Quality Is Job 1

Well, while it remains to be seen what will happen, I think there's a pretty good chance that Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch will both average at least 10 points per game. However, I expect Liddell to get at least 10 per game but don't expect Lisch to do so. Kevin is still coming off of a knee injury which will limit his speed and explosiveness somewhat, so it won't be as easy for him to create shots some games. And then there will be some games when his jumper isn't falling. I think he'll average just short of 10.0, but I wouldn't mind being wrong. How many players will average double digits for this team? There were two each of the last two years. I don't know if we can expect much more than that this year. The Bills scored about 63 points per game two years ago and around 56 last year. In 2003-04 (63 ppg), there were almost three double-figure scorers (Chris Sloan fell 10 points short, because he shot poorly during the postseason tourneys -- though he led the team in rebounding during that stretch). I think that the Bills may approach that this year: around 60 ppg and two double-digit scorers with one just short of 10.0. It's just that I expect Ian Vouyoukas to be the player joining Liddell scoring in double figures. Now, the 2006-07 season is the one I'm looking forward to. That year the Bills should be able to score 70 per game and have three or four double-figure scorers (if three, then at least one with an average above 15).

I was there. The Stars (featuring Cusworth, Darren Brooks, and Matt Baniak) beat East Side by about 15. They played better as a team.

I'm sorry, but I don't remember anybody by that name. If Ricky Williams played for Charlie Spoonhour, it would have had to have been at Southwest Missouri or at UNLV.

I said I'm fascinated, not perfect.

Don't look at it as an attack. It's just that I'm a writer and a person fascinated with American English homophones and other American English complexities.

But they're talking about pulling an offer because the recruit comes up short in academics or is a bad citizen. I'm sure most coaches can understand that. They're not talking about pulling an offer because the recruit doesn't develop athletically. Perhaps the main reason for not extending a formal offer so early is the possibility of career-damaging injury. It's possible to recruit/be on a player for a long time but wait to extend the offer until his junior year to see what he'll do academically.

UALR's arena has 6,000 seats, SLU's is expected to have 13,000. I imagine that accounts for much of the cost difference. Also, there's a big difference between developing property in Little Rock and developing it in St. Louis.

Doesn't U.S. Cellular already have a sports building somewhere in the country named after it?

Isn't the last Billiken to complete an alley-oop dunk Jason Edwin in the 2001-02 season?

dewey33 was responding to Metz but clicked the reply link in the wrong message.

I don't listen to Demetrious Johnson's SportsWave program very often, but from when I did listen during the last basketball season, it became obvious to me that DJ had turned on Quin Snyder last year. I think his primary bone of contention was how Linas Kleiza was selfish and how Thomas Gardner had be elevated over Jimmy McKinney. DJ's exhorting McKinney to take more of the scoring load onto his own shoulders is nothing new. That was happening during the season. I won't be surprised if DJ doesn't spend airtime blasting Brad if Dwayne Polk is passing up shots while Ian Vouyoukas and Kevin Lisch are two of the top two or three scorers this season or next (I'm not saying that's what I think will occur on the team -- just how Johnson would react if it were to occur). P.S., I said to ask aj_arete because he had running debates with DJ on the air. The poor guy can't get anyone to see things the way he sees it (or is he playing devil's advocate?).

The thing that players like Donnie Dobbs, David Robinson, and Jeff Harris had against them is that, though they played inside and could shoot some from outside, they didn't meet 3star's criteria of being around 6-8.

I didn't get to see a lot of Bonner's games, but I recall he had a decent jumper out to 17 feet -- kind of like Izik Ohanon.

Well, I edited my post to factor Jumpin Jamal out of the equation (but it was too late for you, as you'd already read the unedited post), since I remembered that he didn't shoot much from outside. However, even though you don't recall, Matt Baniak surprised me as a senior by knocking down some threes late in the season. I believe he hit about three from beyond the arc, on his way to 24 points, in a win over Charlotte at Savvis. He did what we expect Chris Braun to do. I'll grant you, though, that MB didn't have many back-to-the-basket moves.

>When's the last time we had a 6'8 240 lb forward with a >legitimate post up game and a jump shot? I'm thinking >never. Not to take away from anything you've said about Obi Ikeakor, I'd like to submit Matt Baniak's name as such a forward. If you won't accept him, then Anthony Bonner.

Or perhaps he's the mascot's fanner.

>>First, the Atlantic 10 is a good mid-major conference, but Saint Louis won't have to face the likes of Louisville, Cincinnati, Marquette and DePaul anymore. DePaul???? DePaul didn't/doesn't scare us. The Billikens have won more than they've lost against DePaul lately. Also, Marquette hasn't intimidated the Billikens since Dwayne Wade left. Aren't the Bills 2-2 against Marquette since their Final Four run? >>And the loss of Bryant will be eased by the arrival of Tommie Liddell from Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy. Many believe that Liddell is the best SLU recruit since current NBA player Larry Hughes. If he's nearly that good, fellow incoming freshmen Kevin Lisch and Obi Ikeakor both have healthy knees, and the young returning players get better as expected, then the Billikens could enjoy a bounce-back year this winter. On the other hand, if the win-loss record doesn't show marked improvement, then Soderberg will likely be shown the door. What's "marked improvement"? If "marked improvement means more than winning three more games (which would take the Bills from 9-21 to 12-18 &l;or 11-17, since they'll be playing fewer games&r;), then I suspect Coach Soderberg's days must be numbered (if the writer of the story is correct). However, I feel that Brad has more time than that to effect a turnaround, considering that his contract extension was one of Cheryl Levick's first priorities before last season. He's going to get at least three full seasons under Levick before she would consider making a change. And I think the Bills will be NCAA bound in 2007.

>SLU Education w/ Grad School -- $ 150K >Humphrey's Weekly Excusion -- $ 32 >Late night run to Del Taco -- $ 7.50 >Billiken's fan for life -- PRICELESS! Please, say "Billikens fan for life...," with no apostrophe.

Rich, even you have more of a life than that! :-)

Hmm. I thought Izik Ohanon, with the most total points and rebounds, had a pretty good season. Sure, he wasn't all-league, but you can't say "zero production"! Or did you mean we have zero production returning at the four?