2023-2024 Season

[Aquinas]

The 23-24 season starts with a lot of question marks and a lot of new faces:

Here are the current roster with stats:
Returning players:
Gibson Jimerson, Yr. 3, 6’5” 205, Pos 2-3, 34 mpg, 14 pts/game, 46/40/84, Reb 3.5
Sincere Parker Juco, Yr. 3, 6’3” 195, Pos 2-3, 12.5 mpg, 5.9 pts/game, 42/35/87 Reb 2.5
Larry Hughes Jr., Yr 2, 6”4” 175, Pos 1-2-3, 8.7 mpg, 2.5 pts/game, 42/41/53 Reb 1.1
Terrence Hargrove Jr. Yr 4, 6’4” 215, Pos 3,4 Grade C, 20 mpg, 5.9 pts/game, 48/29/74, Reb 3.7
Kellen Thames, Yr.1, 6’5” 200, Pos 1-2-3, High school: 19.2 pts/game,  Reb 7.5     5.6 asst
New Additions:

Michael Meadows, Yr. 4, 6,2’,  Pos 1-2, 11 pts/game, 46,36,89 , 2.2 Assists, 2.7 reb
Tim Dalger, Yr. 4, 6’ 7” 218, Pos 4, Tulsa 24.5 mpg, 10.2 pt/game,  38/35/68 5.2 reb
Bradley Ezewiro,  6’ 8” 246, Pos 4-5 Georgetown 12 mpg 4.3 pts/game, 52/0/58, 3.5 reb
Cian Medley, Yr. 1, 6’, 165, Pos 1, High School: 10.2 ppg, 3.9 asst
Aboubacar Magassa, Yr 1, 6’ 6”, Pos 4-5, France: 24 mpg, 10.8 pts/game, 70/36/65, 5 reb The Wiz says potential difference maker
Bruce Zang, Yr 1, 7’0” 275, Pos 5,
Stef Van Bussel, Yr. 1,  6’ 10” Pos 4-5,
Djordge Curcic, Yr 1,    Pos 2-3, 5.8 Pts/game 31/19/75, 2.8 Reb

What can we expect by position:
Point guard:  Larry Hughes Jr. will get most of the minutes He only averaged 8 minutes per game last year, but showed significant improvement as the season progressed. He played tough on the ball defense, He has had an off season to prepare for this role. He also showed leadership skills last year. I think he may surprise us. Michael Meadows played 29 min/game at Portland and probably will split tie as a 1 and 2 guard. Cian Medley is a pass first freshman point guard. There are similarities to Yuri. He will get minutes.  Beyond those 2, its wide open to speculation. Maybe Thames, Parker or one of the international
2 guard: Sincere Parker will get the most minutes. He can create his own shot and score on all 3 levels. He needs to settle in and figure out when to pass and when shoot. He played some hero ball last year. Hopefully, he will improve his decision making and have a good year. He has the potential to lead the team in scoring.  Meadows Hughes give us depth and flexibility
3 guard: Gibson Jimerson. Our best returning player and has raised his game every year. He has an incredibly quick release and moves better than any other player without the ball. He was a big reason Yuri had so many assists. Backup 2-3 guards Kellen Thames who sat last year with an injury and TJ Hargrove. TJ can back up the 3 position, brings a lot of energy and with the right matchup can impact a game. It’s possible Djordge  Curcic could work his way in.

Overall, I like our 3 starting guards of Hughes, Parker, Jimerson, with Meadows and TJ coming off of the bench Meadows may play his way into more than a backup role.

Power Forward: Tim Dalger will likely take the lead here. He averaged 24 min per game at Tulsa and 10 points along with 5 rebounds. Hopefully he can improve those rebounding numbers. At 6’7”, 218 #s, he is bigger than the 4s we played last year. IF Bradley Ezewiro from Georgetown is eligible to play will also get significant minutes and at 6’8” 246 #s he will be a load. Some on the board have TJ plugged in here. I don’t see TJ as a forward. He had all of the opportunity in the world to lock it up last year, but didn’t He just isn’t big enough and doesn’t have the Goodwin rebounding instincts.  Another international question mark is Aboubacar Magassa. I am unclear on just how big he is but it appears that he is a forward. The Wiz ran the numbers on him and said he could be a difference maker.

Center Big international question marks. Bruce Zang 7 footer at 275 pounds from China with almost no info and no idea what to expect. At that size he should be able to disrupt teams that want to go inside but, who knows. Then there is 6’10” Stef Van Bussel, the Dunking Dutchman. No idea how long it will take him to adjust to div 1.

Ford and his staff have their hands full. There are a lot of new players and a lot who have never played Div 1. Just getting everyone to figure out where they are supposed to be on offense and defense will take time. There will be a lot of mistakes and the start will be rough. Other than Jimerson, we are asking guys to take big jumps in minutes per game. This season, factoring the graduation of Covid extensions and the portal, there are a lot of Div 1 teams with heavy turnover.  

How good will the Billikens be this year? The goal is to get better every game and be good enough by the end of the season to win the A10 tournament. A lot of things have to go right for that to happen. At least one of our international bigs, has to be a real player by tournament time.

[VeniceMenace]

2 hours ago, Aquinas said:

The 23-24 season starts with a lot of question marks and a lot of new faces:

Here are the current roster with stats:
Returning players:
Gibson Jimerson, Yr. 3, 6’5” 205, Pos 2-3, 34 mpg, 14 pts/game, 46/40/84, Reb 3.5
Sincere Parker Juco, Yr. 3, 6’3” 195, Pos 2-3, 12.5 mpg, 5.9 pts/game, 42/35/87 Reb 2.5
Larry Hughes Jr., Yr 2, 6”4” 175, Pos 1-2-3, 8.7 mpg, 2.5 pts/game, 42/41/53 Reb 1.1
Terrence Hargrove Jr. Yr 4, 6’4” 215, Pos 3,4 Grade C, 20 mpg, 5.9 pts/game, 48/29/74, Reb 3.7
Kellen Thames, Yr.1, 6’5” 200, Pos 1-2-3, High school: 19.2 pts/game,  Reb 7.5     5.6 asst
New Additions:

Michael Meadows, Yr. 4, 6,2’,  Pos 1-2, 11 pts/game, 46,36,89 , 2.2 Assists, 2.7 reb
Tim Dalger, Yr. 4, 6’ 7” 218, Pos 4, Tulsa 24.5 mpg, 10.2 pt/game,  38/35/68 5.2 reb
Bradley Ezewiro,  6’ 8” 246, Pos 4-5 Georgetown 12 mpg 4.3 pts/game, 52/0/58, 3.5 reb
Cian Medley, Yr. 1, 6’, 165, Pos 1, High School: 10.2 ppg, 3.9 asst
Aboubacar Magassa, Yr 1, 6’ 6”, Pos 4-5, France: 24 mpg, 10.8 pts/game, 70/36/65, 5 reb The Wiz says potential difference maker
Bruce Zang, Yr 1, 7’0” 275, Pos 5,
Stef Van Bussel, Yr. 1,  6’ 10” Pos 4-5,
Djordge Curcic, Yr 1,    Pos 2-3, 5.8 Pts/game 31/19/75, 2.8 Reb

What can we expect by position:
Point guard:  Larry Hughes Jr. will get most of the minutes He only averaged 8 minutes per game last year, but showed significant improvement as the season progressed. He played tough on the ball defense, He has had an off season to prepare for this role. He also showed leadership skills last year. I think he may surprise us. Michael Meadows played 29 min/game at Portland and probably will split tie as a 1 and 2 guard. Cian Medley is a pass first freshman point guard. There are similarities to Yuri. He will get minutes.  Beyond those 2, its wide open to speculation. Maybe Thames, Parker or one of the international
2 guard: Sincere Parker will get the most minutes. He can create his own shot and score on all 3 levels. He needs to settle in and figure out when to pass and when shoot. He played some hero ball last year. Hopefully, he will improve his decision making and have a good year. He has the potential to lead the team in scoring.  Meadows Hughes give us depth and flexibility
3 guard: Gibson Jimerson. Our best returning player and has raised his game every year. He has an incredibly quick release and moves better than any other player without the ball. He was a big reason Yuri had so many assists. Backup 2-3 guards Kellen Thames who sat last year with an injury and TJ Hargrove. TJ can back up the 3 position, brings a lot of energy and with the right matchup can impact a game. It’s possible Djordge  Curcic could work his way in.

Overall, I like our 3 starting guards of Hughes, Parker, Jimerson, with Meadows and TJ coming off of the bench Meadows may play his way into more than a backup role.

Power Forward: Tim Dalger will likely take the lead here. He averaged 24 min per game at Tulsa and 10 points along with 5 rebounds. Hopefully he can improve those rebounding numbers. At 6’7”, 218 #s, he is bigger than the 4s we played last year. IF Bradley Ezewiro from Georgetown is eligible to play will also get significant minutes and at 6’8” 246 #s he will be a load. Some on the board have TJ plugged in here. I don’t see TJ as a forward. He had all of the opportunity in the world to lock it up last year, but didn’t He just isn’t big enough and doesn’t have the Goodwin rebounding instincts.  Another international question mark is Aboubacar Magassa. I am unclear on just how big he is but it appears that he is a forward. The Wiz ran the numbers on him and said he could be a difference maker.

Center Big international question marks. Bruce Zang 7 footer at 275 pounds from China with almost no info and no idea what to expect. At that size he should be able to disrupt teams that want to go inside but, who knows. Then there is 6’10” Stef Van Bussel, the Dunking Dutchman. No idea how long it will take him to adjust to div 1.

Ford and his staff have their hands full. There are a lot of new players and a lot who have never played Div 1. Just getting everyone to figure out where they are supposed to be on offense and defense will take time. There will be a lot of mistakes and the start will be rough. Other than Jimerson, we are asking guys to take big jumps in minutes per game. This season, factoring the graduation of Covid extensions and the portal, there are a lot of Div 1 teams with heavy turnover.  

How good will the Billikens be this year? The goal is to get better every game and be good enough by the end of the season to win the A10 tournament. A lot of things have to go right for that to happen. At least one of our international bigs, has to be a real player by tournament time.

Believe Thames is now 6-7. expect he’ll receive decent playing time if healthy.

[Dr Bird]

This has been said before, but the "center-by-committee" may fit in well with CF's coaching style.  CF is definitely guard-oriented, and none of the potential centers will expect to be a big part of the offense.  Any 5 (and likely 4) will earn minutes by excelling at defense and rebounding.  

I like the new MM Jr signing.  We are solid at 1, 2, and 3 and I hope we get a pleasant surprise that 1 of the new bigs is more advanced than expected.  We also need a quantum leap from someone (Parker?, Thames?)

We need our 4 (Dalger?, Hargrove? tbd?) to be effective from 3-pt line, forcing opposing teams to go smaller. 

[Aquinas]

I would love to get a report on how our bigs and other new players are doung in practice. It the tine of year for blue koolaid.

[brianstl]

57 minutes ago, Aquinas said:

I would love to get a report on how our bigs and other new players are doung in practice. It the tine of year for blue koolaid.

Zhang’s offensive game, at least, appears to be far more advanced than anyone was expecting.  

[thetorch]

11 hours ago, brianstl said:

Zhang’s offensive game, at least, appears to be far more advanced than anyone was expecting.  

Think Ian 2nd year. 

Defense is the problem. Not D-1 ready.

[thetorch]

On 8/9/2023 at 10:21 PM, VeniceMenace said:

Believe Thames is now 6-7. expect he’ll receive decent playing time if healthy.

Thames is bigger but he's not close to 6'7.

[Aquinas]

What is your projected opening game starting lineup?

[wgstl]

11 minutes ago, Aquinas said:

What is your projected opening game starting lineup?

Meadows, Gibby, Parker, dalger, Bbrad

[Compton]

17 minutes ago, Aquinas said:

What is your projected opening game starting lineup?

Jimerson, Parker, Hargrove, Hughes, Ezewiro (if he's cleared).

[VeniceMenace]

21 hours ago, thetorch said:

Think Ian 2nd year. 

Defense is the problem. Not D-1 ready.

No argument there but when you have a guy who can fill the sheet with points, assists, rebounds and blocks, he’s going to get PT. 

[Taj79]

@VeniceMenace --- under Ford?  Do you think so?  It's going to take a huge chnage in spots for Ford to back off his 'defense first' playing time dictatorship.  But I think he has to adapt in many ways.  Same old same old just won't work.

[HoosierPal]

17 hours ago, Aquinas said:

What is your projected opening game starting lineup?

I'm going with the historical 8 + 2 that Ford has used.  I'm also guessing the +2 will get more PT than normal; ten guys will get double digit minutes. 

Top 8; Jimerson, Parker, Hargrove, Dalger, Zhang, Hughes, Meadows, and Medley

Next 2: Thames and van Bussell

Looking in from the bench; Curcic and Magassa.

Until Ezewiro has a waiver in hand, he is in street clothes at the end of the bench.

Assuming he remains healthy, Jimerson leads the team in minutes at 32 to 35 mpg.  Parker's minutes will more than double from last season, and Hargrove will get more minutes than the consensus of this board wants.

On another note; Ford has commented that he is seeing Jimerson and Hargrove step up as leaders.  

[RiseOfTheBillikens]

3 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

I'm going with the historical 8 + 2 that Ford has used.  I'm also guessing the +2 will get more PT than normal; ten guys will get double digit minutes. 

Top 8; Jimerson, Parker, Hargrove, Dalger, Zhang, Hughes, Meadows, and Medley

Next 2: Thames and van Bussell

Looking in from the bench; Curcic and Magassa.

Until Ezewiro has a waiver in hand, he is in street clothes at the end of the bench.

Assuming he remains healthy, Jimerson leads the team in minutes at 32 to 35 mpg.  Parker's minutes will more than double from last season, and Hargrove will get more minutes than the consensus of this board wants.

On another note; Ford has commented that he is seeing Jimerson and Hargrove step up as leaders.  

Ezewiro not getting a waiver is going to kill us. We are gonna get murdered in the paint every game. 

[HoosierPal]

1 hour ago, RiseOfTheBillikens said:

Ezewiro not getting a waiver is going to kill us. We are gonna get murdered in the paint every game. 

I was intrigued by Ezewiro's comment that a reason he signed with SLU was that he wasn't going to have to play with his back to the basket like he had in the past.  He was going to be at the top of the key. 

I assume on defense he would be guarding the paint?  Maybe we get to figure his statement out this season, or maybe not.

[WVBilliken]

5 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

I'm going with the historical 8 + 2 that Ford has used.  I'm also guessing the +2 will get more PT than normal; ten guys will get double digit minutes. 

Top 8; Jimerson, Parker, Hargrove, Dalger, Zhang, Hughes, Meadows, and Medley

Next 2: Thames and van Bussell

Looking in from the bench; Curcic and Magassa.

Until Ezewiro has a waiver in hand, he is in street clothes at the end of the bench.

Assuming he remains healthy, Jimerson leads the team in minutes at 32 to 35 mpg.  Parker's minutes will more than double from last season, and Hargrove will get more minutes than the consensus of this board wants.

On another note; Ford has commented that he is seeing Jimerson and Hargrove step up as leaders.  

Well ..... who plays, who's in the rotation?

Seems once you get past Jimerson, Parker, Hughes, Hargrove and maybe Dalger and Meadows .... it's pure unadulterated speculation.

But assuming Ezewiro is out the year both Zhang and van Bussel play.  If Magassa is closer to 6'9" than 6'6" (who knows?)  then he's in the mix for minutes as the " big" on the floor.  

Thames seems to be somewhat of a mystery.  Is he a 2 guard as Ford hinted at last pre-season or has he "grown" into the small forward/guard to back up Jimerson and perhaps Hargrove?  PLEASE don't have Hargrove as a 4, he can't do it.

Got to have a backup point guard.  So seems Medley and perhaps Curcic compete for those minutes unless a committee of Parker, Thames and Meadows can handle the point.  Doubt that though.  Medley likely the guy.

 

[SLUMS81]

5 hours ago, Taj79 said:

@VeniceMenace --- under Ford?  Do you think so?  It's going to take a huge chnage in spots for Ford to back off his 'defense first' playing time dictatorship.  But I think he has to adapt in many ways.  Same old same old just won't work.

A couple of years back I texted a question to one of the TF-Rammer radio shows.  

I asked TF whether it was easier for him to teach a scorer to play defense, or to teach a defensive specialist to be a scorer.

His answer was basically that scorers are born, not made and that only a small percentage of defensive specialists can be coached into becoming significant scorers.   He then said that in the same way, it is difficult to convert a natural scorer into a strong defender.

Our problem last year was defense, not offense.  Our traditional home court advantage was neutralized by our lack of defensive intensity.

 

[3star_recruit]

1 hour ago, SLUMS81 said:

A couple of years back I texted a question to one of the TF-Rammer radio shows.  

I asked TF whether it was easier for him to teach a scorer to play defense, or to teach a defensive specialist to be a scorer.

His answer was basically that scorers are born, not made and that only a small percentage of defensive specialists can be coached into becoming significant scorers.   He then said that in the same way, it is difficult to convert a natural scorer into a strong defender.

Our problem last year was defense, not offense.  Our traditional home court advantage was neutralized by our lack of defensive intensity.

 

I never could figure out why our defense dipped so significantly last year, even before Fred went down.  We brought back the same core 4 players, added Perkins,  replaced Nesbitt with Pickett and replaced Linssen with Forrester.  That seems like a minor defensive downgrade to me, not a major one.

[Aquinas]

13 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

I never could figure out why our defense dipped so significantly last year, even before Fred went down.  We brought back the same core 4 players, added Perkins,  replaced Nesbitt with Pickett and replaced Linssen with Forrester.  That seems like a minor defensive downgrade to me, not a major one.

Well our bigs were typically in foul troublle, Perkins played protect the knee defense and we were undersized at the 4.

[Taj79]

There isn't a true center in the conference.  Holmes is a power four.  Venning is a real four who may be their center and Quinn at Richmond is somewhat slight of build.  Outside of those, the real big dudes will be slashers more than immovable objects this year.

[WVBilliken]

Kind of sounds like Ezewiro's case .... expecting a no.  https://westvirginia.rivals.com/news/what-s-next-for-west-virginia-after-silverio-waiver-denial-https://wvmetronews.com/2023/08/10/silverios-waiver-request-denied-by-ncaa/

[HoosierPal]

20 hours ago, WVBilliken said:

Kind of sounds like Ezewiro's case .... expecting a no.  https://westvirginia.rivals.com/news/what-s-next-for-west-virginia-after-silverio-waiver-denial-https://wvmetronews.com/2023/08/10/silverios-waiver-request-denied-by-ncaa/

This is beyond bizarre.  Looks like his NIL deal was tied to pay for play, if he is forfeiting it.  And nothing in the write-up about continuing his education and obtaining a degree. 

 

[Lord Elrond]

 

40 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

This is beyond bizarre.  Looks like his NIL deal was tied to pay for play, if he is forfeiting it.  And nothing in the write-up about continuing his education and obtaining a degree. 

 

The one difference I can see is that Silverio had only 1 year of eligibility left, Ezewiro had 2, so if Ezewiro is denied this year, he still has a year next year. The NIL for Silverio confuses me, NIL is NOT supposed to be tied to pay for play ever, so he should still get it theoretically. What we are seeing is the reality, all this NIL stuff is nothing but pay for play.

[HoosierPal]

20 minutes ago, Lord Elrond said:

 

The one difference I can see is that Silverio had only 1 year of eligibility left, Ezewiro had 2, so if Ezewiro is denied this year, he still has a year next year. The NIL for Silverio confuses me, NIL is NOT supposed to be tied to pay for play ever, so he should still get it theoretically. What we are seeing is the reality, all this NIL stuff is nothing but pay for play.

I believe if Ezewiro is denied, he simply sits out this season and has two to play starting 24-25. I don’t know why Silverio can’t simply sit out this season and play the following. 

[Taj79]

Go Fund Me?  When I was in school, that meant ---- graduate, with a degree, and slum for a real job.  Now they want free room, free board, free education, extra money and then, if anything goes awry, they want money for that free money too.  No sorry here.