Quality Is Job 1

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.

Okay, but since Brad Soderberg is the head coach, I accredit Billiken recruits to him.

Justin Johnson was the first recruit Soderberg signed. Anthony Drejaj was the first recruit to play for Soderberg. Dwayne Polk, Tommie Liddell, and Kevin Lisch were among the first recruits that Soderberg contacted/recruited. Yes, they were prior to Johnson, Drejaj, Ohanon, and Bryant, because Brad was out recruiting them while he was an assistant for Romar.

When Wisconsin lost to Michigan State in the Final Four, it held even the Spartans to less than 70 (less than 60?). It's not that this year's Billiken squad is anything close what Wisconsin was that year, but they should be able to hold most teams down just as the Wisconsin team under Bennett and Soderberg.

I'm not trying to jump on your case, but the story about Larry Hughes's triple-double has already been posted (twice) on the board.

Look Anthony Drejaj played 29 minutes. He's fourth on the team in minutes played. He started the first three games. It comes down to Drejaj versus Vas'shun Newborne. If Newborne deserves to start, Drejaj comes off the bench. I question the claim that Drejaj is the best defender on the team. There might not be anyone on the squad more committed to defense than AD, but that doesn't mean he's the best. He gets beat often.

Disclaimer: I apologize, in advance, if my observations/criticism (which can't and shouldn't be taken for gospel) offends the fans/relatives of individual players (or even the players, themselves, if they're reading), but this forum is for fans of the Billikens (and not necessarily just of individual players who play for the team) and this is my place to express my opinion. There may be some of you may be happy if one particular player gets significant time and plays well in a Billiken loss or unhappy if the Bills win but a particular player doesn't play or plays poorly and sits most of the game in which the Billikens win, but many of us don't give a hoot about individual performances and just want the team to win (with integrity). If I find fault with your friend/relative (or yourself), don't accuse me of hating; rather, tell that player to do what it takes to help the team win. The Billikens should be 3-1, at worst, right now (if they had won the first two games of the Paradise Jam, they probably would have lost to Arkansas). In general, the defense has been great (but there were some occasions yesterday, particularly in the second half, when Billiken guards lost their men at the top of the key or got picked off and Oral Roberts guards were able to drive down the lane for layups -- that's poor team defense). But the offense, while effective at getting good looks, has been lacking, as a result of failure to finish. The Bills missed SEVERAL shots within five or six feet of the basket. Many of the shots came up short or had no "touch." They seem to be too much into finesse; rarely does anyone go up determined to throw one down. Tom Frericks and Izik Ohanon are the worst offenders in that regard. The offense hasn't clicked; there isn't enough movement of either the players or the ball. There's rarely any inside-out play. There's too much one-on-one offense. Then again, I saw just one game. I liked what I saw against Truman, when Reggie Bryant was out of the lineup, but the offense seems stagnant when Bryant is playing, as if the players are depending on him too much. Leadership from the upperclassmen is the culprit, in my opinion. Ohanon has improved, and I'm pleased -- somewhat -- but he's still finessing the ball too often. I think he should be dominating. Frericks definitely should be dominating, but he's missing easy shots. Yesterday he had a three-footer that he shot two feet. Bryant seems to lack a take over mentality. Justin Love, Maurice Jeffers, and Marque Perry were all consistent, dominant, take-over-the-game players when they were seniors, especially when the game was on the line late. Josh Fisher had that characteristic to a lesser extent last year. When the chips were down, get them the ball late in the game, and they would come through more often than not. Bryant has the ability to do it, but so far he doesn't seem to have risen to the challenge. He seems to be more of a complimentary player this year than a dominant player. He'll get double-digit points during the midst of the game, but near the end of the game he's too exhausted to finish off the other team, and someone else has to step up. Erwin Claggett was sometimes the same way, but he had Highmark and Waldman (and Dobbs) who would share the burden of making the big play. Yesterday, it was Dwayne Polk who led the comeback when the Bills went down by eight. Actually, I would have preferred that he take the shot to win the game, but I understand that Bryant is supposed to be the go-to guy. Well, maybe in some instances, when possible, Polk should do it, if he can. There have been many times when a go-to player gets 20 during the game but a teammate who scores little steps up to score the game-winning basket. Don't get me wrong (I may not be saying this as eloquently as I would like), I like Bryant and expect him to lead the team in scoring, but I'm not sure he has the mindset to take over in the last minute -- at least not right now. I hope that changes between now and the end of the season. Vas'shun Newborne is something of an enigma right now. He was great in preseason practice and in the exhibitions, but he's been mostly a non-factor in the real games, particularly the game the Bills lost. He played just 10 minutes yesterday. I listened to a recording of the radio broadcast, and it seems that the cause of Newborne's lack of action was a matchup problem. He was playing defense against a smaller player, resulting in foul problems and the need to play a three-guard lineup (thus we saw Danny Brown early in the first half). Perhaps Newborne isn't as able to play defense on the perimeter as the coaches thought. For this team to win, Newborne has to contribute. One thing pops out at me when looking at the games the Bills have played this season: when Newborne contributes significantly, the Bills win, and when he doesn't, they lose. The other thing that stands out to me is that when Polk's shooting becomes a focal point of the offense, the team doesn't do as well as it does when when Polk's creating shots for teammates is a focal point of the offense. Again, I will admit that the sample size is small, but the Bills are 1-3 and are probably looking at a 7-6 non-conference record (providing they get their act together to win the remaining non-conference home games, including tough ones against Hawaii, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Dayton). In order to earn an at-large bid, they'll have to finish in the top four of Conference USA, something that will likely take a 12-4 conference record. I'm not throwing in the towel on the season, but this start has been extremely disappointing.

...who are criticizing posters' criticisms of individual players are fans of individual players much more than fans of the entire team. We know that brehms13 is Reggie Bryant's sister. It makes sense that her primary concern is Bryant's play. Herenow is, apparently, closely connected to Anthony Drejaj. It seems to me that, for Herenow, it doesn't matter what's going on with the Billikens, all that matter is that Drejaj is playing a lot (or starting, to be more accurate). I was at the game yesterday. I wasn't disappointed in Drejaj's play; however, my opinion -- and I made this remark to board friends I sat near -- is that when Tommie Liddell and Kevin Lisch next year, Drejaj will play little despite the fact that he will be a senior and brings much fire and competitiveness to the table. I love Anthony's tenacity, but his lack of athleticism is a detriment to the team defense. He gambles too much and is often out of position. He doesn't offer much offensively on a consistent basis, either. It's not that he doesn't try or that he isn't aggressive, but he just isn't explosive enough to create opportunities often enough. I like him being a spark off the bench and do not think he should be starting, relative to the other players on the team. On the other hand, Drejaj may deserve to start more than Bryant right now. Bryant is the established offensive star, but he hasn't been shooting well this year (so far -- there's been just four games) and has continued to force shots despite not knocking down the shots. His best shots yesterday come off of the motion, where he caught and shot, but when he tried to create, it didn't go off as well. Defensively, Bryant was poor, in my opinion. I didn't like his positioning. Lastly, on the last shot of the game, he had time to drive all the way to the hole (or at least further until the defense physically stopped him) for a layup or possible foul. The shot he took was pretty feeble. Everyone had some good moments, and everyone had some bad moments. The loss was a team loss. My disappointment was with the team, not with individual performances. For those of you who pay attention to the Billikens because you have a relationship with individual Billikens (much like I do with NBA teams featuring or including a former Billiken or Tiger) need to remember that most of us Billikens fans care about the team as a whole and are not necessarily going to coddle the player you're interested in.

I mentioned that after the Truman exhibition. It appeared to me that Polk was switching on screens, but Soderberg's principle is for players not to switch.

Missouri got smashed by Creighton, but SLU had opportunities to beat Austin Peay and Eastern Michigan.

My main beef with your claim that you are a Billikens fan is your claim, "...I think the MVC was a better option than the A-10+4 for many reasons (mainly that we could have owned it),..." I've never understood why it's okay for Marquette to dream big and join the Big East (while located smack-dab in the Midwest) while it would have been better for SLU to drop down to the Missouri Valley. If the MVC is a better option for SLU than the A-10, then the Horizon is a better option for Marquette than the Big East.