crymdg2 Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I've probably been to about 5 practices that last two weeks, and its pretty obvious who the starting 5 (for Friday's game) as well as top 8 are. Starting 5 DP KL TL LM IV Coming off the bench (in the order I would predict) BH DB HD DM OI WB (walk on) JC (walk on) MJ (walk on) With JJ and AK down a lot of you are down on Luke Meyer being the 5th starter. I realize your concerns/wants, but if you look at how Coach Soderberg runs practices he usually splits the sides up into Bigs and Smalls. Luke practices with the smalls, or guards. The only time he is really playing the "4" is back on defense and Coach has his defense set up in such a way to keep the ball out of the lane or "pack" as he calls it. So if the guys do their jobs I really don't see this as a problem. Now I agree I would rather have a prototypical 6'8" 230lb guy in there playing the 4, and we have that I think with JJ. He is hurt right now and at the present time there isn't too much we can do about that. I really see a breakout year for Polk. I know we were told last year that his 3 point shooting looked great in the time leading up to the first games of the year and he never displayed anything close to that, but I'm telling you I have a great feeling about him this year. With us running this year, he can really use his quickness and more than likely he is going to get a couple layups in transition. His quickness really is a thing of beauty though. Comparisons to Marquee in terms of speed I think is fair in his case. But most of all, Polk really has taken the role of one of the leaders on the team. He is vocal and really goes out of the way to help the younger guys when they are having trouble. I think this year, provided that we don't get any more injuries, could be something truly special. Lets get off to a nice start Friday night, both men's and women's teams. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 thanks for the post Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenpais Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Nice post. Thanks for the observations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerts Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 >I've probably been to about 5 practices that last two weeks, >and its pretty obvious who the starting 5 (for Friday's >game) as well as top 8 are. > >Starting 5 >DP >KL >TL >LM >IV > >Coming off the bench (in the order I would predict) >BH >DB >HD >DM >OI >WB (walk on) >JC (walk on) >MJ (walk on) > >With JJ and AK down a lot of you are down on Luke Meyer >being the 5th starter. I realize your concerns/wants, but >if you look at how Coach Soderberg runs practices he usually >splits the sides up into Bigs and Smalls. Luke practices >with the smalls, or guards. The only time he is really >playing the "4" is back on defense and Coach has his defense >set up in such a way to keep the ball out of the lane or >"pack" as he calls it. So if the guys do their jobs I >really don't see this as a problem. > >Now I agree I would rather have a prototypical 6'8" 230lb >guy in there playing the 4, and we have that I think with >JJ. He is hurt right now and at the present time there >isn't too much we can do about that. > >I really see a breakout year for Polk. I know we were told >last year that his 3 point shooting looked great in the time >leading up to the first games of the year and he never >displayed anything close to that, but I'm telling you I have >a great feeling about him this year. With us running this >year, he can really use his quickness and more than likely >he is going to get a couple layups in transition. His >quickness really is a thing of beauty though. Comparisons >to Marquee in terms of speed I think is fair in his case. >But most of all, Polk really has taken the role of one of >the leaders on the team. He is vocal and really goes out of >the way to help the younger guys when they are having >trouble. > >I think this year, provided that we don't get any more >injuries, could be something truly special. Lets get off to >a nice start Friday night, both men's and women's teams. Shouldn't you be studying instead of watching basketball practice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I am sorry, if Luke is playing pf on defense, then the running game just went out the window once again. No way you can expect IV and Luke to sweep the boards so the other 3 guards/shooting forwards can be in a position to break away to the basket. This line up will simply result in the same situation as last year from a running standpoint. what you are looking at is TL helping out on the boards with KL and DP trying to make some kind of half ass running game with either one getting the ball down quickly but pulling back to wait for the other players to catch up. Even if this line up wins big against UMSL, it means nothing since the UMSL's of the world are not who we will be facing when it counts. If Brad takes this approach again, then he will be missing a golden opportunity to prepare Obi and HD for the regular season. Why not get Obi in shape/battle tested even faster? He also will give his detractors plenty of ammo to say - see he really does not want to run, it is only talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 i totally agree cheeseman. it would be different if the first game was A&M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 It is all about positioning and the defense you play. You can be a running team with out big in size rebounders. I don't remember any traditional fours on LMU back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crymdg2 Posted November 2, 2006 Author Share Posted November 2, 2006 Cheeseman, If you go back and look at my post, I was only stating for the game on Friday. JJ is hurt, we all know that. He is the starting 4 when he is healthy. We can get away with Luke defending at the 4 spot against UMSL, Harris Stowe, and Quincy. Now if we were talking about the Carolina game being tomorrow then yes I'd agree with you, we would need to go in a different direction. The fact of the matter is we are not playing big name teams yet, which suits us good at the current time due to our injuries. Your inquiries to have Horace or Obi playing big minutes, well lets just say that aren't ready. Horace still isn't 100% confident with the system, which I would say is fairly normal for a true freshman. He's learning and works his tail off in practice, that I will give him. Obi is getting some mobility back, but he too is still limited as he really does need to lose some weight. He has the potential to get into the starting line up, but as of now he is not there yet physically. Horace dresses with the blue team (which is considered the top 8 or so)off and on, so Brad likes him and what he brings to the table. I have yet to see Obi dress with them though. JJ is a vetern who has come up big against some good teams in the past. He had really good games if I remember against Gonzaga and Iowa last year, two of your "when it counts" teams. Yea it would be great if he could play now and things would seem better, but I think he'll be fine as far as being ready to play. Now if you wanna use that excuse for Adam then yes I agree with you. He is a new guy who really looks to have some promise as he's a big body who seems to be fearless. Let the guys play Friday before you alreday cast this team off the island. Trust me, we'll be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 hank gathers was the prototypical power forward imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 No he wasn't. A traditional power forward would have averaged much more than 13.7 rebounds a game in that style. When you have twice the amount of poccessions of a typical game that is not an impressive number of rebounds for a poward forward. He was listed at 6'7", but was lucky if he really was 6'5". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRaginCajun Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 When exactly are we counting on Obi to get in shape? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Cdg - I am not worried that playing Luke at pf on Friday will be a problem for winning that game. My position is - what is the point of preseason games if it is not to give your team/new players a chance to practice the system you are going to run during the year. Playing Luke at pf on Friday is a disservice to this team and Luke in the long run. Play HD and Obi at pf and let Luke excel at the 3 until JJ and Adam return. BH can play a few minutes also with IV to give that combo a shot to gain experience (although I am not that crazy about that set up to tell the truth but is better than Luke at pf). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I think from Obi's own words it's pretty clear that his playing time will be very limited until he gets in better shape. Dixon should see quite a bit of time, whether he starts or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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