Jump to content

Sloan being Jeffers?


Recommended Posts

I have just have a hunch (I am watching the Louisville game while I work on a little project (btw slu72 I am still waiting to hear from you, check your pms). And I have thought for the past couple of years that Sloan is very similar to Jeffers. He came in being defensive intensive. And maybe he was held back some with the give the ball to perry attitude. As Jeffers was held back some by Love.

I dunno, just a hunch. I bet Sloan is at least our #2 scorer next year. Anyone with better basketball eyes disagree? If so why?

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be shocked to see Sloan even come close to duplicating Maurice's senior year. First of all they are completely opposite style of players. Jeffers was a slasher with a decent outside shot, very athletic with good leaping ability. Sloan is none of the above ... except I think he has a good 3pt shot if left open and he will mshoot it consistently. Sloan is stronger inside where Jeffers relied upon his athleticism. Jeffers was a 2-3 ... Sloan is a 3-4.

Defensively they both play hard and are probably the teams best defender .... I think if Sloan is our #2 scorer we are in trouble. I think he can avg 9-11 pts and 5-6 boards a game if he gets 25 - 30 minutes a game. ... The best scenario though would be for JJ to develop throughout the year and by the end of the season our starting frontline would be TF, JJ, and IO with Chris coming off the bench at either the 3 or the 4 depending on need

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you guys are wrong about sloan's leaping ability. he isnt jeffers agreed. but he can probably get up better than everyone on the team except for maybe mcclain and i guess jj.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. sloan is not maurice jeffers.

(floyd is closer to mo in terms of size and athletic ability and playing style (when healthy), but he may never play. who knows.)

2. sloan will not be coming off the bench. we've been trying to sit him down for the past four years. barring injury, it's not happening. when he lost his spot to i.o. briefly last season, you saw how he responded. by playing the best basketball of his life from the memphis game to the end of the season.

3. now, if sloan can step up and have his best year as a billiken in his senior year, we will all be happy.

bad boyz for life

go knicks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Roy, you are wrong about Sloan's jumping ability. Sloan is not a great leaper. He is 6'7" and long, so he has no problem reaching above the rim when he jumps. His vertical leap, however, is average. I would bet that Jeffer's vertical was somewhere around 40", and Sloan's is somewhere around 30".

BTW, I am not intending to criticize Sloan's worth to this team. Sloan is a valuable player on this team and is fun to watch. In other words, I do not have a Sloan soapbox along the lines of my Deiner soapbox (Chris is actually one of my favorite players).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't say he would be coming off the bench ... I said best case scenario, just think if JJ and IO develop enough to be the starting 3 and 4. How good would we be with Sloan bringing his attitude and aggresiveness off the bench

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Chris is a huge part of this team and he will be counted on for various reasons next season. But to think that he could become a Mo Jeffers is a bit of a stretch. Mo is arguably the most athletic player we have had on this team since Larry. He could dribble, jump, and shoot....and was an eventual second round draft pick. Sloan is a tenacious defender and can hit a few shots, but he cannot jump out of the building like Mo could. Being so tall, Sloan can easily get above the rim, but his vertical is not that great (I have seen him in the warmups, as Roy has pointed out before, and IMO he seems to put forth more effort that I would expect a 6'7 man to). I also have not seen that he has the ability to create his shot and hit the consistant jumper in traffic...Mo could. Again, I really like Sloan and think he will start the entire year, but he will not be the player Maurice was. (But i would love to be wrong about that!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i never once said that sloan was more athletic than jeffers. i always qualified that statement. that said, i stand by my statements about chris's athleticism. i view only mcclain and jj as higher on the board. and as far as getting up and down the court, chris is a gazelle. to view chris as a non-athletic type is stereotyping at it's best.

i bet if we had the billikens compete in the decathalon, it would be chris sloan and josh fisher fighting it out for the title.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is a matter of opinion, but Fisher, Bryant, JJ, IO, and McClain are arguably better overall athletes than Sloan. Clarke and Morris may also be better athletes than Chris although I have not seen either play.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with you David. It seems to me that because Chris is such a hard worker and a fan favorite .. his skills and athleticism are being overrated.

I love Chris also ... but if he puts up 9-11 pts and 5-6 boards a game I'd be happy. Best bet would be for JJ and IO to have developed enough to start and for Chris to provide that spark or burst of energy off the bench.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You may be right Roy ... I'm just hoping, because I see Chris as a great 6th man. Just his hustle alone would be a spark. Many times a teams 6th man is just as important as the starters. I just feel Chris has the make-up to excell in that role.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think we have anyone on this team that can match Jeffers athletic skills, his size and his body. There are no Mos on this team.

If you are talking about a Jeffers type impact, meaning a guy who has been decent in his career but takes it to a much different level his senior season I think that has to be Josh Fisher. Josh has a similar skillset to Mo except he is a couple inches shorter, sort of a mini-mo. Josh has been the best defender on the team for a couple years now, but his offense has always been inconsistent, though he has shown flashes. Josh has the skills to do it, he can penetrate, shoot and handle, plus take his man inside with his body. It would not shock me if Fisher had a breakout season and led this team in scoring with 17-18 a game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Torch, I agree with you. I think everybody has been underestimating Josh. From all accounts he as been working his a$$ off in the rec center this summer and I believe it was Bart who said he could hang with JLove and Hughes when they were playing. He appears to be the stongest guy on the team and we know he has some good hops for a 6'2 gaurd. He has shown flashes of penetrating skills and a decent shot. I think if Josh can harness his skills and leave everthing on the court game after game, he could be the player this teams needs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

just to compare fairly, let's not forget we did not watch maurice jeffers as a freshman or sophomore at all. we dont know what he was physically able to do then or how big he was then. for all we know, darren clarke might be maurice jeffers as a college freshman. that is what i keep hoping for anyway.

btw, i agree 100% with the josh fisher comments. anyone who is mr basketball in the state of washington has the potential skills to break out big. plus, as a good billiken soldier he has purposely gave himself up the last couple of seasons doing other duties.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i like the comparison. He just does too many things (tangible and intangible) to keep himself on the floor. That was even before he became a dependable scorer. when the shots started to fall, he was there to stay.

as for fish, i'm in agreement with the rest of you. I'm expecting BIG things from him in his senior year. The biggest thing i want from him is consistency. Keep the in and out performances to a bare minimum.

He is quite capable of being a consistent 12-15 point a night player. he is strong and can get to the basket on anyone. He hits his free throws and he is an acceptable 3-point shooter. His mid-range game is good. It just looks a little goofy with those off-balance one handers that he likes to throw up. He has those shots down pat.

During Mo's senior year, I remember earl austin saying that he really appreciated mo because he became a primary scorer while maintaining his role as a defensive stopper during his senior year. he said that carrawell did the same thing at duke when he was a senior. That takes great conditioning and commitment and mo reaped the rewards by becoming a second-round draft pick when nobody knew who he was before his senior year.

from where he plays on the court. Josh has the ability to do the same thing. frankly, we need that kind of play from him.

bad boyz for life

go knicks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

fisher truly has the strength and size to make a difference. with the right season, he could put himself in position to play on. if he played like he did in that tulane game two seasons ago every night, he is a draft pick as well. he obviously has that ability, but as has been said in this string already, will he consistently do that night in and night out? i am hoping that is josh's carrot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that Fish has the ability to average double digits. Unfortunately, he had that ability two years ago as well. He just doesn't seem to have a scoring mentality -- Fish only looks to score when nobody on the team can/will do it. Contrast with Bryant, Izik and Drejaj who almost always look for their shot first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(Having read the entire thread, I'm now ready to put in my late 2¢.)

SignGuy, Chris Sloan will be a team leader and improve his overall production this season, but he won't suddenly be a team-leading scorer like Maurice Jeffers. Jeffers was a dangerous offensive player in that he could hit outside jumpers and he could get his own shot off the dribble. Jeffers was a great slasher. Sloan doesn't have that kind of offensive versatility.

If the Bills pick up the tempo on offense this year, Sloan will have numerous opportunities to finish breaks by diving to the bucket, but in the half-court offense, Sloan is a role player.

Now the player that I believe has the potential to step up the way Jeffers did is Josh Fisher (as thetorch said, though I did have the thought independently). From what I've seen (during the one summer scrimmage I saw), Josh is playing with confidence, looking to lead and score, and taking the ball to the whole with authority. (Nashville, I believe I was the one, not bart, who said Fish could play with Justin Love and Dave Fergerson.) He's deferred to Perry the last two seasons, but this year he's the leader. Perhaps he's even the go-to guy. I know most of us expect Reggie Bryant to fill that role, but Fish may "say" (by his actions and play), "I'm a senior and you're a junior -- wait your turn." After thinking about it, I wouldn't be surprised to see Fish lead the team in scoring. But even if he does, Bryant will probably be a close second in mid-double figures. It certainly won't hurt to have two viable scoring threats (with Izik Ohanon as a third possibility).

*Chris Sloan is a good athlete, but he's not in Jeffers's class. Nothing short of injury will budge him from the starting lineup.

*Darren Clarke might emulate the progress of Jeffers, but I don't think he's the same kind of player, at all. Jeffers was a wing player, and Clarke is a combo guard. This year SLU will have the luxury and strength of having at least four ballhandlers -- that's not knowing if Bryant has good handles -- and teams may get burned if they press the Bills (with the exception of the ultra-athletic run-and-jump teams, who can give even the best ballhandlers fits).

*3-star, while it's true that Fish had the ability to score in double figures two years ago, he still deferred to Perry, and he also had Jason Edwin to look to as a scoring threat. Also, at that time he was playing in Lorenzo Romar's more rigid system, as opposed to Brad Soderberg's motion offense. Last year Soderberg recognized that Perry was Mr. Everything to the team, so he tailored the offense around giving the ball to Perry and moving everyone out of the way, especially late in games. I suspect that this year he will stress motion more and give the "movers" more of a green light to look to score. Fish will have more opportunities to score this year than ever before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm confident that Josh Fisher has confidence as a ballplayer. He's ready to be a leader. He plays like it.

I asked Josh two weeks ago if he and Chris Sloan were going to be co-captains this year, and he said he didn't know. I'm sure that's what will happen.

This is the year the NCAA almost said Fish couldn't have. He'll make the most of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm also looking for Josh to have a nice Sr. season. I keep remembering that he played at one of the finest basketball HS in the Seattle area. Mercer Island HS is coached by the legendary Ed Pepple who has coached them to 4 state titles and a number of runner up finishes. If memory serves me right, Josh was player of the year in his Sr. year at Mercer Island. He will assume a leadership role with this year's Billiken team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

that is correct. josh was indeed the state of washington player of the year his senior year in h.s.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...