Bay Area Billiken

Holding the home court is always very important in conference play. It can be done. If SLU can have Temple on the ropes on the road, then SLU can play with any team in this league. I, for one, do think it is good to have Coach Majerus back on the bench.

Agreed re LaSalle. LaSalle has a lot of talent. I don't know what's happened there, but that team is better than it has shown in A-10 play. I saw some of LaSalle largely outplay Villanova until the zebras took over that game at crunch time and basically handed the game to 'Nova.

St. Bona is where SLU needed the charter. If there is a limit, I'm surprised a charter was used for the Fordham game. NYC/Newark are easily accessible by commercial carrier. My recollection is that in the modern era, SLU's only win at St. Bona was actually in Rochester, not Olean. Olean has been a chamber of horrors for SLU, as has the Smith Center in D.C. And St. Bona is better now than some of the Bonnies' teams that beat SLU in the past. But there will be no concessions here. Every A-10 game is winnable.

First, I think SLU needs to hold the home court, which includes beating some good teams. Second, SLU needs to win at GW and/or St. Bona. URI, UMass, Duquesne, and Xavier at home will all be tough. But SLU was ahead of Duquesne on the road before that really bad lull. SLU at home can beat Duquesne IMO, as well as UMass. GW and St. Bona have both been tough venues for SLU in the past. Given the way SLU had Temple on the ropes, I'm not conceding any game in this league. So SLU needs to go 8-4 the rest of the way to finish the regular season at .500. 9-7 in the A-10 would get SLU at least a first round A-10 home game. If SLU can do all that, then the CBI or CIT will be there. I like the CBI with the HDNet national TV games, especially that the CBI gave SLU all those home games last year.

A bright note last night was the scoring from the two Aussies from the Land Down Under- 19 points between them, 5-7 on 3 pointers. And SLU received 25 points from the two from the Land of Lincoln (Cassity and Evans). A poster at www.fordhamfans.com noted that Coach Majerus arose from his seat and worked the refs after they had called so many fouls on SLU that Fordham was in the double bonus fairly early in the second half and after an especially bad call (probably the one that Bob Ramsey described). After that the foul situation became better for SLU. SLU went on a nice 12-0 run in the 3rd quadrant of the second half to take control of the game. Whoever decided to put this game at the Izod Center, as opposed to Rose Hill Gym, did SLU a favor.

SLU's RPI is 145, with a strength of schedule of 26. I am not dreaming here, and Pollyanna is not typing this. Post-season play is not entirely out of the question if SLU can build on this 2 game winning streak, reach or even closely approach .500. The CBI has taken a team (Oregon State) with a sub-.500 record. Post-season play per the RPI cuts off at RPI 130. SLU's prospects for making the A-10 Tournament look much better, given SLU's current 2-3 conference record and with 3 teams still winless in the league (LaSalle, which has talent, 0-4, Fordham 0-4, and St. Joe's 0-5). SLU is also now ahead of St. Bonaventure (1-3) and Charlotte (1-3). There are 8 teams in the league currently ahead of SLU. It would be good if SLU could get into the 5-8 spots to get an A-10 Tournament first round home game, and that is not out of the question, especially given that SLU has upcoming games with many of the teams it needs to beat to pass. What really hurts in the league is that Temple game, and I've read about what happened there. More wins are what SLU needs.

Gaston is a premier player and getting better.

www.fordhamfans.com

Amen! Lead is down to a single point.

Incredible. We saw St. Mary's host and defeat USF last Thursday night. The two guards are playing well, as is San Diego (USD) transfer Rob Jones, from SF Riordan HS. But I do wonder how SMC will fare in the NCAA Tournament against a team with big 4's and 5's, and also with tall guards. Still, SMC again appears to have quite a team in the WCC, right up there with Gonzaga. Portland is a factor too.

I think Evans is more of a tweener between a 3 and a 4, more of a 4 now, but with potential to be a 3. Jeff Harris was an undersized 4 in terms of height. I think Evans has a more fluid game. If his midrange game and outside shot improve over time, he could be a really good 3. He already is effective as a 6'5" 4. Thinking back, Evans may be more like a Quitman Dillard in terms of a similar player on the court. Evans had a very strong game yesterday, and as I thought during the non-conference season, I think he should be getting a lot of playing time.

A key Fordham freshman guard recruit, Lamount Samuell, recently received NCAA clearance, has played in Fordham's 3 conference games, all losses, and scored 11 points off the bench in yesterday's loss at Charlotte. Fordham has some good players, including Chris Gaston and Brenton Butler, also Alberto Estwick. If the SLU team that showed up at Temple and yesterday against St. Joe's appears in The Meadowlands, then SLU should win. SLU is catching a break, I think, by the game being at the Izod Center in the New Jersey Meadowlands, as opposed to Rose Hill Gym on the Fordham campus in The Bronx. Rose Hill Gym can be a raucous place, as St. John's learned in this season's upset loss to Fordham. Fordham's new Coach, Tom Pecora, is a good coach. He had success at Hofstra.

If cleared by the NCAA to play before this week's Fordham game or the following game against URI, then my opinion is KM should play this year and not redshirt. Reasons are multiple, including for the player himself, this year's team, and the SLU Basketball Program.

Another team in the West, former SLU Coach Lorenzo Romar's Washington Huskies don't play a slow down game either. UW was ranked 17th before losing at Stanford last night. I might go see them play Sunday night v. Cal in Berkeley. Is it cast in stone that the SLU team must be defense first, conservative on offense? Really, it's been that way just about as long as I've followed the team, with some variances in terms of SLU teams that could points on the board, mostly under Coach Spoonhour. One of the greatest nights of my Billiken fandom was when SLU blew out Cal in St. Louis under Spoon. One of the Old Blues was on my case the next morning, claiming the Billikens were shooting 3 pointers with a 20 point lead against his beloved Golden Bears.

You've got a point re the East-West. Yes, I see these teams run out here, get up and down the floor. And I wonder why our SLU team can't do that. I might be thinking with my heart more than my head, but I still really think our talent at SLU is as good as a team like St. Mary's. And yet they win playing in a 3,500 seat/bleacher de facto high school gym, they go to the NCAA, even make the Sweet 16 last season, and we get The Situation and then debate our plight on this Board. Randy Bennett was Lorenzo Romar's "Defensive Coordinator" at SLU. He has done a truly remarkable job at SMC, taking over a team that was at the bottom of the bottom. His teams play an exciting brand of basketball, caught the national attention last season. I don't see why SLU isn't ahead of a St. Mary's.

At this point, I'll settle for some zone defense against selected teams that can't hit outside shots- like Bowling Green. I watched that game, and am admittedly just a fan. But that one screamed out to me for a zone. Ironically, Bowling Green played a zone against SLU. On offense, I'd like a little more dribble penetration from the guards. This ball screen offense seems good in theory. But the problem is the shooting woes. I'll table my request for more up tempo for now, if we can get some minimal tinkering. I'm not saying to scrap the systems completely. Also, my recollection is that Majerus' Utah teams scored points, didn't slow the ball down that much- save and except for the 48-45 NCAA Tournament victory over SLU in Cleveland in SLU's last NCAA Tournament appearance. I was at that one. SLU largely lost that game at the free throw line, going something like 9-22. What else is new?

So do we just grin and bear it, lose 20+ games, not make the A-10 Tournament, and chalk it all up to experience? Not me, I'm getting too old for this perpetual wait until next year stuff. I think the players might well do better playing more up tempo. A guy like Mike McCall has high school experience playing that way. Coach Majerus said in the off-season that he wanted to play more up tempo. But the existing players seem to be bogged down in the system. Again, I support the Coach. I want him to succeed. But thanks to The Situation, this team is struggling. Why not do some tinkering with the offensive and defensive systems? How can that hurt? It might help. What do we have to lose?

Playing more up tempo gives less time for overthinking, which might help the shooting.

Last year was a horse of a different color- we had KM and WR, huge difference. I'm just asking at this point if some adaptation in the offensive and defensive systems is needed to the existing personnel in place. Coach Majerus adapted some in Year 1. Somewhat OT- I'm just back from USF at St. Mary's in Moraga. SMC won 71-57. The teams were going up and down. There was scarce shot clock milking. Most of the game a shot clock was not needed, especially for St. Mary's. If a guy on St. Mary's had an open shot, he fired it up there. Watching these teams, and St. Mary's is at minimum a bubble NCAA Tournament team, I couldn't help but think that our SLU team has better talent. But their Aussies seem to play better playing an up tempo game. I think our Aussies, most especially Cody Ellis, and the Kiwi, Rob Loe, are better, but the results say otherwise. I think SLU should keep Cody Ellis in that lineup and let him play, as in 30+ minutes per game, if not more, especially with the current roster. Last year in the CBI, when Cody seemed physically spent, SLU moved him inside, and he was very effective playing down low. Perhaps that's another change that could be made. And I'm an offensive proponent first, offense over defense in my book. If you can't score, you can't win, irrespective of how great you are playing defense. Also, play some zone and this 9 or 10 man roster is not as spent at crunch time, and you don't get burned by guards in dribble drive penetration that can't hit outside shots, as in a lousy Bowling Green team. That one still makes me cringe. If there ever was a need for a zone, it was that debacle.

First, I remain a Coach Majerus supporter. He certainly knows much more about basketball than me, a mere fan of the game, as my coaching experience consists of 5 years in the CYO. But how about retooling this SLU offense? Evidently due to The Situation, the existing players are struggling playing this offense. How about a little one on one, dribble penetration by McCall and Jett? The current offense has morphed into the dreaded Shot Clock Expiration Offense, a staple of SLU Basketball since before there even was a shot clock, going at least back to yours truly's SLU undergraduate days under Ekker. And while we're at it, may I renew my request for the playing of some zone defense, especially against teams with quick dribble penetration guards that are challenged in outside shooting? Why not? At least SLU could have the zone as part of the defensive arsenal. I definitely hope Coach Majerus stays, even if, given current circumstances, I don't agree with his complicated system on offense, especially with existing players that can't play it, nor his total reliance on the man to man defense. SLU right now just doesn't have the horses for either. Sure the defense looks good on the stats sheet in terms of points allowed, but guards can drive on SLU, and there's no Willie in the back to block their layups. The pass the ball around the perimeter offense may be playing a role in those defensive stats by limiting opponents' possessions. People are on Majerus for his recruiting. But earlier, before The Situation, people said the talent level at SLU is at an all-time high. It's hard to tell, but the existing team is really struggling. I think there is talent there, but the team is without its 2 best and important players. As for the existing team, it's almost like the Yogi Berra line that you can't hit and think at the same time. Similarly, you can't shoot and think at the same time, and from what I've seen lately, these SLU players are thinking too much, playing like robots. Just go out there and play the game; for SLU that must be easier said than done. But I watch these teams out here like USF, certainly no power, and tonight I'm planning to see USF play at St. Mary's, which has a strong team. There is no such thing as the Shot Clock Expiration Offense out here. These teams get up and down the floor and shoot the ball. One thing I told the CYO kids, if you don't shoot, you can't score, and if you can't score, you can't win. I'm almost ready for some of the Guy V. Lewis approach, to "throw out the basketballs and let the boys play." We used to hear under Ekker that SLU couldn't play that way because we would get blown out. What difference does it make if you are losing anyway? Maybe it would do some good to loosen up the troops, lighten the load, take off some pressure.

Agreed. Somehow SLU needs to get over that hump, get the job done at crunch time. It's become a broken record for me, but that's Kwamain Time. I'm sure Austin Peay and Georgia would have been wins. SLU led almost the whole game against Georgia.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I think what SLU really needs is a win, some way, somehow. Winning cures a lot of ills. The team is snakebitten. I really don't think it's a complete lack of talent. Rather, I agree that it concerns the intangibles, and of course, The Situation. I do agree with others that some changes to the offense are warranted. And I've advocated playing some zone defense. St. Joe's at Chaifetz Arena is next on the docket, and that's a good place to reverse the current trend.

Is there any new news from DuBourg Hall? Free Willie. We are getting back our floor general, at least at some point. Now we need to get back our shot blocker, our Enforcer, our Goalie, our last line of defense.

Keep the redshirts in the closet in mothballs. Now Free Willie!

Based upon the circumstances and what has happened to this year's team, my opinion is that blaming Majerus is barking up the wrong tree. Who exactly would SLU ever get that is any better? Answer: No one. Majerus is a future Hall of Fame coach.