huzzah

http://www.kansascity.com/178/story/66339.html This does not concern Billiken Basketball per se, but this topic was mentioned on this board and the article is a very good commentary. There is also a great article on St. Louis as an integration ground for Major League Baseball and the part played by Sunny Brown and the St. Louis Browns and the St. Louis Cardinals.

One mark of a good coach is to win the games he is suppose to win. If we beat St. Bonnie, Duquesne, and Houston we make post season play. And this is with the team we had. Blame should not be focused entirely on recruiting. Game strategy and motivation of players also were factors.

My guess is he is going to the all star texas game to see if he can land a bigger fish. If not he will make his choice from what is in his creel now. Lets hope he takes our worm and does not crawfish away.

I am not sure the religious element would play a part. When I went to SLU approx 45% of the student body was non catholic. The campus is currently home to the Islamic Center for St. Louis. I see many different races currently attending the school and I have observed many female muslims. I can tell by their dress, but it is harder to pick out the males. However, the female muslims seem comfortable and fit right in. I am somewhat mystified by the comments on athletic housing. Unless I am wrong I think the athletes are housed in the low rise apartment bldgs at the end of Laclede and adjacent to the new arena. I have not been inside the buildings, but I certainly do not think they are dumps. In fact my impression is that on campus student housing looks good. The campus is beautiful. There are lakes w/ fountains and fish and faux falls, there are clock towers, many of the buildings are new and the older ones have been rehabed, flowers abound, grass is green, art work is ever present, there are on campus museums, Cupples House, an area w/ outdoor pools, Simon Center which is a large fitness center, various coffee houses and the student center has two coffee shops, a movie kiosk, a florist, and eating facilities. Safety is quite good. The arena structure is above ground. Adjacent to the school are several restuarants and bars, Sarah Ave has good restuarants, and Euclid is not that far away. Downtown and Soulard are readily accessible. I think the Wash U campus may be better than ours, but I have been to other campuses and SLU compares favorably. Fr Biondi has done a great job. St. Louis is small, but has the attributes of a big city because at one time we were the 4th largest city in the US. In summary I don't feel the city, the campus, religion, athletic facilities, or student housing is the source of recruiting woes. I know the new arena is not completed, but construction results are readily visible. As David Nark recently posted SLU is ranked 77th academically. We have many positive selling points.

regarding K-State.please read the following: http://www.kansascity.com/165/story/62437.html In essence K-State hired an assistant to take over. He may have health problems, he has a history of recruiting violations at the high school level, and he may lack experience at the collegiate level. Some have defended Huggins move, but to me it reaks with self centerness. The resignation was late and it has left K-State in a lurch. Part of the problem has to do with a hasty decision by the AD, but Huggins could have showed some loyalty to a school that pulled him out of the dump and gave him a second chance. Some on this board advocate hiring an assistant for the sake of continuity, but the K-State situation shows that you have to check on the make up of the assistants and then act. You can hire an assistant from the staff or go outside the school. The criteria should be on how the head coach delegated. If he delegated you have a chance for a good hire regardless of whether it is from the present staff or outside.

I believe the greatest impact of success in athletics is monetary. Florida will rake in 130 million this year, after their success in fb and bb. Ohio State will earn 103 million. This revenue comes from sale of gear, tournament money, TV money, ticket sales, etc. In addition contributions to the schools from alumni will increase. In regard to applications for admission, the Ivy League leads followed by schools in the elite academic catagory. The schools do not possess academic prowness. For St. Louis U success in athletics will help fund the sports activities, but will have a much smaller effect on admissions, including quality thereof. The scholastic elite, not athletic dominant schools, are turning down people with perfect SAT scores and 4.0 HS GPA's. As a consequence prospective students are, by necessity, applying to as many as 6 schools. The attraction for these students is academic standing of the school, not athletic success. If SLU began making NCAA appearances on a regular basis, such as we did under early Spoon, I can imagine ticket sales increasing back to 18,000. But wait, our facility only holds 10,000 and 1,000 goes to students, band, etc. Ticket prices go up because of demand. Can you imagine the gear sales? The Billiken mascot is unique. Father Biondi has done a tremendous job improving the campus and raising funds, but fund raising is a never ending job. The new medical research facility will help gain government grants for research and success on the bb court will help raise revenue for the school. What these two things have in common is production of revenue.

Coach K is a disciple of Knight's from the Army days. However, Coach K is the exception. Steve Alford, Mike Davis, and others have failed or are in the process of failing. Smith is an example of Pitino's good teaching. However, Smith has not proved himself to be a good teacher.

The following will rely heavily on the Wall Street Journal, March 17-18 article "Good Coach, Bad Mentor" written by Darren Everson. The best mentors include Rick Pitino, Herb Sendek, Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, and Tom Izzo. The worst mentors include Roy Williams, Tubby Smith, Lute Olson, Mike Krzyzewski, and Bob Knight. The article indicates the going rate for head coaches in the major conferences now routinely tops $1,000,000. However, with this amount of money involved the selection process is more of an art than an analytical process. Selection seems to be based on reputation, not science and as a consequence bad decisions have been known to happen. Examples abound and can include, but not be limited to, Matt Doherty, Shawn Finney, Jay John, Tommy Amaker, Quin Snyder, Mike Davis, etc. One of the reasons some programs don't produce good coaches is that they do not get training. Some coaches delegate out responsibility, some don't. Rick Pitino is considered the best at developing new coaches. He holds coaches responsible for mistakes. lets them participate in game strategy, and has had impressive results. In short he delegates out more than just the routine. 19 of Rick's former assistants have become head coaches including Billy Donovan and Tubby Smith. The Holy Cross head coach came out of Rick's tutelage. Rick currently has a female assistant coach, a first @ Div 1. One of the worse programs for coach development, according to this article, is Duke. Duke has 3 national titles and 23 NCAA appearances in the past 24 years. Assistants that have come out of this program include Bob Bender, Quin Snyder, and Tim O'Toole. Lute Olson also has few success stories in regard to developing assistant coaches. In the unsuccessful programs the assitants usually get stuck in performing narrow roles, and because of the prominence of the program, get a chance at a H/C job not totally prepared. Therefore, the coaches that delegate out other than just the menial tasks are the programs an AD should look to for a hire. However, as indicated before reputation seems to be the over riding criteria. A salary of $1,000,000 seems a lot, but a succesful program brings in a lot of money and donations. Creighton is selling adds on its web site. This alone will bring in $800,000 according to a prior WSJ article. Ticket prices and/or premiums for tickets increase, TV money goes up, you get tournament money, enrollment increases, and donations rise. School clothing, jackets, hats, etc sales increase. Gonzaga makes out like a bandit in this area. Just think what a Billiken logo, because it is so unique, could generate. I don't know if Cheryl will be looking for a coach anytime soon, but hopefully she will tend to ignore reputation and place more reliance on getting an assistant from a program with a good coach and a good mentor; that is, a coach who delegates a variety of duties to assistants.

Looking into the crystal ball I think SLU will be able to carry it off. Lets go back to Econ 101. Price point is where supply = demand. We are reducing supply from 20,000 to 10,000. In theory demand is being increased because the arena is on campus. 1,000 seats are reserved for the band, students, and the visiting team, so 9,000 is left for fans. You have the novelty of the new facility, so that will carry for the first year for sure and probably into year 2. On a side note this also gives CL more time to determine coaching, contract extentions, etc. Therefore, initially it will work. After that you then will see more emphasis on product. However, w/ demand so severely reduced mediocrity may carry the day. Dreaming, here is what I would like to see. The NCAA is reducing participation of the mid majors and of the ones included, only 6 are on an at large basis. The tendency is to have the mid majors play each other. Thus they cancel out each other and have less chance for the final 4. This is probably driven by TV. The BCS schools have the larger fan base. The NCAA bought out the NIT to avoid a monopolistic law suit. I would like to see the mid majors ban together and lobby for expansion of the tournament to 128. The NIT right now is throwing an empty bone to them. Expansion to 128 will give them a bigger piece of the action. The coaches will also probably lobby for this as it will be a job saver. Seeding can still be used by the NCAA to keep the mid majors from crowding in on the BCS money pot, but the mid majors will come out ahead as compared to being in the NIT. The post season NIT should be eliminated. A pre season NIT can still be carried on.

As I understand it there will be parking adjacent to the stadium for premium seat holders who pay an additional amount to park close. This is similar to the present set up @ Scottrade where you can pay additional to park on level 4. There are two adjacent parking garages. One on Lindell and Compton and the other on Laclede just west of Grand. Both are within 2 blocks, and both will be safe walking. I think the combined garages can accomodate the game crowd. Walking in the elements may be viewed as a disadvantage, but judging from our recent winters, I don't see it as a major obstacle.

In the opening scene from the Woody Allen film "Matchpoint", the winning player hits a shot that lands near the top of the net, spins over the net and lands on the opposite side. The winning shot. Conclusion: "Luck the oft overlooked element of life". And so it was with the Billikens. Duquesne missing half their free throws, a fortuitous event beyond our control. However, we went to a zone and pulled out a win, but luck was our ally. In the UMass game we caught a team recovering from a virus; luck. However, we made adjustments at the half and won. However, luck played an important role. In the GW game luck was against us, but played a minor role. According to Tom T we had some players w/ a virus and combined with so many games over a short period, we lost. However, the overriding factor was not luck, but lack of a pg. We displayed deficient ball handling skills. We could not handle a full court press, or a half court trap, even at season end. So it was w/ disappointment that I read Tom T's piece today. The emphasis was on "if". Do you recall the old joke - "If my aunt had testacles she would be my uncle". The article did not mention, except obliquely, the lack of ball handling skills and concentrated on lack of big men. I arrived at the conclusion that Brad was Div 2 material because a pg is basic to winning. However, I do not see a coaching change at this point. I think what Cheryl meant by saying we need one more game, during a tournament half time interview w/ Earl, was that w/ 1 more "V" we had achieved the goal for this team, 20 wins. The goal she, with Brad, had set out. This is a realistic management approach. Set a goal and if it is achieved do not change the on line supervision. CL will now sit down w/ Brad and set a goal for next year and if he makes it or doesn't will be a determinant regarding his future. Another poster brought up a good point and that is contract extention. Lets see how CL handles that. In regard to luck, Brad won 2 tournament games where luck had a role, but luck is fickle.

The way I understand it is that 4,000 seats will command a premium and 6,000 will not. However, keep in mind that the arena will be configured for basketball,not hockey, so everyone will sit 21 feet closer to the action. Sight lines will be great. B. Roy is correct regarding Billiken Club membership and the new arena. In addition to everyone sitting 21 feet closer, the arena will hold 10,000 not 20,000, so even the most distant seat will be considerably closer.

A-Bomb this is a fun read. Thanks for bringing it here.

This is a great piece of journalism. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Cheryl at halftime yesterday said we had to win 1 more game, so I think this win may get us in the NIT. I give Brad credit. I am not quite sure what adjustments he made at half time, but they worked and we over came the first half deficit. He played different people at pg and Lisch and Liddel were bringing the ball up against pressure, so the UMass full court defense was made less effective. TL was shut down at the start of the 2nd half, but Husak and others stepped up. Some wonder why Husak was not played more at the start of the season, but as I recall he looked weak and had no reflexes. I thought I could out bench him. However, he apparantly has worked out during the season. He looks stronger, much stronger, and his reflexes seem quicker. He has morphed into a player. We can't compare this run to Memphis unless we win 4. Steve The Sign Guy got a lot of TV time. He is now a star, but we already knew he was special.

She stated Shimmy lead the Bill's to their first A-10 tournament. In addition the Bills won their first game. In the second game the Bill lost to X by 1 pt. and X ended up winning the tournament. Prospects for next year look very good and CL is excited about the Bills. CL then laid out reasons why we are in the A10 and why we are going to stay in the A10. Basically the A10 has a 2-1 NCAA tournament advantage over the MVC. She indicated the TV situation is unacceptable and not only to us, but to several other A10 members. They will work on a change. CL admitted our coaches were somewhat handicapped in recruiting up to now, but with the new practice facilities and the new arena she thinks the playing field is more level. More student involvment should help w/ home victories. CL stated we had to win 2 games in this tournament. I think she was referring to NIT chances, not to coaching tenure. However, she was asked for ideas to overcome the 9 pt deficit and she indicated she may have to go down on the floor and coach. This was in jest. I did not hear the BM interview w/ CL today. I heard this interview in my vehicle, so I am relying on faulty towers for recall. I never met CL, but she sounds great and I like her. She lays her views out in a cogent way and if something isn't right she will work for change.

When we joined tha A-10, the commisioner's performance was under review. Also, the league was examining the lower eschelon schools. Nothing has been done. However, even if changes are made I don't believe this is the conference for us. The schools are too distant and the tournament location this year is remote. Dreaming - What I would like to see is Dayton, X, and SLU join the MVC. Geographically this would be a compact league. There would be a balance between state and private schools, and none of the schools have big football agendas. Natural rivalries for SLU would be in abundance w/ Bradley, Mo State, Southern IL, IL State, Dayton, X, Evansville, and Creighton. A question arises on the tournament location, but tickets are allocated, so I don't believe SLU would necessarily dominate attendance. Travel expenses during the year would be reduced and our little 10,000 seat arena will be sold out. I live downtown and the MVC loves St. Louis. The hotels and restuarants were doing good business. I ate @ St. Louis Fish Market and it was bustling. The MVC fans love Metro Link and they could ride free from the hotel to Scott during the eligible time zone. With the new casino going in I think it will take a lot for the tournament to move. Our band and a full compliment of cheerleaders could attend. I agree with Bryan that at the time this appeared to be a good decision, but it is not so attractive now. Sometime in the future there was to be a merger with bb schools in the Big East, but who knows if or when that may occur. And if it does happen what do we have in common with eastern schools such as Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall, etc. Three Big East schools we would have good rivalries with are Marquette, DePaul, and Notre Dame. My crystal ball is murky. I just can't see the future. I am reaching for the Windex. I will return at a later date.

I think the school that started the upturn of the MVC is Creighton. Dana Altman won there and stayed. This forced the other schools to upgrade. SIU, Bradley, W State, Mo State, Drake have all upgraded. Il State and Evansville have been left behind. The case for firing Hinson seems weak.

Missouri will win. I will also give my reasoning. We do not have a pg. Missouri plays a full court game and we cannot bring the ball up court consistently against pressure. Mo will trap and after we run out of t/o's Mo will have their way against us. However, I agree w/ Roy on our chances of making the NIT.

We are not on opposite sides here. TL has improved dramtically from his freshman year. I would think he harbors NBA or foreign ball ambitions, so he will have the motivation to improve his ball handling skills and I think we will see this next year. Not withstanding these comments I think we still should recruit a pg. Because the pg handles the ball so often and is involved in so much, it is an injury prone position. I just do not have confidence in Polk to fill in a secondary role. The pg position takes a certain mental aptitude and Polk does not seem to display that. He backs down when faced with a competitor and he is undersized. TL was doing this also, backing down when faced with a defender, but last nite he seemed more in the attack mode. If he improves his ball handling, we will be fine, but we need a back up and a guy that can take over until TL fully develops. We need a floor general, a person that can drive and score, can bring the ball up court against presssure, and we need fewer turnovers. Did you notice Polk sat on the bench during the OTs?

What follows is taken from a Wall Street Journal article "Roar Wars: The New Science of Fan Power" WSJ is a pay site. Ohio State, to raise noise level and rattle opponents, pushed season ticket holders farther away from the action to make room for rowdy students. New research suggests the effect of a loud crowd is both real and potent. Teams are taking steps to harness this power including Oregon State, Maryland, Michigan, and pro teams. In fact things may be getting out of hand. The ACC and the Big East, in regard to bb, are cracking down on the practice of seating pep bands directly behind visitors benches to make it harder for coaches to talk to their teams during t/o's. Fan power is linked to a variety of benefits. Research @ the University of Bath in England found consistent home team bias by refs. This was in regard to soccer, but probably applies to bb also. In a separate study done in Canada it was found that levels of testosterone, which facilitates assertive and aggressive behavior, was 25-30% higher before home games. The home arena triggered this. The players protect their own territory. The home team wins nearly 70% of the time in college bb. Teams play better at home because of a cheeering crowd, familiar court and the toll travel takes on visitors. In bb Auburn, North Carolina, and Washington State have moved more students into the best seats. OK State stacked seats on a steep slope and added a flat ceiling to increase noise level. One unintended consequence; at commencement ceremonies it is harder to hear the speaker. Anyway our new arena looks to be a step in the right direction. This post is based primarily on an article in the WSJ, by Russell Adams, the March 3/4, 2007 edition.

It seems we repeated the Umass error by putting the ball in TL's hands. However, rather than blame the player, it is the lack of a pg that hurt. To this point, we have not recruited a pg, so that is disturbing. We also, to gain ball possesion, fouled the leading free throw shooter in the A10. As the game announcers pointed out we should have used a trap on him, forcing him to pass to a weaker free throw shooter. We also had 13 turnovers to Dayton's 5. The lack of a pg hurts. Coach Brad please recruit a point guard.

Enclosed is an article in the Kansas City Star regarding the Kansas guard Collins. The article is at http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/ Kansas is playing a very important game against Texas, tomorrow, which can give them outright title to the Big 12 and this is the pre game article. I find it not only enlightening, but interesting as a pre game article, because it give information on the home town player, shows the reporter did work, but does not encourage or entice the visiting team to greater heights. If you read the article it gives insights into the lives of the players that you may not otherwise be aware of. The players get scholarships, but we may fail to realize how unusually gifted they are, the obstacles they may over come, and how hard they have to work to obtain and maintain a Div 1 level of play. All seniors should start on senior night. The coach can always extract them if things get out of hand. To do otherwise shows a lack of class on the part of the coach. Playing Div 1 basketball is hard work. The players deserve respect.

Texas Tech was in a similar situation a few weeks back. Knight did not call time out. He felt if he did it would give the defense a chance to organize, so he preferred an offense going against a defense that might be less orgainized. Just a different approach, but t/o might still have been called by our opposition. I think 15 sec were left. We once won in CHI, against Loyola, with 3 sec left and Roland Grey hitting a 3 pointer. KL brings the ball up court the best, so he should have had the ball.

The NIT was bought out by the NCAA. Does anyone know if the remuneration has changed since the NCAA took over ownership? I thought the NCAA might eliminate the NIT and expand the NCAA tournament.