slu72 Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 until Oct. All teams now start anew, especially the Bills. New players, hopefully two to be named real soon, new conference, and maybe some new concepts, eg play a little more transition ball. We have once again just seen the best sporting event in America and again not been part of it. I love the Dance, but am always a little disappointed we don't make it...actually envious of those schools that do. Can we ever hope to dream of a national championship? Realistically no. Face it the final 4 is the domain of about 25 programs, just like the frigging BCS. Yes, Miracles happen, Marquette for example, but they are rare. But I do believe we can hope for a sweet 16 or maybe, gasp, even an elite 8 ala XU and St. Joes last year. What give us hope is we don't necessarily need a team stocked with top 50's and 100's to do it. What we do need is to recruit solid D-1 talent that will develop over 4 years. Hopefully, we see this in DP, DB, LM, and IO (who made great strides this year). TL and KL come in a little more skilled but still will need to develop to make us successful. You look to October and still see a bunch of ? marks about this program's outlook for next year. But I have this feeling we're going to surprise some folks..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 i'd like to point out that the seniors from this north carolina team only won 8 games their freshmen season. i'd like to point out that the cornerstone of the illini team is their fantastic 3 guards where they are all somewhat interchangeable players. (hmmm, lisch, polk and liddell) not saying that we are headed to a final four, but the point is that as our very good freshmen and incoming freshmen and ian grow up, a lot can change very quickly for our billikens. it sure did for unc and the illini. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills16 Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 it will be interesting to see how many of the underclassman that played last night will be back next year. illini fans have already complained that weber's recruiting classes so far haven't been that strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted April 5, 2005 Author Share Posted April 5, 2005 A final 4 is "out there", Broy...UNC restocked with a load of talent after that year...funny Matt Daugherty got no credit whatsoever for recruiting May, Felton, McCants...but agree with the core players we have and the incomings we have reason to at least think about making a little run somewhere in the future.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 i would expect that both dee brown and deron williams go pro and for unc, it would not surprise me to see all 4 of those fantastic underclassmen go. apparently, marvin williams has already quit attending class so he has to go, and felton, mccants and may would seem to be #1 picks. i'd go if i was them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 imo, the biggest key to the billikens is our young center, ian vouyoukas. i just hope he finally gets serious about his body and gets in shape and maximizes his time in the weight room. there is no reason he cant become an nba player. if he maximizes his potential, along with our posse of athletes and shooters, brown, meyer, clarke, lisch, liddell, and polk, a lot can change very quickly imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 >imo, the biggest key to the billikens is our young center, >ian vouyoukas. i just hope he finally gets serious about >his body and gets in shape and maximizes his time in the >weight room. there is no reason he cant become an nba >player. if he maximizes his potential, along with our posse >of athletes and shooters, brown, meyer, clarke, lisch, >liddell, and polk, a lot can change very quickly imo. To say there is no reason Ian can't become an NBA player is ridiculous. You're setting him up to fail. Ian has nice hands, a decent touch for a big man and is a nice passer. But he's just not a good enough athlete to play in the NBA. He's not quick enough on his feet and he has no hops. To suggest that the only thing keeping him back is not hitting the weight room harder is not fair. He's also only 6-10 for a center. That's the size of a lot of power forwards in the league now. Only a small fraction of kids who play college ball make it to the NBA. I think Ian has the potential to be a very good college center and has started to show glimpses of it. If he can become more consistent as he matures and be a key part of a NCAA Tourney team here, that's good enough for me. The talk about the NBA is nonsense. You'll never be happy with him with that type of expectation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 I don't know why you keep implying that Ian isn't serious about his fitness and strength training. I have heard from several different sources that he worked very hard at both last summer and is continuing to work hard. Ian is never going to have the muscle mass and quickness of Sean May. You keep wishing that Ian becomes a different type of player. Ian's attributes are going to be solid defense and rebounding and effective passing and offensive moves around the paint. Don't expect him to tomahawk dunks and finish alley-oops on the break because that isn't the value he brings. I'm not suggesting that Ian can't get stronger and quicker, but he will never become a Shaq-like center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Every time Ian backed a guy in, he was called for charging. They gave May free rein last night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 you can be an nba player and not be shaq. you used that comparison. i would be happy if he approached andrew bogut. i dont think he will be as good as bogut, but that type of player. i see the likes of nazr mohammed, eddie curry, greg ostertag, and michael doleac making it in the nba and just refuse to believe that ian cant become at least that with some hard work. if you are satisfied with what ian is now than you all are correct. i will be extremely disappointed. and to assume he is in the best shape he can be is crazy. he is weak and not in shape. he has skills, i wont deny that. he has a very good basketball iq, very good floor vision, but the number of times that he gets the ball taken away from him or cannot get the ball to the rim is unacceptable imo. he is typically the last guy down the floor every time. these are scenarios that can be corrected by getting stronger and getting in shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted April 5, 2005 Author Share Posted April 5, 2005 Ian can be a very good college center. By that I mean good defender, 8-10 rpg, and 8-10 ppg. Is he going to be a spectacular center...no. I do agree with Broy he could be a little like Bogut because of his passing skills, but has he shown any tendency to hit long range shots? Maybe more time in the weight room would do him some good, but I'd also like to see him work on shots away from the hoop. Get him outside a little pulling some interior defenders with him, and then have him pass to TL or DB for an alley oop phi slamma jamma dunk...now that kind of stuff will bring the fans into Savvis/Biondi Dome. I loved it when Utah put Bogut in the high post and he made all those no look passes to cutting UTES for back door layups....love to see some of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecCenterRat Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Hey Roy, add Dan Gadzuric, Joel Pryzbilla, Rasho Nesterovic, Loren Woods, Jason Collins, Jarron Collins, Tony Battie, Adonal Foyle, Curtis Borchardt, Stephen Hunter, and soon to be NBA'er Channing Frye to your list of NBA players without exceptional talent, but have made it. Oh, the list goes on too. Most NBA teams have a mediocre center. (Take Eddy Curry off your list, that guy is pretty good this year. He lost 50 pounds and is very nimble.) Anything is possible when you have IV's size, and hands, not to mention nationality (NBA teams have been buying foreign lately). I think Luke Schencher of GT would be a realistic example of what IV could turn into, and that guy causes a pain in the ass for most D1 teams. Shaq, Illgaukas, Yao Ming, Primo Brezec (breakout player of late on Charlotte), Ben Wallace, Brad Miller, Curry, and Dampier"?" round out the worthwhile "center's" in the NBA. Not much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billikenmetz Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Roy, if you've seen the Billiken weight room, understand if Voyukas doesn't bulk up. Perhaps you could loan him your card for Gold's Gym. Thanks, Billikenmetz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billfan4life Posted April 5, 2005 Share Posted April 5, 2005 Does anyone know how Brad runs the weight room and conditioning. Does he have the players in there every day or is it not manditory in the spring. JJ and IV could really use a good spring and summer hitting the weights and the conditioning. JJ and IV has some talent but need to get bigger and faster to battle with the elite 4's and 5's in the A10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenbooster Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 thank you, thank you, thank you....I said that ten times last nite, and the guys in my bball pool all laughed at me whenever I howled on the unfair non-whistles. If May had been called for just one of those obvious charges early in the game, Augustine would still be playing in the second half and the orange tears we're all hearing about would be tears of joy. mhg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 I posted the same in another thread before I read this. He was allowed to lower his shoulder and just bull rush his way to the rim. It was ridiculous ... but the only thing we hear from pACCker is about illegal screens ... and not until he was worried the Illini were coming back. Also Felton hit the half court line and then came back before the last Illini foul on him. Should have been the Illini's ball down 3. No excuse for missing it ... his entire foot hit the line. I paused the TV it was very clearly on the line. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 friend broy, In December, you stated on one occasion that "IV" would not contribute in the 2004-2005 season, and later you stated that "the thought of going into the A10 with IV and BH in the post was scary". Now, about 100 days later, you have IV as an possible NBA candidate. Now that's a major switch in your thinking. broy, if you ever get a chance, ask the trainer or the weight coach about IV's training habits.....you'll be surprised! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 that is a b.s. excuse. i have seen the weight area at simon rec and it is more than adequate. hell, i contend that ian would be in better shape just doing the atkins diet for two months and doing 40 push ups a night than he is now. air conditioning and plush dont put muscle on. sweat and moving tons of iron do. they dont have to be in the ritz carlton to accomplish that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 if your insinuation is true, then i say we need to fire our weight room guy. i think if you reread my posts and critique of ian over the last year i have been consistent with admitting he is the best we got but not a good player at this time. the fact we only won 9 games and against the big time opponents ian was outplayed, pretty much bears that out. i have always said he has potential, and by my statements yesterday, i continue to believe that. but if he never gets in shape, we already got what we are going to get. i want more than chris heinrich's reincarnation. i want a player that can be the focus point of the team. he has the skills and iq/floor sense, what he lacks is upper body strength and conditioning. hell, give some kid a scholarship just to follow him around 24/7 to make sure he is eating right, and truly hitting the exercise routine 100%. weber has 15 team managers. what do we have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Sean May didn't look like he spends much time in the weight room, either does Kevin Bookout ... two of the strongest players in the NCAA. You can't judge a players strength by how he looks. Ian got here in Aug of 2003. He probably didn't work out much before that 1st season. From Oct until April he was playing and would not work out heavy during the season. From April to Oct a total of 6 months he would have been able to hit the weight room hard ... then his soph season started. He has really only had about 6 months to really work out. IMO he has made very good improvement. His body looks much slimmer than when he arrived on campus as a freshman and he looks stronger. He may never end up being cut ... it just may not be his body makeup. IMO where he needs the most work is in his forearms to help him stay stronger with the ball. I don't see him getting shoved around much now. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 what he visually looks like is in fact inconsequential. the fact is though that he isnt strong enough to consistently take the ball up to the glass when he is fouled and he rarely runs the floor. anyone that hasnt realized that isnt watching the game. i agree he does a lot of nice things with the ball that most centers dont that is what gives me hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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