Tonka

what time is it tomorrow night?

I think he was both

That's a hell of a compliment for our team's intensity against Cincy and our fans who always seem to get up for the Cincy game. I love hearing that he said that. I sometimes wish all games were as intense as the Cincy game from a fan standpoint.

Wow...if you guys are correct, we will be an unstoppable force. I don't see that though and I hope I am wrong. IMO, no way is AD going to better than Marque. Marque was rare and as somebody else posted, was second only to Larry in the later years. I hope you are right about Steve Logan as well, but Logan carried Cincy and was regarded by many elite media as one of the best in the nation. I want AD to be good so bad, but I don't expect him to carry the team or be the go to guy night in and night out. If AD plays with the same intensity as he has, I will be thrilled. Add another year of expereince, and this kid will be pretty good. The only thing I ask for is more consistency from him offensively - and Fisher as well.

I agree with you there

okay, good point, but are we ever talking about a non-major D-1 when we are referring to the Billikens?

I orginally asked about Frericks, because I just wanted to see what kind of player he was. Somebody said why compare him, and my answer to that is, why not? To say he's tough is good, but doesn't give me much. Heinrich was tough and had tons of heart, but does that mean Frericks play is like his. I'm only asking, so I know what I can expect when I watch him play. The better FT shooting Kenny Brown comparison actually tells me a lot. As far as him being compared to Leuchtefeld - I have no problem with Ryan. I think for what we had, he stepped up and played well at times. I will say though, that I hope Frericks is better than Leuchtefeld so I know this program is heading in the right direction, which I know it is.

For one, I don't care what these NBA players do off the court. I don't want to sound carefree as this is a very serious thing, and if Kobe is guilty, he should pay the price. I learned long ago, that the majority of these guys aren't role models and never will be. Hopefully, the companies that endorse these guys will figure that out to. What is ridiculous is how Kobe and Shaq are jawwing at each other. Isn't what they've been given enough? As someone mentioned, these guys have great lives, what could they be complaining about? I think that's the reason I enjoy college BB so much more. The only reason I tend to follow the NBA is because I do enjoy basketball and like to see the guys I watched in college progress.

you've lost me?

I haven't seen practice yet and I don't know much about him. What former Billiken would you compare him to? Jeff Harris, but taller?

I would hope Varner would look good in practice, as he is one of 4 seniors on the team. A lot of guys play well in practice. When you play against guys you know and you play against them all the time and there isn't 12,000 + people watching with a game on the line, you should practice good. Sekue Barantine used to practice good as well.

I disagree that there will always be a whipping boy. Will there always be a team of equivalent talent - no! More than likely there will never be that. As someone mentioned, I will also be thrilled when a player like Marquee Perry is the whipping boy. That means the program has come a long way. I think there will always be players that underachieve for their ability and as fans we have every right to point out the bad as well as the good. I originally said what I said, because it seems in the past years, there was always an excuse why we had certain players. It was always...well, that was a leftover from Romar, or Spoonhour, or Grawer, etc. I just can't wait till the day when we don't have any players who would struggle to play at the D-1 level night in and night out. That's a good thing. We're on the right path. If Brad continues to recruit hard and brings in some good players, then, should he ever decide to leave and we upgrade our coaching again...then Brad's recruits would be nice for a new coach to come in and acquire. You know, this all brings to mind a great thought. Who would get the vote, for being the best whipping boy of all time at SLU? There are many that come to mind. The ones that do though, usually got some playing time. There were probably many that would of been huge whipping boys, had they got any playing time, but they never left the bench for us to have anything to point out. Remember Eric Bickel and Travis Tadysak? How about Downtown Don Braun?

I can't wait for the day when we don't even have to debate over players like Ross Varner. No offense to Ross, as I know he has his positives, but I don't like how almost every year we have players like him that we even have to think about getting playing time and contributing. The way things look and reading all your posts, we may only be a couple years away from that. Won't it be great, when our worst bench players can contribute at the D-1 level? Go Bills! I look forward to watching this program continue to grow!

baller - I appreciate the enthusiasm - stretching it I'd say, but I can't argue with your enthusiasm

I'm sure it's been stated, but can anyone tell me the practice schedule?

Personally, I enjoy reading the smack and all the controversial statements from time to time. That's what makes posting and reading these posts so much fun. I'm glad you guys worked things out as I don't believe things should get too ugly, yet I also don't believe we should be writing poetry together. We're entitled to our comments and certainly our feelings and my feeling is that if there is never any verbal sparring, then maybe the passion is being supressed too much. I know this will be an unpopular comment, but personally I will take a graduation or two less and have better players. Sorry, but that's how I feel. I want to win - bad. I certainly never would advocate cheating and would love to see each kid graduate and get an education, but at the same time I don't want a team full of 4.0 students with 9 and 10 wins in the win column either. There needs to be balance and yes the emphasis should be on graduating, but if we get players ever so often you can play and don't graduate, then fine. We do anyway.

I think regardless of what happens and who stays healthy, we're light at the center spot. I'm concerned (as I seem to be every year) with rebounding. As far as Husak, what have been the scouting reports on him. Is his game anything like or could be like the play of Rick Ricker (sp) - the big blonde headed kid from Minnesota who we played in the NIT

that is good to hear about Reggie - that's the kind of stuff I was looking for

I agree with you. I was looking for positive feedback, because I tend to be cautiously opptimistic and sometimes pessimistic until I can guage for myself what kind of team we put on the floor. Is it just me or are we still a year or two away from having a solid team that we're confident about night in and night out. Don't get me wrong, when I say that I don't mean from lack of effort - but, it seems like every year we are guessing (or hoping) that certain players perform certain ways. Last year in particular, I never knew what to expect from the team each game. Sure, we knew MP was the guy who was going to be the offense, but that was a lot of pressure to put on our point guard who happened to play like a 2 guard. I still have questions about IO. I know he amazed me a few times and other times he brought back frightening memories of former billikens. I read someone say that he is still learning basketball over here. That probably is the case as at times he really looked out of sorts, but even if that was the case, there were times when he really looked lost. I never knew if it was nerves or what. As far as Bryant, everybody says he is a good player, but we've heard that many times before. What are we guaging this from? Practice? or his limited time at Nova? Are we just hoping again for him to be a player? I don't know. I'm asking you guys. JJ is another one who we just don't know about. I think Sloan needs to step up and be a leader. If everybody plays with his heart, we'll be competitive. I'd like to see more consistency with Fisher as well. I think this early on, it be tough to say that we'll win more than 15 games.

Hi All, Like everyone, I get very excited this time of year and antsy to find as much info as I can on the team. Practice hasn't been under way that long, and there have been only a few articles in the media. What are the expectations of the team this year? Will we win more than 16 games looking at the schedule? Will RB be a legitimate scoring threat? Who else will stand out this year? Any surprises expected? Is IO expected to be a standout as he showed flashes of last year? Basically looking to get any positive feedback I can to get even more excited before the season begins here in a few weeks. Sorry, if it's already been discussed, as I just started reading the posts again last week. Thanks!