bauman Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 After watching UNC against THE OS, it was clear that if we don't expand our rotation beyond 7 players (plus BH) we will get killed in the last portion of the game against UNC. Roy W. plays 10-11 players and they run, run & run somemore. It's time for Brad to get some of the young guys a few minutes to see how they do and get them some confidence. I just don't understand his reluctance to play young guys-did he get this from the Cardinal organization? OI, HD and AK need to play at least a little or they will never learn. I guarantee you after seeing UNC twice we need a player with HD's speed and quickness to run the floor. Seven players will not cut it against them-see how OSU wore down in the 2nd half. For those of you like me who assumed that we could give UNC a good game based on how we did last year at the Dean Dome-watch them this year-they have added many great freshmen who PLAY, not sit on the bench. I'm not comparing the skills of our FR to those of UNC's, but the point is young guys CAN come in and play. It's different than 10 years ago, just like young QBs in the NFL. They used to watch and learn for 4-5 years, now they play during their Rookie season or no later than their 2nd year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kappy96 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I agree that I would like to see Brad expand the rotation and get some of our freshman 4-men into the games. I also agree that in today's college game, freshman can and are making significant impact. However we don't have impact freshman and I think it's fair to say that HD, AK, OI, and DM probably won't play much of a role, if any, until late into the conference season when they might see 5 - 6 minutes game. TL and KL were exceptions to this last year. As dissapointing as it is I think it is apparent that our frosh just aren't that good at this point and Brad has choosen to bring them along slowly. Now whether or not this is a recruiting issue is another matter, but for now we have no choice but to play the hand we have been dealt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archy McNally Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I know a lot of people on this board think that Brad does not play freshman very much. However, Tommie started all last year and Kevin started most of it. Two years ago, Dwayne started the whole season and Danny racked up a lot of minutes. Even Drejaj played a lot his freshman year. I think when you go beyond 8 guys, there are just not a lot of minutes to be had, especially for guys that are in shape. Even you do not run, you still have to work a lot on both sides of the court and a lot of teams still manage to stick with 8 guys, running or not. The difference with North Carolina is that they have that many good players that Roy has to find minutes for. From what I have seen of our freshman, they are still pretty green, but have a lot of potential (think Ian his first year). Really, I would like to see the 3 true freshman redshirt, but it may be too late for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 UNC added 6 high school all americans to a team that was basically intact from last year--a team that finished in the top five. they have absoultely incredible players riding the bench. It is for that reason that I have said from the beginning that this will be a loss. I hope like heck for a win and I am sure Brad will coach and the team will play hard to meet the challenge but this team just beat the number one team in the country that shot 50% from 3 point land handily at the end. The freshmen they are playing were either the first or second best player in the country at their position. Our freshmen have potential but not to be lottery picks in the NBA. I would like to see our young guys get some time but the most important thing is winning the games we need to win to get to the tournament. At this point, our young guys have not yet proved that they can play well enough to satisify the coaching staff that they are ready for prime time. Most teams have an 8 or 9 man rotation. UNC is an incredible team with two teams of great athletes and players. You could split them in half and each team would be in the top 25. We are not at that level so we have to play with what we have. In my opinion, UNC at this point this year is a much much better team than the team we played last year. We will need to play an excellent game not to get blown out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I was actually VERY worried with the rotation until JJ got back. No way would could compete for a full year with 7, but it now looks like we have 8 (TL, KL, IV, DP, LM, DB, BH, JJ). With Luke starting at the four, he will be able to take breaks. But at the same, time he can move to the 2-3 and spell those guys. Ideally, I'd like to see one more PF step up this year and permantenly move LM to the three. If that happens, I would like to see TL, KL, DP, JJ, and IV. Starting. With BH coming in to spell Ian, AK spelling JJ, then DB and LM rotating amonst the gaurds. If AK could give us about 8 minutes a game, I would be very happy. That would give 9 and plenty of fresh legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I'm sure that when Brad feels they are ready to compete at the right level they will see some time. I along with others hope that as the year progresses they do see more time. As we will lose Ian and JJ next year and even if Bryce starts at the 5, we will need all 3 of them in some sort of rotation. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Official Sponser of the Stemmler and Ahearn could and would have helped club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I am really confused by this feeling that BH is in the rotation. From looking at the box score, one could easily assume that he is not. He plays only in some games not all even just a few minutes. When he does play, he may play 3 minutes or 12 minutes depending on IV's foul trouble and the type of team we are playing. BH is not in the rotation - he is still like everybody else on the bench - outside looking in and hoping to get in to a game somehow someway, any game. I also think that unless something changes, Brad will not go with a center next year - he will look for some kind of a scheme that will let him go with 2 pfs - if he does not then my guess is that none of the pfs have panned out and that would be a real shame. Time to start giving Obi, Horace, and Adam some meaningful minutes when at all possible to prepare them for next year. Of course I guess Brad could always find a Jucco pf this spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 The bottom line is that Bryce is in the rotation when the other team is very big and he is working his way in under other circumstances. SIU is fairly small so he will probably not get a lot of minutes but as the season goes on I would think that he will get minutes against a lot of teams who have at least two big guys unless JJ becomes the second coming of Rodman! As to next year, right now I would think that Bryce would play big minutes at the 5 with the other young guys subbing for Bryce and filling in at the 4. I actually think Bryce can be for us what Jim McElvaine (sp?) was for Marquette in his senior year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 I guess it depends on your definition of rotation. IMO, if you are getting minutes and are the first option off the bench for your position, you're in the rotation. When Ian isn't in the game, Bryce is (barring end of the game situations). He is the prototypical role player at this point. Also, the only game he's struggled with this year is A&M. I know I'm in the severe minority on this one, but Bryce changes the game defensively. I saw it in the Loyola game. The entire team made less drives to the hoop with Bryce in there. He's a role player, but one who gets the job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slubaseball42 Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 At this point of SLU's program we cannot play 10-11 guys deep because we do not have the talent depth. This is a common problem with most programs outside the top 25. We have four guys who can be VERY good, so let's ride them and see what happens. As far as Bryce goes, he is a decent role player for five minutes at a time or when Ian is in foul trouble. When he catches the ball in the post he does not even turn to face the basketbal or begin to be a threat. He is not a legitimate big man until he can force someone to guard him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheeseman Posted December 1, 2006 Share Posted December 1, 2006 My definition of being in the rotation is that you play some in all games not just situational. BH is not the next guy in when IV is out - when IV comes out for a blow or is in foul trouble BH is not the automatic replacement. Brad has replaced him with JJ many times. Like I said, BH is not in the rotation - does not mean he can not be but not so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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