Billikan Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 As I sat and watched the shootout yesterday I tried hard to make comparisons between the various players in similar situations and I came to some conclusions: 1. I am more and more confident in the ability of our coaches to evaluate players. Tommie Liddell is a very nice player who really understands the game. His "feel" for the game is just terrific. He made some of the nicest--simple but perfect--passes I have ever seen in high school. He also competes hard and he has extremely quick and strong hands on defense. At the end of the game he took on the role of an inside scorer and he made some nice baskets over much bigger players. I came away very impressed. The stats do not do him justice. On a better team he would have had a dozen assists and I believe he had at least 5 or 6 steals although he was only credited for 3. Comparisons--Monroe Douglass--last year many were saying we should recruit Monroe--he seems like a nice young man and he hustles but he is not close to the player that tommie L. is at the point or in any other position. He does not look like a big time D1 player. Xavier Price-- also seems like a nice young man and he put his body on the line taking it to the basket. He is on a very good team and he does not stand out but he looks to be a solid player--not a point guard as some have suggested and he may be a bit short to play the three so he will be a two. There is no way I would take him over Tommie Liddell. Kalen Grimes--He of the monster body--I would take him in a minute. He seems to have improved since I saw him last although he still appears to be out of shape. If he would buy in to Brad's system and got in shape and worked hard he would be perfect for our team next year. I never saw whether he can do anything other than dunk or put back offensive recounds because he never made any moves whatsoever because the ESTL defense was suffocating him even though they were much smaller. Superstar comparison: Livingston-- a superior talent who controls a game singlehandedly--he reminds me of Penny Hardaway who put on one of the best shows ever at the Shootout. I can't say he is better than Penny but he is close. His no look passes and his FAKED no look passes were a thing of beauty. He also has a beautiful rotation on his shot--particularly his free throws. If he is not one and done at Duke I will be amazed. Brandon Rush-- by far the most spectacular player of the long day. He is different than his brothers in that he works to get his teammates the ball and he plays defense. He has a beautiful outside touch and he leaps like Vince Carter. He had two offensive rebound dunks that were highlight film variety. The first was you garden variety NBA style leap above the box, grab the ball with two hands and then throw it down over bigger players. The second was truly amazing. He was on the wing and passed to a guard who drove for a layup. As he put up the ball my son--who played college ball--pokes me and says watch this-- as the ball spun out on the layup Rush elevated over everyone and caught it with one hand just below the rim. He then cradled it, turned it over and went higher to slam it down. absolutely amazing!! I seriously doubt that this young man will ever play college ball. He is much better than either of his brothers. As he bulks up over the next year and a half he will be unstoppable! The entire Mt. Zion team: this must be the most incredible collection of high school talent ever. The guards are awesome high flying quick players who can shoot the three ball. all of the players are athletic and play within the system. My son and I concluded that if you could take this team and continue with the same group in college that you would reach several final 4s and would probably win a championship. Kent--Because of the talent of the Zion team the Kent team did not show all of its talent but they also had three or four absolutely terrific players. Their point guard--going to Siena--played strong, tough and smart--he would be a nice addition to any team. Wright, the wing player is a terrific long range shooter and a nice all around player. He will help DePaul. No way that I would say he is better than Rush. Although he did not do very much in the game because of the talent all around I thought their no. 22, a kid that is going to clemson is a very talented player. he has easy NBA three range and he leaps like a pogo stick at the rim. The Aldridge kid from Texas looks smooth as silk and once he bulks up he will be and NBA player. He is about 6'11" and runs the court extremely well. His team includes what may be the most inept group of guards that I have ever seen on a good team with a dominant player. I blame it on the coaches but the players need to take some blame. In the first half which ended in Peoria leading 40-19, the guards would repeatedly take the ball and drive to the basket while throwing up prayers that were either blocked or missed and lead to a fast break the other way. aldridge was never involved and these kids seem to not know he was even in the game. It was ridiculous. In the second half when they finally realized that they were getting killed, the guards finally started to pass it to him and he scored 25 in the half. You can really understand why some top kids go to prep school. they will get better coaching and the team will work as a team rather than have terrible players while trying to get their points ignore the star. All in all, I find that this is one of the best days of the year for a basketball fan in St. Louis. It was great fun! 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jjray Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Great review Billikan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Very nicely done. Wouldn't compare Livingston to Penny though. Penny averaged 30 ppg in high school. If Livingston ever scores 30 points in a high school game, I will be shocked. He's a finesse, pass-first point guard in the mold of Mark Jackson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 i have a hard time saying it because imo he is the ultimate college player and of course an all-time favorite that one hates to compare to, but magic might be the best comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Nope. Magic averaged 30 ppg and 15 rpg in high school. Livingston simply isn't that kind of player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 i am referring to his style of creating and his court vision. i am betting if any team would give them a game, shaun would score whatever he had to to win. lisch does the same thing. last week vs much less freeburg he scored 17. the week before against what i am now thinking is a top 10 state team, belleville west, he scores 36. tonite against marion, he wont have 20 again as he concentrates on letting the teamates win the game. shaun is the same kind of player. after the game yesterday, chris monter hops out there to grab a picture of shaun. shaun wouldnt pose until he talked to and took lee's picture first. he is just committed to making his team look good. that is why i am convinced this kid is a champion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 "i am betting if any team would give them a game, shaun would score whatever he had to to win. lisch does the same thing. last week vs much less freeburg he scored 17. the week before against what i am now thinking is a top 10 state team, belleville west, he scores 36" Lisch is a scorer. Shaun is not. Hasn't been in four years of high school even when his team needed him to at his previous school, Peoria Richwoods. Still a great player, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Roy, is Lisch playing any games on this side of the river this year at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted December 12, 2003 Author Share Posted December 12, 2003 I may be wrong but I think that Livingston could be a 30 point per game scorer if he decided to concentrate on scoring. he has a nice touch from 3 and he is silky smooth off the dribble, very tough to guard going to the basket and he would draw a lot of fouls. With a nice free throw touch he would get 10-15 of those per game. Right now he seems content to set up his teammates. They are undefeated against a tough schedule so I would guess he won't change his approach. By the way, I thought that Belleville West has a very nice team with quality across the board in the starting five. They play hard, shoot well and defend. If our man Lisch had 36 against this group then he needs to come be a Billiken. I can see he and Polk and Liddell as our three smalls playing at the same time once they get aquainted. I am also extremely happy about Meyer. Let's get that enforcer and we are on out way to big things in the new arena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Wasn't there a PF kid from Peoria that you thought might be a player for SLU to look at the Shootout? I'm sorry since I don't live in St. Louis I don't get the coverage and I forgot this kids name. How'd he look, and did it look like any SLU coaches were watching him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schasz Posted December 12, 2003 Share Posted December 12, 2003 Billikan, I agree with that assessment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 miranda came in as the 6th man for peoria and played more than half the game. if i remember right (my son took my program to school where the hell is he anyway) he was a sophomore only. brad stayed for half of that game and angres was there for the whole game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 no. you need to watch the matchups at either the collinsville tourney or the belleville east tourney. most likely you can time a trip to take in at least two great games with good players. lisch and liddell will both be at collinsville as well as livingston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 how does meyer compare to the shipley kid at lafeyette? i can tell you that watching thorpe from across the floor, it seemed he was very interested in watching the lafeyette-vianny game. not sure who else would he be interested in. beal is too small to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tonka Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 when's the collinsville tourney? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 "beal is too small to help." So is Shipley. He's a skinny 6-0 SG with a very good mid-range game and an unreliable three point shot. Shipley's a decent passer so he may be able to make the transition to point guard and secure a D-1 offer from a low major. Maybe Coach Thorpe was tracking the development of 6'8 senior Paul Bannister. He has virtually no offensive game but at least he would help out on the boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 the week after xmas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 i am thinking that one of the two teams had a big freshman that played a lot as well. somewhere's around 6'6". but again, my son has my program. i thought bannister wasnt bad. he wasnt a great scorer, but he was adequate and he does have a strong body. definitely not timid either as he popped paradowski and got a t for it. coach made him sit the rest of the half and most of the second half then. we could do a lot worse pf wise. he might be a nice safety valve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 I forgot that Matt Lawrence, Lafayette's 6-6 SF, is just a junior. I bet you that's who Thorpe was looking at. He didn't have a good game yesterday but the kid can play. He could blossom into a solid mid-major recruit if he improves his long range shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 Livingston plays on a very, very good team - he doesn't need to score 30, and would probably upset the team chemistry if he tried. It's clear to me he values the assist as much as the points. I think Cerasoli and Liddell were similar in their approach. The Corey kid from TN was the complete opposite; many in my section were booing him by the end of the game. If Cerasoli is 31st in the country, where does that put Liddell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted December 13, 2003 Share Posted December 13, 2003 unca, while i am not saying corey brewer is justified in his play, but it was obvious to me that the only chance that portland tn team had any chance was for brewer to more or less win the game on his own. that was probably the worst supporting cast that has ever played in the shootout. let's wait till next year and see how good brewer is in college when he has real players surrounding him. i think overall, corey brewer was one of the top 5 players at the shootout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Majerus Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Actually, his physical skills reminded me of Larry; however, his coach could arrange to relieve him of a lot of pressure by passing off when double teamed and then getting the ball back shortly thereafter. He didn't need to bring the ball up; any coach can find a guy or way to get the ball into the front court. It seemed to me that Corey's intention, originally, was to break the Shootout scoring record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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