Taj79

Told you so. Not that it's anything to brag about. That takes 38.8 ppg out of an average of 63.4 from last year's team. It passed "indvidual growth and OJT" a long time ago. The race for the bottom three in the A10 has just intensified, and not in a good way for the Bills. Charlotte and St. Joe's are a half game back os us with a game in hand. Charlotte should have beaten Rhodey this past weekend but lost in OT. Charlotte plays Dayton, Richmond and St. Joes at home and goes to SLU, GeeDub, and X. They could win two of three at home and even two of three on the road. I think they win those two at home (sans Richmond); making their game at us all important for us in terms of being in the A10 tournament. St. Joe's is at Temple, Umass and Charolotte. And has home games with X, Richmond and the Bonnies. In al this, I think they might beat the Bonnies. Three wins ties them with us but we have the head-to-head tiebreaker if we close out the season w/o another conferenc ewin. St. Joe's lucks one out in these other five and we could be screwed. Stranger things have happen and THIS is Billiken Basketball. A win over Charlotte looms critical if we want to get at least one post-season game this year.

Interpreting the stats: -- Scoring differential: we are in every game given our defensive efforts. Problem it seems is at crunch time and we have no go-to guy. -- Assists: seems that with our struggles on the offensive end, we end up hoisting some desperation shot at the end of a time clock and that involves some sort of dribble, drive, stop and pop. In most cases, the assist is not available because you created your own shot. The other issue is the horrible shooting percentgaes. We don't have a full equation, dribble-drive-draw-dish situation. Yes, Jett can and does the dribble-drive-draw but there is no receptor on the dish to finish. -- the rebounding totals are goofy. I constantly bemoan the fact that we seem to get hammered on the boards yet you're saying we're AHEAD on the offensive end but BEHIND on the defensive end. In either case, the numbers seem way too close --- maybe they just seem to get what's needed at the needed and most critical times. -- even the announcers say we suck on the charity stripe yet we're ahead of our opponents? Just goes to show you can prove anything you want with statistics. -- the shooting percentgaes from both the line and three-point line bring me back to the preseason question of who on this team is going to shoot? I suppose everyone will jump on the Barnett bandwagon as our fix for next year but that's asking a lot from one kid. Maybe with Mitchell back, it provides another shooting option. Maybe those two relieve the overall pressure on our shooters and Ellis, Cassity and McCall all get significantly better. A Mitchell drive with Willie as a dunk option makes for more wide open looks for Loe/Ellis/Cassity who all seem to need more time to set and shoot. -- I asked last week if Jett can shoot and got hammered myself. Seems he can't shoot from three-point land anyway. With the ball in your hands, the shot clock and game winding down, your poin tneeds to be able to shoot and make free throws. Anybody see the job done by Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin on Saturday? -- Cassity's lack of offensive rebounds doesn;t concern me, its not his job. A wayward carom woul dliekly be his only tally int hat column even if things were going great. Cassity is a role player -- an offensive rebound has to come from Conklin, Remekun, Loe, and Evans. Kyle is the fifth option. Not a concern. -- Salescich appears to be the sixth guard option on next year's team ... behind Mitchell, Cassity, McCall, Jett and Barnett. Travelling all that way to sit on the bench? Cassity's turnover number shows you one of those intangibles that makes role players like Kyle the glue that can hold a teak together. -- Shooting percentages. Discussed .... I think they improve with more floor options. The three point percentages of Cassity and Ellis really hurt ... especially Ellis. Another pothole in the lost season. -- Steal, blocks and Eckerle's point totals I don't care about, they are irrelevant in such a lost season. -- Finally, the scoring averages for McCall, Evans and Loe are nice but as with most things in this great listing, somewhat irrelvant given what ha stranspired and changed from the original plan. It would be nice if thes scoring averages were behind 15.7 by Mitchell, 13.9 from Reed and 10.8+ from Ellis. Then it would be special. Overall, these stats imply, to me, a .500 team --- and we are no where near even that level. So, nice totals, nice distractions, lost season continues.

F*** no. Possible three wins left on schedule, all at home ... Charlotte, Chicago State and (given their questionable mind set after losing at home to Xavier) Duquesne. You don't win those three, and not only is it a losing season, its a "20-loss losing season."

You also can't immediately assume that staying at SLU would have meant much to them in comparison. Who's to say they would have excelled at SLU? Did Matt Baniak excel at SLU (AH - after Hughes)? Justin Tatum (AH)? Corey Frazier? Anthony Jones? Ted Mimlitz? Randy Bickel? Tyrone Caswell? Sure, some did. Claggs. Bonner. Hmark. Douglas. Gray. Burden. And that got them what?? But to think these kids would have automatically done better is pure speculation and no one really knows. I believe each kid believes he is the next Jordan and with that as their foundation, they are going to pick the school and coach they believe is going to get them to their next level. The track record at SLU is horrible --- two NBA journeymen over the last 35 years. A program with no history of success. Coaches on a revolving door. If I'm 16 or 17, and I'm good, and I want to see the world, and I'm a St. Louis-raised kid ..... see ya' later. Frankly, I don't think a winning season or two by Majerus changes that overall outlook. It might start change, but we've seen our aberrations or two over time. It is a hard climb up a very slippery slope.

Two things ..... #1) I question the logic of throwing your team under the bus at this point of a lost season, and #2) How about the idiot in the black "uniform" that didn't call his last timeout, with the ball right in front of him, and 15 seconds to go?

Lucas O'Rear had a nice career at NoIowa. Servicable mid-major player. Keeper at SLU? Sure. Bust? On a scale of 1 to 100 with 100 being Larry Hughes, I'd give O'Rear somewhere around the 60s. Swopshire hasn't done much at Louisville that makes me stand up and notice. Keeper at SLU? Sure. Bust? Right now I'd say yes. A score around 10 to 20. Suggs is in the same boat to me as Swopeshire. Keeper? Sure. Bust? Given the ocnsiderable hype I was exposed to, I'd say yes but will cut some slack because I don't see the West Coast as much as I do the East and Midwest. Bust? Leaning towards yes but a score of around 40 from what I see in the roster stats. Tyus? I see Tyus enough being here on the East Coast. Keeper? Sure but beggars (SLU) can't be too choosey, can we? Bust? No way. I'd give him a 70 -- better than O'Rear but not as high as a program changer like Hughes.

Dominoes. With Reed and Mitchell, the load now on Cassity, Remekun, McCall and Jett changes significantly. The Reed/Mitchell presence allows others to do other things. At a mini,um, we would be at the top of the second bracket in this league, not trying to stay out of the bottom spot. I think we certainly beat Rhode Island and La Salle and GeeDub. I think we also beat Dayton and, if things stay the way they went (highly unlikely of course), we beat Temple. Only X and Duquesne are who knows. The record of 3 and 7 is now 8 and 2 and smack into the Top Four. Of course,its all specualtion but better? Absolutely, positively ..... you'd be nuts to suggest otherwise and doing so only reveals troll-like desires.

P.S to roy ...... the kids I kept seeing involved a rather pretty and perky brunette. Do not recall seeing any fat blondes. Our cheer and dance squads seemed on the highly rated side as well.

If Willie was on TV, I didn't see him. Mitchell was shown a couple of times on the bench, talking into Jett's ear. Ellis was isolated a few times in his sling. Lappas must've had some sit down time with Rick. He kept talking Rick stories about how, while he only "has eight guys" (scholarship players) and "that they are just so young" its "been a great season because they are all a joy to work with and really are trying to get it." Lappas also said that when Rick was in the ESPN studios, he and Lappas would have conversations about game schemes and things and Rick "would start talking a language I didn't understand" and if I don't understand it, can you imagine how tough it must be for these freshman to understand just what the coach wants? Play-by-play was Roger Twibell, I believe, who is pretty good in terms of just calling the game. How come those three kids in uniform at the end of the bench have no where to sit? Halftime had Wally Sczerbiack and Jon Rothstein who were simply amazed ..... both had predicted a low-scoring, slug-it-out affair and a Saint Louis win and were shocked to have such an entertaining game going on. I think they felt a need to apologize considering Texas/Oklahoma and UNC/Duke were on other channels (when Duke was down 15 I predicted they'd win). Plus we got highlights of Dayton/Rhode Island and some previous Dayton/La Salle footage. I seemed to see the dated La Salle commercial a lot more times than the "Be a Billiken" commericial. Lots of nice shots of the frosty SLU campus. I have to believe we will make the A10 tourney and get a road game out of it. No way we drop to St. Joe/Fordham levels so they will be the two odds out in my prediction. St. Joes has one win but we have the head-to-head. St. Joes goes to Fordham and plays the Bonnies at home. They have some others but I can't see any other chances to win any more. Three wins maybe max for them. Fordham's only schedule advantage for wins are entertaining St. Joes and Umass at Rose Hill Gym, not the Izod Center in the Meadowlands. But two wins doesn't get them to us .... we're at three and still have Charlotte coming to town. But Charlotte has guys like Wilderness and Braswell on the roster .. guys we normally turn into superheros for the night. Not good. A fourth conference win would guarantee that extra game cowboy talks about. Go out, play, compete, have fun and learn. Those are my goals for the rest of this year.

I said last year that Aaric Murray was going to be the best pro prospect in this league if not last year then soon. I don't care much for his attitude and now understand why Giannini benched him against Dayton but with that kind of athleticism, why he couldn't play with the racehorses from Dayton is still beyond me. The head case argument between he and Guillandeax in the second half pretty much summed up the fact that Giannini has a team of head cases --- no wonder they don't win or win consistently. Can't wait for Guillandeax and Williams to finally graduate. Those are the types of athletes we seem to have huge problems with and make look really good. Of course, Giannin has a nominated McD All-American signe dfor next year and Philly is as fertile as it gets, recruiting-wise. My kingdom, my kingdom for a defensive rebound. The stat book says LS got 14 offensive boards but they all seemed to come at what were most inopportune times for us in the second half. Rob Loe had two boards and both of those were offfensive. One would think just being 6' 11" alone would merit you one or two by default. Still going to cheer for these kids because they do leave it all out there. McCall's fall was nasty and he seemed to lose a little in the second half but who wouldn't. But that right baseline drive and layup were still sweet. Jett's through-the-needle bounce pass to Remekun for the layup was pretty. Steve Lappas had the color on CBSCS last night and was what I would call pro-Saint Louis. He pointed out many times that La Salle's defense was horrid and they had to score at the rate they did because they couldn't stop anybody. It translated and was defined by the fact we scored what we did last night. Remekun's and Jett's dunks were nice. Jett seemed to be on the verge of a really nice all-around game but then threw away some late game passes at the wrongest of times. Props to him for hustling back and knocking William's layup steal away. Still he needs to develop a mid-range jumper. Cassity seemed ready to play but --- and this could be nitpicking --- after twelve in the first half he scored ony a late two in the second. I think Evans was impressive again despite some freshman-like lapses. His defense and steal of that pass into Williams late in the second half didn't amount to much in output but showed he is capable. I can't wait to see him develop over the next three years. I really see another Jeff Harris in the making. Lappas kept pointing out that Loe was the proto-typical international big man --- skilled on the exterior, in need of work to play the American big man game around the basket. I agree. Remekun looked spastic at times but was about the only athlete we could throw out there in relation to the athletes on La Salle. Lappas talked again about how Majerus wants to redshirt him because he is still very young as far as college age goes but just can't due to all the ills befallen this year's program. Will it happen next year? The timeout. If I'm Rick, I use it when McCall crosses the half court line. I know there are arguments against letting the defense set but let's go to the fact that La Salle didn't play defense most of the game anyway and with such a young group of guys who don't know who the go-to guys is, shouldn't you, AS THE COACH, lay it out in black and white for them? Despite that, Evans at least got a shot that seemed to be better than an 18-and-a-half-foot jump shot .... which is what all of our out of bounds plays seem to be with rare exceptions as shown in the Remekun dunk. Abdur Raheem Al_Maatin used to get one of those per game back in the 80's. I thought our defense last night was non-existent for some reason. The whole first half, Guillandeax didn't miss a shot. Maybe in the second we put Cassity on him? If that happened (and I do not recall if it was the case) it must've sapped Kyle's offensive production capabilities. Which again shows me that Cassity is a keeper but just not the kind of stud that can play at both ends --- its either one or the other it seems. What the hell was Murray doing to Loe in that first half??? Loe would amble out to set the high screen and Murray seemed to mug him on the set --- ignoring the dribbler but beating the crap out of the screener which seemed to disrupt the whole play? I didn't get that --- most big men jump out on the dribbler but Murray did not. And there had to be some fouls in there too. Durren drove at will. Williams drove at will. Pettis moved freely around the place and scored. The seven point lead was a ghost play --- two straight threes in like no time at all by Pettis and Guillandeax took that right away from us. So much for breathing room. Again it came down to crunch time and with the ball in Mitchell's hands, we win that one. Lappas was asked when do freshmen become sophomores and based on his answer, our guys are there now. Jett went to prep school too. The age issue should be put to rest. Overall, I still like what I see. Those who expect wins out of it can forget it --- ain't going to happen. Lappas did mention that with this excellent group of freshman and the return of Mitchell, Reed and Ellis, we should be a team in the thick of an A10 title hunt and lined up for the NCAAs next year. Really should have been this year but like someon said "the lost season." And another thing -- really minor --- but even our students aren't quite ready for the big time. Every time they showed the students, there was one little short-haired guy standing behind his "squeeze" with his arms wrapped her. At one point, the camera caught him squeezing her breasts! Nice move. Another time, well .... let's just leave it at that. With televised games, you just never know when the camera is on and when the camera is ON YOU. And I don't get the white oars with "SLU" and "SLUNATICS" on them. Are they waved as distractions? Also Lappas comented that the big head of Dwight from "The Office" was ineffective as a distraction. I say get the full-length SI Swimsuit models up there. Finalluy (said the long-winded old man) I find it especially sad to read Timmerman and see last night's game was "a battle to stay relevant in the A10 race" and that we are in "a block of teams battling for spots nine through tweleve" in the league's standings. Now if that doesn't inspire the fans to flock to see this team (and the emptiness of the arena, especially the "black seats" was especialling galling to me on CBSCS) then I don't know what will. The sad thing is that these are the very statements and realities I hate having to put up with this team and this program. We HAVE to be better than that ... eventually ..... right ..... right ......Buehler .... Buehler ......

I said in a previous thread I think at least two kids on this year's roster will transfer. I told SignKid in DC who I thought it would be and I'll leave it at that. I still believe it to be true and figure anyone at the sophomore level and below is a candidiate. Other thoughts: Eckerle graduates --- been discussed. I understand both Conklin and Cassity have or will complete undergrad --- stranger things have hapened. I don' believe Reed is on tis team until I see it --- just saying. Could be they all return, could be not.

Here in the east at 9:00 North Carolina is at Duke on ESPN. Biggie? Hell no, I'm ober on CBSSC for the Bills hosting La Salle, also at 9:00. Take that, ratings punks!

Here's another assessment of this injury, recognizing that medical treatments have improved since the butcher last ripped into my shoulder ... The problem with an injury like this is the uncertainty. Do we rest it? Was that enough rest? Is he ready? Do we sit him because the opponent is too physical? Does the fear of reinjury prevent what were common moves and split-second decisions in the past being made now? Its his right shoulder which is his shooting shoulder which means rhythm and feel. Can he take a charge? Box out and rebound? Things like that. Then there comes the follow on because as you suffer another one or two of these (and in my day it was three times = the knife) the solution becomes surgery. So you sit and you delay and you rest and you heal and you play a game or two or five and WHOOP its out again. Or you rest and do nothing and head back to the outback wiht some mates, find the old rope swing into the river, take off for old times sake and WHOOP here we are again. And if that happens in August 2011? Whay do youdo for now your junior year. And remember ... this IS Billiken basketball.

As I understand it .... and I might have got this from Vtime or even Nate .... anybody can be nominated. All it takes is an interested enough person/coach/family member to go to he McD AA web site and get a form. Fill it out, send it in ... VIOLA ..... nomination status. Maybe you need a receipt that acknowledges receipt. Not sure. Kind of like the basketball equivalent of "Who's Who ..."

Speaking from experience ---- having had three shoulder dislocations/seperations of right arm myself ---- it depends on the extent of the damage. My first was done in April/May and the second came in June while throwing a baseball from deep in the shortstop hole. The torque exerted from that kind of throw (think really poor imitation of Ozzie Smith far to his right) forced the ball and socket joint to literally explode. Worst of the three. Final one came in Novmeber boxing out for a rebound. Arm extension, distribution of weight. Shock waves up arm and out through shoulder. Finally led to reconstructive surgery. It depends on just how badly the seperation stretched the muscle that covers the ball and socket of the arm and shoulder. Think of a stretched out rubber band not designed to stretch. A good pop will weaken it such that the rubber band is useless and the shoulder "pops" out literally at will. Considering this is his shooting hand, I wouldn't expect to see Cody the rest of the regular season. If he does come back, do not be surprised to see this happened again, now that the process has been initiated. Rest and treatments might work to return the rubber band to normal but only time will tell. This is just another pothole on the road of an awful season.

skip -- I'm only quoting the article. Being nominated ain't no big deal. Getting named and actually playing ---- ah, there's the rub. Eating at McDonald's is hazardous to your health. Alcohol and eating at McDonald's should be done in moderation. White Castle = Breakfast of Champions.

While this is probably considered quite an honor, according to the Philly.com sports page, there are 1,000 nominations annually to this event in which 24 players are selected to participate. I guess it looks good to have "MCDONALD'S HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN nominee" on your basketball pedigree. Because, as denoted in ALL-CAPS in the previous sentence, certain parts of the quotation can be ignored. I recall Brett Thompson as one of Sode's recruits and Lisch and Liddell might have been. The only Mickey D All-American to ever land at SLU was Larry Hughes who, as I recall, might have been either nominated for MVP of the actual game or was the MVP of that contest. The Philly.com story, link below, shows one of the nominees already committed to La Salle. Giannini can recruit, just can't coach it seems. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/high_school/20110202_Twenty-one_locals_among_McDonalds_All-American_nominees.html?viewAll=y

Thanks Mr. xudash. I thought he was the same kid as last year ... but the name change and the scoring average cast doubt.

Let me once again demonstarte my age and stupidity but can someone explain to me what "HATE" and "mad hatedful" responses like th eones above and in other threads actually MEAN? Working for the fed, we always get pinged for talking in acronyms (The CofS spoke at yesterday's 1600 CUB and discussed CPOC's impending 15-6 of ARPERCENs wherein the CG will take the respective DCSs from AMCCOM and TRADOC to the Hill for ..... blah, blah, blah). Yet LOL, IMHO, LMAO and the rest of that sh*t is in vogue. So can someone please set an old man straight ......?

What, Terrell not cool enough so now he's "Tu?" Maybe an X fan can fill me in. Got to watch the Bills (ESPNU), Temple vs. Rhodey (ESPNII) and Dayton/Lasalle (CBSCS) all in in the comfort of home on a 42" Sony widescreen. Wonderful viewing day. On one hand, Tempe is methodical, but so much so that I don't get much enjoyment from watching their workmanlike demeanor. Seems LaVoy Allen isn't doing as much as possible yet they still win. I have no clue what is going on at La Salle when Giannini benches arguably the best pro prospect in the A10 (Aaric Murray) for the whole second half against Dayton. No clue what that is about. Murray showed about as much interest in his second half as Jay Cutler did for the Bears. I think Murray gets out of La Salle. Dickey Simpkins and Pete Gillen are two of the WORST announcers I have ever had to listen to. Yikes! And Dino Gaudio stinks in the studio. The Bonnies brought Duquesne back to earth, and you have to like that for the Bonnies. Duquesne is not that good but it shows what momentum can do for a team's psyche. GeeDub caught Charolotte basking in the X glow, didn't they? Going to be extremely hard for the Bills to get a home game in the tournament now. Umass is falling, but they aren't any good to start with. There is a lot of mess in the middle of this league with Dayton, Rhodey, GeeDub and Charlotte all mangeled in there. Maybe I'll get to see one more game in person is the Bills come back to GeeDub for the opening round. Chris Wright threw down some monster dunks at the end but how La Salle leaves the guy go at the end --- even is a press --- is beyond me. Wright had a nice game but it is criminal that Gregory never developed him to be anything more than what he was when he got there four years ago. And Dayton will be the same team every year --- devoid of any fundamental skills but great athletes. Staten will be a great point guard but he is a year away. By then, will Gregory get anybody to play around him with Wright and Johnson gone? The strata in this league is obvious this year. I think the A10 gets three bids --- Temple and X are locks. The third will be who from Richmond and Duquesne is in the title game. If either stumble, its a two-bid league at best. Dayton should get to defend their 2010 NIT title tho.

I am glad NH and dlarry believe Jett is poised. I have seen an unguarded Jett dribble a ball off his foot at halfcourt with no one on him so called me a little less convinced on Jett's poise factor. Comparing him to Randy Pulley is a disservice to Jett, however, as 72 did. Pulley was horrible, Jett is not. I know there are not a lot of options for a PG to pass to on this team so maybe the Kidd comparisons will get better but I see visions of Lamont Warren from Dayton here --- a point that can't shoot right now --- which is not a good place to be. Best news: he's a freshman and can only get better (I think but this is Billiken basketball).

Sudden? Long illness? Didn"t know there was an issue, if sn issue.

The boys played great today. Proud, very proud. Whoever said next year can't come soon enough is right on the money.

It was very good game and promising day for Loe and the future. I don't know if he'll evolve from the pop-up shooter that he seems to be but we shall see. I'd take the shooter and a decent rebounder on the defensive end, the kind that doesn't allow a Xaiver-like team to mug us on the offensive boards as was the case today. Plus, he needs to be able to defend the rare A10 big man that a Kenny Frease presents. The guy was unstoppable in the first half and had Dickey Simpkins calling him "Mister Frease" more times than I care to remember. Does Jett have a shot outside of ten feet? Seems to be a decent dribble-driver but nothing outside the lane area. MM, DE and RL are keepers. Jett remains to be seen. In his defense, Jett shows great promise on the defensive end, and is a nive rebounder for a point guard.

It was very good game and promising day for Loe and the future. I don't know if he'll evolve from the pop-up shooter that he seems to be but we shall see. I'd take the shooter and a decent rebounder on the defensive end, the kind that doesn't allow a Xaiver-like team to mug us on the offensive boards as was the case today. Plus, he needs to be able to defnder the rare A10 big man that a Kenny Frease presents. The guy was unstoppable in the first half and had Dickey Simpkins calling him "Mister Frease" more times than I care to remember. Does Jett have a shot outside of ten feet? Seems to be a decent dribble-driver but nothing outside the lane area. MM, DE and RL are keepers. Jett remains to be seen. In his defense, Je