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Memphis--Comments and Observations


Billikan

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1. I love the toughness and tenacity of our team!

2. If we cannot shoot a little better and handle the ball a lot better our goose is cooked.

3. We never quit!

4. The refs called nothing on Memphis the second half. They continued to rake our arms for supposed blocks and steals and the refs swallowed the whistles.

5. IO continues to improve and if he lifts weights over the summer I can see him being a dominating player on offense next year.

6. Reggie is a beautiful offensive player but he has lost his stroke on the 3. I would think he will get it back when he gets home. He is not a great ballhandler so we need someone else to step up.

7. We played a team that just beat the No. 6 team in the country and we never looked out of place. We pounded the boards with players that were much shorter and less "athletic".

8. One of my pet peeves about college basketball is that when people get offensive rebounds they feel that it is then their absolute right--sort of as a reward-- to go up and shoot the ball. That killed us today when Tom and Chris got offensive rebounds and rather than throw it out for an open shot or restart the offense they would go up and get the shot blocked.

9. Our half court defense was terrific. Almost every shot was contested and we fought hard for every loose ball.

10. If Josh does not play better on offense our goose is cooked.

11. Fericks needs to be a little more careful on offense not to bull in for offenseive fouls because we need him on the court.

12. The last play at the end of the first half almost killed us. As Burks was bringin the ball down court with about 5 seconds to go, fisher intentionally fouled him per instructions from the bench. The coach was told we had a foul to give so he wanted to slow down the drive and keep them from scoring. However, the person on the bench who told the coach we had a foul to give was given a withering stare by Brad becaus it put them in the one and one. At the time it did not hurt because he missed the front end but it did hurt later because Josh had to sit down in the second half with 4 fouls.

13. The schedule from here is brutal. Let's hope we can get well at home.

PS--I am watching the supposed superstar MU tigers and they must be one of the worst defensive teams I have ever seen. They are getting blown out by Nebraska.

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The referees called a very tight game, which didn't bode well for SLU. SLU competed well, but Memphis was on this game. Have to give Memphis credit for executing a very good defensive game plan.

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>8. One of my pet peeves about college basketball is that

>when people get offensive rebounds they feel that it is then

>their absolute right--sort of as a reward-- to go up and

>shoot the ball. That killed us today when Tom and Chris got

>offensive rebounds and rather than throw it out for an open

>shot or restart the offense they would go up and get the

>shot blocked.

I hate it when players have an oppurtunity to go up after offensive rebounds and don't. When you get an offensive rebound your best chance of scoring is immediate. No dribbling no pump fakes. Taking it up you will score or get fouled 99% of the time. If you can't take it up immediately throw it out, no fiddling around in the paint. Sloan used to do this it infuriated me.

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If you watch college basketball across the country like I do--a nut on watching bb on tv-- I would suggest that it is very bad basketball to just go back up no matter who is in the paint. Today we just put them back regardless of who was defending. Even in the NBA good inside players make a decision and if ther is a big shot blocker next to them they pass it out to a shooter.

I truly belive that the best way to get a good shooter like Reggie a wide open look from 3 is to pass out after an offensive rebound. WE messed up at least 5-7 possesions by just going right up rather than passing the ball out. It also really makes the other team play defense because if they run out to get a wide open shooter it often leaves the passer open in the low post or another player open on the perimeter. I respectfully disagree with your analysis.

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It depends on who gets the board and does he have the ability to score by putting it right back ... if he does than obviously that is the best option ... clearly yesterday we did not and should have moved the ball back out ... but to be effective it must be quick and our shooter must pull the trigger or swing the ball around quickly creating an open look across court.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H. Waldman

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Cal did a nice job of making an ajustment out of half time to jump trap the point guard at half court. It got memphis about 3 turn overs or bad shots before we made an ajustment on our end.

Cal's tech got memphis about 5 calls in a row.

Memphis has a lot of horses. They played street ball and just jacked up three's all night.

We need a second scorer bad.

Tom needs to claim down just a bit. I like him to play rough but you got to see when you can get away with it.

Lastly, can we go .500 the rest of the way and still get into the NIT?

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I think that if we go 4 and 4--to a 15-13 record and then win one game in the CUSA tournament then we would be in the NIT--that would be a .500 record from this point forward--a total record of 16-14.

However, as I review the schedule we have not one game, other than tulane, (and projecting any road win is difficult )that we can all say going in that we are confident of a victory. DePaul is playing much better and we play them twice. Cinn. is almost unbeatable at the Shoe. Louisville is playing well and pounded UAB--a team we just lost to by 20--without their star playing many minutes because of injury. UNCC is playing better every game and we do not match up well with their inside players. That leaves Marquette and Houston.

We already lost to Marquette-- a game we could have won--so we have a good chance against them but it will be a very tough game. Even Houston played Cinn. very tough in a four point loss.

In looking at that schedule, I would be very happy with a 16-14 record. I know the team and the coaches aspire to many more victories and many fans will be disappointed but I see a winning record as a big plus and something to build on.

Earlier in the year I said I thought that the Billikens.com group collectively was a little to optimistic about our projected record. I hope everyone stays the course if they do not do as well as many had projected!!!!

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I would be disappointed with a 4-4 record from here on out. Five games at home and three on the road, we should do better, especially if you are giving us a W at Tulane. Houston was at home when it lost by three to Cincy, and Charlotte went to OT on the road vs E Carolina.

I'm thinking we sweep DePaul, all home games but Lousiville. 6-2 is what we should be expecting...demanding as fans of our men. Yes, some things need to change from the past three games. Reggie needs to relax his shoulders and shoot freely, Josh cherish the ball, and Chris and Tom do what they do best, crash boards and play good D.

GO BILLS! DAMN, I need a home game bad! Let's kick butt.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of John Duff

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Sweeping DePaul will be very tough. They are better than in past years and on quite a roll. They present some tough match-ups for SLU with their size and quickness. With Brown finally playing like he cares (seeing that bank account shrink will do that to a senior) they have have a solid 1-2 punch in the post with Greer and Brown and the size of Holland and Meija will present a difficult match-up.

From here on out I see:

DePaul - either way

Charlotte - either way

Marquette - win

@DePaul - loss

@Cincy - loss

@Tulane - win

Louisville - loss

Houston - win

Best case scenario - 5-3

worst case - 2-6 (depending on what Marquette team shows up on the 18th but I still think SLU wins that one).

Most likely - 4-4.

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I also think a win at DePaul will be very tough, but it IS possible. I don't really think the home game against DePaul is a 50-50 game. Neither is the Charlotte game.

I've got a best-case scenario of 7-1 (Louisville is flashy, but I think they'll go down at Savvis just like they did last year). The worst-case scenario is 5-3, with losses at DePaul and Cincy and to Louisville.

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Realistically, I think we go 4-4; a 15 - 12 season which is not bad, but not what we would like.

Depaul - W

Charlotte - L

Marquette - W

@ Depaul - L

@ Cincy - L

@ Tulane - W

Louisville - L

Houston - W

And if we can win 2 in tourny play we go to the NIT. The arrow is definitely pointing upwards!

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