Quality Is Job 1

...wouldn't it be great if, after the Bills make it to the Sweet Sixteen (and perhaps beyond), the Blues would make the NHL Final Four in May, the Cards would win the Series in October, and the Rams would reach the Super Bowl in the ensuing January? Were that to happen, St. Louis would undoubtedly again be The Sporting News' No. 1 city. (I hold out no hope for this city's getting an NBA franchise any time soon.)

Taj, I agree with you here. I agree that Billikens fans should expect SLU to go to the NCAA Tournament more times than not (I guess that's at least six times in 10 years?), and I agree that our optimism for this season should be heavily guarded -- at least at this pre-natal juncture. My bones of contention with you earlier in this thread were your interpretation of Bernie's Bits' making the SLU program look small-time and your notion that you'll probably never see SLU make the Sweet Sixteen (let alone the Final Four) within the next 40 years or so. What I was referring to as "Lilliputian" was the never-in-40-years notion, not the fact that we shouldn't expect too much of the 2003-04 team just yet. I just think we should be sure what the heck we're fighting for.

I think you're being unfair to Stipo. He was a pretty good NBA center until his knee injury.

>I reread it ..... and I still think that subtly, we are >being called a "mom and pop" organization that hasn't done >much more than squat for the last 50 years or so. "I reread it." You read and reread what? Billikenbooster's post, or Bernie Miklasz's column? If you just read what Billikenbooster nicely copied and pasted for us, then I can see why you might (might) get the wrong impression about Miklasz's intent and tone. If you haven't done so already, I suggest you read the Bernie Bits column and get the context and flavor. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/co...'+from+La+Russa You'll see that the second paragraph in Billikenbooster's post actually came first, under "Reading Time, Five Minutes." The first paragraph of Billikenbooster's post came a couple of paragraphs later, under "The Nice Section." In "The Nice Section," Miklasz "advertises" upcoming events. In "Reading Time," Miklasz mentions things he thinks are noteworthy (but not worthy of a full column or news story) in seemingly random fashion. Still, these "bits" are usually from an outside source; they're not something he made phone calls to find out. >Is this fatalistic? Maybe .... I still believe that I won't >see SLU in a Sweet Sixteen, much less a Final Four, in my >lifetime. And I'm still figuring on being around another 40 >or so years. Brad has a huge challenge in front of him ... If this is how you really feel, then maybe the problem is you and SLU fans who think like you do more than it is how the local and national media portray the SLU program. First of all, making the Sweet Sixteen isn't so improbable. All it requires is two wins in the NCAA Tournament. A good team can do it; much depends upon the team's draw. The 1998 Billikens squad could very well have made the Sweet Sixteen had one of two things happened: 1) they had played a little better during the non-conference regular season (particularly the San Juan Shootout -- or whatever exempt tourney they were in) or the C-USA Tournament and earned a better seed than No. 7 or 2) they had drawn someone other than Kentucky (which went on to win the Championship) in the second round. The 1995 Billikens squad could very well have made the Sweet Sixteen, also, if they had drawn a team other than Wake Forest (with Tim Duncan and Randolph Childress) in the second round. If anybody had known who Joe Smith was and/or what to do with him, then maybe the 1994 Billikens squad could have won two NCAA Tournament games. I know it didn't happen, but the Bills have been close enough to the Sweet Sixteen for me to expect it to happen one of these years (within the next five years -- or fewer). Second, while it takes more talent and more luck to make the Final Four than the Sweet Sixteen, I think the 2004-05 Billikens might not be more than two players away from having the talent to do so. They'd have to be great players, sure, but you just never know until the time comes. Heck, sometimes it takes just one more player (of a Carmelo Anthony caliber). Lastly, don't overestimate the differences among being a Final Four team, a Sweet Sixteen team, and a team that just gets left out of the Tournament. Marquette made the Final Four this past season (thanks to Dwayne Wade), but the Golden Eagles almost didn't make it to the Sweet Sixteen because Missouri darn near took them out. But Missouri almost didn't make it to the second round because Southern Illinois game the Tigers a mighty scare. Besides that, had Missouri not beaten Oklahoma in Columbia, they might have been left out of the Tournament. I believe SLU can do it, but it doesn't help if the program's own fans make a Liliputian out of it.

Well, Missouri's Derek Grimm did have a cup of coffee in the NBA a few years back, so I guess there's some chance that Chris Braun could get a pre-season or summer league look -- he's a 6-10 player with a good perimeter jumpshot. Would you please let us know where you got that from?

Either you're being way too sensitive or you have a chip on your shoulder. Bernie Miklasz typically doesn't do anything but pass along "bits" that were given to him. In the case of the first bit, someone from the Cardinals probably gave him that information. There's no question that the Cardinals should honor Ed Macauley. Just as St. Louis will never forget Stan Musial, it should never forget Macauley. It doesn't matter who came along afterward or who didn't come along. In the case of the second bit, someone from Saint Louis University -- likely someone in Brad Soderberg's office -- passed along that information to Miklasz. Then your criticism is not of Miklasz, but of Coach Soderberg or the university. I applaud SLU for presenting the event as a family affair. Build the relationship with the community by emphasizing family. In other words, I think it's just you.

I hope you're right, but, like Roy, I think that the heart and soul of the team departed with Marque Perry and Kenny Brown. You can't replace heart-and-soul overnight, and you certainly can't do it on paper (or with stats).

>"Considering that Kenny Brown was a good athlete, I'm not >sure the Billikens make up much ground in frontcourt >athleticism." > >Kenny Brown was not a good athlete. He was slow and had a >terrible vertical. His strength was, literally, his >strength. If Brown was slow, then prepare yourself for a long, long year. When I watched practice last fall, Brown won the suicides among bigs. He may not have been world-class, but he was certainly not slow: he could get up and down the floor. Now if what you mean by "slow" is that he didn't have any quick post moves, then I agree. Furthermore, I think his vertical leap was average, not terrible. Brown is a good athlete. (That doesn't say "great.") I think Justin Johnson is a better athlete, but not by a whole lot.

>If I remember correctly Thicks predicted a 20+ win season >last year with a NCAA birth...Here's to hoping you are wrong >again. Considering how far off base my pre-summer and preseason projections for 2002-03 were, I certainly can't guarantee I'll be right on point with my projections in 2003-04. It is how I see things, however.

>I disagree. Marquee and Kenny meant everything to that team >last year, but I believe we WILL be better this year for the >following reasons: > >1)Most of the team has had one year of practice in >Soderbergs system; that alone will improve our play at the >beginning of the year. I will grant you this; I hope it means something. Soderberg's system wasn't that much different from Lorenzo Romar's -- defensively. The offense was different, and the team struggled to put up enough points to win. There was virtually no interior scoring in 2003, and I've seen little to make me think it will improve in 2004. In 2003 the offense began and ended with Marque Perry, and there's no one returning who I think is a lock to average double figures. How much better will the team be if the offense begins and ends with Reggie Bryant? >2)Sloan/Drejaj: Sloan's offense really came together towards >the end of the season. With the summer to work on shooting >and having confidence as a senior will add to his offensive >production. Drejaj played very well for a freshman and I >think he will only get better. Chris Sloan and Anthony Drejaj REALLY benefitted from the attention that Perry drew. Will they thrive if they are the offensive focus? I don't think they are that type of athlete. (I think Drejaj has more promise in such a role than Sloan, but there's not much hope on my part of either averaging more than about 10 ppg.) >3)Overall athleticism is significantly improved. Bryant, >Johnson, and Clarke are reportedly very athletic. This >athleticism, IMO, can only help this team out. I believe the overall athleticism will be better, but not as significantly as you think. Reggie Bryant's athleticism will compensate for the loss of Marque Perry's quickness. Justin Johnson is a good athlete, not a great athlete. He's probably about as athletic as Justin Tatum, not Kelly Thames (before his knee injury). Considering that Kenny Brown was a good athlete, I'm not sure the Billikens make up much ground in frontcourt athleticism. Therefore, the primary boost to overall athleticism is the replacement of Drew Diener by Darren Clarke. The problem is that Clarke will be a freshman, and I will expect less of Clarke as a freshman than what we got out of Diener as a senior. >4)Although KB was our rebounding and post-defense machine, I >think with the added athleticism and offensive fire power, >we will be able to negate his loss. Rebounding has been a weakness for the Billikens since the departures of Matt Baniak, Chris Heinrich, and Justin Tatum. I like Brown, but he wasn't a dominating rebounder. And Tom Frericks might be able to match his rebounding numbers. That won't be enough to keep the Bills from getting pounded on the glass. Unless the combination of Johnson, Izik Ohanon, Sloan, and whichever of the recruited big men (between Ian Vouyoukas and Bryce Husak) plays proves to be effective at rebounding on defense, look for the Bills to be eaten up on the glass again. Take heart, though, because during the Billikens' eight-game winning streak, they were outrebounded every time -- sometimes by as many as ten boards (the loss to South Florida before the streak and the loss to UAB after the streak saw the Bills outrebounding their opponent; they were even in rebounding with Minnesota). >Obviously this means nothing until we see the first >practice, but I think we could have a half-way exciting >season ahead of us. The thought I have is that it will be like the 1990-91 season.

Coach Brad Soderberg said that he will explore using Izik Ohanon as a 3 on offence and a 4 on defense, which would cause him to have to use Chris Sloan as a 4 on offense and a 3 on defense. He believes that Ohanon's skills as a slasher make him more effective coming from the wing rather than being on the blocks, but he suspects he would be unable to play effective defense on the perimeter. That's the reason for the switching. But that will only occur when the two are in the game at the same time. Will the same thing happen when Ohanon is in the game but Justin Johnson is the other forward? We've heard that Johnson is athletic, but can he chase around an opponent's wing player? I'm not sure, yet, how much clock Ohanon will get. Right not it appears that the team is strongest at the guard positions (Brandon Morris, Josh Fisher, Reggie Bryant, Anthony Drejaj, Darren Clarke, and perhaps even Floyd McClain will log time), and I don't know how Soderberg will be able to not play a three-guard lineup most of the time. If Ohanon is effective, then Soderberg will have a pleasant dilemma.

>If Coach wants wings who can shoot, dribble and pass, that's >all the more reason it's a blessing Drew is gone. > >The numbers don't lie. Edwin was a far superior player to >Diener in every aspect, including shooting - look at the >3-point shooting percentages. Are you being sarcastic? 2000-01 - Diener shot 39.3%; Edwin 44.4% 2001-02 - Diener shot 42.3%; Edwin 37.9% Considering that each played nearly equal minutes per game (though not necessarily games) each of those two seasons together and that they both played more in 2002 than 2001, the numbers are virtually equal. How do these statistics support your claim that Jason Edwin was *far* superior to Drew Diener in shooting? (This is not a comment, in agreement or disagreement, with any other claim or insinuation in your post.)

I have to agree with Roy. I hope that Darren Clarke is an "overachiever" and plays a lot as a freshman. I think that Anthony Drejaj may have already "overachieved" yet could still blossom, ala Maurice Jeffers. I agree with the concept that we would like all SLU players to be athletically gifted. However, it would also be nice if the players that come to SLU also work hard to fulfill their potential and bust their tails to EXTEND that potential.

I noticed "recruiting" as I was reading through this series of posts the second time to see what the responses were, but when I read it the first time and responded to it, I missed that word. I guess I was tired then.

>Remember these guy are growing up, that has to be the scary >thing about recruiting, a coaches career is dependent upon >the decisions made by a bunch of 16 and 17 year olds. I don't think the youngest players on the team are 16 or 17. More likely, they're 18 and 19. Maybe an occasional freshman is 17. I agree with your point that the players are young men who need to mature, but it's not THAT bad (I work with high-school kids from 14 to 19 years of age).

I believe that's what we're expecting out of Tom Frericks. Personally, I'd like the standard to be 8-plus rebounds per game.

I love Jimmy McKinney, and I hope he stays at Mizzou and helps that program get to the Final Four and win a National Championship, and I think he's got the potential to be a very good player at Mizzou, having a career among the top five to ten guards. Nevertheless, McKinney was not an elite recruit. He was not a Top 10 or Top 20 recruit. Nor, obviously, was he a national freshman of the year type. (If you made me pick Larry Hughes or McKinney, I'd take Hughes before you could even get the Mac out of your mouth.) The thing that Jimmy needs to realize is that just because you weren't an elite recruit doesn't mean that you can't become an elite player (and on the flip side, some extremely highly-touted recruits never become elite players -- I seem to remember that Travon Bryant was a McDonald's All-American, but I've yet to see him consistently perform at a level that proves he deserve(d/s) that honor). McKinney should allow Coach Snyder's (probably) unintended slight to motivate himself to demonstrate that, though he may not have been an "elite" recruit, he will be an elite player. And he should do it at Mizzou. Of course, I wouldn't be at all mad if he would decide to transfer to SLU (you'll recall that that's where I wanted him to go in the first place).

Whenever you want to see a list of the top posters, go to the lobby (pull-down menu at the bottom of the main board page). Then click the "check who's online" link. Then, under "Sort by which field?" choose "Sort by posts." Then select "Check last month" from the pull-down menu under "Select another time range." Then click go, and you will get a relatively accurate list of the top posters (and everyone else who's checked in in the last 30 days). Here are the Top 20 posters (who've visited in the last month): billiken_roy Jun-02-03 03:23Â PM 2865 Triangle andToo Jun-01-03 00:36Â AM 1050 Schasz May-20-03 08:03Â PM 709 Basketbill Jun-02-03 12:06Â PM 583 thetorch Jun-02-03 07:29Â PM 574 aj_arete Jun-02-03 11:04Â AM 546 thicks Jun-02-03 08:10Â PM 546 davidnark Jun-02-03 08:54Â AM 531 DeSmetBilliken May-30-03 02:15Â PM 513 jjray Jun-02-03 02:41Â PM 432 3star_recruit May-31-03 08:09Â AM 422 BLIKNS May-30-03 11:31Â PM 381 SluSignGuy Jun-02-03 05:49Â PM 363 TheA_Bomb May-21-03 10:06Â AM 328 Billiken Law Jun-02-03 06:17Â PM 322 Taj79 Jun-02-03 07:58Â AM 297 Billiken Rich Jun-02-03 10:53Â AM 294 slu72 Jun-02-03 10:47Â AM 246 BigMacSLU88 May-29-03 03:28Â PM 241 UNCA SODABERGER May-17-03 05:14Â PM 226 Torch, you are No. 5. I move into sixth place by myself with this post. I used to be third, but during the season I was busy working two jobs, and people passed me. Or should I say I used to have a life?

Don't be fooled. There's no such thing as "basketball-only." SLU, et al, are not "basketball-only" schools. Rather, they are non-football schools. All of the conferences and conference realignments everyone has been talking about are for all sports. It's just that the one many of us are pining for would be made of non-football schools. It would be a great thing for SLU if the Big East non-football schools merged with SLU, Marquette, DePaul, Charlotte (and maybe also Xavier and Dayton from the Atlantic 10). Short of that, I'd rather see the Billikens as part of C-USA, because conferences without football will be minor (okay, okay: mid-major) players in the NCAA unless schools like Georgetown, St. John's, and Villanova are involved.

The article refers to the speculation that Syracuse will likely leave the Big East for the ACC. >>Too bad Syracuse won’t be around to play Pitino’s Cards every year. As one Big East insider said of the move to the ACC by Miami, SU and Boston College, "It’s a done deal." >>The stench is beginning to make me sick to my stomach. You’ll pardon me; time to get acquainted with my map of Tobacco Road.

The Big XII has north and south divisions yet works very well. The standings may not be divided, but the schedule is. Mizzou, Kansas, Iowa State, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas State play a double round-robin and play one game against each of the other teams: Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. They have only been the premier league in the country for the past two years.

I don't know what Coach Soderberg said about Darren Clarke, but if he did say that he will be a difference maker, then what I'd like to envision is that, by the time he is a junior or senior, he'll be a dangerous scorer who can get his and help his teammates get some, too -- someone who makes his teammates better. I'm not, however, expecting waves from him in 2003-04.

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Please note that I didn't say SLU couldn't or shouldn't have ANY lumbering giants manning the interior position; I just said that there should be more players in those positions that are long, lean slashers. Also, for a four or five, "slashing" doesn't have to mean driving from 15 feet (a la Izik Ohanon); it could be a quick move in the lane or a reverse -- like a Nick Collison or Jared Jeffries.