MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Hello everybody, i am not here to bash anybody nor am i here to upset anyone. I love our basketball team, and i want us to win just as much as the next guy. My first year at slu came during the last season Romar was our head coach, and i can see significant differences between Romar's style and Soderberg's style. (I know many of you do not want to hear about our head coach, but I believe a college basketball program begins and ends with its head coach, so it is worth noting.) When Romar was our head coach, i remember at the beginning of the season i was walking down west pine mall and saw him.... i looked up at him, and said "hey coach, goodluck this season, blah blah blah (small talk)".. and he looked up at me, and shook my hand and genuinely seemed nice and from that point on, anytime i crossed Romar he had his head up smiling and he always said hello to me if he saw me. He seemed like the type of coach that his players would jump off a bridge for, a personable/knowledgeable coach. Over the past 5 seasons (under Soderberg), i cannot compare him to Romar, it is more of a contrast. When i see Soderberg around campus he always has his head down and he is walking rapidly to get where he is going. He appears like he does not care about the common student of the university, and he did not even offer me a hello when i built up the courage to try to offer our coach some support. Ok, where am i getting at this? Some of you are going to bash me with the idea that i am butt hurt that Soderberg did not say hello to me, and that it is not a head coach's job to associate himself with the student population. But, (in my opinion) this contrast between Soderberg and Romar is what makes Romar a successful coach and Soderberg a mediocre coach. Gosh, i cannot even begin to tell you how nice Romar was, and i think about it, and it only makes sense that he is a great recruiter and coach. With Soderberg, he seems arrogant and disinterested, and i believe that is why he has a hard time landing recruits. His demeanor reminds me more of a football coach than a basketball coach. It seems like his (Soderberg's) players are not willing to "jump off a bridge for my coach" (figuratively, of course). So, now to the present... in 5 seasons under Soderberg we have 2 NIT appearances, and we are currently undergoing a 2 year postseason drought despite the talents of tommie liddell and kevin lisch. The more i watch the tourney, and hear the announcers and analysts preach "college bball is all about guard play".. and i think, what the hell?? we have two great guards, but we consistently underacheive. Whose fault is this? I do not know, but the common finger will be pointed at our head coach. I think Soderberg is a good coach, but is better fitted at the assistant coach position. I know a few of the players, and i have been told that many of them do not like Soderberg as a person. If we are to be a good basketball program, we have to have a personable head coach (as well as intelligent). We need a coach to adjust midgame, draw up creative plays, and recruit according to his team's needs. All in all, if we want to become a reputable basketball program changes may have to be made. If Soderberg made up for his lack of recruiting with excellent game preparation/plan/adjustments (and vice versa); it would be another story... but he does not. Does anybody here want us to be a recognizable basketball team?? I am sure the consensus is YES, so we have to look at our lack of success from all angles, and that certainly includes the most important pillar: the head coach. Have a good day everyone, GO BILLS!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie_Gaedel Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 That's it........... we need a nice coach. Brilliant!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 your misunderstanding me... i was contrasting the personalities of a former coach (romar - who is successful) to our current coach (soderberg - who is mediocre). it is easy to not understand the points i was trying to make, and use sarcasm as a 'defense mechanism'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy03 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Yeah Romar really tore it up here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 He had bigger wins than soderberg could ever dream of. AND, he was in the C-USA,... how did soderberg fare in the CUSA???? yeah, thats right. how is soderberg faring in the weak A10?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTISODERBERGGARY Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 You are right! It just shows what happens when you are put in a situation where you have the full resources from you school. Our coach has to pay his own cell bill to call recruits how bad is that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy03 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 I never said I was happy with Soderberg at all, but you are acting like Romar was John Wooden in his tenure at SLU. Looking back at it, looks like it was pretty mediocre. He caught lighting in a bottle one year and had some decent NIT years. Better then Soderberg has done but nothing to jump up and down about. Plus he left SLU in a tale spin when he left for UW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 I'm not sure your observations are way off base, but I also know some of the players love Brad. The main problem is that this horse has been beaten all year long, which makes your post just another "should Brad go or stay post" Imo ... enough already, believe me you can't say anything on either side of the argument that hasn't been said well over 3,000 times. Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman Official Sponser of the Stemmler and Ahearn could and would have helped club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 I can't figure out how Biondi justifies it. With the way text messaging is used in recruiting today it is wrong that the staff is responsible for their cell charges related to the job. It is little ##### like that that needs to change before this program will be able to reach Biondi's stated goal of being a top 50 program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy03 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 I knew a couple players also that said the same about Brad. That I would agree with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 soderberg is not as dynamic and personable as romar. that's a news flash. btw, i agree completely that soderberg is not as good as romar. now i wonder why it is that romar had a worse record while at slu and since leaving slu he has been one of the top coaches in the country? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 Romar spent his entire tenure in the C-USA... which was one of the best conferences at the time. CUSA was consistently sending 5-6-7 teams to the NCAA tournament during Romar's time at slu. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 "The main problem is that this horse has been beaten all year long, which makes your post just another "should Brad go or stay post" Imo ... enough already, believe me you can't say anything on either side of the argument that hasn't been said well over 3,000 times." What else is there to talk about when you have a college basketball program grossly digressing and underachieving? Do you understand the significance and dire importance of the head coach in college athletics??? As far as im concerned, there is nothing else to talk about besides recruiting... which also largely correlates with the head coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 that is on the athletic director... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 The cell phone decision is straight from the top. That directive came from Biondi a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 geez... where is the logic in that??? what is biondi thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianstl Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 CUSA sent 4, 4, 2, and 3 teams to the tournament. That is not exactly 5, 6, or 7 every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 I think he was just rounding the numbers up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 just so you realize that in romar's tenure, he had the justin love year with a 33 rpi, his other two slu seasons were over 100 rpi seasons. soderberg's first two seasons (also in conference usa) were rpi seasons of 57 and 64 rpi's. barely out of the ncaa. soderberg's third year as head coach, and the last season in cusa was the reggie bryant and tom frericks injury disaster season. so soderberg had two better seasons in cusa than two of romar's cusa seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 "soderberg's third year as head coach, and the last season in cusa was the reggie bryant and tom frericks injury disaster season." So now we're not counting this 9 win season? Or at the least, heavily discounting it? Because i think you recently used it to show the 9-16-20 win progression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 "In three years at Saint Louis, Romar compiled a 51-44 (.537) record, including wins over nine different conference champions. His 51 wins rank No. 7 among all-time SLU coaches and is the fourth-best three-year total in the school's history. Romar was named head basketball coach at Saint Louis on March 26, 1999. In his inaugural season at the school, Romar guided the Billikens to a 19-14 record that marked the third best debut season-record in Saint Louis annals. His basketball life has been marked by success at every level beginning with his playing career from high school to the NBA through his coaching career. He continued that success with a notable run of firsts in his initial season at Saint Louis. In directing the Billikens to the Conference USA Tournament title and an automatic invitation to the NCAA Tournament, Romar became the first Saint Louis coach to accomplish either feat in his debut season. The 1999-2000 season marked many other notable firsts as well. Romar became the first coach in history to lead SLU into the NCAA Tournament in his debut season after winning the school's first conference tournament title. Saint Louis upset a No. 1 team, Cincinnati, for the first time since the 1952. The 2000-01 SLU squad posted a 17-14 record and became the first team in Conference USA history to defeat perennial power Cincinnati in back-to-back games. Riding the momentum from back-to-back successful seasons, the 2001-02 Saint Louis squad faced a tough schedule that included 14 games against teams that earned postseason invitations in 2002. The Billikens finished with a 15-16 overall record, but lost seven games by five points or less. Despite the close losses, Romar's players rallied to win their last four games to qualify for the conference tournament." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 Yea..."nuff" said! LOL. which previous name were you posting under ...regardless, it's still the same moronic schtick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy03 Posted March 26, 2007 Share Posted March 26, 2007 He beat Louisville when they were #2 in the country, or was that Romar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrKnowItAll Posted March 26, 2007 Author Share Posted March 26, 2007 ok... you must be really bored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.