Pistol

The polling place in my neighborhood (Clifton Gaslight) of Cincinnati was pretty crowded. From the time I got in line until I left the place, it took about 40 minutes. Polls opened at 6:30 and I walked up at 6:45. I was lucky, though, because the precinct was divided into 15E and 15J (just a way to split each block up) and the E line was way longer than J and I was in J. My girlfriend was in E and the whole process took her over an hour. Voters here in Ohio seem very, very enthusiastic about getting out today and I imagine it's the same story in Missouri. I haven't encountered one person today who hasn't voted yet. It feels totally different than 2004.

The write-up in today's paper was primarily about Harrellson's dominance. I linked the box score, too- he did it all in 16 minutes. I guess this also serves as a scouting report for UMSL. http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl...009/uk1103.html http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2008110...0397/1078/COL02 Harrellson grabs opportunity Forward proves to himself he can play By Brett Dawson The (Louisville) Courier-Journal LEXINGTON - It's not that Josh Harrellson needs a daily affirmation. The University of Kentucky's new power forward knows he can play, knows he can contribute the way he did in the Wildcats' 111-53 exhibition win against Missouri-St. Louis Monday night at Rupp Arena. But sometimes, UK coach Billy Gillispie said, Harrellson needs to be reminded just how good he can be. "(Gillispie) sees something in me - well, a lot of people see something in me - that I don't see," Harrellson said after a 21-point, 12-rebound performance. "They see the twinkle in my eye, and they're trying to bring it out of me. I just thought I was a big body, just a mediocre player. They think I can be something special." Monday night, the crowd at Rupp Arena - announced as 20,731 - seemed to agree. Blue-clad fans roared their approval during a first-half stretch in which Harrellson sank two long two-point jumpers and a 3-pointer, helping key the Cats to a 63-23 halftime lead. "I think he is starting to understand how good he can be," Gillispie said. "I don't know if he's ever really approached that, as far as thinking, 'I can be really good.' I think he can, because he's got long arms and he's a very, very good athlete. He has great hands. He has great feet. His footwork is very good. And as we're learning, he can shoot the ball and has a real ability to score." In that, he wasn't alone. Jodie Meeks led UK with 29 points, and Patrick Patterson added 24. The Cats hit 100 points with 6 minutes, 29 seconds to play and led by as many as 64 points. But Harrellson's performance and UK's easy win were about more than points. Led by Harrellson's double-double, UK hammered the Tritons 58-23 on the boards and limited them to 31.1 percent shooting, numbers you'd expect against an NCAA Division II foe but that nonetheless might offer insight into the identity Gillispie hopes his team will take on. "I think our defense and rebounding is going to be really, really, really outstanding," Gillispie said. "I think our depth is going to be outstanding. I'm really pleased with where we are. I'm never satisfied, but I'm pleased." UK used 16 players last night, and nine scored. Freshman Darius Miller scored 14 points, and Ramon Harris added 12. Though Gillispie proclaimed his team's defense "not good enough," he was happy to see his team sometimes put the clamps on Missouri-St. Louis, which committed 18 turnovers and shot 3-for-20 from three-point range. While Gillispie and Harrellson were happy afterward, Patterson bordered on ecstatic. He said Harrellson's performance was consistent with how he's played in practice. And a helping hand from the 6-foot-10, 265-pound Harrellson - a sophomore transfer from Southwestern Illinois College - could mean a lighter load for UK's main man in the middle. "You feel that you don't have to go after every ball," Patterson said. "You've got teammates who can go up and get the rebound, rather than yourself." Harrellson got plenty of them Monday night, grabbing seven rebounds during a first half in which the Cats had a 28-10 rebounding advantage. Harrellson scored inside, sticking back a missed Miller free throw. He scored outside, nailing a three with 5 minutes, 21 seconds to play in the first half that put the Cats up 43-15 and sent the crowd into a frenzy. "He can put up points on the scoreboard, and that's something that we desperately need," Patterson said. "We need another scorer inside." NOTE: Sophomore forward A.J. Stewart did not dress for the Cats, due to what Gillispie called a "minor discipline situation." UK is off today, but Stewart will return to practice Wednesday, Gillispie said.

I like Nate's last statement on this subject- "it would have to be the right situation for the Billikens to recruit a JUCO player for the next few years." That's exactly right. Harrellson would have been a great get. But going after a Juco for the sake of having an upperclassman is not a strong strategy. We've had more duds lately than success, and like I said before, I don't think the Juco ranks are as strong as they were when we landed superb talents like Love and Jeffers. KB was one of the best, if not the best, post defenders in CUSA while he was here and I've always been a Frericks sympathizer. And then our Juco well dried up. Plus, a Juco transfer would only be an upperclassman on paper. We saw from Kevin, Tommie, and Barry last year that everyone is going to have growing pains while learning how to play Majerus' way. Wouldn't you rather have those from a freshman than from a junior? I don't see what a Juco brings to the table in terms of instant leadership besides age. Given the right situation (e.g. Josh Harrellson), go for it. But those are rare.

Why are Juco players the answer? Most of them probably have some academic issues from the past and it's hard to determine what level of quality they're playing at the junior college level in some cases. I'd rather be chasing the best high school talent than Jucos and getting 4-year players. Guys like Josh Harrellson are the exception more than the rule, and I would argue that the Juco talent pool is getting thinner than it was even in the early part of the decade.

Wow, so we have at least a possibility of a 14-man roster next year with all freshmen and sophomores getting the 13 scholarships, and a non-scholarship pre-med junior as the team's leader. That would be interesting, and probably unprecedented at SLU. I remember it being quite a rarity when the 2001-2002 team had no seniors but that would be a downright normal roster compared to this scenario.

So we have one spot left for next year? Will it likely be a spring signing?

What a huge miss. Not to beat a dead horse but there was no reason not to offer that kid, especially when you look at the PFs we had to settle for in his 5 years. I was in Lexington for dinner during the Blue-White game and it was on TV but we didn't have the sound. They were terrible about putting names/stats up, so I couldn't figure out which guy Harrellson was. The team seems to have at least a few white guys who are about the same size this year, which didn't help. Jodie Meeks is going to be the star on that team; that kid can do everything and is lightning-quick. Hopefully he can stay healthy this year because he's fun to watch.

Thanks- I didn't realize that. At least it's a BCS program, albeit a Big Ten bottom dweller.

Will we be able to listen to 101.1 free online, or will it be blocked because of the CSTV contract?

That's a cool poster. I thought it was Millikin, though- did they change the spelling?

Well let's just hope we end up with the next Andrew Bogut and not the next Andrew Latimer.

Omit the words "never" and "with the" and that is a 100% true statement. Just kidding, TCO. I'm with you on this one. I haven't been too close to the Dallas-Fort Worth prep basketball scene lately, but getting the 13th-rated kid out of there (and 28th in Texas) doesn't make me get up out of my seat and cheer. I like to see us signing kids in the fall and I would like to think this is one of Rick's diamonds in the rough but I'm guessing he's the redshirt candidate and has a ways to go. The biggest program we beat out for him was Missouri State, and no disrespect to them, I want to start beating Mizzou, Illinois, and Xavier for recruits...and then UNC, Duke, and Kentucky.

Funny story. I'm not surprised at all. I'm sure Billy Donovan or Coach K would have gotten this one approved. It's the principle, not the amount- he was on business-related travel. I don't know what it's like in there now, but when I was at SLU there were some crazy bean counters in that AD, particularly under Woolard's reign. Lori Flanagan was the WORST, particularly for men's teams.

Wouldn't that be an NCAA violation? It seems like the Majerus violation where he bought a late-night dinner for a grieving Keith Van Horn.

I guess it's arguable, but a lot would say Spoon was more important. We were consistently in the top 10 in the nation in attendance during his years and were getting nice local/regional media coverage.

I hope not. This is our chance to boot him. He needs to concentrate more on his insultingly lame morning show instead. I used to have to suffer through that in high school carpool and once I could drive made a vow to never hear Y98 again- and I have kept it. I would take anyone on the PA besides him.

Not only because I'm an out of towner, but even when I was at SLU the Charter thing seemed like a bad deal. Bars couldn't get the games because they only had satellite and couldn't get the cable broadcast. People could watch them at home (unless they had Dish or DirecTV) and in the dorms but couldn't go anywhere else.

Jeffers was on track to make the roster and broke his wrist. He never quite made it back to top form after that. I feel really bad for him, because all early word was that the Kings were pleasantly surprised with him immediately and that he was looking like a quiet steal near the end of the draft. He would have at least had a shot at some minutes.

As long as you're not watching Grey's Anatomy, that's all that matters. I don't think I've been to any of the other dual-sport hockey/basketball arenas, as most of the teams SLU has played have either no hockey program or separate arenas for both. Miami just opened a new hockey arena last season that's supposed to be awesome so I plan to catch a game there this year as well as a basketball game to see Kramer Soderberg in action. I'd be curious to hear how BU and BC's arenas are for both sports, or any others that may be out there. Has anyone been to the Kohl Center in Madison? I think that has both. Anyway, there isn't room in Chaifetz for ice? I walked around in there one day when they had the lowest rows pushed in for graduation and it seemed like a lot of space. If it's long enough, the issue would be the grade of the seats because the lowest seats would be too steep or might not be able to go out all the way.

Denver's Magness Arena is actually pretty good for basketball. Both sidelines are right on the action. It's a little awkward in the corners, but the ends have bleachers pushed up pretty close and steeper than those at Scottrade. It's a great facility overall, and absolutely perfect for hockey- basically just a lower bowl. It opened in 2000, so it was brand new when I visited DU before my senior year of high school. The only problem is that it doesn't sell out every game like hockey, which is by far the bigger sport there. http://www.denverpioneers.com/ViewArticle....CRIBER_CONTENT=

Hey, at least when SLU sells out, it's loud. Unfortunately, that might be due to a large constituency for the other team, a la the Poplar Bluff Mules cheering for UNC a couple seasons ago.

That's a sad state of affairs. I've been to a few exhibitions at the Savvis Center, which were actually not bad because you get to see some of the guys who might not make the roster or play much but are still recognizable names from college. Only problem with those is the stars sit or play a few minutes tops. I guess one of the problems with the atmosphere in Oakland is that the Warriors have not been very competitive for so long. I have probably been to 6 or so Bulls games from when I lived in Chicago- one playoff game when they were eliminated by the Heat a couple years ago and some regular season games, mostly sitting in one of the boxes that the bank I used to work for had. They were all right, but long stretches of quiet are bound to occur in a 3-hour regular season NBA game. I liked being in the box because at least I had free booze and food. I can't say I contributed much to the atmosphere, though. The only way to get rid of that is to put a better product on the floor, but I'm not sure what rule changes would make it more exciting. I had the good fortune of going to game 4 of the 2000 NBA Finals, Pacers vs. Lakers in Indianapolis. The Lakers came into it up 2 games to 1. I can honestly say this was the most exciting NBA game I have ever seen by a long shot, and I would challenge anyone to come up with a better one, particularly one that didn't feature Jordan, Magic, or Bird. Kobe and Shaq had foul trouble early, Kobe was on a sore ankle, and Reggie Miller was on. It was all Reggie and Shaq down the stretch and it went into double overtime, ending on a miss (barely) by Miller from 3 to win it. 120-118, Lakers. The problem with this game is that I've never seen anything else close to it in the NBA since then.

That is one thing that has struck me about his career- every time I've seen him on TV, he never seems to be "soft." He's scrawny by NBA standards but is always putting himself out there, driving, going for loose balls and steals. Maybe if he had a softer mindset and strayed from contact or playing good D he would have avoided some injuries...or if he were a better outside shooter. Watching his career actually reminds me of my main gripe with the NBA- one guy drives to the hole while his teammates stand around the perimeter, gets clobbered, and shoots FTs. A body like Larry's can only take so much of that. There's too little incentive not to foul a guy driving through the lane because everyone in the league is so skilled and can finish. So we just get this isolation offense and hard foul garbage.

Got it. Yeah, I agree completely with you and Box. I would have loved to have him another year, but he's undeniably an all-time SLU great even with just the one. Can't blame him for taking an opportunity.

I doubt it. I bet he's frustrated. If he could play full seasons healthy, he might have a lot more in the bank. But yeah, it's nice to have huge paychecks coming in anyway.