Pistol

Kleenex? I believe Redick also shed some tears after his Dukies went down earlier than expected. Morrison plays harder and with more mental and physical intensity than just about any other player out there. I'll take him over the drunk-driving (and now injured, in an unrelated incident) Redick everyday of the week.

Amen to that- Frericks would have been so valuable if he didn't get 3 concussions. I'll take another one of him any day. The only reason he dinged up his head is because he played so hard out there. JJ knows nothing about that.

Can JJ earn trust? In a word, no. He blew that a long time ago with multiple bad decisions off the court, and a complete failure to develop on it. Let's focus on the youth at this position and develop it for the long term. A good, tough PF would be huge in Brad's system, so let's work on developing a few instead of wasting yet another year worrying about JJ. He should get comfortable in a seat next by Wendell Bennett and Payton Jacks this year. If anything, he should be grateful for a free ride to college without doing anything in return.

But Pulley was another kid from the south with major academic struggles, even though he qualified freshman year. He was also one of the better athletes we've had, but never developed. He was not going to qualify sophomore year.

Love him or hate him, everyone knows who he is, which is more than most of the guys in this year's draft can say. He's got charisma on and off the floor, a unique look, and he can really play. It's a great signing for Adidas.

Maybe if this Horace Dixon kid comes through, he could be our solution for this season. He sounds like a nice fit for us, and that would give all our baby PF's a chance to come along without immediate pressure.

Now if only another Gates or Buffett could graduate from SLU and have a weak spot for basketball.

Develop the young guys. They'll struggle at times, but I have more faith in their struggles than JJ. Anyone who thinks JJ is suddenly going to provide us with anything after four years (including the redshirt) of nothing is being completely irrational. This shouldn't be a debate anymore because there is no debate- there is no argument that you could possibly make that JJ has helped the program, and if he all of a sudden does (which he won't), it won't be much. In addition to nothing on the court, he doesn't have the mentality of a senior leader, either. He's the perfect example of why you don't need to always scramble in the late signing period to use all your scholarships.

I know we recruited him hard- my points were just in response to Roy's remarks, which seemed like he just wanted to give up on Tyus because he's too good for SLU. I will never take that attitude, and I don't think our staff will, either.

Do any professional athletes contribute to their alma mater's athletic departments? I can't think of any cases. It seems more common and likely that athletes from non-money sports come back to contribute time, money, and efforts. I don't know of any MLB, NBA, or NFL players who donate significant funds to their colleges.

>why do we care about tyus. he abandoned st louis long ago >and there was never a reason to expect him to come back here >for college. following him as a fan would be akin to >following johnny martin from los angeles. We care about Tyus because he's another high-major recruit that we might have had a shot with. Even though he "abandoned" St. Louis, it's still home. I don't think anyone was counting on him signing here, but it would have been a mistake not to recruit him at all. I would have definitely given him an offer and kept in constant contact with him. Once again, the program isn't going to get much better if we never even try to recruit major-talent players with St. Louis ties.

Exactly- and this ranking may owe some to Larry and his aid on that Eagles team, but also from his high school career at DeSmet. He was a bust, no matter whether his incoming expectations artificially high or not. 3star, I'm sorry, I thought he was 6'10" but he was actually an inch shorter as you point out. Plus, I'm very happy to have Knollmeyer, and I think it's a good signing. I know that he won't be another crappy PF signing like JJ and that he'll be a decent player. But there was definitely a lot more coverage and fan expectations with Baniak.

First off, I love soccer, and I know a lot of people on this board do too. I'm not going to get angry and complain how bad soccer is just because we lost. That said, everyone above has made great points: 1. Arena needs to be fired. He couldn't get halfway inspired play out of anyone. The team had no visible plan of attack- one goal by an American player in 3 games. He can't manage his players, either. 2. Landon Donovan was supposed to be our leader in this World Cup, but gave the worst performance on the team, and the worst of his career. I don't think we could be more disappointed in him. 3. The officiating was atrocious in all three games. I know the rest of the world hates America and doesn't want us to become good at the one thing they have on us, but come on. These refs were amateurs out there. We played bad, but you wonder how different the games may have been (especially after that soft call today that led to a PK and goal by Ghana) if they were called straight. I'm just disappointed all around. This team was hyped, and didn't live up to it at all. I think a lot of it is on Arena's shoulders, so let's get a guy in there who can actually coach winners.

Baniak was more highly touted out of high school, and was a starter on that incredible AAU team with Hughes and Tatum. I think the expectations were a lot higher for Baniak, and he was also a couple inches taller and had more potential, but he never got any better. I hope Knollmeyer is a contributor this year, but more than that, I would like him to show development over his 4 years and become a good PF for us.

Playing in Spain, where his fiancee (now wife, I think) is from.

The Dallas Mavericks should have signed Josh Fisher earlier this year, and they could be celebrating instead of the Heat. Indeed, Wade's three worst games (and another sub-par one) in college came against Fish and the Billikens: 1/12/02: 7 pts; MU 61, SLU 53 (Odartey Blankson killed us) 1/26/02: 13 pts; MU 55, SLU 38 (we pulled a St. Joe's here) 1/7/03: 6 pts; MU 60, SLU 54 2/5/03: 7 pts; MU 68, SLU 64 (Travis Diener had 21) Unfortunately, Fish's efforts didn't get us a win against him in these games, but it was still some of the most impressive one-on-one defense I've ever seen against one of the best players to come out of C-USA.

The details I don't know. Is there anyone else in that preseason tourney besides LA Tech and Texas A&M? Normally teams get three games out of those things.

I think Miami OH is a sure thing.

Is Harrison legit? I haven't seen him play, but have heard mixed reviews.

Josh Fisher and Marque Perry were Criminal Justice majors, too. Playing the academic angle would be beneficial to SLU in this case. You also have to like the fact that the kid has good size to step in as a 4, and that he shows an initiative to take academics seriously (even if his last quote is a little odd).

That's right, we used Grunk's connections to get his alma mater on the schedule. They're a nice team to have on there, and could be a potential quality win if they play how they're predicted to: at or near the top of the MAC.

Moral victories definitely don't get you in, that's for sure. But victories over nobodies won't help, either. That's why we have to play the ranked non-conference opponents; we can't beat them if we don't play at least a few. SIU generally won't be a ranked non-conference opponent. Right now, UNC and Texas A&M are our best bets. And Rich is right: the A-10 isn't historically a one-bid conference. It's generally had at least two, even in years it was down a bit. I know that it's down now, but can and will come back around, maybe not for another year or two though.

Are you insinuating that Romar was recruiting the west coast for when he got a job out there, and didn't care about SLU at all? You don't know much about the man. Sure, his connections were out there, but if that were really the case, he would have lined up Hollins and others to go to Washington with him. He wasn't contacted for the Washington job until slightly before the late signing period- most recruits knew where they were going. Secondly, you don't think he should have gone after Darius Miles? The best high school player in the country is right across the river, and you want him to say, "Oh well, I wish him the best." Miles wound up signing with St. John's and obviously going to the Clippers, but we won't get anywhere just giving up on guys like that.

These were also all teams that got lower seeds than they thought they deserved. They made short-term decisions to play softer non-conference schedules knowing they had good teams and could win a lot. That also puts a team at risk for losing a game or two they shouldn't, and missing the tournament with over 20 wins. Look at the way our squad responded to competition like Gonzaga and UNC last year- we get up for the big ones, plus we draw more fans, get some TV exposure, and get noticed by fans outside of St. Louis and the A-10. Who gets pumped up to play "moderately" difficult games?

I didn't say we have to play the toughest schedule possible- I said that we should. It's just my opinion. George Washington was the easiest example that came to mind, and it works that they play in the same conference as us, so we can keep that variable the same. I'm not going to sift through every schedule in the NCAA's to make a point. I just like the hard schedules. Skip is right- get rid of the bottom few, and get a few of the best teams every year, and we've got a nice non-conference schedule.