The problems are identified. ...

[Bay Area Billiken]

Does anyone have any constructive answers?

Re SLU, I am at a loss right now. The problems include:

1. Poor recruiting. Doesn't SLU have a number of unused scholarships?

2. Refusal to play and develop the bench. Freshman Adam Knollmeyer and Dustin Maguire are logging most of their time sitting on the bench. Playing only 6 or 7 players is wearing out this team. Isn't Maguire a shooter? Could he be a zone buster? Will he ever get the chance?

3. The bad shooting slump of Kevin Lisch. Whether this is still due to the 2 injuries in unknown. I thought Lisch had come out of the slump in the Ole Miss game, but he was 1-10 from the field against Duquesne. Lisch is a good player, and we have to believe that he will come out of this slump. But even if Lisch is hitting his shots, SLU still needs another outside shooter.

4. The apparent regression of Ian Vouyoukas. SLU cannot get him the ball. He is getting hammered inside.

5. Bad defense. Soderberg keeps playing this foolish "pack" defense, and SLU is getting killed by 3's. Some nondescript St. Bonaventure player torched SLU for 27 points after being held scoreless the game before against Syracuse. Soderberg refuses to adapt. This may be the biggest coaching issue of them all.

6. Bad offense against the East Coast zones and pressure defenses. Did SLU even know this was coming when SLU joined the A-10? Every team is going to put 2 and 3 men on Vouyoukas and clog that middle as long as SLU cannot hit any outside shots. Just wait until SLU faces the real Philly East Coast zones at St. Joe's and at Temple. Absent stark improvement by SLU, those could be real ugly. SLU played 2 of the very worst games in its history last year against St. Joe's.

Solutions? Sorry, but at this point this talk about firing the coach after 15 games is very counterproductive at this time in my opinion. The time for that kind of talk is not now. Negativity breeds more negativity. For the younger crowd, this poster is a survivor of the regrettable Ron Ekker Era, the epitomy of negative times. Losing two games to two bad teams in one week does not bring SLU back to the darkness of the late '70's and early 80's. SLU once lost then to McKendree College.

But can anyone, an Assistant Coach, an Athletic Department Administrator, a big booster, anyone, get through to Coach Soderberg that he needs to change some of his strategies? Get rid of that "pack" defense once and for all. Play your bench a little more in both halves. Even though this past week was a very bad one, this season is not lost, yet. SLU is 10-5 and has two more conference home games on the docket this week. I have little doubt that SLU can beat any of the remaining teams on the schedule.

Let's get it done and win on the court starting Wed. night.

[moytoy12]

"But can anyone, an Assistant Coach, an Athletic Department Administrator, a big booster, anyone, get through to Coach Soderberg that he needs to change some of his strategies?"

Great question. But we have 4 plus years of evidence that Coach does not change his ways.

[slu72]

You're asking some non professional(s) to tell our HC what he needs to do to win games...Well, I guess therein lies the problem and why this guy should be shown the door if this season goes all the way down the toilet.

[Bay Area Billiken]

I mentioned possibilites as including an assistant coach or an AD Administrator. How about the AD herself?

Believe me, I don't want the season to go down the drain. Can't something be done before it is too late? One bad week does not a season make, although admittedly it does wreak havoc with things like NCAA At-Large bids.