3star_recruit

I'm not promoting anything. I'm explaining why we'll only see flashes of the real Dwayne Polk while he's at SLU. I also would rather win games than promote "styles of play". Brad should do exactly what he feels he needs to do to win because ultimately its his job that's on the line. If sacrificing a kid's game is what he feels he needs to do for the good of the team, so be it. But I still feel sorry for the kid because I've been watching him since he was a freshman in high school.

Hey I'm Polk's biggest fan but in a halfcourt offense, with his confidence in his shot at an all-time low, we're playing 4 on 5. Now it just so happens we were also playing 4 on 5 when Drejaj was out there but Drejaj taking only one shot has been atypical for him this season. There's really no way for Polk to regain his confidence if he's not allowed to play with reckless abandon in the halfcourt without being yanked from the game. The kid is 5'9 -- he's going to have take some "bad shots" from time to time just to get his shot off inside the free throw line. But Brad abhors bad shots. I feel sorry for the kid.

There was no hesitation and lack of aggression when he was contributing to that 14 point bulge in the beginning of the second half. Yet Brad sat him anyway. Next time Brad tries to sub in the middle of a run, Beane and Thorpe should tackle him.

Sure in principle, Drejaj should get more of Polk's minutes if Brad is committed to his halfcourt offense. But when we are in the middle of running these guys out of their own building, Brad needs to throw that plan out of the window. The game shouldn't have even been close in the last three minutes.

It says they aren't crazy about having to play an RPI killer twice this year.

For what ever reason, we're never in the running for big men from the central and outlying areas of the state. Then they go the Valley and kick our tails.

The Luke Meyer I saw for three years in high school was a slasher and mid-range jump shooter who could could spot up from time to time when he was feeling it. I'd say he was 70% slash, 30% spot up. If you believe the Illinois hoop sites, Bayer is a three-point specialist who can slash a little.

If Brad is sticking to his guns -- screening and passing in search of the open 17-20 footer -- then an interest in Paul Bayer makes perfect sense. Bayer's rep is that of a 6'5 spot up marksman. Haven't seen him play, though. Brad's never said anything about bringing in the next Bonner. That's what we may want, but the fans don't always get what they want.

Roy, you're never going to have a 5-9 player turning into a Mo Finley style shooting guard running Brad's offense. You have to run to get that kind of offensive production. If Dwayne can't perform the point position to Brad's satisfaction so be it. That's basketball. But a 5'9 wing isn't really an option in a halfcourt offense.

"young mr polk is the one that is going to have to prove he belongs at a wing imo." I've seen you mention this "Polk at the wing" idea a few times now. What exactly is the advantage of putting Liddell at the point and Polk on the wing? Nobody wants Luke Meyer to transfer to another school, even if he doesn't break into rotation. But it would certainly help Luke's cause to use the next 14 games to pull even with Brown rather than falling further behind him. Brad plays the players he trusts and his confidence in Brown is growing with each passing game.

"Once he gains confidence by getting stronger and practicing more his shot will come back and he will knock down the open three. With KL and TL being somewhat "slashers" the kickout for three will be open with LM knocking it down." That still doesn't change the fact that he's going have to beat out one of the other five guards to get minutes. Brad likes to play his best players 30+ minutes, so there's no room for a sixth guard.

No one can predict the future but if we've got Polk, Drejaj and Brown and playing ahead of him this year and Lisch and Liddell are coming in next year, then exactly how is Luke supposed to get minutes next year? I'm afraid it's now or never for Luke.

"I'll bet you $100 that Liddell shoots more than 18% on his first 60 shoots from beyond the 3pt line? Are you up for that bet?" No, because Liddell won't even take 60 three point shots next year. Out of 380 shots his senior year of high school, only 66 were from three. You have to compare apples to apples. We've got only one kid well-suited to play in Brad's motion offense next year -- Lisch. He's a fearless offensive player with an iron will, so that might be enough to inspire his teammates confidence in their own abilities. I hope so.

I can accept 10-17 and getting beat down by superior teams in the ACC. I can't accept 2-10 out of conference against a bunch of mid-majors.

Liddell is an even worse three point shooter than Polk is, so I hope there's another answer to our offensive woes than "Your primary guards need to make open 3's."

The worst K ever went into any conference schedule at Duke during his first three seasons was 6-7. He's never coached a pathetic offensive team. If were 6-7 and were scoring 65 ppg, I wouldn't be so pessimistic.

We've talked a lot about giving the underclassmen more minutes in hopes of getting more production but in addition to more minutes, their mentality has to change. Even on the rare occasion where they get a hot hand, they continually defer to Reggie, Izik or Drejaj when it actually comes to taking a shots. There's a bunch of swinging the ball back of forth around the perimeter (until the shot clock winds down and we're forced to make a move) when one of those three guys can't get a shot off. Have you noticed that our underclassmen rarely shoot the ball more than 5 times in a game, even when they play 25+ minutes? The opposing team rarely has to play us honest on defense because they know only three guys are putting up shots on a regular basis.

"I share your angst on the final two scholies. IMO we need to hit at least a solid triple on one of them...hopefully a 4 of the AB ilk." We've been looking for a forward of the AB ilk for the last 15 years. If we can't land him after good seasons, hoping to land him after this season is setting yourself up for disappointment. We are who were are -- coach after coach after coach the past 15 years has proven they can land quality guards, undersized bigs and big bigs who don't finish strong at the basket. It's how the coach utilizes his guards that will determine if the program gets to the level where they can actually sign jumping jack, offensively potent big men.

I don't know of any coach in a high major conference who keeps his job by losing.

"While I do not like having to lower my expectations this year, we have to." I've already lowered my expectations for this season AND the following season. But there has to be some minimum threshold of performance that Brad has to meet to keep his job next season, even with lowered expectations. Every job has a performance threshold employees are expected to meet.

"No matter how bad it gets I don't think they would want to buy out 3 years." I'm sure that they don't want to but if he were to go 7-22 next year after this season, I'm not sure Cheryl would have any choice. Valley coaches have been fired for less.

What record does Brad have to post next year to keep his job?

"that said, i tend to agree that larry is going to be forgotten. maybe he needs to go beat up a fan or get caught with a gun or slap his wife or something that the typical nba fan would appreciate" Virtually nobody appreciates those things. That's like saying we appreciate bad offense because we watch the Billikens.

I think so. Not many 6'7 guys who can block shots, rebound, shoot the 18 foot jumper and take his man off the dribble. Very athletic.

Juniors 1. Alex Tyus 6'7 WF/PF Hazelwood Central 2. Jarod Leonard 6'6 WF Desmet 3. Dustin Maguire 6'5 WF Civic Memorial 4. Bobby Hill 6'5 WF Vashon 5. Alex Moosmann 5'9 PG Borgia 6. Stephen Jones 6'0 PG Civic Memorial Sophomores 1. Leon Powell 6'7 WF Vashon 2. Darrell Stokes 5'7 PG Career Academy 3. Rob Rudy 6'2 SG Mascoutah 4. Jeremy Felton 6'6 PF Althoff 5. DeAndre Gilmore 6'2 SG Cardinal Ritter 6. Zach Plackemeier 6'2 SG Duchesne