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Question for those in the know


slu72

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let's not lose sight of the fact that biondi just raised the money to build the research center, is still working on inflating the general fund and is trying to build the arena. i.e. you can only go to the wells so many times.

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Do you stand by your post calling the team an embarrasment?

Also, the lack of support you talk about is fiction.

Do you know this program ranks in the top 50 in attendance in the country? It for many many years ranked in the top 20. That is not bad for a team that has never been a consitent top 50 program. The support is there from everyday fans.

Student support is another story. It is weak. I commend your purchase of season tickets.

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Fair enough, but several of us pointed out on this board during last recruiting periods, that Soderberg did not get the job done... for that, he also needs to be held accountable. Even lowly Duquesne was able to bring in several freshme who have been able to contribute (and even beat us).

The Claggett team following that sophomore season added Waldman, Robinson, Harris and Turner the following season and basically returned everybody. I'm skeptical that Soderberg can bring in that type of talent to help Tommie and Kevin. Also, we're going to have to replace our leading rebounder.

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There are other type of donors that SLU doesn't have, one of the recruiting tools that schools have is the summer internships with large companies for the athletes. SLU doesn't have the large Corporate sponsorship to offer these Internships. These are not illegal and are valuable recruiting tools.

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The problem was Biondi never really made the basketball team a priority for fund raising till the well was pretty much empty. The consistent big money donors to the athletic program (Tucci, Fusz, Holley, and others) while really wealthy would never be called super rich. There is only so much money you can expect these people to give. The really rich donors have all been tapped by the school for other projects before they were approached about athletics.

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totally agree ace. and if he doesnt sign anyone in may, i totally agree that is unacceptable and grounds to be fired.

waldman is the player that will be hard to duplicate and ironically an h waldman to come in (or develop) is probably the ingredient that this team needs. i have started to buy into courtside's want for a point guard and let tommie and kevin play the wings exclusively. not that both cant do it, but i think if we had h in place of polk this would definitely make this team look a lot stronger.

i believe that vouyoukas rebounds will be replaced. can vouyoukas lack of toughness be replaced?

btw, harris was not much of a contributor in claggett and highmark's junior season. he was a key substitute as a sophomore though.

also btw, danny brown's stats are not that far off carl turner's. turner had a few more assists and a better turnover to assist ratio, but scoring average is close and danny actually shoots better.

the junior david robinson averaged 4 rebs and 6 ppg. i hope we find at least that player for next year. the senior david robinson though was almost 10 ppg and over 6 rpg.

my point is history is kind to our memories.

the real key is that spoon had claggett, highmark and h. this team has lisch and liddell. we need h and i believe the support will at least fill in. h is the tough piece to the puzzle.

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We are a Top 50 attendance for the simple reason we are the only dog and pony show in town during the dreaded monthes of jan - march. There is NOTHING to do in St. Louis other then go to the games. Imagine if Cameron indoor held 20,000, same with Gonzaga, same with that place out in Oregon, etc.

My point is we aren't Top 50 in attendance because of our exciting, up tempo style of play. We are Top 50 cuz its something to do, that serves beer, unlike most on campus arenas, and there's no professional teams during these monthes (The Blues hardly count). I am actually surprised we don't draw more.

If the Scott dropped the price of a jumbo beer from $8.25 to like $4-5, I guarentee Friday/Saturday games would be jam packed with frats, sororities, etc.

They should have a college night but obviously call it something different where the stadium offers really cheap beer. That will put students in the seats.

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You're not going to get many teams interviewing your AC's with the results we've had, both record and recruiting wise. UB's always saying he has the resources needed. But I would agree if we're paying bottom dollar for AC's that is a huge problem, because you always get what you pay for. I really never realized our AC's were underpaid. In fact, I think this issue came up some years ago when Zo was here and someone said Dollar and the other AC's were paid pretty much the going rate for top 50 programs.

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Good post Roy. I think we're finding some common ground here. One key player you are missing from Claggett's junior season - Donnie Dobbs (16 points and 6 rebounds). That team had a big 4 (Clag, Dobbs, Waldman and Highmark) and several nice role players. We have a big 2 and a couple of nice role players. There's a lot of work to be done with one signing period and I think even a disappointing Ian will be more difficult to replace than you think. We'd be thrilled to find 11 ppg and 8 rpg from a big.

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oh i disagree. we are top 50 in spite of having to compete for the sports entertainment dollar with the rams and blues. that is a tremendous competitor for the sports dollar. imo that is the reason we arent top 10 anymore as more casual fans swithed their money to the rams.

go to carbondale or springfield missouri, or des moines, or bloomington, what are those schools competing with?

you want to use duke as the comparison, i think that at this point in programs to compare us to duke is crazy. btw, i think duke's basketball budget is ranked second in the nation. let me know when saint louis university's basketball budget is second in the nation.

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You are right there is so much to do all around the country in those dreaded months. St. Louis has far less options than other areas, right.

Don't count the Blues because that will disprove your point. Never mind that the Blues are light years ahead of us in marketing. Never mind that the Bills get less attractive dates and times for games because the Blues control the building. Never mind that that the Blues put our scheldule priority wise below them, the circus, concerts, ice shows, and wrestling. Never mind that holds attendance down.

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if we want to leap above the 40 or 50 schools that are consistently ranked ahead of us, paying our coaches as good isnt going to steal those level of coaches.

and when i made the comment about the assistant coaches, i wasnt just talking soderberg assistants. go back as far as you want. i dont see grawer, spoon or romar head coaches except bennett and thomas.

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sluser, i would say soderberg's minimum time frame should be to allow him to play out his gem recruits. lisch and liddell. if after their senior season we havent progressed and he didnt get that start junior class to come, then your question is answered.

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ironically we scream about meyer being too small to play the 4 yet he is currently averaging 10 ppg and 6 rpg. that isnt dobb's 16 and 6 that was averaged in claggett and highmark's junior season, but it is closer than most think plus is it that hard to imagine that meyer wont improve next year on his 10 and 6 to come closer to matching dobb's 16 and 6?

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Roy, I would move your time frame up a year. Soderberg's ace in the hole is that junior class. We should know by this fall. If he can't land some of those top recruits and if he fails to make the Big Dance in 07-08, firing him after that season is the perfect time to do it. Having Tommie and Kevin for their senior seasons, entering a new building would make this program pretty attractive for a coach. It would give the program a fresh start. If Soderberg can't get us into the tourney after 6 seasons and can't hit it big with that junior high school recruiting class, he doesn't deserve the opportunity to coach in the new building.

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Ace I would have to agree with you. No way you give him another year after next if things don't change. The facilities will be in place for that class's arrival on campus. There is enough talent in the area that the recruiting budget can not be an excuse for that class. You have to cut your losses and move on. It would be the perfect time for a fresh start if that is what is needed.

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i believe he will land some of the big prize recruits. thompson has already said he likes slu the best. i am betting that kramer likes slu. suggs is the big fish, and we know we are in the picture with scott.

you do realize it this day and age those fall recruits that signed will jump ship if he is fired the following april. and more times than not, the ncaa has allowed it regardless of whether the incoming coach agrees to release them or not. as long as that recruit doesnt follow the coach, it happens all the time.

that said, if he signs no one next fall, and the billikens are not in the 2008 ncaa tourney, i doubt i would fight it. i wont be campaigning for it. but i would be far less defensive.

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i will wait until may of 2008 to decide for myself how good luke meyer was as a billiken. i agree at this point he is not donnie dobbs, however i am pointing out that he is approaching his numbers with a year to go.

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