Certainly not advocating for more playing time, or less for any Saluki player. However, my fear for TB is fatigue setting in, or a possible injury occurring due to the fatigue possibility. Also, as others have mentioned, his large number of minutes could hamper the development of the less experienced players. It is evident that Coach Mullins feels secure with a player who has been in the program for five years, and covers many responsibilities that are not seen in a box score.
Looking forward to the matchup in Normal, IL. We most certainly are due there.
GO DAWGS!!!
Just a side note to minutes and player development AJ Ferguson got very few minutes last year and look how well he is playing and I believe the sky is the limit for him not to mention everyone talks about how much X has improved I still say hard work and practice is as much to do with improving as anything game experience helps in situations but not being a better player
The development of players from last year has been great. It’s gonna be really important this offseason to hit in the portal better than they have to keep this thing rolling.
Just a side note to minutes and player development AJ Ferguson got very few minutes last year and look how well he is playing and I believe the sky is the limit for him not to mention everyone talks about how much X has improved I still say hard work and practice is as much to do with improving as anything game experience helps in situations but not being a better player
Oh no…..don’t get this debate going again. Thread getting ready to explode in 3,2,1….
The development of players from last year has been great. It’s gonna be really important this offseason to hit in the portal better than they have to keep this thing rolling.
Although XJ himself deserves the bulk of the credit, I would think/hope the enormous leaps he made development-wise to come out out of nowhere and become one of the top scorers in the country would be messaging the coaches would hit hard from a recruiting standpoint going into the spring.
The development of players from last year has been great. It’s gonna be really important this offseason to hit in the portal better than they have to keep this thing rolling.
Although XJ himself deserves the bulk of the credit, I would think/hope the enormous leaps he made development-wise to come out out of nowhere and become one of the top scorers in the country would be messaging the coaches would hit hard from a recruiting standpoint going into the spring.
This is what I’m hoping. SIU has a lot to sell over the last 2 years from Domask to Jones to the development of X going from a role player to one of the top scorers in the country. I think the portal recruiting is the one thing that’s been keeping SIU from being in that top tier of MVC teams the last 2 years.
Is XJ better than last year? He's just taking over this year - has to if we want to win. Was a very good shooter last year but spent most of his effort passing off to Lance Domask. Was our best 3pt shooter last year at 42.7% but didn't shoot much. He was also right there with Jones in steals.
Also, our offense has improved due to coaching - better ball movement and more inside threat which probably opens up the outside shot a bit more.
At his age, I don't think practice is going to make a huge improvement. Keeps you sharp of course. He had skills last year - they just weren't utilized as much. Shooting is almost identical except his FT shooting has improved so far this year.
He also only played 27.8 mins/game last year and is playing 34.5 this year.
Both practice and game time are important, but they are quite different in what they do for a player. Nothing like the real thing, where everything really counts.
The development of players from last year has been great. It’s gonna be really important this offseason to hit in the portal better than they have to keep this thing rolling.
Although XJ himself deserves the bulk of the credit, I would think/hope the enormous leaps he made development-wise to come out out of nowhere and become one of the top scorers in the country would be messaging the coaches would hit hard from a recruiting standpoint going into the spring.
This is what I’m hoping. SIU has a lot to sell over the last 2 years from Domask to Jones to the development of X going from a role player to one of the top scorers in the country. I think the portal recruiting is the one thing that’s been keeping SIU from being in that top tier of MVC teams the last 2 years.
Don’t forget that Johnson is a portal recruit. So is Furgeson. Sometimes it takes a player a year to get going in a new system. Does Hensley or Stulic tear it up next year? I feel like people forget that those guys are portal guys… just not from this past recruiting season.
Is XJ better than last year? He's just taking over this year - has to if we want to win. Was a very good shooter last year but spent most of his effort passing off to Lance Domask. Was our best 3pt shooter last year at 42.7% but didn't shoot much. He was also right there with Jones in steals.
Also, our offense has improved due to coaching - better ball movement and more inside threat which probably opens up the outside shot a bit more.
At his age, I don't think practice is going to make a huge improvement. Keeps you sharp of course. He had skills last year - they just weren't utilized as much. Shooting is almost identical except his FT shooting has improved so far this year.
He also only played 27.8 mins/game last year and is playing 34.5 this year.
Both practice and game time are important, but they are quite different in what they do for a player. Nothing like the real thing, where everything really counts.
He only averaged like 7 ppg at George Mason as well. So I’ll go with an astounding YES. He is better.
The development of players from last year has been great. It’s gonna be really important this offseason to hit in the portal better than they have to keep this thing rolling.
Although XJ himself deserves the bulk of the credit, I would think/hope the enormous leaps he made development-wise to come out out of nowhere and become one of the top scorers in the country would be messaging the coaches would hit hard from a recruiting standpoint going into the spring.
This is what I’m hoping. SIU has a lot to sell over the last 2 years from Domask to Jones to the development of X going from a role player to one of the top scorers in the country. I think the portal recruiting is the one thing that’s been keeping SIU from being in that top tier of MVC teams the last 2 years.
Don’t forget that Johnson is a portal recruit. So is Furgeson. Sometimes it takes a player a year to get going in a new system. Does Hensley or Stulic tear it up next year? I feel like people forget that those guys are portal guys… just not from this past recruiting season.
Too early to tell on Hensley but I think he'll be a good get. Miller and McGee haven't really been playable, hopefully Miller gets better with an offseason with the program. McGee didn't dress last game.
Indiana State should be the model for what SIU needs to be aiming for in the portal though getting Swope, Conwell, etc.
Our top scorer and very possibly the MVC player of the year is a portal guy. The guy I feel will end up our 2nd leading scorer this year, AJ Ferguson is a portal guy. Hensley is a portal guy. Stulic is a portal guy. Almost all teams have 8 or 9 man rotations. Of the 6 portal transfers we have on the current roster from the last two years 4 are in our rotation and 2 are arguably our best players. McGee will be a bust and Miller is a TBD. I'll take 4 out of 6 impact players with 2 being our best players in any 2 year span. Can we do better, sure and I hope we do. However, saying we have done poorly in the portal the last couple years is far from accurate.
Agree.
I think it is inaccurate to say that Mullins has performed badly in the portal.
I would add Barret Benson to your list, but I'm not sure he counts as a grad transfer.
(Inflammatory political snark)
Is XJ better than last year? He's just taking over this year - has to if we want to win. Was a very good shooter last year but spent most of his effort passing off to Lance Domask. Was our best 3pt shooter last year at 42.7% but didn't shoot much. He was also right there with Jones in steals.
Also, our offense has improved due to coaching - better ball movement and more inside threat which probably opens up the outside shot a bit more.
At his age, I don't think practice is going to make a huge improvement. Keeps you sharp of course. He had skills last year - they just weren't utilized as much. Shooting is almost identical except his FT shooting has improved so far this year.
He also only played 27.8 mins/game last year and is playing 34.5 this year.
Both practice and game time are important, but they are quite different in what they do for a player. Nothing like the real thing, where everything really counts.
He only averaged like 7 ppg at George Mason as well. So I’ll go with an astounding YES. He is better.
You don't improve greatly at age 22 or whatever, unless of course there is magic involved. Biggest improvement for college players is usually that second year. Not to say you can't improve - just the experience makes you a better player. My point is that he was a skilled player last year but with a very different role.
At G. Mason, he shot fewer than 6 times in half their games and also led the team with almost 5 assists per game. You have to shoot to score last time I looked.
He has a totally different role this year than he's ever had. His role last year was not to score - it was to distribute and play D. He shot the three just as well last year - just didn't shoot much. He had some games in double figures - 23 at St. Louis on excellent shooting.
XJ averaged 4.7 shot attempts per game last year. This year he's the man and averages 14.9 shot attempts per game. Big difference. Of course he's going to score a lot more.
I do believe you can improve FT shooting with technique and lots of reps. Rupert and Ebube should be shooting underhanded.
Larry Bird shot hundreds of practice shots late in his career - certainly can't hurt but he was skilled as they get when he was 20. Just got smarter and learned more trash talk phrases as time went on.
Do you guys not watch the nba? Development is almost halted at 22? Players don’t reach their basketball primes til 26-28. Of course someone can progress significantly from 21-22 or even 22-23.
I am glad I stirred up this topic again
