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Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Notes from SIU Media Day
Chris Lowery addressed the media on Wednesday and had the following things to say:
- Lowery is confident that the team will get back to playing the way they want to play.
- The team is much more committed in the weight room, and everyone's commitment level is higher this year.
- He'd like to get back to a ball control style of offense.
- The new facilities have helped in recruiting, and it feels more like a home court.
- Working out with the football team was impressive to the basketball players because the football team was not just talking about winning a conference championship but a national championship.
- The current players want to do what's right and this group of players has not complained about the work they've done so far.
- Lowery says the biggest area of improvement will be defense and he says that during the last two years he watched other teams do the tough things while his team just complained, and that it's not going to be that way this year.
- The biggest adjustment that the coaching staff has made is to talk about Saluki 'culture' as much as possible. He went on to say that they have been ashamed of the 'culture' that was created during the past two seasons because they didn't have the personnel to play the way they wanted to play.
- He said it's very difficult to convince players who don't think that what you're doing can win games, which is crazy to him because that's why those players came to SIU in the first place. Lowery says he has no hard feelings towards the people who are not here any longer, that he's moved on and has guys who want to wear the SIU jersey and in the past when he's had guys who want to wear the jersey they've been successful.
- There is not an obvious vocal leader on this team, but the team has seen a lot of players leading by example in practice.
- The biggest on-court question is who will play in certain situations. The team has a lot of utility guys, like Seck and Freeman, who can do a lot of different things, but the #1 thing is that the players will play defense and that is what will ultimately determine playing time.
- Lowery expects to rotate 9 or 10 guys, so they can play the style of basketball they want to play. He said the team will not just be picking up defensively at half court anymore.
- The coaching staff has challenged Teague to show improvement physically and he has embraced that challenge. His mile time is down almost 4 minutes from last year and he weighed in at 288 a few days ago, which is down from 310 at this time last year.
- The team will not run a lot of sets this year and will focus on running the motion offense. There will be lineups where Fay plays as a 5 and Seck plays as a 4, because Seck's defense will make that possible.
- Lowery is not sure if he will redshirt Devonte Drinkard or not. Drinkard is still 17 years old and will not be 18 until April. However, his body is very mature and he is making Teague work in the paint.
(EDITORS NOTE- Drinkard is listed as being born on April 11, 1992 which would make him 18 years old. I'm not sure why Lowery is saying that he's 17 unless there is an error on his listed date of birth)
- Lowery is confident that the team will get back to playing the way they want to play.
- The team is much more committed in the weight room, and everyone's commitment level is higher this year.
- He'd like to get back to a ball control style of offense.
- The new facilities have helped in recruiting, and it feels more like a home court.
- Working out with the football team was impressive to the basketball players because the football team was not just talking about winning a conference championship but a national championship.
- The current players want to do what's right and this group of players has not complained about the work they've done so far.
- Lowery says the biggest area of improvement will be defense and he says that during the last two years he watched other teams do the tough things while his team just complained, and that it's not going to be that way this year.
- The biggest adjustment that the coaching staff has made is to talk about Saluki 'culture' as much as possible. He went on to say that they have been ashamed of the 'culture' that was created during the past two seasons because they didn't have the personnel to play the way they wanted to play.
- He said it's very difficult to convince players who don't think that what you're doing can win games, which is crazy to him because that's why those players came to SIU in the first place. Lowery says he has no hard feelings towards the people who are not here any longer, that he's moved on and has guys who want to wear the SIU jersey and in the past when he's had guys who want to wear the jersey they've been successful.
- There is not an obvious vocal leader on this team, but the team has seen a lot of players leading by example in practice.
- The biggest on-court question is who will play in certain situations. The team has a lot of utility guys, like Seck and Freeman, who can do a lot of different things, but the #1 thing is that the players will play defense and that is what will ultimately determine playing time.
- Lowery expects to rotate 9 or 10 guys, so they can play the style of basketball they want to play. He said the team will not just be picking up defensively at half court anymore.
- The coaching staff has challenged Teague to show improvement physically and he has embraced that challenge. His mile time is down almost 4 minutes from last year and he weighed in at 288 a few days ago, which is down from 310 at this time last year.
- The team will not run a lot of sets this year and will focus on running the motion offense. There will be lineups where Fay plays as a 5 and Seck plays as a 4, because Seck's defense will make that possible.
- Lowery is not sure if he will redshirt Devonte Drinkard or not. Drinkard is still 17 years old and will not be 18 until April. However, his body is very mature and he is making Teague work in the paint.
(EDITORS NOTE- Drinkard is listed as being born on April 11, 1992 which would make him 18 years old. I'm not sure why Lowery is saying that he's 17 unless there is an error on his listed date of birth)
Sunday, August 29, 2010
2011 PF Dantiel Daniels verbals to SIU
Dantiel Daniels, a 6'5" 225lb forward out of the St. Louis area (Wentzville Holt High School), has given a verbal to SIU for the 2011 class.
Daniels has been dominating bigger players on the AAU circuit this summer, and may end up being closer to 6'6" or 6'7" once he gets on campus.
Honestly, Saluki fans should be glad that he's not two inches taller right now because he probably wouldn't have given a verbal to SIU this early if the high major schools didn't consider him a touch undersized.
It's impossible to project how Daniels' college career will unfold, but at first glance this appears be a low risk recruit who will at the very least be able to play the post and rebound against good forwards in the MVC. Check out the quick video of Daniels below.
This is the second verbal of the 2011 class for Lowery. The first commitment came from Treg Setty, a 6'8" PF that is considered one of the top players in the state of Kentucky. I have to say it's refreshing to see SIU get back to recruiting more high school players and less JUCO quick-fixes.
One more 2011 roster spot remains for Lowery and he has some flexibility, but I would recommend grabbing the best available guard. Will Sullivan is a SG out of York (Elmhurst) and is rumored be a target, but he visited Miami-Ohio last week and may wait 'til Spring to decide. I think he's hoping for an offer from Wisconsin or other Big Ten schools, but he'd fit SIU like a glove.
In the meantime Derrick Marks, a strong 6'2" shooter from Plainfield Central (IL), is planning an official visit to Carbondale on September 17th. Marks also has visits scheduled with Boise State and Colorado State among others, but if Lowery can get him to cancel those trips and give an early verbal then it would be clutch. Things could always change, but for a team coming off a 15-15 season, I'd have to say that the 2011 recruiting class is shaping up much better than I expected.
Daniels has been dominating bigger players on the AAU circuit this summer, and may end up being closer to 6'6" or 6'7" once he gets on campus.
Honestly, Saluki fans should be glad that he's not two inches taller right now because he probably wouldn't have given a verbal to SIU this early if the high major schools didn't consider him a touch undersized.
It's impossible to project how Daniels' college career will unfold, but at first glance this appears be a low risk recruit who will at the very least be able to play the post and rebound against good forwards in the MVC. Check out the quick video of Daniels below.
This is the second verbal of the 2011 class for Lowery. The first commitment came from Treg Setty, a 6'8" PF that is considered one of the top players in the state of Kentucky. I have to say it's refreshing to see SIU get back to recruiting more high school players and less JUCO quick-fixes.
One more 2011 roster spot remains for Lowery and he has some flexibility, but I would recommend grabbing the best available guard. Will Sullivan is a SG out of York (Elmhurst) and is rumored be a target, but he visited Miami-Ohio last week and may wait 'til Spring to decide. I think he's hoping for an offer from Wisconsin or other Big Ten schools, but he'd fit SIU like a glove.
In the meantime Derrick Marks, a strong 6'2" shooter from Plainfield Central (IL), is planning an official visit to Carbondale on September 17th. Marks also has visits scheduled with Boise State and Colorado State among others, but if Lowery can get him to cancel those trips and give an early verbal then it would be clutch. Things could always change, but for a team coming off a 15-15 season, I'd have to say that the 2011 recruiting class is shaping up much better than I expected.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
CHN ranks Salukis #127 in nation and #6 in MVC
Joel Welser at College Hoops Net has his list of top 144 teams out and SIU comes in at #127.
CHN also ranks the Salukis #6 in the MVC which I think is a pretty fair guess. However, it's much more difficult to predict the Salukis this year because of the sheer volume of newcomers.
Key Losses are identified as Booker, Dillard, Evans, and Tony Freeman. However, he's quick to point out that this may be a case of addition by subtraction. (I would like to note that Tony Freeman was a team-first player and I would love to add a player just like him any time)
In his final CHN projection Welser thinks that the Salukis can exceed expectations if they improve their team defense and ultimately predicts a post-season invite to the CBI/CIT. While Kool-aid drinkers and boobirds may think this prediction is too optimistic or too pessimistic, I think it's right in line with what we all should expect to see this season.
In my view I think the Salukis will be leaning heavily on Mykel Cleveland at the PG spot and he'll need to play 20+ minutes of quality basketball if the Salukis want to beat this projection. If Mamadou Seck becomes an impact player then 18+ wins and an NIT bid is the new projection.
I also predict that John Freeman will be a starter and play at a high level, but the Salukis will need Jack Crowder to re-discover his scoring stroke to complement Freeman's strong defensive play.
Bench points can be hard to come by but if Crowder, Long, Watson, and Seck can all pitch-in off the bench the Salukis will be deep enough to finish in the top half of the conference or better. If this team gets hit by injuries or a few of these JUCO's flake out, then it might not be pretty.
Saluki Hoops Starting Lineup Predictions (minutes per game)
PG- Mykel Cleavland, Jr (22)
SG- Justin Bocot, Jr (26)
SF- John Freeman, Sr (18)
PF- Carlton Fay, Sr (27)
C- Gene Teague- So (24)
Bench Predictions-
PG- Kendal Brown-Surles, SO (21)
SG- Troy Long, Jr (9)
SF- Jack Crowder, Sr (11)
F- Ernest Watson, Jr (12)
F- Mamadou Seck, Jr (20)
PF- Nate Mitchell, Sr (6)
C- Jordan Myers, Fr (4)
Diamond Taylor**
Davante Drinkard***
**-DT will be sitting out 1st semester due to transfer rules, but he should be ready to play double digit minutes right away once he's eligible
***-I'm predicting a redshirt year for Drinkard
These are just pre-season predictions so obviously these minutes can, and probably will change. We'll be talking in more detail about all the newcomers, and all topics surrounding Saluki basketball more as the season draws near. In the meantime follow the Saluki Hoops Twitter Feed for instant updates.
CHN also ranks the Salukis #6 in the MVC which I think is a pretty fair guess. However, it's much more difficult to predict the Salukis this year because of the sheer volume of newcomers.
Key Losses are identified as Booker, Dillard, Evans, and Tony Freeman. However, he's quick to point out that this may be a case of addition by subtraction. (I would like to note that Tony Freeman was a team-first player and I would love to add a player just like him any time)
In his final CHN projection Welser thinks that the Salukis can exceed expectations if they improve their team defense and ultimately predicts a post-season invite to the CBI/CIT. While Kool-aid drinkers and boobirds may think this prediction is too optimistic or too pessimistic, I think it's right in line with what we all should expect to see this season.
In my view I think the Salukis will be leaning heavily on Mykel Cleveland at the PG spot and he'll need to play 20+ minutes of quality basketball if the Salukis want to beat this projection. If Mamadou Seck becomes an impact player then 18+ wins and an NIT bid is the new projection.
I also predict that John Freeman will be a starter and play at a high level, but the Salukis will need Jack Crowder to re-discover his scoring stroke to complement Freeman's strong defensive play.
Bench points can be hard to come by but if Crowder, Long, Watson, and Seck can all pitch-in off the bench the Salukis will be deep enough to finish in the top half of the conference or better. If this team gets hit by injuries or a few of these JUCO's flake out, then it might not be pretty.
Saluki Hoops Starting Lineup Predictions (minutes per game)
PG- Mykel Cleavland, Jr (22)
SG- Justin Bocot, Jr (26)
SF- John Freeman, Sr (18)
PF- Carlton Fay, Sr (27)
C- Gene Teague- So (24)
Bench Predictions-
PG- Kendal Brown-Surles, SO (21)
SG- Troy Long, Jr (9)
SF- Jack Crowder, Sr (11)
F- Ernest Watson, Jr (12)
F- Mamadou Seck, Jr (20)
PF- Nate Mitchell, Sr (6)
C- Jordan Myers, Fr (4)
Diamond Taylor**
Davante Drinkard***
**-DT will be sitting out 1st semester due to transfer rules, but he should be ready to play double digit minutes right away once he's eligible
***-I'm predicting a redshirt year for Drinkard
These are just pre-season predictions so obviously these minutes can, and probably will change. We'll be talking in more detail about all the newcomers, and all topics surrounding Saluki basketball more as the season draws near. In the meantime follow the Saluki Hoops Twitter Feed for instant updates.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Saluki Hoops Podcast 8/16
Here's a 12 minute podcast about the Salukis out of conference schedule, the first home game vs Northeastern, and more.
If there is something you'd like to hear on a future podcast or if you'd like to call in and join a future show, just leave a comment below or email salukihoops@gmail.com
Click here to listen!
If there is something you'd like to hear on a future podcast or if you'd like to call in and join a future show, just leave a comment below or email salukihoops@gmail.com
Click here to listen!
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