Rebounding Issue

[Out of Balance]

Help with what? It's happened in each game so far and I absolutely hate any lineup with those three in the game at the same time! There's no reason for it at all.

I think what he means OoB is that he DOES NOT want to see these guys on the floor at the same time.

And, regarding our rebounding. I think part of our problem stems from the fact that most of our big men are "slow" leapers. Even with SS, WE, and AT on the floor at the same time we would have problems. Teams with "quick" leapers don't need a ton of size because they have guys 6'4"+ that are quick leapers (athletes) who get to the ball faster than a 6'10" guy.

David Collins, WE, SS, AT, SM, MK (from what I've seen) are slow leapers (this doesn't mean they can't jump high, though that is sometimes the case). I do not even think I would call Warren or DSE quick leapers. McCain, Roberts and Brown may be our only quick leapers (Theron was also a quick leaper). Our Sweet 16 team was LOADED with quick leapers (and athletes), IMO.

I think if you want to solve our rebounding problems you find a way to play EM, CR, and TB at the same time as much as possible.

Sorry guys I knew what shaunguth was getting at I was being a bit of a smart ass and a little sarcastic I agree with not playing those three at the same time, as its a rebounding nightmare Sorry Again

B4L, I understand all what you have said here and agree about quick leapers though I think maybe WE is in the group of quick jumpers we have. I just cannot see why we don't play Will at the 4 some with SS. Sam may not jump but he sure moves bodies and takes up space with his size It looks like it could be a winning combination. I think both SS and WE games would benefit

[SaintLouBrave22]

I cannot see Andrew or Chris having to guard 6-9 A.Koch of N.Iowa at the 4 position, this would not be a good plan.

It WILL happen, we WILL get massacred on the boards, we WILL be angry about it, and yet Jim will come with a "I didn't like the way the bigs looked in practice" speech again...

Seems to me he's sounding an awful lot like the previous Jim....



We play 4 guards against UNI, Creighton, ISU, SIU, or Wichita and we lose for sure.

[BradleyBrave]

It WILL happen, we WILL get massacred on the boards, we WILL be angry about it, and yet Jim will come with a "I didn't like the way the bigs looked in practice" speech again...

Seems to me he's sounding an awful lot like the previous Jim....



We play 4 guards against UNI, Creighton, ISU, SIU, or Wichita and we lose for sure.

But Taylor Brown is going to solve everything, don't you know? He's going to play 40 minutes a game, grab every board, and never foul.

[mrcoachdude]

But Taylor Brown is going to solve everything, don't you know? He's going to play 40 minutes a game, grab every board, and never foul.

TB will help ALOT!

[BU RICK]

This could get really ugly if we lose to Wofford, I sure hope we don't.

Who said we have a weak preseason schedule.

I'm still depressed about Dodie getting hurt.

First thought when I saw DSE for the first time Sunday was Deron Williams.
Hope he turns out that good.

Read on another thread that Illinois played a front line of 6-9, 6-9, 6-10 against SIU-E for part of the game. If we are good enough to beat Oklahoma State, the next one is going to be one tough game.

[SaintLouBrave22]

Read on another thread that Illinois played a front line of 6-9, 6-9, 6-10 against SIU-E for part of the game. If we are good enough to beat Oklahoma State, the next one is going to be one tough game.

We won't beat OK State, but just for thinking ahead...


6'10" v 6'9"
6'9" v 6'6"
6'9" v 6'4"


Now how do you feel about that outlook?

[BU RICK]

We won't beat OK State, but just for thinking ahead...


6'10" v 6'9"
6'9" v 6'6"
6'9" v 6'4"


Now how do you feel about that outlook?

I know what you're saying and I'm on your side, we need to play bigger. But I hope we beat Oklahoma State and play Illinois and see what happens.

I need the bragging rights with my Illini friends!

[real fan]

It WILL happen, we WILL get massacred on the boards, we WILL be angry about it, and yet Jim will come with a "I didn't like the way the bigs looked in practice" speech again...

Seems to me he's sounding an awful lot like the previous Jim....



We play 4 guards against UNI, Creighton, ISU, SIU, or Wichita and we lose for sure.

I am beginning to wonder about him acting and doing the same as the other Jim, it seems like he has a substituion plan on who and when he brings players off the bench before the game starts(which I thought about the previous Jim) instead of reacting during the game about what needs to be changed. He also consistently substitutes us out of our good offensive runs, this has been an ongoing problem that needs to be stopped as I feel we could have had a 20 point lead if he had just left the same team on the floor that went on a 14 point run instead of bringing 3 players off the bench in the 1st half of sundays game and losing our momentum.

[AZ BU Fan]

I am hoping JL's guard oriented line up this year is just his personal preference (which he may try and change), and not because our other bigs really can't successfully compete/play at this level...That would be a real downer...

Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of ......?????

[Braves4Life]

We won't beat OK State, but just for thinking ahead...


6'10" v 6'9"
6'9" v 6'6"
6'9" v 6'4"


Now how do you feel about that outlook?

I remember match-ups like this during the Versace days. Sounds like how we matched up against WSU when they had Levingston and Carr. I think our guys did pretty well in those match-ups.

On a different note.................. Wouldn't it just be easier to start a seperate thread called "Why Jim Les sucks as a coach"? It seems that's what this thread has deteriorated into.

[BradleyBrave]

TB will help ALOT!

Is he going to make us play defense, block out, and not play 4 guards all the time? If so, then yes he will help a lot. If not, then I see similar results - decent shooting, no inside presence, no rebounding.

[ser_solace]

It WILL happen, we WILL get massacred on the boards, we WILL be angry about it, and yet Jim will come with a "I didn't like the way the bigs looked in practice" speech again...

Seems to me he's sounding an awful lot like the previous Jim....



We play 4 guards against UNI, Creighton, ISU, SIU, or Wichita and we lose for sure.

I'm actually in agreement with you about wanting to play a bigger line-up. But to say we'll get "massacred" is a bit extreme. Let's look at last year's rebounding vs. those team's you mentioned. Essentially, our size last year was the same or smaller than this year's team.

Against, SIU, we outrebounded them last year in both conference games. Against Creighton, we split the rebounding battles. Against Wichita, we won both rebounding battles. We outrebounded UNI at home and were tied on the road with them.

Again, I'm all for playing WE and AT together or giving MK more time. But I do think there's some credence to there's something about the players not scrapping hard enough to get those boards unlike last year.

[mrcoachdude]

Is he going to make us play defense, block out, and not play 4 guards all the time? If so, then yes he will help a lot. If not, then I see similar results - decent shooting, no inside presence, no rebounding.

1. He will help on defense because he is taller than AW or DSE guarding a 6'7" player
2. Blocking out should not be a problem after watching tape of this last game....
3. TB will get a ton of minutes...deterrent to 4 guards

[BradleyBrave]

1. He will help on defense because he is taller than AW or DSE guarding a 6'7" player
2. Blocking out should not be a problem after watching tape of this last game....
3. TB will get a ton of minutes...deterrent to 4 guards

I thought that would be the case after watching the Lewis and BYU tapes...

[SaintLouBrave22]

Again, I'm all for playing WE and AT together or giving MK more time. But I do think there's some credence to there's something about the players not scrapping hard enough to get those boards unlike last year.

Ok Ok...let me start back at square one...

I'm not necessarily advocating for WE/AT but more so never to play SM and EM together or 4 guards together...

Always having one of WE/SS/AT and one of TB/MK-34 on the floor would be incredibly helpful.


That being said, never having AT and MK-34 on the floor together would be ok for me because they're both too green.


As I said, my lineup right now is Will, Taylor, Chris, Andrew, Sammy w/ Dyricus first off the bench.