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Brief random comments from the game: Starters were (back to front): Schulte Keller, Niece, Wilkinson Schieffer Huels, Boyce, Novaes Klein, Brunch (sp), Viox Wisconsin was getting votes in the polls heading into this preseason game SLU dominated possession for most of the game. Probably 60-40 at minimum. Moved the ball well. Built from the back. Had some early forays into the box with couple clean looks at goal. Our goal was pretty. Quick build up form halfline saw Novaes get ball on right-hand side of box, he took the defender inside, and hammered a curling shot to far post. Beauty. SLU played physical and closed down quickly when ball was lost SLU's on-the-ball quality looked sharp Used mix of over-the-top balls and quick combinations in the attack. FInal third of play was ok. Schulte came up with a massive, unbelievable save. Ball literally had to have been on the line but he somehow got a hand to hit to lift up and out. I thought it was a sure goal. Shot production was lower than last year. Wisconsin came into the game a bit more when we had subs come on but they did not overwhelm the new guys. Keller and Schulte stood out in terms of the freshman out there. Icelandic defender has bum ankle right now. Becher (striker out of Holy Cross) also has foot problem.

Cgeldmacher's overall point still stands. Even if we're slightly better than the 2010-2011 team, that still doesn't translate to being an A-10 contender, i.e. 21+ wins. Could Goodwin or Thatch become a consistent jump shooter and Perkins be a big-time scorer his first year out of juco? Sure. I'm rooting for it to happen. But that's the fan in me talking. The dispassionate observer sees 36% of the offense returning, a bunch of newbies that have never played D-1 ball and the only proven shooter being a 5-11 guard who barely cracked double figures for a low mid-major. I think the truth will be somewhere in between.

Wasn’t that the year Conklin was hobbled by chronic injuries and Ellis was banged up at the start of the season? And I don’t think I’d call Conk a “shooter” especially that season. Finally, you had freshman trying to understand the Majerus demands. I think it’s worth a comparison, but also think there are significant differences.

Coach doesn't have playing time to offer folks. It will have to be a special kind of player to be willing to sit a bit for a year before extensive PT, unless the guy just blows up in practice and games in Canada during the summer. mhg

I thought we had a reasonable shot at being among the leaders in the A10 this year, if we landed a starting quality big and guard, grad transfers. Now it isn't impossible, but a lot of things have to go out way. French and Goodwin need to improve shooting range and FTs. Thatch can't have a sophomore slump and must also improve his shooting. Perkins needs to have a big year. Bell needs to play significant minutes. At least 2 of our freshman need to be impact freshman. Coach Ford will need to figure out who is making the grade and the combinations that work by conference play. With so many new players and freshmen, we are going to see a lot of players getting lost at times, on both ends of the floor. Will we press, and run, it depends on who excells and how well we shoot as a team. If Hargrove is getting a lot of minutes, we are probably running. Our returning 3 experienced players need to stay healthy, an injury especially to French, would be devastating. A lot of things need to go right.

I admit to liking the name Steamers, but that may be more of a sentimental thing, as I grew up going to Steamers games as a kid. Still, they had a cool logo and color scheme. On the downside, it conjures up the term "Cleveland steamer."

St. Louis Toasted Ravs

What dlarry said ... coachspeak. And there wasn't a team in the A10 last year with a "deep bench." With the exception of maybe VCU. Davidson was a five man team. Dayton has four transfers in street clothes. The Bonnies went five deep. Rhode Island four. Duquesne three. Please give these guys time ----- will Collins earn a starting role? Can Jomerson shoot at the D1 level? Can Perkins score. Have French and Thatch developed perimeter games/ Has Goodwin found a shooting touch from the filed or line? Are Bell and Diarra better than just projects? Lots of stuff to watch for in the OOC. No history of injury problems? So what, an injury will be an injury, history or not. No chemistry problems? Not yet an dmaybe not but no one knew the Gordon situation until it blew up in our faces. No Situation iV? Not yet but stay clean and chaste boys -- the coeds are about to appear on campus. More experience under Ford? What does that mean? Players can shoot? Player si plural -- who you counting? What's the proof? While having the likes of Goodwin, French and Thatch back are huge positives, they all need more work to be the answer we need them to be. The rest are unknowns, including Hankton and Jacobs. If you are not watching games in November and December with a critical eye focused on demonstrated development, you're watching for the wrong thing. As the schedule assembles, I am liking it more and more but it will be a challenging schedule given our many unknowns. A great year to watch and see what happens. I'm excited.

S1 = Kwamain, Reed, Smith & Jordan. S2 = Henriquez, Bishop, Graves & Goodwin. S3 = Santos. I don't consider Gordon any different than Frazier, Smith, Edwin, Ford, Carter or other guys who transfer out for whatever reason. The S's were all sex related (although now I am hearing otherwise on Santos).