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estiger

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  1. As a Tiger fan who grew up in St. Louis and still resides here, I will say that I think that MU fans in St. Louis would love to have the game and series against SLU. MU fans from outside of St. Louis don't care about SLU all that much, so the dynamics of the game would favor SLU. SLU;s entire fanbase and student body would be psychotic about the game. I don't think kids who attend MU who grew up in the bootheel or Kansas City or northwest missouri really care that much about playing SLU, so our fanbase (outside of St. Louis) would not be as motivated. I remember when the teams played at the Arena in December of 1979 when Mizzou had Stipo, Larry Drew, Ricky Frazier, Sundvold and several other really good players. That team was in the Top 15 most of the season and it won the Big 8 Title. Injuries and an academic casualty (Steve Wallace ) stripped the team of its depth, but it still made the Sweet 16. When MU played SLU that year, everyone was healthy and no one had flunked out yet. It was one of Norm's best teams at MU. SLU had a team which finished in the lower half of the Metro Conference that year. I believe Norm caught a lot of grief from SLU folks at the promotional lunches and media gatherings, and SLU was jacked up to an unbelievably high level. Mizzou won the game in OT, but SLU should have won the game in regulation. I think that game convinced Norm that there was little to be gained and much to be lost by playing SLU. The return game at the Hearnes Center the following year was a total yawner. Quin had a similar experience in his first three years as MU's coach, wherein SLU had the more motivated team and fan base for each game (even the one played at Hearnes). He quickly cancelled the series as soon as he had the opportunity. I don't blame MU for not wanting to play the game over the last 20 years or so. SLU would always be more juiced for that game and have a great chance to win, even if the team sucked overall, so you risk losing to a team with a marginal rpi, and it hurts either your chances to get in the tournament or to get a better seed. Illinois made the same assessment in the late 90's when it played SLU at the dome and then had the return game in Champaign. They haven't played since. The game makes more sense now because SLU appears to be a program which will be a Top 50 rpi team for the next several years. SLU doesn't need the game any more than MU, and it won't have as much of the little engine that could advantage. It would become more like the Braggin' rights game where it is just an event, and the winner doesn't really gain anything over its opponent other than the ability to chirp about the win. If I was Mike Alden, I would propose a 4 game series wherein games 1 and 3 would be played at the Mizzou Arena, game two at the Scottrade Center and game 4 at the Chaiffetz. SLU wants and seems to need the game way more than MU, so you should be willing to concede a little in order to make it happen.
  2. Bradley got drilled in the 2006 Sweet 16 by Memphis. I would submit that year in year out, Xavier, Temple and St. Joseph are better programs than any of those in the MVC. Also, teams like Dayton, Charlotte. and St. Louis have the ability to play at the level of any of the hottest MVC teams in a given year. I like the Valley, and I think SLU could thrive in that league, but from a pure basketball standpoint, the A-10 is a better league imho. However, if the Big Man thinks that SLU needs to get out of the A-10 and prefers the Valley, I value his opinion a lot more than mine. Obviously, the A-10 is a poor fit logistically and geographically. I also think the Valley is probably a better fit for all of the other sports like women's hoops, soccer and baseball.
  3. I agree 100% with this post. Schools like MU and SLU will always be able to recruit good players, but will struggle to get the elite players. Look at the Beal kid from Chaminade. He will pay lip service to MU and SLU, but he will pick KU or Florida in my opinion. The only way he ends up at SLU or MU is if his stock drops in the next couple of summers on the AAU circuit. If you have a coach that believes in an approach and knows how to recruit to that approach, great things are possible. I think Mitchell and Reed are players like that, and Conklin and Thompson may be also. As I recall, Mitchell is from Milwaukee and did not have offers from either Marquette or Wiscy. I'll bet both of those teams would jump at the chance of having him now. The same is true of Reed. He was right in the heart of Big12 country, and he is a super-promising player for SLU. I know as a Mizzou fan, I would love to have him in our program. I think he would be a great fit in the Anderson system also. I'm not sure of all the details of his recruitment, but I think schools like MU and KSU were slow-playing him for some reason and SLU plucked him away. I think the Big Man can flat out coach, and I suspect that years 3, 4 and 5 of his program will be fun to watch. I also want to stick up for the A-10 to some extent. It may not be a good fit for SLU for logistical reasons, but it is a good conference for Men's basketball. Year in year out it has 4-5 teams which are legitimate Top 25-30 programs. When is the last time a team from the Valley made the Elite 8? Xavier has done it twice in the last 4 years, and St. Joe also did it once. I like the MVC, and I can understand the reasons that folks think it would be a better fit for SLU, but there is no doubt that year in and year out the caliber of basketball played in the upper level of the A-10 is better than the Valley.
  4. Here is one Tiger fan who is squarely in Mike Anderson's corner. He had a mis-step with he no-tolerance pronouncement and then the fall out from it and he has not had many breaks since he took over, but he is an impressive guy in my view with a lot of self-confidence tempered by humility and a ton of integrity. The situation he inherited was very difficult. He inherited a group of sulking underachievers who still had 2-3 years of eligibility. This year is his first real chance to bring in kids that he really identified and recruited. I think that patient Tiger fans will be rewarded when Anderson turns it around. Also, it is great they way Rick Majerus dismissed the Marquette talk. I have always been a big admirer of his, and as a college basketball fan, I am really looking forward to watching him develop SLU in to a really competitive program. I have no doubt that you guys are going to be good for a while after he works his typical magic. I hope that Rickma and Anderson can agree on something like a 4 year home and home contract. It would be fun to watch in these two fabulous basketball venues.
  5. It seems to me that if Conklin turns out to be 75% of the player that Joe Alexander is, you will have a helluva player on your hands next year. Alexander is one of the 10 best players in college hoops right now.
  6. You guys are in for a fun ride. I have always been a big admirer of Coach Majerus. I hope that he and Coach Anderson at MU will start an annual MU-SLU home and home series in the near future, as I think both programs are in for a great ride over the next several years with these two guys recruiting for and coaching their respective teams. I usually attend one or two SLU games per year, but I see myself going to 6 or 7 this year with Rickma at the helm.
  7. Roy: I agree that SLU would be a slight favorite over the Tigers in a head to head match up. I think MU has more depth, so the Tigers would have a chance to win if they could force an up tempo game, as I think SLU would run out of gas in that kind of game. However, I suspect that Lisch and Polk are good enough to control the tempo. I think that the Tigers would really struggle defending Vouyakis in the post and Lidell on the wing. When the game reached crunch time, I think it would be easier for the Billikens to get buckets. I think it would be a really entertaining contest, and I hope it happens in the NIT here in St. Louis if both teams lose in their respective conference tournaments, and then get the invite to the NIT. It needs to be played in St. Louis, even if it has to be played at the Family Arena (I've seen it mentioned here that Scottrade is not available that whole week). I don't think the game sells many tickets on a weeknight in Columbia, but it sells a lot of tickets to both SLU and MU fans if it is in the Greater St. Louis area. Good luck in the A-10 Tournament. You guys have a good team, and in my view, you haven't had a break the whole year. Personally, I like Soderberg, and I think he is a good coach. Lisch and Lidell are high-level players, and Vouyakis seems to have emerged from this funk. It seems to me that Soderberg goes about things in the right way, and that he pours his heart and soul into this thing. Maybe he gets a break in the A-10 Tournament this weekend. The bracket sets up nicely for the Bills to get to the final if they play well. If they get there, anything is possible.
  8. I went to a reception last Thursday wherein Coach Anderson was introduced to the MU fans/alumni in St. Louis. He was asked specifically during a Q and A session whether he would play a series agaisnt either SLU or Missouri State or both. He indicated that he had high regard for both Brad Soderberg and Barry Hinson, but then gave an evasive answer. Said he had been focused on last minute recruiting for 2006 and recruiting for 2007 since arriving, and that he was behind the 8 ball with respect to scheduling for next year. He did indicate that it would be considered in the future, but not for next year.
  9. I agree. I haven't posted here in a while, but I still visit regularly. I am hoping that Anderson will schedule a yearly home and home with the Billikens. As a Tiger fan who lives in St. Louis, I have always thought the MU-SLU game should be played. Back before there was a Braggin' Rights game between MU and Illinois, I remember coming home from MU at the end of the 1st semester of my sophomore year (December 1979) and going to and MU-SLU game at the Arena about 5 days before Christmas. MU had a great team that year with Larry Drew, Curtis Berry, Stipo, Sundvold and Ricky Frazier, but SLU had MU on the ropes the entire game (David Burns and Kelvin Henderson both played out of their minds). MU won in overtime. It was a great game, and as I recall there were 15,000 or so people there (many more than the number who attended the early Braggin' Rights games). I have always felt that an MU-SLU Braggin' Rights game would have been as big as the MU-Illini game. Maybe we could play each other every year on the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving on a home and home basis. It would be cool. The games would be all out defensive wars once Anderson toughens up the MU players, which will probably take most of his first season. I am an admirer of Coach Soderberg. SLU struggles on offense sometimes (although I feel that the offense generally gets good looks at hoop), but SLU usually plays terrific all-out defense. You guys would probably have a big advantage in this game if it was played next year, but after that it would be a great rivalry game every year. My other idea is to have a yearly tournament with MU, SLU, Missouri State, UMKC and SEMO. The loacation could be rotated between St. Louis and Columbia (the hell with Springfield). UMKC and SEMO would participate in a playin game, and the brackets would be rotated each year to keep it fair for all programs. Play it Thanksgiving weekend each year and sell equal numbers of tickets to the fans of each program. It would be an awesome kickoff to the basketball season every year. I am really excited about MU hiring Anderson. It will be nice to have a coach who has a lot of substance and who brings pride rather than corner-cutting embarrassment to the program.
  10. My advice would be to ignore what this jackass has to say. He tries to provoke the fans of all teams, particularly SLU and MU, so that the fans of those programs will call in to try and defend their favorite program. He is a cheap-shot artist who makes his point in the most bellicose way. He will shout the person who calls in down, and make disarming smart-aleck reamrks which have nothing to do with the merits of any argument. I have hardly listened to him at all since he came back on the air. I happened to catch a part of his act on Wednesday because I was surfing around the radio trying to catch talk about the braggin' rights game. The fact that he is taking shots at Soderberg is not surprising. He is a coach who is well-respected and well-liked by the local media and most local sports fans (even Tiger fans). It was a fair bet that SLU would struggle this year, so he started taking cheap-shots at Soderberg early. It was a good gamble, as he now is in a position where he can act like he is smarter than everybody because he was the first to critcize Soderberg. He has done this for years. He really knows very little about sports. What he is good at is provoking people in to arguments on his turf where he can sound smarter than the people who argue with him. He is in control, since it his radio show. No one defending Soderberg or anyone who Slaten criticizes will ever get enough time on Slaten's show to explain why loud-mouth is wrong. His show with Mike Claiborne is just awful. Do yourself a favor and change the station to 1380. It's what I usually do, although I did not practice what I preach on Wednesday afternoon.
  11. Apparently, the clot was in his arm, and it was diagnosed shortly after the high school season ended. He was actually having some problems associated with the clot during the State Tournament (his team went to the final game in Texas Class 5A, and he performed extremely well). He had surgery to remove the blood clot in April, and no one seems to know if has been cleared to work out and/or play. He is on-campus with MU's other new freshman, but has not been seen participating in the scrimmages with the other guys. Why is Meyer not playing in this game? He is clearly one of the three or four best St. Louis area guys. thicks,it would be great if you would post your review of the players, both SLU and MU, on one of the Missouri message boards. I would be going myself, but today is my 10th wedding anniversary so I didn't even ask for a pass so I could attend. Perhaps you could post on the supermizzou.net basketball board if you find the Tigerboard too annoying. Supermizzou is more civilized and less likely to reduce a legitimate discussion in to some juvenile name-calling flame session. I think most of the posters on that board would appreciate your insights. I know I would.
  12. I suspect that if SLU had a football program you would hate Pinkel with everything you've got as well. Quin has given his enemies the sword with which to destroy him, and I think his career as a D-I head basketball coach, at least at MU, is ruined. He will stay around this year because there is no other choice at this point, but I think he has been wounded beyond repair. The amazing thing is that his only experience before he came to Mizzou was at Duke, which still enjoys a squeaky clean image. I see none of the local or national pundits drawing the logical conclusion that Quin must have learned his tactics at the foot of his mentor, the unassailble Coach K. Quin was not sharp enough to realize that he would not get the same amount of slack at MU as that to which he'd grown accustomed at Duke. He is paying the price for that right now.
  13. My understanding is that Alden is forcing a clean up of the program as a result of all that has transpired. I suppose Quin has decided to go along with it in order to save his own job. This may or may not be true, but it is my understanding that most of the so-called "minor violations" through the years involved THarv. In addition, even if no academic fraud is proved involving Clemons, and there is no corroboration concerning his allegation about illegal payments, there is proof that Odom called him like a million times in the spring before he signed with MU in violation of NCAA rules. Even the pro-Mizzou spin has admitted that the coaches on this staff have been sloppy and careless when it comes to compliance with the rules. I believe THarv and Odom are going to pay the price for this. I also am hearing that the staff shake up is performance related, and is being forced upon Quin by Alden. This staff has shown poor judgment in some of the tactics they have used, and they have not shown the ability to judge talent, either. I think that the coach who convinced Quin last spring that Pulley was the answer at point guard should be canned solely on the grounds of performance. There have been tough recruiting battles which were won where the players turned out to be busts (Echols, John, Stokes, Ferguson, and kids who never played like Whaley and Okafor). Quin needs a couple less hip young salesmen type assistants, and at least one more experienced coach who can recognize talent, and steer Quin away from some of his impulsive bad judgment.
  14. ...to cause JMac to leave. There is still much debate at MU about whether or not MU will receive a post-season ban as part of its punishment from the NCAA. Most MU insiders say no, but who knows. However, one thing that almost all MU insiders seem to agree on is that Tony Harvey and Lane Odom will be fired in the off-season and replaced with at least one experienced assistant coach. My understanding is that Jimmy's loyalties are tied to Coach Harvey, and that his forced departure could result in a JMac transfer. As a Tiger fan, I hope this is not true, as JMac seems like a great kid, and he still has a chance to be a good player. He has clearly played out of position for the last two years, as he does not have the speed or ballhandling capabilites to be a top point guard. I'm still not sure that he will be a good 2 guard either. He is not as strong or as explosive as most of the top 2 guards, and his shooting from outside is only average. He also struggles on defense, as he is overpowered by most good 2 guards.
  15. I think you are right. Given the way the season has gone, MU can expect to get outhustled and outplayed on their way to one more humiliating loss to a team where bragging rights are involved. MU shouldn't play any more games, since it is clear that the kids on the team are not interested in playing. If the game is played, I say SLU wins by at least 10.
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