courtside

....Shootout participant Peoria Central lost over the weekend 62-52, neutral court to Aurora West Il and IL signee Shaun Pruitt. I saw DeSmet/Vianney...for those Kalicak watchers. Kalicak had 6 points. Leonard was the "man" for DeSmet hitting many mid-range jumpers. If he bulks up, he will be a nice recruit in two years. You have to see a team or players play a few times or a bunch of times to draw an opinion. Vashon's win put them at 13th in USA Today...which means nothing except good area publicity nationally. That is the difference in a one point game. Otherwise they would have probably dropped out.

When I hear jeff Gordon speak, he often sounds like a defeated man. That is his style, ....it is either polite sarcasm, or clinical depression.

.....said on tv last week that the ACC should get a team in the NCAA's with a losing record of 7-9 ...which was beyond words for me. As for UAB, I think they are quick, have nice guards, and are a solid club and should get in.

Can't beleive I am sticking up for Vashon but...but unless the teams play, can't make a judgement.

The All-State Arena was recently upgraded past few years. It used to be much worse of a pit, pititful. Attendance? Location, Location, Location. It is like when SLU played soccer games in Fenton. In good traffic, All-State is 30 minutes plus from DePaul's campus. Not fair to compare with SAVVIS, down the street from SLU's campus. Years of losing doesn't help, but they finally have what looks like the "right" coach in place for them.

Don't quote me, but I believe LaRussa got his law degree there. two cents I hate comparing players at different positions and at different eras. No way no how anybody could tell me Scott Rolen has been better than Jim Edmonds in recent history. Not close imo. Edgar Renteria is NOT a lead-off hitter. He has a good on base percentage, but does not hit like a lead-off guy. A #2 #3 #6 best spots for him. It is like when everyone said Vina had speed...lol...Vina had average speed. Edgar knows how to steal and is smartest player on the team, but he isn't fast. Obviously watching Willie McGee play shows you can be the fastest and not good at it either. I am afraid this current regime's opportunity to win has come and passed...not mixing in young developed minor leaguers with the good free agency moves and trades has hurt the club. DK's death was unfortunate as well. This team is all or nothing on offense. Streaky hitters too. stat geeks can look up how the Cards hit against "good" pitchers and it was NOT good at all. They lit up cupcakes and padded stats. Scott Rolen is big, strong, good player, hustles, quiet, and is a white guy so he is popular in STL. He is streaky hitter, plays a good third base defensively, though I wanted better last year,wanted more consistent offense for that price tag. Jim Edmonds is popular but a primadonna. On base percentage and slugging percentage are the only two offensive categories that mean anything to me. I have seen Edmonds clutch in big games, clutch in post-season when it is needed. Sure he is streaky during season. I am very hopeful Rolen will turn into Edmonds eventually offensively. If not I will be disappointed. Morris? Won more games past 3 years than Andy Pettite and tied with Rocket Clemens...not bad. With that said he NEEDS to get some balls and pitch like a number one and not a number 2 pitcher, and lead. He needs to take over. His fast ball was straight most of last year, without movement. Shoulder? curve inconsistent, you hang em we bang em. and last money....now even clown teams like the Cubs are spending $$ and doing it in right spots...their forever terrible futility has allowed those draft picks and they are finally paying off. If Morris and Williams(yipes, one of these seasons Woody is going to blow up, getting old too much work...will it be this year?) go 7 innings 3 runs.....what I want, bullpen can't be any worse than last year. Cards need a lead-off hitter who DRAWS WALKS, on base percentage.....etc...HUGE for this team!

Could anyone tell me what percent of SLU undergraduate students come from OUTSIDE of Missouri and the across the river metropolitan STL side or S. Illinois area? Is it over 50%? Last time I heard a figure a few years ago MORE than two thirds of SLU's students were "local." That number is too high for my own personal taste. Has it changed? There should be #s that show how many kids from what states in different geographic regions...etc... Diversity? I have personally been to schools like DePaul, Villanova, Marquette, Santa Clara, Notre Dame, etc...and so forth. If you isolate the Midwest a bit, IMO SLU and Marquette are not very diverse at all. This is strictly opinion of mine and nothing else. DePaul due to its location, city-size, etc...is much more. Villanova would be similar imo to Marquette and SLU. Sure there are pockets of this and that...but I would be curious of some #s in that too.

I can check on stats etc....if you'd like, but re-read the post....I didn't say SLU IS....just perception outside of the SLU community. I travel a lot, see a lot of other schools, etc...I think SLU has progressed a great great deal. What else is a student going to do in the winter....especially from out of town??????????? Not go to a hoops game? You have to make it a total STUDENT experience first. Alums, fans etc...take a back seat to the kids. MARKET TO THE KIDS FIRST!!!!!!!!!

Obviously folks don't think SLU would outdraw obscure sitcoms and dramas for WB. Other major cities have many choices for cable services and competition, and the trend is moving in that direction. STL has primarily the dominance of Charter. It is unfortunate they can't get some fox sports games.

I saw that game and it was the Sean Banks show. Wow! He was terrific. I have not seen Memphis play that well in a long long time. Maybe it was a one night deal. ? Memphis was able to dribble penetrate easily, and kick out because of the late help defense from Sanders, Merritt, Novak, etc...They certainly miss Wade's defense as well as Jackson. Novak and Merritt are two totally different players. Merritt is one of those guys who has been the same decent player for four years. Novak is one of the worst defenders on the league, but obviously arguably the league's best shooter. Memphis only dressed 9 guys and ran Marquette to death. Diener is average defender, Novak, a bad one, Mason looks like a typical frosh defender learning....Marquette's problem is defense with athletic, inside/outside teams. Unfortunately for SLU, they don't possess the mismatch in the matchup for Wed. SLU needs to hang around the perimeter for Diener and Novak and let Marquette go inside for points. UAB, sqeak city, but got a "W", and needed it. As far as atmosphere and attendance....46-45 isn't going to bring a lot of folks in....SLU is doing what they have to do with what they have to win...for now...but winning, AND being able to play in either the 90's or 50's, and having identifiable players helps. As much as I don't like it, SLU has imo never lost the label of a commuter or regional school...not saying it isn't academically or can't play it nationally athletically, or isn't even getting a little better with that...but the perception outside of this bubble is still different. DePaul can get away with being in an 8 million people city, and is a very very diverse school, unlike SLU or Marquette.

The only solution I see is when the new Arena is built. Get plenty of students, get them good seats...the newness will carry somewhat a while, ...smaller size will create more noise....and hopefully winning will bring in more folks....I just don't see any change until then. I do notice that in other arenas, even the blue hairs get up and cheer sometimes...but it all starts with the students, and student section...

Louisville has better players than UAB, who is solid. It isn't just coaching. Louisville can be beaten because they do not present anything inside on offense, and sometimes get caught up not defendindg like they should. Talent-wise, I would take Louisville over UAB all day. But UAB is improved. They obviously made a great run last year as well. Louisville however is beatable. SLU...win games, and create an atmosphere with students, marketing etc...and people will come. Playing teams like AZ is a good start.

I have some good friends who are Louisille fans(from there)...they have great knowledgeable fans, and they do travel extremely well....with that said...they have plenty of yahoo fans too who literally live and die with the program.

two cents. I have seen a lot of the mentioned kids. David Ward, great kid, always banging with much taller, more athletic kids. He has scored more in past years vs this year. Problem with Ward for college is height. He is strong, physical, smart, and a typical "team" player, fundamentally strong. He has been 6'5 6'6 for four years now. he has nice post game. To me, a very good high schooler who never got taller, which is too bad. Mike Kalicak, 6'7, long arms, another smart, fundamentally sound kid. He is a wing player, and brings it up for point guard challenged DeSmet this season. Good outside shooter, not great, shoots 3's. Nice mid-range game. Good competitor, a finesse outside player who can take it inside when he needs to. Not a post player. He would be a 2 or 3 in college. Needs quicker feet, quicker release...but can work on that. He would be a nice walk-on for SLU....if he didn't wind up getting in the mix playing-time wise for SLU,I would think he would transfer after two years. Size-wise, he would be comparable to Chris Sloan when he entered SLU. The only time he is bringing it up the floor in college is when press is on...If he were 6'9...he would be one of those tough to guard big's who can play outside too.

...originally from Milwaukee....yet another WI kid for SLU? Donigan is really using his club coach connections from his Milwaukee Wave professional days. David Peplinski, WI player of year, following in the footsteps of Joe Hammes, Nick Walls, etc...at SLU. Also noticed John Kornfeld from SLUH going to DePaul....Joe Ahearn, foremr DeSmet/DePaul grad is asst there now...interesting to see if STL recruits to follow going there. I know Fred Schlichting is getting kids from STL to go to UMKC. Schlichting is former DeSmet/Notre Dame guy.

Thanks for the in put...I have been travelling a lot for work...so out of loop a bit and need to check some of it out a bit. If only Vedad could control that temper....Sometimes Frericks temper in hoops reminds me of Vedad....

Skip...I was asking if SLU fans would go, to get an answer...not making any other point. Also Skip...as far as Soderberg goes...he is a Wisconsin guy...and Marquette and Wisconsin hate each other...so speaking out against it wasn't that much of a stretch. and Roy...obviously Cinci's final four team was hardworking....I never thought Van Excel or some others played hard all of the time though. at times yeah... Marquette could have used Rob Jackson for inside scoring and boards...not just Wade. I think Lousiville can beat Cincy....but Cincy has a better club this year. Louisville has to choot it well to stay in it. nothing inside and that won't get it done this year.

I watched the game. Marquette came out with a lot of zone 2-3, 1-3-1 as I thought they would. Marquette does not have a ball handler to bring it up other than Diener. I have not seen Cincy play that hard for 40 minutes, ever under huggins. They have depth, and at least two shooters. Will Cincy play that hard all of the time? If so they will stay where they are...we will see. The times Marquette had a chance to turn the corner, Cincy answered every time with deep 3....something on Steve Logan could do recently. Nice Robert Whaley sighting, falling into Marquette bench then shoving the strength coach as he was being helped up. Huggy was huggy. Marquette looked like a team that lost two conference first-teamers at two positions... Cincy is very tough, now that they have shooters. Marquette is on the fence of being solid top 3 league team or falling back to pack....obviously Cincy is better this yr and Marquette not as good...we all knew that before the season...we will see where they go from here. Question: How well would a SLU game be supported if played at SMS against an out of state team? Would people go 2-3 hours away?

I am curious to see just how good Cincy is in a tough environment myself. We can leave officials discussion out of it...nobody bullies his way into more calls than Huggy Bear. I would imagine Marquette would play mostly zone, maybe throwing in a few wrinkles. Make Cincy shoot it. Marquette plays Cinci and Louisville tough, home or road. By the way Houston? Pitiful....that's a double digit road win this year for most conference teams.

This issue is SLU not any particular bar...I fault SLU...the AD dept...give me a break...if you do not want to be small time...get a tv deal...local free tv, WB 11 even a cable fox tv...but not some exclusive cable company....in the era of satelites...and STL unlike some other cities even has more than one cable company....They can do better than this at SLU.. It is pretty sad when Harpo's a Mizzou bar has the SLU game and the SLU bars don't.

Missed the event...thanks for the info...Rams game was obviously very long, took forever to get out of there...very long and exhausting day...watched it by SLU or never would have made it anywhere else...it is down right sad when your campus bars can't get your team's games on tv. Pathetic.

I wouldn't want someone to read an isolated post on the SLU board and label all SLU fans, so I don't do it to other schools. Besides I am sure just like on this board, a lot of posters didn't even go there. you can't let one or two ruin it for ya. I found the Carolina Panther media to be very arrogant before and after the Rams game...I am not ready to condemn the Blue Ridge Mountains...or their fans. Midwestr people are still Midwest people...boy, hate to see a reaction to some Northeast schools and cities like Boston or Philly...and their fans.

I too was told by those there that the crowd was "disappointing" in size for what they are getting this year. They got almost 18,000 for Grambling or someone like that. It was one of their smaller crowds. Everyone wears yellow which is visually attractive because it stands out. X-mas break...but their students have according to info...have reached over 4000 in season tickets which is pretty impressive(and most was way before final four stuff)...would be nice to see at SLU. They do play ESPN or ESPN 2 Wed night vs Cinci which I think would be a solid win for Cinci at the Shoe, but a pickem in Milwaukee. I was pretty surprised that Marquette had Diener in man d with no help on Bryant top of key with 11 seconds left. Easy lay up. Diener looked like Mike Bargen guarding Larry Hughes when Hughes dropped 40 on him.

Novak has speeded up his game this season. SLU cannot come out with one of their dreadful first half offensive performances. A Sat night game, packed house,....a lot of atmosphere...Marquette ran ND out of the gym early. No easy put backs, or transition hoops. so far this season Marquette is a jump shooting team without the inside offensive game. Bradley, Diener, Chapman, Novak, Townsend, can all shoot the 3 well. Even Merritt can step out there once in a while. Extend the defense. Diener is the only one who can bring it up...he scores a lot, shoots ft's well, gets a lot of assists, doesn't turn it over. Merritt has a great game then a very bad one...very inconsistent but capable of 20 plus. Their entire team shoots ft's well...keep them off the line. Slow the game down...unattractive to watch and annoying to play against. Marquette can't run like last year for 40 minutes, but prefer more up-tempo than slow half-court style. Big first half shooting for SLU, protect the ball...keep it low scoring and close. Marquette goes 10 deep.

College basketball is a business, big business. My first reaction was laughter. I thought it was funny. I am numb to it.