HoosierPal Posted September 18 Posted September 18 Coach was on 101 ESPN this morning on the Opening Drive. https://www.101espn.com/episode/saint-louis-mens-basketball-hc-josh-schertz-2/ His family has settled into their new house, about a 15 minute drive from campus. He hasn't had much time to play pickleball or tennis this summer. Biggest challenge in college sports is now chemistry. In this age you have too many teams with five independent contractors wearing the same jersey. There is a big diference between wearing the same jersey and being a team. He is working on having the team make connections inside the locker room. He was very high on Thames, saying he injects energy into the team. He is working extremely hard in the gym on his game. He is great going downhill and his shot has improved. He can play with the ball in his hands. He said that in the past 2 weeks Thames is as good as anyone in the program. Anya brings great size and is the best rebounder, both offensive and defensive, on the team. Says he can guard Avila and Swope. Super smart coming from the Ivy League. Swope and Avila have a great impact on the team. They both have the vision of what Schertz wants to the court and locker room. Swope can play lead guard position. Schertz "Gibson has blown me away'. None of the three returnee's came to SLU to play for me. But they have been great. Gibson's volume and efficiency are amazing. He isn't a vocal leader but sets the tone on how to play by example. Loves the academics at SLU and Champions Center and Chaifetz. Says they don't lose recruits due to facilities. Dr. Holly Hills, SLURadioBoy, majerus mojo and 4 others 7 Quote
Wendelprof Posted September 18 Posted September 18 I was never "all in" on Coach Ford because I was never convinced he was much more than a great recruiter. It is early on, but I'm quickly going all in on Coach Schertz. He may not be able to achieve everything we'd like, but I think he truly understands what a coach should do: recruit the right kind of kids for SLU, coach them up to the best of the coaches' abilities, and make sure (to the best of one's abilities) they have the chemistry so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I don't know how succesful he'll be on the court at SLU, but I back him, his approach, and his philosophy 100%. Adman, Dr Bird, maverick and 5 others 8 Quote
Dr Bird Posted September 18 Posted September 18 37 minutes ago, HoosierPal said: Coach was on 101 ESPN this morning on the Opening Drive. https://www.101espn.com/shows/the-opening-drive/ 8:15 am. (Look for the recorded podcast later.) His family has settled into their new house, about a 15 minute drive from campus. He hasn't had much time to play pickleball or tennis this summer. Biggest challenge in college sports is now chemistry. In this age you have too many teams with five independent contractors wearing the same jersey. There is a big diference between wearing the same jersey and being a team. He is working on having the team make connections inside the locker room. He was very high on Thames, saying he injects energy into the team. He is working extremely hard in the gym on his game. He is great going downhill and his shot has improved. He can play with the ball in his hands. He said that in the past 2 weeks Thames is as good as anyone in the program. Anya brings great size and is the best rebounder, both offensive and defensive, on the team. Says he can guard Avila and Swope. Super smart coming from the Ivy League. Swope and Avila have a great impact on the team. They both have the vision of what Schertz wants to the court and locker room. Swope can play lead guard position. Schertz "Gibson has blown me away'. None of the three returnee's came to SLU to play for me. But they have been great. Gibson's volume and efficiency are amazing. He isn't a vocal leader but sets the tone on how to play by example. Loves the academics at SLU and Champions Center and Chaifetz. Says they don't lose recruits due to facilities. Good summary, thanks! I listened as well. Coach Schertz just gets it. He comes across as sincere and someone guys will love to play for. Notable that the topic of NIL didn't come up once. I think Billiken basketball is in a really good place now. BLIKNS 1 Quote
HoosierPal Posted September 18 Author Posted September 18 2 hours ago, Dr Bird said: Good summary, thanks! I listened as well. Coach Schertz just gets it. He comes across as sincere and someone guys will love to play for. Notable that the topic of NIL didn't come up once. I think Billiken basketball is in a really good place now. He didn't mention NIL directly, but his comment on "five independent contractors wearing the same jersey" was pretty indicative of his thoughts on NIL. You add that to his comments on paying freshmen in the recent PD article and you can imagine where NIL is at SLU. Quote
Aquinas Posted September 18 Posted September 18 Big NIL bucks guarantees nothing. I stated in the NIL thread that the University of Florida is number 4 in NIL money at over 700 million, but the football team is a disaster. You have to have NIL bucks to get players, but turning players into a team may be even a bigger challenge than getting the NIL donations. Right now, I don't think UF knows what to do. Coach Shertz is focused on turning these players into a team and outlined how hard that is in year one and how hard it is to recruit year one. Whether you refer to players as independent contractors or guys that want to play hero ball, Schertz has identified the big problem in this new era of NIL college sports. His style of game requires team play, his recruiting targets are team oriented players and its just the way he is wired. Now every coach wants team oriented players, but not many have the discipline to make it a top priority. I think Schertz does. Quote
slu72 Posted September 18 Posted September 18 Good posts. The real test for any coach these days is getting 13 individuals to play as 1. NIL $’s will not only impact who you can afford but also keeping your players focused on team goals rather than focusing on how their individual numbers may impact their value in the portal. Quote
Old guy Posted September 18 Posted September 18 2 hours ago, Aquinas said: Big NIL bucks guarantees nothing. I stated in the NIL thread that the University of Florida is number 4 in NIL money at over 700 million, but the football team is a disaster. You have to have NIL bucks to get players, but turning players into a team may be even a bigger challenge than getting the NIL donations. Right now, I don't think UF knows what to do. Coach Shertz is focused on turning these players into a team and outlined how hard that is in year one and how hard it is to recruit year one. Whether you refer to players as independent contractors or guys that want to play hero ball, Schertz has identified the big problem in this new era of NIL college sports. His style of game requires team play, his recruiting targets are team oriented players and its just the way he is wired. Now every coach wants team oriented players, but not many have the discipline to make it a top priority. I think Schertz does. Some things cannot be valued in terms of money. This should be clear to everybody. Shertz's comment about the "5 independent contractors with the same jersey" could not be more true. A really good team should play well together and as a unit, not as a group of rich players each trying to increase their take the following year. HoosierPal 1 Quote
TheChosenOne Posted September 19 Posted September 19 @Aquinaswhat are you saying the $700 million represents for Florida? Quote
Aquinas Posted September 19 Posted September 19 1 hour ago, TheChosenOne said: @Aquinaswhat are you saying the $700 million represents for Florida? 247 lists UF at 763 million in NIL. One donor gave 22.5 million. These are total cumulative donations. TheChosenOne 1 Quote
Taj79 Posted September 19 Posted September 19 Don't you think that if it were as simple as having the biggest payroll or the biggest pot of money, the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Cowboys and Redskins would have been invincible these last few decades? Quote
Old guy Posted September 19 Posted September 19 2 hours ago, Taj79 said: Don't you think that if it were as simple as having the biggest payroll or the biggest pot of money, the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Cowboys and Redskins would have been invincible these last few decades? Yes and no. A lot of money does help, but it is not all there is to it for winning a championship. Money will certainly not help if your team becomes a bunch of independent contractors wearing the same jersey, as Schertz described. Quote
Billiken Rich Posted September 19 Posted September 19 4 hours ago, Taj79 said: Don't you think that if it were as simple as having the biggest payroll or the biggest pot of money, the Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Cowboys and Redskins would have been invincible these last few decades? If it weren't for the salary cap my Cowboys would.......would.....still probably suck with JJ at the helm.......but the preseason hype would be even more unbearable..... Quote
Popular Post HoosierPal Posted September 29 Author Popular Post Posted September 29 Sept 29 interview on KMOX (look for the segment link later today on KMOX Sports on a Sunday Morning.) As Stu reported, Avila looks like he has a Grade 2 lateral sprain. Two to 4 weeks recovery time is normal. Could be back in the last exhibition game, if it goes well. You can't bubble wrap these guys and keep them on the shelf. If you are worried about injuries, you are more apt to get hurt. You have to build body armor in preseason practices and exhibitions. We have had concussions and rib injuries in practice. Casey is out a week to 10 days with hamstring strain. Best way to prepare is go full speed and hit bodies. Robbie earlier missed 10 days with a back flare up. Swope missed a couple weeks earlier with a swollen knee. This gives Kalu and Kilian and AJ, when he is back, opportunity at the Trigger. Only issue with Robbie will be any rust buildup. Got to have people ready to step up. Jimerson is a dream to coach. 'Couldn't find anyone who is more of a pleasure to coach that I didn't recruit.' Same with Hughes and Thames. Thinks Gibson is on top end of the shooters he has coached at any location. He can shoot off the move, great range; he is perfect for the system. Jimerson models what Coach wants to build. When you come in and have guys you didn't recruit, it can go two ways. It is going the right way. Kellen is dealing with a little bit of an achilles issue. He missed a few days. He was limited in the scrimmage. Thrilled Thames received his medical waiver. Larry has bought into the system. Competing well defensively. High level shooter along with Robbie, Gibson and Isaiah. Learning how to play without the ball. Trying to do things to impact the game other than shooting. Becoming more of a two way player. Jimerson said Swope is the quickest player and most explosive player he has played with or against. Max Pikaar's potential is through roof. He can slide his feet. He is just scratching the surface. Coach doesn't know when it will come together for him. He obviously needs to develop physically. Has to figure out cutting. He is a 6'11" target. Got to continue discovering the team all season. When the season starts, the rotation and starters are not set in stone. At ISU he didn't make much change last season. The year before he made several changes during the season. Three or four of the starters changed out. Late Sunday Edit. Here is the link: https://www.audacy.com/podcast/sports-on-a-sunday-morning-2f4a4/episodes/billikens-basketball-update-coach-josh-schertz-on-robbie-avilas-injury-and-team-progression-894c7 TheChosenOne, BuiltFordBills, shempie and 12 others 15 Quote
Popular Post HoosierPal Posted October 13 Author Popular Post Posted October 13 Larry Jr. on KMOX this morning. Enjoys Coach Schertz who sees the game differently than Jr has ever experienced. Defense is a big part of the new package. Jr wants to start but willing to do his part on the team. A good test for Jr. with Friday's exhibition with Rockhurst. Different conditioning experience. Schertz isn't a yeller like most of his previous coaches in high school and college. Schertz is big on the mental side of the game and life lessons in general. Jr loves playing in St. Louis in front of his family. Being a good shooter is helping him see floor time. Swope is a lot of fun to watch and play with. Great ball handler. Avila is the 'unicorn' on this team. He can do it all, and should be back soon. Goal is to finish at the top and in the tourney. Larry Hughes Jr is a very well spoken individual. Aquinas, Dr. Holly Hills, CenHudDude and 7 others 10 Quote
HoosierPal Posted October 13 Author Posted October 13 @almaman Yes, Junior is on Scholarship. He was also his sophomore year also, but a walk on his first season. Here is the link to the Larry Hughes Jr segment. They put links up in the afternoon after the show. https://www.audacy.com/podcast/sports-on-a-sunday-morning-2f4a4/episodes/larry-hughes-ii-joins-slu-team-insights-on-coaching-and-season-expectations-7022f almaman 1 Quote
Aquinas Posted October 13 Posted October 13 7 hours ago, HoosierPal said: Larry Jr. on KMOX this morning. Enjoys Coach Schertz who sees the game differently than Jr has ever experienced. Defense is a big part of the new package. Jr wants to start but willing to do his part on the team. A good test for Jr. with Friday's exhibition with Rockhurst. Different conditioning experience. Schertz isn't a yeller like most of his previous coaches in high school and college. Schertz is big on the mental side of the game and life lessons in general. Jr loves playing in St. Louis in front of his family. Being a good shooter is helping him see floor time. Swope is a lot of fun to watch and play with. Great ball handler. Avila is the 'unicorn' on this team. He can do it all, and should be back soon. Goal is to finish at the top and in the tourney. Larry Hughes Jr is a very well spoken individual. Even if Larry comes off the bench this year, he is well positioned for a big role next year. Swope, Jimerson and Johnson are in there last season. Quote
billiken_roy Posted October 13 Posted October 13 13 minutes ago, Aquinas said: Even if Larry comes off the bench this year, he is well positioned for a big role next year. Swope, Jimerson and Johnson are in there last season. while i like johnson's experience, i think young hughes will start ahead of him. and of course the other two spots imo will of course be avilla and anya. 4 three point shooters will be a lot of fun to watch! Quote
slu72 Posted October 14 Posted October 14 I think Thames is this year’s sleeper. Glad Jr stuck around. Quote
Aquinas Posted October 14 Posted October 14 I listened to the interview. It's great to know the existing players really like the new coach and system. My belief is coach Schertz and his system are a breath of fresh air and they will flourish in it. It was also interesting to hear Larry describe Swope as a point guard. CenHudDude and HoosierPal 2 Quote
HoosierPal Posted October 20 Author Posted October 20 Coach Schertz; KMOX Sports on a Sunday Morning, 10/20 Two separate games, first 17 minutes was "our floor" as a team. Really poor, out worked, out physical. Rockhurst pushed us around. Middle 16 to 17 minutes we outscored them by 30. Last 6 or 7 minutes subbed liberally and it finished where it finished. Liked the middle minutes. Mentality we came out with was not acceptable. The middle piece was much more our identity as to who we want to be. Adjustment at half time was mental. No X and O changes. Offense is based on rhythm. In the first half our offense was their best offense. Too many TO's. Question is why did we come out with that mentality? We can't do that...take the temperature to figure out how hard you have to compete to win. Didn't play with the level of force we needed in the first half. Anya did some good things. Second half he was terrific. We took him out be he could have had a monster half. His growth is raising his floor. His ceiling his really high. Led the team in paint touches. His defense was really good. He guarded all five players on the other team. Swope, first half he was at his floor. Not where he needed to be. His ceiling puts him as one of the best players in college basketball. Refocused in the second half. He simplified his game in the second half. Defense was good all night....matched up with their best shooter. He has to raise his floor, just like Kalu. Can't have a floor like we did first half. But these two were the reason we were so much better in the second half. Gibson has been terrific. Has been our most dependable player. He and Larry didn't shoot it great. Shooting is a fickle deal. Moved well without the ball. He still found his way to 14 points when he wasn't hitting the three. "I lose no sleep on Jimerson shooting the basketball." Has to clean up things defensively. McCottry has grown to 6'6" since he has been here. Most physical driver in the program. Good at touching paint and going downhill. His trajectory has been really good. Growth from June 3 to Oct 20 has been terrific. Does things that you don't see combo guards do. Put his shoulders down and goes by defenders. Got all 16 in the 2nd half. If he can play consistent minutes, it changes our ceiling as a team. We need the upcoming second exhibition. Team has to grow on the practice court as well as on the court. Competition showed where we needed to grow. Avila getting work today in practice. If all goes well he might get 12 to 15 minutes against Maryville. MusicCityBilliken 1 Quote
Aquinas Posted October 20 Posted October 20 I really like that coach says McCottry could raise our ceiling as a team. Quote
HoosierPal Posted October 20 Author Posted October 20 Here is the link to today's (10/24) interview: https://www.audacy.com/podcast/sports-on-a-sunday-morning-2f4a4/episodes/coach-josh-schertz-on-billikens-comeback-victory-and-upcoming-game-against-maryville-10995 Quote
TheBand Posted October 20 Posted October 20 Likely doesn’t matter now, but here was Schertz on KMOX Thursday morning previewing the game on Friday : https://www.audacy.com/podcast/total-information-am-2922c/episodes/the-josh-schertz-era-of-billikens-basketball-starts-friday-night-against-rockhurst-91b3a Aquinas 1 Quote
SluSignGuy Posted November 7 Posted November 7 https://x.com/WestPineBills/status/1854552416374636880 Quote
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