thetorch

Decent size crowd there considering Shimmy good luck, you are going to need it. I don't know how they made our mascot look worse but they did. Excellent showing by the Blue Crew and Students. Doing a helluva job there. Here's hoping they keep the buses running this year. Pregame intros were not good. I like turning the lights off and the 2001 theme music but the video montage and music just wouldn't stop. It lasted forever. Definetely need to cut that back or play it during the player intros. Turning the lights back on for player intros was also bush league. Keep em off. Soderberg seems to have implemented his uptempo system well. JJ gives Darren Clarke a run for his money as the worst recruit of the Soderberg era. We will have to run a 4 guard offense by default. JJ is a lost cause, he isn't even in the doghouse anymore, Brad took him to the pound and they are getting ready to euthanize. Newborne looks to have picked up some weight this year. That won't help. He is not good enough on the boards and his only offensive contribution is popping threes. At least he looks like he will be a littmore accurate from downtown than he was his first year. Obi is a redshirt no doubt about it. Lose 30 lbs and lose the limp and he might be a versatile 4. Could we see a twin tower lineup? Vouyoukas is too slow to handle a 4 but Husak can get up and down pretty well. It might be worth considering a few minutes a game depending on matchups. Liddell looks really smooth. Shot wasn't dropping for him and I doubt he will ever be a high percentage shooter but he can really finish and has great skills as a rebounder. Polk can be a star if he makes those outside shots. Lisch is pretty solid on offense and is drejaj junior on defense. His time will be limited cuz he fouls alot. He will foul out of several games this year. Otherwise he would be a starter. I knock Drejaj a lot but he may have gotten a hair faster this year. He is a good pest, just cannot get too worked up on his dribble.

For football it is hands down Sub North. Occasionally Sub South can compete but up and down no one is close. Year in year oout the top 4 teams in Sub north could win any other conference in the area. The ABC also has some very good teams. Bball if we are only talking Missouri then it may be the MCC. Otherwise whatever league EStl and Edwardsville are in is much better than any conference in St. Louis. The PHL stinks. They ave all world Vashon and usually one other decent team whether it is Beaumont or Gateway. The other teams in the league are horrible. BBall in the area is much more spread out than football. Small schools can beat large schools on a regular basis. No conference dominates basketball in the area like the Sub north dominates football.

It all depends on the player and their personality. The coach has to know and read each guy and decide which method gets the most out of his playing abilities.

That means we have JJ and I guess Obi as his backup. Husak and Ian at the 5. I don't think Obi is going to play this year. He looks gimpy still. I don't see how we can play 2 positions for the season with 3 players then. Vashun playing on the wing would be riding pine behind even Meyer.

1. How much has Ian improved? Hopefully leaps and bounds. The only thing that concerns me is boards. For the past few seasons our guards have had to stay back to get rebounds. This takes away from the running game. If Ian can clean a little glass and then apply his adept passing skills to the outlet we will be in good shape. I don't pay attnetion to his international stats. He says he was gassed and he he was holding himself out of games. The competition there is atl least high level college if not low level pro. 2. Is Tommie Liddell the next Larry Hughes or the next Corey Frazier? End the Hughes comparisons. Hughes was a once in a lifetime player, a freshman who could dominate immediately. There are just one or two of those guys in the NCAA every year. Liddell won't be one of them. Liddell may have a better group around him then Larry did. He can be a team in several statistical categories but I don't expect to see Larry or Wade like numbers from him till his jr or sr years if we get that and that is still a big IF. 3. Can Dwayne figure out how to score at the college level? It is a big thing to overcome being Dwayne's size in college basketball. To be really good, like the Nate Robinsons, Brevin Knights, even Pee Wee, you have to have a fearlessnes to take it to guys twice or more your size. He has a distinct advantage with his speed and quickness at this level and he is an underrated passer on this board. Shooting and finishing is his nemesis. I don't think right now he has the guts to penetrate and take the beating inside, but hsi outisde stroke isn't there. One or the other will have to work out if he is to be a good player at SLU. 4. Is Kevin Lisch Travis Deiner or Jeff Gaona? I'll take Drake Diener. Or a more athletic Drejaj who has a consistent shot. 5. What are Danny Brown and Luke Meyer's roles on this team? The 4 guard on the floor has been bandied about this preseason but I don't see it happening. So therefore Brown and Meyer will fight for backup wing spots. I see Meyer as the odd man out. Brown can do everything Meyer can do but is quicker, and faster and his shot is sound. Meyer may have to wait for an injury or till next year for signifigant time. Brown will push the wings for time and may beat drejaj out if he is slumping or polk out if he can't get his shot and Lisch and or Liddell is capable at the point. 6. Will we get anything out of the four spot? Doubtful. Newborne is undersized and doesn't work on the glass on the defensive end. He has no inside game whatsoever. His only offense is to pop rainbows from 3 once every couple games. Until I see JJ gain the maturity to play under Brad's system I always expect Brad to begrudgingly put him on the court when all other options have been exhausted. 7. To run or not to run. I have to believe we will run. We have the personnel and are more than deep enough at the wing spots. I don't think Brad will be able to stop these guys from getting up and down the floor. The only thing that will stop it is poor rebounding, a great possibilty, or poor defense, less likely. We won't be Phi Slamma Jamma but we will score in the 70s a few times this year.

I believe someone said he was practicing lightly with the team last week.

I agree that we don't really have one. Outside of conference Carbondale is still a good rivalry but we don't play each other every anymore. There have been a lot of hotly contested games between us over the years. They also get alot of st louis kids on their roster. Wish we would still play them every year. Mo State is similar to a lesser degree. In Conference our rivals will be Dayton, Charlotte and Xavier. We already have a thing going with Dayton cuz we have played them every year for a decade. Xavier still remembers stomping us in the MCC and Charlotte has always played us tough. Once Missouri bounces Quin er I mean Coach Snyder, I think we will start up with them again. I would love to see a doubledheader matchup at the dome every year. SLU vs SIUC in late afternoon then Mizzou and Illinois. That would pack em in. We would be on the undercard but because of fan base we always will be anyways.

He is and I believe we do. It is fairly early in the recruiting process for him. I asked him a couple months who was sending him letters etc and he was pretty coy about it. We need to stay on him hard but realistically if he doesn't turn it around in the classroom he won't be going anywhere. All indications this year are that he has and will be more than eligible to play this season. I'll be at most of MN's games wearing all billiken blue so hopefully that will help.

A guy who averages double digits and leads the team in FT% on a poor ft shooting team can't crack the starting lineup? That speaks volumes. Lets get to brass tacks and end all of this. Ahearn didn't come to SLU, Brad didn't want him. The guy we got "instead" of Ahearn was a humungous bust. Still if Ahearn wanted to transfer to SLU and play the bball team would we take him today? No, last year? Also no. Fact of the matter is Ahearn and his family and friends think he is a much better player than he really is. He is a headcase. His father is a headcase. His AAU mentor is a certified grade A ######. Hinson is a player's coach so to speak, he placates Ahearn, even then he still benches him. Soderberg wouldn't put up with it. The first time Ahearn whined in practice at SLU Lisch and Drejaj would throw medicine balls at his head. He is a decent ballplayer with some skills that SLU could use. He comes with baggage though and lots of it. You can shrug those type of things off when a player is like a Larry Hughes but not for a Blake Ahearn. A credit to Soderberg that he saw this in Ahearn and his groupies a mile away and pulled his offer from the table. Ahearn's abilities or lack thereof are not the reason he is playing at Mo State instead of SLU. His mental makeup is.

Hey all you Ahearn fans why don't ya ***** about your own program which won't let superstar Ahearn get of the bench? He only started 2 games last season? Who's the bigger idiot, Soderberg for not taking him or Hinson for getting the next Rick Barry and then barely playing him 20 minutes a game. Ahearn is a world class free throw shooter. That skill alone doesn't help him crack a decent mo valley squad's starting five though. Clarke was a bust but Ahearn is not the key to NCAA or even A-10 titles for the Billikens. If he wouldn't be in Soderberg's doghouse for his por defense he would be there for his attitude problems. Even easy going Hinson doesn't put up with it.

I like how it gallops. It is a stress reducer.

I don't think there is a chance in hell of him coming here. Stranger things have happened. I would be ecstatic if Torres came. I have watched him at North a couple times the past week or so and he is really really impressive. He would be better off going to a different HS though. My alma mater does not have a reputation of preparing star athletes esp bball guys for the college entrance exams. There was no extra help or tutoring for athletes when I was there and I don't think Coach "Can't" Reed would ever implement a study system even if it did help his teams performance on the floor.

I haven't seen Tyus in nearly a year play but when he was being heralded as a top recruit I thought that it served the belief that recruiting services operate on hype rather than actual ability. His presence really puzzled me as I was told he hated it here, his school, HC, the area, the people around here. Of course he is a teenager and his mind could have easily changed overnight. I jokingly asked him when he was going to be playing at billiken madness instead of just attending he said he still has a couple years to go. Until I see him play again I think he will be closer to a type Matt Akins than a Brandon Rush

It is an internet thing. I've seen it all over, some sort of half slug half horse thing.

Wasn't Rice getting the Feds involved? There is some law on the books that says a homeless shelter gets dibs on any derelict building or soemthing to that affect. At the time i read it, sadly i thought Rice had an airtight case. Hopefully his marriage problems and his treatment for alcoholism and spousal abuse have taken some of the fervor for this deal away.

I noticed a a few of those kids. I couldn't believe Tyus was there. I had to talk to him to make sure it was really him. Dissapointed to see Powell not there, at least I did not see him and I looked dilligently.

The Old Kiel was about half the size of the new one. It was an opera performance hall. It would look pretty similar to what the Savvis concert club looks like now where they partition off thalf the building.

I will third this. The last years at the arena and the first few at the Kiel were always packed to the gills. I can remember when they used to have these seat things at the arena that said SLU that covered large portions of upper level seats, and then we had so many people they ahd to remove them. Those crowds were crazy. We easily approached or exceeded 20,000 at kiel a number of times. In larry's year there were 4,000 SLU fans that trekked to Atlanta to see the NCAA games.

I have heard 1100 were there.

The Blue crew guy would be an excellent choice for in game promotions considering some of the stooges we have had. I don't know how they pick the people to do those things. It appears they are either ad or marketing interns or actually hired people (I shudder to think we hired blue shirt/french cuffs for that job). The PA announcer is not there to get the crowd hyped up. He can add a little cadence to some calls and the starting lineups but that is all. Guy is just so dry and grating.

Hopefully Obi chooses to redshirt. We already have two 4s who will challenge for playing time and Brad has said he may go to a 4 guard lineup at times. Lets get Obi up to full speed and get his weight down.

West Pine about half full, Good turnout especially from the students. More than I expected, definetly more than come to games. Excellent job Blue Crew. There can't be much analysis because the scrimmage was just a dunk contest for the majority of the time. The women played serious, seriously bad. They are in for another long year but Shimmy seems like a coach and motivator. Hopefully she can get this program turned around. Of course maybe I think too much of womens bball skills. The all pac 10 asst she has played poorly during the scrimmage when she filled in for the injured pg and then couldn't hit the side of a barn in the shootout. No real surprises from the men. Ian looks big and strong and in shape. Some real muscle tone and he has hit the tanning salon too or spent some time on the beach in Greece. He is a dominant presence in the low post and his ball control and passing skills are even better than last year. Looks like he can jump a little bit better too. He wasn't throwing up dipsy doos on his post moves, he was slamming. Polk same old, fast, decent handles, can't shoot. Liddell looked smooth, has good penetration skills and appeared to have a decent raport with Ian. Brown probably led the scrimmage in scoring, he hit shots inside and out. Drejaj same old same old, no outside shot, all penetration and some sloppy ball control. JJ and Vashun didn't really distinguish themselves. JJ can dunk though. Lisch shot well long range and mid range. Had some decent dribble moves. Obi is a big big body. He made a 3 and like to stick on the perimeter. We need Donnie Dobbs to come in a for a few practices and show Obi how to do some body luv. If he stands at the free throw line and backs his ass into ya you have your head under the basket. Husak was okay, hung on Ian and made a jumper. That is about it. I nominate the MC for tonight to take over for Guy Phillips. I guess he is in the blue crew, he did a good job. Oh if ya thought the dance team was big last year, you ain't seen nothin yet. Ladies I do like sort of that Romanesque figure on a female but ur on the dance team, lay off the cookies and ice cream during the season. They look good though, just ya know do a few situps or something.

30 each for Liddell and Lisch? Lebron and Melo don't get 30 a game on this team much less Lisch and Liddell as frosh. Too much too expect from those two, unless you want them gassed before the A-10 season starts. Drejaj will get atleast 20 minutes a game throughout the season like it or not. I just hope Brown isn't squeezed out of the rotation too much.

I'll be there at 9. Dinner at O'Connells or maybe Crown Candy if I have a hankerin for some sweets.

No mention of Billiken madness is attrocious. Are we trying to keep this thing a secret? Or is Timmerman really this incompetent? Even if Timmermann is that bad I feel it is counterproductive to rail on the only print reporter we have (unless Bonwich starts mentioning the games in his restaurant reviews) on the only paper in town. At least not until I see a decent effort by the AD's and Sports info office to promote anything Billiken related well. Sadly the soccer weekend has gotten huge amounts of pub while the madness event has gotten zero. Did anyone realize that a practice for the bball team could attract more people than a whole weekend of games for the soccer team ever could. Guess not.