billikenmetz Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 When do we expect Ian to be running with the boys at West Pine? I still don't feel 100% comfortable with Husak and Ian out there, considering if one or the other gets in foul trouble, we're going to need some sort of presence out there. Watched the boys play on Monday afternoon at West Pine (just a couple of pickup games), but Lisch was on fire and Luke Meyer made a couple of unimpressive baseline jumpers. D. Miles was running with them too. Hopefully he can beat the snot out of Ian this summer so that Ian will be a force by the time Hansborough comes to call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinfootes Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 What's unimpressive about making shots? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dewey33 Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I agree...points are points. Everybody keeps waiting for Luke Meyer to get beat out, like everyone did with Drejaj and Sloan. Yet all these guys do is produce. I believe Luke's first game starting last year was the Xavier game in Cincy...and thats when we went on our run... Luke is a "glue guy" who does the dirty work to make everyone else better. He also gets to the line and makes his free throws. The game he played against Withers last year had a lot to do with us coming out of Charlotte with a "w". PS -- Darius Miles doesn't get near Ian in pick-up games. Especially to "bang". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Exactly...points are points...which was our biggest problem last year. I personally hope Luke gets a lot of minutes.....at the three. He can't be our power forward. But you need a guy out there like Luke. A guy who can hit his shots, sets screens, plays solid D, and knows the plays. IMO, it's going to be him and DB battling it out for the three spot. There's no way we can have 3 legit fowards pf's riding the pine...it's just a matter of who steps up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromGreeceWithLove Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Dewey, I absolutely agree with you and the comparisons to Sloan and Drejaj are on point. They are the type of guys who accept whatever role is needed for the team to win. My first post on this website was in question to why Luke Meyer wasn't getting any minutes. He is deceptively athletic and is going to give you his heart every minute he is on the floor. I know the injury held in back a little last season, but I expect him to be very productive for us and see him being a more consistent scorer as well, similar to how Sloan was, not a guy who is going to fill up, but who will hit the open shots and get buckets here and there. Luke Meyer is the type of player who is a team firt guy and just a winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 i agree with the others here that laud luke meyer. i have been saying for awhile now that i believe it is more than coincidence that the past two seasons our best stretches have coincided with the periods that luke became a starter and his minutes went up. while his shot might not be the prettiest, he does all the little things that have to get done to have team success. blocking out, help defense, setting screens, finding open men, getting to the open spot, filling the lanes, all things that dont necessarily show up on the stat sheet. luke meyer does all these things and more. imo, if i was picking my starting lineup right now, luke would be my small forward next year. nothing against danny brown and dwayne polk, but i will take the dependability of luke over the athleticism yet mistakes with brown and polk. now if brown and/or polk overcome their deficiencies, great. but until then, i believe meyer is our man at the 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 You have to love his heart and tenacity when he is on the floor, but here again I think some on this board want him to be better than he is because they like him. Yes, he leaves everything he has on the floor, but sometimes it takes more than that. The guy went through some terrible stretches last year shooting. In fact, I believe he wound up averaging less than 4 points per game. We just can't have that on a team that needs scoring. Often, he was wide open as teams locked on the Tommie, Kevin, and Ian, and still missed open ten-footers. Clearly Danny Brown has a lot more ability. The question with him is will his head be in the game. IF Danny Brown plays up the level he is capable, he is a much better option as teams will have to respect what he can do which will open things up more for the big-three. If he doesn't show the ability to keep his head in the game then you look to Meyer and Polk Luke is a great kid and we all love him, but if we are going to go far this year, I think it will be with Tommie, Kevin, and Danny in the backcourt, and look filling in when necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 drew, i agree that IF danny brown plays up to the level he is a better option. last year the first half of the season, the coaches gave him every opportunity to do just that. danny brown's inconsistency was a very large part of our roller coaster streak. amazingly going down the athleticism chart to meyer was key to breaking out of that rut. if danny brown proves in practice he is above that inconsistency and lapses this coming season, i would have no problem with putting his skillset on the floor instead, but at this point i think meyer deserves to have first crack and brown needs to beat him out, not vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromGreeceWithLove Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I think you are missing what everyone is saying, nobody is expecting him to be a star. He is the type of kid who may not have the most ability on the team, but who makes it hard for the coaches to take off the court. Watching Luke play in practices and pick-up, he can definitely score the ball and is much more athletic then he is given credit for. I think he will become a consistent contributor, teams will focus on Tommie and Kevin and Ian and I think Luke is the type of player who will make those open looks. He did not do that last season, but I expect him to the next two years. As everyone has said, Luke is a role player who accepts his role and will do anything needed to win, Danny Brown may have more ahtleticism and a higher ceiling, but he has not shown the consistent effort. I agree with you that Danny would have to be the guy the coaches would like to step up and earn the starting 3 spot, but I am confident the team could win a lot of games with Luke in the starting lineup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 My problem with Danny Brown is that it seems like he is forcing the action too much and as a result gets out of control. It's like running faster than your feet will go and falling on your face. He tries to drive hard and fast to the hoop and either turns it over or gets called for an offensive foul too often. The phrases, "Let the game come to you" and "play within yourself" come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I know it is a big IF, Roy. DB is so frustrating in that we have seen that he has the ability to be as integral of the big-three if he would only straighten things out upstairs. Meyer has to be able to hit the open jumper teams give him or his value fall off the table. I would not say anyone has first crack. Meyer, Brown, and Polk will have to battle it out. Actually I would like to see Dwayne and Danny step-up and take that spot and have Luke in a back-up role at the four. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUDrew Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I said the same thing watching him play last year. He played as if he knew he had a finite amount of time on the floor and he had to prove something while he had the chance, and in doing so looked very out of control Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FromGreeceWithLove Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Iggy, that is a great assesment of Danny up to this point in his career. I feel like when he gets the ball I am constantly yelling slow down. When he plays under control he is a nice player who can have big scoring games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 If Luke and Danny don't significantly improve their shooting percentages, 33% and 35% respectively, coach always has the option of turning to Maguire. Hopefully he'll pick up the pack defense as quickly as Luke did in his freshman season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 if we have to use luke meyer at the 4 again that will be very disappointing as it means that justin johnson did not step up AGAIN, obi ikeakor still hasnt recovered from his past injury and adam knollmeyer hasnt adjusted to college level basketball. luke can best serve this team as a guard. as can brown and polk. the previous positives of actual accomplishments imo favor meyer. potential favors polk and brown. i guess we have to wait and see, but i would play the player that earned it with actual on the floor play over potential. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willie Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Drew I agree. While Luke has shown an ability to be in the right spot at the right time he has shown no ability to shoot the basketball. We need the scoring. I see him as a 10 min. back up player who gives energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Neither Danny nor Luke shot the ball particularly well last year so Coach went with the guy who played the pack defense the best. If Brown had shot the ball better I don't think Luke would have played so much. But outside of three games, Danny didn't really show much on offense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I agree, but unfortunatley Brad sees Luke as a power forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidnark Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Danny's problem is that he has good straight speed and vertical athleticism, but he has zero lateral offensive moves. Without the ability to effectively move laterally with the ball, Danny ends up causing offensive charges and forcing difficult layups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 Not really -- that's why he refers to it as a four guard lineup. When Danny was in the 4 guard lineup, Tommie defended the power forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 There isn't much reason to believe that JJ will step up at all, so I think we should move on and develop AK and Obi to have a legitimate 4 in the lineup. Luke needs to get some minutes too, and if he can start consistently knocking down a baseline J, he will have a lot to contribute to this team. He was Mr. Intangibles with the team last year, and we were a better team with him in the lineup. He's best as a swing, though, and shouldn't have to start as a 4. Danny has a lot to offer offensively, and like many have said already, needs to be able to harness his ability and know what he can and can't do in given situations. Hopefully Walker will be a nice guard coach and can help him with that. If he turns it over less, he'll see some serious minutes this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikenbooster Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 3star, I remember Lule's freshman year, early in practice, we could see that he was with the program from the start. He was able to run the drills properly. If Maguire can do that, he may play a big role, but most frosh don't do that. UB relies on the upperclassmen heavily, too much at times, as we all know. mhg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahok Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 The University of Tennessee had a 6'3" power Forward last year, I believe his name was Bradshaw, he was a small guy but Tennessee would never have gotten anyplace without him. Luke reminds me of this player and I believe can have the same value at the same position as Bradshaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 I think we get too wrapped up in potential. If you look at the bodies of DP, DB, and LM...obviously, LM seems the least athletic (but still an athletic player). I think if we judge the careers of the three players thus far, LM wins hands down. Remember, we've been talking about how good JJ could be for four years. We should give credit where credit is due, and LM has been relatively solid. Although, he's not lighting it up, he doesn't screw $hit up. We have three very good offensive threats in IV, TL, and KL. Luke is very capable of scoring 8ppg. And I could care less if he's a "good guy". I've never met, spoken to, or heard the kid, so that has nothing to do with it. That being said, I'm not advocating just giving minutes away. Everybody has a shot to start, but based on past performance, Luke wins that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kshoe Posted June 16, 2006 Share Posted June 16, 2006 scored 3.7 points per game as a sophomore and made only 1 of 8 3 pointers that season. By his senior year he scored 9.7 points per game and shot 47% from the field including 22 3 pointers. I see a lot of similarities to Chris and Luke in that they were both brought in to play the 3 spot after 4 year of impressive numbers (if not impressive competition) at highschool. Neither played much as a freshman but both were inserted into the 4 spot because we had nobody else. Chris is more athletic than Luke ever will be but otherwise I think there are a lot of similarities. Hopefully Luke will develop Chris' toughness. For what its worth, arguing DB vs. Meyer doesn't make much sense because DB has shown no ability to play the 4 spot. Meyer will get a lot of minutes at the 4 this year because the other 3 options include two freshmen and a 5th year senior Brad can't seem to trust. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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