TheRaginCajun

JJ is a joke, get this kid out of the program. Why is Knollmeyer not getting all of that kids minutes, there is no chance he can be any worse.

Well looks like we can all take a few months off caring about the Billikens and reconverge for the A-10 Tournament because that is our only hope at this point. I am so angry with what has transpired since conference play I cannot even put it in words. My worries were realized, I was continually questioning how good this team was when we were barely coming away with wins and people told me to relax. Well look at this team now. This is an absolute joke, only being able to comfortably go 6 deep is pathetic and unacceptable. My worst fears have certainly been realized, lack of depth and a legitimate 4.

This is an absolute joke. I do not know what to say at this point. You have Tommie Liddell becoming an absolute star and we just have not put enough around him and Ian Vouyoukas has completely digressed. We are in big trouble if Lisch is significantly hurt. The fact that Jeff Coffey is playing is ridiculous. And we were expecting tournament with this team.....

Score?

Thanks for the update, that is insane.

It says a lot about the guys you recruited when you are playing a walk-on over them.

Tommie Liddell has become a star the past couple of weeks. He has been automatic and he needs to carry this team tonight. Thanks for the foul updates.

Could someone update me on the current foul situation and the score?

He would be the walk-on from St. Charles West. He is a lean 6'4 who I think can match-up ok with slower guards, but not much more than that.

Why does JJ ever play? He is absolutely terrible.

A walk-on is in the game?

How does Danny have 4 fouls and Polk 3? This could be trouble with Lisch not able to go in the 2nd half. We cannot go beyond Dustin as far as I am aware and Dustie has only seen minutes in a handful of games. Looks like we will be forced to go with Luke at the 3 and play JJ at the 4 and look to play Knollmeyer and maybe Husak some minutes.

I think people wanted a more uptempo offense based on the talent of our players having kids like Polk, Lisch, and Liddell who can excel in a more uptempo offense. However, that does not mean you completely ignore defense. I think people want to see a more uptempo offense with a team that is going to at least get after it on the defensive end. I mean at least play sound on D.

I think for the sake of the conference and for us to get a nice rpi win we would want Dayton to win as many games as possible.

When you look at the Valley today you could make a reasonable case for about 7 of those teams. I think a reasonable case could be made for 2 teams in the A-10, Xavier and Dayton. There is no chance if the tournament were today that those 7 teams from the Valley who have a solid resume would be in the tournament. I think 4 is likely for them. However, I think all 7 of those teams have a beter resume than Xavier and Dayton. I personally would not want to be in the Valley. I think we were basically stuck between a rock and a hard place. I personally think that the A-10 has a fairly nice past and I think will be a better conference in the long-run. It is just rough that we join the A-10 at such a low point and when the MVC reaches its all time high.

I think that based on what Wichita State was doing early in the season and with MO State beating Wisconsin people were definitely taking notice and giving these teams their due. However, since that early success Wichita State had a rough stretch and I don't think any single team has put themself in a position to merit a top 25 ranking. Had Wichita State kept it up and Creighton been the team many expected I would have not been surprised to see one of them get a 5 seed or lower, I think people were ready to give them their credit. The early success showed that these teams were no fluke, but I don't think any team has really kept up that pace. Once again you did not read my post, I was basing it solely on the past two seasons and I said that this is unreasonable. I think that this year the MVC will probably get 4 again and the A-10 likely 1. Also, the A-10 was a one bid conference last season had Xavier not won the conference tournament and the MVC got 4. That is a bit of a gap in my opinion and it will be the same this year because no A-10 will likely warrant an at-large selection.

Isn't that how most promotions are handled, with a sponsor footing the bill? I doubt that the Soderberg bobble-head with JBuck's logo on the base was paid for solely by the athletic department.

I never said they could not play for other division I programs. I said that they are mid-major talents at best and I will argue that all day.

I am not sure Shaw would be even close to the player he is at a program in a BCS conference like Missouri or Illinois. I doubt either one of those programs are even remotely sorry for passing him up.

Roy, I feel like you are arguing semantics here. Who cares if those kids could start for a team like Prairie View A&M? The only teams that these kids could reasonably expect to get significant minutes from are garbage programs. There is no excuse that the best we can do is guys like Husak, JJ, Ikeakor, Dixon, Knollmeyer, and Maguire.

Roy, your giving to the athletic department and the university should be commended. I am a recent graduate who gave my first donation in connection with tickets I purchased for the North Carolina game. I have a question for you, can you give money to the university and designate that it go directly to the basketball program?

I think the point being made is that they are not legitimate Division I basketball players and Bryce and JJ certainly are not. You don't bring kids in who you think are good enough to ride the bench of a division I program for 5 years and I am sure there are plenty of D-II and III kids who could ride the bench of many D-I programs. We have brought in nothing but mid-major talent since signing Tommie and Kevin. Obi, Horace, Dustin, and Knollmeyer are all mid-major talents to go along with guys like JJ and Bryce who are also mid-major talents at best. We need guys who can be productive on the major college level. Outside of Polk, Lisch, Liddell, Meyer, Vouyoukas and I will throw in Brown we don't have guys who deserve to be competing on this level. I went to a practice earlier in the season and I was completely shocked by the lack of skill and fundamentals of all of the big men outside of Ian. Justin Johnson may be one of the worst basketball players / athletes I have seen in my life. Whoever considers him an athlete is an awful evaluator of talent, the kid cannot even consistently catch a basketball or run straight. He moves with such awkwardness and lack of coordination that I am amazed he ever received a scholie from a D-I program. Horace was about the same, although he appeared to have better control of his body.

The media guide says that Ed Macauley is the only player to have his number retired in Billiken basketball history. However, on the bottom of the page it shows Retired Numbers and it shows #24 Dick Boushka, #34 Anthony Bonner, and #43 Bob Ferry. It would seem that those last three have received the distinction similar to what Felton, May, and McCants received at North Carolina. I say we should go ahead and give that distinction to Scott Highmark and Erwin Claggett, I think they are deserving and it would be a nice gesture. That team really captivated the area, why not honor those guys and I am sure it would bring some fans to the game who may not follow the Billikens as closely now.

Not sure about Fisher and Marque at this point, but what about raising the jersey of a Scott Highmark or Erwin Claggett. Who currently has their jersey retired? I think that the team with Highmark and Claggett really got the area excited about Billiken basketball and I think fans would really come out if they honored those two. Talk about two great players who represented the program well, I think they are definitely deserving of such distinction.

I thought the Billiken bobble-head they did about 5 years back was a great give away. I also enjoyed the Brad Soderberg bobble-head give away and found it amusing, although I would have preferred a Billiken Legend bobble-head like Chris Heinrich. I think the posters they have put out in recent years were pretty neat. It just seems that the overall marketing efforts for this program are lacking. I think a kid like metz would really flourish in a position like that. It seems like when you go to Valley games they have a lot of entertaining competitions and what not during time-outs that are much more enjoyable and exciting than what we have currently.