VTIME Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 This style suits him perfectly. He can just run and run and run. He might lead the team in scoring. Danny Brown earned his starting spot, so it appears to be a Gift from God that Liddell didnt come to SLU in 2004 after all. His schollie went to Brown. If Drejaj can keep up this level enough to hold off Lisch from taking that starting spot, than that means that this teams talent is strong Lisch. Lisch can flat out score. Newborne is a capable sub who can sub in for anybody except Voyoukas and he wont come out much. When he does all we need from Bryce is to take a space and play a little defense. Polk will get a lot of assists, but may not be the team leader as he barely beat out Drejaj for that last year and Drejaj looks to be a strong passer again this year with 6 assists in the exhibiition game. I'm looking for a strong year from both seniors and this team can be something special, if nothing else, the start of something special. having those 7 freshman and sophs together for 3 years is terrific. Stockpiling the top area players will keep this team competitive in the A10. The results of the local recruiting are evident already and Meyer didnt even play. All we need from JJ is 10 minutes of hustling and rebounding and knocking down an occasional open shot which he has shown he is capable of. The four guards will be able to set him up for some easy finishes. Polk is the key to the engine though. His speed is unmatched in the conference and is one of the quickest players in all of college basketball. SLU will finish above .500 this season and its because of the 4 guard lineup and the emergence of Ian due to the Frericks injury. Things we thought were misfortunes once, Liddell's grades, Frericks injury, have turned out to be blessings in disguise. GO BILLS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I don't think VN is subbing in at the 1 or the 2. Probably not at the 3. If he is in he will guard their 4. He is not a guard at all. Maybe a too slow 3. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 I agree with most of your analysis and you are right about the bad breaks re Liddell and Frericks which gave us Danny and a much more experienced Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 VTIME/problack, Congratulations on getting through an entire post about Polk without mentioning that he is a shooting guard and Tommie Liddell is a point guard. I hope you didn't hurt your arm or shoulder from patting yourself on the back about SLU going with a four-guard offense againt a Division II team. Nice to see the enthusiasm, though. Keep it up. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p diddy Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Every assessment is on point. bad boyz for life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted November 12, 2005 Author Share Posted November 12, 2005 thanks for the love. Stop by Harris-Stowe on Monday to check out my article on former St. Mary pitcher Todd Barry in the inaugural issue of the HSSU View. I'm the Sports Editor and I also do athlete profiles. I will be covering HSSU Athletics as well high school basketball and the Billikens Men's Basketball team as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 My main problem with using 4 guard as our base set is that we will be punished by the better teams in the A-10 who have a PF with a low post game. But, on reflection, maybe that is not such a big deal. What is our goal this year? To be honest, I think it simply is to improve markedly over last year. Another 9 win season will kill us. Last year we lost to Austin Peay, Eastern Michigan, Oral Roberts, Hawaii, Wisc. Milwaukee, and (the embarrassment of all loses) Southeast Missouri State. If we would have posted W's in those games, we would have had 15 wins last year. With the quality of the guards we are able to put on the floor, I now feel confident that we will beat all the teams we are supposed to beat this year running the 4 guard. That would be a huge improvement right there. Can Brad steal a game here and there from the better teams in the A-10, I think so. He has always shown the ability to grab an upset as a coach. That leaves us over matched for 6 or 7 games this year but, overall, a much more competitive team. I think the problem with JJ is that, although he stands a better chance of defending against the true PFs we will face this year, he won't make a team pay for guarding him with a smaller player. He hits the occasional faceup jumper, grabs the occasional offensive rebound, but cannot postup his man. I'm beginning to convert to the idea of this 4 guard thing (as a short-term necessity). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB Scout Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 Well put jjray. That's the best analysis I have read so far on the four guard rotation. If it plays out the way you decribed it will put the Bills at 18-19 wins and I think it will. BB Scout- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bauman Posted November 12, 2005 Share Posted November 12, 2005 VTIME, agree with most of your analysis and hope DP has really improved his shot as much at it seems right now. HOWEVER, if you go to Bills games you need to watch DP a lot closer when he is on defense. If you are truly objective you will have to note that he has not regained all of his high school quickness. His man often gets by Dwayne on the first step or two. Not a criticism of DP, just an observation-I love the way he plays and the energy he brings to the offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted November 12, 2005 Author Share Posted November 12, 2005 I like the 4 guard lineup as a staple of this school. I would love for Dustin Maguire to play a lot of pf next year along with Meyer and Liddell. I see them playing like Powell did for Illinois last year and Anderson for Michigan State. The 6'5 pf for Wisconsin was good 2. They were all swingman who had a little physicalness to go with their outside touch. Very tough for the defense to guard in the half court and they ran wild in transition. Hafer and Johnnie Parker did a great job in that role at Mizzou. Duke started heading that way last year with Lee Melchionni playing a lot of pf and starting their down the stretch. Its the new trend in college football these days. Glad SLU isnt waiting too long to make this move. Nabbing Maguire and maybe another big wing like Mike Smith and we'll really have something. Maybe even Jeremy Sharpe. There are some local pf's that can run like Manual Cass, Leon Powell, Lucas O'Rear, Jeremy Felton, and Dave Stewart. With the exception of Cass and Powell, the rest have to do a lot to show they can play for SLU though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 >I like the 4 guard lineup as a staple of this school. I >would love for Dustin Maguire to play a lot of pf next year >along with Meyer and Liddell. I see them playing like >Powell did for Illinois last year and Anderson for Michigan >State. How in the world do you expect 6-foot-5 guys like Dustin Maguire and Luke Meyer to be successful playing power forward against bigger, stronger and more athletic power forwards? Liddell is a good enough athlete that he can still get rebounds against bigger players, but Maguire and Meyer don't have anywhere near Liddell's athletic ability. Maguire is a wing. He likes to sit on the perimeter and knock down shots. That's what he's good at, and that's what he was recruited for. Dustin Maguire was not recruited to be the next Roger Powell. A guy like Leon Powell, undersized with long arms and good leaping ability/quickness, could be a Leon Powell type player. Maguire and Meyer, whose speciality is his mid-range jumper, aren't those type of players. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Brad has not stated we will play 4 guards all season. Infact he said there were alot of teams that would not allow us to play 4 guards. JJ and VN will get minutes at the 4 against the better teams. I can even see him going with BH at the 5 and IV at the 4 for short stretches. IV can hit the 12 footer. He doesn't put the ball on the floor well but if our guards are playing well and shooting the 3 with any sort of consistency and the way IV passes if BH's man were to help or a guard was to double down ... IV will find the open man. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 Skip I like that idea for short stretches. I hope he tries it a little if we get some breathing space against our early, hopefully, cupcakes, opponents. The one thing that bothers me about the 4 is putting so much pressure on IV that the fouls come quickly. Now you put a 7'2" guy to guard their 5 IV takes the PF, with a little help from TL and DB, who knows it might just work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheltiedave Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 VTime, instead of a breakout year for Polk, how about making it for the entire team? A few other people were talking Polk up even before you visited. He is going to be a great Billiken before all is over. I think we are all glad he is in blue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 i agree with powell. but i would take o'rear before cass. however, o'rear is a junior like powell. cass likely has grade issues or everyone would be on him already since he is a senior this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTIME Posted November 13, 2005 Author Share Posted November 13, 2005 Shooting 3's is what they'll do. how many pf's will chase meyer and maguire out to the 3 point line. If they do, they will just pump fake and go in for the slam. Maguire does that in high school anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Latsch Posted November 13, 2005 Share Posted November 13, 2005 >Shooting 3's is what they'll do. how many pf's will chase >meyer and maguire out to the 3 point line. The Billikens already have a power forward who likes to shoot 3-pointers. His name is Vas'Shun Newborne. So you'd rather have a power forward on the wing jacking up 3's then somewhere near the basket where he may actually be able to grab a rebound? That makes sense to me. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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