Taj79

The real problem to me is not enough viable options. Last year, we did well ... we might have snuck up on people, folks did not know how good our two freshmen really were, Ian came in under the radar and surprised, a new conference, whatever. Despite the pain of the A10 conference game, I think a fourth place finish was pretty dang good in retrospect. So wse enter this year with essentially the same lineup. Folks know who we are, what we have, what we're going to do. This is compounded (as some have suggested) by a coach who is stubborn in his ways, does not readily change things up, and has no real help come in despite four new players on scholarship. The optimists say we'll be okay because Luke, Dwayne and Danny can only get better with age and JJ is going to have that epiphany we've all been expecting. NOT! Luke and Dwayne do better, but Danny and JJ seem to regress, two of the four newbies are off the active roster, and the coach is not confident enough in the other two to offer any development time in the non-conference season. It seems to me that Tommie's inherent athleticism is allowing him to rise above the fray and keep his stock and game going up. Kevin gets hurts or has a sophomore slump as some say and opposing coaches realizes that the big lug in the middle needs attention from the outset. Luke and Tommie's improvement is counterbalanced by Kevin and Ian's struggles. Dwayne is like a fifth wheel on a wagon and there is no bench support whatsoever. And we're struggling. I think the answers are obvious and, unfortunately, without playing out our respective *ss each week from tip to close, going to continue to be tough to overcome.

Frank DeFord had an article out yesterday that talked about Birmingham Southern College in a similar light. It ran in our newest competing rag, the Baltimore Examiner. When I did a search of the Examiner On-Line, a google for DeFord took me to his NPR site. Apparently, the column in print here yesterday was the print version of his National Public Radio address. If you search the NPR page under DeFord, it will allow you to listen (I think as I did not click on it so I don't know if there's a fee). Basically, it was DeFord's recounting of the recent move where the Chairman of the Board of Trustees went to the President of BirSouth when he heard they were going Division 1 football. The math was 116 or so scholarships at $30K per year equals yada-yada. After the chair and the prez discussed it, they nixed the whole deal, deciding that it wasn't worth it because Division 1 Athletics is part of the entertainment business and they were in the education business. To make a long story short, they then took the money that would have been spent on this athletic team and put it into the academics. In the long run, four new sports were created (including football) and now more students get to play college sports than ever before. Applications to the school are up measurably, minority applications are out the roof and the school does not have to compromise its true academic mission. Its a good read or listen and I recommend it for all. I have to laugh if SIU-E believes tourism and the like would increase. And there would be no need to increase the seatingof the arena as jmolina says ... wait til you guys see the "facilities" St. Joes and Fordham call home. Neither approaches the 5K seating figure and neither have plans to upgrade in any way.

I second the fatigue issue in this thread but caution this: fatigue has a way of setting in that can make people do things to cut corners. Take a play off. Rest on offense or defense. Not hustle all out. Essentially take shortcuts. My biggest fear is not so much what the fatigue is doing at the end of games or in the second half (I think we can all see that) but what happens when someone does take it half speed and suffers some sort of injury due to it. For example, what if that injury occurs to Tommie right now. Or Ian. We all see that Kevin is hurting what with the elbow and my fear at the beginning of the year was that we'd return the same team as last with no noticable improvements. In that case, an injury tothe big three would be devastating. Now, with no real bench and with what appears to be regression from Danny and JJ (regression in the sense that there is no real contribution from either right now), coupled with no help realized from the incoming class to this point, an injury of this naturre becomes magnified. While such things are hard to predict and their outcomes are even harder to fathom (let's not forget that Ian got most of his development done due to the injury to Frericks), I would prefer as I'm sure coach does, that he can develop his team at his pace rather than at some pace dictated by emergency.

.... think of what a great position we were in to start the conference at 3 and 0 going into the X matchup. And, if as I said before, this is a good team (my evidence was the comeback win over Ole Miss at the time) we would then defend thehome turf and open 4 and 0. Shoulda/coulda/woulda. Now the X game looms large for a "righting the ship" perspective. We have to win. If there was ever a "must" win situation for the Bills, it is now. The last one just passed last night. I agree with the Timmerman blog, now, we have no margin for error. I think a good team wins this one but I am hesitant to believe we are there. beating Rhodey by four at home is not the sign of a good team, to me. But this conference is certainly down. A bad La Salle team went into Pittsburgh last night and ripped the Dukes by 13 at home. That's huge as far as I'm concerned considering La Salle is bad and the Dukes beat us at home. Another bad team, Richmond, went into Rochester dna beat the Bonnies at home. St. Joe's looks to be the class behind X, they blew out Temple last night to go to 3 and 0. The conference race is far from over and many things can happen. I am somewhat confused by again being down at the half but that seems to be our MO. Heck, even when up at half, we go down at the end it seems so maybe left is right. Saturday will be big, no doubt about it.

...

So if I read all that right, the Billikens, as number 24 in your rankings, have an annual men's basketball budget of $1.9 million of which $84,292 is (was) spent on recruiting (in the year of whatever these stats are taken from). Am I correct?

In your listing you have a six-figure number for each school followed by a decimal number. I take it that the six-digit number is the total amount listed by your reference site for total amount spent, as in $365,000 meaning three hundred and sixth five thousand dollars. But what does the end number mean? Like the 3.6 or 3.0 or whatever. Maybe Imissed it above and am too lazy to read all the posts. Please clarify for me. Thanks.

.. doesn't work, trust me, I work for the world's greatest believer in that philosphy, the United States Government! But let's say you are both on the right path ... that we are not funded to be a top 50 program. We give Brad and his staff an at-call jet. We fund recruting trips and visits to the maximum allowable limit set by the NCAAs. Heck we even hire a totally seperate staff that focuses solely on recruiting while the other staff focuses on solely game prep. We get the arena of everyone's dreams. You name it and we get it. Based on what appears to be an inability or stubbornness to change coaching tactics, based on what appears an inability to motivate and get his charges pumped and ready to perform at each opening tip. Based on a less-than-stellar track record in talent evaluation. Based on a distinct disdain for playing only the most "proven" of his roster. And based on being outcoached (as some have said) by the scourges and bottom feeders of this conference ... based on all this we are going to give this leadeship group an open checkbook to spend even more money? Wow ... that is certainly a show of faith if you ask me. Five years and counting with nothing to show for it. I am leaning big time towards the sinking side of the ship. I was extremely high post Ole Miss comeback. The rock bottom has to be a loss to Rhodey. It is that close.

.. name the only two Billiken Board members who have quit posting, only to break their words. Hey, don't ge me wrong. I don't want you to leave Mr. Positive. I enjoy reading your stuff. The overbalance of the positivie is needed to counter the reality of it all.

Nice post. That explains everything. I take it by the silence then that this is just another smoke-screen? Another attempt to pass the blame to some unknown entity. Baltimore Orioles. State-of-the-art facility. Massive annul advertising campaigns. New manager every two years. Even hire dreaded "Yankee" guys. Questionable signings. Never get the big name. Little talent. Eight/nine straight fourth place finishes in five-team American League East Division. Thank gawd for the Tampa Bay Devils Rays.

.... you should read the post before you comment .... I never said Leon should or should NOT go to SLU. What I said that is based on the last two games, if I were Mr. Powell, and believed that I was the next Michael Jordan (as I've said they ALL believe themselves to be) I'd sure as hell would put a program such as SLU at the bottom of my list. Now, #1) I'm not Leon Powell and #2) I never advocated going or not going to SLU. I said if I were he, "SLU would be at the bottom of my list." I do feel all powerful, now that I know an "outrageous comment" like mine can hurt the program to the degree you seem to think it can. If Leon Powell, Mr. Missouri basketball, decides to base a life-altering decision on something some unknown, out-of-shape, overweight white guy says on some web-based piece of fluff, then these kids are even more fickle then I give them credit for. While I'm at it, let me try another one just to see how far I can go: Dear Mr. Bush, nuke Iran. Power tripping, bay-bee, power tripping. You perform in public, you are measured in public. That's the way it goes. My original statement was not so much a call for Mr. Powell's college of choice, as much as it was an example of how and why kids make their choices. If its is true as Clock_Tower says, and kid stay home to rebuild and save this program, Mr. Powell can certainly chose that route. Of course, if anyone thinks they make that choice and will perform without public scrutiny, they are wrong. Brad's excuses have run out. He came in in a hole, we all knew that. We all said let him stock his shelves and let's hold judgement until then. Some have done that. But given losses to the dregs of this league, with another on the horizon (URI who just beat Dayton at home), the time has come to sh*t or get off the pot. Some wonder why St. Louis kids don't stay home. Jeez .... you would have been the guy mixing the kool-aid for Jim Jones at Jonestown. Positive is one thing; unable to accept reality is another. Negative is one thing; unable to accept reality is another. If my comments are damning to the program, you inability to see the forest for the trees is equally damning.

... and I have these options, and I rank them, given the last two games, Saint Louis University is at the bottom of my list. Someone said in another thread (Clock_Tower) that the reason kids stay home at SLU is to be a "star" and program "rebuilder." With losses to teams like the Bonnies and the Dukes, we will always have that little nugget of a gem in our pocket almost every year. Seriously, if I'm Leon and have future aspirations (as I'm sure they all do .. all high school basketball players), I'm off to a better program with more exposure and more team success. I don't care what the grades are, what the majors are, how pretty the girls are, how much beach front property the school has, what Hall of Famer is coaching it ... nope, its all about me and I'm looking out for Number One.

... and this post is not meant to detract from anyone on this thread, but I really don't understand just who the administration is and what they should be doing to rectify the situation we are bemoaning here. Many times, you hear things like "They are in control" yet no one ever identifies just who "they" is. Are we talking about Biondi here when we mention the "SLU Administration?" I know he's kind of a powerful guy and all organizations have that one key lead figurehead, but who is "the administration?" Is it Cheryl? Sometimes I get the feeling that some of those bashing the administration are NOT talking about Cheryl, but some backroom, cigar-smoking elite ala the government-wthin-the-government conspiracy stuff weel-known by the X-Files. Who are they? And then, if you'd please, indulge me and tell me just what it is "they" should do. It seems to me, albeit it late, that "they" are building an on-campus facility but what else should "they" be doing? Upgrading the facilities? Getting better media contracts for TV and radio? Advertisign more on Highway 40 billboards? Because "they" or for that matter you and me, could do all that and if you still ain't got a bench, or a strategy, or the talent, you still aren't going to win. Losing to BOTH St. Bonavneture AND Duquesne makes for a pretty putrid main dish, who's the real chef here? With another piece of crap on the horizon in Rhode Island, wouldn't a third straight loss be quite suicidal? Amazing how quickly the high hopes and expectations for a season can go into the crapper so quickly. What was Lisch? One for ten? We got another stellar two points off the bench. Knollmeyer got one minute. A team with four guards on the floor can't handle pressure ... FROM DUQUESNE AT HOME? We are a two man team ... but its now Tommie and Luke, not Tommie and Kevin? I'd write a Season on the Brink but the title's been taken all ready. If we can't play with these slug programs, the Temples and UMass'es of the league will kill us .... the Xaviers and Daytons will romp. What are we proposing here instead of blame on some unknown group of "they?"

.. the web edition of the Post-Dispatch shows a picture of Soderberg talking to Luke Meyer and Anthony Drejaj in home white uniforms? And of course, its listed as a file photo? One woudld think that with 14 games under the belt for the 06-07 season, the one and only MAJOR newspaper in town would have enough time to go to ONE game and be able to update its photo morgue! I mean, Drejaj was good but last time I checked, he was not really producing for the Bills this year and was thrown off the team! Yeah, yeah .. the nice way of putting that is "he graduated" but in any case, gone is gone. That not only speaks volumes for the Post, but also demonstrates without words just how important our program is in the eyes of local newspaper coverage. Until we win, we won't matter.

... to parphrase "Meatloaf" in a way ... three out of four ain't bad. But much like some of the Brad backers (me included to this point) I don't think you can lump or add the Lisch/Liddell years to this right now. This season and their run is not done. Yes, we did some sneaking up on folks last year to finish third or fourth in the conference but we were 16 and 13 or 16 and 14 overall. That's smack in the middle of mediocrity in my book. That's why this year, with a big man potential NBA pick in the middle, was so crucial. And the loss to the Bonnies I have yet to recover from. Also, as noted in your post-numerical listing, you can't judge and add #4 into the list because the common area of poor talent and poor results post Lisch and Liddell is still an unknown. So I'll agree with the three and even give a fourth to the Pre-Clock and Pre-Taj era dominated by Harry Rogers. Heck, I've then got to give five which is the pre-historic McCauley era. So five eras over six decades of a program does not bode well in any book. Maybe you are right in that the only reason kids stay here or come here is to be a star and be a rebuilder. But to do that, one must have a near-death of the program existence to want to recover from. Peaks and valleys abound. I am more for a consistent sucess level, ala Xavier, Creighton, Marquette, etc. Your solutions may be right on, but to date, there has been no demonstrated evidence of anyone able to steadily build based on recruiting class after recruiting class. Ours is a one-and-done effort that comes once, maybe twice a decade. And it would mean we need more valleys and more near-death experiences to get those kids to come if at all. One could ask why Brad didn't build onehte success that was Lisch and Liddell? He went belly up so far for this year, and next year looks horrid with no LOIs in the lock-up as we speak. Here comes that pattern again. Giventhe continual state of this program, I really don't understand why we can't get first year players who step off the bus fresh from the sticks and contribute? Seems to me that the man at the top knows what he needs and should recruit accordingly. I mean, why take a kid and place him at the end of your bench on a talent depleted roster? Seems to me, you'd have a variety of options or intentions that brings you some sort of relief each and every year. I don't see that here despite my beliefs that maybe both Knollmeyer and Maguire should play some. Heck, maybe, just maybe, if you give Obi and Dixon a little more to look forward to then just metal splinters from the metal bench, you motivate them to do better not only on the courts but also in the classroom. Just a thought, nothing solid in that basis whatsoever.

If one of the reasons kids pick a school is to advance to the next level, and that advancement is promoted by who sees you and how many times they see you, no local exposure plu sno national exposure puts SLU even further down the list of lucrative places to play (not that we're too high right now). Heck, even some of the really low mid-majors and high low-majors get to play on "Bracket Buster Weekend.' We do not. Hmmmmmmm ................

.... and saying that, my apologies first off for a backhanded start for Clock Tower. Let me say that I enjoyed, understood and agree with your post and echo broy's sentiments that you post more often. If that, then why my "blah,blah,blah" heading? Because you have verbalinzed in one post what has been said here so many times before. I have been around since the Albrecht times, pre-Grawer, and have seen and lived through what you describe above. Your post goes one step further in that it names names (as in radio and TV issues) and places blame (interpreted, at least). We have all rehashed these issues before althought your post is the latest and maybe best in summarizing them all in one place. Hindsight is 20/20. My question, and the $64,000 question seems to be that if we know all these noted items above, how do they get corrected? Numbers 2-3-4 above might be contract issues but I can guarantee you that in 2 and 3 no one in the broadcasting business is going to commit prime time slots to a minor and mediocre program. Again, jsut win baby. As for #4, we've been over that time and time again. I would offer that Springfield and Dayton don't have the competitive interests fighting for space that we do thereby guaranteeing their place in the paper. Plus they do win a lot more than we do. People love and follow a winner. Which brings us to point 5 and a moot point. Point 1 is something I think most of us long for and cannot wait to see it happen. I just cringe thinking, however, that all our eggs will be placed in this basket. I go back to the Patriot Center at George Mason University. What a palace. I went there for a concert and could not believe that in suburban DC, this little gem existed. For a program I never heard of (until last year really). And short of last year, what's Mason got to show for it? Again, winning, which I thought we'd get this year to start things off, is the cure to everything. Point 6 --- acadmecis --- well, we will always have that. But other schools overcome that so we must be able to as well. Again, nice post, nice combination of lots of things, but no real solutions to overcome said problems. Its seems like we all waiting for that miracle to drop into our laps .... a stellar local class stays home (Gray/Douglas or Claggs/Hmark/Winfield) or someone who walks on water walks through our door (Hughes). Both have happened before but the problem was that no one used the impetus to push on and capitalize. Maybe some believe this is the next step come class of 2008. I'll pretty much take almost any answer out there. Hardball had some along the recruiting trail, some were outlandish. Maybe desperate times require desperate measures. Anybody got answers as opposed to historical facts. Again, my apologies Clock Tower. Keep coming back. Another "oldie but goodie" can't but help the board.

.. or asked if I thought Brad was the best we could get. I don't really know. What I do feel confident in saying is that none of these so-called name guys are going to come calling at a place that is nothing more than a deathbed to a career. So what we are going to get is probably someone either on rehab (Quin/Eustachey/Bozeman types) or some unknown who's the lead recruiter for some big BCS program (ala Gregory). So we're back to a stranger startingover. Who's to say he will have any different success than Brad. The locale hasn't changed. You can put up all the palm trees, sand, and beach balls you want but Duluth won't become Cozumel because of it. The arena has to be a plus, I just can't see it being anything else. But other programs have failed with equally pretty facilities and then other programs have succeeded with mildew caked pits (Cameron, Allen, Butler). A new arena still doesn't make success a given. A new coach with a huge salary and a new arena does not magically transform a perennial doormat from outhouse to penthouse. Many have said it ... only winning does. And again, with three all-conference performers coming back, this was the year if any to make some noise, create some buzz, develop some cachet ... go to the dance and let the growing begin. What happens if Brad does get fired, Ian graduates, and Tommie and Kevin say "I came for the coach, he is gone, so am I."? You want to talk about starting over. Wow! It'll be my sixth time to start over so its getting to be old hat for me. That's not good enough but I'm getting resigned once again to the fact that that may be all there is. When I expect good, I get dashed. Whne I expect nothing (see Memhis, Miracle 2000) do-do happens. Or at least so it seems. But Saint Bonaventure?!?!?!?! If ever there was a gimme, this had to be it. If we can't expect the gimmes .....

.. today is about what I'd expect after last night's result. I didn't hear the game, I didn't see the game, I haven't read anything but what's on this board so I have no impressions on the game itself. All I know is the final score and the fact that we lost to one of the most low-lying teams currently palying on the Division 1 circuit. Fire Brad: I'd have to ask what for? Some on here have already begun the great coaching search in the sky. Stallings. Amaker. Lowery. Kruger. Stop and ask yourselves, who, in their right mind would see this as nothing more than a graveyard for one's coaching career? Albrecht -- dead and gone. Coleman -- dead and gone. Ekker -- dead and gone (some lame assistant job somewhere in the wasteland of the NBA does not count in my book). Grawer -- back to high school. Spoon -- dead and gone. Romar -- his move to Washington had nothing to do with his accomplishments here; Alma Mater U came calling. This is not a steppingstone position. This is nothing more than a career killer for most. I'm not for the "fire Brad" camp nor for the "keep Brad" camp, but you guys are dreaming if you think some up-and-coming coach is going to slit his own throat and come here. If not some unknown assitant, the best we can hope for is some donw-on-his-luck slug looking to make a comback ... and last I saw Larry Eustachey was taken. Of course, Quin is floating around out there! No Bench: Like, duh. The top three came back and Luke has shown marked improvement. Other than that, we were depending on two guys (Dwayne and Danny) getting better because, well they just had to because they're juniors now. Unfortunately, this is Billiken College Basketball and it seems to differ from the norm that is College Basketball. Someone has already done the stats on what we get from our bench so I won't go into that but what we have is what we have. And JJ, hmmmm, let's see ... a fifth year senior who's done nothing for four years. Oh, yeah, that fifth year will make him better just like osmosis. He can increase his production 100% but you know what, 100% times ZERO is still ZERO. Not Coming Out Ready to Play: pure and simple, I'd blame this on the coach not having the guys prepared. But you know I've been hearing this from the pre-streak run of Perry's senior year, to the injury riddle Bryant/Frericks senior year to last year and now this year. If you're a lunch pail team as many of us have said Billiken teams are, you have to believe that as well and not think walking out on the floor is enough. So this trait seems to be an enduring one. If a Saint Louis University team does not understand this from the get go, either they are learning impaired or the message isn't being stressed enough. But I also understand you can't berate your team into submission because that won't work either. Seems to me the current staff is not motivational enough right now. Winning the A10: We just went on the road and lost to the 330th ranked team in Division 1. It amazes me that some think this same team can waltz into Atlantic City, before thousands of empty seats, with the same five fans in the house supporting them, and win three or four straight games with a four man roster and no bench. What are you guys sniffing? Sure, stranger things have happened (see Memphis 2000) but that's a once-in-a-millenium kind of thing and we've cashed out that supply in the year noted above. Not impossible, but highly improbable. Wait Til Next Year: I can't even say that with a straight face because next year, in my book, depends on this year and its like Steve says in that the hopes and dreams of the future are being built now. I so desperately want this team to succeed, which means making the dance, because if it doesn't, the minimal cachet that even making the dance gives will not be available to impress the recruits and we again rely on 17- and 18-year-old kids to take a leap of faith, stay home, and take the little school that thinks it could to the big dance. We actually had that in Grawers' first and last years and didn't realize much from it at all. Next year to next year to next year is treading water ... which is what we do. Tiring, isn't it? The Rest of the Year: Are we out of it? No. We could still lose the rest of our games and, by winning four in AC in March, still go to the dance (not true as we would not be invited to AC with nary a win in the regular season but ignore that fact for now). If we don't win the A10 tourney this loss will surely hurt but given this loss at this time to this team, I suspect that other losses of this nature exist further down the 2007 road. I am disheartened, for sure. But changes are coming. Either this team learns that it has to be prepared to play from five minutes before the opening tip to five minutes after the final whistle, or the staff will change at the end of the year. I firmly believe that. Of course, a change in the staff, to me, is equally harmful as it is beneficial. But the progress I expected is just not happening for me right now. This is one of those losses that you don't expect from a good team. As I said in the Ole Miss game, I thought this team was better than this. The comeback and win against Ole Miss made me proud. This one just confuses the hell out of me. The time for change is rapidly approaching ..... either changing the thinking and mindset of the current roster and staff, or, I suspect, changing the staff. A team with three all-conference returnees does NOT lose to the Bonnies anywhere in my book.

but as '72 points outin another thread, YouDee has ten wins, all at home, against less-than-stellar competition and asks the question just how good YouDee is. I think that's a legit thought. Of course, if Gregory is thinking schedule a bunch of dolts to pad the win total while adding confidence to a young team, he won't be the first. And what I do know is that YouDee season ticket holders have not been happy with YouDee's schedule for some time now, even before Gregory got there. Not much will come into the YouDee Arena. Even the biggest names of the recent past .. Kentucky, Cincinnati ... insisted on YouDee playing them at neutral USBank Arena in Cincy. Even last year when YouDee played Purdue, it wasn't at the Arena, rather, they insisted on "neutral" Conseco Fieldhouse in Indy. Oh well .. it is what it is.

... plays a real basketball team? Annihilated by 30! I forget what we lost by but it was the same and we were at home. Which means, to me, that the SLU/UD games are going to both be nailbiters once again.

... and I was serious as a heart attack when I posted it. Again, that shows me that the expectation can be real for this team. A skank team does not come back and right the ship the way they did that afternoon. Hope springs eternal. Has to when you're a Bills fan.

Purely opinionated .... and you're entitled to that. Of course, Footes never went to UMKC but so what.

No harm no foul ... I just like to set the record straight if there's a misinterpretation. Most of my real diatribes are for the the likes of Vee and Putz-zie. As for skip above this, I still believe that in most instances, JUCOs are stop gaps in this program more than in others. Sure, there will always be a Justin Love or a Donnie Dobbs or a Mo Jeffers. But I'd also like to pointout that those were recruits done by a different staff in a different era. All I'm sayign is that past history what it is, and given Brad's recent history, I don't see JUCOs as anything more right now. Reggie Bryant was a good get, but I'd venture that he initiated the move from Nova, not us. And again, short of kids coming home to finish up, Saint Louis University is not a destination of choice. Again, there are exceptions to every rule (H Waldman) but the volume of evidence I believe supports my claim.

.. mon fraire ..... another guy interpreting emotion from the two-dimensional image .....