AlumniFan Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 DISCLAIMER: I am not a basketball expert, just a lifelong Billiken fan. Most of you know a lot more about basketball than I do. OVERVIEW: Wasn't really pretty. Lot's of bad passes, missed shots, questionable fouls, and turnovers. Saw some great hustle by Sloan; hope he is a role model for the younger players. We missed a lot of open shots and forced some really ugly ones. Didn't seem like the guys were playing as a team yet, however, there did seem to be a lot of hustle. Frericks: Not a small person. Frericks has the size to bang inside and did a little. He showed some Sloan-like intensity from time to time, but seemed to be a little out of position at times. Fisher: Solid with a few more moves. Will be a clear leader on the team. Clarke: Didn't look at all like a freshman, more like a senior...in high school. Darren will develop, I'm sure, but tonight his smallish frame (6-4? Hmmm....) looked lost and out of place. Probably largely nerves, but based on tonight, we shouldn't expect him to contribute substantially this season. Vououkas: Played only a little. Another big kid and, unlike Frericks, only a freshman. We definitely have some decent size this year. Drejaj: Very solid. More moves, very quick, confident with the ball. Seems to have put on some size in the off-season. Didn't really play much though. Bryant: The greatest compliment that I can pay this kid is to say he looked Perryesque tonight right down to the white headband. Very quick, can shoot the ball. He looked a little tentative at times, but clearly this kid can play. He had a few moves that just left people shaking their heads (and the defense trying to figure out what happened). Hunt: Played sparingly. Varner: Okay. If I remember correctly, had a few bad passes, but then hit a couple of decent shots. Seemed a little larger. Ohanon: As mentioned above, I am not an expert at all, but this kid looked really, really quick for 6-9. He moves more like a guard than a forward. Hit some nice perimeter shots. My opinion is that he could easily lead the Billikens in scoring in many games. He was also more intense than last year. I expect big things from Izik. Needs to get inside and bang a little more. Sloan: One word: INTENSE. He just doesn't know the word "slow". Hustle all the time. It may not always be pretty (his one lay up almost looked painful, but he made the shot that most couldn't have made), but he WILL get the job done this year. We are really lucky to have this kid on the team. Few other comments: * Bryant's shorts were so long that my four year old daughter ask me why he was wearing a dress. They come down below his calves. * Blue crew was out in force!?!?! I hope this is an indication of things to come. * Husak, I think, was in street clothes. What does this say? Or did I miss something? * Soderberg was really fired up several times. Even jawed the refs several times. I get the sense he expects this team to really perform up to and beyond their potential. Good for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 >DISCLAIMER: I am not a basketball expert, just a lifelong >Billiken fan. Most of you know a lot more about basketball >than I do. I think you sell yourself short. >Drejaj: Very solid. More moves, very quick, confident with >the ball. Seems to have put on some size in the off-season. > Didn't really play much though. From what I heard on the radio, I thought he played quite a bit. >Bryant: The greatest compliment that I can pay this kid is >to say he looked Perryesque tonight right down to the white >headband. Very quick, can shoot the ball. He looked a >little tentative at times, but clearly this kid can play. >He had a few moves that just left people shaking their heads >(and the defense trying to figure out what happened). >* Husak, I think, was in street clothes. What does this >say? Or did I miss something? I think it just says that he will redshirt as expected. Brad didn't even want to be tempted to put him in. I'm more concerned with the fact that Justin Johnson didn't get in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Justin was in street clothes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlumniFan Posted November 4, 2003 Author Share Posted November 4, 2003 I just heard on the local news that Drejaj led all scorers with 14 points. He must have been the stealth player, because it didn't seem like he played more than 10 or 15 minutes. Maybe he was in when I was trying to keep my daughter from spilling her ice cream all over me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 drejaj made two threes and then 8 free throws down the stretch. i am guessing he played less than 20 minutes since he got into early foul trouble. brad said on the way home. 2 fouls in the first half will end their half. i think frericks, drejaj, ian, and someone else all had 2 fouls in the first half. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Anyone know why Johnson was in street clothes? Can we red shirt him twice?;-) I hope he was just injured, but still if he cannot beat out Varner for minutes it is pretty sad because Ross was horrible. I was only pleased with a couple performances. Bryants was one of them. He can get to the basket almost as good as Perry and has a good 3 shot. He has quick hands on defense but wasn't that great elsewhere in that dept. He and Fisher were very lax on a few plays, not hustling on loose balls throwing some bad passes, but I think Bryant will be a top player on this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 to be fair, he played hard, dove on some loose balls, had a couple mean rebounds, and his shot looked real nice. but he did get beat on defense too often. he just was not fast enough to cover his man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 I think you are not being fair to Ross. He hit at leasst 3 open shots and played tough inside. His only problem was guarding the thin 6'8" kid who could run and shoot the three. I commented during the game that he may be the most important sub this year until Ian can play because Tom will be in plenty of foul trouble. I was very negative on Varner the past two years but he deserves a break. He came back stronger and in good shape and his shot rotation looks terrific! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 More than a quarter of the team's 22 turnovers came from Reggie Bryant (he giveth, he taketh away!). If the Billikens are going to be an NCAA Tournament team, they're going to have to be consistent in taking care of the ball. Reggie needs to be in the game to provide scoring, but if he turns the ball over so many times, he hurts more than he helps. Perhaps Bryant got mesmerized by watching Marque Perry all last year and is trying to "fill his shoes" and is trying to do too much off the dribble. Reggie, catch the ball and shoot it, and if neither the shot nor the opening is there, pass the ball and set a screen (or use one) and let the motion offense do what Coach Soderberg designs it to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 No Varner was fast enough. He did not switch off on screens. He did that repeatedly leaving his man open for easy baskets. That is unexcuseable. He does hustle and has a nice shot, but we need a better option than him, he will get eaten alive in conference play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 I think Bryant is very capable of taking it off the dribble. I like that aspect, it will open up better looks for him. He made some dumb passes and did not hustle after a couple loose balls. He will have to improve with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quality Is Job 1 Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 I know Reggie can take it off the dribble, but he needs to do it at the right time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 torch, fyi, if you ever talk to soderberg about man to man defense, he totally forbids switching. he wants the defender to fight through the screen and stay with his man. if he cannot, a help defender is to try to stop progress until the screened defender can get back. i am not saying i agree with that. but i have heard brad comment on that aspect of m to m a couple of times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 like i said earlier, if bryant did anything wrong tonite, it was passing up open looks to drive. he has one of the sweetest shots i have seen in billiken blue in a long time. i want him to shoot it unless the defender is wearing him for a coat. then he should drive. that said, he had a couple of awesome moves on the drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetorch Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Even so guys do switch on the Bills. Here is what usually happens, they switch when a guy gets screened, but as soon as the guy can break through the screen the other guys drops bakc on his original man. I don't like permanent switches much either, but help is neede at some points, running back to your original man, and at least being aware of where he is should be second nature to grade school players much less a 5 year college man like Ross. On at least 4 occasions he failed to check back on his original man. Sitting there not guarding the man you switched and not dropping back onb your original man is being on no man's land. When my kids get stuck in no man's land they run laps. It is unacceptable for Ross to play like that. We will get burned in conference if he keeps it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluecrewwebmaster Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Blue Crew is back and bigger, better and louder than before! We have 90 members this year and hopefully will become a louder influence at the games! Looking forward to watching the games from my first row seat! GO BILLS! bluecrewwebmaster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLUBandTBone Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 The Bryant move that amazed me the most was the spin with the jump stop in the lane. He spun right around the big man on him, jump stopped and put up a lay-up. I was amazed. I don't think that I ever saw Marque do a spin. It was sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billikan Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Fantastic!!! Keep up the good work--that was a very nice crowd of loud students for tonight's game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mobile-iken Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 He also had a VERY SWEET crossover dribble in the first half! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 torch, looks like RV is going to be your "whipping boy" this year! Last night RV goes 3 for 5, scores 7pts, 2 boards, 1 steal, no turnovers. You don't play horrible and play 29 minutes for Coach Soderberg. He was third in minutes to Fisher(35) and to Sloan(33). RV has limited skills, but makes few mistakes and keeps the motion offense moving. I would like more rebounds from RV, but it may not happen. He's gets his minutes until someone better comes along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tseugnekillib Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 torch, RV is not a five year player. He played his freshman year at Pepperdine, spent the next two years in Latvia on a Mormon mission. He has played his sophmore and junior years at SLU and will complete his fourth year/senior year this season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Reg is just "Reg" all day everyday. That's it. I talked to him last night right after the game, he told me of the six turnovers. I was surprised. He says he wasn't nervous, he just couldn't get a rhythm. I'm sure this isn't an ongoing occurance, he can move off the dribble very well, cut in and out of lanes, can shoot the 3, can dunk the ball. He actually can do it all. Not being biased just honest. I think we're giving "Marquee" an awful lot of press this year. He's gone, Let's move on. This is just the first of many games to come. You all will see that Reggie has his own style of play. He may be inspired by other players to play well, but he never tries to duplicate anyone. Marquee may have been the savior to the Billikens last year, but this year there's a change in the game. No one man can do it alone, this year, the "team" will prevail. I'm sure if Justin is sitting, then we must believe it's for a very good reason. Soderberg is very fair. I'm looking forward to a very productive season!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehms13 Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Reg didn't tell me about the shorts now!! come on. That long?? I didn't think they would let him play with shorts that long, I have to research that one. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Thanks for the input ... Comparing Reggie to Marque in our minds is a huge, huge compliment. I'm not worried about Reggie ... I think he will score give or take 15 points a game ... as far as turnovers ... we will see ... it is only 1 game ... I know Brad will work on it and push Reggie to do better. I had to miss this game ... and I am more looking forward to seeing Reggie play ... than anyone else on the team. I sit almost right behind the bench and so many times last year ... I would just wish he could suit up and play. Though I'm sure not as bad as he did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3star_recruit Posted November 4, 2003 Share Posted November 4, 2003 Bryant played 24 min a game for Villanova his sophomore season and had only 42 turnovers in 31 games. This is a non-issue in my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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