last night

[billiken_roy]

i decided to tape the bills and go watch kevin lisch. not a good basketball night for me. first, althoff got beat by a 3 pointer at the buzzer, then i heard on the streets that tommie liddell played an amazing game, but still lost to belleville west (btw, i believe the west-eastside game is supposed to be on charter this morning at 10 am. at least on this side of the river), then i get home to watch the billiken debacle on tape. i guess things can only get better.

i have said all along that our guards can hold their own with any guards in the country. the problem last night is that they had so many great guards, they simply wore our great guards down. the absolute worst our guards will play all year, i hope. that was the game. i would have bet the farm the billikens would not turn the ball over 26 times in a single game this entire year. but uab has only gotten better from last year. they traded in the one waterbug guard for those two twin jucos and they are even better. the team is athletically loaded and williams uses his tools perfectly. that is probably the best team in the conference imo. sure they can lose on any given night like anyone else, but i would not be at all surprised to see uab win the league regular season title.

besides being dominated at the guard spot, it sure didnt help matters when tom reverted to his old hacking fouls ways. yeah they may have been tacky fouls, but they also were stupid fouls. and without tom, we are sunk.

not much to add. those are the two factors that decided that game. guards overmatched and tom in foul trouble.

brad will get them ready to play again. we just need to get back to what the billikens do best. control the ball and playing hard defense.

[3star_recruit]

I've already got the tape out to record the East Side/Belleville game. It comes on at 10 am on the St. Louis side, too.

Roy, do you really think that ALL of our guards can hold their own against the best guards in the country? Bryant and Fish have shown that capacity but Drejaj has struggled mightily on the offensive end all year. He's slow and short for a two guard and he shoots a set shot. Those things aren't going to change.

[Schasz]

I'm still saying my prayers that Tommie passes his entrance test and is wearing Billiken Blue next year, as we MUST get more athletic to have a better chance to compete with the higher echelon teams. Even thinking of AD as No. 1 PG next year is enough to give a Billiken fan nightmares.

[billiken_roy]

i dont think anthony is slow. i also agree he isnt a rocket. but there are worse guards. should he be playing the "other" wing when we already have bryant and fish out there? probably not. he should be used exclusively as their backup and that spot should be manned by clarke, sloan and izik imo. but that said, he still is probably at worst the third best defender on the team and a total warrior.

it is obvious since his shot attempts have decreased dramatically, that coach soderberg has appparently pulled in the reins on anthony offensively, and disappointingly (is that a word?) drejaj seems to have concurrently sunk into a funk that has affected his total game. but that all said, he is still a very good guard imo. a lot of good teams would kill to have anthony drejaj on their roster imo. (saw last night that randy pulley didnt play a second for ole spumac)

whatever it is that has nipped anthony and affected his overall game, anthony has to put it aside and rise above it. he will be fine and i am glad he is a billiken.

[billiken_roy]

i totally disagree with that statement. i doubt any of us believed fisher was going to be the machine he is now during his sophomore season. i believe drejaj is the only choice as our point guard next year and i will have to see polk or liddell do better before i believe it.

[Nate Latsch]

I covered the Belleville West-East St. Louis game last night.

Great atmosphere for a high school basketball game.

Tommie Liddell had a big-time third quarter and finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds. But East St. Louis only played particularly well in one of four quarters last night.

Belleville West had four players score in double figures and Sean McPeak took control early in the fourth quarter.

- Nate

[jjray]

>>He's slow and short for a two guard and he shoots a set shot.<<

If AD is slow, how come he keeps taking opposing guards off the dribble? No, AD is not slow, not Marque Perry but by no means slow. The problem with AD at the 1 is ball security and at 2, well, the dude's outside shot absolutely sucks. The brief moments where he finds his shot are getting farther and farther apart. I think we can all agree that Dwayne Polk is going to have to get very extensive PT next year.

One observation from last night: our guys don't come to the ball when one of our players get's trapped after picking up his dribble. It was driving me crazy and contributed to several of the turnovers.

[jjray]

How do you guys rate Tommie's defense? I've only seen him play once and then some assorted highlights.

[billiken_roy]

the more i see mcpeak, the more i say he is the mvp of this west team. cant be more than 6'3", but he is a rock solid probably 260+ and just controls the inside. smart as can be. gets away with murder.

nate, did west use any subs last night? last week vs althoff coach schmidt played his 5 the entire game. i believe this is a huge mistake and will come back to haunt him by year end. eventually fouls and/or injury will rear it's ugly head and his bench will be unprepared.

[billiken_roy]

it isnt soderberg level intensity, but he does fine. i would say he is already a better defender than what clarke has shown. brad will get him to that level.

btw, that defense is why lisch is so good. NO ONE in this area plays both ends of the court as intensely as kevin lisch.

[3star_recruit]

AD wouldn't win a foot race with any 6'1 guard in our conference. He's a warrior, but the guy is slow.

[Nate Latsch]

Roy,

I'm not positive but I believe the only time Schmidt used any subs was with like 10 seconds left in the game.

It was funny because I was sitting right behind the bench and the crowd started yelling about it. One guy near me yelled that the kids should go back and sit down because it wasn't worth it to get them in the game then.

- Nate

[jjray]

>AD wouldn't win a foot race with any 6'1 guard in our

>conference. He's a warrior, but the guy is slow.

3Star, I know you know the first step is the most important thing for a guard, not a foot race. That and quick hands. Do you really think AD has the slowest first step in the conference? I have witnessed him beat any number of defenders with his first move ... maybe he caught them napping. I'm frustrated by the guy's play on the offensive end as well but we don't need to pile on.

[slufanskip]

Sorry ... but I haqve to chime in on the side of I certainly hope not regarding AD starting much if any at the point next year. Just because Josh made drastic improvement between his Jr and Sr years doesn't mean AD will make the same improvement this offseason. I know I will be in the minority ... but I feel almost the same about Ad playing over DC as eveyone else does about RV playing over JJ.

Yes he is slow, he turns the ball over, and can't shoot a lick. Please don't tell me about the 3 or 4 good games he has had out of the last 45. I think AD should be a back up defensively to whomever is guarding the opposing best offensive guard.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman

[Schasz]

He is what he is...if he was so wonderful then he wouldn't have been around when Coach Soderberg found him. He is a one dimensional player and IMHO Polk and or Liddell should be pulling the lions share of PG minutes next year.

[Tonka]

It's pointless to argue about how fast Drejaj is. He may be quick, he may be slow, he may be this, he may be that. But, a PG needs to control the team and set the offense. One key thing Drejaj does not have and that is control. He is a loose cannon. if he is out starting PG we are in trouble.

What has changed? So many said all along that if we win one of the three road games that we will be okay. Well, no one expected UC and UL to lose yesterday. We still have Memphis and a lot can still happen. Let's win Memphis first. We lost the game due to too many turnovers, plain and simple. We have hung with so many more athletic teams before.

JJ really needs to play soon!

[3star_recruit]

"We have hung with so many more athletic teams before."

And we will continue to. But athletic teams that defend well, like UAB, Cinci and Louisville will continue to eat our lunch. One of these reasons I think we will excel in the A-10 is because the size and athleticism of their wings is a notch lower than what we currently face. Game after game after game of facing 6'4-6'7 run and jump athletes is killing our perimeter players.

[Jalensdad2002]

>I covered the Belleville West-East St. Louis game last

>night.

>

>Great atmosphere for a high school basketball game.

>

>Tommie Liddell had a big-time third quarter and finished

>with 28 points and 10 rebounds. But East St. Louis only

>played particularly well in one of four quarters last night.

>

>Belleville West had four players score in double figures and

>Sean McPeak took control early in the fourth quarter.

>

>- Nate

Nate I had him for 29 points and only 7 boards. He was on fire in the

3rd quarter with 15 points. Simply dominated Price as he seem rattled.

If he had given them anything in the 1st quarter things may have been different. Now the bad news I hear that he did not pass the ACT. I also hear that it's a distinct possibility that Liddell will be attending a prep school.

[Quality Is Job 1]

Anthony Drejaj may not have deceptive quickness or an explosive first step like Marque Perry has, but he's certainly not slow. In practice last year, I saw AD beat Perry in suicides.

[3star_recruit]

That's what I've heard as well. Hope Luke is ready to play significant minutes at the three next year.

[3star_recruit]

And I see opposing guards shutting down Drejaj's drives easily. I think that's a much better measure than who won a suicide in practice.

[jjray]

>>Now the bad news I hear that he did not pass the ACT. I also hear that it's a distinct possibility that Liddell will be attending a prep school.<<

That's terrible news.

[Major Majerus]

You get more tries...

[Nate Latsch]

From what I have heard, there are several high school senior athletes in the area who have yet to get the required ACT scores. I won't name any names just yet, because I haven't been able to verify the info, but these kids have work to do to qualify to play sports at the Division I level.

- Nate

[jjray]

>>It's pointless to argue about how fast Drejaj is. He may be quick, he may be slow, he may be this, he may be that. But, a PG needs to control the team and set the offense. One key thing Drejaj does not have and that is control. He is a loose cannon. if he is out starting PG we are in trouble.<<

Good point but would pick this bone with you. True, a PG can't run the offense until he learns to protect the ball better and play in control. However, without quicks, a PG can only rise to a certain level. As a player matures, he can learn control. However, players don't learn to be quick ... they either come in the door with it or they do not. I think the ultimate issue we are kicking around is whether or not AD has an upside? That 27 points he dropped on S. Miss. last year in the CUSA tourney sure made me think (or hope) so; however, AD's performance this year leads me to the conclusion that he basically is a defensive stopper who should come off the bench for 15 minutes per game. His assists to turovers in 2003--44 v. 35; 5.9 ppg in 26.7 minutes pg. We need Polk and DC to play heavy minutes at guard next year and I sure as heck hope we see very little of the 3 guard offense next year.