.  The returning cast of Cary, Martin, and Leggett is not that great but how does Josephat Bilau do in transferring in as a center from Wichita State.  There are five other guys new to the roster at 6'7" and above but it will depend on PG transfer Brayon Freeman and Anthony Harris to distribute the ball.

Richmond:  Has Tyler Burton back plus sixth-year guys Gustavson and Grace.  Another group relying on transfers from places like Lafayette, Wofford and the Citadel.  Not a listed PG on the roster, however.

St. Joes:  Between Lange and Dambrot, I don't know whose seat is hotter right now.  Erik Reynolds had a decent freshman year at PG but here comes similar transfer Lynn Greer from Dayton.  The front line has a serviceable Ekija Obinna but he won't win you many games.  Lange boast six guys as either PFs or Cs but who knows.  

Bonaventure:  Decimated.  Everybody in the Iron Five left.  The bench was never developed and two of them left as well.  Schmidt is running on transfers from places like St. Peters, Hartford and Holy Cross but those three are guards.  His two big transfers come in from Morgan State and Pitt, although the Pitt guy was more a bench rider.  Winning in Olean will be a challenge as always but scouting these guys early will be key.

VCU:  These guys lost their top two scorers from last year in Curry and Williams as well as rim rocker Hasan Ward.  Stockard finally graduated.  A lot will depend on the two Michigan transfers and if Watkins can come back from ACL surgery.  McAllister did but was just reinjured.  David Shriver came in from Hartford but who knows.  Ace Baldwin still runs the show and the defense, while not HAVOC-like, is always a factor.

The A10 is traditionally a guards' league.  Big men, good big men, have been far and few between.  What you might lose in the height battle might be overcome by athleticism.  My top five are no different than the pundits ... SLU, Dayton, VCU with Mason and Umass challenging.

 

[Billiken Rich]

4 hours ago, ACE said:

Not quite as prestigious as getting a degree from Trump University.

Are you a Phoenix?