slu72

Wish you hadn't bought up that plane crash thing...I'm superstitious about that type of stuff. That's why we shouldn't mention injuries either.

Not at all. I've liked this year's team all along. It's whats in the pipeline that worries me? As I've said, I hope the class of DM, AK, HD come on like gangbusters and smear egg all over my face. Remember, I'm sitting down here in Dixie with a whole bunch of Sky Blue clad Tarheelers telling 'em we're going to surprise the hell out of 'em on 12/22. Remember what Jimmy Bob Ray Carvelle said about the '92 election, "it's the economy, stupid." Well, I guess I'm saying "it's the recruiting...." I'll leave out the stupid part, since I don't feel you, Skip, Rich, et al are stupid. Now, if UB somehow manages to blow this season, and believe me I do not want that to happen, we Bashers will be out in full force pulling our guillotine down West Pine. God forbid, he says, "I'm Coach Stability, let them eat cake!"

Hey, you can't argue with the guy's logic. Good big man. TL and KL both improved. By the way one of the more impressive things I read this year, were KL's teammates on the AIA team voting KL the guy they'd most like to see on their college team. X is going to be difficult to knock off, but we did it twice last year with basically the same team. UMass, who knows how all those new transfers are going to meld into a team? Although, you've got to give Ford a lot of credit for getting those guys to Amherst. Wasn't one of them ACC rookie of the year out of VA? I do like his point about there always being a surprise or two in D-1 hoops. We were back in 93-94...why not again? I like our chances this year. The ingredients are there for a memorable season, now let's just do take care of business.

I welcome him...a fellow 72'er who started going to games the same year I did. Can't argue with that. Polk gave us some pretty good teams in those years...Jimmy Irving, Harry Rogers, The Ghost...keep the moniker.

Northwood Prep? Northwood Tech? Northwood Middle School?

Nope, not that much of a self promoter. If I was going to change, it would be to Nabob Bob, Darkcloud'06, Chickenlittle....you know, something that reflects my current doom and gloom attitude...Dr. Strangelove or John Kerry would be good choices as well. Slu 72 fan's been on here for about a month. Doesn't post much...I'm guessing it's Billiphan or Flyphan, which I'm guessing are one and the same.

tseug, take a close look at the poster's name. Don't know why this poster is a fan of mine, am sure it's tongue in cheek or a new moniker for Billiphan, but I'm not ready to declare the 2006 recruits a successful class. Of course, I'm hoping to be proved wrong.

rank UB 8th in the A-10, "largely based on his recruiting skills", and then to say if he could recruit he wouldn't be here. Don't you know our AD signed him up for life. Consider your self lucky you don't live in St. Louis. You'd be tied to the Billiken and caned. WH, you need a tall glass of refreshing Blue Kool Aid.

I pick them to go 23-12...that's negative? I think we're uspsetting UNC....that's negative? I think we're dancing....that's negative? I've always thought LM would be the option at the 4 for the reasons stated in the above post, which come from the people observing practices. I'm not making any negative judgements on Obi, AK, or HD. They are what they are...freshmen who need work. Would we like to have got reports that one of them was the next Thomas clone. Sure, but they aren't. And UB's not going to start them, no way, no how. I'd love to see JJ breakthrough, but you go by what you've seen. I don't think we lose all that much with LM at the 4 given our alternatives. I still think we can run with LM. We can win with LM. I do think in certain games will see more of BH, which I happen to like, see the Charlotte game last year, the kid made a difference. He altered their inside game. I've never posted anything negative about LM or BH, whereas even some of the Kool Aid clubbers think LM's too small and BH is a stiff. Would we all like to see a guy at the 4 who we know is not a question mark, who we know is a proven contributor? Yeah, only for about the last 20 years. Face it, we don't have one, and it'a a bit of a weakness....that's all I was saying. If it's a negative fact it's not my fault. I'd like to know when it became a mortal sin on this board to post objectively? Will someone please answer that?

Reading the thread below, you come away with: 1.) HD and Obi are not ready according to those who have seen them practice. Not even ready to play against UMSL and Quincy. 2.)How ready will AK be for D-1 ball when he returns? A freshman who misses six weeks of practice? Also, many have said he's not the immediate answer. Lump him in with HD and Obi. 3 freshman projects at the 4. 3.) This leaves JJ the sole survivor. Given his resume, what leads us to believe he's seen the light and can be the guy to provide 25-30mpg of solid play at the 4> Hell, make it 20 mpg. He's been here 4 years, and in 3 years of playing he's never done it except for a few games. The above is based on what's been reported by posters attending practice, except for my opinion on JJ. Conclusion: LM will be our 4, JJ plays a spot role, and we get to see more of the twin towers. UB still has not resolved the 4 situation either through recruiting or player development.

So, why didn't he do this the previous summer?

You know, I've been wondering about the reports that LM buffed up. Does anyone share my thoughts this came from UB. Something like, "You know, Luke, we really don't have a proven 4. I don't know how quick these young guys are going to come along, and JJ, well.....? It would be to your benefit and the teams if you added some muscle because you might just be the guy at the 4."

Tragic....puts what's really important in perspective.

If this comes true, I'm joing the UBBKAC'ers (UNCLE BRAD'S BLUE KOOL AID CLUB). Of course, I'll have trouble finding a sponsor due to my negativity.

I got to get some of that stuff he's smoking...I guess his math is right for going 30-8....I didn't check it.

TL and SLU a match made in heaven. He seems quite content with his decision to stick with SLU despite the pitches to dump us. I hope he has a break out year...with his new shot sounds like he might.

Face it, our getting in, w/o winning the tourney, is having an RPI in the 40s and a quality win. Now what would be quality wins? A&M, UNC, SIU, and X. These teams are going to find themselves ranked at one time or another during the year. Again, the middle of the road teams from the BCS'ers have an advantage, ie tougher conference schedules mean increased RPI's, if they pull off a couple of major upsets they get in....that simple.

That kid from LSU, Davis looked fat...he wasn't slow. The guy who used to play for Michigan Traylor, he looked gargantuan...he did ok. Can't remember if it was UAB or S.Miss from our old conference USA days that had a rather large guy who could do damage from the 3...he looked like he didn't pass up too many big macs in his day. And Temple had a rather large guy that seemed to move ok....point being you don't need to be buff to contribute. UB must see something in him, after all he recruited Obi, and as I recall, was pretty high on him when he signed.

Finally something on the Bills. Nice article about how Obi expects to be a contributor by the time conference schedule rolls around. Didn't know he had another scope on his knee. UB said some nice things about him...what else can he say? But LM is the starter at the 4 for UMSL. How this plays out upon JJ and Ak's return is anyone's guess. Would figure that CMDG's starting lineup is what we'll see tomorrow night. One question though, how do we become a running team if we play the pack defense? I know this will sound negative, but it's a setback not having a true 4 to help IV on the inside. Not against the likes of UMSL and Quincy, but it will hurt against A&M, UNC, and other teams with solid front lines. I sure hope UB experiments with the twin towers in these early easy games.

Even if we go 20-10 regular season and win two in the A-10 tourney, we're still going to be praying on selection Sunday. The only way I see us getting into the dance is to have the above record plus a win over one of the top ranked ooc teams we play, ie A&M, UNC, or SIU. The committee's going to have to have something to justify us getting in over some of the BCS'ers with 18 win seasons who may post victories over top teams during conference play. For example, take South Carolina this year. Good team. Not a lock for the NCAA, however, they'll play Alabama, Florida, and LSU. Lets say they win a couple of these? Big boost in RPI plus the pub from doing it. These kind of wins stick in the minds of the committee. We've got to get one of 'em as well, so they don't forget us or say "yeah, but they didn't beat any of the top teams they played."

is it on ESPN 2 or ESPN U?

Just like the Diener deal. We got the least talented.

9-5 non con (an upset over AM, UNC, or SIU is one of the wins), 11-5 in conference, but we're beating St.Joes there. 2-1 A-10 tourney 1-1 NCAA/NIT if we don't upset one of the ranked teams, we're going NIT. See what happened to Missouri State last year. We need to show the committee we can do that. UNC would be sweet. One caveat to above. One of the big 3 gets hurt and is out for a few games or more, all bets are off.

Kelvin Sampson doesn't respect them...why should Nark? Jeez, let's hope Nark doesn't turn out to be another Stemler deal...

Guess I was looking at 2003-04 stats....sorry.