Quality Is Job 1

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We're frustrated, but you're technically correct. This Billikens squad is more talented than its record seems to indicate. Is it possible they've been playing to the level of their competition, somewhat? Will they play Gonzaga and Iowa close -- on the road? Can they get enough shots to fall to pull off a surprise in Conference USA? Is anyone confident enough that they'll do it? Two years ago, the Bills were langushing at 9-12 (or so) and went on an eight-game winning streak to earn an NIT bid (and were even on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament); it's still possible for the Bills to make some noise. Heck, until they're eliminated in the C-USA Tournament, there's always a chance for them to make the NCAA Tournament. However, with every loss (unless they go on an extende winning streak), the hope appears yet dimmer.

http://www.billikens.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/d...&conf=DCConfID1

I'm surprised that Romar would play Bennett; he told Frank on the air a few weeks ago, in response to Frank's question when Washington would play SLU, that he won't play SLU as long as Brad is there (here).

>Insert your own SLU offense comment here.;-) We do more before 6:00 than the Billiken do in two games!

...have the Billikens been involved in over the past three seasons for you to conclude that walk-ons don't play even then?

Two key words in my statement are "might" and "poor-man's." I'm aware that Johnson hasn't matched what Anthony Bonner did his first season. Some of that is because JJ has more talent and experience in front of him than Bonner did, and some of it is because JJ hasn't figured things out yet. He has the physical tools and skills to be a solid forward for the Billikens, but he's not ready mentally. I'm hoping he matures enough to fulfill his potential before he runs out of eligibility (or flunks out or decides to transfer/gets run off).

Justin Johnson might be the Billikens' poor man's Anthony Bonner.

Dwayne Polk is not left-handed, so if the defense lets him go to his strong hand, he should do so. I'm sure he can go the other direction, too, but he does most everything except shoot free throws and jumpers with his dominant hand.

it doesn't make sense to me to whip the crowd into a frenzy during the timeouts, because it doesn't carry over when play resumes. When commotion is approriate in accordance to the action on the court, THEN try to rev up the crowd. In general, I sit quietly during the timeout and start making noise when the action resumes.

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It's not that the Bilikens have to play in a new arena to win; rather, if they have an attractive on-campus facility in which they can control their dates and draw more students to the games to create a college-basketball atmosphere and appeals more to recruits than West Pine Gym/Bauman-Eberhardt Center, then the team will probably win more -- home and away.

...then why do almost all teams win more games in their own place than they do in other buildings?

I thought about mentioning Tomatillo, but decided not to. I highly recommend Tomatillo. I might try Qdoba, though.

While Reggie Bryant has been less than we expected so far, his performance yesterday portends better things. Izik Ohanon has done what we hoped for. That leaves Frericks. The coaches have said that this year hinges on what the seniors do. They said the seniors have to step up. Well, Frericks is averaging just 18.4 minutes, 4 points, and 5.2 rebounds per game and is shooting just 34.8 percent from the field. That's not "stepping up."

"What this team lacks, as was said earlier, is a leader such as Marque or Josh who could take us to victory in these tight games." Isn't that supposed to be Reggie Bryant's job? He's a senior and is a returning all-conference player. He had a good game yesterday and is still playing on a gimply ankle. Perhaps -- perhaps -- once he's healthy, he'll do what Josh Fisher, Marque Perry, Maurice Jeffers, and Justin Love used to do.

...but you wouldn't want it because of its bitter aftertaste. As far as what is wrong, there were 12 first-half turnovers and 10 missed layups. Furthermore, the Billikens are not aggressive enough offensively: they shot only eight free throws and didn't get into the bonus in the second half. It would have been nice if Dwayne Polk would have been going to the line after that late foul.

Norm Stewart probably would have recruited Troy Slaten to appease Kevin Slaten just as he recruited Pat Schumacher to recruit Pat's dad.

...are you talking about? http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/135309_concrete16.html Am I on the right track? If so, the answer to that hypothetical girlfriend's query is, "Heck no!"

They don't pay me enough. I agree that the site could be a lot better, but I doubt there's anyone in the district whose job is exclusively maintaining the district website. P.S., I don't know why you say, "You know more than I do probably about Web Design, and no offense but the site I found was pretty pitiful," because I have nothing to do with this district's website.

He coaches McCluer. I'm at McCluer South-Berkeley (commonly referred to by our old name, "Berkeley"). All three schools are in the same district.

...to be a Tiger. While Missouri is young (but talented) and inexperienced this year and has coach who may be on the hot seat, I don't think the Tigers will lose by anything so outlandish as 45 points to anyone. Now, they might lose by 30 to the most elite teams (Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma St., etc.), but I don't think they'll lose by 40. Also, they may give up 90 to 100 points to the best teams, but no one will go for 110 or more against them.

http://www.billikens.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/d...&conf=DCConfID1

The poster's intentions in posting the result of the Hawaii-SIU game was to let Billikens fans know how hard it will be for the Bills to beat Hawaii, not that SLU should be able to win in Carbondale.