Quality Is Job 1

SLU beat Iowa (not Indiana) in the NIT, completely invalidating your matchup math comparison. I won't argue that SLU had more quality wins than Mizzou, but SLU had no bad losses, while Mizzou did. You have to examine the whole resume. SLU's losing on the road at West Virginia and SMS does not compare to Mizzou's losing at home to Belmont. At least SLU won the games it was supposed to. Mizzou can't say the same. Kansas State -- more matchup math. Give me a break. SLU won, Mizzou won; that's all that matters. The 2004 Bills were superior (by a small margin) to the 2004 Tigers, but that shouldn't have been.

If he'd stayed around that long, he'd be who I'd want ANY YEAR.

Maybe Dave is talking about a player like Highmark, who was the second option behind Claggett. Highmark's scoring average was mid-teens, and he occasionally carried the team (particularly late in seasons when Clagg was all tuckered out from all the attention he got for 30 games), but he was still the second option. Reggie Bryant is SLU's primary scoring weapon, and I doubt there will be anyone who will surpass him this year. I guess I see Sheltie's point that Bryant would be better off if he were a secondary threat like Highmark was behind Claggett, but there's no one on the Billikens other than Bryant who can fill it up like Claggett could. Polk, as the point, probably won't fill that role this season. Ohanon hasn't been consistent enough, though he's capable. Frericks has to stay out of foul trouble, but even if he does he probably won't get enough touches to be the go-to guy (nor does he shoot free throws well enough). As I've said before, the Billikens ride Reggie's coattails this season.

Also, we don't really know about Danny Brown. He might be a threat. Darren Clarke will be a threat to hit from the perimeter. And -- drumroll -- Justin Johnson will be a threat. I don't know what JJ will do from three-point range, but he will knock down open jumpers.

I can't answer your question. Someone call 314-977-3170 Monday and ask what days and times the team gets together to "work out." I believe Coach Soderberg lets them do it a couple of times a week while school is in session.

It has been reported that, even though school resumed last week, scrimmaging wouldn't start until this week.

> Thicks ... I will have to disagree. I think the NBA does >need to change. IMO it is too crowded, the players are so >much bigger than when the game was designed. If you put Shaq >and Malone in the paint there is no room to get to the >basket without being clobbered. I understand that if we >would improve our skills, especially shooting that would >bring the defense out, but even then the size of the players >don'r allow the freedon of movement the game was designed to >have. At the lower levels it is not such an issue as the >players are not as big You're assuming that the only way to score is to get to the basket. That's not true. You're familiar with inside-out basketball, aren't you? Let's say Shaq and Malone are clogging the paint and a guard drives into the lane. Assuming the guy defending the guard follows him into the paint, then there could be four players on the perimeter guarded by just two defenders. If forwards and centers are skilled at shooting beyond 12 feet, then they could take advantage of Shaq and Malone hanging out in the point. Once they do, Shaq and Malone can't afford to hang out in the paint any longer, and the paint opens up. I stand by my statement that the NBA doesn't need to change -- just the players who play in the NBA. Just because a guy is 6-10 and 275 pounds doesn't mean he can't shoot a 17-foot shot. Everyone should develop as many baskeball skills as possible, regardless of height or position. One of the things that made Josh Fisher so effective was his ability to post up, despite the fact that he's just a 6-1 guard.

All foreigners aren't Europeans. Puerto Rico and Argentina aren't in Europe.

...is the players. The NBA doesn't need to change. Colleges don't need to change. High school coaches don't need to change. What needs to change is the players' attitude about the sport they play. I have no problem with the best athletes dominating basketball in the U.S. But just because they're the best athletes doesn't mean they should skimp on mastering the skills that are most important in basketball: shooting, ballhandling (passing, dribbling), and positioning (blocking out, moving feet on defense, staying between man and basket on defense, seeing ball and man, cutting without the ball). Coaches in the U.S. want to teach players those things, but players don't want to focus on those things -- just the wow plays that will get them on SportsCenter and And 1 highlight tapes.

>i didnt realize that. i guess they had to show on tape >delay so they could broadcast the precious noon news. the >fact is, had they shown the game live, the weather fiasco >doesnt even happen. and second, if the game is on tape, why >when they went back couldnt they have resumed action where >they cut in? now i am even more p!ssed off. > >frank, you need to talk to the knuckleheads down there. >they didnt show good judgement today on any of this. Roy, you're forgetting that while it's NBC showing the game on delay, KSDK is the local entity that needs to let it's local constituency know of a weather situation. Hey, I understand. I can't stand how they break into a program with a weather update. They need to come up with a way of splitting the channels so that one can record a program without the interruption and live viewers can see the updates -- kind of like how one can turn closed cationing on or off. People with TIVO or a VCR can record what they're watching and go back and see it without the interruptions and intrusive graphics. I'm sure we'll see it within 20 years. (Should I apply for a patent?)

There's a defensive three-second violation. A defender cannot occupy the paint for more than three seconds unless he's within arm's length of an offensive player. The NBA is still supposed to be driven by offense, so I guess that rule allows them to open up the floor more.

They did away with the illegal zone defense. I believe they've been allowing zone defenses for three years now.

Cheesycow, I'm sorry, but I must agree with the posters who said that hype had virtually nothing to do with Missouri's woes last season. The hype served to make it more miserable for Tigers fans, but the causes of Missouri's woes were poor coaching, the lack of a point guard, and the fact that the coach and top two players were probably a bit fatigued (mentally) as a result of their participation in the Pan Am Games failure. I, too, think Kevin Slaten and Mike Claiborne have made a good team on KFNS, albeit I haven't heard the show all week now that school has started back up, necessitating my return to work.

Wow. I wasn't expecting that. I'm expecting all the mags to have the Bills finishing 7th in Conference USA this year.

That would be Justin Love in Memphis circa March 2000 (sorry about actually having a basketball reference!) Hey, Alonzo, couldn't you have alphabetized your stuff? Drilliken - that would be A-bomb, right? Shrilliken - that would be Roy and any other Bills fan present when Reggie Bryant forgot to trim his toenails before that last shot against Arizona or when Marque Perry's shot against Tulane in the C-USA Tourney in 2002 was a heartbeat too late

Nark, I wouldn't do that if I were you, because the rules say that Billiken Club members get priority over non-members.

Gesundheit!

Sarafina? "The Monster at the End of This Book?" Anyone want to fill me in?

This is the most pointless thread since Rich's 1000th post on the other board.

In fairness to AJ, he never said that Tom Frericks isn't a good player or that, all things considered, Whaley is a better player than Frericks, What he was saying is that Whaley is more athletic than Frericks. Well, I still don't agree with AJ that Frericks is in the bottom half of the centers of C-USA in athleticism (and I haven't seen Whaley play, so I can't make a direct comparison, and I will avoid making racially-based stereotypes), I think we should resist stooping to AJ's level by twisting his words.

I don't have many thoughts about the Cusworth situation, but I can't buy this scenario.

I wasn't quoting Ramsey other than the indirect quote I put in the first sentence of the first full paragraph. Everything else was my opinion. I'm the one saying I'm not pencelling Brown into "my" rotation until I've seen him. Ramsey, though, must have heard that he's pretty good.

...SLU has gotten a good player in Danny Brown. Earlier in the show, Jay Randolph Jr. paid Brad Soderberg a compliment, and Rammer responded by saying that the player the Bills signed last week is a good player. I haven't heard anything else about it. Personally, I'm not expecting much from D. Brown, as he's an even later pickup than Anthony Drejaj was. Anything Brown gives the Bills is gravy, but I'm not pencilling him into my rotation projections until after I've seen him play.