The Bills and Dav EVEN

[SLUMS81]

In the current offense, GJ has to run his ass off just to get the ball in his hands.  He then tries to get a contested 3 point shot off, often from extra long range.  When he gets open 3 point looks (like Davidson was getting  all night), he is very effective.

Unless and until the rest of the team wakes up on offense, this is what we have and what every opponent will expect.

[billikenbill]

9 hours ago, Soderball said:

Ezewiro has zero conditioning. At one point in the 2nd half of the Davidson he was literally walking around on the court. We had a possession where we went for a layup before BE could even get across the 10 second line.  Ford started taking him off the offensive free throw rebounds to keep him from having to run the floor. Sometimes he appears to be arguing with Ford when Ford wants to put him back in the game. Sometimes Ezewiro looks like he's not even going to make it to the bench. It's bad stuff. I think Jerry Pollard might be in better conditioning than Brad is at this point.

He literally has the worst conditioning and stamina of any athlete in any sport and at any level that i have ever seen in my entire life. Big Cozy looks like an olympic sprinter compared to where Ezewiro is at. I don't know if it's a health issue or what but Ezewiro is just exhausted and gassed after about 15 minutes of play. Honestly watching a young man struggle to move up and down the floor like that, while being a pro athlete, suggests it might be a health problem, that is pure conjecture based on nothing.. however watching a guy be gassed like that is not normal.

 

That said when he is on he is pretty good. Best big you've ever seen? Man you haven't been watching for long then. Voyoukas and Heinrich and Loe and Willie Reed especially were much better. Did you miss watching Willie Reed?

Anthony Bonner? Ezewiro is listed 6' 9" .. AB is 6' 8" .. AB played 133 games and AVERAGED 15 pts and 11 rebs per game through all of those. He did that against Memphis, Louisville, Cincinnati, etc. game in and game out. AB was a first round NBA draft pick. You think Ezewiro is a first round NBA draft pick?

 

What team have you been watching because it wasn't the SLU billikens.

 

Jimerson has an incredible 3pt% for his career. Among the best. He is a trash athlete and has no speed whatsoever and can't defend however. He's mildly better than Lisch for career(39.5 for KL and 40.2 for GJ) however look at their other stats, rebounds and so on.. Jimerson is way, way behind. Jimerson literally just shoots. Look at his career stats; few fouls, few rebounds, few anything. Just shots. Lisch has the kind of stats that reflect a combo SG/PG who not only made shots but handled the ball and played defense against quality offensive players. You're right that Jimerson is overrated by us due to the roster compositions he's played with, but he is a very good 3pt shooter, if someone is giving him the ball(Miss YC yet?)

 

Your statement about LOFT is true but you overestimate this teams talent still. This recruiting class, for THIS year, is the worst since Jim Crews and ranks among the worst 5 in Billiken history. Ekker could not manage to bring in players as bad as Ford has this year. Dalger, Ezewiro, Zhang, Curcic, Bussel, Magassa. What a failure.

I said last 25 years so Bonner isn’t in the equation. Have been following the Bills really since the Gray/Douglass years but had no access to watch or even listen to the games much. Wasn’t until I could catch Rammer and Earl online starting in ‘08 that I could begin to figure out what was really going on.
 

Eziwero has a higher ceiling than Reed from a talent standpoint, whether he can get his conditioning up to speed remains to be seen.

[willie]

42 minutes ago, billikenbill said:

I said last 25 years so Bonner isn’t in the equation. Have been following the Bills really since the Gray/Douglass years but had no access to watch or even listen to the games much. Wasn’t until I could catch Rammer and Earl online starting in ‘08 that I could begin to figure out what was really going on.
 

Eziwero has a higher ceiling than Reed from a talent standpoint, whether he can get his conditioning up to speed remains to be seen.

I certainly don't agree on your Reed statement. Reed brought what this team totally misses. A shot blocking rim protecter. The main reason this team sucks defensively is we have no one who protects the rim. People drive on us and we have to help leaving wide open threes. Reed would be in the NBA if it weren't for his issues. 

[OkieBilliken]

Reed was a stud.  It's a shame he got in his own way.  He could have been one of our all-time best.  

[thetorch]

Reed isn't playing because of a heart condition but is doing some good things. 

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/01/05/former-nba-player-willie-reed-tours-northern-alaska-villages/

https://www.adn.com/arctic-sounder/2023/12/05/recent-nba-player-visits-more-northwest-alaska-villages-and-opens-up-about-personal-challenges/

Ezewiro is putting up OK numbers as a 3rd year college player.

Reed didn't play his 3rd year. His Sr year he was in the G league averaging 15/8/3.

Any comparison is ridiculous. EZ has talent, but c'mon Reed coming back would have been the top center in a deep A10 and a top 10 big man in the country at the same age EZ is now.

 

[wgstl]

12 hours ago, billikenbill said:

I said last 25 years so Bonner isn’t in the equation. Have been following the Bills really since the Gray/Douglass years but had no access to watch or even listen to the games much. Wasn’t until I could catch Rammer and Earl online starting in ‘08 that I could begin to figure out what was really going on.
 

Eziwero has a higher ceiling than Reed from a talent standpoint, whether he can get his conditioning up to speed remains to be seen.

Willie played in the nba. Brad is decent .

[The Don]

9 hours ago, thetorch said:

Reed isn't playing because of a heart condition but is doing some good things. 

https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2024/01/05/former-nba-player-willie-reed-tours-northern-alaska-villages/

https://www.adn.com/arctic-sounder/2023/12/05/recent-nba-player-visits-more-northwest-alaska-villages-and-opens-up-about-personal-challenges/

Ezewiro is putting up OK numbers as a 3rd year college player.

Reed didn't play his 3rd year. His Sr year he was in the G league averaging 15/8/3.

Any comparison is ridiculous. EZ has talent, but c'mon Reed coming back would have been the top center in a deep A10 and a top 10 big man in the country at the same age EZ is now.

 

This is great. Had no idea on Willie. Great talent. Had challenges. Really great story. Thanks Torch. 
 

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - It’s been some since former No. 1 NBA G League draft pick Willie Reed Jr. was back on an NBA roster. And while Reed is still working his way back to the Association, he has not forgotten the little things.

The former Saint Louis Billiken returned to the Last Frontier in November alongside Team Hollywood Celebrity Streetball (THCS), a sports mentoring program made up of current and former professional athletes, to continue his tour around Alaska’s northern villages.

Reed spent a week in Kotzebue touring schools and conducting team-building activities with audiences that couldn’t wait to meet one of the pro’s.

“Just being able to spend time with everyone in the villages has been amazing,” said Reed at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport before catching a flight to Kotzebue. “We talk a lot about what it’s like to live in the professional life, you know, what it was like for me growing up as well. We talk a lot about being able to stay away from drugs, being able to stay away from alcohol and those aggressive things and just being able to lead kids in the right direction.”

Reed, 33, who is from Kansas City, Missouri, said he started to learn about Alaska through former Bartlett High School and Miami Heat player, Mario Chalmers.

“[Chalmers] trains with a good friend of mine, [professional trainer] Stan Remy, so we get to see each other in the summertime, so just talking about Alaska,” Reed said.

But it was THCS’s Peter Adams who placed down the final piece of the puzzle to get Reed in front of Alaskan youth.

“When he asked me to come out here and be a part of this, you know, it went right in line with my no excuses [philosophy] and it just seemed like it was right where I’m supposed to be,” Reed said.

“No excuses” is a phrase so instrumental to Reed that it was written across the front of his black hoodie while speaking with Alaska’s News Source in November. It’s a motto many have come to live by, and for Reed, has become a lasting message.

“No matter your situation, your circumstance, you can be whatever it is that you want to be. You just can’t give up on yourself,” Reed said. “You know, you might be born into a certain situation, but that doesn’t determine what you’re going to be in your future. So, what you make of that is going to be simply up to you.”

[Soderball]

On 1/26/2024 at 10:56 AM, billikenbill said:

I said last 25 years so Bonner isn’t in the equation. Have been following the Bills really since the Gray/Douglass years but had no access to watch or even listen to the games much. Wasn’t until I could catch Rammer and Earl online starting in ‘08 that I could begin to figure out what was really going on.
 

Eziwero has a higher ceiling than Reed from a talent standpoint, whether he can get his conditioning up to speed remains to be seen.

In what universe does Ezewiro have a higher ceiling than Reed? Reed was literally 2 inches taller than Ezewiro at least

 He literally has a higher ceiling.

 

My dad's had season Tix since '74 and missed maybe 10 home games since then, he agreed with this assessment. I've been going since the 90s. Been to a  bunch of road games too. I appreciate and respect your chops but have to disagree on this one.

Ezewiro can play but he is the only guy amongst a really abysmal team devoid of talent. I rank him with junior year Franko and Forrester. Ezewiro can't play defense, is relatively slow, can't run.. he's strong on what may be the softest team in the country aside from him. His stats are inflated due to no other options. That said he can play when he's on the court. Might be the only D1 talent we recruited this year, and he can't even be under the basket for rebounds due to being tired.