Taj79

... as to what our highlight will be? I'm leaning towards the "Miracle in Memphis." Second place would be Hughes' National Freshman of the Year award.

Yeah .. that UA-PB score with Duquesne is amazing. Doesn't UA-PB generally rank somewhere in the 31Xs of the 317 or so NCAA Division 1 basketball schools? And it was at Duquesne? Wow! that's got to be a great win for the Golden Lions.

.. of both. Long air time .... once took a a flight from St. Louis to Hono that was scheduled for ten hours and took eleven with strong head winds. Then you've got the high humidity to add to it. With the cramped space in air planes, I cannot imagine what it must be like for a guy taller than 6'2" ... which is what I am and I had a hard time with it all. Then if you don't understand jet lag ... and you're immortal i.e. young ... you don't know what affects the altitude has on your body as you make that flight. And there has to be some tourism added to it. First time someone plucked from the backwoods of this country goes out there ... its ga-ga time. And this is me at 35 not some well-traveled basketball stud. But Hawaii is amazing ...

When you say "these two guys taking it personally," I take you me me and '72 ... I prefaced my comments by acknowledging that its boxscore-only comments so they are indeed to be recognized for what they are. I intend to be at the GeeDub, Richmond, and La Salle games and will certainly report from there where I am certain to get a better feel. But that's all I got for now so that's all I got. I see '72's made his statement below so I'll let that one go at that. I do not believe I am jumping to conclusions .... If I sounded judgemental, I apologize. I agree that we need to wait a while on all this before pronouncements are made. I am all for not making any conlcusions until the non-conference season is over. I am thrilled at a win. I am thrilled DP is not hurt as seriously as he could have been and agree that he is the key component to a running team as you have pointed out. But I think '72's questions are legit and will watch them from afar to see how the answers develop. Another note I missed from the boxscore was this stat: fast break points. We are credited with four; EIU two. Again, I know its only a boxscore and you guys were there and boxscores are kept usually by team managers and folks like that so there is interpretation involved. BUT .... is this really indicative of our "new style?" A running team that only garner four fast break points? This is truely where I appreciate the in-person insight. Did we run significantly more and just miss shots or not take them?

Reading from a boxscore is tough but when you're remote, well, you're remote. I think '72 is watching a situation that is key ... I know Vtime said breakout year for DP and one game does not a year make but if you're short on height and have no shot, the defenders are fools to come out on you only to let you blow on by. The kid has got to start making the shots and becoming more of a threat so that the rest of his game can take off. Vtime has advocated his being placed at SG .... and what does the "S" stand for? DB looks like a player. But it is one game and EIU (how close is that to EIEIO?) is what it is. But sixteen points coupled with six defensive rebounds make me pretty happy. led the team in points, tied for lead in assists, and second in rebounds. All in all a very goo dnight. The freshmen apparently took time to get going. TL said he was nervous and falling too far back on his fadaway jumper until the block got him relaxed. I think freshmen do that. It was nice to hear how KL shut down the Robinson kid. We all know that Brad is defense first and if KL can do that as well as hit some jumpers, all is going to be well. Hit some jumpers? Again, who on this team can shoot? What did the story line say ...... 67 minutes or so without a canned thre-pointer. I think this will be the scheme of every defense we see for the pre-conference season .. pack it in and see who can shoot. Telltale minutes. I thought LM was hurt. Yet he got 10 minutes. On the other hand, JJ logged 4. Which is one more than walk-on Peyton Jacks got. For those of you at the game, did JJ get this in mop-up time or was it at some serious juncture? And I'm not tlaking about time gained in giving DB or TL a blow. True point. We argued long and hard who our PG should be an who leads us in assists? Ian. And he was tied with DB. Methinks IV's head will have to be on a swivel as the season progress ... once the ball makes entry, I expect two and three guys to make a run at the big guy forcing him to give it up. And here's hoping who gets it can make the shot. By the way, what does the Chuck Palace hold? Is 7534 a good crowd? half full? three qurters full? And how was our Blue Crew attendance? All in all, I think its a good start. I expected this win and a 24 point victory is good. Here's to the Wiz who set the spread and beat it. You should never lose to a directional school or a hyphenated one (although UNLV, UCLA and UAB are some noted exceptions). Expectations seemed to have been met. Let's move on.

Like I said, you are right. I don't want to argue. But humor me, and for clarification purposes, just what do I "wanna be?" Some direction in my life would be appreciated since the time span is much closer to the end rather than the beginning.

Some coaches impose their will on you ... other coaches plan and prepare to take things away that from you that you are comfortable with. My guess is that it comes down to whatever Brad believs will give him the best chance to win. Many onthis board have said "In Brad we trust ..." so I guess you have to go with it. I tend to agree with your take on it. Maybe 55/45. I would think that with a relatively young team that has some real experience problems, I would want to select a style and play it throughout ... a game and a season. Get them used to it. Live and die with it. Given that there is three+ days to get ready for these guys ... one of which is Thanksgiving and another of which will be consumed by travel, I'd go with my system over adjusting it to meet the opponent. Like you say, who knows, they might have to adjust to us. In any case, this will be a tough one due to the competition and the ancillary issues of travel, tourism, and jet lag.

See, now you've got one sentence that is fact and a second that is an opinion. There are differences. And I know you don't care but I actually agree with both ... disagreeing with facts is futile but opinions vary. Two facts from the game that are interesting ... while the Rainbows did lose, they lost in Las Vegas. Losing by six in the Thomas and Mack Center seems respectable. Second fact was that Sensley was 0-for-11 from the field and scored no ... that's right ... NO points. I think that is amazing for all the NBA potential that has surrounded this kid since he was a high schooler. And last time I checked, UNLV was not known for its stellar defense. What do you make of that???? Going to Hawaii has to be tough on the kids. I mean, you are in paradise but you are still there to work. I been on the UH campus and while its arena is not like the Maui Invitational one .... 1,000 yards from the blue Pacific Ocean .... it does sit across the interstate from Waikiki at the Pali foothills. You cannot help but be a tourist in those situations. Add in the air travel and wonder of it all and I would suspect that getting up to play can be tough. I wonder what a Greek kid thinks of all that? Of course, I also hear the reverse is true for when Hawaii comes to the mainland ... that the air travel and all that really waxes them out. For all they win on Oahu, they tend to lose on the mainland. Stealing a win would be nice.

Your facts are so right on the mark! What the hell was I thinking? Please forgive me ...... by the way, CL made me write that so thank god for her one more time, will ya'? No tangible proof + name calling = facts. Somehow, somewhere, I missed that quantum theory. Obviously my IQ is not at the same level as yours. I'm not worthy, what canI say. Must be the diverticulitus kicking in again.

... I was out of school and I think it was near Grawer's first year or so .... I remember the spunky point guard on that team ... Kevin Williams. I was excited because of the news of us getting a seven-footer and I ran into Williams somewhere. When I asked him about it, he said it was true. I was giddy. Then I asked Williams if he was any good. Kevin's answer "He runs the floor really, relaly well." Translated, I later found that out to me he really sucked. I don't know if it was Havanna but I do know he was from Illinois. So that would be all about right.

Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. All we have is your typed words, which say this: "Jill got the last laugh." -- You have photogrpahic evidence on this I assume. "She's (Jill) making over six figures." -- Pay stub please. "She (Jill) got a large buyout from her contract at SLU." -- again documentation but I don't think this blemish on her record is making her happy all that much if she wants to coach again. Of course, most all coaches can look forward to getting fired. "The only reason she was there so long is that her and Lori were real tight." -- fact, opinion, or anatomical probe? (My bad, couldn't resist!) Thank god CL put a stop to that." -- Given Jill's record, which spoke for itself, coupled with the fact that usually new ADs engage in some form of house cleaning, the shoe dropping doesn't seem like a far-fetched idea. But fact, thanking god has very little to do with fact. More faith, but not fact. "Jill reported to her (Lori) on all of the program issues." -- So you have two blind captains steering the ship? I can see that in her role as senior associate AD and the fact that she and Jill were same sex but seeing Trich's response and knowing his experience in the Department and with the school, just because you say so doesn't make it a fact. But as noted by Trich, nothing on her bio says a thing about women's basketball. Doing this gratis, I presume? "Jill did have a falling out with Lori because ... Jill was on the committee ...Lori wanted job ... that pretty much ended the relationship." -- Interpretation. There is nothing factual about any of this because its pure speculation unless affirmed and there is no way to affirm it. Then you ask if you were hard or unfair to Jill. Frankly, I don't really care one way or the other but there's no substantiation of what you call "facts" other than what's floating around in your imagination as far as I can tell. You have no sources. No credible affiliations. No known identification. Hard or fair? You were neither ... you're a rumnor-monger hiding in cyberspace. Didn't mommy ever tell you "if you can't say something nice say nothing at all?" Sure, I believe you. You've sold me.

two words ... David King.

...Tom. You even sign your posts and you and I know each other from tournament time. Besides, I thought your comments were fair and rationale .. had to be credible if you're willing to post and sign your name to stand behind it. Slulaw83 has no profile. OrlandoStewart has no profile. Billsboys has no profile. And who can tell if billikenman's name is real or not. It's like VTIME saying on his profile that he's Leon Powell. Its just as irresponsible as the torn ACL posts made below on Tommie. I apologize if I ever gave you the impression I was bashing you.

... really got some axes to grind to engage in character assasination heretofore never seen on the Billiken Board. Good thing there are no consequences to face with aliases to hide behind. I suspect that mine will be the next character ship cast upon the rocks.

.. I assume you are speaking of the 2004 Dwayne Polk year, right? What about last year? I'm thinking Matt Lawrence for one.

The (Baltimore) Sun came out with its preseason college basketball issue today. Some notes ... Humor was evident in the section as in big, 84-point type, the front cover reads "Don't Open This Section." The reason: becasue inside contents are revealed in the subhead reading: "Why? Becaue Duke, the team everyone loves to hate, is the preseason No. 1." I can guess that in our circles, Mizzou/SLU might rival this but in Terp country, no one rankles the faithful around here like the Dookies. Forget "Duck Fuke." The crowds here actually chant the real saying almost the whole game long. Which is obviously way over the top for the obvious reasons. Sign Kid wil like this: while they can't be consdiered "local" and thereby take advantage of the local bias, the Sun does have the GeeDub Colonials listed at number 16 in their Sweet Sixteen picks. The write up thee is "Pops Mensah-Bonsu and the Colonials topped a weak Atlantic 10 last season; now both are stronger." Old Friends Department: Loiusville is ranked at number 7 in that Sweet Sixtenn; Memphis at #14. The short blurb on Memphis says "The Tigers should run wild inside a depleted Conference USA." The Rich Get Richer: Of the Sweet Sixteen, three are from the ACC (Duke, BC & Wake); four are Big Easts (UofL, Uconn, Nova and WVa); and two conferences (Big 11 and Big 12) get two each. Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio: Conspicuous by their absence in this Sweet Sixteen: Kansas, Illinois, Washington, Carolina, Bama, Wisconsin and the Twerps (given who wrote it). Sexy Team Pick on the East Coast: Georgetown. Looks liek the III is carryingon quite well in his dad's footsteps. Really Old Friends: B-roy's buddy, Pat Kennedy, is still at Towson and they are using last year's "Pat's Cat's" theme for the Towson Tigers. Of interresting note, and I did not know this or forgot, the write up on Towson has this blurb: "Even if 6'9" center Dennard Abraham, a highly touted junior college prospect out of South Plains College in Texas, makes an impact in the post ... the Tigers have a lot of growing to do in a tough league." #1) So that's where Mr. Abraham ended up. #2) How does Fat Pat continue to do this? #3) Towson over SLU seems rather stupid. #4) And when did the Colonial Athletic Association become a "tough" league? I guess it is when Fat Pat is herding your Cats. Say What: UofL comes in at No. 7. Their write-up has this little tidbit: "Taquan Dean, a more reliable shooter than JJ Redick ...." Since when? I am guessing that is based on some sort of shooting percentage but BETTER than JJ Redick? And I don't even like JJ Redick, but come on! On the Billiken horizon: Gonzaga (#6), Iowa (#13) and GeeDub (#16). Eastern Bias: Naw .... I don't wnat to believe that but of the 16 teams ranked in this one, only five are from west of the Mississippi.

The notes from Vtime and bono are certainly appreciated. If anyone could fill in the blanks .... namely who were the other four all-metro players on Polk's POY year (2004) and Shipley's POY year (2005) it would be greatly appreciated.

... is there a site to go to that not only lists the POY but maybe the all-metro team as well? I think there is a thread above or below that kind of goes where I was heading with this ... the list of the D1 players currently out of the St. Louis metro area. I think if you look at that list and compare it to the last four or five all metro teams for cross referencing, you might get a good view or grade as to the quality of college ballplayers coming out of the St. Louis area. Of the last five or so listed by Vee, Lee and Miles would be the ones later listed as continuing that success. Both are in the pros. Same goes for Hughes. But the others? McKinney hasn't done squat in my book. The jury is way out on Polk. Burke's a zero and is now taking a year off after an odius JUCO journey and Shipley's talent got him to Austin Peay. He's only a freshman but Go Peay?!?! That's the best a metro POY can do???? I guess there are those that would say the same about SLU and Polk. Jon Harris did nada while at Marquette and Shelton was a bust at SEMO as I recall. Any wonder why the metor St. Louis area isn't top 20 material. Even if you do get the "best" player in the area, that alone doesn't guarantee much. Now I'm not saying I don't want him but I am saying that getting him may not matter as much as some of us think.

... what is the SLU connection on the Lithuanian?

Vtime has given me 00 through 05 (when I add McKinney's name next to Lee's for that one year - mucho thanks V). Can you add to that from 00 back to Hughes with Harris or even backwards to 1990? Is thee a spot in the P-D that has this listing?

Aren't thongs acceptable in some places? Okay, okay .. granted as formal wear at a party is probably not acceptable. As the final outerwear garment of choice at any time in Milwaukee .. well, not my cup of tea either. Hazing? I don't beleive so ... only if say, the freshman or first year members of the team had to wear them. But if they all did? Where's the hazing in that? Nude beaches are acceptable in some spots of the world. As Americans, we require clothing. Nothing is prettier than a pair of old German wrinkled "snausages" flapping in the breeze down around the knees of a "beauty" walking Palm Beach in Aruba. To steal from a jon Bovi song ..."Been thre, done that, I ain't looking back ..." If it was hazing, fine, they need their butts kicked and the punishment meets the crime. If it was a "Musketeers Moment" .. all for one one for all .... its just another example of an institution coming down on some free spirits, which has been and will go on forever. I mean, it is "Marquette" lacrosse, is it not? Dumb college guys. Thanks gawd I is a grad-oo-ett!!!

Can anyone tell me where to get a listing of the past recipients of the St. Louis High School Male Basketball Player of the Year? I owuld like the list to at least start with Hughes (who I am assuming won the award in ... what? .... 1996?) but wouldn't mind going back to even the early 90's where Claggs and Hmark were at least considered, if not the actual winners. Is Lisch the 2005 winner? Was Polk the 2004 winner? Wasn't McKinney a past winner? I seem to recall Joel Shelton as well. Who can help out here?

Grimes played two minutes in the loss to Sam-I-Am State. Being a sophomore, I guess that could be interpreted as meaning there is room for improvement. But last time I checked, he is Mizzou's biggest player. Given that Young is only 6'7" I would suspect he is playing more as an F in his F-C listing. And Young only played 21 minutes shooting 1 for 5 and scoring 2 points. He did lead them with 7 rebounds so that's a positive but finished with 4 fouls so I'm suspecting he was in trouble. Without firsthand knowledge, I'm assuming Quinny went small given the opposition. I don't want to take guys because of past press clippings so I would think th jury is out on this guy. One season plus one game does not a recommendation make but right now, I'd rather create our own "lemon" and be surprised as to taking someone else's. Of course, Grimes could go nuts and I'd think differently later and look like my usual foolish self so who knows at this point. Any transfer that comes in has to sit a year and I would offer that we need immediate on court help in the 4-5 area. Any JUCO that comes in usually take a year to acclimate. A freshman could end up like JJ. But I am more inclined to suffer our own failures than take some others.

nm

SHORT VERSION: I agree with you, kshoe. LONGER VERSION .... and think you've hit the nail pretty well on the head. But let me ask you this, short of predictions like "I think we'll do better this year than last (based on the fact that it can't really get much worse)" what good are predictions? That might be a rhetoical question without a real good answer but you have to admit that those predictions have raised some interesting debate. My point posted many threads ago originally was that I think it is extremely hard to say what's going to happen and when. Yet I think that most involved in the annual prediction contest were sincere in their posts. I would never have predicted Claggs's junior year based on their sophomore year other than an incremental increase. I believe that if I were a coach, I would be looking at it in a different light. With a lesser team, maybe the Fang Mitchell approach of getting the crap beat out of us, not winning a single game pre-conference, making enough money to support the entire school's athletic program, and then hopefully cruising through that conference and gettting the automatic bid would be the way to go. Of course, those conference sometimes have upsets and its all your eggs in one basket. SLU is not one of those schools. We've won what, one conference tourney and automatic bid in our entire history? So we do stand a chance of winning enough games so that the tourney automatic is not our only hope. So you have to win non-conference games in those situations to improve your chances. Frankly, right now, I don't see us getting ot the NCAAs short of winning in Cincy come March. I don't think we will know enough about this team until January, maybe even later. And that might get short circuited on injuries, especially since we have one now with Meyer. What do you think happens to the whole house of cards should that big pillar in the middle break a leg or something? I remember having us winning the league based on the enrollments of Manuel, Tadysak and Ivester. these are the Billikens .. I've learned to scale back.