Pickens to return for Bears

by **glm38** » September 5th, 2013, 10:16 am

The Bears got some welcome news this week. After deciding to call it a career due to knee problems last year Keith Pickens changed his mind and decided to return for his senior year after all. Hes going to walk on.

Despite our wretched year last year Pick was one of our best players. Despite limited minutes due to his physical problems he was one of our better rebounders and definitely our best defender.

Having him back is a real asset IMO both on and off the court.

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by **2livewu** » September 5th, 2013, 4:16 pm

That's great news for the Bears. Even if it's in a limited role (and I am not saying it it's going to be), Keith is a leader and real fighter. Pretty sure any team would love to have a player like Keith. Glad he feels good enough to go 1 more season. You have to move the Bears up on this news.

by **Wufan** » September 5th, 2013, 4:59 pm

2livewu wrote:That's great news for the Bears. Even if it's in a limited role (and I am not saying it it's going to be), Keith is a leader and real fighter. Pretty sure any team would love to have a player like Keith. Glad he feels good enough to go 1 more season. You have to move the Bears up on this news.

Congrats to Keith and the Bears! Good to hear he's got one more go in him.

by **BEARZ77** » September 7th, 2013, 8:16 am

Pick still has a chronic knee condition so his role and minutes will be less than past years, but he gives the Bears 10-15 minutes of leadership and versatility to play with nightly if healthy. That gives the Bears enough depth at the wing and 4 spots to now seriously consider keeping Marcus at the point this year and perhaps redshirting a freshman guard like Ruder or Thomas. Mvouika has presented in great shape after spending the summer in France and is a 6'6 shooting guard with excellent handles and passing ability to go along with an 18ppg, 8 rb average in juco ball. If the Bears go with Marshall at pg, then you'd have Mvouika and Gulley at the wings, backed by the veteran Scheer and also 6'6 soph Mike Simpson who has really shot the ball well this summer, with Pickens and possibly Ruder also in the mix. Ruder at 6'3 is built along the lines of Baker for WSU, very strong for a frosh, and was rated a top 15-20 3pt shooter in the HS ranks last year. I like our roster this year; finally some experienced depth.

by **glm38** » September 7th, 2013, 11:02 am

Pickens will be a huge asset even if he can just give us 10 to 20 min per game. That's probably about what he averaged last year. But from the news leader article below it sound like his knee is feeling much better than it has since his initial injury. He may be able to do more when we need him to.

I'm really excited about Mvouika too. The prospect of he and Marshall together is very exciting.

http://www.news-leader.com/article/2013 ... e-unveiled

by **CaseyGarrisonforPrez** » September 8th, 2013, 1:18 pm

Mvouika is going to end up being an absolute recruiting coup for Lusk. I like having Pickens back too. He is a great kid. I don't think he will doa whole lot on the court but the intangibles that he brings can not be overlooked.

by **Wufan** » September 8th, 2013, 5:50 pm

CaseyGarrisonforPrez wrote:Mvouika is going to end up being an absolute recruiting coup for Lusk. I like having Pickens back too. He is a great kid. I don't think he will doa whole lot on the court but the intangibles that he brings can not be overlooked.

Mvouika might be POY as a senior. He might be first team All-Valley this year. I'm happy for MSU, but my goodness. Let's see the kid play 1 second against a D-I player that was on a decent D-I team. I'm not saying MSU will be awful, but when you are basing his play on practice, hedge your bets a little.

by **agrinut** » September 9th, 2013, 1:11 am

Wufan wrote:
CaseyGarrisonforPrez wrote:Mvouika is going to end up being an absolute recruiting coup for Lusk. I like having Pickens back too. He is a great kid. I don't think he will doa whole lot on the court but the intangibles that he brings can not be overlooked.

Mvouika might be POY as a senior. He might be first team All-Valley this year. I'm happy for MSU, but my goodness. Let's see the kid play 1 second against a D-I player that was on a decent D-I team. I'm not saying MSU will be awful, but when you are basing his play on practice, hedge your bets a little.

Especially since he has not been to practice to see him play... Ronito will be a very good player, most players in this league are good players.

by **glm38** » September 10th, 2013, 10:10 am

Wufan wrote:
CaseyGarrisonforPrez wrote:Mvouika is going to end up being an absolute recruiting coup for Lusk. I like having Pickens back too. He is a great kid. I don't think he will doa whole lot on the court but the intangibles that he brings can not be overlooked.

Mvouika might be POY as a senior. He might be first team All-Valley this year. I'm happy for MSU, but my goodness. Let's see the kid play 1 second against a D-I player that was on a decent D-I team. I'm not saying MSU will be awful, but when you are basing his play on practice, hedge your bets a little.

MSU fans are pretty excited about this year. Maybe more than we should be but after our dumpster fire year last year can you blame us? And WSU fans were pretty excited about Early before he played a minute of D1 ball. Not sure if Mvouika will be as good as Cle was last year but I think he'll start and be a pretty good player this coming year.

by **CaseyGarrisonforPrez** » September 10th, 2013, 12:34 pm

Well I'm excited about Pickens, Mvouika, and the rest. I'm a fan. I get excited. I'm not going to temper my enthusiasm on account of what happened in 2012-2013. That's as relevent as 1964-1965. It's early still but my expectation is postseason play. I like coming under the radar this year. I keep voting MSU in our little fan poll. I don't want any type of bullseye. What was Drake picked in 2007-08? And look what happened.