ACE

I agree with Dewey. We need some buy-in games to avoid having to return the favor and go on the road. Yes it would be nice to add an Illinois State and Bradley, but I'm sure they'd require us to make a return visit. That, IMO, is not a good idea. I'd rather go on the road as a pretty big underdog to a place like Georgia Tech, than run the risk of going on the road and losing to a mediocre school.

The team couldn't even beat Tenn-Martin at that point, what makes you think they would've beat Bradley or Illinois State last Nov? They have a lot of new faces. Having a few games where Brad can experiment with rotations and the guys can gain a little confidence seems like a good idea, because it gets real tough as soon as December hits.

Every team has record padders. It's a good idea to have a few wins heading into that brutal stretch in early December. Of course we also need to avoid a Tenn-Martin-type meltdown. Ugh!!!! I like the schedule.

Wow! The non-conference road schedule is a killer. That stretch in early December will be real tough. We better find a way to win most of our home games.

So you think there is little hope he can get his grades together to be eligible as a college freshman?

We appreciate the updates on local recruiting. Is Brad making a run at this kid?

With Polk already on board, maybe we can land this guy. Sounds like he might be a better option than Grimes anyway. How are his grades?

Joey Fluegel is a pu$$ and a coward.

After the Clemons fiasco was well documented, nothing that program does would surprise me.

The problem with being an independant is scheduling. Putting together a credible schedule in Jan. and Feb. while other teams are in the middle of their conference schedules would be near impossible. Also, being in a conference gives you one more avenue to make the Tourney, the conference tournaments. There are fewer independants than ever, most of those teams are very weak, and the good ones like DePaul, Notre Dame and Marquette saw the value in joining conferences.

Roy, you include Brown as one of our two best players from last year. I'm not sure I agree. I think I would put both Josh Fisher and Sloan ahead of Kenny.

I thought very little of Chris Braun's game last season, which is why I think the two newcomers will outproduce him. My take, admittedly sight unseen, is that Johnson will offer quickness in the paint, something we didn't have last year, and the Greek will be able to score in the paint better and might be a little more creative offensively than Braun. I don't think my expectations are very lofty, they are just higher than what Braun gave us. If I'm wrong, we're in trouble.

Brad stated that his intention is to play Sloan and IO at the same time a lot, which gives us a much bigger lineup than we typically played with last season. As a result, we will be getting much better defense and rebounding from the 3 than what Diener gave us. As for the back-ups at the 4 and 5, Johnson and the Greek will replace Braun. It's not being too optimistic to think that the Johnson/Greek duo can produce more than what Braun did. While Frerichs might not be quite as good as Kenny, we should be bigger and more athletic, and have more options with our back-up bigs.

Roy, keep in mind that IO and Sloan will be seeing significant time together for the first time. Even if Frericks doesn't equal Kenny defensively, we will be vastly improved defensively at the 3 position, with Sloan getting time there instead of Diener. We will be bigger and more athletic at the 3 and get more rebounds.

I'm not sure why everybody is freaking out about Husak. Soderburg made it very clear that this kid is a project and will likely redshirt. With the 13th scholarship, why not use it to try to develop a big guy. A bigger key will be the Greek. Brad has talked very enthusiastically about him. If he can't provide a little bit off the bench, then I will be disappointed in Soderburg. Will this year's version of Sloan, Varner, IO, plus Frericks, Johnson and the Greek be as good or better than last year's version of Sloan, Varner, IO, Braun and Brown? I don't think that's an unrealistic expectation.

Apparently Tutu and AJ are smoking what Randy likes to smoke.

Roy, I never said Heinrich had "a shooting touch", I simply said he had "a better shooting touch" than KBrown. That's not saying much, but do you disagree? Heinrich made himself into a respectable free throw shooter for a big man. As for KBrown, I don't recall him shutting Robert Jakson down. If anything, the game at Savvis, Jackson gave Brown fits with his superior quickness. I remember Romar repeatedly praising Heinrich for his post defense. I admire the effort Brown gave, but let's not turn him into Bill Russell. If we have difficulty replacing a player like him, this program is in trouble.

It makes too much sense, which is why it probably won't happen. Charlotte gets screwed in that scenario, but I'd love it for us.

Given a choice, I'd rather have a big with limited athletic ability, as opposed to a wing player with limited athletic ability. I don't see where Kenny Brown was much better than Chris Heinrich. CH had a better shooting touch and made himself into an outstanding post defender. Kenny was quicker, but Heinrich was bigger and stronger. Romar used to gush about that aspect of his game.

AJ has a shrewd eye for talent. This is the same guy who said Jimmy McKinney would be better than Larry Hughes and that Marque Perry couldn't hold Jimmy McKinney's jock. LOL!

In theory, I'd trade the Cincy scumbags for Xavier and Dayton in a second. Cincy is a football school and they are a bunch of outlaws. Xavier is an even better hoops school than UC now anyway.

That would really be depressing if that happened. That Southern division in particular - ugh!!!

This is a tricky issue, but I tend to agree with SLUDrew. If we have legit shot at a difference-maker, we should be patient and wait. I'm confident that Soderberg's plan B options will be better than Spoon's and Romar's - Simmons, Barentine, Diener, Varner and Pulley - ugh!!!

If Coach wants wings who can shoot, dribble and pass, that's all the more reason it's a blessing Drew is gone. The numbers don't lie. Edwin was a far superior player to Diener in every aspect, including shooting - look at the 3-point shooting percentages.

Can you fill me in on this guy.