thetorch

I don't know if my post deserved that much sarcasm in a response but whatever. YOu can't compare JUCOs and "transfers" simply because you have a recruiting season for JUCOs, there is no such thing for transfers. You are barred from contacting them, they have to contact you. Coaches choose JUCOs they want to take on and recruit, D-1 transfers choose the teams they they want to play on without any recruiting pushes from coaches. Two entirely different things. Like any recruit what you posted is sound, you have to find a person talented enough to play yet also fit in within your team construct. Still a transfer may be a short term, but on the other hand you have a better idea what you are getting and if that player can compete on this level. A nicely timed transfer can put a team over the top for a year or two. 4 examples are H, who without him we aren't a tourney team, Pederson, who anchored our inside game when all other alternatives were the 6'6 admiral and 6'6 majician, Reggie Bryant who was a perfect scoring complemet in the backcourt to defensive minded Fischer, if not for injuries he might have put us in the tourney the next season. And from our old rival Mizzou. Remember Paul O'Liney? He saw the Tigers get whupped by 60 against Arkansas and decided he could probably help that team. He began playing after the winter break and turned that team around making them a top 25 tourney team.

Kennedy must think he is Pitino or something and can piss on the refs shoe and still not be given a tech. That standing on the court for that possession with a minute left was outrageous and he should have been at least reprimanded for it, but the refs did nothing.

Coaches tend to get Ted up for all the hand jabbing, jumping up and down rather than yelling at officials. Soderberg learned a few years back you can yell all you want as long as you keep personal attacks out and not Ted up as long as you don't throw chairs or or suit coat on the floor. He jawed at the refs enough for me today. Ian did too.

You don't like Hightower? The finest ref I've seen in 25 years of watching ball. I pattern my own refereeing after him. These guys were attrocious. They let the game get out of hand. No team reached 10 fouls in a half. Ian was hacked everytime he touched the ball. Usually he didn't get it as he was too busy with the wrestling matches he had to endure down low. The game agaisnt UNC and this were terrible. If you watch what goes on when a player tries to post up with his defender hanging on his back, wrapping arms around arms and think that is basketball you are way off. That may be the reality of the game especially with big name players who can get away with it but that is not how the game should be played. Watch ESPN Classic games, 10 years ago this type of stuff wasn't going on. SEC, Big 10, and Big East refs never call it especially in non conference games. I counted 3 times where the refs called the ball out of bounds instead of obvious fouls on both sides. The Rebel "trapping" that gave us fits was pretty much ole miss guys standing on our heels and each grabbing an arm. I'm not saying the refs had a huge effect on the outcome of the game, I just think they were horrible. The way they call it doesn't allow the best "basketball" playing team to always win games. Until they call it that way I will always be upset at them.

Most of the offensive rebounds pilfered by the rebels were off of fouls. One guy would take care of Vouyoukas and the other would just climb over Luke. If we had a decent referee for that game you would cut their o boards in half or more.

No offense to any of the DeSmet brethren on the board but that is a school full of headcases. DeSmet's coach doesn't run a real disciplined program, consistently there are 12th guys off the bench for DeSmet who think they are Jordan. Brandenberg doesn't strike me as a headcase. He simply knows he is head and shoulders better than his teammates and they have the gall not to defer to him. He has inconsistencies in his game but I like his emotion on the court, too many guys are just smooth and refuse to play intensely. Brandenberg certainly doesn't fall into the mold of prima donnas like Ahearn and Keppel that DeSmet usually churns out. He has some fire in him though, which Baniak never did which caused him to backup a player with half his skill most of his college career.

The heavy set guy was the worst. Obviously this was an SEC crew, if it was ours we are in big trouble. That one guy made bad call after bad call and just stood there while we got raped on the court. For me Soderberg did not give them half of what they deserved. Ian did give the one ref an earful a couple time.

Knollmeyer is an entirely different kind of player. He is more like Frericks. Strictly a banger, bull in the china shop in the middle. AK not much of shot blocker either. He has some decent plodding moves, never gets out of control like Brandenberg can. Thompson is very close to Ian in offensive skill. He has tons of move around the basket and decent touch. Decent not great defender. Not as physically strong as AK probably. Brandenberg is the athletic one of three. He runs the floor very well and has the capability to be a shot blocking presence. He hasn't been taught interior defense all that well at DeSmet or for his AAU teams. He has to work on positioning, footwork, and inside shooting that AK and Thompson already have down. Brandenberg beats all of them with his athletic skills though. I don't know about Brandenberg starting but for SLU now but he could jump higher than any of our 5 or 4s on the roster and could beat them all down the court quite easily.

You can't count Juco or for that matter prep players as transfers. That makes no sense. Secondly your lists leave off several good players, what about Dobbs? Footes? And you think Pederson was a bad transfer? C'mon, he was a solid D-1 center and started on NCAA teams. Frericks was solid as well, you can't blame he or Soderberg for injuries. Matiin and Carr were solid defensive players in down years. But once again JUCO transfers are not the same as D-1 transfers and whatever a transfer did 20-30 years ago has no bearing on what happens in our program now. Soderberg has taken a flyer on 1 true transfer Bryant, who became our best player. If a transfer is talented and fits in with the team he can help a program.

Have to disagree with nate and agree with 3star here. Brandenberg has tons of potential but he's not a SLU starter at this point and might not be his freshman year. It is a fallacy that Desmet does not play a style that fits Brandenberg, they do very much so. Brandenberg is a little too wired up, he's herky jerky in his motions in the post. He's very athletic for a kid so young and so tall, but he can't handle the ball and drive to the basket to utilize it. DeSmet has another post player, a chubby 6'6 kid who gets tons of touches in the paint. He gets touches cuz he has much better footwork, and much better touch on his shot. Brandenberg at this point can't shoot better than 30% on anything other than dunks. He is top 100 on potential. That said i'd love to have him. If he and Thompson come together brandenberg is probably Thompson's backup from day one till graduation. Unlike Brandenberg Thompson has footwork and clean moves around the hoop and can finish.

The A-10 is getting pretty bad when a loss to a 150+ RPI team from the Colonial League at HOME is acceptable for any team in the conference. Oh and GW lost to Air Force by 12.

Well I saw that the lowly Dukes had pulled off a big OT upset of Boston College and thought things my be looking up for the lowly A-10 but alas I was very very wrong. Duquesne 98 Boston College 93 - Stupendous Win UMass 78 Yale 69 - Expected Win Temple 96 Lafayette 73 - Expected Win Fordham 56 Fairfield 47 - Expected Win Hofstra 65 St Joes 63 - Bad Loss Tulane 75 Richmond 63 AT HOME - Very Bad Loss Holy Cross 68 LaSalle 48 AT HOME - Horrible RPI Killing Loss Still to play 2 night Geo Wash and #23 Air Force @ Santa Clara Oh and don't forget last nights debacle Ohio 97 Rhode Island 69

I always have had high hopes for Husak but he has dissapointed me greatly this year with his inability to stick into the rotation at all and his limited play on the court has been attrocious. He seems to have the tools to be a decent D-1 big man, his height, some shooting ability, doesn't back away from contact, has decent agility for a guy his size but he can't seem to put all those together on the same play. His putback against NC where he banged the ball off the bottom of the rim is the epitome of his play. How the hell does a 7 footer + with an even greater wingspan shoot the ball off the bottom of the rim? If he hasn't learned to catch the ball and dunk it in one motion he is never gonna do it. It is sad because I think Husak has more natural talent than Heinrich did, but has turned out to be not even half the player.

Eckerle is a senior and right now should be someone SLU is willing to take a flyer on considering our depth problems. Eckerle and more so Soderberg are both talented players but Suggs with his size, handles, and athleticism is on a different level. He can probably do everything Tommie (cept maybe rebound and his outside shooting) can do and do it better.

Watts plays for Cowley CC in Kansas. They play in the Jayhawk league which is pretty decent competition for D-1 level JUCO play. Their league has schools like Barton CC, Coffeyville, Allen County, Independence, Butler, Colby, Hutchison, who regularly churn out D-1 ball players. Cowleyville is 6-6. Watts has had an up and down season. He hasn't gotten that much playing time until recently against tougher competition. And surprise surprise after struggling on the perimeter early, Cowleyville has moved Watts back into the post and he thrived for a couple games there before the school went on break. Starting in Jan they have the real meat of their conference schedule. We'll see how much he gets to play and where for the rest of the year but his guard play experiment may be over for good.

The head case is Hinson. He's an egomaniac. If Blake wasn't so good he wouldn't have lasted through his freshman season. That said I've heard nothing about Frazier transferring in anywhere much less SLU. He was gonna fisish up his degree at Mo St and move on with his life.

Even if we get a transfer or two our cupboard in the paint is bare for next year. I hope Meyer can muscle up some more in this coming offseason so he can play center.

lovely

Meremac has a solid and deep field for the boys. I'll be there for the weekend games. McCluer North-Chaminade rematch should be nice on Fri night at Chaminade. Collinsville has a decent tourney as well. Riverview and McCluer are out there.

3 would be a best case scenario for the A-10. The league RPI has taken a big hit in the past couple weeks. I think two is the most we can hope for.

Lisch can be the best player in the A-10 when he is a senior and Liddell is a rookie in the big league.

Anyone notice that the only photos the post ever runs of the Bills are from the UMSL game?

Pierson is really nice. He is bigger than reported, easily 6'9 close to 6'10. He needs to slim down or tone up his body though.

A little too hungry, he never met his weight goals for Brad, now with academic issues this equals a new schollie opening up for next year. Hope we give it to Eckerle

If he is ineligible for the second half there is zero chance that he will be back as a Billiken.