Coach Soderberg Season Grade

[davidnark]

At the beginning of the season, the consensus was that this year's team should make the NCAA tournament. Halfway through the season, when the team hit a rough stretch, loyal Brad fans--including the AD--said to stay the course and judge Brad based upon a full season's work. Well, the Billikens finished the season 7th in a mediocre A-10, had a terrible loss in the third round of the A-10 tournament, lost by double-digits to every top 25 team it played, and was shut out of the post-season tournament. To make matters worse, Brad and his staff have only used 2 of the 5 available scholarships, only 1 of those recruits was on anyone's "list," and the four freshmen (only two of whom remain on the team) combined for something like 9 points and 8 rebounds all season. I don't want to hear about athletic department budgetary issues because the expectations coming into the season were based upon the current set of coaching and player personnel; marketing and cell phone budgets don't affect that criterion. I also don't want to hear about the first 20-win season in ten years because last time I checked we didn't play Marquette, Louisville, Cincinnati, and Memphis twice this season. Those are eight+ games in which we would have had it handed to us this year.

My bottom line, I would give Brad a D+/C-, which should not be good enough to keep his job.

[thetorch]

I have yet to complete my season grade report but initially I am giving Brad a C-/D+. About the worst grade I can give him while also having a winning season.

[slufanskip]

I'd go with a C

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[bbill]

I would have to give him a C-:

- Miserable recruiting effort. Not able to leverage the new building announcement that he said was key.

- 20 wins, but a fairly weak schedule.

- Terrible handling pressure defense despite a guard-oriented team.

- Not maximizing the Big Three.

- Ridiculous comments in the press (along the lines of very, very, very proud of the team).

- No consistent plan (he changes as often as the wind and is indecisive).

- Minimal effort to dewelop his new recruits.

Compare him to Shimmy. She has recruited well from no base.

He should go, but no way they fire him.

They're going to struggle to sell premium seats in the new building.

[SLUDrew]

I think a C- is very fair. When grading out a college coach you have to look at his coaching ability and recruiting ability. If he is real strong in one of those areas, you may cut him some slack in the other area.

If I was to grade his "coaching" this year, I would give him a C/C+. 20 wins is a benchmark in college basketball. Yes one of those was against a non division I opponent, and we play in a pathetic conference, but 20 wins is 20 wins. He also played a major role in Tommie's improved jumper, which will not only benefit SLU, but may help propel Tommie to the NBA.

HOWEVER, This team fell WAY short of expectations. 8-8 in the A-10 cannot be an acceptable outcome with the talent we put on the floor. Yes Kevin had a hand injury which MIGHT have made a difference in a couple games, but show me one coach in America that doesn't have to work around injries.

In a nutshell, Brad's allegiance to the pack D, his refusal to play kids he himself recruited, and his overall inability to make in-game adjustments, bring his coaching grade way down.

In terms of recruiting how can he garner anything higher than a D at this point? First off, we did not get one commitment in the fall. This is unnacceptable in and of itself. When you can't get one commit in the fall it tells me that you were not able to convince kids SLU is the place for them. It tells me that kids wanted to exhaust all other options first, and then maybe choose SLU as a fallback option. Hence we wind up with a kid who did not get an offer from Wisconsin (his apparent first choice) and a kid who, as far as we know, did not get any other D-I offers. Like I have said countless times, I like the fact that these two are going to be Billikens, but they seem to be role players, and they are only adding depth at the ONE position on this team where we already have depth, wing.

At most other schools this would not be acceptable. Yes, Roy the University of Denver would happily trade rosters and records with SLU so maybe it isn't fair to say "most schools." How about I say the vast majority of schools who have any aspiration whatsoever of either remaining or becoming a basketball power.

[slu72]

C- ...that's below average for a 20 win season. But he himself said the team would consider the season a failure if they didn't make the dance, so he must be giving himself an F. Bbill covered the bases for why, so no reason to add salt to the wound. There's going to have to be a serious sit down with CL , Fr. Biondi, and UB to figure out the future direction of the program. I'm sick of hearing how Biondi is not behind it...he committed to an $80mm facility at a private school with a mediocre tradition in hoops. Why would he do this? To hold Disney on Ice shows that he could drive his golf cart to? Based on selection Sunday, the whole hoops game only gets tougher from here on out. Every year, we will be competing for 7-10 spots at the dance. To get one of them is going to take a hell of a team year in and year out. This team is not going to come from taking chances on Spring recruits or early fall offers to kids not being recruited by anyone else. We won't get top 100-150 players for the forseeable future even with the new building. Winning tradition is a whole lot more attractive to a kid than a fancy new practice facility. It's going to take a resourceful savvy guy to get the job done at SLU.

[SLUSER]

I will definitely go with a C-.....C=Average and this season was exactly that, average. Unfortunetly, too many people are ok with average.

[slu72]

B'roys comparing us to Denver? Jeez, I didn't realize we'd fallen that far down the food chain. Kids go to Denver to ski, nor for their hoops program. Some kids choose Marquette becasue of their hoops program. Why else would you go to school in Milwaukee, for your love of Miller Lite? I'm sure Savannah State would trade records as well, but both teams will still be in the same place come Thursday. At the rec center watching TV.

[Billi from Philly]

Well, it's been a tough year to be a Billiken loyalist from Philly with performances such as Temple and St Joe's to endure, but, I hung in all season with them

And , in doing so, had a chance to think about the grade for coach Brad....despite recruiting woes resulting in a lack of depth and losing two players mid season, it seems to me that Brad's year on the upside will be 20 wins in a woefully mediocre conference---and the downside is the glaring inability to teach and coach: how to respond to pressure defenses, how to take care of the ball in the waning minutes of a game,successful inbounds plays, angles of passing lanes into the post, shooting techniques for improving three point production ---and the always popular, consistency of effort on the defensive end of the floor.....add to that the inability to effectively adjust strategy during games.....and you add up to a D+

[stchuckbilliken]

You people are nuts. C for a 20 win season.

He did a good job despite injuries and other

problems. A B for getting this team to 20 wins.

[Box and Won]

You gotta be kidding me.

20 wins is clearly not what it used to be - and we technically only had 19 agains DI opponents.

[stchuckbilliken]

Let me see if I have this math correct.

20 wins = 19 wins.

No wonder we get so much crack pot logic on

this board.

[SLUDrew]

One of those wins was against a division II opponent. If the number of wins is all that matters to you, why don't we just schedule SLUH, CBC and Vianney? We might be able to get 23 or 24 wins.

[Schasz]

Didn't the chairman of the Selection honks say that there were 104 teams who attained a 20 win season. Outside of UNC and SIU (two losses) our out of conference schedule was pretty darn vanilla. We already know the A10 had a poor RPI rating so our 8-8 record isn't worthy of a parade.

Due to the above mentioned plus the inability to recruit bench players who we could play and produce meaningful minutes, I cannot give Coach Soderberg anything higher than a C.

[willie]

104 teams won 20 or more games.My guess is that none of the 104 will be fired.

[Battlecat455]

For those that have cared to notice, I've been a Brad supporter.I think he's a decent man and intelligent enough to figure this thing out. I believe that he goes about his business the right way ethically and I believe that if you do enough things right in life, you will succeed over time. I consider this season a mild disappointment because I believe the team underacheived. I also believe they improved over last year's performance and their record would indicate that that is the case. I'm afraid that slow steady growth is what can be realistically expected. Like many others, I'm apprehensive about our ability to continue that improvement based upon our current recruiting situation. I also believe that there are local players available that can help this team improve and I'm cautiosly optimistic that Brad will get enough of them to keep the ball rolling forward. Although we improved, we failed in the main objective and I would give Brad a C for this year's effort. Enough to pass.

[Battlecat455]

You are splitting hairs and the comparison is inane.

[slufanskip]

I think you summed it up well, I agree with you that a C is enough to pass. My question from here is ... how many C's is he allowed to get? Like you I have been a supporter and we did improve this year, though imo we underacheived. I don't want a program that we continue to give a C to. I know there are other issues at hand like support from the school and all ... but the arena is basically here, that is a big deal. Our recruits will be playing, training, and practicing in as nice of a facility as almost anyone in the country ... Though I have been a supporter ... greater improvement needs to happen and must happen next year imo ... If Brad can't get players to at least replace what we have graduating with the arena coming on line ...

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[moytoy12]

I think 'nark, SLU72, Drew and the others above provide a cogent analysis/recap of Sodie. I think a D+/C- is about right mostly for the reasons stated above. However, I'm worried that 'Cat's assessment carries more weight. Namely, the administration and a bulk of the boosters and others who will weigh-in will state the exact same thing as 'cat (and i think 'cat's assessment is fairly accurate too).

So, do we attempt to improve slowly with a man of integrity and work ethic, but questionable ability at the D-I level? Or do we go after the needle in a haystack, but with an athletic department that needs some obvious retooling? Neither option is very appealing.

This is why i'm on the fence. If i had a gun to my head, I would go after the needle in a haystack. One of two things will happen, either the athletic department will shape up and change how they do business or a coach will force that department to change. The athletic department (budget, marketing, etc.) is unlikely to change drastically on its own volition(history proves that). If the athletic department isn't likely to change, then I believe we need to try to get a coach that will force the AD to change. This would obviously put us at risk of starting over, but i believe the upside (of the right candidate) outweighs such risk.

[3star_recruit]

The AD hires the coach. They aren't going to hire a coach that forces them out of their comfort zone.

[moytoy12]

I meant that more passively i suppose. My thought is that a successful coach with an infectious personality would lead the charge and the AD would follow. Not that a coach would come in and demand things, but the AD would follow the example set by such a coach.

i don't know if Sodie will ever get the AD to change its ways (either directly or indirectly) and unfortunately this might be best for the AD and Sodie, but not necessarily the best thing for SLU basketball.

[Battlecat455]

" I think you summed it up well, I agree with you that a C

>is enough to pass. My question from here is ... how many C's

>is he allowed to get?"

I don't know the answer to that question, Skip. I just think now is not the time to panic. Lots of things are going to happen that none of us can predict. Hopefully, many good things, probably some bad things. I do think that a C means that one is on the cusp. Brad's work and the program's health warrant review at the conclusion of each year until such time as there is some equity in the growth bank, as it were.

[slu72]

until his contract's done. Not unless Dr. Cheyfitz told Fr. Biondi : "I didn't plunk down $12mil to house a mediocre team, find someone new." We should know a lot more after April signings. Most posters have already penciled in a JUCO PG and PF...names please. Then there's the crucial fall signing period. If those kids start dropping like flies, except for Kramer, we got big problems in River City. Look at the A-10 this year. There was general improvement; Rhody, Fordham, Duquense are examples. And anyone who thinks St.Joe's and Temple will be content with middle of the pack don't know their respective coaches. Dunphy is no slouch. He's a native Philadelphian whose got a whole lot more latitude to recruit at Temple than he ever had at Penn. Look for Temple to step it up big. Ford's proving to be a Pitino clone in recruiting players. He's got Boston and New York in his backyard. Unless UK fires Tubby and hires Ford to replace him, we've got them to contend with. I expect the A-10 will get better. Not Major better, but will fill that tiny little slot separating the mids from the majors, to where at least 2 and maybe 3 bids are the norm. Also in there will be the WAC. This business is only getting harder and more difficult every year. UB's going to be given his contract to show he's got the stuff to play in this league. I pray he finds it, because to date we ain't seen it. We are a long ways from becoming the Gonzaga of the midwest.

[Battlecat455]

I agree with your assessment of the situation. It may be that it's a question of one's own reality. I just don't see the athletic dept. changing, regardless of who the coach is. From my perspective, the only way to get anything accomplished is to work within the system that is in place, trying to make changes wherever possible. I suppose those hours of philosophy and theology weren't wasted on me. I place a high value on intregrity and, admittedly, prop Brad for that.

[SLUDrew]

I think things are just a little too comfortable for everyone involved for us to expect a change. I believe that if Brad keeps the Bills anywhere near the record of this year (20-13, 19-15) he will never lose his job regardless of post-season appearances. He seems to me to be the consumate "yes-man."