Luke Meyer

[big al]

Just finished listening to Brad.s KMOX Show...For the second time this year he was asked why he was not playing Luke Meyer with our current lack of scoring...He indicated it was because Brown is playing so well...The caller thought he should have played in the Tulane game (16 Point Win)...Brad indicated Luke is not the quickest player on the squad but continues to play well in practice and will get his minutes in the future...What do you think?

[jjray]

I think it is a wasted scholarship because Luke will get buried on the bench next year. D. Brown just fell out of the sky at the last minute so I can't fault the coaching staff to much for not having known in advance that they were going to recruit over LM in the same class.

[slufanskip]

Not everyone has to make an impact as a freshman to be a good recruit ... they have 13 scholarships, some guys develop later some turn into useful reserves ... we just have to wait and see with Luke. Just because he is not getting minutes in his freshman year doesn't make him a waste of a recruit

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[Sheltiedave]

Luke has a game similar to Scott Highmark's. Highmark developed by working on his already great shooting, learned to drive to the hole whenever possible, and spent countless hours in the weight room. Right now Brown can play the three on defense adequately, so he is getting the nod over Luke, who cannot. I continue to be amazed at people who feel freshmen should be played who have a single facet that benefits the team, while ignoring a net overall decline in team performance. It also is funny to assess players on their freshman year only.

Luke and Danny will still both get time on the court, and will have good chances to make solid contributions, like Turner did when we had Scott, Erwin, and Q. If Brad has enough athletic bigs to become a dedicated transition running team, then we will need five to six guard/wing players to fly around. A three guard offense is predicated on making the other team work to cover your strengths, not the other way around.

BTW, word out of Peoria among a couple of fanatical BBall friends has Kevin rated as the third best senior guard in the state. They give him kudos for his lock down defense, ball speed and handle, court awareness, shooting and range, with only a knock on his jumping/athletic ability being less than extraordinary. This comes from the same guys who, in the past, noted

*Sean Dockery would not start for Duke, while Dee Brown would star for the Illini(dead on)

*Sean Livingston would be drafted in the top 5, while Sebastian Telfair would slide to 15 in the NBA draft(7 and 13, respectively,)

*Luther Head, not Williams, would be B10POY(true do date.)

I look forward to seeing who else Brad gets with the two open schollies, and I am really looking forward to the season after next, when we will have a dominant seasoned backcourt.

[Mobile-iken]

A WASTED SCHOLARSHIP??? Jumping the gun a little there jjray, aren't you? Luke's collegiate career has consisted of 15 games and 86 minutes...Let's give him a chance, huh?

[3star_recruit]

No one can predict the future but if we've got Polk, Drejaj and Brown and playing ahead of him this year and Lisch and Liddell are coming in next year, then exactly how is Luke supposed to get minutes next year? I'm afraid it's now or never for Luke.

[Mobile-iken]

3star...While I see your point, there is a thing called hard work and improvement. I don't know Luke Meyer but I have heard that he is a very hard worker with a very high basketball IQ and he is just now learning how to walk...I wouldn't bury him on the end of the bench just yet.

[SLU_Nick]

that might be the first thing that u have said that I disagree with I started posting on this board. Luke is not the physical specimen that Danny Brown is but the next couple years when we do switch to a running team he will get his minutes. Luke is obvoiusly a determined player, but a bit shell shocked that he isnt the best player on the court right now (like he was at Borgia). Once he gains confidence by getting stronger and practicing more his shot will come back and he will knock down the open three. With KL and TL being somewhat "slashers" the kickout for three will be open with LM knocking it down.

Now if he came in lazy acting like he doesnt care about playing that would be a different story. If you can shoot you can play and if he really really works hard he will bring to SLU what Bobik brings to OK State. Even with all athletes, someone still has to be able to knock down the open jumpshot

[3star_recruit]

"Once he gains confidence by getting stronger and practicing more his shot will come back and he will knock down the open three. With KL and TL being somewhat "slashers" the kickout for three will be open with LM knocking it down."

That still doesn't change the fact that he's going have to beat out one of the other five guards to get minutes. Brad likes to play his best players 30+ minutes, so there's no room for a sixth guard.

[aj_arete]

This is an example of a player, who excelled at the high school level because he was playing against lesser-caliber athletes. Now he can make an adjustment, like Highmark did, but it looks like this Billiken team might be deeper than the Claggett/Highmark era. I have no problem with taking a chance on Meyer, but it looks like he'll be a 9th or 10th guy throughout his SLU career. At least, he'll get a quality education.

[slufanskip]

first Luke has plenty of time to improve ... next TL and KL haven't played a minute of D1 basketball, DP has not set the world on fire and has some work to do himself same goes for DB. DC hasn't shown the ability to earn much time on the floor at all. I wouldn't relegate Luke to 6th guard status just yet ... he may end up that way ... but he may just surprise us all and force himself in.

Lets say DP gets hurt or doesn't improve and TL becomes the starting pg ... with KL at the 2. It's not a huge leap to think LM becomes the starter or a major player along with or in front of DB and DC.

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[jjray]

>A WASTED SCHOLARSHIP??? Jumping the gun a little there

>jjray, aren't you? Luke's collegiate career has consisted

>of 15 games and 86 minutes...Let's give him a chance, huh?

Yes, a harsh comment ... but I'd be suprised if Luke gets off the bench next season (or the one after that). If he gets small minutes now, how shall the situation improve when TL arrives? That shall give us 3 big guards as opposed 2. Things happen though.

[jjray]

Thought about it some more and you guys are right, it is too harsh to use the words "wasted scholarship" even if I am correct that Luke will not see much PT in the coming years. Only 8-9 players get into games in Brad's system. The other guys practice hard to prepare the team for the game and hold themselves ready in case someone in the rotation gets injured, flunks out, gets in early foul trouble, gets suspended for disciplinary reasons. All sorts of stuff can happen. You need the other 4-5 scholarship players who do not add much in the box score to round out the team. They contribute in a real sense. Who knows, Luke may really extend the range on his shot in the coming years and gain his minutes as the zone buster we shall sorely need next season (with the departure of Reggie). But I can't see Luke turning into a better defender than D. Brown which is Brad's first criterion for minutes. I shall try to be more judicious with my comments in the future.

[Sheltiedave]

JJ and others, if we actually start playing at a fast pace, then there are another 30 minutes that need to be filled by backup guards being substituted into the game. Part of the three guard rotation is a planned war of attrition, where our guards wear down the opposing guards by running them into the ground. Who knows, we may even start pressuring the ball a little, so there may be another three or four fouls to be spread amongst the guards as well.

Witness Kentucky last year in the UAB game, where UAB just killed Kentucky's PG. He was so tired by the end of the game, Kentucky could not run an offensive set, and lost the game due to conditioning! There may be games where we can run a team off the floor, and just win by having more horses ready to run.

[billiken_roy]

i too will be surprised if luke meyer never makes a mark on the billiken program. he is far too savvy and appears to be very determined, plus his background wouldnt lead one to believe he will gladly take a seat at the end of the bench for the next 3.5 years. i am betting luke meyer surprises before he graduates.

the do it now mentality of most fans has always bothered me and 3 star is one of the last guys i would have expected that from. i understand and agree the initial appearance is that there is no room for him or darren clarke, i prefer to think of it as a challenge and the best man wins. who knows who has the fortitude to play on. plus, bets are that someone's future changes via, grades, injury, etc. thus we dont know what lies ahead rosterwise. that said, one would hope that we dont use the last two scholarships to chase a guard this year anymore. we need help on the inside, let's get an inside guy that will put some pressure on our existing bigs now for "inspiration".

[billiken_roy]

you guys are stuck in the mentality that liddell is going to be the small forward. i personally, after watching polk this year believe jalensdad. liddell is going to be the point guard. young mr polk is the one that is going to have to prove he belongs at a wing imo. the point guard chain could very well be liddell, lisch then polk. and if that is true, then it makes the options at wing a lot different as well. better wait till next year to see how this shakes out before sending luke meyer to another school. imo, there are a lot of positions up for grabs.

[slufanskip]

Thats just what I said ... you never know what will happen. I doubt Polk will be a wing though ... I could however see him, Tommie, and Kevin sharing the distribution load and the responsibility of bringing the ball up the floor ... the more versatile the players on the floor are the harder we are to check. Tommie will probably help Dwayne's shooting as he will take some of the onball pressure off of Dwayne and open up his shooting space. Danny has also shown the ability this year to see the floor well and make a nice pass. Regardless of who plays we will be very versatile and hard to stop on the perimiter. We do need them all to work on the outside shot though if we don't improve from the 3 ... I can see teams lagging off and making penetration very difficult.

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[3star_recruit]

"young mr polk is the one that is going to have to prove he belongs at a wing imo."

I've seen you mention this "Polk at the wing" idea a few times now. What exactly is the advantage of putting Liddell at the point and Polk on the wing?

Nobody wants Luke Meyer to transfer to another school, even if he doesn't break into rotation. But it would certainly help Luke's cause to use the next 14 games to pull even with Brown rather than falling further behind him. Brad plays the players he trusts and his confidence in Brown is growing with each passing game.

[billiken_roy]

i didnt say there was an advantage to polk playing the wing. with dwayne his advantage and strength is sheer speed. maybe only david burns was faster in billiken lore. but that said, his shooting has been borderline attrocious. and his playmaking skills marginal at best. he has had some very neat passes, but far too often he gets it across the halfline and picks up his dribble for no apparent dribble and then gets it to drejaj or reggie to actually start things. i am baffled that someone with his godgiven skills and the reputation of coming from such a basketball factory as vashon has a relatively mediocre feel for the point guard position imo.

now as tseugnekillib stated, there is a huge difference between high school and conference usa ball, and we havent seen lisch there or liddell. we do know that liddell apparently is thriving at the point at one of the most prestigious basketball prep school factories out east though, however the fact remains that polk has done very little to prove he is the chosen point guard imo. i would have him on the wing simply to take advantage of that speed. maybe he can turn out like a mo findley or iversonlike shooting guard. if not, and if he cant beat out liddell/lisch at the point, then you better believe that the likes of danny brown, luke meyer and darren clarke, who will bring so much more size to the table will get the shot at that spot.

if polk is going ot be the next nate archibald, he needs to start playing like it imo, otherwise, why wouldnt anyone question if liddell or lisch cant possibly be the point guard next year?

[jjray]

Dave, we shall see if Brad changes. Small incremental changes this year so it is possible this trend continues. If we go 3 guard all the time (given the size of our guards not a big stretch) and run more (maybe even press on occasion), it is conceivable there will be more bodies in the roation at guard as Brad will have to stop playing his top 3 guard 25-30 minutes a game (but I doubt it). Maybe Roy has a point and Polk gets supplanted at point by Liddell or Lisch at some juncture in the future. Polk is not really suited for wing (or even 2 guard) so that would open up minutes for a tall guard like Meyer or Clarke. Polk, Lisch, Liddell, Brown, Drejaj and Clarke ... gonna be tough for Luke to get minutes in this group.

[davidnark]

>the fact remains that polk has done very

>little to prove he is the chosen point guard imo.

Dwayne's freshman stats though 15 games:

-42 assists (tops on team)

-21 steals (tops on team)

-30 turnovers (only 4th on team and excellent for a pg)

-6 blocks (second on team, which is amazing for a 5'9" pg)

-6 ppg (4th on team, which is probably about right for a pg)

Admittedly, Dwayne's shooting has been terrible, but statistically he has done just about everything you could ask of a point guard.

We are all excited about Lisch, but that doesn't mean that need to run off Dwayne, who has statistically proven that he can play the point at a high-level for SLU.

[SLUMS81]

I understand that TL is playing on a virtual prep school all-star team. I would think that it is easier to distribute the ball to a bunch of superior players than it is to distribute the ball to guys who consistently have trouble scoring. With no one other than RB to go to, DP is operating at a relative disadvantage as point guard this season. We may find that TL and KL are more effective as wing players with DP running the point. I can't see DP as an effective 2 guard unless his shooting in game situations improves significantly.

[Sheltiedave]

Statistically, Dwayne has been a very solid PG. We have died in the paint this year - understandable now that we know Tom's legacy of concussions, but hard to stomach. Had we established a solid paint presence, I would project another three baskets a game in the paint, and another basket a game out of Dwayne from newly minted open space.

Next year will herald a trioka of PGs on the floor. I tag TL as the SF because either he or KL will have to play the 3 on defense, which is how I grade out a three guard offense for positions. I personally see Tommie triggering the offense in a half court game, because I would always default to the tallest PG to allow for him to look and pass over the opposing defender. It creates better angles for passes, and allows DP the opportunity to use his speed w/o the ball for layups, etc.

[tseugnekillib]

Without digging thru the C-USA stats, I'm guessing that the combination of AD and DP results in the poorest perimeter (3pt shots)shooting pair (regulars) in the league.

So if you don't have to guard AD and DP on the perimeter, the defense then sags in the paint and makes life miserable for TF, IV, JJ and the like. IO is shooting surprisingly well, considering that you only have to guard him and a recovering RB.

If someone used SLU's pack defense on SLU, SLU may not score 40pts.

so what comes first....good outside shooting and then good inside scoring, or vice-versa?

btw, I'm a fan of the gritty and hustling AD and I still have high hopes for young DP (see Nark's above stats). I'm just at a loss to explain their extremely low perimeter shooting percentages.

[tseugnekillib]

If Danny Brown's confidence and game continues to progress, he is going to be very difficult to keep out of next year's starting three perimeter players. My guess is that Danny Brown will hit the weight room hard from Mar15 thru Oct15. Hopefully, his shooting mechanics are sound enough that his shooting percentage will improve with practice. I'm guessing that DB's size and athleticism, and willingness to defend, is exactly what Coach Soderberg is searching for.

Down the road, perhaps the threesome of KL,TL,and DP will be fighting for two startiing positions.

In the end, we need them all.....starters and quality reserves.