Billikens_Fanatic

Yeah, Packer and Nance's idea would be to take 16 mid major teams and have them play for four spots in the NCAA tournament.

According to the boxscore, we drew almost 5700 against Iowa. Much better than the average NIT game draws, especially in the first round.

If the committee were truly punishing those with weak OCC schedules, there's no way that Air Force gets an at large with the 273rd toughest.

If anything, the valley got screwed by the other mid-majors. Air Force definitely did not earn a bid. No top 50 wins, and 5 wins against teams with 290+ RPI nonconference. They played nobody all year. Also, Utah State only had one top 50 win (in conference against Nevada) so it's not like they scheduled a bunch of powerhouses nonconference. I think Cincinnati may have been the biggest shock with 11 top 100 wins and only one loss against 100+ RPI teams (crosstown rival Dayton). I think they were much more worthy than Seton Hall. On a side note, how does a team with an RPI of 58 get a 10 seed? UAB and Texas A&M both got in with a single win each, against Texas and Memphis. Also, I don't think the Committee wanted to give the MVC more bids than the Big 12, regardless of whether they deserved it.

11-4 at the first tv TO - 14 min left.

You're right, Josh came closs against East Carolina his senior year. I think he had 13 pts, 9 boards, and 8 assists with no turnovers. A few games later he nearly duplicated that performance against TCU, but did unfortunately fall short both times.

I believe Frank said during the broadcast that it would in fact be the first triple double in Billiken history. Two assists shy, but still a great performance by Tommie. Hopefully he can play at that level the rest of the season!

I agree with Skip. While the refs technically could have issued a foul, there's no way that they should have. That's basically letting the drunk guy who threw the ball decide a very close, exciting basketball game instead of the guys on the court.

While every call didn't go our way, overall the refs did a fine job. If anything, we probably got the better end of most calls, especially not getting a technical foul called at the end for the ball thrown on the court. It's a given that Rammer will complain about the refs every game, regardless of how they actually do their job.

I was sitting off to the side of the Blue Crew in 121 and saw the ball come flying out of the corner of my eye. Ir was without a doubt thrown intentionally, I'd guess from someone sitting 30 or so rows back in 122, but not from the Blue Crew. Like DesmetBilliken, this act of poor sportsmanship and utter stupidity really agitated me too. Hopefully somebody nearby knew who threw it and got in his face over it.

Yeah, that doesn't quite compare to Milwaukee's Best, does it?

Broy, You're right, students need to step up and start being interested and passionate about the team. I know I've personally tried to drag as many friends as I can to games, and try to get them involved with the team. There's so much apathy on this campus that it's quite a monumental task. In your opinion, when do you think student interest in SLU basketball was at its peak?

Apparently they have! i remember Santa Clara's victory over the Tarheels early this season. Always good to see a small name Jesuit school knock off a top ten team.

Yeah, I know exactly who you're talking about. The kid finds one player on the opposing team and says the same 3 things to him all game, and then personally insults the coach and a couple other players. I'm surprised he didn't mention anything about Huggin's heart attack, although I guess I could've missed it. I agree it gets quite old, and it's even more annoying when you're a student sitting a couple rows from him. Somehow although we lag in student turnout, we still have idiots like him. Soomebody needs to shut him up. Maybe this guy is related to those Detroit fans that thought they could beat up the Pacers.

I just flipped it on, and a few minutes into the second half, Cinci is up 51-25. Optimistically, maybe they'll look past us. But How does this team go from barely beating a winless Longmont team in Cincinnati to killing a conference opponent? I guess it all depends which Huggins team shows up on Saturday (and of course, which Billikens team too)

I didn't realize that you were pleased with the team's performance this year. Maybe my expectations going into the season should have been as low as yours. Then, I'd be happy with a couple of guys trying and a 2-7 team. I did overstate myself, however. Drejaj wears his heart of his sleeve, and occasionally I see Polk play with emotion. Now, it IS possible that the other guys care, but if they do: 1. they don't show it and 2. they don't play like it. As to your personal insult (which facillitates any intelligent discourse), I do play basketball regularly and have been to practically every home game over the past four years as a student. I'd be happy to discuss other possible reasons for this year's failure should you so desire.

>"The problem with stats is that don't account for how bad >Drejaj has been in the clutch this season." Everyone on the team has been bad in the clutch this season. I can't think of anyone who hasn't. Drejaj's not the problem, and if everybody on the team played as hard as he does for 40 minutes every game, this team would having a winning record. I think the team poster handed out before the game is a microcosm of what's wrong with this year's team. Everybody except Frericks and Meyer had their jerseys on backwards, "proudly" displaying their names. College basketball is about the name on the front of the jersey, not the back. Everybody on this team is caught up in their own personal stats, trying to be the leading scorer, and making the big play rather than coming together and collectively winning as a team. This mentality only tears our team apart, as the lack of team chemistry is blatantly obvious this year. Under Brad's system especially, this attitude will never work. There are many times during the game when it looks like nobody on the floor cares, at all. They play as if it's a pick up game at the Simon Rec and their team is losing 10-1 in a first to 11 game. Lazy passes, giving the team open shots, taking shots with a man in the face with 30 seconds on the shot clock, stupid turnovers, dumb fouls, not fighting for rebounds, not diving after loose balls, etc: everyone on this team does it. There's not a trace of passion or love for the game in any of the guys. Which is why it should come as no surprise that in close games, we just can't deliver down the stretch. It's not because we lack talent, because in past years when we've lacked as much talent as the other team, we've been able to pull it off W. It's because nobody cares if we win or lose, or at least they don't care as much as teams past and the opposing team. Nobody on this team steps up and takes charge with 2 minutes left, and is set on taking the team to victory. I'm convinced that the majority of the posters on this board care more about the team winning than the guys on the team. In the recent past, we've had Fisher, Sloan, Marquee, Jeffers, and Love which would ensure that all five guys on the floor would put it all on the line for the victory. There's nobody that has that kind of devotiion to the team or basketball on this year's team. Unless a few guys have a huge change of heart somehow, I'd anticipate the rest of the season to be this disappointing and frustrating.

As the official Billikens.com sponsor of Josh Fisher, I would tend to agree with you. Josh didn't bring an incredible shot with him and he was never the second coming of Larry Hughes, but he brought a strong work ethic coupled with a strong desire to win every day. While that was most evident on the defensive side on the ball, he was someone who could create openings on the offensive side of the ball as well and make the occasional shot. 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. Polk may be the future, but in the first few games of this season, I still wish Fish were a Bill, and think he has been the difference between being 1-4 and 4-1.

Yes, it is the ACC's fault. They shouldn't have taken Miami and VT, completely screwing up their own conference, the Big East, Conference USA, etc. But as always, the dollar sign prevails. Scrapping the BCS seems to be a more practical solution than massive conference realignment.

One 16 team division is ridiculous. Conference reshufflement has messed up the ACC too. Every team in the ACC used to play each other twice, but with the additions of MIami and VT, that's not true any longer. For example, North Carolina doesn't play at Georgia Tech. Maryland does not play at Georgia Tech. Wake Forest doesn't play at North Carolina or Maryland. NC State doesn't play at Duke. Having to play Miami and Virginia Tech instead of those other teams twice is going to bring those RPIs down a bit.

"L.A. Lakers epitomize everything that's wrong in the NBA..." Exactly! If more teams played ball like the Pistons, I know I'd follow the NBA more. Any Billikens fan can appreciate Detroit style of ball. Watching the Lakers is like watching a McDonald's All American team: all about the individual, highlight reel plays. I can't say I really cared for the Pistons during the regular season, probably cared for them less when they picked up Rasheed Wallace, but after watching a few of their games this postseason, I've taken a liking to this team. I never thought that Tayshaun Prince out of Kentucky would become the solid all around player he has emerged into. He's really a great fit for the team, and I like the way he plays a lot. (He also shut down Kobe last night.) I don't care if LA has 4 future all stars, I'll take Detroit's starting 5 (Wallace X 2, Prince, Hamilton, and Billups) over the Lakers 4 all stars + Fisher/George anyday. Nothing would be sweeter than seeing Motown take the next two games and finishing off Hollywood in five!

Before reading his bio in the section today, I didn't realize that Meyer had turned down academic scholarships to two Ivy League schools (Penn and Princeton), and of course he was offered a slew of other athetlic scholarships to good bball programs. For Brad to land him is awesome. I guess I won't hold the fact that he lists Tim McGraw as his favorite singer against him :-) Congrats to both him and Dwayne!

I don't follow USF football, but knowing that not only Miami but also Va. Tech and BC are leaving the Big East as well, I'm inclined to think that they can compete. Obviously basketball is another story, but at least for football, being in Florida and in a mediocre conference, they should be fine.

You can't call a guy a bust after one year. First, you have to give him credit for actually staying 4 years. Also, he's drafted by the Magic. Can you expect him to get much playing time with McGrady on the team? Not too many first year players make an immediate impact. The LeBrons and the Carmelos are rare. I say give him a few more years before making a judgment on his NBA career.