2023-2024 Roster and Schedule

[wgstl]

Ford has a ton of success with freshman PGs, hoping Cian follows that up. 

[Young Charles]

I don't know if anyone watched that Highschool Final 4 that Cian played in, but I was quite impressed with his game all around, pushed the ball up the floor quick, good handles, range - 15 footers to deep 3 balls, and driving ability (quick first step - the college tree tops may take an adjustment period.) I wouldn't be surprised if he sees some decent minutes this year. 

[billiken_roy]

slufan13 and wgstl, just curious when you saw medley play and what about that viewing(s) impressed you so much compared to young hughes?   thanks in advance for the insight.

[wgstl]

2 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

slufan13 and wgstl, just curious when you saw medley play and what about that viewing(s) impressed you so much compared to young hughes?   thanks in advance for the insight.

LHJ can do a little of everything which is why I'm excited about his future, but he's more of a shooter/scorer than a ball handler/passer. He'll be a great option alongside Cian or any other PG against a full court press. Cian played a national schedule this year and looked great in the games I watched.  I mean, Yuri is like the best comparison. Hes a quick, pass happy PG that takes care of the ball. As excited as I am, I'll always be cautious about counting on players as frosh. 

[TheChosenOne]

1 hour ago, slufan13 said:

I may be in the minority here but I actually might have more faith in Medley at the PG than LHJ. But I think both will be serviceable and both will give us a different look than Yuri did. 

I have a tough time understanding how anyone could feel confident in Hughes playing the point (I can understand folks being confident in him in general, but specifically to running the point). Obviously he can and will certainly improve, but his game has never been that of a lead guard.

[wgstl]

8 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I have a tough time understanding how anyone could feel confident in Hughes playing the point (I can understand folks being confident in him in general, but specifically to running the point). Obviously he can and will certainly improve, but his game has never been that of a lead guard.

I have a feeling Sr could help him develop into a suitable PG...

[billiken_roy]

42 minutes ago, wgstl said:

LHJ can do a little of everything which is why I'm excited about his future, but he's more of a shooter/scorer than a ball handler/passer. He'll be a great option alongside Cian or any other PG against a full court press. Cian played a national schedule this year and looked great in the games I watched.  I mean, Yuri is like the best comparison. Hes a quick, pass happy PG that takes care of the ball. As excited as I am, I'll always be cautious about counting on players as frosh. 

you do remember young hughes carried cbc to a state championship his senior year and was named player of he tourney right?   i.e. what you saw cian do was against a lower level of competition than he will see in college.   young hughes was pretty impressive once he started getting more time.   

i hope you are right and cian is worthy of big minutes, but honestly, i am not expecting that.   it isnt typically fordlike with his freshmen. 

[billiken_roy]

30 minutes ago, TheChosenOne said:

I have a tough time understanding how anyone could feel confident in Hughes playing the point (I can understand folks being confident in him in general, but specifically to running the point). Obviously he can and will certainly improve, but his game has never been that of a lead guard.

chosen, be careful your cbc hatred is showing.  

[johnbj14]

6 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

you do remember young hughes carried cbc to a state championship his senior year and was named player of he tourney right?   i.e. what you saw cian do was against a lower level of competition than he will see in college.   young hughes was pretty impressive once he started getting more time.   

i hope you are right and cian is worthy of big minutes, but honestly, i am not expecting that.   it isnt typically fordlike with his freshmen. 

Don’t really have a dog in this fight, but do want to point out Cian played a national schedule his junior and senior years, and the average opponent he faced off against were more often D1 than what LHJ faced off against in MO. From interviews, it sounds like the staff doesn’t want to force Cian into too much, too soon. More likely than not, it’ll be a combo of both guys, and not one player getting 30 MPG at the 1. 

[billiken_roy]

and take wagner off his team, would the results look the same?   are you giving cian credit for wagner?

i hope you are right.   i want cian to be a star.  i just dont think it will happen right away.  

[Young Charles]

21 minutes ago, billiken_roy said:

and take wagner off his team, would the results look the same?   are you giving cian credit for wagner?

i hope you are right.   i want cian to be a star.  i just dont think it will happen right away.  

Just some background, the game I watched on Cian, he played against Carlos Boozers son, Cameron Boozer who is the #1 recruit in the nation per 24/7 Sports. It was high school ball but it was high level, still no guarantee of a good transition to college but...

[Cowboy II]

-I have a reminder in my calendar that pops every week that reminds me of how I fell for the hype directed at last season and not to allow that to happen again - I will not get burned going into this season 

[wgstl]

1 hour ago, billiken_roy said:

 hope you are right and cian is worthy of big minutes, but honestly, i am not expecting that.   it isnt typically fordlike with his freshmen. 

Oh no, never said that. I’d love to pick up a starting PG. But I know with how late we are, not gonna happen

[TheChosenOne]

2 hours ago, billiken_roy said:

chosen, be careful your cbc hatred is showing.  

Haha, that’s fair Roy haha! I just don’t see him as a point guard, I want that to be clear. I liked what he brought as a freshman and will bring to the team going forward, I just don’t see him being the lead guard. And as just a freshman that could certainly change as he continues to work on and improve his game. I personally think too often guys try to play the point who aren’t really point guards and it tends to negatively affect their overall impact on the game.

[dlarry]

4 hours ago, Young Charles said:

I don't know if anyone watched that Highschool Final 4 that Cian played in, but I was quite impressed with his game all around, pushed the ball up the floor quick, good handles, range - 15 footers to deep 3 balls, and driving ability (quick first step - the college tree tops may take an adjustment period.) I wouldn't be surprised if he sees some decent minutes this year. 

 

He better earn some decent minutes considering he is the only true PG on the roster right now.

[slufan13]

If Hughes and Medley try to play PG like Yuri did, they're going to struggle. If they play it more like a McCall/Jett/Mitchell type approach (yes I know they aren't as good), I think they're going to have success. Or even like a Deandre Jones. Just take care of the ball and let the scorers score

[billikenfan05]

3 hours ago, slufan13 said:

If Hughes and Medley try to play PG like Yuri did, they're going to struggle. If they play it more like a McCall/Jett/Mitchell type approach (yes I know they aren't as good), I think they're going to have success. Or even like a Deandre Jones. Just take care of the ball and let the scorers score

To be fair, I'm not sure Hughes and Medley are that far off from Mitchell, McCall and Jett at the same age. 

[ACE]

21 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

To be fair, I'm not sure Hughes and Medley are that far off from Mitchell, McCall and Jett at the same age. 

There were three ballhandlers on those teams and even a solid 4th one in some of these years with KC. Problem is now, this team only has two players who can reliably handle the ball and one of them is a freshman.

[slufan13]

1 hour ago, billikenfan05 said:

To be fair, I'm not sure Hughes and Medley are that far off from Mitchell, McCall and Jett at the same age. 

I'd say they could be on par but probably slightly lower than McCall and Jett. I'd put Mitchell in his own tier. 

[billikenfan05]

52 minutes ago, ACE said:

There were three ballhandlers on those teams and even a solid 4th one in some of these years with KC. Problem is now, this team only has two players who can reliably handle the ball and one of them is a freshman.

I was only really talking about Freshman/Sophomore years. Only way to fairly compare. But I hear you. 

[brianstl]

7 minutes ago, billikenfan05 said:

I was only really talking about Freshman/Sophomore years. Only way to fairly compare. But I hear you. 

As freshmen Mitchell and McCall were pretty damn good.  Mitchell especially.  As a sophomore Mitchell was the starting PG and the leading scorer on a top 100 kenpom team.  He was second team all-conference.  

[almaman]

as I recall all of us luvved all those guys when they were here. Same as Yuri. Now it seems lots of yurihate. will time heal these wounds?

[gobillsgo]

19 hours ago, Cowboy II said:

-I have a reminder in my calendar that pops every week that reminds me of how I fell for the hype directed at last season and not to allow that to happen again - I will not get burned going into this season 

Yep. I think every offseason I bought into whatever the excuse was for the previous year…. Situation 2, Transfers, Injuries, COVID.  The hype each offseason had me convinced that every season was gonna be our breakout season, culminating with the ridiculous hype last offseason.  Even earlier this off-season the Ford hype merchants were doing their thing after Jimerson announced his return… well two weeks later Vice decommitted, followed by Noland a bit later.  Been burned too many times now to believe we will ever take that next step under current coaching.  From now on my mindset is expect extreme mediocrity and be pleasantly surprised by anything more. 

[Pistol]

That 2010-2011 team had Jett, Loe, McCall, Evans as freshmen, sophomores Ellis and Remekun, and juniors Conklin and Cassity - and they won 11 games. We revere the core of this group today as one of the best generations of SLU basketball.

I'm willing to entertain the notion that a young core of Hughes, Medley, Thames, and 1-3 of the incoming bigs could be a solid group in another year or two, maybe even just a year if we can keep Dalger, Parker, and Ezewiro around as the veterans.

With so many question marks, it's a big test for the staff now as we figure out how good they are at development and retention.

[SLUMedBilliken15]

11 minutes ago, Pistol said:

That 2010-2011 team had Jett, Loe, McCall, Evans as freshmen, sophomores Ellis and Remekun, and juniors Conklin and Cassity - and they won 11 games. We revere the core of this group today as one of the best generations of SLU basketball.

Majerus was a genius truly capable of developing players who bought into his system. It is impressive where this group started vs where they ended.