Bruce Zhang

[brianstl]

Just now, Bills By 40 said:

SVB doesn't deserve any minutes outside of absolute desperation time. He's simply not a college basketball player. I'm with @AnkielBreakers - Bruce has legit NBA potential. 

I'm also with @gobillsgo - I don't think Ford can develop a big. 

I do think we have a better chance of keeping players on the roster after a Ford departure than most here seem to think. Why wouldn't these guys want to stick around for interim head coach Corey Tate?

 

Good thing you didn't get to make the call Ian Vouyoukas after seeing him play in his first 3 games.  Ian looked worse than SVB has.  Ian's Billiken career would have been over.  Does that mean SVB is going to be a player?  No, but we as fans haven't scene close to enough of him yet to make that call on a foreign big man.

[Box and Won]

10 minutes ago, brianstl said:

I think Bruce has a much higher ceiling than Heinrich.  Heinrich was a better defensive player than Bruce is right now, but Heinrich never had the natural offensive ability that Bruce has displayed.  Bruce is a better athlete than Heinrich.  That isn't meant as a shot at Heinrich.  Heinrich was a serviceable center on two NCAA tournament teams while playing in a much better conference loaded with  high quality big men.  He would have been an even better if he ever got himself into better shape while he was here and if he could have learned how to stay out of foul trouble.  He ended up playing for over a decade in Europe.  

Remember before we had Conklin Summers we had Heinrich going to big man camp, and for years everyone would ask why our bigs wouldn't just go to the big man camp Heinrich went to and magically transform into better players.

[thatskablamo]

50 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

. 

You take Z to Bull Feathers and I'll take Heinrich to Laclede St. Bar and Grill. Let's see who pulls the most Box.

It’s a damn shame both of those places only exist in our memories. And now I’ve got that damn song from “Cats” stuck in my head. F. 

[dlarry]

I’ve been really impressed with Bruce.
 

I think SVB has looked like 90% of the freshman bugs the Bills have had in the last 45 years. 
 

SVB can go either way.

Bruce is going to be a player!!

[gobillsgo]

I’m not ready to call SVB a total bust.  Yes, the game is too fast for him right now.  That’s to be expected. I like the suggestion of telling him, go in there and defend and rebound. Don’t worry about trying to score.  We need another big body desperately and it sounds like that isn’t gonna be Eze or Magassa this year.  
 

Does anyone know what SVB’s injury was?  I maintain that he shot/dunked exclusively left handed in his highlight video, where he looked like a player. Now he shoots right handed. 

[cheeseman]

Just now, gobillsgo said:

I’m not ready to call SVB a total bust.  Yes, the game is too fast for him right now.  That’s to be expected. I like the suggestion of telling him, go in there and defend and rebound. Don’t worry about trying to score.  We need another big body desperately and it sounds like that isn’t gonna be Eze or Magassa this year.  
 

Does anyone know what SVB’s injury was?  I maintain that he shot/dunked exclusively left handed in his highlight video, where he looked like a player. Now he shoots right handed. 

I thought is was a stress fracture

[TheA_Bomb]

1 minute ago, dlarry said:

I’ve been really impressed with Bruce.
 

I think SVB has looked like 90% of the freshman bugs the Bills have had in the last 45 years. 
 

SVB can go either way.

Bruce is going to be a player!!

SVB vs Ross Varner who ya got?

[Soderball]

1 minute ago, TheA_Bomb said:

SVB vs Ross Varner who ya got?

SVB vs Sekue Barrantine.

[gobillsgo]

1 minute ago, TheA_Bomb said:

SVB vs Ross Varner who ya got?

SVB vs Brett Jolly, who scores first?  Does anyone score?

[TheA_Bomb]

You're all wrong correct answer was Chris Braun or Andrew Latimer.

[billiken_roy]

1 hour ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Heinrich had a double double (10reb 16pts) vs National Championship Team UK in the NCAA Tournament 1998.

I think they look kinda similar except Z has an outside shot so I've heard. 

You take Z to Bull Feathers and I'll take Heinrich to Laclede St. Bar and Grill. Let's see who pulls the most Box.

heinrich was far stronger from day one.   as i stated yesterday, imo bruce's biggest weakness is his physical weakness and fitness.   he needs a hard summer to build himself up and become stronger and more explosive.  he does stuff right.  he has potential imo.   

[billikenbill]

24 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

SVB vs Brett Jolly, who scores first?  Does anyone score?

SVB dominates Jolly plus he’ll make no attempt to shoot beyond 6’.

[billiken_roy]

what i liked about von brussel or whatever his name is, is his energy.   the kid gets in the game and goes all out all over.   what i dont like is in that exuberance, he is falling for fakes like a 4th grader on the playground.  

he is not a good shooter, or at least hasnt shown it yet.  but that might be because he just goes too fast.  i dont think we can make a final judgement yet, but i have my doubts.  he is far far behind a player we can afford to play.   bruce is far ahead of him imo and frankly as much as i detest the hargrove at center experiment, id stick with hargrove over von brussel.

[3star_recruit]

31 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

I’m not ready to call SVB a total bust.  Yes, the game is too fast for him right now.  That’s to be expected. I like the suggestion of telling him, go in there and defend and rebound. Don’t worry about trying to score.  We need another big body desperately and it sounds like that isn’t gonna be Eze or Magassa this year.  
 

Does anyone know what SVB’s injury was?  I maintain that he shot/dunked exclusively left handed in his highlight video, where he looked like a player. Now he shoots right handed. 

Too early to call.  The NCAA is still issuing eligibility rulings on a daily basis.  If we are forced to throw the freshman version of Vouyoukas out there for 20 min a game, the losses will pile up.  I'm willing to wait another 10 days before having to make that decision.

[Billikenbooster]

1 hour ago, brianstl said:

I think Bruce has a much higher ceiling than Heinrich.  Heinrich was a better defensive player than Bruce is right now, but Heinrich never had the natural offensive ability that Bruce has displayed.  Bruce is a better athlete than Heinrich.  That isn't meant as a shot at Heinrich.  Heinrich was a serviceable center on two NCAA tournament teams while playing in a much better conference loaded with  high quality big men.  He would have been an even better if he ever got himself into better shape while he was here and if he could have learned how to stay out of foul trouble.  He ended up playing for over a decade in Europe.  

We beat Illinois with CH as the center.

mhg

[gobillsgo]

13 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Too early to call.  The NCAA is still issuing eligibility rulings on a daily basis.  If we are forced to throw the freshman version of Vouyoukas out there for 20 min a game, the losses will pile up.  I'm willing to wait another 10 days before having to make that decision.

I don’t know if anyone is advocating playing SVB 20 minutes a game. But 5-7 wouldn’t hurt, and just let him get a feel for the game in more than 30 second intervals. 
 

it’s not like the losses aren’t going to pile up anyway, did you see our performances against three mediocre teams this past weekend?  May as well get a better idea of what we have. 

[VeniceMenace]

51 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

SVB vs Brett Jolly, who scores first?  Does anyone score?

SVB vs Pee Wee Leonard. Who ya got?

[3star_recruit]

11 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

I don’t know if anyone is advocating playing SVB 20 minutes a game. But 5-7 wouldn’t hurt, and just let him get a feel for the game in more than 30 second intervals. 
 

it’s not like the losses aren’t going to pile up anyway, did you see our performances against three mediocre teams this past weekend?  May as well get a better idea of what we have. 

Not talking about SVB.  Talking about Bruce.  We all see the long-term potential but he doesn't have the body to deliver yet.  There's no rush to make a decision about his long-term future.  If there's no chance one of the other bigs will be cleared in the near future, then sure, commence the experiment.

[brianstl]

nm

[dlarry]

8 minutes ago, VeniceMenace said:

SVB vs Pee Wee Leonard. Who ya got?

1985 Pee Wee Lenard or Pee Wee Lenard today? 

[brianstl]

29 minutes ago, Billikenbooster said:

We beat Illinois with CH as the center.

mhg

We beat Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Louisville 5 times, Cincinnati 3 times and Marquette 5 times with Heinrich at center.  We beat 4 top 25 teams with Heinrich at center including the #4 ranked team and the #1 ranked team in the country.  Good times.

[slu72]

1 hour ago, wgstl said:

In regards to SVB, If I'm Ford, I tell him don't even worry about taking a shot. You're there to rebound, rebound, and rebound. That's all.  I don't want him overthinking and getting more excited than he heeds to be. once he gets minutes under his belt and becomes more comfortable then lift the restrictions.  Id like for him to use his strength and just eat up a few minutes 

Granted he’s a space eater to clog the inside for drives and shots by bigs. I’d tell him to play tough, ie enforcer style, do we care if he fouls out? Bigs are usually bad from the line. I’d see no more than 5mpg. 

[slu72]

12 minutes ago, 3star_recruit said:

Not talking about SVB.  Talking about Bruce.  We all see the long-term potential but he doesn't have the body to deliver yet.  There's no rush to make a decision about his long-term future.  If there's no chance one of the other bigs will be cleared in the near future, then sure, commence the experiment.

You guys are discounting his frame. He’s not beanpole. When you see him up close he’s not muscle bound but neither is he skinny. Yes, he could add some muscle. Most important is adjusting to the physicality of D1 bigs. He needs to drink some Tiger Blood for aggression. 

[gobillsgo]

6 minutes ago, brianstl said:

We beat Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Louisville 5 times, Cincinnati 3 times and Marquette 4 times with Heinrich at center.  We beat 4 top 25 teams with Heinrich at center including the #4 ranked team and the #1 ranked team in the country.  Good times.

Can barely remember what it feels like to knock off a ranked team.  Longing for the days of beating a good Butler 3x in one season…

[slu72]

1 hour ago, Bills By 40 said:

SVB doesn't deserve any minutes outside of absolute desperation time. He's simply not a college basketball player. I'm with @AnkielBreakers - Bruce has legit NBA potential. 

I'm also with @gobillsgo - I don't think Ford can develop a big. 

I do think we have a better chance of keeping players on the roster after a Ford departure than most here seem to think. Why wouldn't these guys want to stick around for interim head coach Corey Tate?

 

If we’re gonna have an interim HC give it to Harriman. A Rick understudy.