3star_recruit

I think Luke's sudden surge of confidence in his offense has a lot more to do with Danny's limited time the last couple of games than anything else.

You'd look lost too if you only played a 3 minute stint before being yanked from the game instead of being allowed to play through your mistakes and get rid of the butterflys. This hurt Polk's development as well because when those other guys were on the floor for their three minutes stint, he had no one to pass it to -- they would just pass it right back to him.

Exactly. Ahearn doesn't have a particularly quick release but he does have a short stroke. So in the final analysis he still doesn't need much time to get off his shot.

Roy, the only way that Drew Diener would have won Valley Player of the Week is if all the other Valley games were cancelled that game. He is more of an impact player on offense in only his sophomore year than Diener ever was.

It's clear that Brad wanted to upgrade our size and athleticism on the perimeter -- he's said as much. The problem is DC, even if he played, has the reputation of being a good shooter. Ahearn is a great shooter. We are so dependent on our perimeter game to score that we need great shooters, not good shooters. Brad's assertion that defense is what gets you on the floor just isn't true. Reggie isn't out there for his defense and neither was Drew Diener.

No doubt. That's the nature of messageboards -- someone's alway's going to be disappointed because expectations vary from poster to poster.

Meant to say that I thought Drejaj was still a good defender. I always thought Diener was average at best.

I'd congratulate Anthony on winning this year's Drew Diener Whipping Boy Award. It sucks, but somebody has to win it. In all seriousness, I think Diener is still a good defender but Brad should stop forcing him to guard 6'4/5 guys.

We were getting our asses kicked long before brehms mentioned Brad's temper tantrums. To blame her for being a disruptive influence when her posts came AFTER the fact is what i find incredulous.

Bobby hasn't really shown the ability to shoot off the dribble but like I said, the fall signing period is a long way off.

I think courtside pretty nailed it with his post about coach desperately looking for something positive. He's never been in this situation before and is at a loss for answers. I think continuing to rely on his young players to make plays instead of relying on Bryant and Ohanon all the time is a step in the right direction. We're playing for next year, whether Brad wants to publicly admit it or not.

We're seeing the same thing when we look at Bobby Hill and Powell. I really can't get overly excited over Hill when Brad's offense requires guards who are near automatic from the perimeter or who can penetrate to create open shots for others. But the fall signing period is still a long way off. Nick Kern, for example, was a significantly better perimeter shooter and ballhandler his senior year. What I don't understand is what has happened Dustin Maguire's shot. The kid was money from long distance as a sophomore but has had a lot of 1-7 type performances from three this year. Seems to be trying too hard to impress the scouts.

"An athletic SF who can hit an open jumper plus finish around the basket ...." Just to clarify, he finishes well in the open court but that is null and void since we don't get out in the open court. He's just an average finisher in traffic. So in our offense he would just be a standstill jumpshooter from 15-17 feet. That's the same role Newborne plays.

His brother Johnny is a senior. I would recruit Powell as a small forward -- his ballhandling is as good as Bobby's and his shot is as good as Tommie's. He would be 6'7 nightmare to guard in the Atlantic 10.

I think Bobby has Liddell-like athleticism but since he doesn't Tommie's ability to break down the defense, you don't really get to see it until he skies for a dunk in the open court or on alley-oop. He can't change directions at top speed like Tommie can either. Bobby still has another year to hone his skills but at this point he would be an athletic role player who can spot up from 15-17 feet, finish on the break and match up against other athletic small forwards on defense.

No, not this year but I wouldn't want to be him at the end of next season. The only way we have any hope of winning games next year is to restore these kids' confidence in aggressive offensive basketball THIS year. These kids are all going to be back next year and they won't have even the safety net of a Bryant three or an Ohanon herky-jerk finish. You could cut the tension in these games with a knife. We beat the press several times in the first half but instead of our guys cutting to the basket for a layup or a harm, we reset the halfcourt offense, in fear of turning it over. JJ gets a dunk to cut the lead to single digits but then commits the cardinal sin of turning over on an entry pass and rides the bench. We are gunshy and the other team knows it. They know if they put a little pressure on us and we start turning the ball over, the coach will panic and start yanking guys wholesale. At that point the game is effectively over. Also, when you have to yell "move (insert player's name here) during every offensive possession, you aren't showing any confidence in their judgement so it isn't really a surprise that the players are constantly doubting themselves. Brad has an opportunity to stop this pattern right now and start trusting his players more. The record is immaterial at this point because it's already horrible.

1. Should Danny Brown start? 2. Will Danny Brown start? 3. If we go on a run, will Brad let those players stay on the floor? 4. Will we take more than 50 shots from the field?

On his Sunday radio show, Brad spoke at length about how he hoped to get a deadeye zone buster with one of his scholarships. He was pretty vague about his plans for bringing in an athletic four-man other than to say they are always looking. So the following season rides on the coaching staff's ability to locate Blake Ahearn. That's not a goal that's going to energize the masses but at least it's a realistic goal.

"We were calling for Brad to get a contract extension. Now we're caling for his head." That indicates to me that "we" who were calling for Brad to get a contract extension are now calling for his head. Was that not your intent?

I don't know if any posters on this board currently expressing dissatisfaction with Brad's coaching that were calling for him to get a contract extension. If I'm mistaken, feel free to correct me.

"view a team like a family and no family member ever talks about problems in the family on the internet." I think that's what brehms is trying to tell us -- the TEAM is a family. The coach and the team are not. She doesn't have to "get over" anything.

"Or would we be better off going with Liddell at point, Lisch at the 2 and D. Brown at the 3?" I've got no problem with that. I just want the Coach to be upfront with his players about his plans for the offense. Polk may not want to be a backup for three years.

Yeah, it's kinda hard to get offensive rebounds when you're sending 3 guys back in transition. Also, Marquette with Diener is the danger of transition. Who exactly was Brad trying to stop from leading the break in Saturday's game -- Joe Chapman? I get the feeling that Brad really believes his rhetoric that more experience in his system will fix our problems. If his philosophy is to send 2-3 guys back in transition and not to let Polk outrun zone pressure, we're going to continue getting beat on the offensive boards and turning over the ball against pressure. His assertion that he didn't let Marque beat zone pressure by himself doesn't jibe with what we saw Perry's senior year.

Brad was saying all the right things 2 1/2 years ago about how he intended to play the game of basketball: "My preference is to play up-tempo basketball, stuff that the fans enjoy watching." We're even harder to watch now than before he took over. He certainly had me fooled. If he had said from jump that we're going to grind it out until we get the perfect mix of athletes, which could potentially be never, I don't think many of us would have championed his cause in the first place. But now Brad's at a crossroads. How does he keep this team, filled with players that he and his staff hand-picked, from going 7-22 next season and driving attendance levels to the lowest we've seen in 15 years?

Carbondale is a lot better? Records for the last 5 years 1999-2000: East Side 21-11 Carbondale 14-12 2000-2001: East Side 10-17 Carbondale 18-11 2001-2002: East Side 19-11 Carbondale 19-9 2002-2003: East Side 21-7 Carbondale 24-6 2003-2004: East Side 28-4 Carbondale 28-7