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Post by pumpfake on Mar 8, 2022 18:58:05 GMT -5
Ivan Alipiev has entered the transfer portal. I always liked Ivan and it was too bad he was injured this year. We could have used his size and outside shooting. My guess is coach told him he is looking to build a quicker, longer, more nimble team next year and Ivan might not fit into his plans. I wish Ivan well and hope he finds a program that is a good fit.
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Mar 8, 2022 19:13:07 GMT -5
Yes, I wish him well also, and he’s actually exactly what we need… A spot up shooter to complement Dameane’s slashing.
Ivan actually would’ve been one of our five best players! Really hope CSJ has not just one rabbit, but numerous rabbits to pull out of multiple hats.
Best of luck, Ivan.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 8, 2022 20:18:45 GMT -5
That’s a shame - he was a good rebounder and can score. I thought he might being turning pro in Europe and am really disappointed that he is leaving.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 8, 2022 21:53:36 GMT -5
As I think more about this, the decision might have been Ivan’s call. He could start for a number of teams with brighter prospects than the Lions next season. DuBoise left in his 4th year, went to Utah and played in the Big Dance. Conceivably, Ivan might even go to another WCC team.
Before this news I thought our front line was going to be solid except for a true rim protector. Now, it’s a crap shoot.
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Post by ALioninWinter on Mar 8, 2022 22:06:43 GMT -5
I’m ambivalent. I’ve never felt Ivan lived up to what I saw as his potential. He had a few shining moments but they were few and far between. He was a pretty decent shooter who was tall enough to shoot over most defenders. But his sporadic contributions on offense were easily overcome by crummy defense. He just doesn’t have any lateral mobility and never demonstrated to me a strong feel for the game.
Could he have contributed to this year’s team? Yes, for sure. But the Lions were not a good team. The Lions need to get better. I’d rather see Ivan’s scholarship go to someone who can help the program grow.
Now, we just have to hope that Coach Stan can improve his recruiting acumen and find the talent needed for the program to grow.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 9, 2022 11:23:34 GMT -5
Douglas and Keli are the only Dunlop players remaining so this is really becoming Coach Johnson’s team - for better or for worse. He does need to up his recruiting if we are to succeed next season, unless of course Mayoum Mayoum is his secret weapon!
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Post by slblions08 on Mar 9, 2022 13:57:30 GMT -5
Losing Eli is addition by subtraction. Good player, but being an undersized PF with no ability to stretch the floor, it sucked a lot of ability around the team. If he had a one-on-one match up that he could dominate, the team could win. However any team with size or a coach smart enough to double team could easily thwart our offense since the Dunlap days. That’s whyJoe Quintana could occasionally save us by hitting long range 3s. But a more athletic and bigger guard could lock him down easily as well.
The fact that we had a bad season has people missing Ivan Alipiev? Really? He had 0 defense. Many times we’d complain about how when he came in, the game flipped for the worse on defense. He never became the shooter that you thought from the grainy YouTube video from Bulgaria. He played 70 games for LMU, about 50 for Dunlap, and was a peaked as a 32% 3 point shooter, his best year under Stan last season. I wouldn’t start him over Douglas, Lemaj or Leupepe.
Stan’s big rookie mistake was not playing his recruits and staying too loyal to Dunlap’s team. The team will be way more balanced if he just sticks to his players. I have not given up on Elliot or Lemaj. They had a year lost due to Stan going all in on Scott and Quintana.
Herb Sendak a famous college head coach with years of experience finally had a great season at SCU to get into the NIT.
Todd Golden struck gold in Kyle Smith’s excellent recruiting and player development system in place that got them numerous .500 seasons.
Stan absolutely needs to find a starting Center that can move that either can move and paint protect or be like Markussen, super tall and block the rim. He really needs one to start if he wants to keep Leupepe as a starter too. Since he works hard and is a wide body, Keli doesn’t get any hate, but being short makes him a liability , especially next to short Eli. Most likely a starting center will come from the transfer portal.
This off-season is obviously very crucial to Stan’s tenure. It will be the second true recruiting cycle, the first post COVID. As you know, last year nobody was even really allowed to see high school games in person in LA.
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Post by lmu2015 on Mar 9, 2022 16:56:36 GMT -5
After Coach K finished his third year at Duke the alumni started a petition to get him fired, so cheers to one more bad year for Stan at LMU that angers everyone on this board before he leads us to 30 years of greatness.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 9, 2022 18:37:40 GMT -5
Hope you are right lmu.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 12, 2022 21:22:14 GMT -5
Arizona plays UCLA for the PAC-12 championship tonite. Arizona has two 7 foot centers - Koloko 7’1” 230 and Oumar Ballo 7’0” 260. I just realized that Ballo started his career at Gonzaga - which is the relevance of this post. He is a load to handle inside. One that got away from Coach Few.
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Post by oneofthesedays on Mar 12, 2022 22:54:11 GMT -5
Koloko also went to high school with Lamaj and David Elliott I believe which is kinda interesting
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Post by pumpfake on Mar 23, 2022 20:22:27 GMT -5
USC Soph 6-10 Boubacar Coulibaly just entered the transfer portal. We had recruited in a couple years back. He didn't play much for the Trojans but would seem to be a great fit for us given his size and length.
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Post by pumpfake on Mar 23, 2022 20:25:25 GMT -5
Another good size Trojan - Max Agbonkpolo (6'9") just entered. Was a 4 star recruit who saw decent minutes for USC.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 23, 2022 21:30:33 GMT -5
Either or both would be great gets - Gathers and Kimble came to LMU from USC but they followed their coach here.
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Post by t on Mar 24, 2022 3:41:43 GMT -5
Hank and Bo left USC after Stan Morrison and the assistant who recruited them were fired. They came to LMU on the advice of a priest from Philadelphia, Father Dave Hagan, whom they both knew. Father Hagan also knew Paul Westhead from when he coached at La Salle. They did not follow a former coach to LMU.
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