Would be interested to know who is full-on practicing without limitations. Johnson, D’Amico and Hornecker are guys who reportedly have had injury issues in recent months, and I don’t think any of them were shown in actual drills recently (I know there was footage of X shooting).
Given all the new pieces and need to gel, here’s hoping these guys don’t miss much more time.
Ready for basketball now that the football team seems to be under attack by China
Would be interested to know who is full-on practicing without limitations. Johnson, D’Amico and Hornecker are guys who reportedly have had injury issues in recent months, and I don’t think any of them were shown in actual drills recently (I know there was footage of X shooting).
Given all the new pieces and need to gel, here’s hoping these guys don’t miss much more time.
The Dawgs Basketball podcast talked about Xavier. Apparently he slipped on a wet spot but seems like he’s good to go now.
https://twitter.com/SIU_Basketball/status/1707776347584745874
An interview with Xavier Johnson. Didn't get into specifically when he expects to be cleared for contact/will be a regular practice participant.
https://twitter.com/SIU_Basketball/status/1709310882763727083
Further indications that the Salukis have been quite shorthanded in practice so far: sounds to me like Johnson, D'Amico, Rupert and Hornecker have all been out. That's 3/5 of the likely starters: not good for a team that could use a strong preseason to gear up for a tough non-conference schedule and develop chemistry with six newcomers. Hopefully most of those guys are back very soon.
The bright side, as discussed in the interview, is several of the new guys have had a lot of attention and opportunities so far in practice.
Also notable: Mullins says AJ Ferguson is much-improved, which would be a welcome development.
I love that it's this time of year and we're getting updates like this. I hope the "injuries" turn out to be blessings in disguise. I typically take what coaches say in these interviews with a grain of salt as I believe we heard good things about several players last offseason who barely played, but it is exciting to at least dream about players like AJ making the jump. I was really hoping he would have told us some good info on the NEW guys and who has surprised him to date, but perhaps that comes later. Regardless, it's almost time and I for one can't wait.
I look for Ferguson and Miller to be breakouts this year. I think both are talented and have some scoring ability this team desperately needs.
Feguson is a nice breakout candidate, but I'm also hopeful some of the guys we brought in can knock down outside shots. I know we struggled last year with point production, but I don't think it was for lack of open shots. We just had so many people who couldn't knock down a decent clip from outside...people we were counting on knocking down a good clip. That will fall on guys like Stulic, Brown, Feguson, D'Amico, McGee. I look for Miller and X to help facilitate those shots with the penetrate and pitch mentality and when things allow finishing at the rim. Obviously we want XJ and Miller to be able to knock down the open looks too, but in my eyes that's more of a secondary benefit.
Really interested to see what the 4/5 rotations look like this year. Hopefully we are able to get healthy soon and start gelling as a team. That's a lot of people to be out during early practice...at least these are folks who have been with the program.
Feguson is a nice breakout candidate, but I'm also hopeful some of the guys we brought in can knock down outside shots. I know we struggled last year with point production, but I don't think it was for lack of open shots. We just had so many people who couldn't knock down a decent clip from outside...people we were counting on knocking down a good clip. That will fall on guys like Stulic, Brown, Feguson, D'Amico, McGee. I look for Miller and X to help facilitate those shots with the penetrate and pitch mentality and when things allow finishing at the rim. Obviously we want XJ and Miller to be able to knock down the open looks too, but in my eyes that's more of a secondary benefit.
Really interested to see what the 4/5 rotations look like this year. Hopefully we are able to get healthy soon and start gelling as a team. That's a lot of people to be out during early practice...at least these are folks who have been with the program.
Brown simply has to shoot the ball better this year or, to be honest, he shouldn't be getting minutes. There's not enough scoring firepower on this roster to have a 6-2 shooting guard out there who isn't making shots and is primarily a glue guy. I'm hoping for his sake and the team's that he can be more consistent and aggressive looking to take and make 3s in his fifth year.
In general, Stulic is the most natural candidate to be a sniper. XJ shot it well last year, and hopefully that continues. Same with D'Amico, who probably needs to take twice as many of them this year. We'll see which among the other guys can help the cause, as 3-point shooting was problematic last year and is among the team's major question marks going into this season.
https://x.com/MikeReisSIU/status/1709699932192415889?s=20
Interesting nugget for Mike Reis…Weber and Korn both at SIU practice today!
https://x.com/MikeReisSIU/status/1709699932192415889?s=20
Interesting nugget for Mike Reis…Weber and Korn both at SIU practice today!
https://twitter.com/siu_basketball/status/1709734191561056499?s=46&t=7s0hTttieSER8wqRSA0LoA
