bbill

I would have to give him a C-: - Miserable recruiting effort. Not able to leverage the new building announcement that he said was key. - 20 wins, but a fairly weak schedule. - Terrible handling pressure defense despite a guard-oriented team. - Not maximizing the Big Three. - Ridiculous comments in the press (along the lines of very, very, very proud of the team). - No consistent plan (he changes as often as the wind and is indecisive). - Minimal effort to dewelop his new recruits. Compare him to Shimmy. She has recruited well from no base. He should go, but no way they fire him. They're going to struggle to sell premium seats in the new building.

You have to admire his courage for doing the interview and not trashing his players. Brad is definitely a class act.

Does anyone recall the last time SLU lost to a team ranked this low? Maybe a non-division I school?

Amen to that. Brown doesn't play much defense either. Coach Soderberg has a bit of the Larussa syndrome -- he would prefer a mediocre veteran to a young player with promise. I would like to see Knollmeyer get a few more minutes also.

I have to agree with you, although I have a sneaking suspicion we'll regret it in '08.

Was he at the North Carolina game? I didn't see him during warmups or on the bench. Merry Christmas to all!

Has anyone else noticed that Brad's teams routinely start slowly each season and tend to come on later in the year? Not sure why. His schemes don't seem very complicated. They don't run many set plays on offense, and the pack defense could be taught to third graders. Does anybody have any ideas why this might be the case?

I have been a season ticket holder for more than 20 years and see the vast majority of games. In my opinion, Brad is a fantastic person but not a major Division 1 coach. He is above average as a game coach but nowhere near as good as Charlie Spoonhour, for example. I believe he is below average as a recruiter, and not improving despite the announcement of the new facility. I want the Bills to win as much as anyone but don't believe the Brad supporters are realistic about his strengths/weaknesses, probably because they like him as a person.

More than 90% of the top 100 players signed in the fall. That tells you all you need to know about the importance of the fall signing period. Brad got Dustin McGuire last year and nobody this year. He is not a good recruiter. Recruits largely determine the fate of a program.

Wow -- he looks like he could provide excellent competition for Horace Dixon as last man off the bench. And he's just about within Brad's 100 mile recruiting radius.

Brad mentioned that it is very difficult for him to have a good recruiting year when St. Louis talent is down (like in '07). Basically, he said it is tough for him to recruit outside a 100 mile radius. I understand where's he's coming from, but that is a major copout. Sure, he and his staff need to work much harder when St. Louis talent is down, but plenty of other programs recruit well with a regional and even national recruiting scope. Just like Ian, Brad needs to get much more aggressive.

The tone was awful, but the charge is valid. Why isn't the SLU coaching staff more aggressive in their recruiting efforts?

Pop just made a good comment over on his forum at stltoday.com -- small thinkers = small-time programs. You've got to require consistent improvement, not bask in the glory of past recruits like Lisch and Liddell. Again, no recruits in the key November period after the new arena was announced. Recruiting is the lifeblood of a college program. We have a beautiful campus, a state-of-the-art arena on the way, and a good academic institution. The only thing limiting us now is a coach who is not a strong recruiter.

There is nothing wrong with being #78. It is a good ranking. My issue is that academics are often cited as one reason SLU can't match up with top programs. Somehow other Catholic universities with similar/better academics do it (e.g., Marquette). My point is: don't use academics as a crutch. I'm not Bernie, and I am an alum/fan/season ticketholder. Just step back and look at recent recruiting efforts. Shouldn't we be seeing better results? Most top 200 players sign in November. We've gotten no recruits this November, and only Dustin last November. Why should we be content with that?

Support your case with facts, not verbal slaps at Bernie or VTime. It's difficult to admit that we have accepted being average. How is it that Shimmy recruited a #38 class after announcing the new arena? She is coaching a 7-20 team with no history of success. Hold Brad accountable!

It's been 2 years since Brad recruited Lisch and Liddell. Boston College, Georgetown and Villanova are superior Catholic universities with consistently better basketball teams. I never read that academics get in their way.

Face it, he's right. Billiken fans and the administration are too willing to accept something slightly better than mediocrity: 1) SLU is not a premier academic instition. #78 in most recent national rankings. 2) Brad has not gotten a significant recruit in 2 years. Getting nobody in the key November signing period is shameful. He insisted that he needed to break ground on a new arena to improve recruiting. Well, where is the improvement??? 3) We need to build a program to succeed for a number of years, not have an occasional tournament team. This requires consistent recruiting. If this board (and fans in general) do not require more, the situation will not change.

Why so quiet the day before signing period begins? Will SLU sign anyone tomorrow?

How about Straight A tickets for grade and high school kids? We need to build more of a younger fan base. Why not play high school games before the Bills games to bring more fans?

10,000. Get it done and create better atmosphere/"buzz"

If you could have one former Billikens player come back and play the rest of this season who would it be? I would have Marquee Perry.

What's your favorite bills game ever and why? Mine was the Iowa NIT because my dad wanted to leave earily to beat traffic but I made him stay and then Drejaj made the 3 pointer and danced down the court

what year is Ian's brother in school??? When could he join the Bills?