Recruiting glass half full

[slufanskip]

Just not much to say ... been lurking though. Seems to be alot of negativity and I don't want to participate much. Hows things been going with you?

I took your post to say Ahearn would probably play more credible defense than Maguire. Sorry I probably misinterpreted your intent.

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[tseugnekillib]

DM is 17 months away from his first official Billiken practice. Plenty of time to refine all facets his game and his body. Patience.

Thankfully, DM will have another summer of AAU ball to gain experience on the perimeter. I caught 5 or 6 of Dustin's AAU games last summer. He shot well and alot.

Without AAU ball....and having to play mostly in the paint for his high school (because of his 6-5 frame and the fact that he is a team player), I wonder if DM would have still caught the eye of D1 recruiters?

[jjray]

Guest, how did Maguire look defending the perimeter in the times you saw him play AAU ball? Does he have the quickness of feet on a par with Luke Meyer?

[Schasz]

From this out of town fans view point, I like seeing comparisons. It gives me some perspective of the type of player we just added to our roster.

[Kahok]

Brad has said on many occasions that he wants to increase the tempo and make the game faster paced. I don't see DM coming in and filling that type of role. Do you see something that I don't. I see him in a half court plodding game not in an uptempo game.

[3star_recruit]

Paxson and Kerr made a living standing at the three point line while the more athletic Bulls were making things happen. Every balanced team needs a designated shooter. And Maguire is a tough guy like Luke Meyer, so he can also grab some rebounds while he's out there.

[cheeseman]

On several occasions I have shared that local h.s. coaches had told me that LM had limited if any man to man experience and they were wondering if he could make the switch in college - obviously their concerns did not come to pass. LM did make the transition as the year went on so why is that DM can not do the same thing. If he is a good shooter then Brad will find a way to utilize him - Brad surely saw something in his style that makes him think he can be successful in our system. As far as Ahern is concerned, everyone told me he could or would not play defense and his time at SMS has played that out - he spent time on the bench this year because of it even though SMS could have used his shooting. At this point, we are better off that Blake went to SMS. Time will only tell who is right about DM - Brad or Roy.

[billiken_roy]

i'd like to clarify that i havent taken a stand on maguire's defense. i have never seen him play defense on a wing and have consistently said that throughout all our discussions on maguire. everytime i have watched maguire play it was as a high school center. but that means nothing. justin love was a high school center and he did great converting to a guard in college. i believe josh fisher never played guard in high school either.

my only question about maguire was why he was the first choice for the juniors? and for all we know (we know nothing as the slu - cia reveals nothing) others in the area were offered first and just didnt commit as dustin did. i was tremendously surprised by maguire's statement that brad promised him not to recruit any players in this upcoming class that are his position. of course "his position" i guess could be open to interpretation since we really dont know what position anyone is talking about.

[cheeseman]

Roy, thanks for your clarification - and I agree, Brad must really want this kid to make that kind of a promise. Of course, if I read the statement correctly, it was for only this upcoming recruiting period and with KL, TL, DP,DB, LM he is loaded at the perimeter position. Also with AD having one more year, DM will be here the next year an so we will still have 6 perimeter players. You have been correct in saying that 6 is more than enough - in fact it may be too many to assure quality pt min. So, Brad's promise is really not much of a risk on his part.

[billiken_roy]

while i agree it is not much of a risk to make that promise, the part i dont understand is why was maguire his first choice? i beleive he could have done better without leaving the area (leonard and hill for example). now it has been rumored that leonard has missed so much school he may be reclassified as a junior again. if so, maybe that has a basis on what is happening. but to take a guy that seems to be a tweener at best sizewise if you are looking for a pf, or if you are strictly considering him a wing, he seems to be squarepegged as a shooter only with unknown ball and defensive skills, it just seems odd.

i would think this is the guy you take to "finish off" a recruiting class. not start one. but i guess we wait a year for the cia to reveal the other recruits and then maybe it all makes sense.

[SLUMS81]

Why should we think that Dustin is Brad's 'first choice'? There have been several players to whom SLU has "offered" who don't seem to want to come and play for the Billikens. It's not like Brad can simply select which all-star player he wants to complete his lineup.

DM seems like an enthusiastic young man with a work ethic and basketball skills who is excited to come to SLU. It is now up to the coaching staff to best utilize his skills.

[billiken_roy]

slumn, if i was the head coach, i wouldnt be offering a whole bunch of scholarships upfront. i would only offer a very select few student athletes in hopes of landing the right guy first. as it goes further along, sure, lay the "first one to sign gets it" offers out there. but no way if i only have 3 maybe 4 to give do i offer what might be a role player my first scholarship.

i hope dustin comes in and shows he isnt that kind of player. but no one is screaming he is a top ranked wing player at this time. we have heard a lot of people talk about his shooting and scoring (myself included). but no one seems to be willing to enthusiastically attest to his ball and defensive skills.

[SLUBALL]

"As far as Ahern is concerned, everyone told me he could or would not play defense and his time at SMS has played that out - he spent time on the bench this year because of it even though SMS could have used his shooting. At this point, we are better off that Blake went to SMS."

Does anyone really beleive that we are better off not having Ahearn for the last two years now that the kid we decided to take instead has left SLU. IMO as supporters of SLU we look like idiots when we continue to make these statements. It sounds like sour grapes. With comments like Cheesemans it is no wonder why people do not take us seriously as a group. How many games could we have used a player that could shoot and make free throws like Ahearn in the last two years. Ahearn's freethrows alone could have won us 4 or 5 more games. Heck we can't even play our number one PG late in the game because he can't make free throws.

As for Ahearn not playing erlier in the year...It had nothing to do with his defense. KFNS's Slaten (if you can believe him) maintained for a month or so that the Southwest coach was playing all the local kids and SMS went on a 7 or 8 game losing streak. Ahearn started getting minutes and SMS started winning. I personally wathced him get 27 against Creighton, a team who almost beat West Virginia, on Fox. They finished the Valley winning 10 of their last twelve games and Ahearn was their leading scorer during that span. Therefore, to continue to make the statement that we are better off without him when the player we took instead has left is ridicolous.

What is so hard about saying that SLU made a mistake on Ahearn. It was not our first and won't be our last. We took the wrong player(Clark)and move on.

[slufanskip]

Sluballs ... we haven't agreed on much about basketball, but I agree with you ... we could have used Blake. As far as DC is concerned ... I don't see how anyone could have predicted how that would turn out. He certainly looked to have the athleticism and the skills for a true freshmen when he came in.

As far as DM goes ... we have said for a while that we need to get guys that are flying a bit under the radar ... for whatever reason. I think that probably UB saw something that he beleives will allow the kid to play the wing at SLU. I will take his talent evaluation over anyone who posts on this board. He may end up wrong ... who knows, but the kid is coming to SLU so lets give him a chance.

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[StLouBlue]

I like the pickup because this team needs outside shooters, and from reading this board DM probably has the best outside shot of the 3--Hill and Leonard. Also with a Spring signing it will hopefully motivate other local kids being considered to verbal as well, this seemed to happen after Polk verballed we got Liddell & Meyer to verbal and almost got Shaw.

[cheeseman]

SBall - say what you want but Ahern was benched because he would not play defense as reported by TV announcers of their games. Ahern would not be playing if he was at SLU because he would not play the kind of defense that Brad requires. Yes SMS eventually put him back in because of his shooting but if they had had somebody else they would have continued benching him. Lets wait and see what happens this year.

[tseugnekillib]

SLUBALL, you have been given bad information. In mid-season, BA was benched for his poor defense. Below is just one example.

I was at the SMS game at Carbondale on Jan15. BA entered the game at about the seven minute mark. When BA entered the game, SMS switched to a zone defense for the next SIU-C possession. I don't recall what exactly happened on that possesion, but on the following offensive possession BA missed a shot. Coming back SMS went man-to-man. Somehow, someway BA ends up guarding Michael Dale on the wing in front of the SMS bench. Seconds later, Dale blows by BA and gets a shot in the low paint area and was fouled by another SMS player. BA immediately comes out of the came after only 44 seconds (with SMS assistant coach Steve Lynch barking in his ear), and never returns. Very late in the game, BA is one of three SMS reserves to inadvertingly step onto the court while a minor two-player tussle was going on near center court. All three SMS players were ejected for the final minute. SMS losses the game 61-60. Check the game stats to verify the details.

BA was definitely benched that game for his poor defense. Shortly, after that game, BA started playing more and SMS finished strong. At the MVC post-season tournament, BA was substituted for at the defensive-end late in all close games. The same thing happened the 2004 post-season tournament.

BA was viewed as not tough enough, or athletic enough, to get decent minutes for SLU and in C-USA. BA wasn't missed when SLU won 19 games two years ago, and he won't be missed next season, or in 2006-07. Could BA have helped this year after Reggie got hurt...probably....but defensively he would not have earned many minutes. At the same time, anyone of a number of people could have help SLU early last season.

imo, not offering BA was the correct decision. DC turned out to be as soft as BA, and thus DC turned into a failed effort. I wish BA well, but that correct decision is history.

[Schasz]

But I watched the MVC Final because SMS was in it, and I wanted to see Ahearn play. Unfortunately, he was MIA in that game, so living here in FL I still don't know if he could have helped our Bills. I guess you could gloss him with the stats given, but I ain't buyin it until I see him do something myself in a meaningful game.

[billiken_roy]

i dont think we were "better off", but i dont think he would have been a factor. he would not have seen anymore floor time than what clarke saw.

[tseugnekillib]

jj, I'll hold off commenting until I see Dustin play later this month. Based on memory, I'd say he is at least even with Luke....but I'll revisit this thread late this month.

[SLUBALL]

I have one simple question. Why did Ahearn start playing? Did he start playing defense or did the SMS coach finally understand that you can't beat teams while scoring only 40 or 50 points in a game? Or did the local kids not get the job done? Who knows the real answer. This I do know...no team can win consistantly scoring in the 50's. I wish BS would understand this philosophy. We here uptempo but never see it.

Guest, your description of the SIU game has left out some details. To suggest that SMS switched to zone just because Ahern came into the game does not take into account that SMS played a zone the entire secong half and Ahearn did not play at all. And oh by the way, SMS blew a 12 point second half lead and LOST. Someone other than Ahern wasn't playing defense.

The argument about Ahern's defense is an old and tired one that no one can win because it is so subjective. Explain how with Ahern leading the team in scoring they finished the valley at 10 and 2? Was Ahearn playing defense then or wasn't he? The facts are SMS had a 7 or 8 game loosing streak until the "no defense playing" Ahern starting getting big minutes. Its about having a BALANCE in scoring and defense. SLU today has no BALANCE...it is all defense. You can not win playing in the 50's.

Finally, if Ahearn is so bad on defense why did we not try to exploit his deficiences in our 2004 game? What SLU guard tore up Ahern's defense? One final question, why after all the bad press SLU recieved did Soderberg not expose Ahern's defense and win the 2004 game.

[tseugnekillib]

SLUBALL, my post was in response to your statement......"As for as Ahearn not playing earlier in the year....it had nothing to do with his defense". I was responding to this specific quote. You were misinformed by Slaten. BA's 44 seconds in the SIU-C game, as I factually described, was indeed all about BA's not playing defense in SMS's January 15, 2005 game at Carbondale.

Again, you were misinformed and then you made an incorrect and foolish statement.