SLUBandTBone

Don't forget to have Tom and Ian shoot over and over from 2 feet in.

Point taken.

"yes, our guards havent shot well. but making 20 footers is a far more challenging task than 5 footers. and while i am sure we all hope that our guards start making more, it should be expected that ian and frericks shoot at 50% or better considering the range of the shots they shoot." I'd love for eveyone on the team to shoot better but in Ian and Tom's defense it's not that easy to shoot from five feet. Most of the time guards and such get to shoot decently clear shots with one man on them. Or drive with the basket in their mind the whole time. Ian and Tom are having to take shots with guys bangin' all over them and only seeing the basket on the pivot or through a couple of guys. It'd be interesting to see how shooting percentages comare for good college bigs and their guard counterparts.

Shoot, if I'd had known I could have my cake and eat it too like Sign Guy I would have gone to KU long ago! Congrats though, they came out of seemingly nowhere.

The scenery isn't super great but the games are a ton of fun. I went to a bunch this year and the heckling of women's volleyball is a little differnet than the hockey I'm used to but still, a great time. And on top of that, there were about 5 tall girls in tight shorts each night and a 6' 3" guy like me can't pass that up! SLU volleyball is underrated for a spectator sport and really isn't too terribly bad in the CUSA.

While we may not have the senior leadership that we had in Sloan and Fish I think that Tom will be able to fill in that spot. We talked all last year about how much intensity he brought to the court when he was in and the fire it gave the other players. I mean, how can a guy playing with a separated shoulder not make you want to rise to the challenge? You do raise a good point about being a little short on defense, I can believe that. But Brad has always been able to inspire defensive production. All the way back to his days at Wisconsin his teams have been very strong defensively. I don't think that is because he had to because his players weren't as athletic as the current team. You have to be smart and athletic to play D, it's just an over looked part of the game. The other thing that I think will be a difference this year is the speed that we will be able to play the game. Brad keeps saying that he wants to be more of a fast break team and with his players finally starting to imerge we (hopefully) will be seeing a more high-octane offense. I'm pumped about this year and I just can't wait for out big games against UMSL and Truman in the next couple of weeks!

Now if we can keep those annoying girls away we need to make sure the guy we had before them doesn't come back. It could just be me but everytime I saw him I wanted to give him a pair of cufflinks and a personality.

I'm in the band and I hate to confirm it but there generally is a negative vibe through the band. It definately kills some of the preseason excitement but some of them are starting to come around. I know for myself that I joined the band b/c I'd get to go to all the games, possibly travel, and they pay me. It's definately not b/c I'm a huge band fan, just a SLU hoops fan. It's also tough getting the typical SLU student out and hyped about the games b/c of where SLU is. Most stutdents come from the StL area where MU and Illinois have been perenailly solid, not to mention the kids from Kansas. That's just because SLU isn't a major power, yet. But I have a buddy who's an officer in the Blue Crew and he said that he's received e-mails from 300 people who want to be in the Blue Crew. If that's not exciting I don't know what is. So get amped about SLU hoops and don't let the haters get you down.

Thanks for the link to the pics. There are some really good ones especially of the seniors. Last time in Billiken blue.

They are also offering $1 beers or "BEvERages" as they put it.

I saw Tom today in the student union and he wasn't wearing his sling. That and he seemed to be getting his muffins and carrying his books at the same time just fine. Now if he can play basketball as is...

I went to the tailgate party last night and it was pretty well atteneded. There were probably around 100 kids there, I'm not sure though, I'm not very good at estimating, but there were a lot. The only downside was that they ran out of pizza very fast. They didn't have any when I got there but the bud light was free so it wasn't a problem. I think the tailgate did a great job at creating a buzz for the game and I'm so glad we had an exciting game for so many student's first game, hopefully they will come out to more. But aside from the pizza problem it went well and I hope we have more.

Today at 5:30 there is going to be a tailgate at SLU before the Marquette game. The school is offering free pizza and BEvERages. They are also selling SLU blue shirts with white block "SLU" on the front and a Billiken head on the back for $5. The lack of marketing and enthusiasm on the part of the athletic department is always a topic on this board and it's good to see them doing something. It's very well advertised on campus with signs everywhere you walk and it's great for a game like this. I hope to see a lot of students come out not only for the food but for the game too. Just thought you all would like to know.

I agree with your stand on Izik tonight. For some reason Diener was guarding him a lot and Izik was down on the block. I was hoping we'd just feed him all night until DePaul changed things. Izik has at least 6 inches and 50 lbs. on Drake and could have owned him all night. But I do like the way IO has been improving and if he could have made that dunk his confidence would be sky high and the game might have turned out differently.

I had an intermural game after the Bills game tonight and I half expected the CUSA refs to show up for training. They were bad tonight and have been bad all year. I hate to start calling out the refs but we can't even get home refs at our own place. I suppose it's just another trial us faithful fans will have to endure.

Or maybe AB could pay for us to play "Real Men of Genius" for the fight song. "Here's to you middle level college basketball coach. You take the players MU and IU don't want and make a suprisingly competitive team. So here's to you Brad!" Something like that, I think you get the point.

Wow, where do I sign up to get a locker? I think having my name known by Billiken greats years from now would be pretty sweet. Or I could get a visiting locker and have something like "You're gonna get owned" or "start the bus now". Just something to get into their heads.

I love the set up of Vandy's court. I think it's really original and makes it look a lot bigger. I've also heard that it creates quite a homecourt advantage with all the fans right there. And with the benches behind the baskets,right by the student section (if I recall correctly), it just adds to it. But you are correct, it is a very odd configuration.

I'm a current SLU student and I too and discouraged by the lack of student attendance to the basketball games. But I don't think the only reason is the lack of bus transportation. One thing is the lack of marketing on behalf of the athletic department. Even for the Arizona game, which was on ESPN, there was hardly any promotion. It wouldn't be hard to send out a mass e-mail before games or put up flyers around campus advertising the games or even if you could see it on Charter. Another point that was stated earlier was the kids who come from Cincinnati or Milwaukee or Big 12 country don't see the quality in SLU's program so just assume they arn't any good. I think that if the AD promoted the fun and competition of SLU games it would improve student participation dramatically.

You're right, this is a very good team that can rotate through its bench without any loss of tallent. But where is SLU's defense? They get picked and get around it but just as soon as GT makes the pass they run to rebound, no one even bothers to guard the guy shooting. As the girl by the band says, "get a hand in his face"!

I know that this has been addressed in passing but this preseason game against AIA was very early. While I'm sure that the team would have liked an extra week to practice I think it is a great idea to have one so early. In having this game so early the coaching staff can use it as a measuring stick to compare where they are in relation to where they should be or would like to be. It will give them ample time to fix any glaring problems and stress the things they did will. I think that it is a great idea to have such an early game and then a long break and should continue it in the future.

The Bryant move that amazed me the most was the spin with the jump stop in the lane. He spun right around the big man on him, jump stopped and put up a lay-up. I was amazed. I don't think that I ever saw Marque do a spin. It was sick.

I really liked the new design for the uniforms. The all white is a classy look and there was nothing flashy about them, just Saint Louis on the jersey and Billikens on the butt. Although I will agree that they did look sloppy when the jersey came untucked. All in all though I think they are an improvment.

I also like Drejaj, I think he has the potential to be a very good ballplayer for the Bills. While you mentioned his statistics, the one thing that I like the most about Drejaj is his hustle. He hustles like there is no tomorrow, if there is a loose ball he either caused it or is on the floor scrapping for it. He is also a nightmare on the big men because he has the ability to sneek up on them and get the ball before they know what happened. The one thing that I didn't like about him last year was his propensity to shoot even when he was very, very cold. While it's true you miss 100% of the shots you don't take I can recall a couple of games he was awful from the field. This was probably just part of the growing up process in NCAA hoops. But even then I'm sure he was a big contributor in other aspects in the game otherwise Brad wouldn't have left him in. It will be very exciting though to see how he's matured and grown in his game.