slu72

until his contract's done. Not unless Dr. Cheyfitz told Fr. Biondi : "I didn't plunk down $12mil to house a mediocre team, find someone new." We should know a lot more after April signings. Most posters have already penciled in a JUCO PG and PF...names please. Then there's the crucial fall signing period. If those kids start dropping like flies, except for Kramer, we got big problems in River City. Look at the A-10 this year. There was general improvement; Rhody, Fordham, Duquense are examples. And anyone who thinks St.Joe's and Temple will be content with middle of the pack don't know their respective coaches. Dunphy is no slouch. He's a native Philadelphian whose got a whole lot more latitude to recruit at Temple than he ever had at Penn. Look for Temple to step it up big. Ford's proving to be a Pitino clone in recruiting players. He's got Boston and New York in his backyard. Unless UK fires Tubby and hires Ford to replace him, we've got them to contend with. I expect the A-10 will get better. Not Major better, but will fill that tiny little slot separating the mids from the majors, to where at least 2 and maybe 3 bids are the norm. Also in there will be the WAC. This business is only getting harder and more difficult every year. UB's going to be given his contract to show he's got the stuff to play in this league. I pray he finds it, because to date we ain't seen it. We are a long ways from becoming the Gonzaga of the midwest.

of getting in was on Mike and Mike this morning. Outside of the 31 automatic bids, you've got to be one of the top 35 teams in the country to have any chance of making it. Tall order.

B'roys comparing us to Denver? Jeez, I didn't realize we'd fallen that far down the food chain. Kids go to Denver to ski, nor for their hoops program. Some kids choose Marquette becasue of their hoops program. Why else would you go to school in Milwaukee, for your love of Miller Lite? I'm sure Savannah State would trade records as well, but both teams will still be in the same place come Thursday. At the rec center watching TV.

C- ...that's below average for a 20 win season. But he himself said the team would consider the season a failure if they didn't make the dance, so he must be giving himself an F. Bbill covered the bases for why, so no reason to add salt to the wound. There's going to have to be a serious sit down with CL , Fr. Biondi, and UB to figure out the future direction of the program. I'm sick of hearing how Biondi is not behind it...he committed to an $80mm facility at a private school with a mediocre tradition in hoops. Why would he do this? To hold Disney on Ice shows that he could drive his golf cart to? Based on selection Sunday, the whole hoops game only gets tougher from here on out. Every year, we will be competing for 7-10 spots at the dance. To get one of them is going to take a hell of a team year in and year out. This team is not going to come from taking chances on Spring recruits or early fall offers to kids not being recruited by anyone else. We won't get top 100-150 players for the forseeable future even with the new building. Winning tradition is a whole lot more attractive to a kid than a fancy new practice facility. It's going to take a resourceful savvy guy to get the job done at SLU.

Enough's been said about the past season and how expectations were not met. Frustration abounds everywhere; the team, the coach, this board, STL media. Kicking it around any more is rather fruitless. It didn't happen and now is the time to ask what will it take to make it happen. FIRST QUESTION: WHAT'S IT GOING TO TAKE TO MAKE THE DANCE NEXT SEASON? This year it's obvious there is a bias towards the BCS'ers. Break down the numbers: 31 conference champions get in (including the Big six). 28 bids to the BCS also rans leaves 6 open bids. So if we assume this trend continues, a school like SLU is competing for 7 open bids every year (one chance for being tourney champ and 6 for an at large.) Granted this is subject to change based on how certain mid major teams and their tourneys turn out, but for the most part it's probably going to hold true to form, ie the BCS boys are going to get 25-30 at large's a year. So, we have to build a team that can win the A-10 tourney or build a team that can beat some of the bigs during the NOV-DEC out of conference schedule and end up with a record of 25-7 or thereabouts. See: X, SIUC, Butler. WILL THIS LIKELY HAPPEN NEXT YEAR? I don't see it. Yes, we do return a really fine guard combo and an overachieving kid in LM. But they won't get 25 wins. No way no how. Every one knows what is needed to plug the holes, a PG to cut down on TOs, a PF whose a banger, a reliable solid 5, and 2 or 3 contributors off the bench. Tall orders to fill in the Spring recruiting period. Does anyone believe there's a HS PG or PF left on the board that can step in and fill those roles? Will they come from the JUCO ranks? Who knows, but if we are to have any shot next year, this is the likely place to look for immediate help and we've never shown an ability to recruit the JUCO ranks as successfully as other programs. Will a bench of DB, DP (face it, he's not starter quality at this level), AK, and DM provide solid minutes? The two frosh we recruited are two frosh. They are not likely impact players, and we know how UB disdains playing frosh. If we don't fill these gaps in the Spring with our final 2 or 3 schollies, the answer is solid player development over the summer. Which brings us to the third question. WHY DON'T MOST SLU PLAYERS SEEM TO DEVELOP INTO BETTER PLAYERS? The only players who took their game to a different level this year were: TL(improved shot, now needs improved handles or taking care of the ball), KL (natural development and experience), and LM (stronger more aggressive, but still out of position). BH showed a glimmer of hope, but still a project. He'll really have to work it these next 7 months to get to where we need him to be a force. We know what happened to the rest. Downward arrow to IV. DB, downward arrow, the kid became the poster boy for turnovers. DP, for awhile the contact lenses seemed to help, but really no major strides over the course of the year. JJ, forget JJ and wish him good luck. And how much development can we expect from DM and AK? Next year will be their rookie seasons. TL, KL, and LM will get better over the summer, because they are driven kids, but it won't be enough...we're not dancing next year due solely to player development. BOTTOM LINE: Next year stands a good chance of between 15-17 wins.

I like St. Joes better. They're playing with 2 freshman guards right?

Oh my.....

whose POY in the A-10 again.....First is good...one more TL...c'mon....

I don't have a pacemaker...yet. It would have burned out by now.

guys been all year...JJ...BH....they have come up large tonight.

4.6 seconds, we've not been real good in these deals. Is that the UMass band there and not ours?

and the f***ing refs say TL stepped out of bounds. Rammer said no way. I can't get this on tv....and the webcast is maddening.

Just run them down...they've got to be worn out if they had the flu and didn't practice. Sounds cold, but hell it's a game we've got to have.

XU's playing scary good right now....we would have to have some breaks go our way big time if we get that far.

Be nice to see KL and TL cutting down a net, wouldn't it?

Skip screaming for UB's resignation? Skip, do you need to borrow some kool aid powder? If UB does not land a D1 ready PF this spring, I shudder to think what next year will be like. We will have one of the country's best guard combos, but it will all be for nought if we don't get some serious...serious help on the inside. BH is not the total answer for our big problems, and the disappearance of AK's playing time demands UB land a PF or even a center who can step in and contribute from game 1. Who is this mysterious JUCO PF everyone keeps putting into to next year's lineup?

IV missed out on another post season award.

I'm worried about this game, actually worry about every game, because DU didn't have a tough time beating us in our own house. Now they get a little more incentive to get up for this game already having the knowledge we aren't unbeatable. And remember they beat a good BC team up in Boston. They may have had their recent struggles, but we better bring our A Game.

I thought Swopshire was pretty much a done deal for a prime time program like FL or UNC. Isn't that why he was sent to the development school? Do we have any kind of a legit shot at him or is this another Tyus like deal?

A Billiken fan, a true Billiken fan, will suffer many deaths in his lifetime.

Here's the definitive answer on where UB stands as a recruiter...our RPI over the last five years has probably averaged in the 80s. Bingo, he's likely the 80th or so best recruiter in College Basketball.

Can you give us a link to JUCO PF, first I heard of him. How do you pronounce his last name....Pif or Phh?

IV went from first team and potential POY, to no team...not even a mention? That alone ought to get him motivated to lay siege to Atlantic City.

I heard a rumor he OD'd on blue kool aid....

looked at that list Rodney Alexander #14, only big10 and b12 schools listed. MG had no schools listed. Is Alexander long gone?