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wazzup. it's been a while.

I was a little late, but i got to see most of the all-star game at fontbonne. I really enjoy when d.j. brings these players to town. i read that someone called this game second-rate.

in the past five years, i've seen second rate players like Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright, Keyon Dooling, Arthur Johnson, Steve Logan, Rickey Paulding, Andre Brown, Larry Hughes, robert archibald, Maurice baker play in this game. compared to the usual city-county or st. charles vs. jefferson county game that used to be at meramec, i think this game if pretty good. i hope d.j. keeps bringing them in.

as for darren clarke. i'm not too concerned about his performance in the game. he is a very good player who will be an asset to the program. my sister and brother in law live in minneapolis, so i've got a chance to watch him play while visiting them. i saw him as a junior when hopkins won the state championship. he played shooting guard and averaged about 18 points a game. he was a very exciting scorer who could shoot the 3. as a senior, he moved to point guard out of necessity because they didn't have anyone else. he still averaged about 15, but his offense wasn't as strong after the switch. He shot over 40 percent from the 3-point line during his career, so yes he can shoot. he can also penetrate, create his own shots and pass the ball. he'll have to fight for minutes with our veteran guards back, but he will be good.

if you thought darren clarke was bad in d.j.'s game, you should have seen marque perry. when he played inthe game at umsl. I don't think marque scored a point and he turned the ball over about five times. les norman of lebanon ran circles around him. there was sheer panic in billiken land and ridicule from those who thought he should not have been recruited over local guards. i think it's safe to say that we are all happy that spoon recruited marque and zo convinced him to stay when spoon left.

ahearn was awesome, there's no other way to say it. it was a great show. that boy can shoot. he made some creative passes as well. i bet desmet's coach bob steiner was somewhere saying, my god, i wish i could have seen some of that play when we were losing to teams like chaminade, parkway central and ash grove and sluh. and losing our district championship game by 25 points.

i cannot leave you good people without a word from the streets. they've been talking a little bit. as you know, an offer has already been made to meyer from borgia. that's old news. word on the street is that there are also offers on the table for tommie liddell, kevin lisch and kyle kirk. that's three offers to three local guards, plus the commitment from dwayne polk, who got the offer despite having the broken knee cap when other schools backed off. that sounds like someone who would like to have a few area players. i haven't heard anything new of matt shaw, but taj gray may be back in the picture as a potential recruit at power forward. remember, his assistant coach is jamall walker.

as for bryce husak. I saw exactly what i thought i'd see. a 7 foot project in desparate need of a weight room. see ya in a couple of years.

bad boyz for life

bad boy for life

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Kyle Kirk just finished his freshmen year of high school. Can anyone provide some analysis of his game? Is it typical to offer a kid who has only played one year of high school ball?

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you are definitely one of the more knowledgable people that write on this board especially when it comes to the word on the street. I'll take your word over any recruiting expert anyday.

I think the person(s) that suggested this was not a big time all-star game were comparing it to past years when we had all those players you listed. In the past, there were certainly more top 50 guys then they had this year although year in and year out the local boys put on a great show.

What does the word on the street say about conference affiliations...

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I didn't know Kyle Kirk was offered a scholarship by St. Louis U. That's very interesting. Kirk is definitely a kid the Billikens could use in a couple years, if he keeps improving his game.

Kirk is a 6-foot-4 swingman and will be a sophomore at Fort Zumwalt West this year. (Though some people are saying he will transfer to DeSmet or CBC, which Kirk told me is not the case.) Here is a link to his stats from this past season: http://prepsports3.stltoday.com/basketball...verall1834.shtm

Kirk shoots the ball extremely well from mid-range. I don't know how comfortable he is shooting the 3-pointer right now, but he already shoots the mid-range jumper like a college player. He has explosive athletic ability. He had one of the best dunks of the season last year in a game against Troy Buchanan: Kirk got the ball on the left wing, drove right at the top of the key and went up and dunked, two-handed, over a 6-8 center. Ask Earl Austin about that one. On defense, Kirk typically guarded the opposing team's biggest player. He leaps well enough to block the shots of players several inches taller. I don't know how well he guards the perimeter, but he should be strong enough and quick enough to get it done.

If Kirk is done growing, which he may or may not be -- his older sister, Hannah, is 6-2 and played at Southwest Missouri State as a freshman last year -- he still has enough size to play shooting guard in college. I think he could be a very good scorer in college if he establishes his outside (3-point) shot. He will also need to work on his ballhandling.

Kirk struggled against the best young kids in the country at the Nike Hoop Jamboree, but I think that was more because he was a bit nervous. In the game I watched him, Kirk played on the wing and hardly ever got the ball. I expect that he will be a top 100 type player in the next few seasons with the ability to be a top 50 or top 30-type guy as a senior. He has some Jimmy McKinney in his game, though McKinney had a lot of the intangibles (leadership and the ability to perform in clutch situations) that most basketball players, Kirk included, will probably never be able to come close to.

Kirk would be a very nice pickup for the Billikens. But if he keeps improving and making a name for himself in the next three seasons, Kirk might be sought after by several Big 12 and Big 10 teams.

- Nate

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>i bet desmet's coach bob steiner was

>somewhere saying, my god, i wish i could have seen some of

>that play when we were losing to teams like chaminade,

>parkway central and ash grove and sluh. and losing our

>district championship game by 25 points.

I couldn't have said it any better myself.

Keep listening to those talking streets, P Diddy.

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I made the statement that this game was small time. I stand by that, there was nobody in this years group that got anybody excited.

Besides big Mizzou, SLU and Illinois recruits does this game attract any real top national talent? Not really, and certainly not as much as DJ hypes it as, he claims it is one of the best All star games in the country, well I have watched a few on ESPN and his do not stack up. It may be better than some other area games but it is not big time. I expect at least 2 top 25 guys coming for it to be a big time game. The national guys this year were mediocre at best.

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from what i have heard and read, if taj gray is in the picture, there might be your reason that matt shaw doesnt have a firm offer. taj gray is supposedly about the best pf in all of jucoland. i said it before, if romar had him convinced to come, i find it hard to believe he didnt like anything else besides romar.

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it was my understanding that kirk was very very good at the slu team camp a few weeks ago and really turned slu staff's head.

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just because you may not know any of those players does not mean that they are not very good players. last year, the majority of people had no idea who antoine wright was. they all thought this was some scrub going to texas a&m. guess who was the big 12 freshman of the year. they're weren't too many people who were familiar with hasan adams last year either. lebron james cannot be everywhere.

i never heard of this african kid who wore #9. i think his name is fameni or something like that. he was a horse. he is going to arizona state next year. I'll but you'll hear from here next year. that #2 from florida who is about 6'8" was an unbelievable athlete. the little guard from chicago was also tough.

it may not be the mcdonalds game, but when has st. louis ever had an all star game with such talent. some years are better than others. i'll bet next year's game should be off the hook

I remember seeing steve logan at the first game. i didn't know much about him because he wasn't highly ranked. he turned out to be the best player in our c-usa.

i kind of enjoy seeing some of these guys who are below the radar screen,yet are going to major colleges and becoming producers. i can go to the shootout or eagles tournament to see the big names.

btw, b. roy, i heard kevin lisch played well at the nike jamboree at slu. can you add anything. i wish i could have gone, but it was closed to the public. i hope our boys can close the deal on that one.

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lisch did extremely well. i personally wasnt happy about that. more the word gets out the more the chance that the big boys come in and start the negative recruiting crap. personally i wish he would stay away from the nike camps and the aau circuit. (that's probably selfish, but i just dont trust the slobs that always walk in late and just assume they have the "draft rights" just because of who they are.)

my understanding was that kevin showed his normal adept shooting and relentless hustle and defense, but also showed what a good student he was. the nike coaches were extremely impressed with his willingness to learn and immediately integrate advice into his game.

that said, it is my understanding that as i expected, hansborough got far more deserved attention. he is the area stud of next year's juniors.

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>from what i have heard and read, if taj gray is in the

>picture, there might be your reason that matt shaw doesnt

>have a firm offer. taj gray is supposedly about the best pf

>in all of jucoland. i said it before, if romar had him

>convinced to come, i find it hard to believe he didnt like

>anything else besides romar.

If Tag Gray is showing serious interest and this is the reason we are holding off on Shaw, then I say "amen" to that. Holding out for Grimes does not make sense to me--odds are too long.

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i do say though that if gray is not seriously interested, i remain committed to supporting of grabbing shaw asap.

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>> i cannot leave you good people without a word from the streets. they've been talking a little bit. as you know, an offer has already been made to meyer from borgia. that's old news. word on the street is that there are also offers on the table for tommie liddell, kevin lisch and kyle kirk. that's three offers to three local guards, plus the commitment from dwayne polk, who got the offer despite having the broken knee cap when other schools backed off. that sounds like someone who would like to have a few area players. i haven't heard anything new of matt shaw, but taj gray may be back in the picture as a potential recruit at power forward. remember, his assistant coach is jamall walker.<<

PDiddy, any idea if the offers to Meyer and Liddell are an "either / or" proposition? I am curious whether we are prepared to take two 3s in next year's class if both Meyer and Liddell accept (or we are going to rescind the second offer once the first accepts).

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Liddell has to be our top priority. I hope we wait on him, I don't see us signing two 3s unless the JJ and the Greek kid really perform this year and we know Izik will stay for his 3 years. Otherwise we need to get an interior player with one of the three schollies.

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>Liddell has to be our top priority. I hope we wait on him,

>I don't see us signing two 3s unless the JJ and the Greek

>kid really perform this year and we know Izik will stay for

>his 3 years. Otherwise we need to get an interior player

>with one of the three schollies.

Not disagreeing with the soundness of your position, however, it does not match up with the current state of affairs: i.e., offering both Meyer and Liddell at the same time. If Luke Meyer calls up Brad and tells him he accepts the offer but no word has yet arrived from Liddell ... what does SLU do? "ah sorry Luke, I guess we did not make it clear, that offer was conditional, it was only good unless and until Tommie Liddell turns us down." This is not going to happen. Thus, by offering both Meyer and Liddell at the same time (two guys who play 3), then it is an "either / or" situation or we are going to take two 3s in the 2004 class.

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>>I don't see us signing two 3s unless the JJ and the Greek kid really perform this year and we know Izik will stay for his 3 years.

>

>Please fill me in -- where else is Izik potentially going to

>go?

Izik Ohanon could potential return to Israel (or anywhere else in Europe) to play pro ball.

Hey, after Paul Nondas was drafted by the Greek Army 1996 and Andrew Latimer left SLU after his sophomore year to play Austrailian pro ball in 2001, you'll have to excuse SLU fans for being a little bit jittery about recruits who come from the other side of an ocean.

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> I am curious whether we are

>prepared to take two 3s in next year's class if both Meyer

>and Liddell accept (or we are going to rescind the second

>offer once the first accepts).

I don't think it is a big deal that Meyer and Liddell are both similar players.

They both have experience playing point guard, shooting guard and small forward. So its not like SLU is getting two guys that play the same positions; they'd be getting two guys that play multiple positions.

- Nate

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Yes but it is interesting for what it means about how Brad views his team. If Isik is really going to be a full-time 3 as stated in recent interviews by Brad and with the addition of Clarke in the 2003 class (who also can play 1-3) and who will have a hard time finding minutes the first few years as it is, it will be crowded in the back court initally for these two should they both come. I'm not saying that is a bad thing especially when you land two quality players like Meyer and Liddell (would be excellent additions). However, it interests me because it also gives some insight into what Brads thinks about his front court. If he is willing to forego signing a 4 in the 2004 class, he must feel comfortable with JJ stepping in for Sloan after this season. It might also mean that Isik at 3 is an experiment necessitated by our current personnel and that, should we land quality 3s in the 2004 class, Isik goes back to being a 4. If Izik continues on the weight program, he should be solid under the basket as well as away.

BTW, didn't know Meyer had experience at 1-2. Adds to his attractiveness if he handles the ball that well.

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>Yes but it is interesting for what it means about how Brad

>views his team. If Isik is really going to be a full-time 3

>as stated in recent interviews by Brad and with the addition

>of Clarke in the 2003 class (who also can play 1-3) and who

>BTW, didn't know Meyer had experience at 1-2. Adds to his

>attractiveness if he handles the ball that well.

Meyer's high school team at St. Francis Borgia has had trouble getting solid production from the point guard spot the last few years. Last season the Knights had a freshman at the point. The kid was decent and probably better than the point guards the team had the previous two seasons. Meyer has always played on the perimeter and handles the ball a lot. He scored a lot more points last season than he had in his first two years on varsity, but he's going to have to score a lot more this season with the graduation of several good players, including 6-foot-9 center Sky Frazier (Southwest Missouri State).

I think the reason Meyer has waited to commit to SLU is because he's probably hoping for a scholarship offer from Stanford. I know they were interested in him a couple months ago.

- Nate

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word on the street is that liddell will probably not qualify.(it doesn't look good right now). the ideal situation sounds like to see tommie go to a prep school and come back and be a part of the class of 2005. that's what i'm hearing. they want a power forward with one of those two remaining schollies. (taj gray, perhaps?)

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