slu72

I wouldn't worry too much about KM, DE, or MM. First, KM probably better than anyone other than Conk and Cassity realizes it's team first and not him getting points. In the games I've seen he's still getting his shots and taking the ball inside when he's got an opening. It's just that the scheme, which has got us to 6-0, is set up to make that extra pass. Also, note at the end of the BC game when it got a little tense who did we go to? KM. As for DE, he seems to like slashing to the hoop from the 3 he's just not closing the deal, although he is drawing fouls. What would help his game immensely is hitting 3's and the mid range shot. He appears to have no trouble getting to the hoop, but then a big drops on him and wrecks his shot. As for MM, I'd agree he looks like he's trying to do a little too much w/ his minutes. Hey, he's gone from leading scorer to 2nd guard off the bench. I don't know much about his makeup, but hopefully he's the type of kid that sees this is all about how the team does and not about individual stats. And his real chance comes next year when KC graduates. Hang in there MM, there'll come a game where you'll be needed to provide some points. Just a matter of time. As for Barnett, did anyone notice that during the tourney he was our biggest cheerleader? He always seemed to be jumping up on the sidelines and during timeouts was there encouraging guys. The way this has gone for him has to be somewhat disappointing, but it doesn't seem to affect his spirits. Again, a long season and wouldn't be surprised at some point to see him contribute in one fashion or another. All these kids should realize racking up W's are fun and I think they have the leaders on the team that will keep everyone focused on that.

I think they've given Conk his own show this year. They should pass out bumper stickers, Honk if you love the Conk!

To Dr. Chaifetz, I raise my cranberry and Absolut. Thank you, good Doctor. We're in the top 25 and you've played a big part in it. By the way has he been at any games yet? When he does show, he might be uncontrollable this year. As I recall didn't he kind of get on a ref in the Dayton game a couple of years ago? I think there was a video of him on the court, right?

You go on for 4 paragraphs detailing who Conk doesn't compare to and why, and leave the Barkley comparison untouched? Shame on you, Taj Mahal. What's not to compare? Two realtively short stockily built inside gamers who could score by using their smarts and talent. C'mon, man, you're killing me here. And to compare our Conk to a thug like Brannen, who was probably a big player in the mortgage scandal, is like comparing Obama to Hitler. Ooops, hope I don't get banned on that one.

I think it's pretty clear Conk and KM are the leaders and won't allow for a letdown. I really liked what they said in the Rivals article about getting ranked. We're simply interested in becoming a better team. I think they're sincere about this, and a number beside their name's not going to change anything. Also, am sure RM's saying the right things like, hey, guys, it's November not March.

And one of only 4 non BCS'ers in there. Unreal.

Holy Cow! 17 years is a very long time. And to Jimbo, it's time for a really big shout out of, HATE. Puhleeze, Billikens, stay focused on Tues nite and come home 7-0. We like seeing our name in the polls and on the ESPN ticker every nite, instead of having to wait for them to go thru the conference thing. Anyone see that Carleton's not rated.

Well, here goes the old athletes vs Players argument. I watched both DU games. They got some athletes and some bangers. What makes them scary now is they're playing pretty good schemes. Gregory always struck me as the type of coach who'd roll the ball out on the floor and say have at it. Miller seems a different breed of cat, ie let's play with some discipline out there. They will be a tough opener. Especially, when the sweater vest crowd shows up. UD does travel well as there was a lot of red vests in Florida.

Yes, indeed, tomorrow is a big game. Remember Loyola M beat UCLA at their place. Now granted UCLA 's kind of a mess right now, but they were still a ranked team going into their opener. For some reason, I don't think Conk and KM will allow these guys to sit on their laurels or bask in their recent glory. A W tomorrow night would be huge. When you look down the immediate road, it doesn't appear to be too difficult. And without wanting to throw a wet towel on anything, it's still a little hard to come out of the it's hard being a Billiken fan shell will still take a few more Ws. As for Porter, while I wish he was here because he was a big part of this, we did pretty well in recruiting this year. Getting ranked and the national pub will help more, however.

I'll wager his hip's got a bruise this morning. He was flipped.

I'm liking the plays we're Conk and CE are rolling off the screens and cutting to the hoop for an easy layup. By the way, if anyone has any doubts about CE's court savvy watch that pass he made to Conk on the back door play. A gem. Almost L. Bird quality.

I think, ACE, that was the point of the thread. Athleticism will take you only so far, like making the highlights on ESPN. But it doesn't guarantee you wins. Some of Dukes' championship teams weren't the most athletic either but they still won. Not saying we're a Duke, yet, but we scheme and play in a very similar fashion.

Taj Mahal, I almost hurled my breakfast when I read Conk=Brannen. Brannen was a street baller, thug, henchman in the tradition of Huggy Bear's gallery of muggers. Conk most reminds me of Barkley. Yes, that Barkley. No one was impressed w/ him until he went to the Olympic camp and caught Knight's eye. Conklin would definitely catch Knight's eye. And, JRay, that's South American Dictator. As for Evans, I like his no fear approach of slashing from the wing. So far has not worked out too well for him in terms of finishing, but last night he drew a lot of fouls on it and made the FT's. And definitely room to grow for RL. Remember last year when at season's start CE wasn't getting it? Then the 2nd half rolls around and he starts to develop until he suffers the shoulder injury. I expect RL to be the same way come the 2nd half. As for KM, am sure he's the guy drawing the most attention in the locker room discussions. But he can still fly to the hoop and he made some nice 3's last night. Plus he's aso in synch w/ the system and is unselfish. All the coaches and players from the tourney showered some praise on the Bills for making that 3rd pass for a better shot. That's why KM will probably never match Holloway's stats but he's just as important to this team as TH is to X. One other item, did anyone notice how hard JJ hit the floor on that one steal? That must be one solid kid, 'cause he bounced right back up like it was nothing.

While stat wise they didn't knock anyone's socks off, but in terms of floor play, I thought both kids made improvement over the last 4 days. Loe especially looked pretty physical last night. And one of the announcers made reference to it. He said something like, coming from internaional ball is a change, but if he can get the physical part down and keep his shot he'll be a load. Not in those exact words but you get the point. Last night I thought Rob showed more physicality than he has in prior games, and that one screen at midcour was right out of Conk's "how to set a devastating screen" manual. Also, Remekun played w/ in himself and brought intensity on rebounding and interior D. He looks nowhere as lost as he did last season. Can't wait to see where these two are by mid January and into February as they could be the guys that really give this team a turbo boost. And that's not to say we don't already have a good turbo under the hood. But you can never have enough horsepower at the D1 level.

That's a wink and a nod, FDL. I was never crazy about this Billiken face until this season. Now it seems as if he's saying, "y'all ain't seen nothing yet."

Suggestion to team: Don't read your clippings. Don't read the polls. Don't lose your focus, which is, THE NEXT GAME!

+1 Billikan. We are watching basketball like it was meant to be played. There isn't a player on our team who's not improved from last year and some made leaps forward in these last 3 days. Most notably Loe (played stronger by the OK game) and Remekun ( who knew his role and played it to perfection).

Al, sure wish you hadn't brought up the I word. But I'm in agreement with you all the way. This is the best looking outfit I've seen and we've bot been Bills fans since the 60s when you had to pay people to go the Arena. What's great about this team is when RM brings in the bench players. You get a sense of, here comes the whup a** crew with fresh legs. I'd like to know if there's any team in the country that's getting more of a contribution from their bench than the Bills. I thought OK played us the toughest of anyone we've faced so far. Their guards were strong on the ball just across the time line, but it didn't matter. A few more TO's than we've averaged, but they never were able to go on a run by forcing a lot of them, which I'm sure was part of Kruger's game plan. And if Brian Conklin's play isn't bringing a huge Billiken smile to your face, then check your pulse. And for once, I really like our Billiken logo with the smile and the wink. It's like he's saying, you ain't seen nothing yet. These kids are inspired and want to make this year special. Don't want to get ahead of ourselves as there's a lot of games left, but after the last 4 days it's hard to keep the enthusiasm in the bottle. Go Bills! Make it Happen!

As for your father's billikens, I'm old enough to be a granddad Billiken and am just hoping all us elderly Bills fans can stand the excitement. Congrats to RM and the team, and a big rub o' the Billiken's belly to Conk. You da' man, Conk! MVP. What a great 4 days to be a Bills fan.

Impressive tropy. Should look good in the Fetz. Go Bills. Stop the to's and a few more 3's. Rebounding seems a lot better tonite. Back to the HD!

Let's just get by OK. OK?

Could it be our offensive rebounding is down due to the fact RM has the whole team take off to the D end when a shot is missed? Remember we've played a couple of teams that really like to push the ball. The boards that scare me are where we're giving the opponent second shots. I didn't look that up, but to the naked eye it looks like we're giving teams a lot of new shot clocks. The BC game seemed especially grim as more than a couple of times BC got 2 extra chances.

Agreed. +100. Every schedule needs a few appetizers. Early in the year. But if you make the main course a little heartier meal, you'll come out better in the long run. Fatter, anyways.

This game scares me because Kruger's a damn good coach. He'll be a big part of this game just like RM is to ours.

In the UNC-UNLV post below someone pointed out that our athelticism is way below that of those two schools. Don't doubt it for a minute. In fact, I'd suggest that from a purely athletic point of view we're probably not going to play many teams where we are the more athletic team. That said, we've probably got more athleticism going for us than we have in quite a few years, but it doesn't seem to matter much when you're playing smart basketball. Of the games I've seen; UW, Nova, and BC, I'd say UW and Nova clearly had better athletes. Didn't matter we still won. As for BC, I'd say, especially with our guards, we were the more athletic team. I'm expecting OK to have a whole bunch of athletes tonight, but as we've shown our smart play can beat athleticism and beat them by a bunch, witness UW and to a lesser extent Nova. Point being, having a great group of athletes on the floor can be beat by a team playing solid basketball on both ends of the court. And that's what I'm expecting tonight. Go Bills!!!!