JMM28

>The Ruffins said DeAndre was a lock for boomeranging back to >Bradley. When he walked out at Wiskey, initially he was >going to enroll at Bradley, then Tony Wysinger thought he >was headed to Illinois Central College(juco,) and then I >lost track of him. > >Faulkner would immediately turn us into a second round Big >Dance team. He is exactly the player I am hoping Powell >would turn into - an intimidating physical jumping jack who >knows his game and likes mixing things up. It was a pleasure >watching Richwoods play Notre Dame a few years ago, with >Faulkner(high D1) and Livingston(#7 straight to NBA) chewing >on Randall(high D1 and NBA future) and Gilfinan(Lehigh.) >Peoria is still turning out more quality D1 players than the >St. Louis PHL with the vaunted Vashon program. I'm talkin about DeAndre Miranda from Central. You're thinking of DeAaron Williams from Woodruff? Or Limestone? One of the 2. Miranda standing at 6-7 could easily play the 4 on a big level. Williams would be nice too, helluva an athlete, but I had heard hes destined for Bradley if the academics work out. Faulkner would put us at the very top of the A10, easily. He has played against big talent and been successful versus them. He is the type of guy you love if he's on your team, you hate if youre playing against him. I haven't heard what his plans are as of yet. He has some issues, not all of which are his fault.

>From Peoria Richwoods, two years of eligibility left, a >little headstrong, but can pick quarters off the top of the >backboard. > >He left Iowa State when he flunked a couple classes on lack >of attendance. He is a stud who dominated Brian Randle in >their head to head matchups in high school. > >http://cyclones.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/m...r_robert00.html Oh man, I'd like to see it. Back when he was coming out of JUCO, I suggested recruiting him. When hes on, hes really good. But this guy is an absolute head case. He could be related to Ron Artest. I doubt he could qualify. He wasnt able to qualify coming out of Richwoods, and it would seem his schooling habits have not improved. As for the Brian Randle reference, he actually got thrown out of his last game against Randle. For what, nobody knows. He just went ape ###### at half court. Dave, how about De'Andre Miranda? I think he went to school down in Florida. Wasn't the brightest bulb in the lamp, but I think he was tougher than Faulkner. Somewhere down on the juco circuit in Florida if I recall correctly?

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2392453 Player recruited as a non scholarship player. Player told he would get the scholarship after his first year. Player doesn't get scholarship. URI refuses to grant him waiver to prevent sitting out a year. Other schools pull their offers. Guy gets pissed. Sues school. Good job URI. At least when they were dirty under Harrick, they actually were good. Lamar Odom isn't walking through that door..

He will be one of 4 former area players suiting >up for Western Illinois along with Smith, former Alton >forward Lorenzo Taylor, and former Belleville West and >Purdue star, Xavier Price. Purdue star Xavier Price? He averaged like 2 points per game for a team that won 7 games. Get real.

Damn..replace Quin with his clone from the north. At least Quin never had a rapist/burglar on his team. I do believe they are tied for number of ex-players in prison however. Why would Mizzou do this? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love it if they brought in another underacheiving wonderkid, but seriously. Do they not realize they are basically just rehiring Snyder?

>no Cardinals, no Rams, no Blues, no Steamers, no Fox, no >nothing !!!! Steamers? get real. Cardinals don't play at the same time. Fox? A theater? Get serious. This is typical thinking. "Oh we have to compete against so much, the STEAMERS OH NO" SLU IS THE ONLY DIVISION 1 COLLEGE BASKETBALL IN ST LOUIS. The reason Bradley still draws is because theyre Peoria's team. They have many similar problems as we do. Lack of students(although Bradley does much better with student support), older fan base, and an arena off campus(downtown). One huge difference is the rivalries. Even a 9-21 team will bring out 10k for ISU, Creighton, Wichita State, etc. We don't have that. We get to go play these weak ass 2nd rate east coast teams. If you look back at it, i'm sure the Bradley-SLU games were some huge draws when we were in the Valley. We don't have a rival. Not 1. There is not one team that I say "oh i hope we kill them". Why oh why didn't we try to get into the MVC. Oh yeah, another thing is the style of play. Bradley plays good defense, and has a good offense! It's amazing. Listening to some, you'd think those two were mutually exclusive. Who knew!

>Bradley has a chance to move into the Sweet 16 and I think >the thing that favors BU is that they have nothing to lose. >They have no expectations and teams like KU once they got >down to a team like Bradley have no "Plan B" or Crisis mode >they can shift to. Pitt is obviously a better team, but Pitt >is unfamiliar with Bradley and if BU continues to play their >style of basketball, Pitt will be in a world of hurt on >Sunday. > >Unless you're a Wichita State backer now, we've gotta root >for BU to make it to the Sweet 16, and hope that we can get >them back on our schedule for 06-07. I hate Bill Self and Kansas. I love the look on his face every single march when his team goes out early. Who was it saying the MVC couldn't hang? Digger Phelps? Billy Pecker? Skip? Jim Nantz-y? Oh how I wish we would have joined the MVC :-(

A real fan is at games ... at least the >home ones. No, I take that back. That might be an athletic >supporter. A real fan not only goes to games, but even goes >to away games and conference tournaments. You, sir, do >neither so a fan you are not. Fan is short for fanatic. This is so far off. Are you saying that Bills fans can only be located in St Louis? How about those in California? Montana? It is a bit impractical for most students/recent grads to make the god awful trips to 90% of our road games. Thanks to our brilliant switch to the A10, there are only 2 schools within a driving distance from SLU. There are 99.9 million reasons why people can't go to games. How many home games did you go to? It's probably not a good idea to start throwing out credentials for being a "real" fan. You weren't just insulting VashonTIME, but many others on this board. But hey, if you want to float me a loan for 400$ for airfare to Philly or Rhode Island, I'll be happy to go to road games.

>I always thought that Joe Lunardi was an idiot. Lunardi is >the ESPN "analyst" who covers the NCAA and provides his >"bracketology" of the NCAA tournament. Apparently he also >does St. Joe's radio analysis. Here are some great quotes >from him today: > >"Ian Voyoukas has been running up the court very slowly. I >have been trying to figure out why he has been running so >slow. You know why? It is because he is really slow." > >"The Saint Louis U fans are great. Their mascot looks like >an overgrown telle tubby who is sniffing glue." Yeah, that idiot has "correctly" picked 203 outta 204 of the "NCAA" "at large teams" for the last 6 years. Some idiot he is. A "great" analyst. If he says a team is in, theyre probably in.

>You don't think it is ridiculous to say that NOW??? The guy >has had three winning seasons out of four, and one bad one >where the two top seniors basically became non-factors. > >I think it is fair for me to say that perspective is lost in >the minutes following a sour game like this. Overall, don't >you see the program moving in the direction it should be >going? We all, properly, have higher expectations for next >year. But how would SLU benefit by dumping Soderberg today? > And what has he done to deserve that? It makes ZERO sense. But what have those winning seasons led to? 2 NIT berths, maybe a 3rd. The first 2 NIT berths resulted in being embarassed by Minnesota, and a 1-1 run. I give him a pass on last year. Who knows how they would have been with Tommie on the team last year along with Polk, Frericks healthy, and Reggie being a decent player. The problem isn't losing perspective for this game. It's the body of the season. The team has been mediocre (wlwlw), good, great, and now bad. I would give him about a B- or C+ on the season. Twice we were beat by St Joes, by almost the exact score, by almost the exact gameplan. I think the reaction wouldn't be as harsh if we had lost this game 80-60. The fact we only scored as much as an average high school team is going to bring a lot of negativity out. I just wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to bring in an "offensive coordinator" to run the offense. Minnesota did something similar a few years ago, bringing in Jim Molinari (a Soderberg type), to run the defense.

>Should we start keeping count now on how many ridiculous >DUMP SODERBERG comments we hear today and tomorrow? Grow up >kids. What is so ridiculous about saying that? I'm not quite sure. He has been the definition of mediocre, right around .500. If you wanna stay with that, fine. I'd like to see some NCAA tournament berths. If we have to go to the NIT, I want to see deep runs into the NIT. Not so ridiculous for people to say they want more. Plenty of coaches have done much better jobs in less time. Brad will obviously be back for next year, but after that...who knows?

>Maybe Brad should spend a little more time coaching >OFFENSE. Has anyone else noticed that all he talks >about is coaching defense, while his offense has disappeared >time and time again in big games! Good coaches adapt. Mediocre coaches have .500 records.

>Puzzling? Two freshman, one sophomore, one junior. Not >that puzzling to me. No excuse. Not an excuse at all. These players have 30 games under their belt. Very puzzling how they regressed in the last 2 weeks. Very puzzling.

>It sounds to me like we mainly can't hit open shots, and >several times, the defense hasn't gotten back. Rammer says >we missed 7 layups...and not sure we've made ONE! It's pathetic. Just use the next half as a learning experience. We wont be in the NIT if this keeps up. 14 points in a half. 14 points!!! I just cannot believe they came out this incredible lame after watching the top seed in the tournament get knocked off by a team we have already beat. No excuses for this one. The only hope is to get hot from 3.

If you don't learn from your mistakes, you're just going to keep repeating them. 19 point lead at half, pathetic. This kind of performance makes you wonder. Completely embarassing. I can't believe some people wanted to play this team. They dismantled us earlier in the year, and theyre doing the exact same thing again.

Quin Snyder's house.

>If I had chosen to attend a Jesuit school (wild horses >couldn't have dragged me), I would have picked Creighton >over St. Louis. Yeah...Omaha is a great joint...much better than St Louis...or Des Moines...give me abreak. You make good points about the listings. For the most part, the MVC schools just aren't on the national level of SLU. They're more regional joints. Good work going 5-13 in conference too. Get lost, and take "Doctor" Tom with you, that loser.

>What other sons of great NBA players are trying to make it >in college ball? Where are they going to school? It would >be interesting to compile a list and watch how these kids >perform. Jordan right now has two sons playing HS ball. Marcus, the better one, is a freshman. Jeff is a junior. I think Marcus is in the 6-3 range, and Jeff is around 6-1. Damn Mike shoulda married a tall one. They are both down on SLU campus every summer for that Nike Jamboree thing. I haven't heard lately, but last I had heard, Jeff was a midmajor type. Marcus might be a bigtime player though. But how bigtime are you really when your dad is MJ? Jeff is currently trying to lead his team, Loyola Academy, down state to the IHSA finals next weekend. Maybe we should try to recruit him, get a celeb fan, hell maybe MJ would like St Louis so much he'd try to get an NBA team here. I see no negatives in it.

>This CBS writer even throws in Rick Pitino...I suppose IU >would be a step up from Louisville. > >http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9290794 Oh man, I'd love to see Isiah. Everything he has touched has turned to crap after his playing days. The Raptors, CBA, Pacers, Knicks, and it will continue. And he comes prepackaged with a sexual harassment lawsuit! Great pick! It would be a trainwreck night after night.

>team in the MVC. I dont think any team could have stopped >Ian. Obviously you don't watch much MVC action. WSU, BU, and UNI all have very good low post games.

>And some continue to wonder why we joined the A-10? Yeah, I do.

> Sorry but there are not 6 teams that deserve to dance, nor >or there 5, not even 4, or 3 ... I don't even see how they >have more than 1 team in the top 50. If the selection >committee takes a real close look at the MVC ... they will >see their rpi formula is flawed and the MVC is in trouble. >The selection committee's goal should be to put the 34 best >at large teams in the tourney. Not the 34 best rpi teams, >especially when it is clear the new rpi formula is seriously >flawed > Well, you seem to be this boards version of Digger Phelps. If only 2 or 3 MVC teams get in, the mid major schools might as well stop trying. It is not fair to develop a system, originally developed to benefit the bcs-type schools, and then say it doesn't apply because it didn't put enough big name schools in. It is not like we are talking about teams with 15 wins getting in. These teams have 20 wins. WSU has 23, SIU has 22, UNI has 21, Bradley and SMS have 20. They all have 11+ wins in conference. The Valley should get a minimum of 4 teams. Dickie V, Lunardi, and several others are saying 5. It would set a bad precedent if they get screwed. Like it or not, we are in a conference similar to the MVC, not similar to the BCS.

They mention in the article she is still there. What they don't say is that she is still there waiting to be seen, in the stretcher, doing those same ridiculous moves.

>Some SLU fans may say they don't care or even be happy for >them but this could cause some significant problems for SLU >in the future if the A-10 doesn't step it up. The next >Ahearn won't be lost because we weren't smart enough to take >him but rather because he wanted to go to the better >conference. Its one thing to lose Shaw because we were >out-recruited early or Faulkner because we don't have his >major but if all things being equal, players start >preffering the Valley programs then we are in BIG trouble. That is a very good point. If the MVC gets 5 in, you have to figure theyll win a few games. SIU has made a pretty solid name for itself by making 5 straight NCAAs and getting deep in a few. I think what I fear more though is some of these MVC players start going to the pros. To many kids who, as bad as this sounds, have no chance of graduating/doing anything else with their lives, going to the pros is going to be a major factor. If these schools start pumping out NBA players, watch out. Factor in the NBA's 19 year old age limit, and maybe a guy like Shaun Livingston stays at home at Bradley for a year, shows he can star on that team, makes a tourney run, maybe sticks around for more than a year to try and win, gasp, an NCAA title. Obviously that is an extreme case, but not too far off. I can see the Valley keeping this up, especially if coaches like Altman, Lowery, Turgeon, Les, etc. stay around. All have strong ties to those programs.

>It's all in scheduling, the MVC has figured out that if all >teams end the OOC with between 9 or 10 wins the their league >RPI will be high, that is the reason they look so good. The >A-10 has not figured it out yet, all teams should schedule >their OOC games so they will have at least 9 or 10 wins, >then we will have a high RPI. In that case, the A10 should have been a top conference. The absolute 100% without a doubt key to the RPI is not scheduling these buy games. GW had a slate FULL of them. 10 gimmes and 2 decent games. Theyre 26-1 and not even in the top 20 of the RPI. St Joes, however, is 15-12 and still in the top 50. Martelli says 'oh well we just didn't win thsoe 50-50 games' Well no ######. The best quote was this though, pretty ironic really... Uh "coach of the year" you won 3 games against top 50 teams. 2 of those were St Joes, who is barely top 50. 1 was a Maryland team that is not going to make the NCAA tournament. Quality wins in conference are better than no quality wins at all. Have fun with your #4 seed.