cheeseman

I agree that Polk has to improve his shot but I am sorry Luke has not shown that he has a shot this year either so to say that Luke should start over Polk at this time is just silly. I disagree that once Polk crosses the half court line then his ball handling skills are negated. The reason he has not been able to drive to the basket more lately is the same reason that Tommie is not slashing more - the paint is clogged up with the defense sagging on IV - no place to go. If KL or DP or even TL could start consistently hitting perimeter shots - not necessarily 3 pters even 12-15' from the basket it would start to open IV up for some passes when they drive the basket. Polk has a good shooting % from that range this year and wish he would take it more often.

OK - how do you get to this stats section - I never knew it existed.

Lisch had the surgery - so I am not sure what that post was all about.

Our scoring is down for one reason and one reason only - we can not hit a perimeter shot - if we could, then we would stop having to run the shot clock down hoping for some easy basket.

Here is a thought I have about Brad - I know he is trying to not overstate SLU at this time but am I the only who is getting a little weary of him not tooting the program's horn, continuing to talk about other programs being big time and not SLU, and always saying we want to be like some other program? I am sorry, when he is on the TV or radio, he needs to point out the positives of the program - how many people are going to want to come out to see SLU if he even hints at that people may only be interested in seeing good teams and not his, how does it play in a recruit's mind when he hears the coach saying we are not a big time program - if he does not think he is a big time program then who will? You can say what you want about Quinn but have you ever heard him on the radio or TV say that MU is not a big time program? - of course everybody knows the program is struggling but he is not going to let people even remotely think the program is small time. Why keep telling people who we want to be like how about telling them about our goals without mentioning other programs - stop giving them fodder to use against us: You do not want to go to SLU you want to come to IL - heck even SLU says they are not as good as us? Finally, when you are talking to the masses through the media then it is all about spin.

Two things - Luke has not shown anything in games to prove he should be starting. He has to earn his time and apparently he has not done so in practice - not saying he is not trying but trying and doing are two different things. Secondly - it really does not matter who is running the point. Once the ball is thrown inbounds, any of the guards can handle that responsibility so I am not sure why some are so worried about that issue. I would say, that the best ball handler we have on the team is Polk - he protects the ball best and can beat the press best.

Courtside - I agree with your statement about 2 high quality recruits a year. The question is can Brad do it this year - is the one he has one of those? where does he find the other one? or can he?

Valid point TBill - I hope you are correct.

First of all, we lost that game because nobody could hit the ocean with a beach ball standing on the beach and poor free throw shooting. However, if the other team is given license to play loose with the rules, then that only makes our defeciencies resonate more loudly. In other words, if a moving screen is called a couple of times, then they probably do not hit all those 3 pts. Therefore, there is less light shown on our missed shots - from the field and at the line. I am not complaining about the noncalls on TL or KL or IV. What I am saying is that since the landscape says refs normally provide homecooking for the home team then all I want is our plate of homecooking. I will accept the same for the home team when we play away. I am not saying this is right but I am saying - tell me rules up front and I will adjust accordingly whether the rules are fair or not. We can not keep getting jammed up at away games by refs and also at home. This team is not good enough yet to overcome all that.

VN unfortunately has shown that he is not a starter - he got his chance last year to prove himself and managed to work his way out of it. Remember last year Brad was the one who was really high on him. DB - I got no clue as to what is happening to him. He got lots of minutes early in the year when the 4 guard system was being used. The problem is we have switched to a 3 guard system and that creates lots of playing time issues for the 6 guards on the team. You can not lose 25% of your possible playing minutes without impacting the six guards. I even think that going to a 3 guard line up has even decreased the minutes that DP has gotten - not by a lot but some. Also please note that since AD has been out, DB has gotten more minutes but he refuses to shoot - you can say it because he is looking over his shoulder but for underclassmen who are still establishing themselves that is their lot. LM - I saved him for last because I am not sure how to respond without seeming over critical and I don't mean to be. Recruiting local players who are reserves are fine, local players bring out fans and local support regardless of how much the play. No one needs to appologize for being a specific player fan. Last year when lots of people were high on Luke, I posted - go back and read it - that area h.s. coaches I had talked to - sorry I will not share names that is not the point but I can tell you that I had and still have access to many of these guys due to my profession - told me that Luke was a smart player but that they thought he would have trouble at the next level. They all talked about his low shot release as well as his slow shot release. They also told me that his foot speed was not exceptional but was adequate for his h.s. team's style and competetion they played against. Nobody told me that he was a bad kid, terrible player , selfish, poor student - but from a basketball point of view they questioned if LM would be the type of player that would be able to upgrade SLU. Now that being said there is nothing wrong in being a productive role player. For the older group on this board let me use Jeff Luechtefeld as an example - Grawer recruited the kid form Okawville and he probably had a very similar h.s. experience as LM. The first two years Grawer dogged that kid and gave him nothing but butt splinters from the bench - nobody had a quicker hook for players than Grawer. In Jeff's junior year, he became a key player on the team because he became a dead eye shooter and played smart defense. My guess is that Grawer did not dislike him or have it in for him just was having trouble getting the kid to do what he wanted to do from an improvement stand point. This story is something for LM to understand.

David, you make a good point - I agree we have to get out of that pack defenses - it makes our perimeter defense worse particularily if the opponent is hot.

V - did you see the game last night - how many layups off of steals did Iowa get? We got at least 3 - TL, KL twice.

Whose complaining about TL?

I agree - DB is a mystery to me as to why he is playing but Pomp was right, Luke has never exhibited great speed and an ability to create a quick shot. Until AD comes back, we will see a healthy dose of DB unfortunately. The good news is that JJ has stepped up - imagine if he had not and we had to continue playing the 4 guard line up and DB was still starting - ugly!

Late spring is better than early fall.

TBill - if they are just now targeting recruits based on what you said, they missed the train about a year ago.

JJ - DB is not the answer for busting the zone - his outside shooting has never been good even last year and he would not take a shot last night at all. TL does not have to play point - you make sound like he doesn't get the ball enough now - heck he touches the ball several times every possession. Your suggestion is not the solution. Solution is for whoever is on the floor to suck it up and hit some shots.

So against Chistate, we get homecooking and people are up in their rightious Jesuit stance knocking it. I am sorry - when I play at home I want homecooking, PERIOD!! The he## with calling it even. If I really thought we would get a fair shake on the road then OK but we don't/won't so we have to get it at home. Afterall - that is why you schedule home and away series so you can job them after they jobbed you. This is not rocket science!!!

Having a running game does not mean running pell mell down the floor when you are out numbered and trying to get a lay up - will result in a charge.

Dewey is right - those are probably corporte tixs and the employees grab them if it is their school or as some of us know, friends who went to a school the Bills are playing will call us and wonder if we are using our tixs or not or ask if they can use them. If you were going out of town for the holidays many probably said sure.

No, JJ should not shoot the 3 although if he did the results would not be much different than what is happening now. Luke has not shot the ball well this year so thinking he is the savior is not realistic.

BlueC - you are correct - if TL starts taking more shots and misses a few then people will say he does not have a hot hand stop it. I also think you make a good point about he played 40 min. last night - I knew he was on the floor a very long time but the whole game - that is a lot to ask of a freshmen.

Luke has not shot well this year - in fact, during the previous game his shot was horrific.

Billikan - can not say I don't agree with your analysis. For those of you who were agreeing with Rammer about Chistate and the homecooking not being fair to them - well he and you got what you wanted last night. I hope you did not choke on it as it went down because I certainly puked it up.

You are all missing the point - it is not about TL being unselfish or Brad's offense shutting creativity down. What is happening now and happened last night is that we are seeing zones because no one has shown the ability on the team to break the zone by hitting a few outside shots on a consistent basis. The zone is creating lots of problems for IV and for TL. The zone clogs it up so TL can not slash without finding himself standing among 3 opposing players so he either gets blocked, hacked, ball stolen away, or he has to pass the ball out. The same is happening to IV but not because he is trying to slash to the basket. This inability to shoot the 3 is killing this team - Brad even said so in his post game interview and in the quotes in the paper today. I am not sure how to solve this problem - Brad is simply at his rope's end with it also - but somebody has to step up and NOW!!!. DB won't shoot the ball if you put a gun to his head - he has no confidence at all. DP will shoot now and then but he passes up lots of good opportunities because he has no confidence in his shot. LM - he has not been able to hit anything consistently either. KL - he has thrown more air balls up the last 3 games then he probably did thru out his entire h.s. career. AD was the only one willing to shoot and make the shots. Until he comes back, we are in big trouble. I never thought I would say that but it takes a big man to admit he was wrong. I just thought others would have progressed farther but it simply has not happened.