Woody Allen and the Billikens

[huzzah]

In the opening scene from the Woody Allen film "Matchpoint", the winning player hits a shot that lands near the top of the net, spins over the net and lands on the opposite side. The winning shot. Conclusion: "Luck the oft overlooked element of life". And so it was with the Billikens. Duquesne missing half their free throws, a fortuitous event beyond our control. However, we went to a zone and pulled out a win, but luck was our ally. In the UMass game we caught a team recovering from a virus; luck. However, we made adjustments at the half and won. However, luck played an important role. In the GW game luck was against us, but played a minor role. According to Tom T we had some players w/ a virus and combined with so many games over a short period, we lost. However, the overriding factor was not luck, but lack of a pg. We displayed deficient ball handling skills. We could not handle a full court press, or a half court trap, even at season end. So it was w/ disappointment that I read Tom T's piece today. The emphasis was on "if". Do you recall the old joke - "If my aunt had testacles she would be my uncle". The article did not mention, except obliquely, the lack of ball handling skills and concentrated on lack of big men. I arrived at the conclusion that Brad was Div 2 material because a pg is basic to winning. However, I do not see a coaching change at this point. I think what Cheryl meant by saying we need one more game, during a tournament half time interview w/ Earl, was that w/ 1 more "V" we had achieved the goal for this team, 20 wins. The goal she, with Brad, had set out. This is a realistic management approach. Set a goal and if it is achieved do not change the on line supervision. CL will now sit down w/ Brad and set a goal for next year and if he makes it or doesn't will be a determinant regarding his future. Another poster brought up a good point and that is contract extention. Lets see how CL handles that. In regard to luck, Brad won 2 tournament games where luck had a role, but luck is fickle.

[Cowboy]

i would like to request some good recruiting luck for our Billikens, to whoever distributes luck.

and i thought the Billiken was a symbol of good luck ,imagine where we would be if our mascot was an eagle or bear or something.....