cheeseman Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I know everybody keeps saying look at the second year of when Claggett and Highmark were here - we only went 500 or close and then we caught fire the last two years. Yes that is true but lets compare this team to that team. The last two years had H. Waldman to handle the ball and shoot from downtown and Robinson to rebound. I think Dobbs was also still there for one year. Who do we have to come in on the white horse next year - DM, a freshman with no D1 experience - sorry he is not going to solve our shooting problem next year maybe a couple years down the road. If Brad does not find some impact JUCO or Prep players to come in and improve our interior defense I am not sure we can be as good as Spoon's second year when we went dancing. I agree that KL could be the guy that steps up and fills the perimeter shooting problem, but where is the inside help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billiken Rich Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 EOM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I'm not worried about next year--we only lose Drejaj, all our young guards are a year older, and we pick up Obi and Maguire (a shooter). It's the following year I'm concerned about--lose Ian and JJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 right now i consider using ian and justin johnson in the same thought as some sort of a sin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 I think cheese raises some legit concerns. I don't expect DM to be an impact freshman. I also don't expect Obi to make an impact as a freshman either, considering he would've been out of game action for two years. We still have three scholarships. Brad needs two of those to contribute right away. Here is a wish list that I think is realistic. 1) A 4 from juco or prep school who can rebound and play D first and foremost. 2) A freshman guard who can shoot or a freshman point guard who can back up DP. Maybe a kid who can play 8-10 minutes a game as a backup. 3)A freshman 4/5 to get in the program and redshirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 unless someone has heard different, brad has stated on multiple occasions he will only use two more scholarships besides dustin mcg and both will be inside players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShoe Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 from what I recall, he said he wanted a Juco 4-man who can immediately make an impact and a project big man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 i took his remarks to mean that he wanted someone that could step in and start as the pf immediately. he then qualified that meant that the person would likely be a juco. as most such high school players that fit that bill are gobbled up by the top annual traditional programs. however, that said, it is my opinion, that could also be filled with an international player or possibly a prep player or possibly a transfer. normally from now until the beginning of the next semester (month?) we usually see mid year transfers. so dont discount that possibly happening as well. someone that transfers now would be in the lineup by next xmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 we need to recruit PFs, the more the better, from any place possible and if we aren't successful in this endeavor no matter how much our guards improve and no matter how dominant Ian is it wil be difficult for us to be consistently good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjray Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 >right now i consider using ian and justin johnson in the >same thought as some sort of a sin. Don't be hating on JJ Roy. He's our starting PF and we're a better team with him there than that 4 guard stuff (unless we are playing a team that is small up front). Without him, we get really small. He's played very sparingly the last 2 years so I'm not ready to give up on him based on one perceived bad night when I think other SLU players had worse nights--i.e., Tommie Liddell. The kid looked asleep on defense, especially the first half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 nobody played worse defense for the billikens last night than johnson imo. i turned to my daughter once in the second half and suggested that johnson might as well just stay down at the offensive side of the floor. at least then he wouldnt get in the way and set accidental picks on his own teamates. he was the top sleep walker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 A PF is a must. Agree about Obi. Unless he gets some serious playing time this summer, he's not going to have played in game conditions for two years. Assume he's practicing this year and not just rehabbing, but game conditions are different. Let's just hope there's a JUCO PF out there who sees the potential and wants to start right away. I'm leery of 4's that want to transfer. If they are any good to begin with their current coach is probably bending over backwards to keep him happy. But I'd sure like to see SLU with a stud at the #4 someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 what amazes me is the likes of ole miss or memphis have like 8 guys on their rosters that would easily qualify as our top pf year after year. and all of them are kids that few have ever heard of until they got to their respective campuses. the other thought that just frustrates the hell out of me is how the hell do the mid majors we have played the last couple of years, like hawaii, milwaukee, or oral roberts all have better inside power players than what we had? folks they have to be out there. the question is why wont ANY of them come? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 actually obi has two obstacles to overcome. the first, yes, no games for two years, but his biggest hurdle is still his conditioning and getting his explosiveness back. imo, our trainer/strength coaches have the greatest project in the world in front if them with obi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 It looks like we need to start recruiting in Mississippi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 Brad has got to do a better job recruiting the 4. I'm also frustrated with always saving a scholarship or two, waiting for something better to come along. Make it happen! Only having four bigs on the roster is not acceptable. Let's use all the scholarships and create more competition for playing time at the 4. Guys like Baniak and Tatum look better all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted December 14, 2005 Share Posted December 14, 2005 >>right now i consider using ian and justin johnson in the >>same thought as some sort of a sin. > >Don't be hating on JJ Roy. He's our starting PF and we're a >better team with him there than that 4 guard stuff (unless >we are playing a team that is small up front). Without him, >we get really small. He's played very sparingly the last 2 >years so I'm not ready to give up on him based on one >perceived bad night when I think other SLU players had worse >nights--i.e., Tommie Liddell. The kid looked asleep on >defense, especially the first half. I agree about the four guard stuff. It's only good in small doses. We have to live and die with JJ/VN combo at the 4. If that's not good enough, then blame poor recruiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cowboy Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Broy said "actually obi has two obstacles to overcome. the first, yes, no games for two years, but his biggest hurdle is still his conditioning and getting his explosiveness back. imo, our trainer/strength coaches have the greatest project in the world in front if them with obi. " bigger than they had with IV who was worthless in your opinion??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 Brad has been careful not to waste scholarships....as he works to build his program. If you use the last two scholarships on two questionable bigs ..... and your only practice competition is between the 4th guy... and the 5th guy ....and the 6th guy .....what have you gained. They are not going play anyway. Patience, patience, patience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACE Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 As Roy has pointed out, other schools that aren't exactly elite have better 4s than us. Quit making excuses and make it happen! History has shown, that we are not likely to get an impact big who is ready to make a big contribution right away. I wish/hope we can. So what's the next course of action? Get bigs into the program and then develop them. I'm not advocating "wasting" scholarships, but saving them and hoping something better will fall into our laps isn't likely to happen. Let's review. We really only have 3 bigs on the active roster (VN is not a true 4). We have two scholarships that weren't used. That's inexcusable. We have 13 scholarships. Let's use them. The staff has done a good job with recruiting guards the last couple of years. Ian was a very good recruit, but overall, the staff hasn't gotten the job done recruiting bigs. In case you didn't notice, we had 9 wins last year. Mistakes have been made. This spring signing period is critical. No more excuses. No more waiting until next year hoping something better will come along. Get it done now! We need some good bigs to play with the talented young guards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbilly Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 i find it amusing that everyone is seeming to say "why don't we recruit "bigs" that are unheard of", but those same people complain when we hear of a possible recruit that is also being recruited by MVC or MAC schools that we need to find higher quality recruits. Which way do you want it? BILLY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 ACE said...."I'm not advocating wasting scholarships"....and then ACE said.... "We have 13 scholarships. Let's use them!" Evidently you want it both ways. If SLU couldn't sign a PF that was better than VN and JJ, they did the smart thing by not signing just anyone. SLU went hard after 6-9 235 Courtney Williams from Schoolcraft juco in Detroit, but Courtney picked Charlotte over the Bills. The next juco candidates weren't better that JJ or VN, thus the decision to save the scholarship. Patience. Let's see who is on the roster come late August 2006. Getting all lathered-up on Dec14 because we don't have a PF in the bag for next season is silly. btw, the initial plan for 2005-2006 was for a juco impact PF, then a prep post-player that you would redshirt and develop, and the third scholarship would only go to a "difference maker", or it would be saved for the 2006-2007 signing period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 cowboy i appreciate you continuing to take that comment out of context. my comments towards ian the previous two seasons were always accompanied with positive comments about his potential and the negative comments were directed towards his conditioning and strength or lack of both. he made great strides this summer in both areas and now has become the best big man the billikens have had in years if not ever. obi, too is very much behind the conditioning lines and his stength in his injured leg is far behind. so if you want to put words in my keyboard for me, go right ahead, because you are right, just like ian, if obi doesnt get in shape and recondition and strengthen that leg, he too will miss out on fulfilling his great potential and promise while at slu. p.s. cowboy, i was surprised by your tone. not normal for your contributions. i must have done something to p!ss you off and if so, i apologize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.