RUBillsFan

"1. A quality education. 2. Somewhere he can play 'early and often.'" Seems like SLU fits those categories much better than Mizzou. Better education and he'd likely get more playing time. I also like the part about how Billy Donovan called him after deciding to return Florida....okay thanks for the call Billy, but if you were ready to bolt to the NBA for the money how can he trust you now? I would think Donovan "the flip-flopper" should have lost all his credability. You don't go on national TV and announce you are taking a job and then decide you don't want to do it a few days later.

I personally do not see Eckerle getting much playing time next year. Sure, he was great in HS, but he is a freshman walk-on. He'll see time in blow-out games maybe, but scholarship players should be getting minutes ahead of him. And we aren't lacking depth at guard if DB comes back healthy, we have Lisch, Liddel, DB, Polk, DM, AM, LM, and MR who can all play guard. Next year, Eckerle will provide solid competition in practice for the guys who will be playing in the real games. Probably down the road he'll develop into someone who can contribute, but I don't think we should expect much out of him next year. However, I'm still glad he's on the team.

I agree. We need to get back to actual discussion of Billiken basketball. From what I've heard it sounds like our starting lineup for next season will probably be: C Bryce Husak Backup: Knollmeyer PF Barry Eberhardt SF Luke Meyer Backup: Relphorde SG Tommie Liddel Backup: Danny Brown? Mitchell, Dustin MacGuire PG Kevin Lisch Backup: Polk I have a few questions about this. 1. The only depth we would have in terms of big men would be Knollmeyer. How do you think this will play out? Will Luke or Relphorde see time at the 4? 2. How will Dwayne take not starting his senior year after starting all of his junior year? 3. Whats the deal with Danny Brown? Is he going to be healthy for the start of the season?

reread oldie in 19. he was talking about john redden being awarded an athletic scholarship his senior year, not paul.

Lamping graduated from Rockhurst in KC. He may have gone to grad school at SLU, but I know he graduated from Rockhurst.

nm

I wondered if alcohol might be involved as well. Not to disrespect Josh at all, but its just what popped into my head while reading about it. That said it is a tragic event and best not to speculate at all until the facts come out. RIP Josh

smokin Joe is a little busy drinking his adult water and crackin jokes that only he laughs at these days to coach ball.

it seems like most of the selling points for SLU matter more for players who are not going to be able to make a career out of playing basketball (i.e. academics, networking). Kids who have dreams of the NBA probably don't care much about those things. I think the new arena is our best recruiting tool, but its hard to use it until the arena actually opens and Brad can take kids in there and wow them with it.

I keep wondering about those games as well. I think winning those games would have gotten into the NCAA tournament. Of course then we would have been seeded differently in the A-10, probably #2 behind Xavier and we would have had a 1st round bye. Maybe then we could have won the A-10 tourny. I dunno. The Dayton loss is what really kills me b/c if we win that game then we are probably in the NIT and I can keep watching the Bills play this year. Hopefully players like Kevin, Tommie, and Luke use this season to motivate them for next year. I think we can be just as good next year as we were this year record wise and if we get lucky win those close games instead of losing them. Maybe then we can make the NCAA tourny. Starters G-Lisch (another year of experience = better) G-Liddel (same thing, more experience = better) G-Danny Brown (I really think he should start over Polk, Polk is too undersized, Danny is a better shooter, hopefully more minutes for DB will make him better) F-Luke Meyer (again more experience = better) C-Bryce Husak (certainly not as good as IV, but he showed promise toward the end of the year, IV wasn't as good as expected this year, so I think a switch to BH isn't as big a downgrade as it seems) Bench G-Polk (more experience = better, he gives us speed/change of pace off the bench, subs in for Tommie/Lisch at PG) G-Dustin MacGuire (good shooter off the bench, subs in for DB/Lisch at SG) G-Anthony Mitchell- (probably won't play much, maybe he'll get minutes if someone gets in foul trouble or in blowouts) F-Adam Knollmeyer (showed signs of ability last year, will get big minutes at PF and C hopefully he improves as the year goes on) F-Marcus Relphorde (subs in at forward, will probably get decent minutes b/c of lack of other big men, hopefully he makes the most of them) I think Brad needs to go 9 deep next year. Looking at it, with Lisch and Liddel, we can still be better next year than we were this year.

It seems there are a few people here who think Tommie will bolt for the NBA after this season. I think this is crazy. The people who think this are just looking for more things to be negative about. If a kid (who isn't at all ready for the NBA) bolts after one season in which his team doesn't meet expectations then he isn't the type of player SLU needs. Having said that I think Tommie is smart enough to know his game (while very good) needs a lot of work to be NBA ready. If he entered the draft after this year he would be lucky to go in the 2nd round if at all. If he stays and polishes his game (and bulks up a little bit) he could be a sure 1st rounder. Another reason going to the NBA after this year would be foolish is that all the HS kids who were NBA bound, but couldn't go b/c of the new rules so they are now freshman will likely go this year meaning there will probably be a glut of talent in this years draft. Tommie is great, but he is not ready for the NBA. I think he knows that and wants to stay close to home, so he is unlikely to transfer. So stop worrying about losing TL.

My Grades (slightly more optimistic) Liddel: A+ (best recruit since Hughes) Lisch: A Vouyoukas: A- (made A-10 1st team) Meyer: B+ (great role player) Drejaj: B Izik Ohannon: B (developed into a solid big man) Reggie Bryant: B (was good, but got injured) Tom Frericks: B- (same as Bryant) Polk: B- (shooting has improved this year) Danny Brown: C+ (has been worse this year than in the past) Newbourne: C+ (Contributed to the team, but wasn't very good) Justin Johnson: D+ (like Brown has shown good flashes, but not good overall) Bryce Husak: D (end of the bench big man nothing more) Obi: F Dixon: F Darren Clark: F Knollmeyer: Incomplete MacGuire: Incomplete Wendell Bennett was a walk (before he got a scholarship) on so I don't think it is fair to grade him. I think you were a little too harsh with some grades, but overall Brad still has a lot of work to do with recruiting if he wants to keep his job.

The Billiken Bobble-head was a great promotion. They need to do more things like that. I missed out on the Brad Bobble-head. Too bad. Also, what is the Billikens policy on retiring jerseys or raising them up (i don't think they are the same thing b/c UNC raised May, McCants, and Felton's jerseys but didn't retire them). I think maybe someone like Marquee Perry or Josh Fischer should get their jersey raised. That would be a fun event that might bring some more people to the game.

Not the University, Bob Ramsey. I'm not sure Ramsey reads the forum. I could be wrong though.

I was listening to the game and heard it too. I was going to post something about it in the game thread, but I thought for a second maybe I was going crazy and hearing things. I'm not sure this is concrete evidence that Rammer reads the board as it could have just been mispronunciation of Bitee's name. It was funny though.

It seems like almost every game this year has been poorly officiated. I guess the A-10 just has bad refs (or they have it in for the Bills for some reason j/k). Seriously I have witnessed some awful calls this year.

URI played mostly zone and IV was getting double or even triple teamed. He still had 11 points, 6 rebounds (only ok, but better than his recent avg.) and 4 blocks. He probably could have given us a little more production, but I'm not complaining. What kept this game close was poor shooting, missed FTs, and lack of any bench scoring, not IV's play.

Our RPI dropped to 93 even with the win per www.realtimerpi.com. A win against Xavier would raise it a lot b/c they are at 48 right now.

I believe it is on FSN-Ohio which I do not get, but I'll be at the game so no big deal.

Some thoughts on the game (although i didn't see it and just listened on the radio): 1. Tommie Liddel is really really good. I think he should (and has somewhat) become the focal point of our offense instead of Ian. 2. Our defense seemed better this game, but shooting wasn't really bad (35%) except from 3 which was okay (39%). Turnovers were still a problem (14). Why can't we play good D and do well on offense at the same time? Seems like its one or the other. 3. The bench, even with minutes from Dustin and Knollmeyer, was not good especially at scoring. O points 0-10 from the floor. They did have 2 steals and 6 rebounds and only 1 turnover. 4. Dustin MacGuire should probably get more minutes eventhough he was 0-4 from the field and 0-3 from 3pt range. It sounded like he was just off on his 3s (probably because of a lack of in game experience). He grabbed 2 rebounds, had a steal, and no turnovers. Feels good to win, but we'll have to play better to beat Xavier. LETS GO BILLS.

There is a Sheraton right across the street from the Scottrade Center.

62-58. This one didn't sound pretty, but it sure feels good to win.

23 seconds left. No fouls. Come on boys. Big stop.

I'd say Luke's play is another positive this year. Tommie shooting has been phenomenal this year though.

COME ON BILLS. LETS PULL THIS ONE OUT. LETS GO BOYS. FINISH STRONG.